Kamla: Hazel got $14.8 m to fete, spree and show off

IN the same way the largest slice of the Budgetary allocation has been given to the Ministry of Education, so too the ministry has received the largest amount for feteing, spreeing and publicity – $14.8 million. The amount forms part of the $229 million which has been allocated in this year’s Budget for the “propaganda vote,” that is entertainment, publicity, hosting and overseas travel for ministries. Making the disclosure was Siparia Member of Parliament, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, as she questioned the non-investigation by the Integrity Commission of her complaint about millions spent in publicity last year by Government. She was speaking during the Budget debate in the House of Representatives on Friday. She said this year, under recurrent expenditure, Government had inserted the new item of hosting (feteing, drinking and spreeing), as part of the “propaganda vote” package.

Persad-Bissessar said last year $132 million was allocated for the vote, but this year the sum had increased by almost $100 million, bringing the total to $229 million. Comparing the totals to when the UNC was last in office in 2001, she said a total of $11.8 million was allocated for publicity ($3.7million), overseas travel ($6.4million) and entertainment ($1.4million). Looking at the individual figures for each ministry this year, she observed that it showed that, “inequity and undue preferential treatment is clear, and you could see the rising stars and those who are getting next to nothing.” She said by far the largest expenditure was given to Education Minister, Hazel Manning, the wife of Prime Minister Patrick Manning, yet “she sat here from ten this morning and said nothing about where the money is going.”

She said under overseas travel and publicity, Manning in his capacity as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance had received $5.9 million and $3 million respectively. The total allocation for overseas travel is $31.3 million. On the issue of publicity, the total allocation is $127.7 million. Persad-Bissessar said Hazel Manning got $7 million for publicity, and criticised the minister for having full-page advertisements every day in the newspapers bearing the minister’s face. In her defence, Manning informed the House that four years ago an IDB loan was signed by the UNC to market the reforms in the education sector. She said the money allocated came from that loan. However, Persad-Bissessar noted that if the money was for marketing reforms, she was only seeing the marketing of the minister, further accusing every minister of being guilty of propaganda.

She argued there was no need for the minister’s face to be in the ads, but she was told by the PM that he liked to see his wife’s face. As for the hosting allocation, the Ministry of National Security was given $3 million, Works $250,000, Trade and Industry $4 million, the PM $2.7 million and Education $7.8 million, the largest allocation. Asked if it was a loan too, the education minister replied in the affirmative. But Persad-Bissessar pointed out that even if this were so, the money would have to be paid back with interest.

Looking at last year’s spending of the propaganda vote, Persad-Bissessar said additional monies were spent. She said for entertainment 110.86 percent was spent, overseas travel 113.42 percent, hosting 67.6 percent, and publicity 70.7 percent. She added that while that was so, a Price Waterhouse Coopers report concluded that only 18 percent of the programmes under the Budget for fiscal 2004/2005 was implemented. She said the report looked at 100 projects from the various ministries. The report stated further that “there has been no material improvement in a wide range of areas including basic living standards,” which led the MP to question where the funds went.