Should Red Cross have been Tapped for Aid Relief?

Lily Bowman

The Barrow administration has come under criticism for the politicization of its COVID-19 relief effort, particularly where the distribution of food items and other forms of aid are concerned.  That disapproval includes the fact that government has chosen to distribute pantry and other care packages through various constituencies, as opposed to organizations such as the Belize Red Cross or the Belize Defense Force whose professional reputation include efficient and logistical execution of such tasks.  This morning, we asked Director General Lily Bowman to explain how their distribution system works.

Isani Cayetano

“There have been persons who have come forward to suggest that perhaps in terms of the distribution of relief items, that government should have looked towards either the Belize Red Cross or the Belize Defense Force.  Can you share with us what are perhaps some of the logistic measures that the Red Cross puts in place in terms of dealing with the distribution of items as to why people have that sense of confidence in your organization as the go-to for this kind of activity?”

Lily Bowman, Director General, Belize Red Cross

“Of course, put aside the experience that we have.  Many, many, many years of experience in assisting in times of disaster and emergency throughout the country.  We also have representation, an office in each of the six administrative districts and each office has a whole cadre of volunteers.  So we do have the capacity to mobilize our volunteers and to reach all over the country.  We have vehicles but we also have very kind people who promote their business generosity and their corporate social responsibility in times like these and they assist us in transportation like today or with this feeding program, this food program that we are rolling out today.  Brother’s Habet is supporting us with logistics to transport the food packages.  So that’s how we do it.”