Patrick Faber dispels rumours of grant provided to Gappy’s daughter

The social media has been abuzz over the past few days with allegations that the Ministry of Education has offered financial assistance to the daughter of Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega.  A fraudulent letter, purportedly written and signed by the minister’s secretary confirming the issuance of a grant to Gabriela Vega has been posted on Facebook.  When word of the potential outrage caught the media’s attention, we approached Minister of Education Patrick Faber seeking answers to several questions that ensued following the dubious display.  According to Faber, the post was an act of mischief by functionaries of the opposition intended to stir controversy.  The information, including the name of the minister’s daughter, Faber says, is not only erroneous but is of poor taste.

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education

Patrick Faber

“I was contacted by a few members of the media who approached me about a letter that is apparently on Facebook that purports to, that the minister, myself, signed by my secretary, a letter granting the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister a grant for her schooling at Muffles College.  I learned about this yesterday evening so I immediately started my investigation and I am pleased to report to the media that this letter, as far as we are concerned, is a complete fraud.  There are a number of reasons that cause me to say that.  Firstly, the letterhead upon which the letter is written clearly does not have the same font as our ministry letterhead does.  We have checked the reference number on the letter and when we pulled the file and we looked up that reference number it was a completely different letter, one that grants a travel bursary, in fact, to a student and not one that gives a grant to a high school at all.  We have also been able to ascertain that the signature of my secretary is completely wrong and I have for you other letters that she has signed to show you that that is not consistent as well.  And then again, also the fact that this letter is written to the area representative of Orange Walk North, Honorable Gaspar Vega, which is not something that we do at all.  Wherever it is that there is a grant being given to a student we write to the school and we explain to the school that this student is being awarded a grant and that the grant will be paid to the school’s account via the treasury or via the bank in a reasonable amount of time.  So this letter that says basically that Honorable Patrick Faber has approved twelve hundred dollars for Gabriela Vega, I’ve also been able to ascertain that the Deputy Prime Minister’s daughter is Gabriele Vega and not Gabriela Vega and that no such grant was ever given to any of Minister Vega’s daughter.  She’s does go to Muffles High School, I’ve been able to ascertain, but no such payment has been made or no such letter has been sent.  And then it says, “On behalf of the Minister of Education we wish you success in your studies.  Please inform the child and parent of the aid…”  And, you know, the letter is poorly written too because why would we wish, if we are writing to the Deputy Prime Minister too, why would we wish him success in his studies.  So this letter is clearly a fraud and for us it signals more desperation on the part of the opposition to try to create scandals where they don’t exist and Belizeans know, I run a very tight ship in my ministry.  We manage a very large amount of money, two hundred and seven million dollars a year and we don’t engage in any kind of hanky panky, so I am terribly disturbed and this is why I have asked you to be here.”