Smith fails to see self as role model

It would seem that Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith fails to recognise himself as a role model to our citizens, both young and old. In these recent circumstances the minister somehow seeks to trivialise matters of serious concern to the public.

The image of the minister holding onto a member of his staff while posing for a photo is truly distasteful.

If this is the way a member of the Cabinet interacts with a member or members of his staff at a government ministry, then he should not be allowed to hold such office.

This matter also digs deeper into the psyche of women and the battle in the workplace.

While this may seem trivial to some it opens up the question of abuse of power with regard to employer and employee relationships in the ministry.

Further to this highly inappropriate photo in the office is the issue of spending $92,000 on a Tobago trip with a 12-member contingent. Most of us have been to Tobago and we know that this figure is outrageous even for an official visit by a government minister.

Dr Keith Rowley as a Prime Minister is on a State visit to Chile and has a contingent of nine people but a Minister of Sport attending a Tobago House of Assembly awards function to present a trophy leaves with a contingent of 12 people. We are in real trouble if we see nothing wrong with this type of extravagant behaviour and expenditure.

In these tough economic times the Government must be clear on the message it is sending to citizens. I await the return of our Prime Minister to see how this matter will be handled.

RONALD HUGGINS St Joseph