Former head of the public service Reginald Dumas is calling for a “thorough and impartial investigation” into the Tobago House of Assembly's $400,417.50 part-sponsorship of the Roxborough Folk Performers' trip to New York for Labor Day celebrations.

Dumas was speaking on the Tobago Updates morning show on Friday, after the public feud between Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and former deputy chief secretary Watson Duke.

The latter had slammed the assembly’s treatment of 27 members of the group. Duke, the assemblyman for Roxborough/Argyle, claimed that apart from airline tickets for the group, the THA did not provide funding to cover their other expenses. As a result, he said, the members were left stranded, hungry and sleeping on the streets and in rat-infested basements.

Augustine has denied Duke’s version of events and reprimanded him for handling the matter publicly. He said the assembly could not give the group additional money, adding that Duke was aware of the constraints.

Dumas said the chief secretary has questions to answer.

“He speaks of $400,000 to assist people with airfare. How much does it cost (for) a round-trip airfare between Scarborough and New York for 27 people? Four hundred thousand dollars? I don’t think so...

"If it is not $400,000, what happened to the rest of the money? Did the THA pay for meals and accommodation for any part of the time that these people spent in New York? Who sent them in the first place? Whom were they representing? Not the THA. What benefit did their representation bring to Tobago?”

He said all these things need to be looked at and a policy must be developed.

“I’m not saying that people shouldn’t go to the THA and ask for assistance for this, that and the other – yes, they can do that, but on what basis is that assistance to be given, if it is to be given at all?”

He added: “Use the recommendations coming out of this as to how government funds are to be used to assist any group or any individual or whatever it is who is going to represent Tobago.”

Minority files motion to explain NY trip

Minority Leader Kelvon Morris said on Friday he has filed a question for the next sitting of the Tobago Assembly legislature on September 22, seeking answers on taxpayers' money spent on the trip.

“The first question is whether this was political patronage, because we all know that Mrs Vernella Alleyne-Toppin (an affiliate of the performing group)is a former TOP (Tobago Organisation of the People) representative, and she has affiliation to the PDP at this time. We want to know what was the process used and whether the process would have bypassed the policy to favour Ms Toppin in any way.

[caption id="attachment_975447" align="alignnone" width="775"] Kelvon Morris -[/caption]

"The second thing we want to know, there is some information suggesting that the original application was for the Tobago Day event, which would have passed (before the group arrived in New York). So th