Panday, Dookeran have questions about cost of summit

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday plans to file questions in Parliament about the expenditure for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, which ended Sunday in Port of Spain.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning said earlier this week that the event cost $350 million "so far" and that the expenditure was within budget.

He said this included $120 million for cruise liners, $126 million for “legacy” items such as vehicles, $41 million for national security equipment and $8 million in health costs. But Mariano Browne, chairman of the ministerial team that handled the summit preparations, suggested that it will likely cost more when the final accounting is done.

“After the Prime Minister’s television statement claiming that only $350 million was spent on the Summit of the Americas, we are now even more doubly intent on filing questions in Parliament, seeking a very detailed breakdown of the summit expenditure,” Panday said on morning television Wednesday.

“Mr Manning’s statements on the summit’s cost can only reinforce our call — which will be made in Parliament — for a detailed account from Government on how the monies have been spent, including to whom contracts, for what and so forth.

“We intend to use all mechanisms available to the Opposition to ensure that Government fully accounts for its summit spending,” he said.

Panday observed that Manning and Browne had different takes on the cost and wondered who had it right.

"It seems they don’t really know the situation. That is all that is obvious from their statements, not any real figures."

The leader of the Congress of the People (COP) is also skeptical about the summit figures. Winston Dookeran has called for an immediate meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to obtain full public disclosure on the costs.

“I believe the Public Accounts committee of the Parliament, which is responsible for the scrutiny of public expenditure in T&T, should call a special meeting to examine what the Prime Minister said about summit expenditure and to ascertain the validity of the Prime Minister’s claim.

“The PAC is chaired by the Opposition and it is time the Opposition stands up to its responsibility in Parliament,” Dookeran told the Trinidad Guardian.

“The PAC should seek to have full public disclosure on the cost of the summit and the PAC should summon a special meeting right away on this and discharge its responsibility,” he added.