The cost of a recent trip made by Premier Michael Dunkley to New York has been made public on a new website outlining ministerial expenses.

The new site, which went live this week, shows that the total cost of the Premier’s New York trip between September 23-25 came to just over $3,200.

The figure includes just over $1,000 on air travel, $840 on ground transportation, $1,220 on accommodation and $93 on meals.

The new website sets out exactly who went on the journey and what the purposes of the trip were.

The New York entry states: “While in New York, the Premier met with companies interested in establishing financial service businesses in Bermuda.

“In addition, the Premier conducted interviews with a number of International Media organisations to discuss Bermuda as an International Financial Centre and to promote our Tourism industry.

“The business meetings were facilitated by the Bermuda Business Development Agency and the Tourism briefings by the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

“As part of the Tourism-related events, the Premier participated in the launch of Lili Bermuda’s new perfume, based on that recovered from the Mary Celestia shipwreck off Bermuda, where over 130 persons attended, including a large representation of media.

“The Premier was accompanied by Minister of Education and Economic Development, Grant Gibbons and CEO Bermuda Business Development Agency, Ross Webber for the financial services meetings.

“The Minister of Tourism Development and Transport, Shawn Crockwell and CEO Bermuda Tourism Authority, Bill Hanbury accompanied him for the tourism-related components.

“The Premier’s press officer Nea Talbot was on hand to manage the multiple media arrangements. The Premier was assisted in the performance of his duties by Advisor Sen. Jeff Baron. The costs for persons accompanying the Premier are covered under their own Department. As such Senator Baron’s accommodation cost are reflected in the charges associated with the Premier.”

The ministerial expenses for Mr Crockwell and Mr Gibbons are expected to be added to the website shortly.

A spokeswoman for Cabinet Office told The Royal Gazette: “The Cabinet Office advised today that a special page on the Government Portal which will provide details of Ministerial travel is currently available for viewing.

“The site can be accessed via www.travel.gov.bm. The public will recall that in the interest of transparency and openness, the Government committed to introducing a dedicated webpage which outlined aspects of Ministerial travel.

“The current data on the site highlights the recent New York trip conducted by the Premier in late September.

“The public will recall that the Premier visited New York for two days to conduct meetings and promote Bermuda as a reputable business and leisure destination to key stakeholders and media in the city. As a final note, the page ?will be updated gradually, as Ministers travel to conduct Government business.”

The announcement that the website has gone live comes as a statement released today by Shadow Tourism Minister Zane Desilva questioned the delay in releasing OBA travel expenses.

Mr De Silva said: “In the interest of openness and transparency, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party is today asking what is the reason for the OBA’s delay in releasing information surrounding a recent trip to New York by the Premier and several OBA insiders.

“Taxpayers deserve to know: how many people accompanied the Premier to New York; the cost of transportation, accommodations and per-diem allocations; if civil servants were present in the alleged meetings with investors and, if not, why not; how many taxpayer dollars were contributed by the BTA and/or the Bermuda Government to the perfume launch event; and if money was contributed to the aforementioned event what is the return on investment?”