Foucs on millions, not thousands of $$

Are the issues of a $52,000 plus phone bill and a $92,000 hotel bill as critical as reported? The Leader of the Opposition is reported as calling for heads to roll and another member of the Opposition is reported as saying the hotel bill is a scandal of immense proportion.

Additionally, the Prime Minister has called for an explanation from the minister.

How is this a political scandal? None of the ministers involved stand to gain from the transactions. What these transactions indicate is the need for better management structures at the ministries.

It is the public servants that plan and pay for these public engagements.

In the case of the phone bill, one cannot expect a minister of government representing the country abroad to not have access to data. A data plan should have been organised and put in place before the trip. To blame the minister after the fact seems to be a bit unfair. It’s no wonder that business professionals steer clear of politics. Bills of this nature are common in international business.

The second area is that of the Sports Minister’s Tobago trip. This trip, according to reports, was planned by the Sports Ministry.

It is up to the technicians at the ministry to arrange the trip. The minister could not have gained financially from the trip and one would hope that no minister of government is so needy that he needs a few nights in a hotel for sustenance.

While a few thousand dollars remain the focus of the media and Opposition, the millions spent on a few hideous concrete structures in Maracas and the millions more budgeted to be spent for the completion of the project escape scrutiny. The millions spent on placing a few cylinders across the Beetham Highway raise no eyebrows. The millions spent on the waste water treatment plant on the Beetham and the millions more needed for completion are not in focus. The millions spent and millions more needed for the highway to Point Fortin don’t seem to be scandalous. No one called for heads to roll or labelled as a scandal the hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of dollars spent for the frequent use of the State helicopter by the former prime minister to travel around TT .

One wonders if the focus on the thousands is simply a way of ensuring that we turn away from the millions given out in contracts where, unlike the two transactions in focus, politicians can directly or indirectly benefit financially.

STEVE ALVAREZ via email