Panton Presses for Answers in Mira Contract Controversy

As questions continue to mount over government contracts linked to the Mira family, Opposition Leader Tracy Panton says the bigger issue may be the lack of action from the very institutions tasked with protecting the public interest. Tonight, she is calling out several government watchdogs, including the Auditor General, Contractor General, Financial Secretary, and Integrity Commission, urging them to investigate the matter and provide answers to Belizeans. According to Panton, public confidence is at stake, and continued silence from these agencies only fuels concerns about accountability and transparency.

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“The Auditor General’s office has a level of independence and autonomy and should not wait or have to wait for instructions from the Ministry of Finance for an audit of this nature to be instigated. The Auditor General, the Integrity Commission, the Contractor General, the Financial Secretary – you know, I see he has far removed himself from the situation, but the truth of the matter is the financial officers in all ministries report directly to the financial secretary. It’s mounting right, over ten million dollars and counting and still we don’t have any answers, save and except to hear that the Prime Minister has instructed, which he has no authority to do, the Auditor General to conduct an audit. And what we need is not a simply an audit to confirm what we already know. What we need is a forensic audit so that we can see where the systems have been delinquent or the systems have been disregarded that has allowed for this kind of pilfering from the public purse.”

 

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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