'PNM spent $1b on propaganda vote'

Anna Ramdass aramdass@trinidadexpress.com
Saturday, August 25th 2007

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday the PNM government has spent close to $1 billion on what she described as public relations propaganda.

In her three-hour budget response during the Parliament sitting yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said that this figure for the propaganda vote was calculated by combining the expenditure of entertainment, overseas travel, promotional publicity for the various Government ministries.

She said in 2002, the Finance Ministry spent $5.5 million on public relations and for the year 2007 that increased by 300 per cent to $22 million.

She added that the Education Ministry spent about half a million dollars in 2002 and in 2007 $16 million was spent in public relations.

Persad-Bissessar said the Education Ministry estimated it would spend another $17.6 million in 2008, "so from 2002 to 2008, a total of $63 million in PR for the Ministry of Education".

"In fact, between them, the emperor and his wife would have spent a massive $174 million on propaganda during their term in office. People in this country are starving and homeless and they can spend $174 million on publicity stunts" she continued.

She said that worked out to an average of $80,000 a day for the last five-and-a-half years.

She added that some $63.7 million was spent since 2002 to "prop the sagging performance of the Minister of National Security", while $67.3 million was also spent on the Health Minister "to bolster his image".

Persad-Bissessar said the Housing Ministry was at the bottom of the list and received the least amount of money on propaganda expenditure.

By way of comparison, she said, the UNC Government spent $14 million during its last year in office in these ministries and prior to 2001, the expenditure was less than $14 million.

Imagine these ugly mudder cont and dem spend so much ah fockin tax payers money to promote dey ugly self and wa the fock they achieve for the 5 mudder cont years.

One setta ads wid dey baboon looking self in the fockin papers and on tv.

People in this country ketchin dey mudder cont to get a decent supply of water in some areas and these fockers jus having a good time. It have people here da cyah buy fockin food to eat and ah billion dollars gone to galavant dey fockin self.

What is worse is these mudder cont niggas and dem will go back and vote for these fockers. However, one day the pappyshow will be over and I would really hope to be alive to see what these niggas would do.