Dear Editor

I WONDER what impression PPP/C Member of Parliament (MP), Juan Edghill, who has assumed the role of his party’s bulldog, believe he is seeking to convey by attempting to bully answers concerning medical expenditures for government officials, especially its Cabinet members, out of government’s Minister of Public Health.

I cannot fathom any good reason for such an unusual line, given that this MP’s party has had a bill of in excess of $100M for a three-year period. And this does not include a similar sum being expended on medical expenses for the husband of Indra Chandarpal, who suffered from a terminal illness, before he eventually succumbed.
I am certain that whatever sums would have so far been paid as coverage for the government’s ministers would not include any such dental price tag that had been accrued by the former PPP/C Cabinet minister Pauline Sukhai.

Conscious of the fact that medical attention and treatment, especially when accessed overseas, carry astronomical costs and was usually borne by taxpayers, explains the reason the current administration has decided to opt for insurance coverage of its Cabinet officers; 50 per cent coverage, with any sums that exceed that being deductible from the particular minister’s salary. This is ensuring that no undue burden falls on the taxpayer.

Which leaves me to wonder what is Juan Edghill hoping to prove by tactics, which are of the scraping-the-barrel type. I wonder what he thinks Minister Lawrence will reveal when she announces figures in respect of her colleagues.

Regards
Earl Hamilton