Amid criticism, Minister of Health Renward Wells asked his secretary and his driver, who is also his cousin, to return the $1,100 honorarium they received along with frontline workers.
Wells was forced to admit that his driver and secretary received payments, while some healthcare workers were left out, after the honorarium list was leaked to the public.
Wells claims that the honorarium was only for healthcare workers who volunteered and were ordered to report to work on the frontline of the covid fight in the first wave of the pandemic. However, the public has questioned how Wells’ assistant and driver qualified in the first place when he was not even Minister of Health during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
Wells wasn’t sworn in as health minister until July 2020 after then Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands was forced to resign by Prime Minister Hubert Minnis over a test swab controversy.
Wells claims his secretary and driver have returned the money paid to the government. However, it begs the question, why did they receive an honorarium in the first place?