TERESITA CASTELLANOS

Teresita Castellanos was born on 24 November, 1968 in Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Cayo District. She commenced working in the public sector on 13 November, 1986. In reminiscing on her career as a Public Officer for the past 35 plus years, there is an emotional experience that stands out which brings hope for a better and more transparent Belize Public Service. It would be remiss of her not to mention her appearance before the Special Senate Select Committee in the year 2017 to answer questions and to explain the Government Accounting Procedures reference the Special Auditor General report -Passport Immigration & Nationality department for the period 2011-2013. Teresita must admit the experience was overwhelming and a bit stressful, but the outcome shed a positive light on her behalf and a few others at the Immigration department as the Senate Special Select Committee concluded at page 156 of their final report, that a speech she had written on the culture of corruption and read verbatim at the hearing, the Committee quoted as follows: “This was indeed a significant speech delivered with passion. It should not go unnoticed. Neither should the contributions of other witnesses on this topic”.

Teresita takes this opportunity to thank her supervisors throughout her career, as they instilled great morals and had encouraged her to perform to the best of her abilities, and to carry herself with much dignity, integrity and to always serve the General Public with utmost respect. The critiques and encouragement throughout the years made her improve as a person as she remained a committed Public Officer. This propelled her to excel in work assignments.