Belize Times January 31, 2010 by Belize Times Press

sunday, January 31, 2010

The

The Belize Times

Belize Times The Truth Shall Make You Free

SUNDAY JANUARY 31, 2010

Issue No. 4678

$1.00 www.belizetimes.bz

UDP Corruption Revealed CitCo Audit Report Damning As we go to press tonight, the media mill is starting to grind over the leaked findings of the Auditor-General’s report on the Belize City Council. This morning the news broke on the PUP’s Vibez Radio, as host Vaughan Gill listed example after example of gross incompetence, almost criminal mismanagement of public funds and certainly criminal misappropriation and misuse of public funds. While there had been some speculation as to the report in recent months, the public was kept in the dark as to the actual finished version. That version has lain on the desk of the Prime Minister for over four months, since it was completed on September 22, 2009. The report is thorough and damning,

revealing millions of taxpayer dollars misused or not accounted for since 2006 when Zenaida Moya and the UDP took over City Hall. What is revealed in the findings is a UDP Council which was allowed to run wild with our money – no checks and balances in place. In just one instance, the auditors pointed to what seemed like an obvious scam, in which persons from abroad paying into the Council were directed to make checks and money orders payable to one individual. There was no proper accounting of the funds received - “In discussion with Miss Trisha Bradley, the officer at the time responsible for opening/dispatching mails to (Continued on page 35)

UDP Land Giveaway

The Belize Times has in its possession a file containing one hundred and eighty-seven (187) documents from out of the Ministry of Natural Resources. T h o s e d o c u m e n t s p r ov i d e evidence of very questionable land transactions involving UDP cronies and persons with influence within the UDP. Certainly they paint a very different picture of Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, who with halo firmly in place stood in front of the nation in the House of Representatives and spoke of the transparency, integrity, accountability and good governance under his watch. During that very session of

pontification, Vega claimed, and his Prime Minister has echoed, that he could go to the line to protect Belize’s patrimony and no remaining caye land would (Continued on page 35)

$150,000

UDP crony Landy Burns was paid $150K for this small piece of land on which the bus stop sits. His buddy Gaspar Vega facilitated the lucrative transaction.

. . . r e h et g o T e m o C

$2 MILLION DOLLAR BABY & baby momma

The Belize Times has received credible reports that Deanne Barrow,

the daughter of Prime Minister Dean Barrow, has billed the Ministry of (Continued on page 35)

It's Time For The PUP!

The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Statement on Crime By: Hon. Francis Fonseca

(Reprinted from last week's issue 4677, January 24, 2010)

NOT ANOTHER DIME

In a month or so Prime Minister Barrow will rise in the House of Representatives and present to the nation his Government’s third budget, the Government’s General Revenue and Appropriations Bill for the Financial Year 2010-2011. It would be unwise for the Prime Minister to once again come before the nation with his usual rhetoric; indeed what can he say other than the recession rages on? No matter how he tries to spin it, the fact is that Belizeans experienced one of the worst years in recent history and are bracing for an equally tough time in 2010. For his 2010 budget presentation, fancy speak simply won’t be enough. If he will give even a semblance of hope that his government will get the Belizean people through this, he will have to persuade Belizeans that his administration has a plan to rescue the nation from what seems like an imminent depression. In March Belizeans will be expecting their Prime Minister to unveil a plan that will create jobs, bring down the cost of butane, petrol, and of course basic food items. They will expect to hear about plans to roll out NHI to other parts of the nation and they will want to know how the government will win the war on Crime. They will expect an accounting of oil revenues and a plan to get more from oil revenues. Any plan will need strong financial backing so the Prime Minister had better be ready to say where he will find new money and the Belizean people will want the assurance that there will be no new taxes. This time around fancy talk won’t cut it; after all last year the Prime Minster promised a stimulus package, and if you ask anyone on the street they will tell you that as far as they are concerned, there was no stimulus. He promised that he would remove taxes on gasoline if the pump price jumped $7 and later adjusted that figure to $8. Today gas prices are well above $9 and still no relief. As far as crime and violence is concerned, this past year was a disaster. This year the government must develop a plan that will not only assure, but prove to Belizeans that they will be protected from the criminals who roam their streets. Two years into this administration and many Belizeans are beginning to doubt if any of the possibilities promised by the UDP in their campaign will be realized. Two years in and Belizeans can point to no significant accomplishment by this administration. In fact many have started to comment publicly that there can be no possibilities when the Prime Minster is surrounded by people who not only lack imagination, but who lack the capacity and the competence to get the job done. This kind of thinking is greatly enhanced by this administration’s inability to construct an appropriate bride at the crossing at Kendall a year and a half since this bridge collapsed. They are even further convinced when the national highways are in total disrepair; city streets, feeder roads, highways and so much of the nation’s infrastructure are falling apart. Who else should take blame when everything is currently under the administration of the UDP? On a whole, Belizeans are starting to find it worrying that Mr. Barrow and his cabinet have been unable to provide confidence to investors, grow the Belizean economy, encourage new businesses and enterprises, expand on the health services and reduce poverty. To add to that Mr. Barrow, who was considered tough on corruption, has made it far too easy for some of his ministers to carry out actions and activities that are of a highly questionable nature. His government’s corrupt practices--evidenced by Mr. Schakron’s testimony under oath, the scandal at the KHMH and the questionable new businesses by one of his Junior Ministers, has delivered a direct hit to the PM’s credibility. This along with the obvious incompetence have disturbed and hurt thousands of honest, hard working Belizeans, including some of his own supporters. In such a climate investors are unlikely to even think about coming to Belize and local entrepreneurs will not invest another dime until they see an administration that has the competence to get the job done. This Barrow Budget had better be one that offers better and one that is pragmatic instead of pretentious. Time is running out on this UDP administration. In less than two years the winds of protest have already started to blow and Belmopan is still only 50 miles away from Belize City.

As we meet this morning at historic Independence Hall our fellow citizens, particularly those who reside here in the Old Capital are gripped with fear and uncertainty. Fear following a 2009 in which our nation experienced and witnessed some of the most brazen and graphic acts of violence in its history punctuated on December 28th by a vicious and callous grenade attack on a Yarborough residential community in Belize City which claimed the life of 14 year old Rudolph Flowers. Regrettably, 2010 has picked up where 2009 left off with another grenade attack in the early morning hours of January 11th on Caesar Ridge Road. There is great uncertainty because to date there have been more questions than answers. The Governments response has been long on rhetoric and short on substance. The Ministry of National Security is yet to set out a clear, commonsense plan to take back our society from those who would seek to destroy our way of life. The findings of the much touted Crooks report have yet to be made fully available to the public. The Prime Minister has been summoned to a meeting by gang leaders meanwhile the Belizean people have lost confidence in his Minister of National Security. And while the uncertainty continues, life in Belize grows increasingly dangerous. People who once feared having a gun in their homes now believe they need one. Alarm systems are big business but offer limited comfort only to those who can afford them. Entire communities are being held hostage by criminal gangs while individuals are being targeted in their homes, at ATM machines, beauty salons, and even their workplaces. Neighborhood Grocers are a favorite target of the criminals. The intimidation and execution of potential witnesses in criminal trials has become far too commonplace and strikes at the heart of our system of justice. We make these points today not to score political points or to cast blame but rather to give voice to the cries of frustration and fear we hear each and everyday from so many hard working Belizeans across this country who want and deserve to live in peace, free from fear and violence. Crime is a national issue and all Belizeans have a responsibility to put our energy and resources together in this fight for our society but the Government and the Ministry of National Security, in particular, must lead this effort, build consensus on the way forward, and inspire confidence in the process. This they have thus far failed to do. As the Leader of the Opposition has consistently stated, the PUP is committed to a meaningful and serious collaboration with the Government and all other stakeholders on this issue. We want the work of the Ministry of National Security and the Belize Police Department to be a success story. In this spirit, we have over the last two years offered meaningful proposals to the relevant authorities, which we believe can assist in the fight against crime and violence. The Leader of the Opposition speaking in the National Assembly more than one year ago laid out the framework for a 10 point plan to combat crime. We have called on the Government to fully engage the Belizean people on the findings of the Crooks Report. We have urged the Government to seek immediate technical assistance from the relevant British Agencies to address the new threat of urban terrorism by way of grenade attacks. And perhaps most important, we have called on the Government to share with the Belizean people our nations plan to win this war on crime, drugs, gangs, and violence. Today we repeat these calls on behalf of our people. It is well established that crime and violence in Belize is in large measure directly linked to the drug trade. Almost one year ago speaking in the National Assembly on behalf of our party, I called on the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to direct the Minister of National Security to prepare and present within 90 days a plan to combat this growing threat to our society and economy. To date there has been no response. Further, given the urgency of the current crisis we call on the Government to give serious consideration to the following recommendations: 1. Doubling the Police Recruit Intake for 2010. 2. Doubling the number of boots on the ground (officers on patrol) in Belize City. 3. Re-open all Police Booths and sub-stations that have been closed over the last two years. 4. Re-activate and adequately resource the Community Policing and Neighborhood watch programs. It is unacceptable when residents in their community organize themselves to join hands with the Police to fight crime, as was done by the residents of Belama, here in Belize City, and they are ignored by the Belize Police Department. 5. And we must of course never lose sight of the root causes of crime particularly at a time when job and economic opportunities are hard to come by. Ladies and Gentlemen, Crime and violence are eating away at our nations social fabric and has the potential to further erode confidence in an already fragile and battered economy. We in the Peoples United Party are committed to this fight. We stand ready to do our part.

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sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

If Da Noh Soh…

Sweetheart deals…

Jeez sometimes I feel a little guilty cause I’m sure we make things difficult for the intellectually challenged health minister from up north, but then when I stop to think about it, that bugga deserves everything he gets and more. Latest reports to us are that since we spilled the beans on the minister’s ahem, ahem extra-curricular activities he hasn’t been a happy camper. It was in this column that I expressed my utmost admiration for Pablo. I mean…having a wife and ‘special

anything about owning any tilapia ponds. But then again, he didn’t mention that he paid himself for digging the ponds either, did he?... If Da Noh Soh! Smelly Dread…

Man I no usually like to get into the issue of personal hygiene but after repeated calls from public officers in the ministry of works and other government departments I decided to do this little bit of public service. People are complaining about ‘Grab the Land’ Castro’s dreads and are asking if he would mind very much just washing his hair every now and then because the smell makes their eyes water when they’re around him. Sorry this had to come out here, smelly dread, but yu too big to be so nasty. Please do something bout it… If Da Noh Soh! Kill Smart…

friend’ with the same name is a stroke of genius. Hell, I even complimented him on buying the exact same type of vehicle for both of them cause I’m sure that’s super convenient when it comes to servicing and maintenance. I thought the minister would be happy for us bigging him up – after all there’s not much good we usually say about him. But he’s not, the ungrateful bugga. I hear he’s been complaining that because of us he’s had to be working overtime, so to speak. See, apparently the wife started complaining that she wasn’t being treated right and so our hapless minister was forced to make her administrator of the Corozal Hospital. Of course she never graduated from high school, but that’s fine, says Pablo, as long as she’s happy. But not so fast! Now the ‘special friend’ is complaining too, so Pablo had to find her a job, so he did. He found a position for her at the Corozal Free Zone Management Agency. She never graduated high school either, I hear. So for the moment, my friend from the north is happy. But if I have anything to do with it, he won’t be happy for long. Keep on reading… If Da Noh Soh! Grab the land… This morning I happened to catch a glimpse of Barbie dread wasting my taxpayer money so he can get in his exercise cycling on the northern highway. That got me pissed. And then I got a report which made me realize why I really

Dem damned vultures at Barrow Telemedia Limited under the leadership of the rich witch can’t seem to get it through their thick skulls that Smart is here to stay. Instead the poor haggard looking COO Karen Bevans has been tasked with meeting with different departments to brainstorm on how BTL can kill Smart. According to Bevans at a meeting held on Tuesday, BTL is hemorrhaging cash and they need to come up with something PDQ. All departments have been tasked with coming up with ideas on how to get Smart out of the industry. That’s funny! The Board decided to make this move after it became obvious that the highly paid spin-gurus in the Marketing Department just weren’t getting the job done. Hell, the rich witch could have

Creamy beneﬁts… These damned UDPs no have no shame, it looks like. Remember when we showed you employees of the Ministry of Housing working on the expansion to their boss’ home. That just messed up because Belizeans every day are slider deeper into the hole of poverty while the scant resources are being used to benefit the UDP fat cats. Well it seems that Finnegan decided to pass on the bounty to his friends. Reliable word is that a vehicle from the Ministry of Housing along with a crew from that ministry have been seen working on the home of Karim ‘Creamy’ Berges on Baymen

Avenue. Creamy is the UDP campaign manager and alleged bag man (along with his brother) for DPM Gaspar Vega.

asked me what to do – how about fair competition you greedy lice? How about trying to offer better service and better rates and better features? You all should be focused on that instead of trying to cut-throat the competition. Word out of BTL is that there are some very dark and gloomy days ahead… If Da Noh Soh!

