Former Education Minister Castro Faces Questioning in Corruption Probe
The former Minister of Education, Belgis Castro, appeared today before the Second Anti Corruption Proscutor to file declaration regarding the case of irregular contracts for the removal of fiberglass from several schools in the country. Belgis has been charged for committing embezzlement and for property damage (to the state) totaling more than $100,000 dollars. A recess was declared and the questioning will continue in the afternoon. (Critica)
Editor's Comment: Belgis Castro was one of the Education Ministers who served during the PRD administration Martin Torrijos. This whole "clean up the fiberglass" scam was totally unnecessary from the start. These guys managed to create a type of mass hysteria by convincing everyone that the schools were "contaminated" with fiberglass, and they had to use government funds to "clean it up." In fact there's nothing contaminating at all about fiberglass insulation - it's not harmful at all as long as it's behind a wall of gypsum board (for example.) Yes, the little fibers can irritate your skin which is why workers who are installing fiberglass insulation wear protective clothing. Belgis Castro and others at the Ministry of Education first created the bogus need to "clean up" something that was not in reality a problem at all, then they embezzled the money allocated for the (unnecessary) cleanup. The investigations continue.
