An Empty Chair at the DHS Office!

Sharon Frazer

Belize is in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and yet there’s an empty chair at the office of the Director of Health Services.  News Five has confirmed that there is no DHS at the Ministry of Health and Wellness as of today.  That is because Doctor Marvin Manzanero was placed on administrative leave effective Tuesday and within twenty-four hours, the acting DHS, Doctor Melissa Diaz-Musa returned to Belize City to her substantive post as Deputy Regional Health Manager and Primary Health Coordinator.  It was a decision taken by Doctor Diaz-Musa as the saga of the embattled Doctor Manzanero continues to play out.  President of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, Sharon Frazer says a meeting of the Public Services Commission last Friday addressed the issue of two directors of health services showing up to work since February fifteenth.

Sharon Frazer, President, A.P.S.S.M.

“Yes the Commission did meet on Friday, thank God, and a number of issues were addressed and I believe one of those issues would have been the issue surrounding or some issue surrounding the DHS. I know that no decision was taken to appoint anybody else so that it means that if the decision was that they deferred it or they did anything as it relates to it, it means that the substantive holder remains as the DHS, which is Doctor Manzanero. So until the Commission would have made a decision contrary to that, he remains the Director of Health Services.”

It is not known at this point how long the Director of Health Services post will be vacant because it depends on how quickly the review of Doctor Manzanero’s case takes.