The Prime Minister has taken some serious banging for his decision to award UDP sycophant Kenny Morgan with an

OBE. Some of the older heads in the UDP are saying that DOB must have been on the pain meds when he handed in that name. After all, Kenny Morgan is remembered most for his threat to detonate a grenade in the National Assembly. The wise heads in the Party (of which there are admittedly very few) are saying that it just doesn’t look for Kenny Morgan to be given an OBE, especially right now when the nation is

Damn but it’s good to be privileged UDP right now… If Da Noh Soh! Damned greedy Barrows… Dem damned Barrows really getting out of hand. Lawd but dey no have to be so ‘grabalicious’ and greedy. Word reaching this columnist is that the little Lice-lette/Deanne has hit her daddy

with a whopping $2Million bill for her services in the Westerhaven case. Daddy is said to be caught between a rock and a hard woman. See, normally he’d pay up without a murmur or a quibble to keep the lice happy but with all the stink being raised right now bout this recession thing and about how his family and friends are scooping up the little left in the public trough, he’s in a little jam. Word out of his office is that he’s meeting with lice and licelette to see if he can negotiate a little daddy-discount. I wish him luck in his negotiations with the first wife second lady cause I’ve heard that the lady don’t take country. It’s all about the cash… If Da Noh Soh!

Questions to Ministers 1

Order of Bomb Experts…

don’t like the nasty minister of state. Remember all those tilapia ponds and all that talk about providing employment for the people of Belize Rural North and so on and so forth. Well really, when last did you hear anything about those tilapia ponds? See, word is that the dread dug the ponds with his own equipment (for premium pay, of course), did the requisite photo ops and glamour shots and then went away. Guys from as far up as Rhaburn Ridge are saying that they’ve been left with a worthless hole in the ground and nothing else – no form of assistance or nothing. They say the only ponds that are producing tilapia are ponds which are personally owned by Castro. I don’t remember him saying

at the mercy of urban terrorists whose weapon of choice is a grenade. But it’s already been done, so Morgan is not the butt of jokes in the UDP who are saying that it still fits, since OBE can stand for Order of Bomb Experts… If Da Noh Soh!

Would the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance please say, since it has been five months since BTL was ‘Belizeanized,’ when Belizeans will see any benefits from the utility provider like cheaper rates? Would the Minister of Finance please say how he feels knowing that under his watch 43% of Belizeans are living in poverty with another 14% vulnerable to poverty? And would the Minister say what plans, if any, his administration will put in place to address this shocking statistic?

Would the Minister of Agriculture confirm or deny rumours that he and his daughter have set up a shell company in Cayo for the sale of flour, and all retailers in that district must purchase from that company and not from Belize Mills as was previously the case?

Would the Minister of National Security please provide an update on the so-called investigation into the murder of Chris Galvez, since there are allegations of police involvement and corruption? And would the Minister say what more it will take for him to resign in shame and disgrace as the worst Minister of National Security in Belize’s history?

Would the Minister of Natural Resources please explain the circumstances under which he abused his power to force a businessman to press false charges against a former Minister of Government? Would the Minister of Natural Resources say if he agrees that this act constitutes corruption and a blatant abuse of public office?

The Belize Times

The Whip Corruption Reef Some time ago a ship ram the reef All our hearts were full of grief Natural treasure had been destroyed Baldy’s government was so annoyed To the court he said,” let’s take the gringo” got a private lawyer, first daughter hit the bingo! Case was won, Government has not monies collected Deanne has sent her monstrous bill, cool and collected The people of Belize owe 3.2 million Even though she was just mommy’s pillion Daddy will make sure she gets her stake Now, I wonder how large is mommy’s cake? This here Royal family di rape and scrape They eat all the bread and they no even bake Out here things so hard and they no left the crumbs Dis barrow Crowd deh da lone scums Crazy glue, he knows them well He said Barrow comes from hell He warned dis crowd will ram us in the reef Not even he knew they would get the beef If this is not corruption, then you can’t smell Because this stink as hell, only barrow pockets di swell And no matter how much the truth he tries to dispel All this cash shall come straight from the gabelle… The prime minister he gone for his award Believe me that must be some canard For the only thing developing in this country Is the first family weh get all di bounty The rest of us live in great struggle We two cents we have to juggle fu we li muggle Meanwhile they did drink up, huggle and snuggle We have to go to Melchor to do we li smuggle Dis no fair We di start to flare We pikni no gat food, we di despair We can’t take no more of Barrow’s snare We country di become one big nightmare…

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Statement on Belize-Guatemala Relations By: Senator Eamon Courtenay

(Reprinted from last week's issue 4677, January 24, 2010)

The single most important issue facing Belize, as a nation, is the defence of our territorial integrity and sovereignty over all our territory. Despite all our effort at negotiations, facilitation and other means of peaceful settlement of the unfounded claim by Guatemala to Belizean territory, no settlement has been achieved. Both countries have agreed to seek the approval of their respective peoples to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice for determination. The People’s United Party wishes to express its serious concern at the lack of progress of the referendum process to date. More than one year has passed since the December 8th signing of the Special Agreement and we appear no closer to the referenda. In light of the electoral cycle in Belize and Guatemala, the prospect of holding a referendum is at least four years away. It is impractical for a referendum to be held until after the 2013 general elections in Belize. This means that the earliest possible time that a court hearing can be held, if approved by our respective peoples, would be in 2017. We believe that this delay calls for a reassessment of the Belize Guatemala relations. Public records reveal that illegal migration by Guatemalans into Belize is on the increase. The number of illegal settlements in the border area has increased. Additionally, deforestation and cultivation in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve by Guatemalan nationals has reached unprecedented and unacceptable levels. The Bay of Honduras continues to be exploited by over-fishing by unlicensed fishermen, and pollution increases unabated. Trafficking in persons, drugs and illegal arms as well as smuggling of goods across the border continues to be a cause for serious concern. These new levels of illegal activities by Guatemalans with the resultant stresses on our land and sea demand a new focus, special attention and urgent remedial action. In short, the People’s United Party calls for a recalibration of our national policy in relations with the Republic of Guatemala. This new policy must be designed to protect and preserve our land and sea from illegal activities which have deleterious effects on the environment. Illegality on the border and in our southern waters demands a dramatically new strategy by our security forces. No longer can we dedicate hundreds of thousands of dollars to diplomatic and legal efforts to solve an unfounded claim by Guatemala to Belizean territory, whilst we say we have insufficient resources to address the pressing problems of illegality and environmental degradation. It is time to emphasize the defence of our country from physical attacks whilst at the same time remaining engaged in defence of the Guatemalan Claim. The People’s United Party calls on the Government of Belize to prepare within sixty days a White Paper on Belize Guatemala Relations. This White Paper should have as its main elements, a factual description of the devastating effects of deforestation, cultivation, over-fishing and pollution and other illegal activities; it should elaborate a comprehensive strategy to immediately redress these urgent problems; and thirdly it should provide estimates of the resources – financial and otherwise – required to implement the strategy. The White Paper should be given the widest possible circulation and be the subject of an informed national discussion before the strategy is adopted as a national plan to effectively deal with these problems. We say that nothing less than this new national effort is required at this time. The PUP stands ready to play a leading part in this new effort. Before closing, the Party takes this opportunity to repeat our condemnation of Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington for his description of our border with Guatemala as “artificial”. We reject that description. We assert without equivocation that we have had and continue to have a real border with Guatemala as defined in the Belize Constitution. History reveals that it is the PUP that has successfully led the national effort to maintain our sovereignty and to preserve our territorial integrity. We will not sit idly by and allow this Government to undermine our national position and to risk our national interests. We demand a retraction of the statement, a public clarification of the true and correct position, and the resignation of Minister Elrington. The national interest requires immediate action. Prime Minister Barrow the nation expects you to act; to do what’s right and to do it now.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

UDP Politics as usual The Stench of Corruption…

Back in the days when Dean Barrow wanted our votes to make him king, he rode the anti-corruption horse for all it was worth. With purity and purpose ringing shining in every word, Barrow declared that if there was even a whiff of corruption in his administration, he would stomp it out. There was even word of a two sided machete with which he would chop off this corruption at the roots. Yeah right. Those very same words have come back to bite Barrow right in the royal posterior. The recently leaked City Council Audit report is jam-packed with everything from mismanagement to abuse of office to petty hustling to plain outright ‘tiefing’ of the people’s money. In just one instance, Zenaida Moya’s sister-in-law received $139,000 of our money but the audit shows that she never did the work which was claimed. I mean that’s outright in your face corruption. And that’s just one case. The date on the audit report is September 22, 2009. And of course, the first person to whom the completed report would have been sent is our very own Dean Oliver. So that means that the report has been on his desk for the past four months. For four months, Dean Oliver has had all the evidence of corruption right under his nose. He hasn’t had one word to say about it. Not one word. The public has been kept absolutely in the dark. What is contained in that report is much more than a whiff! It is in fact enough of a stench to put Dean Barrow’s sensory glands permanently out of commission due to corruption overload. So what happened to the gladiator for righteousness, the poster boy for anti-corruption? As one of my colleagues keeps pointing out – the Prime Minister is bogus. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. Imagine. He has the evidence but has kept silent. Our Prime Minister is shameful. FIU joke… Old UDP political wannabe and now director of the Financial Intelligence Unit Marilyn Williams was on television the other night. She reminded me of Dean Barrow with her obvious ‘sincerity and strength of conviction.’ But just like her boss Barrow, Williams is completely bogus. Both of them need to be reminded that sound bytes and carefully rehearsed pauses and gestures and speech do not add up to strength of character and integrity. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not sweating fever for the ‘white man,’ as some will obviously claim. I just think the entire handling of that particular money laundering case was completely bogus. When Williams started spouting off about investigatory and ‘prosecutory’ (which incidentally is not a word) functions of the FIU that was bad enough. When she turned the entire thing into a crusade against the ‘white man’ who had the audacity to come to our shores and invade our integrity with his criminal ways that was horrible. Her spiel about intolerance for wrongdoers and those who would challenge the justice system was out of this world. The FIU basically took this man for all he was worth – jacked all his money and his three-quarter million dollar boat too. They did it by threatening to jail his wife and have social services take away his two year old daughter. Using that threat they forced him to plead guilty to money laundering. I don’t know how you see it but to me that’s plain wrong – extortion of the highest order. So really it doesn’t matter what Marilyn Williams had to say. The FIU was just chancey. And hell, if Marilyn Williams is such a crusader for justice and is so gung ho about rooting out the criminals, she doesn’t really have to pick on a man from foreign. She has a whole bunch of criminals right in her very UDP. Pick a Minister….any Minister. For your own good… I think people are fast running out of nice and even not so nice requests for the Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo to resign. When the patience of the people runs out, things will get nasty very fast. It’s not only about the crime rate which has gone through the roof. It’s not only about the Minister’s bad habit/addiction which renders him incapable of coherent thought, much less action. It’s not even only about the top brass which have been compromised and manipulated by their political masters. It’s all that and so much more. Suddenly now, under the UDP, the Police seems completely corrupt. It’s as simple as that. Take one case in point – the murder of young Chris Galvez. There was Police involvement in that. The person who is the most likely suspect was allowed to leave the country just hours after the murder. Even now, Carlos Perdomo seems reluctant to divulge the finding of the investigation which has been on his desk for the past week. What is he hiding and who is he protecting? And while the Police investigation seemed deliberately bogged down, the family launched their own investigation and came up with real answers very quickly – something the Police could not or would not do. Now an eyewitness has come forward and is calling names. And still the Police are doing nothing. Carlos Perdomo and the UDP have destroyed the credibility of the Police Department. Carlos Perdomo and the UDP have destroyed all confidence in the Police Department. The only ones in this cycle who have benefitted from Carlos Perdomo and the UDP are the criminals.

