Office of Belize Prime Minister and Cabinet, City of Belmopan
Belmopan 13 March 2012 – Reelected Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow today unveiled his 2012 cabinet following the narrow victory of his United Democratic Party achieved in General Elections on 7 March 2o12. The new Belize Cabinet is remarkable for the record appointment of unelected party supporters – a total of four – to be full ministers of government sidelining elected parliamentarians that slogged it through a grueling electoral campaign.
The four appointed minsters are all close allies of Mr. Barrow and include a former automotive mechanic turned farmer, two women environmentalists and a former government archivist. Answering questions today at a press conference to present his new government, Mr. Barrow justified bringing in unelected parliamentarians to form one fourth of his cabinet by saying that he was looking for talent, diversity and brainpower to give Belize the best cabinet it has ever had. The unelected ministers were first appointed senators by Mr. Barrow, then appointed ministers – the only device available to him to bring in unelected parliamentarians into the cabinet. The following is the full list of ministers in the Belize Cabinet 2012:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow – Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development
Minister of State Santiago Castillo (with special emphasis on Economic Development)
Hon. Gaspar Vega – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture
Minister of State Hugo Patt (with special emphasis on Agriculture)
Hon. Erwin Contreras – Minister of Trade, Investment, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection
Hon. Senator Liselle Alamilla – Forestry, Fisheries, Sustainable Development and Indigenous People
Hon. Senator Joy Grant – Minister of Energy, Science and Technology and Public Utilities
Hon. Wilfred Elrington – Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hon. John Saldivar – National Security, Police and Belize Defense Force
Minister of State Elvin Penner – with special emphasis on Immigration and Border Protection
Hon. Michael Finnegan – Minister of Housing and Urban Development
Hon. Rene Montero – Minister of Works and Transport
Minister of State Edmond Castro – with special emphasis on Transport
Hon. Manuel Heredia – Minister of Tourism and Culture
Hon. Pablo Marin – Minister of Health
Hon. Senator Godwin Hulse – Minister of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development
Hon. Senator Charles Gibson – Public Service and Elections and Boundaries
Hon. Anthony Martinez – Minister of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation
Hon. Mark King – special emphasis on the Conscious Youth Development Programme and the Gang Truce Programme
Hon. Patrick Faber – Education, Youth and Sports
Minister of State Herman Longsworth (with special emphasis on Youth and Sports)
This is a sad day for Belize and her people. Prime Minister Barrow should have taken a very much more conciliatory approach in this new Government, by approaching the Leader of the Opposition and offering them at least two Ministries. In this way he would have avoided the now unavoidable cries of sycophancy and favoritism. His excuse is laughable – bringing in talent indeed, where’s the national unity and working together ideal he’s been talking about? I’m sorry Dean, but you have disappointed me, and many others.
I hope that all these ministers work for the people now and I hope that the rural areas become more developed because we are only seeing an increase in development in Belize City only and that’s unfair for us that live in the rural areas. We are only seeing that the poverty and unemployment is increasing drastically .
I hope we start to see development and I hope that Pablo Marin builds the bridge he promised us Corozalenos at the ferry. By the way that is not his area why he would do such thing why he wouldn’t pave roads in his area? I think that for the past 4 years he has done little.
Congratulation Mr. Barrow and to all of you who won their constituencies. This shows that your government has been doing well. I also like your way of choosing your new cabinet members. I do believe they will do a much better job for our country. Continue with your hard work and lets be happy with your good governance. God bless you all.
I do think that this new government and the ministers are based on favoritism. It is unfair for many Ministers of state that have been given a good ministry in the past four years and are now ministers of state. Just because Hon. Elvin Penner won by just a few, doesn’t mean that the Prime Minister has to punish him for five years and put him as a Minister of State. Many people like Mr. Penner. He is very good to people. He is the best one in the cabinet. He just helped the wrong people.
mr.barrow is doing a great job!!!!! keep it up.
Mr. Barrow congrats and hit the road running. We the people of Belize look forward to:
1) lower interest rates,
2)LOWER PRICES AT THE PUMPS
3) more oil revenue,
4) lower pyts for the SUPER BOND,
5) better roads & Mountain Pine Ridge Toll,
6) fast and good performance in the dept of lands, even if it means increased fees (we need our papers processed.
7) BEL & BSWL to provide more jobs tru contract to a) expand services, b) more lamp post, c) cleaner road sides where the poles are located.
8) Micro-enterprice loans
and much more, lets see your government at work! And PM if the Minister dont perform well for you, change them after one year!
Lets see and improved Belize, that is my two cents.
Needless to say, the approach taken by the PM demonstrates that he is a shrewd strategist and tactician.
Although I find a number of his ministerial appointments to be “interesting” to say the least, it is clear that PM Barrow sought to legitimise certain aspects of his Cabinet with respect to: (1) dealing with IFIs and lending agencies, (2) counteracting the increasing conservation lobby, (3) having a degree of leverage with regard to the ever-looming issue of a referendum on offshore drilling, (4) addressing the ongoing issue pertaining to the dearth of women in Cabinet and (5) holding the Public Service in a presumed state of suspended animation. Of particular interest, I shall follow, very keenly, what I believe to be his move to potentially mute one of the foremost voices in the Senate over the past several years. This, I relate to the matters of 5) the 13th Senator and (6) an elected Senate.
Although not specifically a Cabinet-related matter, I would be remiss not to mention the very interesting move to involve Mark Espat in the effort to renegotiate the Superbond. This clearly lends credence to the saying that, “Politics makes for strange bedfellows”.
Undoubtedly, the new Administration will face a variety of mounting challenges and it should prove interesting to see how matters evolve. Let us see how this plays out in terms of the various, pressing issues at hand, especially given the fact that the Government no longer enjoys a large majority in the House of Representatives.
In the aftermath of the combined 2012 General and Municipal Elections, albeit rather troubling in terms of some of the practices that occurred throughout the process, the people have spoken. Since it is a given that I love my country, I pray that the ensuing months will yield increased development and a reduction in the many social ills which plague our nation.
In all, I hope to witness in earnest effort by those duly elected to govern, to bring about the much needed level of political maturity and corresponding commitment, to move Belize forward.