Attorney says appointment of minister’s daughter unconstitutional

Marisol Melhado

The Pharmacists’ Association of Belize and the Ministry of Health have been at odds for some time now. The discord came on the heels of the appointment of Danini Contreras, the daughter of Minister Erwin Contreras, as Drug Inspectorate in the ministry. Support for the association has since been overwhelming and for the past two weeks, the executive has been meeting with the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (N.T.U.C.B.) to discuss a course of action and the next step forward.  The association is taking its fight to the public, championing that their concern is about drug quality control within the country. That aside, Vice President Marisol Melhado, says the association has still not received any direct response from the ministry. Well they are also getting support from Attorney Dickie Bradley, who says that the appointment of the minister’s daughter is unconstitutional.

Marisol Melhado, Vice President, Pharmacists’ Association of Belize

“The C.E.O. also mentioned on his response to the last letter that we wrote to them in that he is doing this on recommendation of national security. It is also of national security that we are having this opposition too. What the national security is recommending is for the strengthening of the practice; not to really do a creation of a post that didn’t exist. As a matter of fact at that meeting on March twenty-sixth, they said that they had applied for the creation of the post which we asked for the date and they weren’t certain and they weren’t forthcoming with the information because we believe that was after the fact. This young lady was hired without no credentials, presentation…just probably a completion letter from the university. So they are lot of little gaps that we see you didn’t do the proper procedure and we called you out. But there hasn’t ever been a meeting tabled, so what is the procedure? Can we do it, can we work together? No, we did this and you gotta accept. That is the main way they are feeling.”

Dickie Bradley

Dickie Bradley, Attorney

“It came out that the Minister of Health came out with a post of some inspectorate for pharmacies and then he gives another minister’s daughter the job. That can’t happen under the Constitution of Belize. That can’t happen because public officers cannot be appointed by ministers and politicians. Public officers are an impartial, independent group of workers who don’t—I shouldn’t use the words don’t give a damn—but who are in fact professional people who work with any government; they will do their work to their best.”

Marisol Melhado

“I worked with someone in a wholesale area that didn’t have much experience any at all at holding that and the mistakes being done can cost money at that private sector, but countrywide, the results can be detrimental. And that is why we are so adamant at this. It is not to reflect the individual, but of the consequences of having this individual there.”

The Pharmacists’ Association says that the best outcome, in their minds, is for the proposed legislation to move forward, for a pool of persons to be trains in drug inspection after which a number of inspectors to be selected to satisfy the mandate of the country.