And while the country prepares for both cruise tourism and the reopening of schools, the border points remain open and incoming tourists are expected to show either their vaccination card or their negative COVID test results.
But for those entering - reports are that no external PCR or Rapid tests tests will be accepted. So, they will have to test at the border. That works just sweet for the new private enterprises which will be doing the testing. It's a plum contract for the points of entry, and out of the two bidders for the tender, Belize Diagnostic Center got the contract.
But is this a case of nepotism? Minister Chebat's cousin and close advisor is married into the family that owns the Diagnostic Center. But when we asked Chebat about it today, he said there is no family relationship:
Hon. Michel Chebat- Minister of Health and Wellness
"No that is not the wife of my cousin at all. As a matter of fact, it is in the process and if you would have done some research, especially with the project management unit which handles this, you would have known that there were 12 licensed institutions who do testing and they were all invited to tender. Out of the 12 of them only 10 tendered, one of them had affixed a price for the government to pay to provide the service while the other did not. So the team who evaluated, who included, I want to say, a member from the Ministry of Finance as the regulations require, selected Belize Diagnostic Center."
Marisol Amaya- Reporter
"So, then it is not a relative of yours at all or anyone linked to you?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"Not to me. I have nothing to do with BDC. I have nothing to do with them."
The Prime Minister told us that Belize Diagnostic's bid was at $90 per test, significantly lower than the other bidder at $100 per test plus over $20,000 monthly to MOHW.
