Lisa Shoman was named Minister of Foreign Affairs in early June, when Eamon Courtenay was bumped from that post. Since then she's had a busy month, participating in high level meetings in Washington D.C. and the presiding over SICA and Tuxtla Summits here in Belize. On leaving the job, Eamon Courtenay said she would have a steep learning curve.
Eamon Courtenay, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
[June 5th, 2007]"Lisa will be coming in at a particular difficult and challenging time. The learning curve will be steep. Fortunately for her she has experience as an ambassador but I think an ambassador is one thing and ministerial decisions is another, where decisions fall to you and you have to take them. So it is going to be challenging for her."
Well last week Friday, as SICA and Tuxtla were in full swing, she said it was going great.
Hon. Lisa Shoman, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Not only am I coping, I think I better be boastful and say I am thriving."
And more than the success of those summits, we'd say Lisa Shoman has plenty to boast about. That's because even though she's a Senator Minister, she is reportedly still being paid as an Ambassador. And it's quite a big difference. An ambassador's salary is mostly unremarkable. According to the budget book, the salary is $62,000 a year. But the real perk of the job is that ambassadors are paid a per diem of about US$150 a day - 365 days a year. And that per diem is not just paid when they are traveling. It's paid in Washington, it's paid in Barbados, where the Minister was up until yesterday, and it's paid in Belize, where she is tonight. And it's all paid in U.S dollars - adding up to just over US$50,000 a year. Add that to the $62,000 salary, and it's a figure that would make any Minister blush.
Cabinet Secretary Bobby Leslie yesterday told us that indeed her salary as a Minister has not been, "regularized". But he expects that it will. He says that will happen once she's had a chance to settle into office. Shoman just returned from a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting yesterday. What the Cabinet Secretary couldn't confirm is whether government is still paying the rent on Shoman's pricey Washington apartment. According to the budget book, last year government paid BZE$254,000 to rent two houses for the Washington Embassy.
Of course, the backdrop to all this is that, as Cab Sec Leslie confirmed, Shoman is still an Ambassador as she remains accredited to the OAS. In diplomatic circles that's highly irregular, because Ministers outrank diplomats.
We tried to contact Minister Shoman for comment, but got no response.
