Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Minority Leader Kelvon Morris is claiming that the THA Executive Council has racked up a hefty travelling bill of $20 million over the past three years.
Speaking at the PNM Tobago Council’s public meeting on Sunday night, Morris called on Chief Secretary Farley Augustine to show Tobago the value for the money spent.
Morris said, “You have a trip where four secretaries, which included two assistant secretaries and the Chief Secretary, went to Jamaica for 10 days to sign one MOU. That trip costs us $1 million. Up to now, nobody could see this MOU. As far as I understand, they don’t even have the MOU in hand.
“There were five secretaries along with concubines and because they know the money not coming out of their pockets, they are taking Tom, Jerry and the whole family.”
Guardian Media confirmed that under the Office of the Chief Secretary, eight people, including two security details, video editor, photographer and another secretary travelled to Jamaica for the MOU signing.
An additional two people travelled along with Secretary for the Division of Settlement, Public 1 and Rural Development Ian Pollard on this trip. Secretary for Community Development and Sports Terance Baynes also took one other person from his division along on the Jamaica trip. Augustine joined the team soon after on his way back from the ITB in Germany.
Augustine later explained that the MOU was signed between the THA and the University of Technology (UTech) in Jamaica. He said it is expected to provide Tobago with solutions to its infrastructural shortcomings.
“We are talking about $20 million in travel. My information is that they are now at that,” Morris claimed at Sunday’s meeting.
Last October, THA Secretary for Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development Trevor James chartered a private aircraft to return from Martinique due to an approaching Tropical Storm Tammy. He had represented the THA at the first Connectivity Conference of the Greater Caribbean in Martinique at the time.
The cost of the charter was estimated to be between US$5,000-US$9,000.
James, during a subsequent plenary sitting of the THA, said he privately arranged and funded the flight using his “deep and wide” connections, which included his family and friends, after he ran out of money.
Augustine immediately clarified that the THA would not cover the cost of the chartered flight.
Soon after, PNM Tobago Council leader Ancil Dennis called for transparency regarding the flight’s cost and who paid for it.
Although the THA did not cover the charted jet cost, Morris said to date, Tobago still doesn’t know the benefits of that trip either.
He said, “This trip by itself, without paying for the jet, cost us $70,000 for two days. You understand the callus squander going on? Trips now have become a business.”
Morris questioned why a THA official responsible for infrastructure attended a conference dealing with transportation.
“The Secretary for Tourism, Tashia Burris, had the responsibility for transportation but we had a secretary of infrastructure jetting off to this trip and he didn’t go by himself. A trip that didn’t even concern your division, you took company.”
Guardian Media made multiple attempts via FOIA requests over the past year, to access travel information for each division.
The first batch of FOIAs were sent in June 2023 to all divisions, including the Office of the Chief Secretary.
A request was made for all travel expenses incurred by the division and subsidiary companies, including invoices, paid and unpaid, for international, regional and domestic travel between December 2021-June 2023.
The purpose for the travel as well as letters of invitation (where applicable) to the events was also sought.
Since then, only three divisions—the Division of Community Development, Youth Development and Sport, the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection and the Division of Finance and the Economy—have responded. However, officials from some divisions admitted to having difficulty sourcing and compiling the information.
Augustine could not be reached for comment yesterday.