This afternoon, through credible sources, Amandala got wind of a meeting which was being held at the Prime Minister’s Belize City office, located on Coney drive.
According to our information, Prime Minister Dean Barrow was meeting with former Minister of State in the Ministry of Immigration, the now disgraced Hon. Elvin Penner, for reasons unknown to us at the time.
When we got to the scene, sure enough, the Prime Minister’s vehicle was observed in the parking lot.
A short while after, we got information which suggested that Penner’s unmarked vehicle – a white Toyota Prado – was parked nearby.
As we attempted to set up our cameras to get a quick word with the long-embattled Cayo North East area representative, one of the building’s caretakers hurriedly ejected our news crew from the compound.
Undeterred, we patiently waited outside to at least get a shot of the evasive former Minister of State as he exited the building.
Soon after, at the conclusion of the meeting, Penner came downstairs and went to the door, but quickly made an about-turn when he noticed our cameras.
His driver was then instructed to bring the vehicle up to the door so that Penner could be safely whisked away without interrogation from the media.
As we scuffled to get a good shot of the man who had been at the helm of the most recent and infamous immigration scandal, Penner warily got into his vehicle and subsequently made a dash for it, pulling down his sun visors to avoid the lens of the cameras.
Penner then laughed heartily from the safety of his Toyota Prado.
A while after, KREM News got hold of Penner via phone, just to see if maybe the mid-afternoon meeting was held in order for him to finally hand in his resignation.
According to Penner, it was about business involving “investors.” Penner said, “It was simply a meeting with investors, nothing about politics.”
While Penner wouldn’t go into details about the meeting, he also declined to comment on his alleged involvement in the recent passport scandal.
“I am not going to make any statement or do any interview; it’s something that I think has been over-killed already as it is. I just prefer to leave it at that,” Penner concluded.
He mentioned that he is still assisting his constituents who go to him for assistance.
Penner was stripped of his government vehicle in the aftermath of a recent Cabinet shakeup at the end of January which was deemed to be part of his reprimand for his involvement in the issuance of a Belizean passport and nationality to a jailed South Korean national, Kim Won Hong.
Although he has been implicated in the fiasco, Penner remains untouched by any of the subsequent investigations that were launched in the wake of the scandal.