Minister of State Barnett Speaks on Belize/Taiwan Relationship

Carla Barnett

Present for the handing over of the cheque was Senator Dr. Carla Barnett.  As the newly sworn-in Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Barnett plays a critical role in assessing the economic impact of Hurricane Earl in the respective industries as well as heading efforts to seek international funding.

Dr. Carla Barnett, Minister of State, Finance

“I want to say thanks very much ambassador, Taiwan and Belize have been friends for a long time and in times like these it’s important for friends to stand together and help each other and so we really appreciate.  We are learning as we go along every time.  Every time there’s a storm we see what we could have done better.  Our NEMO organization is really well established now and all of the pre-storm preparation pays off in terms of the absence of loss of life, we didn’t have any loss of life and for that we are very, very grateful.  That reflects the way we prepare and our response during the storm also helped to ensure that we did not have any loss of life.  But we had loss of property, loss of livelihoods for a lot of our people, particularly for our people in the agriculture sector, they lost their livelihoods.  And so we really need to be on the ground, as Minister Castro is on the ground assessing and responding to our people as best we can.  So the contribution from the government and people of Taiwan is really very much appreciated by the people and the Government of Belize.  So please convey our appreciation.  Thank you.”