Financial Secretary: G.O.B. still paying for defaults

Second to appear before the Senate panel was Financial Secretary Dr. Carla Barnett. Barnett informed the committee that the Government of Belize continues to make payments to the International Bank of Miami for telecommunication services by the defunct Intelco and payments for the Glenn Godfrey related loans guaranteed by the Social Security Board, including what Barnett referred to as a significant penalty fee in one instance. The Senators then asked the F.S. for her recommendations to ensure such problems do not occur in the future.

Dr. Carla Barnett, Financial Secretary
?I would say that every organisation has to be accountable for its actions. The whole principle of accountability is based on organisations and people being held accountable for the actions that they take on a daily basis. I have no difficulty with that at all; I support that a hundred percent. I hope that I am held accountable for the things that I do on a daily basis. I am just going the other step to say that that does not mean that I can pass judgment on anybody else or somebody else to deal with.?

?Everything is possible under the law. You could make rules and regulations to force people to do things. It?s really the quality of work and the depth to which you do that work to ensure that the best advice is given at all times. I don?t know that there is anything that you could add to the legal framework at this time that would force that to be done. I think people know what needs to be done, it?s really just to do it.?