Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday raised concerns about a nearly $4 million increase in the allocation for telephones for the T&T Regiment. He raised the concerns during day two of the meeting in Parliament of the Standing Finance Committee. “I just want to make an observation. How did you manage to convince the Ministry of Finance to approve a request for $7 million for telephones, when last year’s telephone bills were $2.6 million?” Rowley asked.
National Security Minister Gary Griffith said there had been an increase in usage charges due to joint operations with the Inter Agency Task Force. “I would like to ask the minister to look into this because with all respect I don’t know what they are doing to increase the telephone bill by 200 per cent,” Rowley said. “It raises the question of competition for services in the Ministry of National Security,” he added.
Rowley said the food and institution bill had jumped considerably in the last two years, moving from $27 million to $40 million. He added: “I don’t believe we have drastically increased the numbers in these agencies. I suspect it has to do with competition for the supply. “You can ensure that there is proper competition so that you will get the benefits of competition, which includes quality of supply.
“It may very well be that as you are paying more and more, you are getting less and less in terms of quality.” Griffith acknowledged Rowley’s concerns and said his ministry was auditing the provision of specific services in all law enforcement agencies to look at improving those systems. (KC)