Who will be the next comptroller of Customs? That is a question causing some anxiety tonight both at the Ministry of Finance in Belmopan and the Customs headquarters in Belize City.
The current comptroller Colin Griffith is retiring on December 28th, but, tonight, it is not clear who his successor will be.
The uncertainty seems to lie between two senior customs officers, Deputy Comptroller Ian Haylock and Second Deputy Estelle Leslie.
Haylock is the senior man, but Leslie seems to be the choice of the decision makers in Belmopan. But he's not going without a fight and that's probably why when we reached the financial secretary Joe Waight today he said, quote, "There's no final decision yet..the matter is still very up in the air….the issue is exercising many sleepless nights...and...stay tuned a decision will come soon." End quote.
All that to say, this is one more issue that Belmopan seems to be shuffling its feet on - so, best guesses are that, in the interim, the government may have to ask Griffith to stay on for a time more while the Fin. Sec. tries to still the waters.
That could mean coming up with an exit package for Haylock who is less than two years away from retirement - so that the preferred choice of the Ministry of Finance, Estelle Leslie can take up the post of government's foremost revenue collector.
