Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belize City is Now Villa Fiore

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has swank new accommodations in Belize City. It’s called the Villa Fiore, a seafront mansion which will also house the Prime Minister’s Office. From outside, and inside, the building has all the upscale trappings you’d expect in a wealthy residence – ten thousand five hundred square feet of opulence – not exactly what we’ve come to expect from any of our government departments. Still, that’s what the Villa Fiore will be, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington says that it is long overdue.

Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“This is the first time in the history of the country that we have a building that is dedicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we are getting that through the courtesy of the government of Taiwan through the SICA program. We are buying this building for one point five million U.S. dollars; it cost six million to build it. And incidentally it was built by Sir Andy; I saw it being built because I used to walk along there during the mornings, pass by here and go around when I did my walking. Sir Andy did a fabulous building.”

Wilfred Elrington

Mike Rudon

“Sir can you explain…you were talking a little bit about the funding for the building just now. Could you clarify for us because some people might look at it and say how can Belize afford lodging like this?”

Wilfred Elrington

“How can Belize not afford lodging like this? I think we tend to sell ourselves short. We seem to think that we should not have the best in life. We should have the best in life so long as we work for it. But for years, the Taiwanese government has been giving monies to the SICA countries, including Belize, for the strengthening of their Ministries of Foreign Affairs and all of them have built beautiful buildings to house their Ministries of Foreign Affairs; Belize is the only country that has not done that.  We have gotten the money; we have spent it on different things and different purposes and from time to time you’ve heard scandals about the use of the monies. We ensured that that did not happen in this case. We ensured that we would get the best value for money; that’s why we have such a lovely building at such a wonderful price. This is really, really a steal.”