Low down dirty shame… In 2009 Minister of Natural Resources Gaspar Vega approved the payment of $150,000 of our money to his buddy and UDP financier Landy Burns. The payment was made in compensation for a piece of land which had been acquired from Burns a couple years back. It is the piece of land in front of his store on which the Orange Walk City Council erected a bus stop. The size of the property is probably about 10 feet by 20 feet, if that. And for that, Landy Burns received $150,000 of our money. Burns didn’t try to get any compensation until his friend Gapi was in the position to facilitate the big money deal. When he was asked about allegations of corruption within the Ministry of Natural Resources aimed at Gapi Vega, Prime Minister Dean Oliver said that he refused to believe that his DPM was corrupt, and would never believe it unless he was presented with the evidence. Well there it is, Mr. Barrow - $150,000 to Landy Burns for a miniscule piece of land for a bus stop. Do you believe us now when we say that Gapi is corrupt? Flour monopoly… Whenever there is any talk about unjust enrichment in the UDP, UDP Minister Rene ‘pig thief ’ Montero always comes to mind. In just the first two years of the UDP Montero has gone from a man of modest means to a man with very significant wealth. There’s been much talk about kickbacks from contracts awarded to select UDP cronies. There’s also been much talk about mucho dinero arising from the granting of select permits for the importation of goods. The latest talk is that Montero’s daughter has now set up a company in Cayo for the distribution of flour. It appears that retailers are not allowed to purchase their flour like before. All retailers in Cayo are now forced to buy from Montero’s daughter at increased prices, we are told. Meanwhile Montero and his family are laughing all the way to the bank. If FIU head Marilyn Williams is serious about stamping out corruption, maybe she should take a look at Minister Montero and investigate some of his newfound wealth.

Hypocrite of the Week

This week our panel selected Minister of Natural Resources Gaspar Vega as the Hypocrite of the Week. The slightly intellectually challenged, semi-literate, fully idiotic Minister has been in this position before. In fact, he has deserved and has been called many other titles right here on these pages. But for this column’s purpose, we focus on him this week for his utter disregard for anything resembling integrity or honesty while determinedly maintaining that he is a bastion of virginal purity. The Ministry of Natural Resources under Gaspar Vega has earned a countrywide reputation for being the most corrupt it has ever been. There are widespread reports that land transactions can be facilitated for a consideration and bag-men who say they work for Gapi advertise their skills to all with a hefty purse and a land deal on the line. Yet, Gaspar Vega is not ashamed to stand up in the House of Representatives and talk about

how he has cleaned up the Ministry of Natural Resources and how things are finally transparent and accountable under his watch. What a joke. And even worse, Vega has condemned the previous administration for land transactions even as documents surface in which he has given many, many UDP cronies and even his own family prized pieces of land and cayes and portions of reserves. The Belize Times has received nearly 200 such documents which will expose Vega for the sham and charlatan that he is, and starting this week will publish them so our readers can see the real Vega. And the hypocrisy of Vega has reached all the way to the Supreme Court. Last week under oath one man told the story of how he was forced by Vega to lay charges against a former PUP Minister. The man said under oath that Vega promised to make available to prize piece of land to him if he did what he was directed to do. If this is not corruption I don’t know what is. And yet Vega can still pretend to be so pure. He should be ashamed of himself. The Prime Minister of Belize Dean Oliver was asked about his Deputy Prime Minister and he swore up and down that Vega was as pure as the driven snow. With all the revelations coming and to come which reveal Vega for what he really is, one can only wonder if the Prime Minister will admit to the truth, or if his sight is malfunctioning like his sense of smell. This week Minister of Natural Resources Gaspar Vega is our hypocrite of the week.

PARTY PAGE

The Belize Times

sunday, January 31, 2010

THE BLUE MACHINE

BYM National Executive Meets

President Kevin Bernard Vice President Jose Rodriguez

Belize District Rep. Swami Babani, President Kevin Bernard, Vice President Jose Rodriguez, Stann Creek District Rep. Rodwell Ferguson Jr., Chief of Staff Lucilo Alcoser, and Orange Walk District Rep. Daniel Chavez.

PUP in Trial Farm Village, Orange Walk, READY! The winning team for the upcoming Village Council Elections: 1. Edgar Gerardo Lopez Jr.........Councilor 2. Jose Abran Amaya.................Councilor 3. Cristobal Martinez.................Councilor 4. Alfredo Ortega.......................Chairman 5. Graciela Mu単oz.....................Councilor 6. Virgen Uh..............................Councilor 7. Maria Lourdes Toledano........Councilor

EVENT

Diary of Events DATE

PLACE

Northern Caucus Meeting

Saturday, January 30, 2010

San Narciso Village, Czl

Thursday Think Tanking

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Independence Hall

ANNOUNCING PUP National Consultations on 2010/2011 Budget (Coming Soon)

We Are The PUP

TIME NA

7:30pm

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

GOB Providing Substandard Homes to Residents When I was young my mother used to drum into my head - “if you will do something, do it good!” These basic words have been at the center of much of what I do today whether it is professional or personal. It is for this reason that I cannot understand how it is that the Hon. Anthony “Boots” Martinez and his partner in crime Housing Minister Mike Finnegan can get away with the substandard homes that they are building for the poor people of this country. The Barrow Administration needs to rethink its housing policy as it tries to deliver homes to the disadvantaged people of Belize. Disadvantage can take many forms such as having lower income, fewer family assets, poorer education, being stuck in a dead-end job or having insecure employment, living in poor housing or trying to bring up a family in difficult circumstances (World Health Organization 1998b). Further, these disadvantages tend to be concentrated among the same people, and their effects on health are cumulative. Housing is fundamental to physical, mental and social well-being and quality of life (World Health Organization 1998a: 127). Poor living conditions lead to increased stress, social isolation, an unhealthy and unsafe environment, and increased risk of disease or injury (Podger 1998). Providing access to affordable and quality housing can make a tremendous difference in the economic wellbeing of disadvantaged families. Housing costs are the single biggest expense for any family, especially those who fall in the lower income brackets. For example, using Belize’s Per Capita GDP of approximately

$7,000.00 means that the average Belizean is making just about $600.00 per month. The typical rent for a very modest home around the country is about $300.00 per month. This means that about half of a full-time worker’s gross pay goes to housing and the other half ($300.00) goes on food, clothing, utilities and schooling, all of which I deem to be a necessary part of life. It is not surprising to me then when the latest poverty report highlights that we are getting poorer as a nation. How in the world can someone live a decent life with $300.00 per month to spend on nonhousing necessities? With poverty on the rise and wages on the decline, it is critical that the government of the day develop and institute a proper Housing Policy that would help to improve the quality of life for poor Belizeans. If the Barrow administration is going to provide housing for the poor, then it should be decent housing and not the substandard

“matchbox” that they are providing to people, most of whom are single mothers. I wonder if the newly established Central Building Authority (CBA) has approved or is approving any of these so-called structures being built by Boots! How many more people have to go to the media to raise their concerns about the quality of these houses? The World Health Organization (1998a) has identified nine features of the housing environment that have important direct or indirect effects on the health of their occupants: * the structure of the shelter, including the extent to which it protects the occupants from the elements; * provision of adequate water supplies; * provision of proper sanitation and waste disposal; * the quality of the housing site; * overcrowding which can lead to household accidents and increased transmission of airborne infections such as acute respiratory infectious diseases, pneumonia and tuberculosis; * the presence of indoor air pollution associated with fuels used for cooking and heating; * food safety standards, including adequate provision for storing food to protect it against spoilage and contamination; * vectors and hosts of disease associated with the domestic and

peridomestic environment; and * the home as a workplace—where the use and storage of toxic or hazardous chemicals and unsafe equipment may present health hazards. Some may say that something is better than nothing at all. However, why can’t the something be good? Why can’t the government build decent homes to put our people in? It is a proven fact that the quality of housing has a direct correlation to health issues and criminal activities. This means that people who live in substandard housing developments tend to get sick more often than people who live in decent housing developments. It is also a proven fact that shanty towns are the breeding grounds for criminals and criminal activity. From the list above, the homes being built at the moment by the government would fail miserably. A home has psychological importance as an object of attachment, a source of identity, and a refuge from stress. A home should also be affordable, so that enough money is left over for food, clothing and other needs. It is therefore critical that the Barrow administration rethink the way they are building and distributing houses to the Belizean people! The government needs to find a more efficient and cost-effective way to get quality and affordable housing into the hands of the people who are considered disadvantaged. Our country’s future depends on it!!!

Barrow disrespects young people PM skips out on regional youth summit

Prime Minister Dean Barrow is among Caribbean leaders with whom young people from across the region expressed serious disappointment today. A special meeting between CARICOM Heads of Government and the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development is taking place in Paramaribo, Suriname this week but Barrow is among a handful of regional leaders who displayed total disrespect by failing to show up. “Is this scant regard?” Asked the over 200 disappointed young people who are attending the summit, hoping they would have been part of a truly historic day when Caribbean leaders truly accept to place young people as priority. The CARICOM Commission on Youth Development presented critical findings and recommendations. Chief among the findings are that unemployment, crime and violence, poverty, and low investments in technology and entrepreneurship were not only derailing the development of the region’s youth, but also diminishing the potential for regional integration. The information was presented in a key report

released by the Commission, but PM Barrow was not on hand to receive it. The Commission’s work, over the last two years, focused on the situation of young people in the region. As for Belize, the Commission discovered that if there were a reduction on the cases of teenage pregnancy it could result in about 10% economic growth. Similarly, the country’s GDP could see a boost of 0.6% by simply reversing the HIV/AIDS rate. The Commission also presented a set of recommendations and goals that would propel youth development nationally, and regionally, but Prime Minister Barrow did not even make an effort to attend. Is this how Barrow intends to show his seriousness to young people? Already, he has created a shell out of a youth governance structure that was functional under the PUP, has Youth For the Future operating without proper leadership, used the Ministry of Youth as a stick to beat on former youth minister Marcel Cardona, and continues to cheat the Ministry of meaningful funds to operate. Shame on you Mr. Barrow; the young people of Belize certainly deserve better leadership.

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Corruption

The Belize Times

sunday, January 31, 2010

in City Hall

The following are excerpts from the Auditor General’s Report on the Belize City Council, which was presented to the Prime Minister in September 2009 and which has lain on his desk for four months without any action forthcoming and without the web of corruption being made public. Each week the Belize Times will be providing more excerpts to reveal just how incompetent, corrupt and negligent this UDP Administration is… Keep Reading!

Questionable Transactions

In discussion with Miss Trisha Bradley, the officer at the time responsible for opening/dispatching mails to managers of the various sections of the Council, mails, cheques and or postal money orders were received from abroad and addressed/payable to one Mr. Elroy Archer, a fellow staff member. These mails when addressed to him, as well as the cheques and or postal money orders were handed over to Mr. Archer who in turn would supposedly cash them and prepare receipts for them. Since these were not passed through the Value Book, it could not be ascertained that all monies that he received were properly accounted for. A Collector’s Subsidiary Cash book was requested from Mr. Archer, however none was forthcoming as at the time of this report. Audit views this unsatisfactory situation with grave concern as it clearly showed that the Council was/is not in control of its revenue. In view of this unsatisfactory feature, clarifications are required on the following: (i) Are the Mayor and the Council aware of this undesirable practice? If so why was it encouraged? (ii) Why were correspondence not sent out to individuals notifying them that all mails and cheques or postal money orders were to be addressed and payable to the “Belize City Council”? (iii) If not, what actions/steps do you propose to rectify the matter to ensure that there will not be a repeat of such unsatisfactory feature? Mr. Archer holds the post of Clerk of Court and as such should have been performing the tasks associated with this post.

Payments Made to Lik Road Talk Show

15.3 A total of $10,100.00 was paid to Lik Road Talk Show between the period 31st October 2006 and 14th November 2007 for advertising and messages. In discussion with the Financial manager it was learnt that payments were made to the Talk Show for hosting the Mayor when she appeared on said show. Please for an explanation, as it is understood that one is invited to a talk show and there is no fee/payment involved. Appendix XXV lists the payments that were made.

17.

