Where is our Health Minister at this critical Point?

In the wake of the Coronarvirus reaching our shores, Together Gibraltar would like to ask Government questions in relation to the whereabouts of the Health Minister during this impending crisis.  From his private Instagram account, posts made during working hours lead the user to believe that he may not have been in Gibraltar in the last few days given his photos of beaches in the Costa de La Luz, while his MP Instagram account has not seen any updates in three weeks. 

Further, the Party would like to establish why Minister Balban was not on last night’s GBC Viewpoint programme alongside the other relevant health officials, addressing citizens’ concerns, during what is looking like the biggest potential health crisis in our time. 

Our party is concerned for the people of our community that, if indeed, the Health Minister was on leave, that this is not the kind of behaviour expected from our Health minister at this very moment. Instead, the Health Minister should be at the forefront, and leading the Government response to this health crisis. 

Further, following the Chief Secretary’s mention that leave could be cancelled for Civil Servants during this critical juncture, where even “non-essential business travel” is being banned, and “recommends all government employees to consider cancelling or postponing personal travel arrangements to the at-risk countries”, we ask the Government whether they consider that this should also apply to the Minister holding the most relevant portfolio to this imminent crisis. 

The people of Gibraltar have a right to know whether the Minister tasked with managing this major crossroad is actually present, and dealing with it, as a matter of absolute priority. 

This screenshot was taken on 13th March 2020 at 13:30