21 missions swallow $2.8m, 1.79m euros as rent

Another €1.79 million has also been expended on the payment of rent for home-based staff of 21 missions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

The Auditor-General in its 2020 report described the payment of these rents as uneconomic and recommended the use of mortgage systems to curtail the situation of exorbitant rents in the country’s missions abroad.

Appearing before the committee today in Parliament, however, the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Ramses Joseph Cleland, says the proposed mortgage system of accommodation for missions has been a challenge.

He said in respect of missions and properties abroad, many properties are situated in prime areas of the host country, making them expensive to maintain.

He said with the Societe Generale loan, the ministry has started acquiring its own properties to serve as missions abroad.