Fuel

17.1 Despite numerous requests made and the promises made by the Financial Manager to secure Fuel Order Books for auditing, no exhausted fuel order books were presented for the Mayor’s vehicle for the period reviewed. Likewise, no logbooks were presented in respect of her vehicle under the Council’s care. (iv) It was seen where fuel (from original fuel orders) was issued on a regular basis to vehicle EC 001/C 001, although it was not listed as one of the vehicles under the control of the Council on the Logbooks questionnaire completed by the Council for Audit. See Appendix XXIX for details of these issues. Investigation conducted at the Traffic Department disclosed that vehicle C001 was registered to Zenaida Moya and or Troy Flowers. During the same time frame that C001 was in receipt of fuel, the official vehicle for the Mayor EC 1578 also received fuel. Examples are also listed at Appendix XXIX. (iv) Instances where vehicle EC 1578 (from original fuel orders), a 2006 Isuzu Rodeo, received fuel in excess of its 22 gallons tank capacity. Fuel Expenditure 17.3 The amount expended on fuel for the period October 2006 to December 2008 was considered excessive. This was based on the quantity of fuel that was received within the time frame of two days or a week, in addition to the two departments i.e. Mechanics and Works housed on the same compound that could have shared the bulk fuel purchased. A total of $147,809.28 was expended for the period October 2006 to march 2007, while $250,767.48 was spent from April 2007 to March 2008 and a total of $282,629.32 for April 2008 to December 2008 was spent

The amounts spent for the relevant financial years are listed at Appendix XXXIV

sunday, January 31, 2010

Corruption

The Belize Times

in City Hall

Kindly provide Audit with answers to the following questions: 1. Why so much is/was expended on fuel for the Works Department, as the department is/was not functioning? 2. Why so much is/was expended on fuel for Sanitation Department? It was seen where three (3) companies were paid for sanitation work (no contract presented for Audit scrutiny). These payments are for the period October 2006 to December 2008. See Appendix XXXV attached. In addition, other individuals were paid for rental of their vehicles for garbage pick-ups. 3. What types of works/jobs were performed that required the amount of fuel utilized by these departments? 4. Is it necessary to privatize the collection of garbage? The amount expended for this service in addition to what is spent on fuel for the aforementioned departments is extremely high.

Sharon Wade re River runs, hardcore provided and usage of Truck

18.11 During the period 6th December 2007 and 29th August 2008, Sharon Wade received payments for the sum of $139,535.00 (At Appendix XXXVIII) to deliver load of river runs and hardcore to 4 miles Western Highway and usage of truck for sanitation work. All payments were made from subhead 36 – Hire of Equipment. Again, no contract was seen for this individual. According to the Financial Manager, the contract was done verbally.

Dialogue with Acting City Engineer and Works Supervisor on 6th August 2009

18.12 Dialogue between the Auditors and the Acting Chief Engineer (Mr. Harrison Smith) and Works Supervisor (Mr. Umberto Martinez) revealed that Belize Aggregates and Tiger Aggregates are the only companies, which supplied the Council with the river runs, 3/8 washed stones and hardcore sand while Manuel Malic was the sole individual that provided river runs.

Philip Neal & Sons and Belmont Gas Service

18.21 Expenditure of $20,688.25 was seen incurred for the acquisition of butane gas for use by one of the Copuncil’s vehicle Bz C 9314. The frequency in which the gas was received was excessive and abusive. The gas was acquired from Philip Neal & Sons from 18th January 2008 to 24th October 2008, then Belmont Gas Service (formerly Philip Neal & Sons) continued to be paid for the supply of said gas up to 30th December 2008 (the last month reviewed by Audit). See details at Appendix XXXIII. Your input on the matter would be appreciated.

22 Telephone Bills

22.1 An attempt was made to scrutinize the monthly telephone bills of the Council, however all the bills were not made available. Those that were presented are listed below as well as the findings.

The Belize Times

Guest

ditorial A Private and

Intimate Affair Barrownomics – def. brutal poverty Who can forget February 7th, 2009, the first anniversary of Barrow and the UDP administration? The Prime Minister of Belize, the Hon. Dean Barrow and Kim Simpliss went to Savannah Georgia to get married. They looked over Belize and all they governed, and decided that there was no photographer, no cook, no dressmaker, no jeweler, no hotel, no beverage supplier, no wedding designer, no church in Belize worthy to share the momentous occasion. In disbelief, we watched them, seemingly unapologetic, as they discarded us all, and went to Savannah, Georgia, choosing to start the first day of their life together in another country. And yes, we all wished them well. But instead of the House of Culture, we read about Marshall House; instead of photographers Richard Holder, Suzanne Singh or Rowland Parks, we heard of Allison Reiz; instead of wedding designers Raoul Villanueva or Florasol, we became aware of Sebrell Smith; instead of St. Johns, All Saints or St. Mary’s Anglican Church, we were introduced to the Episcopal Church of St. Paul, and who could forget Monique Llullier or the reason they chose Savannah... they did not want to be around the people they know….or that which was Belize…it was to be a private and intimate affair… Fast forward, and nine days before the second anniversary of the Barrow UDP administration, our people are bearing the brunt of a novel kind of politics that perhaps we should have anticipated from day one, and which should have crystallized in our minds by February 7th, 2009. Code Name: Barrownomics; Definition:Brutal Poverty; Purpose : to perpetuate an intimate and private affair. Sound unreal? Not so. This one is real, Jack, very real, for when 143,276 persons or 43 % of the population cannot find $5.50 a day to buy food to survive, it can only be described as nothing less than obscene, heartless and cold; especially when the law firm of the Prime Minister’s ex-wife and daughter submits a bill to the government of Belize for legal fees, for a mind-boggling and obscene $2,000,000.00. This could have taken the 143,276 persons who are living the nightmare of finding $5.50 a day to survive out of poverty for two days, and 77,084 persons of that 143,276 for another day. Ah, but lest we forget, Barrownomics is not about the poor…they are not worthy….for governance has now become a private and intimate affair. Our country is in a humanitarian crisis, and for Barrow and the UDP, Belizeans no longer have a purpose,

as the magic of the election is long gone. Barrownomics seems to be concerned more with spending with total disregard for the rights of the majority of the people in this nation or according to any just or natural law. When public officers are being told to slash their budgets by 20% to reduce the fiscal deficit, this will translate to the reduction in resources available to build and repair houses for poor people; for medicines and new health workers and centers to care for poor people; for paying tuition and CXC fees, building new classrooms, hiring new teachers and fuelling the buses for the education of poor people children; for social assistance for the elderly to eat and access medical care; for programs to empower youth and women to cope with life, and even the paupers funeral box for the burial of the loved ones of poor people. Oh yes, they have to be buried as well. But less we forget, Barrownomics is not about the poor who are dependent on the government, and who have no other option….they are undeserving…for this is a private and intimate affair. Why do we say this? Because we are watching with amazement and disgust, as documented proof of the exponential growth of the expense account for Ministers of Government and the UDP elite are unearthed, as they accumulate wealth and live lavish lifestyles, while 43% and 26% of our young men and women are unemployed, and the standard of an additional 14% of our population or 46,648 persons are vulnerable to a point that they are being forcefully pushed into the statistical poverty bracket. We share the pain and suffering of Belizean mothers who have lost their newborns to blatant neglect of the health services, of Jose Cruz as he fights for the dignity and rights of persons in need of dialysis treatment, and his need for a mere $15000.00 for life saving treatment. This is at the same time the Ministry of Health buys a $160,000.00 Prado with personal temperature setting for the driver, the minister and the passengers of the Minister, and the revelations of the audit reports of the Ministry of Health of the unfettered payment of astronomical profits to selected drug suppliers of hospital supplies, drugs and equipment connected or linked to the UDP elite. But why should that surprise us…after all, it is a private and intimate affair… And to worsen the situation, we hear of the Belize City Council paying the Minister of Housing $10000.00 as appearance fees for the Mayor to be a guest on the show Lik Road, of Senators accessing $80,000.00 of poor people’s housing money, of million dollar mansions under construction, of cayes being sold by a Minister for 1.5 million dollars, of a fence being

constructed for 1.0 million dollars, of young men engaged to cash cheques worth thousands of dollars for work done and supplies not provided on behalf of corrupt ministers. It’s a national shame, that while this is occurring, our communities have become killing fields, prisons within a prison, haunted by the wails of mothers losing their children, painted with the blood of senseless murders spawned out of communities entrenched in poverty, where survival now depends on allegiances to the gun, and outwitting corrupt public officials, where families crowd and share dilapidated living quarters with insects, snakes, flies, rats and roaches, walk on broken streets and children have no place to play, where young women and

sunday, January 31, 2010 men are being lured or shackled into prostitution just to survive, becoming frustrated as no hope for change appears on the horizon. My only guess is that they did not want to be around, because for sure, they were already aware of the repugnant stench of 43% poverty that was emerging horrendously on the horizon. The time has come for poor people to appreciate that they are being used, abused, and exploited by self-serving UDP professional politicians, who will claim to love them, but will keep them perennially in poverty… for Barrownomics can only be defined as brutal poverty. The poor surely do not wish to imagine the possibility of a third anniversary…for how much more brutal can it be…..

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

Worthless Gapi’s Malfeasance Exposed in Supreme Court

On 25th April, 2008 former Minister of Gover nment Jose Coye was arrested, taken to the Magistrate Court and charged for 1 count of theft and 1 count of obtaining property by deception. The charge was based entirely on a statement given by Alfred Schakron, a businessman. Schakron claimed that he paid Mr. Coye a total of five hundred and seventy five thousand dollars ($575,000.00) so that Coye could assist him to get a prime piece of land referred to as the “Putt Putt” land on Newtown Barracks in Belize City. On July 28, 2008 the charge against Mr. Coye was dismissed by the Chief Magistrate for lack of prosecution. Schakron had also written a letter sometime in June stating that he no longer wished to proceed with his complaint against Mr. Coye. By then it had become clear that there was no substance to the allegation and that Schakron did not possess a single piece of evidence or date of any meeting with Coye, or any phone call to or from Mr. Coye or any receipt or canceled cheques. Before giving the statement to the Police Schakron had signed a declaration dated 23rd March, 2008 which was handed to a UDP Minister and which was taken to Cabinet in which Schakron claimed that he had paid the monies not to Mr. Coye but to Mr. Coye’s driver in the sums of fifty thousand and seventy five thousand and in one instance the sum of two hundred and seventy five thousand. It would seem a political decision was made to go after the former Minister using Schakron’s uncorroborated statement and without bothering to check the truthfulness of Schakron’s wild allegation. We say wild allegation because nobody will part with such large sums of money without a single shred of evidence. It should be noted that on the very night the UDP won the election in February 2008, Coye’s rival, the worthless and incompetent Carlos Perdomo had publicly stated that he

would hound down Coye and have him arrested. It should therefore be no surprise that the very next month, March 2008 Schakron had already supplied his falsehoods to Perdomo who became Minister of the Police. Jose Coye has always vehemently proclaimed Schakron’s lies to be utterly unfounded and had stated that should a trial proceed in the Court there would be no evidence to substantiate such lies. As we mentioned the case collapsed in the face of pressures from attorneys Godfrey Smith and Dickie Bradley for disclosure of evidence and early trial. Indeed at the insistence of the attorneys the DPP threatened to withdraw the case and after several adjournments the case was thrown out. Coye sued Schakron for malicious prosecution. He should sue the Minister of Police and he should sue the Police Department as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions. He should also sue the Minister of Lands because they all knew that there was not a drop of evidence on which to arrest and charge Mr. Coye. Mr. Coye’s first lawsuit against Schakron for malicious prosecution was heard last week in the court of Justice Legall. It is quite possibly the first case of malicious prosecution brought by one citizen against another. It is to be hoped that such Supreme Court hearings for malicious prosecution will become a regular feature in our court until the malice

of some citizens and police officers and politicians are exposed and punished in accordance with the law. In Mr. Coye’s case the decision can go both ways as malice is a technical and tricky thing to prove and Schakron may have lied to the Court in claiming that when he gave his statement to the police he had no intention for Mr. Coye to be arrested because he had already given a statement to Mr. Vega to take to Cabinet in March and Sup. Magdaleno visited him on 24th April and he supplied copies of various pieces of evidence. Mr. Coye was arrested by Mr. Magdaleno the very next day. Coye’s arrest was a huge media feast. Why did it take Schakron months to withdraw his false allegations? If that isn’t malice,

what is? During the malicious prosecution case Mr. Schakron told Judge Legall that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Lands the so-called Honorable Gaspar Vega had pressured him to provide the statement against Coye otherwise the Putt Putt land would be taken away. Schakron also told the Judge that he was forced to pay Vega four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00) or Vega would take away the Putt Putt land. It should be mentioned that there are dozens of documented evidence to show that Vega had been violating the laws of Belize by committing malfeasance and misfeasance in his office by purporting to cancel citizens’ titles and leases, and by withholding approval for legitimate applications. It can almost be guaranteed that Gaspar Vega will face numerous lawsuits over these matters. What the Dean Bar row government along with Carlos Perdomo and Gaspar Vega attempted to do to Jose Coye has backfired in their faces. Their abuse of their authority in having Mr. Coye arrested and charged on what is clearly a bogus allegation is despicable and outrageous. Those who seek to do evil will themselves have evil done to them.

