FFOS wants info on government rentals

In making the request, the group referred to statements by Cuffie on May 8, 2017 at the formal opening of the Government Campus Plaza. Cuffie was quoted as saying government was saving $22 million in rent for the various government departments when it moved ministries into the plaza.

Cuffie said when the PNM administration assumed office there was significant spending on unoccupied buildings but the government was not renting any unoccupied buildings at the moment.

Gary Aboud, corporate secretary of FFOS, said the group made numerous requests for the information from the government including the prime minister but the information was not forthcoming.

He said in a situation in which the government was retrenching people, he was asking the government to save the economy by cutting the waste out of government expenditure and one of the ways in which the government was wasting money was in the many buildings rented from alleged party financiers at exorbitant fees.

He referred to One Alexandra Place which, he said, was rented from one of the party’s faithful and several other buildings which FFOS had identified publicly to the government and appealed to them to rationalise these rentals rather than laying off people.

He said the government could regain public confidence by showing that its rentals are along the same expenditure levels as private sector levels. He said if the prime minister is saving the economy, he has to justify to the public that the government is not throwing away money through exorbitant rentals as payback for campaign financing which, he said, was something very common in the Third World.

He said instead of making a public boast, Cuffie should supply the requested information to FFOS so that the group could compare what the government is paying with private sector rates. He said what is needed is more than just showing that the building is occupied, but there needs to be a clear rationale of the need to spend money on rentals.

He questioned whether the buildings were fully occupied or whether space was being saved.

He said if the minister embraced accountability, he would welcome the idea of comparing private sector rental rates to those paid by his Government.