Ministers spend $24,000 on four overseas trips
Cabinet ministers spent $24,000 travelling in May and June according to the Government’s travel calendar webpage.
Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, had the highest total for the period, after she attended the 2024 Global Summit of Women in Madrid, Spain, in May.
Ms Furbert was off the island between May 5 and 12 to attend the summit, which cost the taxpayer $9,696.29 in air travel, ground transportation, accommodation and meals.
The calendar entry said that Ms Furbert delivered a presentation on the United Nations Joint Sustainable Development Goal fund programme.
The scheme aims to diversify Bermuda's economy by supporting the growth of new opportunities for empowering women, youth and people with disabilities engaged in economic sectors such as agriculture, cultural and creative industries and sustainable tourism.
Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, travelled to London at the end of May to attend the 2024 Digital Health World Congress.
The event featured 25 speakers and focused on digital healthcare, bringing together experts from industries such as health and medical technology, IT and the internet.
The six-day trip cost $9,291.97, including $1,090.90 in registration fees for the event.
In June, David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, spent $3,053.77 attending a graduation ceremony at Cambrian College in Ontario.
Among those graduating were four Bermudians who had taken engineering courses as part of an internship programme at the Tynes Bay Waste facility.
Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, spent a week in Manhattan in June attending a business conference organised by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation at a cost of $2,008.26.
The Government’s travel calendar said: “Minister Darrell participated in the annual general meeting of the Ministers’ Council with Caribbean member representatives of ministers of tourism.
“These discussions included engaging conversations on the airline and cruise industry developments.
“There was also a forum focused on the industry’s trajectory with respect to leveraging the use of artificial intelligence in tourism marketing.”
In the first six months of this year, eight government ministers took a combined total of 16 trips overseas at a cost of $76,006.
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