The Belize Times

sunday, January 31, 2010

Mariposa'sKid's Corner

Connect the Dots

“501 KIDS’ CLUB” Belize has a border!

Want to learn how to say Belize has a border in different languages? Well, match the phrases on the left to their correct sentences on the right.

Bileez ga wan boada. Belize hat eine Grenze! Belice tiene una frontera. Subufiwati lebein Balisi. Mucu jalack ta ha Belis.

Talking in Kriol you would say it like this… Mennonites would say it like this in German… Mestizos would say it like this in Spanish… Garingua would say it like this in Garifuna… This is how you could say it in Ketchi/Maya… This is how you could say it in Hindi Saying it in Chinese

Word Scramble

Get out your maps because you will need some help! Here’s a hint to guide you, stay close to our border! Unscramble each of the clue words. Copy the letters in the numbered boxes to other boxes with the same number to get the hidden phrase. Good luck!

29 28 27 There is a connection with the 29 dots you joined up and our country’s history. Can you guess what it is? You give up? Okay let me tell you …this year we will celebrate the 29th year of our Independence!

Enter

Exit

Want to say Hello?

Email Mariposa at: 501kidsclub@gmail.com Last Week’s Answers: Belize Da Fu We : 5. Duende 6. Warri Massa 8. Xtabay 9. Soch 10. Brujos 1. Old Heg 2. Quevedo 3. Cadejo 4. Mal Aire 7. Anansi

ANSWERS: Hicattee, Otoxha, Mopan River, Buena Vista, Sarstoon River, Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Little uartz Ridge, Vaca Plateau, Yalbac Hills, Black Creek.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

PM drops Senate appeal By Candia Dames ~ Nassau Guardian News Editor Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has dropped an appeal he filed against a 2008 Supreme Court ruling by then sitting chief justice Sir Burton Hall, in relation to a disputed Senate seat, The Nassau Guardian has confirmed. But it is unclear why the prime minister abandoned the appeal. Opposition Leader Perry Christie also appealed the same ruling, but confirmed that his appeal remains outstanding. Christie also told The Guardian that Ingraham wrote him several weeks ago, advising that he wanted to appoint former talk show host and Bahamian author Michael Pintard to the Senate. But Christie confirmed he objected to this move. "In response to the letter dealing with the Senate seat, I took the position that both the prime minister and myself had appealed the court's decision and that it would be inappropriate for us to address that issue at this time," Christie said. "Since then, I believe the position may have changed, but in any event there was the additional reason. If one were to look at the court's decision and to see that the then nominee of the prime minister (FNM deputy chairman Anthony Musgrove) had to vacate the seat because of his political ties, I thought that the new nominee of the prime minister (Michael Pintard) would be similarly treated because he actually ran against me in an election before and is still known to be a political activist." Pintard ran on the Free National Movement's ticket against Christie in the then Centreville constituency in 1997.

Christie had contended that the three remaining Senate seats, after the automatic appointments of nine senators for the governing party and four for the opposition party in 2007, should all have been occupied by Progressive Liberal Party members in order to achieve the political balance mandated by the constitution. One of the people Ingraham advised the governor general to appoint to fill one of the three seats was a defeated PLP candidate Christie had on his list of choices — Michael Halkitis. Therefore, the former prime minister did not challenge his appointment. Halkitis and Tanya Wright were appointed on May 25, 2007. Christie had challenged the appointments of both Wright and Musgrove. In his ruling, Sir Burton said while Wright was validly appointed, Musgrove was not. This meant that Musgrove had to leave the Senate. He was re-appointed months later, however, to fill another seat that became vacant, but was not in dispute. Christie told The Guardian he would continue to fight for the Senate seat in dispute, and would continue to oppose any move to fill it with someone affiliated with the FNM. "My position is that the PLP ought to have the seat in accordance with how we have interpreted the constitution. That is the position we have maintained," he said. "And that is the position today. As the matter was subject to appeal by both sides, the matter should be stayed until such time as the court rules." Thursday January 28, 2010

Gov't now expects to conclude Air J sale by March 31 BY PATRICK FOSTER Jamaica Observer writer

THE cash-strapped national carrier, Air Jamaica, is finally expected to be off the Government's books by March 31, the end of the 2009/10 fiscal year. Dennis Lalor, chairman of the Air Jamaica Divestment Committee, made the disclosure yesterday at a luncheon meeting hosted by Observer Chairman Gordon Butch Stewart at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue office in Kingston. "We are working with the Caribbean Airlines people with a view to completing by the end of March," said Lalor. At the same time, Lalor said pilots wishing to purchase the airline have not, to date, presented any proposal to take over the national carrier. Government has, since midJanuary, been having discussions with the Trinidadian-owned Caribbean Airlines for the sale of the airline. "I have not received anything from the pilots since the first meeting we had in August," Lalor told attendees at the yesterday's luncheon, which included Bank of Jamaica Governor Brian Wynter and Financial Secretary Dr Wesley Hughes. Lalor said the pilots, at the August meeting, were given instructions regarding the method of making the submission.

"The pilots have not supplied any plans that I know of," he said, adding that they met with the prime minister last week where they were asked to present funding for the purchase. Since Government announced its intention to divest the airline, there has been a lobby for the Air Jamaica staff, headed by pilots affiliated to the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association (JALPA), in order to retain local ownership. But Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in an address to Parliament Tuesday, warned that any entity wishing to purchase the airline with borrowed money should forget the idea. "I would advise them sincerely, don't go there. If you are not able to get in on the basis of equity, where you have the cash and you are prepared to invest that cash and put it at risk because you believe that you can make it work, then my advice is don't go there," Golding said. Golding warned against the assumption that redundancy payments to Air Jamaica workers would be invested in the airline. "...You cannot assume that the workers are going to turn around and invest that money as equity in the airline," Golding said. "I am not saying that some won't, but I would be very sceptical of any suggestion, or any talk, that a huge portion of that US$25 million is going to be foregone by the workers, and be put in an entity.... It is at great risk, and even to do this, I would not myself accept that that is a business proposition," the prime minister said.

Caricom owes debt to Haitian people Michelle Loubon Published: 28 Jan 2010

Before the earthquake struck Haiti, many nationals had left for greener pastures in North America and other countries. They did not forget to send monies to their loved ones. The sense of nostalgia was even more keenly felt now that Haitians abroad were grieving for thousands of their fellow men who were buried under collapsed buildings on January 12. These remittances from Haitian nationals in foreign countries represented 35 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product. Professor Norman Girvan, of the Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, said in order to reduce this dependency, Caricom and the Haitian Diaspora must aid the country during its rebuilding process. He made this comment during a panel discussion on Haiti: The Crisis and Beyond at the Institute on Tuesday. “The Haitian Diaspora is critical to the rebuilding effort…Thirty-five per cent of the remittances account for the GDP,” Girvan said. “The Haitian Diaspora is simply buried or overlooked. The Haitian Diaspora must be explored to

provide assistance. Caricom should have been encouraged.” He warned that Caricom might be forced to carry out a Western agenda. He reminded the gathering that the US occupation of Haiti was not driven purely by humanitarianism. Cuba on Haitian ground The need to reach out in solidarity to Haiti and be “our brother’s keeper” was shared by fellow panellists, including Fitun president David Abdulah, OAS representative Dr Riyad Insanally, Dr Patrick Cloos, of the Caribbean Health Research Council, and Dr Richard Clarke, civil and environmental engineer. Abdulah said Caricom had much work to do with regard to mending fences with Haiti. “Haiti’s engagement with the Caribbean has been one governed by arrogance from the other countries,” he said. “The other countries are seen as being driven by more stable economies. For the ordinary citizen of Caricom, it is an abstraction, so

imagine for the ordinary Haitians it does not mean anything. “Caricom has to mend those fences before it can begin… Governments have to take another mindset.” Cuba came in for kudos for its interest in Haiti. “Cuba has done more for Haiti than any other country in Caricom…We don’t see much of that in the news,” Abdulah said. “They have a lot of people on the ground. They have literacy programmes.” What Girvan said: Girvan said it was mandatory for the Caribbean to reach out to Haiti because of the historic debt owed to Haitians. Led by architect Toussaint L’Ouverture, Haiti was the first black republic in the Caribbean. “What we in the rest of the Caribbean should understand, therefore, is Haiti is in all of us,” Girvan said. “The desire for freedom that drove the heroic acts of the Haitian revolutionaries was always present in the enslaved and semi-enslaved populations in the rest of the region. “And Haiti was punished in order to teach the rest of us a lesson. That is the historic debt that we owe to the Haitian people.”

The Belize Times

sunday, January 31, 2010

COURT NEWS Book Thrown at Nose for Firearm Related Charges Giovanni Louriano, a.k.a. “Nose”, 32, a resident of Belize City, who the Police reported had a 9 millimentre pistol, was charged with a number of offences when he appeared yesterday in two separate Magistrate’s Courts. Louriano first appeared in the #7 Magistrate’s Court where he was arraigned on charges of knowingly dealing with uncustomed goods and knowingly acquiring goods which are uncustomed. He pled not guilty to the charges and the Magistrate, Ed Usher, offered him bail of $2,600 and adjourned his case until March 30. From the #7 Magistrate’s Court Louriano was escorted to Court #5 where he was charged with keeping a firearm and keeping ammunition without a gun license. Louriano was also charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and using threatening words. The charges are in connection with an incident which occurred on Friday, January 22. The Police reported that they went to the Novelo’s Bus Terminal located on West Collet Canal Street where they boarded a bus in which Louriano was a passenger. According to the Police Louriano began acting suspiciously when he saw them and

Giovanni Louriano

he pulled out a pistol. The Police reported that they tried to take away the pistol from Louriano and a struggle ensued. During the str ug gle Louriano managed to get away and he ran out of the terminal, reported the Police. They pursued Louriano and reported that when he reached Gibnut Street they saw him throw the pistol into an open lot. The pistol, retrieved by the police, was a Glock 9 millimeter pistol with 18 rounds in its magazine. But Louriano’s troubles were not over yet. He and Ernie Miranda were charged with burglary of the business place of

19 Year Pregnant Girl Remanded To Prison on Aggravated Assault Charge

Tiffany Lewis, 19, a domestic worker residing on Arlington Drive who is several months pregnant became an inmate of the Hattieville Prison yesterday after she was arraigned on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm in the #1 Magistrate’s Court. Lewis, who was represented by attorney Dickie Bradley, pled not guilty to the charge. She was remanded into custody until February 2. The incident occurred on Monday, January 25. Patricia Usher, 29, who resides on Arlington Drive, reported to the Police that she had a misunderstanding with Lewis earlier and while she was at her home she heard what sounded like bottles breaking

Kiphania Wade, located at #7 Farmer’s Market. Wade reported to the Police her place was burglarized on January 9 and the items that were stolen included 2 Dell flat screen monitors, one cash pan containing $50., one computer webcam, size 36 jeans pants and 3 blouses all to a value of $1,800. Magistrate Albert Hoare denied both of them bail and remanded them into custody until February 23.

Tiﬀany Lewis

against the side of her house. Usher said she looked outside and saw Lewis across the street. Usher said the quarrel between her and Lewis resumed and Lewis left and returned shortly afterwards with her boyfriend. It was then that Lewis pointed a firearm at her, said Usher. But Lewis’ mother, Lisa Burgess and some of Lewis’ friend have disputed Usher’s report to the Police that Lewis pointed a firearm at her. Ms. Burgess said that her daughter did not have a gun and that Usher fabricated that part of the incident just to get her daughter to go to prison. She admitted that her daughter and Usher have a longstanding dispute and on the day of the incident they were quarreling and throwing bottles at each other. She insisted that her daughter did not have a gun. Ms. Burgess said she was trying to resolve the dispute through CYDP when the incident occurred.

