![]() Pressed if the expenditure was justified, the former Prime Minister replied: “What I’m saying is (look at) the policy and the protocol. He said she played a “pivotal” role in assisting the country in being removed from the blacklist. He went on to also defend Ms O’Brien’s work to establish the embassy. There are policies and protocols you can’t step out of that and, therefore, they would have followed the policies and protocols as established by the ministry.” That is why we have a budget and that is why we are discussing a budget. He also stated: “Everything still has to stay within the budgetary framework of The Bahamas. These are then subsequently approved, etc, within the budget.” There’s a protocol where you must have a bid. In terms of furnishing selections, etc, there’s a policy. “The accommodation would have been contracted by real estate agents where they would show you various different places ensuring that they meet security standards, etc. ![]() I realise that Keith Bell was making noise about there being $20,000 being spent for a month - that’s 660 per night. “The accommodation must meet certain security standards, etc. When individuals travel, they’re placed in a hotel until proper accommodations are found. Ambassadors themselves don’t spend money like that. He told The Tribune yesterday: “Governments put together budgets, governments have policies, and they have protocols. The Killarney MP explained the rationale for the expenditure. She was appointed ambassador to Belgium and head of mission to the European Union under the Minnis administration. While Mr Bell did not name the ambassador, Dr Minnis identified Maria O’Brien as the official. ![]() These hotels, he said, must have a certain standard of security among other things.įor his part, Official Opposition leader Michael Pintard said ambassadors are unable to approve funding and questioned who approved the spending. He also said ambassadors live in hotels until proper permanent accommodations are found. He said ambassadors did not have access to money. Dr Minnis said Brussels was an expensive place and the ambassador would not have acted outside of established protocols by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yesterday, while Mr Henfield said this level of spending was “indefensible” he said he had no idea it had gone on.ĭr Minnis meanwhile said Mr Bell had been “totally disingenuous” in making the accusations. This included monthly accommodations in a hotel for an ambassador at a cost $20,000 per month, while the furniture and decor cost the government $550,000. On Tuesday at Parliament, Labour and Immigration Minister Keith Bell revealed that a total of more than $1m had been spent, calling it an “indiscriminate callous haemorrhage” of the public purse. Tribune Chief Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and former Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield were at odds yesterday over spending that took place under their administration to furnish and decorate an ambassador’s residence in Brussels, Belgium.
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