On Friday July 10 the Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow announced that he will be empanelling a commission of inquiry to look into allegations of impropriety at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The commission will be made up of three persons including a member nominated by the NTUCB, one nominated by the Ministry of Health and the chairperson being a judge of the Supreme Court.
In speaking with the PM, he explains that letters will be sent out shortly to the National Trade Union Congress of Belize to nominate a candidate for his consideration to form part of the commission. The Ministry of Health will also be asked to make their recommendation and consultation with the Chief
Justice through the Attorney General which will be done to determine if a judge will be able to serve as the Chairperson of the Commission. Prime Minister Barrow says that if a judge is not available to be the Chairperson, another option will be to try to get a clergyman to serve as the Chair of the Commission.
The Terms of Reference for the Commission will be set up based on a draft memorandum of understanding that has been worked out between the Belize Medical and Dental Union (BMDU) and the KHMH board. In the draft MOU, both the BMDU and the KHMH board are asking that the Terms of Reference of the Commission of Inquiry would mandate the commission to do certain specific things.
While the Commission of Inquiry is a done deal, so too is the audit which will be conducted to look into the operations at the KHMH. The Prime Minister says that in the audit he is looking at speed and there will be a selective tender process where two or three bids will be accepted. He adds, however, that he may be inclined to appoint the commission of inquiry before the work of the audit begins so that it can be consulted as to the Terms of Reference for the auditor.Â
