Friends, Family, or Fair Process? Osmond Martinez Responds
Dr. Osmond Martinez says the ministries he has worked in do not usually deal with small, under-ten-thousand-dollar payments. According to him, his experience has been with large-scale projects, often backed and monitored by multilaterals. But that answer raises another question. What about the monthly twenty-thousand-dollar constituency development fund? And what about the suppliers in his own constituency who may benefit from those funds? Are they simply service providers, or are any of them friends, relatives, or political allies? Today, we put those questions to Martinez directly. Here is how he responded.
Dr. Osmond Marintez, Area Representative, Toledo East
“I deal with, during Christmas times the one that provides the massive amount are Caribbean Chicken. And the reason why we use Caribbean Chicken is because they help us with distribution. Normally the Mayan communities don’t have fridge so they will have to take the chicken on the 24th or the 23rd and they help with that cause. And they are also patient with me when it comes to payments and you can verify that with Caribbean Chicken. Sometimes the payment is not there on time and they will wait for me.”
Reporter
“But at other times there are other supplies you do have. Can you categorially state they are not family links?”
Dr. Osmond Martinez
“I don’t know if it is to say if it is fortunate or unfortunate but my family does not have any sort of supermarket. So it is Caribbean Chicken and then we have two Chinese stores in Bella Vista.”
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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