And back to today's House Meeting, before the very, very long debate on the supplementary appropriation, the opposition opened the sitting by posing their questions to the government.
The area rep for Albert asked the PM to disclose the amount of money that has been paid out to the former governor of the Central Bank, Manuel Vasquez, in compensation for the abrupt end to his five year contract. She also added to the question whether the settlement amount includes the 10% pay cut that public officers have received to save the government some money.
The PM was tightlipped about the exact amount but we did some math and came up with $650,000. But here's how he put it:
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"The former governor's salary was $200,000, standard benefits and increments, and indeed he had been awarded a 5 year contract validated not by government or the ministry of finance but by the bank's chairman on the authority of the board. Not withstanding what was optimistically demanded of the former governor and according to his interpretation of the contract, the CBB ultimately settled at around 65% reduction on that demand in cash. No new Prado was given, or no other vehicle was given, no laptop, no special furniture, nor anything else of that sort. It should be noted that the member did not confine her question to the settlement, instead she somehow ties all this in with information she sought to the public sector's wage adjustment. For someone who seeks leadership of her party, she should be aware that the CBB governor is not a public officer nor a teacher. None of the CBB's employees are. And let me also remind the member for Albert that the wage adjustment and all the other sacrifices required of the public officers, teachers, and Belizeans is a direct consequence of the royal mess that she and her party handed up to us."
