Prime Minister Patrick Manning said on TV on Tuesday night the cost of hosting the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain is TT$350 million "so far". He said that's well inside the TT$503 budget allocated for the three-day gathering of leaders from the Americas. The figure includes TT$120 million for the two cruise ships; $120 million for vehicles, national security, cameras and communication equipment and "$105 million outside of that".
Manning didn't give a budget for the November Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference but said he is sure that the cost for both international conferences would be within the budget. The government has allocated TT$630 million for both conferences.
Asked about the cost on Tuesday Trade Minister Mariano Browne said it is a daunting task to have to defend Government policy "on an ongoing basis", adding that it "detracts from the business of moving forward."
He was responding to a question during an American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) panel discussion on the "Impact of the Fifth Summit of the Americas conference on Trinidad and Tobago's Future".
"It is one of the key difficulties in terms of galvanising the population to understand that we are doing things and that things are happening, without having to question literally every little issue, including the hosting of the summit.
"I think every right-thinking person now, looking back in retrospective, yes it (the summit) has been expensive, but it has also done a number of things which are very important to Trinidad and Tobago and for Trinidad and Tobago.
"Very significantly, it has also set an agenda which we can all hold on to, even if people have not accepted 2020 as a balance score card or it has not been communicated in that fashion. But certainly at the end at the day Government has to set the tone, the policy, the direction and, in a large measure, civil society and the private sector has to move with us, not necessarily resist," Browne said.
No comments:
Post a Comment