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President of NICH Dianne Haylock will be suspended without pay for a month – that is the decision of Cabinet after meeting with Haylock today. Reports are that Haylock explained to the Cabinet the justification for entering into the contract with David Gegg's Cruise Solutions and fielded questions about the contract.

A rare Cabinet release issued just over an hour ago says that it does not support the decision taken by Haylock to award the contract to cruise solution without first inviting proposals then selecting the best bid. The release adds that any decision to award such a contract should have been made by the Board of NICH. And while that is cast aside as an error in judgment, the release goes unto say that that she acted as the Prime Minister told us yesterday in good faith and absolutely without any improper motive.

And so Cabinet has directed the Minister of Culture to suspend Haylock – adding that, quote: "Cabinet does not feel that for this one mistake, Ms. Haylock should be terminated." That her job was spared is a significant show of strength for the Prime Minister in his Cabinet and a come uppance for Culture Minister Cardona who it is felt was pushing to have Haylock terminated.

And he might have gotten his way, if he didn't push quite so hard. Opinion in the Cabinet – we are told – may have sided more with Cardona if he had not appeared on KREM's WUB Morning Show and contracted a serious case of foot in mouth disease. Cardona told the hosts that Haylock was appointed President of NICH by the Prime Minister – making it clear that she was not his choice, and making it seem that she was basically forced unto him.

That surprisingly bold remark – we are told by senior sources – almost cost Cardona has Culture portfolio because that's not how it went. And after being properly upbraided for that mischaracterization in Cabinet today, the Ministry of Culture this evening sent out a release saying that, quote, "the fact is that Haylock was appointed through a collective decision by Cabinet and not the Prime Minister.

It continues to say that, quote: "through this medium Hon. Marcel Cardona would like to publicly apologize to the Prime Minister and the people of Belize for that mistake." It closes by saying that, "the statement was made without any malice and was simply that – a mistake." Could have been a costly one but because of that unprecedented apology it wasn't.

But that wasn't the only public scolding for Cardona. The Cabinet release makes it clear that the agreement is not a privatization of an archaeological reserve – it was first and repeatedly called that by Cardona's Ministry of Culture. So now that all the power plays are through and the scores settled, what about the other thing...the thing that all this is about, the contract with Gegg's Cruise Solutions, will that be terminated?

Well according to the Cabinet release, that decision will be made by the NICH Board. The board has made it clear it is seeking legal advice on the matter. But, best information suggests that it might be too costly to cancel, and it could send the wrong message to the investor community. So after all the political blood spilt, some suggest that the contract may have to stand. We stress though, that no decision on that is final as yet.