And though the House Meeting was delayed over 3 hours due to the PM's absence, he explained why it was necessary for him and 3 other ministers to attend.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I think it was important for us as a government to be there. He brought a lot of heavy hitters from Africa, from the United States, from Latin America, along with him and I felt it was important for us as Belizeans and as a government to be there to show our support and reverence to their visit and also to show appreciation for the 175 of service that they have given to this country so that's why I felt that it was important for myself to go. Minister Fonseca went as well, the Minister of Education that has all these schools, Minister Henry Charles who has always been the contact with the churches, and then well now the new contact person for the churches is Minister Zabaneh so we felt that the four of us, it was important for us to be there. And we're so grateful to the Jesuit society for the work that they have done for the 175 years and as they said hopefully that there will still be serving Belize for the next 175 years."
