Accounting for expenditures of state

Nov 28, 2009 Editorial

Hosting international events costs money—lots of it. Trinidad has put US$40 million into hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, money that some of its people feel could have been better spent.
Some of this money went into erecting a flag atop a pole at a cost of a whopping TT$2 million. That’s about $60 million in local currency. In the first instance, one is hard pressed to believe that a flag could cost so much money. Had this expenditure been undertaken in Guyana, the entire country would have called for the resignation of the head of state. The politicians would have been hysterical.
This is not to say that the political opposition in Trinidad has not found the expenditure on the flag wasteful. In fact, on the government-owned television station, no sooner had the reporters presented the news on the meeting which opened yesterday, and reported on whatever they found to be important, there were documentaries that focused on abject poverty in the country.
There was graphic footage of a couple living in a shack. The husband is confined to a wheelchair and the wife is hard pressed to eke out a living that would support the family.
Then there was the story about a young girl who needs one million dollars (TT) for a liver transplant. The government has not yet decided to foot the bill. These images force the public to accuse the government of insensitivity and of willful expenditure on things such as hosting summits.
The Canadian Prime Minister described Trinidad’s Patrick Manning as a very brave man by attempting to host a summit of this nature. And indeed, at a time when most countries are still reeling from the effects of the recent global downturn, to spend such sums on a summit is almost an impossible task. Observers, however, must realize that Trinidad put down a billion-dollar complex and the government must find use for it.
But Trinidad is not impecunious, having enjoyed the resources that flow from its oil and natural gas. When the price of oil soared, the coffers of that country swelled beyond unimaginable limits.
Today, the economists in Trinidad are talking about a financial downturn, but the money is still there. It is some of this money that the country used to host two major summits in one year—the Summit of the Americas in April, and the Commonwealth Summit.
The economists would say that one needs to spend money to make money. When all this is over, the country would reap untold financial gains, they say. It may earn almost three times what it spent.
The various businesses would make money. The hotels have been booked solid, the entertainment joints have been overflowing and even modest eating houses have been reporting brisk business.
The regional airline by shuttling people from one country to the next would also enjoy a boon. In the end, Trinidad stands to gain. And so we come to our Guyana with a small treasury and so much to do. We cannot host a Commonwealth Summit but we hosted Carifesta. It would be interesting to know how much the country gained; what were the financial returns; and whether the investment was worth it.
The government has not seen it fit to account for the money spent during the hosting of Carifesta and thus silence the critics. Indeed, everyone was glad that Guyana hosted Carifesta but before the event, the comments of the political opposition were that the money should have gone to the people. It is for the government to prove that hosting Carifesta was justified.
Guyana hosted other events—the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting was one. The nation needs to know whether it was money well spent. The government has a right to oblige. Trinidad with its Freedom of Information Act cannot dodge. Guyana with its democratic principles can do no less.

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Accounting for expenditures of state

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