20 People Travel In The PM’s Team To The U N
It was like a pilgrim’s progress. The PLP said nothing because complaining about the size of a delegation for travel is so stupid. The only thing that needed to be pointed out was the hypocrisy of it all. The hypocrisy and deceit of complaining in opposition abut the size of traveling delegations for The Bahamas, then when you come to office, you outdo the size of delegations. Reportedly 54,000 pounds lane on hotel rooms in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November last year. It took the MP for Pineridge Rev. Frederick McAlpine who is FNM to say this in the House of Assembly on Thursday 27 September:
“People are wondering why it seems to be [an] austerity budget for the citizens, but the government seems to be traveling with such large entourages, sleeping, eating and many other things at the people’s expense,” said McAlpine, during debate on the Fiscal Responsibility Bill in the House of Assembly.
“People want to know why so many people have to travel in these astronomical numbers, and they’re now asking for an expense account for these trips to be laid on the table in this place. It’s called fiscal responsibility.
Dr. Minnis is accompanied by his wife, Patricia.
Other members of the delegation were Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield; Minister of Transport and Local Government Renward Wells; Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson; Tamika Thompson; St. Barnabas MP and Chairman of the Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority Shanendon Cartwright; Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister Joshua Sears; Chief Operating Officer of the Delivery Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister Viana Gardiner; Katherine Stewart-Marsh, Office of the Prime Minister; Inspector Edgar Kemp, aide to the prime minister; Corporal Latroy Bodie, aide to the prime minister’s wife; Yontalay Bowe, photographer, Office of the Prime Minister; Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eugene Torchon-Newry; Altovise Munnings and Philip Marche, of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas; and Sergeant Kirk Bastian, aide to the prime minister.