The business community wants stronger safeguards, but Prime Minister John Briceño is pointing to a bigger fix: a Central Procurement Unit. He says government hopes to bring legislation to the National Assembly to get that unit up and running, as concerns grow over how public contracts and payments are handled. But beyond the policy response, there is now a political question. With the Smart Stream scandal unfolding in the public eye, will voters see the proposed reforms as enough? Or could the controversy hurt the P.U.P. heading into the upcoming municipal elections?
Prime Minister John Briceño
“It is important for us to show that we are taking action. We are going to tack action. We are setting up the Central Procurement Unit. We hope the legislation is passed by the House and the Senate by the end of this year and that should centralize how we purchase goods and services for the Government of Belize.”
Reporter
“Do you see this affecting the municipal elections?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I am not downplaying this. This is a serious blow. But I believe we will be able to win the election, because our municipalities, our councils have delivered to the people. We have good people running for the PUP. Belize City has two dynamic outstanding young men who have offered themselves to represent us in the next election. I do believe we are going to win.”
And today, serious questions are being raised about whether the ongoing audit into the Ministry of Defense’s finances can truly uncover the full extent of alleged wrongdoing. News Five has learned that concerns are growing over the experience level of the auditors assigned to the investigation, after well-placed sources within the Office of the Auditor General indicated that some members of the audit team have less than ten years, and in some cases less than five years, of auditing experience. Those same sources say a special team was assembled to assist with the probe, but doubts remain over whether the investigators have the expertise and resources needed to thoroughly examine what have been described as corrupt payment practices within the Ministry of Defense. As scrutiny intensifies, questions persist over whether accountability will be achieved or whether critical findings could be overlooked. News Five will continue to follow this developing story closely.
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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