Cabinet Minister Oscar Requena is weighing in on the ongoing audit at the Ministry of Defense and the controversy now surrounding some of his Cabinet colleagues. We caught up with Requena today at an event in Belize City, where he described the situation as a challenge government must confront and address. But Requena also heads a ministry that regularly needs hardware supplies for its rural transformation projects. So, we asked him directly: does his ministry also use the under-ten-thousand-dollar payment practice that is now under scrutiny? Here is what he had to say.
Oscar Requena
Oscar Requena, Cabinet Minister
“You are going to encounter challenges and when we encounter these challenges, we must recognize those challenges, understand what is causing those challenges and how do we address the challenges and ensure we put in place whatever structures and mechanisms are important to address those challenges. I believe our prime minister and government has responded and there is a process in place that we are going through and we must allow that process to go through and at the end of the day that process will inform how we improve on whatever challenges that are encountered.”
Paul Lopez
“Do you see these under ten thousand dollars payments as a circumvention of the procurement regulations?”
Oscar Requena
“Again, every ministry has its own unique system and I must say that at the end of the day, whether they are ten or fifty thousand, at the end of the day there must be proper accountability and transparency in how this is managed. Government has clear financial regulations in place and all of us who have a responsibility must ensure that we adhere to those regulations.”
Paul Lopez
“Your ministry deals a lot in supplies, do you all practice this under-ten-thousand-dollar payments?”
Oscar Requena
“I want to categorically say, no we don’t and what I want to say is that we make sure that we follow the procedure.”
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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