He's prepared to do the job - and would probably fit the definition of bright eyed and bushy tailed, but - as we mentioned Bernard enters a ministry that's like a cauldron right now. A record number of new COVID infections, vacancies at key senior posts, and a demoralized staff.
He said that's not new to him:
Reporter
"It was felt in the ministry that minister Chebat operated from a position of distrust. He didn't trust public officers what will you do to boost morale to get these persons on the side and to make sure that in a year's time they don't have to shuffle for you?"
Hon. Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health
"When I got into this role in government, I was elected as a representative, the Prime Minister appointed me as a minister. I will use my example as the Minister of Youth and Sports, especially the Ministry where the morale was very low. You should ask them today, it's totally different. I plan to do the very same. I intend to go in there, build my team, build around the people that are there and we have to work with everybody and that is what I think public service requires service, and what I can do to boost morale is to ensure that the staff gets the resources and the attention that they need sometimes it's just a talk, it's just a sit-down, sometimes it's to hear them out and to hear their cry. Anybody in every organization has their ups and downs and I am prepared to make sure that we can work effectively together so that we can move the health of this nation. The endpoint is to end COVID in Belize. We want to make sure that our people can benefit from better services across the country especially in our furthest rural communities that have been lacking many of these services for so long."
