No trips planned for 2018

Community Development, Culture and the Arts Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said on Monday her ministry had no plans for overseas travel next year.

Gadsby-Dolly was responding to a question from Princes Town MP Barry Padarath during a meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives. She said there were some trips this year, such as one for Carifesta, a parliamentary conference in Abu Dhabi and one in which her ministry’s permanent secretary went to Paraguay.

She also told Padarath that a figure of $70,000 for official entertainment for her ministry was only an estimate. Gadsby-Dolly said in the last fiscal year, only $20,000 was spent on this item.

An increase of $1.3 million with respect to contract employment, she said, was in relation to filling positions at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) and the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts. Gadsby-Dolly said because NAPA was neglected by the People’s Partnership government, money had to be spent to improve its infrastructure. She also said Government had ensured that Queen’s Hall and Naparima Bowl also received infrastructural improvements.