Tonight the aftershocks of Cabinet's executive thunderclap are still being felt. The Belize Airports Authority Board of Directors is preparing to resign, and, we are informed, so is the General Manager of the BAA Kenworth Tillett, who has been given that option to demit office in an orderly fashion.
And, as the Board accepts Cabinet's invitation to resign, we know that at least one of them is leaving a little further ahead than when she took office. That board member got the BAA to pay her daughter's hefty dentist bill – and was supposed to pay it back out of her monthly Director's stipend. Outgoing board member Lindsey Garbutt explained how that worked out:
Jules Vasquez
"Now, you have one here for the Dental Center $2,040. I understand that it was to assist a board member with a dentist bill for child, for her daughter. Explain to me, what went into making that decision."
Linsey Garbutt - Director, Belize Airports Authority
"A request was made by the board member to deal with an emergency situation for her daughter. We agreed to provide that assistance, and that we would define a grace period, after which she would be responsible for starting to repay that amount by a monthly deduction from her stipend. Those deductions will begin on March 1, 2014."
Jules Vasquez
"In your opinion, is that an appropriate advance to be done for someone who is not really a full time employee?"
Linsey Garbutt
"We considered the situation, Jules. We considered that this person was a very hard working member of the Board. We felt that it was an acceptable risk."
Those payments obviously cannot now commence since the board member is on her way out along with the others and will no longer get a Director's stipend.
Email
Print