Infrastructure conference is not a junket, states Moniz
Public Works Minister Trevor Moniz has hit back at PLP claims about a $500,000 strategy for major building projects.
Mr Moniz said: “I've seen a small preliminary document which may have cost around $50,000.
“The fact is the PLP talked about a lot of things, but in the end did very little.”
Mr Moniz, in Miami with Premier Craig Cannonier and Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell for a conference on public-private partnerships run by accountancy firm KPMG, spoke out after Mr Bean said that a report commissioned by the previous PLP Government in the run-up to last December's General Election should now be with Ministers.
He said the then-PLP administration had commissioned the infrastructure development strategy report from accountancy firm PwC in the last quarter of 2012 and that it was to be presented to the incoming OBA Government on completion.
Mr Bean added that the now-Opposition had repeatedly asked for updates on the strategy and had also called for its implementation.
And he said that the trip, which also included civil servants, was not the “junket on South Beach” portrayed by Mr Bean.
Mr Moniz said: “People who know me know I'm a pretty frugal, boring chap. I've hardly been out of the hotel. I haven't been on a junket, nobody has.”
He added: “It's an infrastructure conference and I'm in charge of infrastructure. We're talking about roads, bridges, airports and cruise ship piers.
“All the comparable island jurisdictions are here. They're all talking about the projects and the challenges they have. It seems sensible to be here.”
And Mr Moniz said: “We have projects that are going to be done and we have to decide how they're going to be done. This is a useful exercise.”

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