Leonardo Blair, Enterprise Reporter
WITH A roll of pricy New York hotels, thousands of U.S. dollars in entertainment money, fuel costs for travelling on a private aircraft, personal butlers, assistants and advisers, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has managed to rack up a bill of more than $21 million in expenditure on overseas travel in the last four years.
And that figure does not include the cost attached to his travelling delegation, or costs contained in other documents which may have been missed during access to information searches.
Access to Information officers who searched for the records revealed in this story, pointed out that there were some records which could not be found.
While Jamaica continues to struggle under a heavy debt burden and to cut corners to meet its national budget, in November 2002, the PM forked out US$1,500 a night plus a 12.5 per cent gratuity payment for five nights in a New York hotel while on an official visit there. At that rate, the PM spent a total of US$8,437 or just over J$420,000 over the five nights.
One travel writer on New York City hotels described rates shelled out by the PM in this manner: "If you want views of Central Park (New York) - expect to really pay through the nose (US$600-US$1,000 a night)." Local travel agents who did not want to be named for this story described the rates as, "hardly the average hotel stay".
The information which was gleaned from official documents acquired under the Access to Information Act, points out that in 2001, the PM docked the public purse approximately $5.5 million for 13 official trips. In 2002, the bill was nearly $5 million for nine official trips; just over $7 million in 2003 for 10 trips, while in 2004, another 10 trips cost the nation just over $4 million even with some of the trips being sponsored.
The records show that the PM's $7 million tab for 2003 was approximately $2 million more than his $4.7 million annual basic salary. That same year, on an official three-day trip to Cuba, the Prime Minister had the services of a special assistant, a press secretary and two butlers. The cost for Mr. Patterson alone was $260,000. His accompanying delegation was not included.
With the exchange rate at just cents off the $60 to US$1 mark that year, the PM's travels also cost the nation nearly $1 million in one "official" seven day trip to New York between September and October, with hotel rates at US$1,125 per night. The PM was further allowed US$5,000 or nearly $300,000, for official expenses and entertainment on top of the US$250 per diem (daily allowance) he gets on each overseas trip.
PRIVATE AIRCRAFT
Records also show an invoice where payment was made for first-class tickets to Miami valued at $216,715 in 2003 for the Prime Minister and four other persons. However, details of the trip were not included. A private aircraft was also used to attend the Summit of the Americas meeting in Monterrey, Mexico last January, and it cost the government nearly $300,000 to buy fuel for the aircraft in order to make the trip. That five-day trip made by the Prime Minister cost approximately $650,000.
The Sunday Gleaner made attempts to get the total amount spent by each ministry including the Office of the Prime Minister on overseas travel, however, the Ministry of Finance and Planning explained that that was a very difficult request. "It is difficult to provide the information from this end as the actual expenditure is most times in excess of the budgetary provision," said Rolda Grey of the Public Expenditure Division at the ministry.
In the meantime, other ministers serving under the umbrella of the Office of the Prime Minister, such as Burchell Whiteman and Colin Campbell while he served under that office, received per diems of US$25 and US$30 a day for a number of overseas trips they made. Minister Whiteman, based on his records, hardly had a delegation.
