Former Ms Belize Bella Zabaneh tonight finds herself in the middle of a raging public controversy-and it's not because of anything to do with pageantry, it's about politics and that $10,000 procurement threshold.
Zabaneh attended Saturday's National Party Council Meeting as a proud PUP supporter in Stann Creek West. He made a statement from the floor urging the government to raise the ten thousand dollar threshold on transactions that a Ministry's Finance Officer can approve.
As we have been reporting, the government is embroiled in a building scandal where thousands of sub-ten-thousand-dollar transactions were approved for politically connected companies. The transactions were kept under the threshold and approved by the Ministry of Defence Finance Officer to avoid scrutiny and red tape from the Ministry of Finance.
Unfazed by the avalanche of hard proof demonstrating irregularities-which she dismissed as "media propaganda"-Zabaneh told the PM: raise that ceiling.
Isabella Zabaneh, Former Miss Universe Belize
"I would like to urge the consideration of a lift of the threshold from $10,000 to a higher number. What matters is value for money and $10,000 is simply too low for ministries to be allowed to spend. It is micromanaging everybody from the top down to the bottom. We need strong oversight, but $10,000 is too low in this economy; maybe 30 years ago it was appropriate. It burdens the office of Financial Secretaries to be micromanaging all of the ministries. Great leaders are remembered for making hard decisions, so I urge this administration to consider making a hard decision. We are not a party of thieves; we are a party of love, and we are not afraid of any other party or the media propaganda that they will push. Thank you."
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I want to commend Bella for being very thoughtful and to be brave to make such a recommendation considering what we are going through. But what we are doing at this time, we have been working with the IDB for over a year coming up with new legislation where we want to set up what you call the Central Procurement Unit."
Well, since that was posted online on Sunday, the backlash against Zabaneh has been merciless. Facebook commenters have heaped condemnation on her for what many feel is upholding corruption.
So much so that today, the Grand Old Party's little-heard-from United Women's Group came to the rescue of Bella, who is the great-grandniece of no less than George Price. They sent a release saying, quote, "Ms. Zabaneh has faced unwarranted criticism and harsh attacks for her stance regarding government procurement thresholds. The UWG unequivocally condemns these attempts to silence a young, articulate female voice in the political discourse. It is profoundly disheartening to witness the malicious backlash directed at Ms. Isabella Zabaneh." End quote.
