Minister John Saldivar Defends Immigration Involvement
John Saldivar
The Special Audit will be fully ventilated at Friday’s House meeting where it is expected that the government side will try their best to exculpate themselves from the shenanigans. Earlier today, Minister John Saldivar, who prior to the special audit took a packing in the John Mason case and lost the Police Ministry, wrote in his own defence on his Facebook. He says: “Speaking for myself on the occasions when I have asked for consideration for an applicant, it has never been a demand for approval but always a plea for the application to be considered and taken through the processes. I have never insisted that any application be approved without meeting the requirements. I also saw my name mentioned in a list of Ministers who ‘intervened’ in the nationality process. According to the Auditor General’s Report, by me inquiring into the status of applications on behalf of my constituents who have relatives applying for nationality, I have wrongfully ‘intervened’ in the process. I absolutely disagree with the Auditor General on this score.”
Every Belizean knows you are a crook just accept and STFU a thief is a murderer
just plain corruption–time to throw these criminals out of power and get Belize back in the positive line.
Pork.. I smell a pig in mud… it’s disgraceful what these clowns are doing… sign the anti corruption bill.. start sending them to uncle Sam jail..
HA HA HA … THIS IDOT IS A MINISTER??? SALDIVAR — YOU ARE DELUSIONAL IF YOU THINK WE ARE DONE WITH YOU… WE WANT YOU GONE FROM GOVERNMENT AND WE ARE RELENTLESS AND HAVE DEEP POCKETS. TRUST ME YOU ARROGANT ASS.. IF YOU HAD HALF A BRAIN CELL… YOU WOULD SHUT YOUR BIG, FAT MOUTH AND PRAY THAT WE FORGET HOW TRULY CORRUPTED YOU AND YOUR SISTER REALLY ARE… DON’T WORRY … YOUR TIME IS MARKED. tick tock … tick tock a-hole
On point and on target Hon.John Saldivar. Kudos to Channel 5 for publishing a rebuttal from the Defense Minister. It is about time that other media houses follow suit and allow the publication of Ministers and not only that of the opposition. That is balanced reporting!
Here is the full text from social media:
For the benefit of my concerned supporters who have heard my name called in the Auditor General’s Reports, please know that as has been previously explained by Minister Godwin Hulse, when a file reaches the desk of the Minister of Immigration to be signed, all the processes and verifications are deemed to have been completed and the “minute sheet” in the file always contains a declaration to the Minister that the file is “in order for signature” and that “all legal requirements are met”.
It has not been the tradition for the Minister to then conduct his own investigation before signing. I therefore can categorically state that I have never knowingly signed any improper nationality certificate. I wished that the Auditor General had explained this process in her Report so that readers would not run away with the impression that just because a Minister signed what turned out to be an improper nationality certificate, that that Minister was involved in some conspiracy. In the matter of the recommendations for visitor’s visa which the Auditor General has declared in her Report as illegal, I beg to respectfully disagree with her and suggest that she erred in making that sweeping declaration.
To my knowledge there is no law that prohibits any Area Representative or Minister, or any John Q Public for that matter from writing a recommendation on behalf of someone applying for a visitor’s permit. Such recommendations especially from Ministers can never be taken to mean that a Minister is instructing that systems and procedures be by-passed.
Speaking for myself on the occasions when I have asked for consideration for an applicant, it has never been a demand for approval but always a plea for the application to be considered and taken through the processes. I have never insisted that any application be approved without meeting the requirements. I also saw my name mentioned in a list of Ministers who ‘intervened’ in the nationality process. According to the Auditor General’s Report, by me inquiring into the status of applications on behalf of my constituents who have relatives applying for nationality, I have wrongfully ‘intervened’ in the process. I absolutely disagree with the Auditor General on this score. As Area Representative my constituents turn to me for help whenever they feel that the bureaucracy is being unfair to them or is moving too slow. It cannot be right that a Representative of the people cannot at the very least inquire (not interfere) into matters on behalf of the people he or she represents.