T&T on multi-million dollar shopping spree for overseas real estate

While families in Trinidad and Tobago continue to struggle to pay for food and shelter more details are emerging about a government real estate spending spree amounting to about TT$116 million dollars.

This blog first reported the purchase of a building for the consulate in Toronto for Cdn$4.25 million and another in Washington D.C. for US$17 million.

Read the story: T&T buys Toronto building for Cdn$4.25M

Minister of Foreign Affairs Paula Gopee-Scoon confirmed both purchases, saying the figure for the Toronto property was Cdn$4.25 as we reported but noting the one in the U.S. was for US$12 million, not US$17 million.

She later changed the figure for the Toronto building to Cdn$5 million, which is Cdn$750,000 more than the price at which the building at 185 Sheppard Avenue West was listed for sale.

And now, according to details in the budget document entitled “Details of Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure,” the figure for the Toronto building is TT$24.6 M, which at today's conversion rate is about Cdn$4.3.

And the minister has not stated why in a depressed real estate market the government paid more than the listed figure for a building and concluded the transaction after the listing expired.

What is even more puzzling about the Toronto deal is that the budget documents state that the allocation for the building has been revised to TT$46.2 million, which is about than Cdn$8.10 million, nearly twice the sale figure.

It's puzzling because the signed and sealed real estate transaction dated July 23, 2009 is for the purchase price of Cdn$4.25 million. It is apparent that the government was aware of the closing price long before preparing the 2010 estimates.

This leaves a discrepancy of millions of dollars without any explanation about where the money is going.

With regard to Washington, the allotted expenditure is TT$69.5 million, which is close to the figure the minister confirmed earlier in the week but higher than what's listed in the budget documents.

Washington and Toronto are just two of the cities in which the government is investing millions for diplomatic properties.

The shopping list includes:

• TT$20M for a property in Brussels, revised to TT$28.6 million
• TT$1 million for properties in South Africa and in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 2010 financial year.

There is no mention of the cost for a New York diplomatic building, which the minister confirmed this week had been purchased and is already in use by staff in that city.

In addition to buying these properties the government is planning an expensive refurbishment operation for overseas mission. The budget for 13 projects is $37.8 Million.

The list includes:

• Refurbishment of the chancery and embassy in Washington DC—$2.5 million
• Refurbishment of properties in Washington DC—$500,000
• Renovation of the New York residence for the country's representative to the UN—$2million
• Refurbishment of the Consul General’s residence in New York—$3 million
• Structural renovation of chancery and residence in Ottawa—$1 million
• Refurbishment of the residence of the First Secretary in Kingston—$500,000
• Provision of a new residence for the High Commissioner in Kingston—$600,000
• Refurbishment of chancery and residence in Caracas—$800,000

The overall bill of TT$116 million includes a face lift for the headquarters of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Port of Spain.