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The Parliamentary Opposition is demanding an explanation from the Simpson-Miller administration following the revelation that millions of dollars are being forked out to pay the cellular phone bills of Ministers and State Ministers. It also wants the immediate curtailing of expenditure on phone calls.
JLP General Secretary, Dr. Horace Chang, says in light of the country's fiscal challenges the amount being spent on the bills will be viewed negatively.
"It may come up elsewhere in Parliament for discussion, but we need a proper explanation and we need the government to remind its ministers of the challenges the country faces," Dr. Chang told RJR news.
He added that this level of expenditure was "not in keeping with a government that is putting the country through a serious austerity programme."
Nicholson to confront Brown
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Senator A.J Nicholson has vowed to confront his Junior Minister Arnaldo Brown, who has has racked up a $1 million cellular phone bill. Senator Nicholson told RJR News that the figure was cause for concern.
"It seems to me that that that clearly requires some investigation, and it my intention... to speak to the Permanent Secretary and other ministry officials , and the Minister himself," he declared.
He added that Mr. Brown was not currently in Jamaica, but affirmed that he would speak to him about the matter, immediately upon his return.
A TVJ news report last night revealed that the Government spent more than $5 million on cellular phone charges in eleven Ministries between July 2013 and June this year for Cabinet Ministers and their juniors. The Foreign Affairs State Minister's bill was the highest. Mr. Brown, who roams on his foreign trips, had a cell phone bill of $1,090,000 for the twelve months. In June, Mr. Brown's cell phone was $410,000.
Senator Nicholson's calls for the year amounted to $230,000.
And the records obtained by our news centre show Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell had the second highest bill at more than $930,000. He has two cell phones. For one month, Mr. Paulwell's Digicel phone bill was $116,000.
His junior Minister Julian Robinson's cell phone bill for the year was $76,000.
Health Minister Dr. Fenton Ferguson and Environment Minister Robert Pickersgill inched close to $800,000 in talk time. Dr. Ferguson with this two cell phones totalled $749,000. Mr. Pickersgill's charge was $791,000 except his Ministry submitted only eleven bills. In June this year, Mr. Pickersgill's cell phone bill was $142,000.
The same Ministry spent $110,000 on Junior Minister Ian Hayles' account for the entire year. With two phones, Tourism Minister Wykeham McNeil's eleven cellular phone bills were almost half a million dollars. In one month talk charges were $153,000. His Junior Minister Damion Crawford's cell phone was $364,000. In February, his bill was $180,000.
Local Government Minister Noel Arscott's bill was $289,000 and junior Minister Colin Fagan incurred $200,000 for ten months. Over at the the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing its two Cabinet Ministers and one State Minister had a combined bill of more than $400,000.
In the meantime, the records show Youth Minister Lisa Hanna's cellular phone bill was low compared to the others at $45,000. Justice Minister, Senator Mark Golding, does not have a government mobile phone assigned to him.
National Security Minister Peter Bunting's $32,000 bill was the lowest. His monthly bill remained at $2,700.
The ministries of Finance, Education as well as Labour and Social Security have not responded to requests for information. The ministries of Agriculture, Investment, Industry and Commerce have promised to provided their bills shortly.
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