Finance minister’s five-day New York trip cost more than $8,000
The finance minister spent more than $1,000 a night on hotel bills over a five-day stay in New York, it has been revealed.
Curtis Dickinson, accompanied by an official, spent $8,331 of public funds on the US visit between November 28 and December 2 last year.
Flights cost $1,205, ground transport was $1,141 and accommodation was $5,157.
The cost for meals was $752 and “miscellaneous” expenses amounted to $75.
A description of the trip said Mr Dickinson and the official led Bermuda Business Development Agency representatives and staff from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the private sector to a BDA roadshow on climate risk finance in New York.
It added: “The minister reinforced in the meetings that Bermuda must continue to grow and diversify its economy, noting that opportunities in the climate risk finance space deserved to be a priority focus.”
The figures were released as David Burt, the Premier, revealed a trip to the US in December cost $23 – because other costs were paid by the organisers of the conference.
But Mr Burt has still failed to reveal how much a visit to London the month before had cost.
Despite government claims foreign trips by the Premier and fellow Cabinet Ministers would be “continuously” updated, Mr Burt still has to outline what the people spent on his visits to the British capital in November, and a crypto currency conference in Switzerland in January.
Announcing that a visit to Naperville, Illinois, between December 3 and 5 cost $23.28 in meals, the Government website said the Premier had been invited to a “Future of Finance Summit event hosted in Chicago”.
It added: “Hotel, accommodation and ground transportation were covered by the conference hosts.”
Taxpayers have still to be told the price of two trips to Europe by the Premier despite a government pledge it would “continuously” update information on ministerial expenses overseas.
Mr Burt attended a meeting of the leaders of the UK Overseas Territories and British ministers in London last November and travelled to Switzerland for a crypto finance conference last month.
The failure to declare how much was spent on the visits came despite Walter Roban, the home affairs minister and Deputy Premier, revealing the $9,000 cost of a trip to the UK at about the same time as Mr Burt’s stay in London.
The money spent on such trips is usually posted on the Travel Calendar section of the Government’s website.
The Government promised the register would give a rapid insight into how public money was spent by ministers when it was overhauled in 2017.
Lovitta Foggo, then the Cabinet Office minister, said at the relaunch: “I am pleased to reintroduce the minister’s travel expenses page on the government website.The new page contains current and historic information and will be continuously updated as ministers travel overseas.
“I am committed to full transparency and this page will detail the location and reason for a minister’s international travel together with how much they spent while travelling.”
The Royal Gazette submitted questions on the trip but there was no response by press time.
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