The Cook Islands Minister of Finance, Dr Terepai Maoate, is opposing plans by Cabinet for the government to pay for the travel of Ministers, MPs and their wives to the outer island of Aitutaki to attend the re-opening of the island's renovated airport.
The Finance Minister says the government can ill afford to finance an overnight jaunt that would cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Our correspondent in Rarotonga says the proposed trip has been widely condemned on talk-back radio with most callers saying the expenditure would be a waste of money.
