Finsec resigns; will Musa keep Cabinet in line?
The Belize Press Office today confirmed that Financial Secretary Carla Barnett has resigned. Her increasing discomfort with government’s lack of candour over the U.H.S. loan guarantee had been rumoured for weeks and the Prime Minister’s failure to inform her of the multimillion dollar commitments appear to have been the last straw for the veteran public officer. Her actual resignation was first made public last night on Channel Seven’s newscast. Although Barnett was not answering her cell phone today Chief Information Officer Nuri Muhammad told us that she had indeed tendered her resignation, saying that it was a matter of ending her contract several months before it was due to expire. Muhammad would not speculate who would replace Barnett, whose career has included stints as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM, and C.E.O. in the Ministry of National Development. Those who have dealt with Barnett know her as a consummate diplomat, but also as a straight shooter. Her departure should come as no surprise. In September of 2004, as chair of the Governance Improvement Commission, she was interviewed by News Five … and what emerged most clearly is that for Barnett, when it comes to public finances, honesty is the best policy.
Dr. Carla Barnett, Chairman, Governance Commission
“It is a difficult situation in terms of confidence in governance, perhaps even to some extent a questioning of where we are as country. So it is a very difficult place that Belize is right now and I think that how we come out of it will really determine how we solve our problems in the future. It’s a significant political situation.”
Stewart Krohn
”How do you begin to solve this difficult situation that we’re in?”
Dr. Carla Barnett
“By being open, by being fully open with the facts so that people will understand, because that’s part of the complication. Many people, if you listen to the airwaves, to all of the stakeholders for example in the Social Security issue, a lot of what they say is prefaced by, “well we don’t really know exactly” and sometimes if people know exactly then they know what is perception and what is reality. So, I would begin by full disclosure. Once you’ve disclosed fully, then you will have to determine what the next step is.”
And for Belizeans, the next step is Friday’s House meeting, where a vote is likely to approve government’s plan to make good on its guarantee of the thirty-three million dollar private debt of Universal Health Services. The Opposition and civic groups will mobilise a large and angry crowd outside, while inside the pressure may be equally great, as at least five members of Cabinet are said to be sticking to their guns in opposition to making any payments to the Belize Bank.
