Bridgetown.
Independent Senator Dr Henry Fraser has described the high cost of energy in Government departments as scandalous.
Speaking during the debate on the Appropriations Bill 2013-2014, Fraser said the vast amounts of money spend on utility bills each year in Government departments is extraordinary and dramatic.
According to Fraser, the utility cost in the Ministries of Health, Tourism, International Transport and Home Affairs were $15 million. He said that while no utility cost were given in the Estimates for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, they had to be about $5 million since the Psychiatric had spent $1.3 million.
He stated that the Town and Country Planning Department spend $300,000 on utilities,the Natural Resources Department almost $1 million, the Customs Department just under $1 million and the Land Tax Office $1.7 million.
"It would appear that there's serious abuse of the luxury of utilities in Barbados. We would not leave all of the lights and air conditioning on overnight in our homes. This is sandalous and we monitoring and urgent accelerated switching to solar systems on all Government buildings", Fraser said.
