After taking the rein of Government in March 2016, Prime Minister Andrew Holness made 12 overseas trips between March and December, costing Jamaican taxpayers approximately $13 million.
Opposition Senator Lambert Brown tabled questions in March about the costs and number of trips for the period under review. Yesterday, Information Minister Ruel Reid gave the overdue answers in the Senate.
Three of the prime minister's visits were to the United States, with the total cost of the overall trips being US$98,953.89.
Reid insisted that the trips, mostly for conferences, were "in order" and Jamaica got what he called "great benefits".
The prime minister visited Morocco for a climate change meeting, and The Bahamas, where he attended the grand reopening of the Sandals Royal Bahamian and Spa Resort.
Approximately US$19,150 was spent to cover the attendance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. That trip included a stop in the Dominican Republic, which was not in the answers tabled and which led Brown to question if other trips were left out.
However, Reid said there were no more omissions.
According to the information presented, the delegations accompanying Holness mostly consisted of one advisor, a security officer and an assistant.
However, opposition member K.D. Knight said other government technocrats must have accompanied Holness to the many conferences and the costs would be required as well.
Reid first argued that other technocrats would not fall within the prime minister's delegation, but later indicated that he would be willing to get the cost for other persons who represented Jamaica on those trips.
Politicians on both sides of the political divide in Parliament use overseas trips to attempt to highlight government waste, but analysts have said it's difficult to assess their benefits.
When Portia Simpson Miller last served as prime minister, Holness as opposition leader, tabled similar questions and suggested that the then government was not being frugal.
The full cost of trips Simpson Miller took during her 2012-2016 time in office is not available, but she went overseas more than 20 times during the first two years.
Travels related to Simpson Miller between January 2012 and 2014, totalled $53.5 million, Radio Jamaica reported in March 2015.
1. May 3-5, 2016
Washington DC, United States
PM, advisor and security officer
Cost: US$8,559.46
2. June 3-6, 2016
Havana, Cuba
PM, permanent secretary, assistant and security officer
Cost: US$3,305.21
3. June 25-27, 2016
Panama
PM, assistant and security officer
Cost: US$7,545.91
4. July 3-8, 2016
Guyana
PM, assistant, communications officer and security officer
Cost: US$10,610.79
5. August 11-15, 2016
Brazil
PM, assistant and security
6. August 11-15, 2016
Dominican Republic
PM, assistant and security
Cost for Brazil and Dominican Republic: US$19,149.80
7. September 19-24, 2016
United States of America
PM, assistant, communications officer and security officer
Cost: US$21,686.25
8. November 1-3, 2016
Trinidad & Tobago
PM, advisor, assistant and security officer
Cost: US$2,669.69
9. November 13-19
Morocco
PM, assistant and security officer
10. November 13-19
Nassau, Bahamas
PM, assistant and security officer
Cost for Morocco and Bahamas: US$23, 744.80
11. November 29
Havana, Cuba
PM and security officer
Cost: US$365.34
12. December 15-17, 2016
Florida, United States
PM, assistant and security officer
Cost: US$1,316.64