Leader of the Opposition addresses the SIF scandal

Francis Fonseca

The Former Executive Director of SIF, Daniel Cano, spoke for the first time today since his resignation following the scandal of the Dangriga Municipal Market. It’s an issue that won’t go away because there are serious implications which involve international funding agencies. We asked Leader of the Opposition, Francis Fonseca, to weigh in on the issue.

Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition

“It is a burning issue; it is a serious matter obviously. I am most of all, my main concern is the people of Dangriga are being deprived of their market. They have longed for this project to be completed; vendors are losing money; the people of Dangriga are losing out. So I would like for the government to take this matter very seriously, the prime minister to get involve and whatever monies are remaining to somehow find a way to making sure that those monies are made very quickly available to the Dangriga town council or to some other contractor that government secures. I understand that there is a process that they have to go through, the Social Investment Fund; it is not our money so to speak. So there is a process that has to be followed and we have to respect that process, but they need to expedite that process. They need to sit down and talk to the funding agencies and explain to them the urgency of this matter and I am sure that if they do that, they can move this project forward very quickly and with a sense of urgency. The only ones losing right now are the people of Dangriga. It is very sad.”