One hundred and fifty thousand dollars may not seem like a lot of money in the context of a Government budget of $700 million or capital project overruns of up to $50 million. But it is a lot of money to ordinary people ? almost four times the average salary in Bermuda, a hefty down payment on a house, or several children?s full college tuition.

It is also the amount of money that Cabinet Ministers spent in less than two years on their Government-issued and paid for credit cards while travelling abroad, without, apparently, much accountability at all.

It is also the amount over and above the more than $70,000 in per diems that Ministers get when they are travelling that is supposed to cover room, board and transport costs. That begs the question of where the money went. It may be that there are perfectly legitimate reasons for the spending, but if there are, they have not been offered, and knowing this Government, they won?t be.

But they should, because this is the public?s money, and the public has an absolute right to know how it is being spent and whether the spending is in the public interest.

The question has particular relevance as MPs gear up to debate salary increases for Cabinet Ministers tomorrow in the House of Assembly. Those increases are generous, and while there is a good case to be made for Ministers to be paid more, they must also show that they are careful with the public purse. On the basis of the reports on credit cards, that does not seem to be the case.

It is not at all clear what the money has been spent on and whether it applies to legitimate travel expenses or other things. More clarity is needed, even if one is to give the benefit of the doubt to Cabinet Ministers that the spending is legitimate.