Caption: Rhoda Bharath
By Prior Beharry
BLOGGER Rhoda Bharath says she’s worth every cent she earned under the People’s National Movement (PNM) government.
She was asked to comment on Minister of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein’s contribution during the 2025/2026 Budget debate in the Lower House on Friday when he said that Bharath earned $3.3 million under the previous PNM administration.
On Saturday, she said, “I’m worth every cent I invoiced for and did nothing unethical or illegal in undertaking consultancy work with a ministry or its entities.”
Hosein claimed Bharath received $3 million from the Ministry of Finance over several years and a further $300,000 from the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).
According to Hosein, the company was registered in October 2017 and “within weeks” secured a contract that later rolled into successive agreements running from December 1, 2017, to May 1, 2025.
He alleged the firm was “specially selected” under a single-source procurement, saying the process amounted to the former minister “handpicking” Bharath. He also named then–Finance Ministry permanent secretary Vishnu Dhanpaul—now an Opposition senator—as having approved the contract.
Hosein read out a series of payments he said were made for communications-related services, including $80,000 for a 45-second National Investment Fund advertisement, $82,000 for “services rendered for December 2020,” and $168,000 for a “loan by loan” advertisement. He further alleged that there was an item for “purchase of Christmas tokens” totaling $56,300.
