India trip: Kamla’s travel assistant costs TT$233,600

(Trinidad Express) Some TT$3.1 million was spent for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and an official approved Cabinet delegation, which included her travel assistant—who is her sister, Vidwatie Newton, to travel to India in January.
Newton’s total expenditure was TT$233,600.
This was disclosed yesterday by Leader of Government Business Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal.
He was responding to questions on the Order Paper at the Parliament sitting, at Tower D of the International Waterfront Centre in Port of Spain, which were posed by Opposition MP Donna Cox with respect to the Prime Minister’s trip.
Persad-Bissessar and a delegation of close to 200 people, official and unofficial, journeyed to India from January 4 to 15, where she (Persad-Bissessar) was invited by the Indian Government on an official state visit.
Persad-Bissessar was the chief guest at India’s annual Pravasi Bharatiaya Divas (PBD) conference, where she received that country’s highest award given to persons of Indian origin outside of India.
During the visit, Persad-Bissessar held a number of bilateral meetings with private and public entities in India in an attempt to woo investors to this country and position Trinidad and Tobago as India’s gateway to the South American markets.
Moonilal’s response to the questions provoked heated supplementary questions from Cox, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition MP Colm Imbert—who all demanded he (Moonilal) also provide the costs incurred by all State enterprises and State agencies that also accompanied the Prime Minister on the trip.
He kept repeating that members of the Opposition must file separate questions to each Minister to get details on the costs incurred by State agencies under their purview.
According to figures given by Moonilal, a total of TT$1,905,162 was expended by the Office of the Prime Minister; the Ministry of Public Utilities, TT$200,860; Transport Ministry, TT$264,583; Energy Ministry, TT$340,882; and the National Security Ministry, TT$436,740.
Responding to Cox, who noted that her questions asked specifically for the costs incurred by State enterprises as well, Moonilal said the figures he provided are for each Ministry and Cox would have the pose the relevant question to other Ministers. These figures, he said, were approved by the Cabinet.
“Are we to understand that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago is saying that her office has no responsibility for the State enterprise sector on a trip which she led to India?” asked Rowley.
Moonilal repeated that questions must be filed to the relevant Minister, who will be pleased to provide answers.
Moonilal then answered Cox’s second question with respect to the trip, where he gave a breakdown of costs incurred at each Ministry.
Imbert questioned whether people from State enterprises were included on that list.
Moonilal reiterated that the names and designations he provided relate to those approved by Cabinet and members of State enterprises would have their records, which the Opposition was free to query.
“Can the Minister confirm that no public funds were expended on any person in the capacity of a non-Government official?” asked Rowley.
Moonilal said Opposition members are aware that there were people from State enterprises and Government agencies who went on the trip and State funds were expended behind them. He added that India was “not a completely cheap place to travel to” and noted that Rowley would soon know this, as he (Rowley) will be travelling there soon.
Rowley said he was asking specifically about non-Government officials, as Moonilal repeated that the information he provided was from the approved Cabinet list.
Moonilal further noted that Foreign Affairs and Communications Minister Suruj Rambachan had provided a detailed statement on the state visit as it relates to developing this country’s economic strategies.
Moonilal added that the Prime Minister’s trip was building on previous visits to India—including one led by now deceased former People’s National Movement Government Minister Ken Valley, who he said led a delegation to the Far East in 2007, at a cost of TT$10 million.
“This builds on the good work conducted by the former administration… it is not our purpose here to condemn the cost of the former administration but to indicate, Mr Speaker, that this trip was geared at opening markets in Trinidad and Tobago, it was also geared to developing trade links and, Mr Speaker, the cost was incurred to that end,” said Moonilal.