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Author Topic: Minister 'rings up charges' ...on three cellphones  (Read 1325 times)

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Offline Bourbon

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Minister 'rings up charges' ...on three cellphones
« on: August 14, 2012, 01:24:30 PM »
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Minister__rings_up_charges_____on_three_cellphones-165884326.html



For nearly a year, taxpayers footed the bill for not one but three cellphones for ex-transport minister Devant Maharaj, in contravention of the Government's own one-cellphone rule.

Insiders report further that one of the two Government-issued cellphones to Maharaj—708-0217—was in the possession of his girlfriend and chief executive officer of Radio Jaagriti, Kristal Ramroopsingh, up until his reassignment to the Ministry of Food Production in late June of this year
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Maharaj has vehemently denied the charge, insisting he was the holder of the two "708" numbers provided by the Ministry of Transport as well as his own personal "683" mobile, which is paid for by the State. Persons with knowledge of the situation, however, report that Ramroopsingh not only had use of the 708-0217 Government-issued cellphone, but gave the number out to people as her personal contact detail.

Several Radio Jaagriti staff, including the station's head of news, Lokesh Maharaj, identified the 708-0217 mobile as one of two numbers they have for the station's CEO. Telephone logs obtained by the Sunday Express for the "708" cellphone in question show a significant number of calls placed to Ramroopsingh's mother's cellphone, her family home in Fyzabad, Radio Jaagriti's Tunapuna office at the corner of Pasea Main Road and to Minister Maharaj's personal and other "708" Government-issued cellphones.

Ramroopsingh did not answer her phone and failed to respond to several voice mail messages left on her cellphone up to late yesterday.

Last Thursday, Minister Maharaj said he gave up the two "708" Ministry of Transport-issued cellphones when he took up official duty as the new Minister of Food Production at the end of June this year. He denied he ever gave the BlackBerry Torch 708-0217 cellphone to his girlfriend for her personal use and insisted the phone was always with him up until his reassignment of ministerial portfolios at the end of June.

Asked to explain the volume of phone calls placed to his girlfriend's mother's cellphone and family home, Minister Maharaj said: "Yeah... well, I call her mother from time to time."


And the radio station of which she is the CEO? According to Maharaj, he has a "very close relationship" to the station's founder and general secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Sat Maharaj, who he said, is based there.


Asked about the calls made from the 708-0217 number during the weekly Thursday Cabinet meetings when ministers are prohibited from using their cellphones, he answered this way: "Yeah... well, we do have breaks in between."

And the calls placed to himself on his other two cellphones? According to the Minister, that was when he gave the phone to his adviser to check for messages. Asked if he was in the habit of having long chats with his personal adviser, Maharaj said: "Yeah, we have intense conversations."

His responses were vague, however, about the roaming charges billed to the 708-0217 number while he was on a private trip to Miami last December and again, on official State business to India in January of this year.

Maharaj could shed no light on who exactly authorised local telephone provider Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) to put the 708-0217 number on roaming while he was on a private trip abroad with all three of his cellphones, or why the limit on the controversial cellphone was increased from $5,000 to $15,000 a month. Insiders report the limit was extended to $15,000 in part because of late payments to TSTT. He confirmed girlfriend Ramroopsingh did travel with him to Miami nearing the end of December last year, but had no answer for why he placed nine calls to himself from the controversial Government-issued phone to his personal and official cellphones while in Miami.


Cellphone billing records for January 3 to February 2, 2012, for the controversial 708-0217 number reveal total charges of $5,164.86. Of this, roaming charges account for $1,307.71, data roaming charges of $2,702.56 and total call usage of $1,443.30.

During the six-day period December 27, 2011, to January 1, 2012, 15 calls were made to Ramroopsingh's mother's cellphone and three to the family home in Fyzabad. Calls were also made to Radio Jaagriti.

Billing statements, dated February 3 this year from TSTT to the Ministry of Transport show total roaming charges of $5,241.88. The controversial number racked up roaming charges while in India of over $5,000, with roaming data charges alone accounting for $2,408.09. And, as with the Miami trip, phone calls were made to Ramroopsingh's mother's cell, family home in Fyzabad and to the Minister's two other cellphones. The Minister's girlfriend also went to India.

How Minister Maharaj came to have three cellphones for almost a year is also a bit of a mystery.

Maharaj said the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) took over his personal cellphone bills when he was given the Transport brief in July 2011. The billing from the OPM was transferred to the Ministry of Transport at the same time he was provided with two Government-issued cellphones.

Maharaj made clear he did not ask for the phones and merely assumed it was part of a ministerial benefit when he got it in July 2011.

A top public official, speaking on background only, said the rules provide for a cellphone to a Government minister and a telephone allowance of $500 for a private land line. According to the official, there is provision for a full refund for calls certified as official business which exceed the $500 a month limit for land lines.

Maharaj seemed unaware of the one-cellphone rule and said he had no idea how he got so lucky.

He also seemed unaware of the roaming charges racked up by his 708-0217 mobile. He expressed surprise, saying if the Sunday Express information was correct, his Permanent Secretary would have brought it to his attention. Maharaj said, to the best of his knowledge, he never exceeded $500 a month on the controversial cellphone. Billing statements obtained by this newspaper, however, show otherwise.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport at the time of the three-cellphone affair Myrna Thompson, by her own admission, had no knowledge of the controversial cellphone. Thompson said she only had knowledge of the Minister's personal "683" phone and the official "708" number which he gave out to Government colleagues and other people.

The accounting officer for the Ministry of Transport, who transferred over to Food Production, was vague as to whether the Minister was entitled to more than one cellphone or who authorised a second official cellphone for his use or who approved payments for his multiple phones, including the controversial 708-0217 number.

She expressed shock that billings for the controversial cellphone, which she said she had no knowledge of, had racked up charges in excess of $30,000 in the year that Minister Maharaj had it. This is in addition to charges incurred by the Minister's two other cellphones.

Thompson was unable to explain how Maharaj came by the controversial third cellphone and admitted, on closer questioning, that "yes, I should have been aware of it".

Maharaj, for his part, insists that since the matter was never raised with him by the substantive Permanent Secretary, the Sunday Express information was not authentic.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport Verna Johnson refused to take our calls for an account of the Minister's several cellphones. She was deputy PS at the time of the incident.
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus ;with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Minister 'rings up charges' ...on three cellphones
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2012, 01:58:58 PM »
Yeah ... well, Devant yuh too lie. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Offline FF

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Re: Minister 'rings up charges' ...on three cellphones
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2012, 02:01:25 PM »
de man have a bandaid for every cut  :rotfl:
THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES

Offline JDB

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Re: Minister 'rings up charges' ...on three cellphones
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2012, 03:08:32 AM »
More despicable behavior by this bunch of amateurs. Nothing will come of this incident but this guy looks like an ass and a half.

He shoulda just come out and admit it was a mistake and offer to pay the charges.
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Re: Minister 'rings up charges' ...on three cellphones
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2012, 06:32:54 AM »
Never see come see country bookie.

 

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