The Saga of Clive Myers Continues, Tourism C.E.O. Breaks Silence

Clive Myers

Did Clive Myers falsify his certifications? An investigation is currently ongoing at the Belize Tourism Board where for the past four years, Myers had been working –initially in the marketing department and then as Destination Planning and Development Coordinator, before being appointed as Acting Director of Marketing and International Relations. But that position was short-lived because three days after the announcement was made during which Tourism Director Karen Bevans sung Myers’ praises, a package was disseminated to the media, as well as the B.T.B. alleging that Myers had falsified his documents. Since then, three other employees have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation; they are accused of having involvement in the incident. But is the B.T.B. more focused on who leaked the information rather than the issue of its hiring process and whether due diligence had been followed through? C.E.O. in the Ministry of Tourism, Tracy Taeger-Panton, in an interview with the media this weekend broke the silence.

Tracy Taeger-Panton, C.E.O., Ministry of Tourism

“This is indeed a very unfortunate situation if it turns out to be true.”

Duane Moody

“To me it is a black-eye ma’am because it talks, for me and I think for the general public, it questions the hiring process. How is it that someone—if it is true that he doesn’t have his credentials—how is it that he moved up to a director in the institution and due diligence was not done in that hiring process. What would you have to say to that?”

Tracy Taeger-Panton

Tracy Taeger-Panton

“I think that Mister Myers’ personnel file was complete when the board reviewed potential candidates; it did so based on what was in his personnel file. So I wouldn’t say that due diligence was not done. Now we need to maybe, moving forward, go a little further, a little deeper. There was no reason for us to think that any of what was in his personnel file was falsified or not appropriate information.”

Duane Moody

“Talk to us about the repercussions because we understand that three persons are currently under investigation, one has been suspended. That person has already tendered her resignation. What proof do you have on these persons that are under investigation to link them to that document reaching B.T.B. and to the media?”

Tracy Taeger-Panton

“I will say this. The entire case is under investigation. We don’t have any conclusive information, but we do have reasons to believe that there were persons involved at the B.T.B. and those persons were suspended until the results of the investigation became apparent. So until then that is where it is at. We will investigate the entire matter to ensure that these kinds of incidences never occur in the future.”

Reporter

“There may be those who say that acting after the fact is a fault; that a background check should have at least been done. Even if you didn’t suspect that any of his documents were falsified that you were at least able to say he can stand up to our criticism at this level, we will do a further investigation. But from what we know he never falsified his documents.”

Tracy Taeger-Panton

“Mister Myers came to the B.T.B. from another institution within the ministry of tourism and culture. There was no reason for us to believe that any information was inappropriate or not correct. His performance as I said earlier really was way above the rest. We cannot fault him on performance, we can’t fault him on commitment, we can’t fault him on his work in terms of his level of energy and effort that he has put into his work t the B.T.B.—both as in the destination planning department and as he was elevated. It is unfortunate, it is very unfortunate, if this case happens to pan out and we have to move on and certainly we will have to review our hiring process and the due diligence that we do for any incoming candidates and candidates that are resident at the B.T.B. he has been with us for four years and all his appraisals were outstanding.”

Reporter

“But ma’am your comment would suggest that if indeed he is a fraud, if his performance was okay, then it is okay for him to have sidestepped the rules.”

Tracy Taeger-Panton

“I did not say that; that was not what I said. I said that we had no reason to believe. His personnel file was complete and we had no reasons to believe that the document in that file were in any way inappropriate.”