Special Constable Remanded to Prison on Extortion Charge

A case of a Police Officer who allegedly put himself in the role of a lawyer came to light when Keon “Gambis” Williams, 32, gave Police a statement claiming that he gave Special Constable John Myvett $2,685 to get bail for him. Williams, who was charged with an unnatural crime on Tuesday, January 12, was denied bail and remanded to prison. But instead of being taken to prison Williams was kept at Queen Street Police Station while the officer acquired the services of a Legal Aid attorney to apply to the Supreme Court for bail for him. After no bail was forthcoming Williams was released from the Police Station on January 14. He officially became a fugitive when the mother of the complainant in his case, a 14 year old boy, said in a television interview that she saw him riding around the city in a vehicle with tinted glass. Myvett, 35, the officer who escorted Williams from Court to the Police Station on January 12, appeared yesterday in the #3 Magistrate’s Court with his attorney Michael Peyrefitte. Myvett was charged with extortion and obtaining services by deception. No plea was taken from him because the offences are indictable. The prosecution objected to bail on several grounds. One ground was that the matter is still being investigated and more charges are expected to follow. A second ground was that this type of behavior by Police Officers has become prevalent. A third ground was that the accused person might interfere with the witness for the prosecution if granted bail. It was on the first ground that the Magistrate, Kathleen Lewis denied Myvett bail and remanded him into custody until Thursday, January 28. Williams gave Police the statement on Friday, January 22, when accompanied by his attorney, Dickie Bradley he went to the Police Station and handed himself in.

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

COURT NEWS Three Remanded One Sought Deportation Ordered For 53 Year Old American For Lake Garden Home Invasion BELIZE CITY, Wed. Jan. 27, 2010 T h r e e m e n we r e ch a r g e d i n connection with a case of aggravated burglary when they appeared in the #1 Magistrate’s Court on Monday, January 25. Two of them, Wilton Usher, 33 and Jaime Chavarria, 21 were charged with aggravated burglary for an incident which occurred on Friday, January 22 in which a gunman and two others entered the house of Judith Williamson, 39 and stole items valued at $12,131. The third defendant Eric Lewis, 37, who the Police believe only played the role of conspirator, was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary along with Usher and Chavarria. Williamson, who resides in Ladyville, reported to the Police that she was at home with her mother when she heard a vehicle stop in front of her residence. She said when she opened the front door three men entered. One of them held a gun to the head of her cousin while a second man had a knife held at the throat of her sister. The men demanded money and they proceeded to ransack her house, she said. The items that were stolen included a Toshiba laptop computer, several cell phones, assorted jewelry and $561 Belize currency. All the items were recovered later the same day. The Police reported that they recovered a Samsung cell phone from Chavarria at the junction of Lord’s

Fugitive Martin Petrella BELIZE CITY, Tues. Jan. 26, 2010

Wilton Usher

Bank Road and the Northern Highway. The rest of the items were recovered from Usher at the same junction, the Police reported. There were more charges for Usher who the Police believe was the gunman and who they alleged they found with a .25 pistol when they apprehended him with the stolen items. Usher was charged with aggravated assault, keeping a firearm without a gun license and keeping ammunition without a gun license. They pled not guilty to the charges and they were remanded into custody until March 18. A fourth man who the Police believe was involved in the incident is still at large.

American national Martin Petrella, 53, wanted in the United States for parole violation, was deemed a prohibited immigrant when he appeared yesterday in the #7 Magistrate’s Court for illegal entry into Belize. Magistrate Ed Usher waived a fine and signed a removal order for Petrella to be deported to the United States. Petrella was taken to prison where he will be held in custody until U.S. Marshalls come and take him to Colorado. Petrella was on parole for a conviction of aggravated burglary. He violated his parole and he was to appear in Court for a hearing on January 5, 2008, but he absconded. Petrella entered Belize illegally from Mexico on February 9, 2008. According to reports, he has been living in various parts of Belize since then. Petrella, who said he is a professional chef, was picked up by Police on Friday, January 22, at a house in Lord’s Bank where he was staying. Petrella is the second American fugitive picked up in Belize since the New Year began. Last week William Russell Jewett, 33, was picked up by Police in his boat Latitude Adjustment, which was moored at Old Belize, located at Mile 5 on the Western Highway. Jewett was charged

Martin Petrella

with money laundering for $120,000 U.S. currency that was found when police searched his boat. He was also charged with Customs and Immigration offences. Jewett pled guilty to money laundering last Friday, January 22, and he was fined $50,000 by the Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie. He has not paid the fine yet so he is held in prison where he will serve 5 years if he defaults on payment. Jewett is wanted in the Unites States for failure to appear in a Court there on August 31, 2009.

The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

sunday, January 31, 2010

The

The Belize Times

Belize Times l o ñ a p s En E

DOMINGO ENERO 31, 2010

Issue No. 4668

$1.00

www.belizetimes.bz

The Truth Shall Make You Free

Un asunto privado e íntimo

Barrownomics - def. Pobreza brutal... ¿Quién puede olvidar el 7 de febrero del 2009, el primer aniversario de Barrow y la administración de el UDP? El Primer Ministro de Belice, Excmo. Dean Barrow y Kim Simplis fueron a Savannah, Georgia para casarse. Se creían superiores a Belice y todo lo que hay aqui y decidieron que no había fotógrafo, ni cocinera, ni modista, ni joyero, ningún hotel, ningún proveedor de bebidas, ningún diseñador de boda, no hay iglesia en Belice digna de compartir la trascendental ocasión. En la incredulidad, vimos que, al parecer sin arrepentimiento, ya que nos descarto a todos nosotros, y se fue a Savannah, Georgia, y eligieron iniciar el primer día de su vida juntos en otro país. Y sí, todos deseamos lo mejor. Pero en vez de la Casa de Cultura, leemos acerca de Marshall House, en lugar de fotógrafos como Richard Holder, Suzanne Singh o Rowland Parques, nos enteramos de Allison Reiz, en lugar de diseñadores de boda, Raúl Villanueva o Florasol, nos dimos cuenta de Sebrell Smith, en lugar de St. Johns, Todos los Santos o Anglicana de St. Mary's Church, nos presentaron a la Iglesia Episcopal de St. Paul, y quién podría olvidar Monique Llullier o la razón por la que escogió Savannah ... no quería estar cerca de la gente que sabía que .... o los que estaban en Belice... iba a ser un asunto privado e íntimo... Tiempo después, nueve días antes del segundo aniversario de la administración de el UDP Barrow, nuestro pueblo se llevan la peor parte de un nuevo tipo de política que quizá deberíamos haber previsto desde el primer día, y que debería haberse cristalizado en la mente el 7 de febrero, del 2009. Nombre código: Barrownomics; Definición: La pobreza Brutal; Objetivo: perpetuar un asunto íntimo y privado. Suena irreal? No es así. Esto es real, Jack, muy real, porque cuando 143.276 personas o el 43% de la población no puede encontrar 5.50 dólares al día para comprar comida para sobrevivir, sólo puede ser descrito como nada menos que obsceno, cruel y frío, sobre todo cuando la firma de abogados de la ex esposa del Primer Ministro y su hija presentan una cuenta al gobierno de Belice por honorarios de abogados, por la alucinante y obscena cantidad de $2,000,000.00. Con esto podría haber tomado a las 143.276 personas que viven la pesadilla de la búsqueda de 5.50 dólares al día para sobrevivir y salir de la pobreza durante dos días, y 77.084 personas de 143.276 para otro día. Ah, pero no lo olvidemos, Barrownomics no se trata de los pobres... no son dignos.... Para el gobierno se ha convertido en un asunto privado e íntimo. Nuestro país está en una crisis humanitaria, y para Barrow y el UDP, los beliceños no tienen un propósito, ahora que la magia de la elección es cosa del pasado. Barrownomics parece estar relacionada más con el gasto, con

un desprecio total por los derechos de la mayoría de la gente en este país o con cualquier ley justa o natural. Cuando los funcionarios públicos se les dice a recortar sus presupuestos en un 20% para reducir el déficit fiscal, esto se traducirá en la reducción de los recursos disponibles para construir y reparar casas para los pobres, de medicamentos y nuevos trabajadores de salud y centros para atender a los pobres ; para el pago de la matrícula y cuotas CXC, la construcción de nuevas aulas, la contratación de nuevos maestros y abastecimiento de combustible de los autobuses para la educación de los niños pobres del pueblo, de asistencia social para las personas mayores a comer y acceso a la atención médica, para los programas para empoderar a los jóvenes y las mujeres para hacer frente a la vida, e incluso los pobres cuadro de funeral para el entierro de los seres queridos de las personas pobres. Oh, sí, tienen que ser enterrados así. Pero no lo olvidemos, Barrownomics no se trata de los pobres que dependen del gobierno, y que no tienen otra opción.... Que no merecen... Este es un asunto privado e íntimo. ¿Por qué decimos esto? Debido a que estamos observando con asombro y asco, con pruebas documentadas de que el crecimiento exponencial de la cuenta de gastos por los Ministros de Gobierno y la leite UDP son descubiertos, ya que acumulan riqueza y viven un estilo de vida lujosa, mientras que el 43% y 26% de nuestros jóvenes y las mujeres están desempleados, y el estándar de un 14% adicional de la población o 46.648 personas que son vulnerables a un punto en que están siendo empujados con fuerza al renglón estadístico de la pobreza. Compartimos el dolor y el sufrimiento de las madres de Belice, que han perdido a sus recién nacidos por la negligencia manifestada por los servicios de salud, de José Cruz, que lucha por la dignidad y los derechos de las personas que necesitan tratamiento de diálisis y su necesidad de sólo US $ 15,000.00 para su tratamiento. Esto es, al mismo tiempo que el Ministerio de Salud se compra un lujoso Prado de $ 160,000.00 con sillones con temperatura personal ajustable para el conductor, el ministro y los pasajeros del Ministro, y las revelaciones de los informes de auditoria de la Secretaría de Salud del pago irrestricto de los beneficios astronómicos a los proveedores de drogas seleccionados de los suministros hospitalarios, medicamentos y equipos relacionados o vinculados a la élite UDP. Pero ¿por qué debería sor-

prendernos? ... después de todo, es un asunto privado e íntimo ... Y para empeorar la situación, se nos habla del Consejo de la Ciudad de Belice que le paga al Ministro de Vivienda $ 10.000,00 en honorarios para que la alcaldesa aparezca como invitada en el show Lik Road, el acceso de los senadores a $ 80,000.00 del dinero para las viviendas de los pobres, mansiones de millones de dólares bajo construcción, de cayos que se venden por un Ministro por 1,5 millones de dólares, de un muro en construcción de 1,0 millones de dólares, de los hombres jóvenes reclutados para cambiar cheques de caja por valor de miles de dólares por trabajo y suministros no proporcionados en nombre de los ministros corruptos. Es una vergüenza nacional, que mientras esto ocurre, nuestras comunidades se han convertido en campos de la muerte, las cárcel

dentro de cárceles, atormentado por los lamentos de las madres que pierden a sus hijos, pintadas con la sangre de los asesinatos sin sentido generadas en comunidades arraigadas en la pobreza, donde la supervivencia depende ahora de la lealtad a la pistola, y burlando a los funcionarios públicos corruptos, donde las familias comparten multitud y viviendas en ruinas de insectos, serpientes, moscas, ratas y cucarachas, caminan por calles rotas y los niños no tienen lugar para jugar, donde las mujeres y los hombres jóvenes se sienten atraídos o encadenados a la prostitución para sobrevivir, se sienten frustrados ya que no una esperanza de cambio aparece en el horizonte. Mi conjetura es sólo que no quiero estar cerca, porque seguro, que ya son conscientes del hedor repugnante de la pobreza de 43% que estaba emergiendo terriblemente en el horizonte. Ha llegado el momento para la gente pobre para apreciar que están siendo utilizados, abusados y explotados por los políticos interesados del UDP profesionales, que declaran su amor por ellos, pero les mantendrán permanentemente en la pobreza ... Barrownomics sólo puede ser definido como pobreza brutal. Los pobres seguramente no quieren imaginar la posibilidad de un tercer aniversario... Cuanto más brutal puede ser ... ..

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ni un centavo mas!

