The shockingly high telephone bill is the result of irresponsible behaviour and reckless use of privileges. This situation has huge consequences as the government cannot go knocking on the door of Telesur for its dividend because then it would be confronted with the debt that it has failed to pay throughout the past couple of years. “Instead of receiving   dividend, we must pay off a debt,” said Finance Minister   Raghoebarsing who is no longer willing to pay the phone bills of the other ministries as this would deplete the state budget and leave no funds left for development projects and investments. In order to prevent further escalation, the ministry has instructed the other ministries to pay their own phone bills. “This way they will keep a close eye on their telephone bill,” said Minister Raghoebarsing. Lately there has been a wave of criticism because of the travel expenses that must be covered when government officials go on foreign missions.Minister Raghoebarsing defended these foreign trips and claimed that  they are necessary because they contribute to Surinamese representation on the international stage. He also claimed that these trips are in fact a return on investment. The Finance minister made it clear that the focus should be on the high phone bills. “People concern themselves with the travel costs but one should worry about the phone bills that are ten times higher than the travel costs.”