7 News Belize

Corruption Sickness At Health?
posted (November 6, 2013)

For weeks we've been reporting on the missing money – hundreds of thousands of dollars fleeced from the Southern Regional Hospital.  But, there are also credible reports of irregularities at the Dangriga Polyclinic, the Central Region and the Punta Gorda polyclinic.  Indeed, a tidy chunk the 103 million dollar budget of the Ministry of Health is, it appears, lost to graft.  Today we asked the CEO about the panorama of dishonesty confronting the ministry:…

Jules Vasquez
"Monies were put into a fund for every child born, and those monies should have been used to bolster the hospital's resources. Those monies were not used for that. The money - hundreds of thousands, from what we've heard - were fleeced. What is the status with the person who stands accused from the auditor general review/audit?"

Dr. Peter Allen - CEO, Ministry of Health
"I haven't spoken to the individual, but the individual, Ms. Sommerville, is still on suspension. The investigation by the Auditor General's Department continues. The investigation by the police continues. I understand from indirect sources that Ms. Sommerville says that she is innocent. She is not guilty of the accusations that have been leveled against here. And in the absence of firm evidence, I really can't add more than that, except to say that the investigations do continue."

Jules Vasquez
"Would you accept your complicity in this - not in a corrupt manner - but in a manner in which - I am reliably informed - you were warned years ago that there were irregularities, with this account, both at the PG Polyclinic, and at the Southern Regional Hospital. You were warned; you were told, and you did nothing about it."

Dr. Peter Allen
"Well, I don't remember actually being warned of such potential challenges, but certainly, we are aware that there are always challenges to any financial system. The difficulty with these accounts is that as part of the purchasing mechanism, we want to decentralize financial authority and responsibility closer to the people who are affected by the decisions that are made. So, we had special permission from the Ministry of Finance - I think from 2006 - to open accounts that the administrators and managers at the local level would be able to administrate."

Jules Vasquez
"There are irregularities that I have heard of - there are also irregularities that I've heard of at the Polyclinic in Dangriga. And I am quite reliably informed the person who runs the polyclinic is UDP - former UDP Town Councillor - and because of that, irregularities have been - he'd receive a slap on the wrist. And it has come to your attention."

Dr. Peter Allen
"There have been irregularities in the handling of cash accounts - or checking accounts, simply because we don't have direct control over them, and when those irregularities have arisen. But certainly, there is no irregularities in the form of corruption that we're aware of."

Jules Vasquez
"I understand that there is also audit that has been completed for thte Central Region, which is a large area, and that has also pinpointed irregularities in the system, where money is again being fleeced from public purse."

Dr. Peter Allen
"Actually, we've received the first draft of the report for that audit at the Central Region, just over a week ago. The process normally would be that we provide a copy of that report to the offices in question within the report, and then ask them to respond. I believe that's been done, but I haven't seen any respond yet. The important thing from my perspective is that we do everything we can, first of all, to recover any funds that may or may not have been lost, and also that we take all appropriate actions, both administrative and criminal, if it turns out to be the case."

Jules Vasquez
"But from the public's perspective he most important thing is that the wrongdoers be named, shamed, and blamed."

Dr. Peter Allen
"But certainly, we also respect the rights of officers who have served in the public service for a while, and we do work on the fundamental principle, that people are innocent until proven guilty." 

Allen told us he was scheduled to meet with the Auditor General and the Financial Secretary today.  The auditor General will also investigate the Dangriga Polyclinic.

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