–?? ?Cites $7.4M ticket claim by Jagdeo By Abena RockcliffeAs the House positioned itself on Thursday last to pass the? Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Bill, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan noted that even the capped benefits offered to former Presidents will cost the Treasury a ‘pretty penny’.The Bill Jordan piloted was one which sought to repeal the former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act of 2009,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, and replace it to provide greater specificity. It seeks to render the conditions acceptable and to place a limit on the benefits, including tax free concessions, to which former Presidents are now entitled. The Bill also specifies some conditions under which the benefits may be enjoyed.Instead of the open ended provisions that were in place, former Presidents will now be given $25,000 per month for electricity, a further $25,Jerseys NFL Wholesale,000 for water and another $25,Authentic NFL Jerseys Wholesale China,000 for telephone. The new Bill states that former Presidents will be given services of personal and household staff, including a gardener but, the total number of such staffers cannot exceed three persons.Minister of Finance, Winston JordanFormer President Bharrat JagdeoThere will be a limit of $200,Cheap NFL Jerseys,000 per annum for reimbursement of medical expenses incurred by a former President for himself and his children below the age of eighteen years and his spouse, provided that the money was not spent on medical attention and treatment obtained abroad or at private health facilities in Guyana, and were available in Guyana at government institutions.Former Presidents will be given full-time personal security, not exceeding two persons including those at the place of residence.They will also be entitled to the provision of not more than two motor vehicles owned and maintained by the State; toll free transportation; and an annual vacation allowance equivalent to the cost of two first class return airfares provided on the same conditions applicable to Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature.But even with the caps placed on the benefits, Jordan said that the state may still have to stand large expenses.He said that only a few months ago, former President Bharrat Jagdeo claimed compensation to the tune $7.4M for two first class tickets.When Jordan said this, several Members of Parliament expressed shock and disgust. Some heckled things like “Where he (Jagdeo) went to cost all that money,” and “He does really overdo it.”The Minister also made mention of the fact that the state was made to pay for two first class return tickets despite the fact that Jagdeo has no known spouse.“In this case it seems as if you don’t even have to have a spouse, you can still claim two tickets …We should not be entertaining claims for spousal benefits where no spouse is acknowledged by the claimer,” said Jordan.Earlier in his speech,wholesale jerseys, Jordan had made reference to the fact that over the period December 2011 to February 2014, Jagdeo racked up in excess of $45M on transportation, security and electricity bills within 27 months.The figure represented the money the State spent for Jagdeo’s transportation, security and electricity from the time he demitted office in December 2011 up to February 2014.Jagdeo’s total electricity bill for the duration amounted to over $9.8M. His average monthly bill was $365,766 at the time. For transportation, he utilized over $15.2M. The State spent over $20.3M for his security over that 27-month period, an average of $752,649 monthly.This can no longer be the case as former Presidents will now be given $75,000 to cover electricity, telephone and water bills and the security entourage will be reduced to just two persons. However, the vacation deal remains the same.