PSU: Mira’s Leave Sends ‘Wrong Message’ to Public Officers

Belmopan Area Representative Oscar Mira is on a leave of absence while a formal audit into procurement practices at the Ministry of Defence gets underway, but the Public Service Union (PSU) is not impressed with how Prime Minister John Briceño has handled it.

PSU President Dean Flowers said the move sends the wrong message to public officers across the country.

“I think the response from the Prime Minister so far is lacking,” Flowers said. “Is the message that the prime minister wants to send to public officers that whenever there is a suspicion that you will be held accountable, that you can immediately write to your CEO and say ‘put me on a paid vacation leave’?”

Flowers also took issue with Briceño’s framing of the situation, saying the Prime Minister should have been more decisive rather than waiting for Mira to make the call himself.

PM Briceño framed Mira’s departure as voluntary and praiseworthy. “Mister Mira called and said he was prepared to step aside to give the Auditor General the opportunity to do the audit at the Ministry of Defence,” Briceño said on Monday. “I think it should be admired for making the right decision.”

Minister Julius Espat has been appointed as the Interim Minister of Home Affairs alongside his existing Infrastructure Development and Housing portfolio. Espat said he is reserving judgement on the situation. “Nobody has the details as yet. He has been under sustained onslaught, no doubt. How he recovers from that, how he handles it is yet to come,” Espat said on Monday.

The audit is expected to take approximately three months. A formal corruption complaint against Mira was also filed with the Integrity Commission today by UDP’s Edward Broaster.