Minister of Tourism Kishore Shallow, on Tuesday, stated that two weeks after taking office, he received an email offering him an award for “best new minister.”
He noted that accepting this award would have cost the government over $50,000, a sum that included the cost of travelling to collect it.
Shallow said he rejected the offer, asserting that he would not “squander” taxpayer money to purchase an award for himself.
Furthermore, he challenged former Tourism Minister Carlos James to clarify whether taxpayer money had been used to pay for personal awards during the previous administration’s tenure.
In March 2025, James who was then Minister of Tourism was honoured with the “Tourism Minister of the Year” Award at the PATWA International Travel Awards 2025 held in Berlin, Germany.
At the 2025 PATWA International Travel Awards held at ITB Berlin, several Caribbean tourism ministers were honoured for leadership. Key recipients included Edmund Bartlett (Jamaica) for Innovation, Marsha Henderson (St. Kitts & Nevis) as Woman Tourism Minister of the Year and Oneidge Walrond (Guyana) for Ecological Tourism.
Former North Leeward MP Carlos James told St Vincent Times on Tuesday that he would address the statements made by Shallow, when he makes his contribution to the budget debate.