And the man in the middle of that muddy area was Executive Director Daniel Cano. At Monday's emergency meeting of the SIF Board of Directors, he was given the option to resign - and he did, packing up that very night. But, his conduct in the office remains very much in question. Centrally, Kennard Smart has accused him of accepting an eleven thousand dollar cash bribe, which we stress that Cano has denied receiving, and the contractor general says in his report, quote, "there is an absence of clear, compelling and conclusive evidence which supports or corroborates the solicitation or receipt on (CANO'S) part of any monies from K & G Construction Limited or the Contractor in person." So that remains as only an unsupported allegation, but one made by a source who proved credible in his other charges.
But according to the contractor General, Cano has other failings. In his report - which 7news has obtained a part of, the Contractor General says, quote, "in his capacity as Executive Director of SIF, the manner in which he dealt with revelations of alleged bribes, extorted sums or gifts of money purportedly paid to himself and other SIF employees by the Contractor, is less than desirable." End quote.
Indeed, in his complaint to the Contractor General, Smart says he reported the allegations of corruption to Cano, quote, "giving him checks and stubs for him to settle the matter with his officers; instead he called them in, showed them the evidence and used it at his discretion to control them" end quote. Smart alleges that Cano ultimately lost the stubs.
But what the contractor General seized upon in his report was that Cano was working as an engineer for private home owners as a side job, even on a house where the same Kennard Smart's company K and G was the private contractor! The contractor general says that Cano voluntarily admitted to this. It's an issue because, SIF staff rules state that, quote, ``staff members shall not engaged in any form of outside paid employment without the written permission of the Executive Director."
And what about the Executive Director himself? Well, in his report, the Contractor General says, quote, "it would also have been salutary if the Executive Director had held himself up to the same standard by seeking the (authorization of the) Board of Directors.
Tomorrow, we'll have more on the story - but before we close off tonight, we wish to acknowledge a visual error in last night's news: we showed the sign of the Statistical Institute of Belize - the S-I-B, which happens to be in the same office building and uses the same entrance as S-I-F, the Social Investment Fund. We apologize for the mix-up as the two are unrelated.
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