En un mes el Primer Ministro Barrow se levantará en la Cámara de Representantes y presentara a la Nación, el tercer presupuesto de su Gobierno, los ingresos generales del gobierno y el proyecto de ley de apropiación para el ejercicio financiero 2010-2011. No sería prudente que el Primer Ministro, una vez más se presente ante la nación con su retórica habitual, de hecho ¿que otra cosa puede decir que no sea que la recesión esta enfurecida? No importa lo que el trate de maniobrar, el hecho es que los beliceños están experimentado uno de los peores años de la historia reciente y se preparan para un tiempo igualmente difícil en el 2010. Para la presentación de su presupuesto 2010, su lujoso hablar no va a ser suficiente. Si él quiere dar aunque sea una ilusión de esperanza que su gobierno llevara al pueblo de Belice a través de esta situación, tendrá que convencer a los beliceños de que su gobierno tiene un plan para rescatar a la nación de lo que parece una inminente depresión. En marzo los beliceños estarán esperando que su primer ministro de a conocer un plan que creará puestos de trabajo, que reducirá el costo del gas butano, la gasolina, y los artículos de consumo básico de alimentos. Esperan tener noticias acerca de los planes para desplegar el NHI a otras partes de la nación y que van a querer saber cómo el gobierno va a ganar la guerra contra el crimen. Ellos esperan una contabilidad de los ingresos del petróleo y un plan para obtener más de los ingresos del petróleo. Cualquier plan necesita un fuerte respaldo financiero por lo que el Primer Ministro mejor este dispuesto a decir de dónde va a sacar el nuevo dinero y el pueblo de Belice desea una garantía de que no habrá nuevos impuestos. En esta ocasión discursos elegantes no serán suficientes, después de todo el año pasado el Primer Ministro prometió un paquete de estímulo, y si usted le pregunta a cualquier persona en la calle te dirán lo que les concierne, no hay estímulo. Él prometió que eliminaría los impuestos sobre la gasolina si el precio de la bomba subía a $ 7 y posteriormente subió esa cifra a $ 8, los precios del gas están hoy muy por encima de los 9 dólares y todavía no hay alivio. En lo que se refiere a la delincuencia y la violencia, el año pasado fue un desastre. Este año, el gobierno debe desarrollar un plan que no sólo asegure, sino demostré a los beliceños que serán protegidos de los delincuentes que deambulan por sus calles. Dos años de gobierno y muchos beliceños están empezando a dudar de si alguna de las posibilidades prometidas por la UDP en su campaña se hará realidad. Dos años en el poder y los Beliceños no pueden apuntar a un logro significativo de esta administración. De hecho, muchos han empezado a comentar públicamente que no puede haber posibilidades de que el Primer Ministro está rodeado por personas que no carecen de imaginación, sino que carecen de la capacidad y la competencia para hacer el trabajo. Este tipo de pensamiento es mucho mayor al respecto de esta administración, por su incapacidad de construir un puente adecuado en el cruce de Kendall después de que es ya un año y medio desde que este puente se derrumbó. Están aún más convencidos porque la red de carreteras nacionales están en mal estado total, las ciudades y la infraestructura de la ciudad se caen a pedazos, cuando todos están bajo la administración del UDP. En conjunto, los beliceños están empezando a encontrar preocupante que el Sr. Barrow y su gabinete no han sido capaces de dar confianza a los inversionistas, promover el crecimiento de la economía beliceña, promover nuevos negocios y nuevas empresas, ampliar los servicios de salud y reducir la pobreza. Para añadir, Barrow que era considerado duro con la corrupción ha hecho demasiado fácil para algunos de sus ministros el poder llevar a cabo acciones y actividades que son de naturaleza muy discutible - las prácticas corruptas de su gobierno - evidenciadas por el testimonio del Sr. Schakron, bajo juramento, el escándalo en KHMH y los negocios dudosos de uno de sus subsecretarios. Esto, junto con la incompetencia evidente ha perturbado y herido a miles de honestos beliceños que trabajan duro, incluyendo algunos de sus propios partidarios. En este clima es poco probable que inversionistas siquiera piensen en llegar a Belice y los empresarios locales no invierten un centavo hasta que vean una administración que tiene competencia para hacer el trabajo. Este Presupuesto de Barrow mejor que sea uno que ofrezca mejorías y mejor que sea pragmático en vez de pretencioso. El tiempo se agota en esta administración de el UDP. En menos de dos años, los vientos de la protesta ya han comenzado a soplar y Belmopan esta todavía a sólo 50 kilómetros de distancia de la ciudad de Belice.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

El Bejuco Saquear y Abracar... Cuando Orlando “Landy” Burns, alto oficial del UDP con gran benevolencia le regalo al pueblo de Orange Walk una marquesina en medio de una gran pompa y ceremonia, todo el pueblo lo presencio con gran incredulidad… Landy no es conocido como un emulo de Barón Bliss el gran benefactor, Al contrario su avaricia y codicia de tiempo a tiempo han sido su distintivo… Pero en fin, como dijo Gapi en esa ocasión, “hasta a Landy se le suaviza el codo de vez en cuando..” Aun Gapi se equivoco. Ha saltado a luz que este avaro regalo la marquesina después de venderle al pueblo y gobierno el pequeño lote de terreno donde se construyo la marquesina por $150,000.00. Saquear y abracar. La orden del día del UDP… Cuando el bocón “Tilapia” Castro anduvo escarbándole los hoyos a algunos cuantos partidarios predilectos, echándoles peje, y a algunos otros sembrándoles el famoso platanito Todos pensaron que las malas mañas del pasado habían quedado atrás…. Ahora unos meses después los peces han perecido, los hoyos se han convertido en grandes charcos, y el plátano se les ha secado…. Excepto el de Tilapia… hace dos años recién reformado de malos hábitos, era un aspirante político, vocifero promotor de desarrollo rural… Más bien el desarrollo que ha logrado promover ha sido el personal. De la nada ya en dos años posee una compañía de maquinaria de construcción que incluye camiones, tractores, bulldozer y otras. Es dueño de una compañía de cablevisión, tiene una finca de crianza de peces, los de él si no han muerto, de su plátano no podemos dar fe… Su esposa es dueña de una boutique en la ciudad, y según se dice tiene inversiones en propiedades inmobiliarias.. De terrenitos que Tilapia se abarca... Saquear y abracar…. La orden del día.

Taxi

Guerra de taxis por doquier todos su taxi quieren tener Los de San Ignacio a los del Benque quieren detener Los del Benque o los del Cayo se quieren torcer Al final a ambos el UDP va a joder El problema es que no hay chamba mucha’ El problema es que no hay pisto mucha’ El problema es que hay poco pasaje mucha’ El problema es que con este gobierno cucaracha ni al champon podemos ir a chupa’ Allá en el norte los taxistas en bronca igual están Los del pueblo a los de la aldea chinga les dan No hay pasaje pa’ todos paisano El problema es el gobierno gusano Allá en la zona libre este gobierno no permite taxista local Los taxistas mexicanos se comen todo el tamal No pagan impuestos, no pagan placas, ni tienen seguros Presionen paisano… taxiar en la zona les sacará de apuros No se peleen señores y señoras taxistas El problema no son ustedes, salta a la vista La culpa la tiene este gobierno UDP fascista

Sunday, January 31, 2010

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ñ a p s E En

UDP Políticas, como siempre

La pestilencia de la corrupción... En los días cuando Dean Barrow quería nuestros votos para convertirse en rey, cabalgó la lucha contra la corrupción, para todos los caballos que valían la pena. Con la pureza y la finalidad de llamada que brilla en cada palabra, Barrow declaró que si hubiera incluso un soplo de corrupción en su administración, sería machucado. Incluso hubo palabra de machete de dos caras con la que se cortaría esta corrupción desde las raíces. Sí a la derecha. Estas mismas palabras se han vuelto y le han mordido al derecho Barrow en la parte posterior real. El recientemente filtrado informe de auditoria del ayuntamiento está repleto de todo, desde la mala gestión, de abuso de función, del descarado mezquino, ladronzuelos y unos simplemente ladrones del dinero de la gente. En sólo un ejemplo, la cunada de Zenaida Moya recibido 139.000 dólares de nuestro dinero, pero la auditoria revela que ella nunca hizo el trabajo que se ha reclamado. Quiero decir que es pura y simple corrupción en su cara. Y eso es sólo un caso. La fecha del informe de auditoria es el 22 de septiembre del 2009. Y, por supuesto, la primera persona a quien el informe completo habría sido enviado es a nuestro propio Dean Oliver. Así que eso significa que el informe ha estado sobre su escritorio durante los últimos cuatro meses. Durante cuatro meses, Dean Oliver ha tenido todas las evidencias de corrupción bajo el su nariz. No ha tenido una palabra que decir al respecto. Ni una palabra. El público se ha mantenido totalmente en la oscuridad. ¿No es lo que contiene ese informe mucho más que un soplo? De hecho, es bastante más que una pestilencia para poner las glándulas sensoriales de Dean Barrow permanentemente fuera de servicio debido a la sobrecarga de la corrupción. Entonces, ¿qué pasó con el gladiador de la justicia, el muchacho del cartel para la lucha contra la corrupción? Como uno de mis colegas señala - el Primer Ministro es falso. No hay nada más claro que eso. Imagine. Él tiene las pruebas, pero ha guardado silencio. Nuestro Primer Ministro es una vergüenza. La broma del FIU… Vieja pretenciosa política UDP y ahora directora de la Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera Marilyn Williams apareció en la televisión la otra noche. Me recordó a Dean Barrow, con su “evidente sinceridad” y fuerza de convicción. Pero al igual que su jefe Barrow, Williams es completamente falsa. Ambos tienen que recordar que los soniditos y pausas cuidadosamente ensayadas y los gestos y el discurso no se suman a la fuerza de carácter e integridad. No me malinterpreten. No estoy sudando fiebre por el "hombre blanco", como algunos, obviamente, lo reclaman. Simplemente creo que el manejo completo de ese caso en particular, el lavado de dinero era completamente falso. Cuando Williams comenzó hablando sobre investigación y 'prosecutory' (que por cierto no es una palabra) las funciones de la FIU que fue bastante malo. Cuando se volvió toda la cosa en una cruzada contra el "hombre blanco" que tuvo la audacia de venir a invadir nuestras costas y nuestra integridad con sus formas delictivas que era horrible. Su perorata acerca de la intolerancia para los criminales y los que pondrían en entredicho el sistema de justicia estaba fuera de este mundo. La FIU, básicamente, tomó a este hombre por todo lo que valía la pena – se apodero de todo su dinero y de su barco de tres cuartos de millones también. Lo hicieron con la amenaza de encarcelar a su esposa y que enviarían al servicio social para llevarse a su hija de dos años. Utilizando estas amenazas lo obligaron a declararse culpable de lavado de dinero. No sé cómo lo ves, pero para mí eso es simplemente extorsión - de primer orden. Así que en realidad no importa lo que Marilyn Williams tenía que decir. La FIU fue sólo abusadora. Y al infierno, si Marilyn Williams es una defensora de la justicia y es tan entusiasta respecto de erradicar a los criminales, realmente no tiene que escoger a un hombre extranjero. Ella tiene un montón de criminales en su mismo UDP. Elija un ministro.... Cualquier ministro.

Por tu propio bien... Creo que la gente está agotando rápidamente sus amables, e incluso no tan amables peticiones para que el Ministro de Seguridad Nacional, Carlos Perdomo renuncie. Cuando la paciencia del pueblo se agota, las cosas van muy rápido a volverse desagradables. No es sólo acerca de la tasa de delincuencia que ha pasado hasta las nubes. No es sólo el mal hábito del Ministro, su adicción que lo hace incapaz de pensamiento coherente, una acción mucho menos. No es ni siquiera sólo de los altos mandos que se han comprometido y manipulados por sus amos políticos. Es todo eso y mucho más. De repente, ahora, bajo el UDP, la Policía parece totalmente corrupta. Es tan simple como eso. Tome un caso en cuestión - el asesinato del joven Chris Gálvez. No hubo participación de la policía en eso. La persona que es el sospechoso más probable se le permitió abandonar el país pocas horas después del asesinato. Incluso ahora, Carlos Perdomo parece reacio a divulgar las conclusiones de la investigación que ha estado en su escritorio de la semana pasada. ¿Qué se esconde y a quién están protegiendo? Y mientras la investigación policial parecía deliberadamente estancada, la familia puso en marcha su propia investigación y vino con respuestas reales muy rápidas - algo que la policía no pudo o no quiso hacer. Ahora, un testigo presencial se ha presentado y está dando a conocer los nombres. Y todavía la Policía no está haciendo nada. Carlos Perdomo y el UDP han destruido la credibilidad del Departamento de Policía. Carlos Perdomo y el UDP han destruido toda la confianza en el Departamento de Policía. Los únicos que en este ciclo que se han beneficiado de Carlos Perdomo y la UDP son los criminales.

