Baker refutes London's claim for $100m

Minister of Tobago Development &  Member for Tobago West
Dr. Delmon Baker

$100 million claim made by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) for the newly opened Scarborough General Hospital is now being refuted by newly appointed Minister for Tobago Development Dr. Delmon Baker.

Both THA Chief Secretary Orville London and his Finance Secretary Dr Anslem London have been insisting that the central government had failed to honour its parliamentary allocation in the national budget and release the money for the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA). They explained that the funding was needed to implement a range of new services as well as employ additional staff at the new hospital in Signal Hill.

However, in an exclusive interview with Tobago News last Sunday, Dr. Baker emphatically discounted the THA claims.

He revealed that newly appointed Minister of Finance Larry Howai, was expected to meet with THA Chief Secretary Orville London about the issue last Tuesday.

"I have been advised that the THA is already in receipt of that $100 million they are suggesting is being owed to them by the Peoples Partnership (PP) central government," stated Baker, who was a Junior Minister in the Ministry of Finance before his recent elevation to the Cabinet.

Baker said that based on his investigations, which included discussions with the Budget Director and the Minister of Finance; he was informed that the THA had collected just over $100 million in tax revenue for the fiscal year 2010/11.

"The THA only remitted $75 million of that to the Ministry of Finance," he reported.

"They kept back $25 million," charged Baker. He continued: "In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2011/12, the Ministry of Finance returned the $75 million in a bundle with the THA's quarterly allocation. If you add that to the $25 million the THA had retained that would give you the $100 million they are now querying for the TRHA."

Later during his address at a meeting held by the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) in Patience Hill, Baker slammed into the financial affairs of the current Peoples National Movement (PNM) administration of the THA.

"According to the Auditor General, over $300 million of our money has not been accounted for by this Assembly," charged Baker.

The fiery Baker promised to paint the streets of Scarborough with yellow-clad jersey supporters emblazoned with the message "Audit the THA," before the next THA polls.

Reproduced verbatim from Tobago news