La mas baja de la sucia vergüenza... En 2009 el Ministro de Recursos Naturales Gaspar Vega, aprobó el pago de $150.000 dólares de nuestro dinero a su amigo y financiero UDP Landy Burns. El pago se hizo en concepto de indemnización por un pedazo de tierra que había sido adquirido de Burns un par de años atrás. Es el pedazo de tierra en frente de su tienda en la que el Ayuntamiento de Orange Walk erigió una parada de autobús. El tamaño de la propiedad es probablemente alrededor de 10 pies por 20 pies, si eso. Y por eso, Landy Burns recibió $150.000 dólares de nuestro dinero. Burns no trato de obtener la indemnización hasta que su amigo GAPI estaba en la posición para facilitar la operación de mucho dinero. Cuando se le preguntó sobre las denuncias de corrupción en el Ministerio de Recursos Naturales destinados a GAPI Vega, el primer ministro Dean Oliver dijo que se negaba a creer que su DPM era corrupto, y nunca lo creería a menos que se le presentara con la evidencia. Bueno ahí está Sr. Barrow - $ 150.000 a Landy Burns por un pedazo minúsculo de tierra para una parada de autobús. ¿Nos cree usted ahora, cuando decimos que GAPI es corrupto? Monopolio de la harina... Siempre que se habla de enriquecimiento sin causa en el UDP, René Montero Ministro ladrón de cerdos UDP siempre viene a la mente. En tan sólo los dos primeros años del UDP Montero ha pasado de ser un hombre de medios modestos a un hombre con una riqueza muy importante. Se ha hablado mucho acerca de sobornos de los contratos adjudicados para seleccionar compinches UDPs. Hay también muchos rumores acerca de mucho dinero derivado de la concesión de permisos de seleccionar para la importación de mercancías. El último rumor es que la hija de Montero ha creado una empresa en Cayo para la distribución de harina. Parece que los minoristas no están autorizados a comprar la harina como antes. Todos los minoristas en Cayo se ven obligados a comprar a la hija de Montero a precios elevados, se nos dice. Mientras tanto, Montero y su familia se están riendo todo el camino hasta el banco. Si la directora del FIU Marilyn Williams se toma en serio eso de acabar con la corrupción, tal vez debería echar un vistazo al ministro Montero y a investigar algunas de sus nuevas riquezas.

The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

NATION BUILDERS

CAROLYN CARR history, Carolyn’s contribution to recording Belizean change and development is unrivalled. Carolyn’s artistic skill stems from experimenting with various techniques, all of which have been somewhat ‘fitted in’ around her already hectic lifestyle. To date, she estimates that she has produced somewhere in the region of 40 to 50 oil paintings, nearly all of which remain in Belize. Several of these pieces have been produced, auctioned or sold as a demonstration of Carolyn’s dedication to various local charities and organisations, including Marla’s House of Hope, the Humane Society, the International Women’s Club (Belmopan Branch) and the Jaguar Conservation Trust. Carolyn is particularly moved by the plight of so many Belizean children today who are forced – for various reasons – to grow up in foster care or in communal children’s homes, or in severely impoverished home settings. She realises the utmost importance of the Belizean authorities to control and curb crime, which is spiralling

Elizabeth Pridgeon For those who don’t know C a r o l y n C a r r by n a m e, t h e y certainly know at least one piece of her phenomenal artwork: the cover of the BTL phonebook 2009, which features an intricate picture of Belizean domestic life, with a mother cooking whilst her children, various animals and even neighbours are all clearly depicted in the background. Carolyn Carr moved to Belize from Colorado with her husband and three children in 1977, and ever since has had the multiple roles as owner/hotel proprietor and manager at Banana Bank, between the villages of Roaring Creek and Valley of Peace in the Cayo district. Despite fulfilling numerous fulltime roles many times over, Carolyn has also fostered her artistic talent over the course of several decades in Belize, and has now become one of the country’s most acclaimed oil painters. Carolyn remembers that when she first moved to Belize there was a lacking concept of local art and a dearth of artists (with the obvious exception of George Gabb, Artist Laureate of Belize, and other artists at the time such as Mr. Belisle). It was this apparently under-developed opportunity which encouraged

Carolyn to capture images that otherwise would be lost forever, and to artistically record the rapidly changing social aspects of Belizean life. At the time, Belize was suffering a huge brain-drain and outmigration of talented citizens, and there was a widespread perception that Belize offered ‘no hope’ or ‘no future’ to its maturing youth. And so Carolyn began the unenviable task of recording Belize as it was, and of inspiring Belizeans to see the beauty in their surroundings and the brighter prospects for the future. And rare photographic footage held by authorities in Belize City, that Carolyn managed to salvage from destruction, were just another ‘sign’ telling her that she must accept the challenge and recognise the almost unprecedented chance she had been given: to record Belizean history through art. And so famous paintings such as ‘The Market’ and beautiful native wildlife prints were born. Carolyn’s paintings today are invaluable in the sense that they offer the viewer a real experience of Belizean life spanning several decades, and they show how far along the road of development we have already travelled. Used in conjunction with oral and written documentation of the country’s

out of control, in order to provide a brighter future to children such as these. However, Carolyn’s overall perception of Belizean development is widely positive and optimistic for the future. Above all, she is grateful to Belize and its people for having “provided her with endless subjects to paint” and she modestly declares that “I have gained so much more than I have given”. That she has received more than she has given to Belizean society seems an unlikely truth, given the extent of Carolyn’s donations to Belize as a developing nation, and for that she is recognised as this week’s Belize Times’ Nation Builder.

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The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

VOICES Village

from the

CHAN CHEN Elizabeth Pridgeon Just a few miles north of Corozal is the little known village of Chan Chen, nestled close to the Northern Highway, and within a short distance of minor road networks between Patchakan, Santa Rosa and the Santa Elena northern border with Mexico. Chan Chen was founded in 1880 by various members of Belize’s northern community, migrating out of Corozal and nearby villages, and settling a new agricultural area. Unlike many villages in its vicinity, Chan Chen is not principally a product of the Caste War, but rather a product of development and growth of Belize, and perhaps for this reason it became the new home of a divergent group of young families and entrepreneurs. At the time, most people relied upon agriculture as a source of sustenance, and the village became renowned for producing successful yields of citrus, salad and vegetable crops. Once the sugar industry established itself in Belize, many Chan Chen residents focussed predominantly on the production of sugar cane, but after the closure of the Libertad factory, villagers were once again forced to diversify to protect their vulnerable livelihoods. Those who remain involved in the sugar cane industry have to endure one of the longest commutes to the BSI factory at Towerhill as any cane farmer anywhere in the country, and so profits and wealth from the cane industry are minimal for Chan Chen villagers. Since the establishment of Corozal Free Zone, many Chan Chen residents have found work in the numerous shops and casinos at the border, and thus daily commutes have increased exponentially. Increasing demand has given rise to more village taxis being established, and Chan Chen

now hosts at least six full time resident taxis, providing public transport for villagers heading to and from the Free Zone and Corozal. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by members of Corozal’s various taxi unions, who believe that the continued ‘giving out’ of taxi licences to all and sundry from various villagers is destroying the town’s taxista economy. However, with no public transport alternatives servicing Chan Chen, as the population continues to expand, if anything village taxis are likely to grow in number. The village population remains small, with less than 1000 residents, around 200 of which are primary school students. The village welcomed the recent construction of a new Government Primary School building, which was inaugurated at the end of October last year, having been financed predominantly by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Currently, the southerly access road from Corozal to the village is under repair, which is another initiative aimed to assist with the overall challenge of poverty reduction in the village. This may all seem like leaps and bounds in the records of village development, but residents reveal that while perhaps they were ‘lucky’ to have been chosen for international support, internal affairs of the village have a somewhat more blemished record. The biggest complaint at the moment is due to the village council’s inertia in just about all matters of village concern. The village council had barely been elected when the chairman and his councillors found themselves divided for political reasons: although recognised as a UDP council, only half of the committee support the work and opinions of Area Representative, Acosta, whilst the other half have segregated

themselves from their counterparts. Thus any village initiative is hard to accomplish, which could not be more clearly demonstrated than in the current fiasco involving land lots. Shortly into their term, the village council announced that needy villagers would receive parcels of land thereafter to relieve the pressures on numerous households in the village which are overcrowded (some to the level of insanitation). However, even today there is no sign of land lots being distributed among Chan Chen’s needy, and with village elections just a couple of months away, it seems that – in true UDP style – the promise of land lots was mere rhetoric: just another promise that will be left unfulfilled when the term ends. Despite inter nal conf licts, however, Chan Chen maintains its longstanding reputation as a village which does not tolerate crime, and thus the need for a community police officer only rarely arises. Even then, most of the occasions requiring law enforcement revolve around the two geographical ‘divisions’ of the village, whose residents split into opposing gang-like groups decades ago, and whose segregations and conflicts have ever since been continued by younger generations. However, aside from

alcohol-fuelled fighting and on-going verbal ‘threats’, more grave issues rarely arise. An issue which is often cited as seeking attention, however, is the health provision for the village, as the Health Clinic is rarely staffed by trained medics. However, the proximity to Corozal Community Hospital, and the reasonable taxi fare to travel there, means that most villagers with medical needs seek assistance at the district centre; the problem arises for the village elderly, many of whom are immobile, and are forced to wait for infrequent visits by medical personnel. When other villagers in other districts can boast doctors and nurses every week in their village health clinics, it seems unimaginably difficult to understand why Chan Chen village is, apparently, not worthy of such attention. All in all, however, Chan Chen residents are descendents of those who weren’t satisfied with urban life over a century ago: people who moved to live a more simple life in a more rural setting. Perhaps this inheritance explains the attitude of contemporary village residents, who are happy with their ‘lot’ (no pun intended) of life in Chan Chen.

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

Taqueria “Chelly”

Elizabeth Pridgeon In September of last year, Ms Chelly, well known throughout Orange Walk for her hard work at various tacos stalls, at last became the proprietor of her own taqueria on Progress Street. For years, Ms Chelly has assisted various tacos vendors with preparations and sales, and so opening her own street stall did not pose too many problems to the experienced cook. She enjoys being in charge of her own business, as she knows that she can guarantee quality entirely independent of other people’s influence, which she was not able to do working in a team of employees. Perhaps for this reason – always seeking premier quality – she found success very quickly, and now caters to a number of regular

customers, alongside attracting passing trade and one-off buyers. Her speciality is chicken tacos, which are sold 3 for $1, and her steaming hot coffee is a big draw to customers – especially during recent cold mornings! She also prepares fresh juice and horchata every day, which are available for sale alongside regular soft drinks, including coke, fanta and sprite. Ms Chelly opens the premises every day at 5.30am, including Sundays, and usually sells out well before mid-day. The location of Taqueria Chelly makes it an excellent venue, particularly for bus travellers who break their journey in Orange Walk market, and her friendly service and tasty tacos make her stall a great stopping place for all breakfasters.

PAYLE$$ BOUTIQUE

Elizabeth Pridgeon For the past six months, Orange Walk has had an invigorating addition to the clothes boutiques for merly available, with the arrival of Payle$$ Boutique. This boutique represents a new model of clothes outlets, offering designer styles at affordable prices, located at #27 Baker Street. The idea behind Payle$$ Boutique was to create a shop whereby people could buy an entire outfit (perhaps jeans and a blouse, plus accessories) for under $100. Seeking advice from professional wholesale buyers for famous stores such as Macy’s in the United States, Payle$$ Boutique was able to secure wholesale contracts with a range of clothing outlets, from markets predominantly in New York, but to a lesser extent in Guatemala too. Aside from stylish clothing (geared towards young women in general), a range of

footwear, accessories, colognes, sunglasses, perfume and watches are also available, some of which have lines for both men and women in store. The management also hope to extend the range of clothing into plussizes, seeing an absence in the local market for larger women’s clothing. Aside from this, the long-term plan for the boutique is to compliment the sale of clothes and accessories with the sale of gifts, souvenirs and cultural artefacts too. This will mean that locals and tourists alike will be well provided for at Payless Boutique. Occasionally, the store also receives special lotions, underwear, bedlinen and curtain sets, so it is always worth paying a regular visit to Payle$$ Boutique to check out the special offers of the moment, and to pick up some stylish bargains at very affordable prices.

The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

Sober

Reﬂections On greed and misery…

wandering from the insecure nature of wealth and power to the covetous, avaricious nature of Belize’s own ‘royals.’ See, I’m generally disgusted with the Barrow bunch for reasons that have been put down on paper more times than I can count. They are just too damned greedy. In the context of the tragedy in Haiti, their greed seems obscene. Hell, even before the Haiti tragedy and just in the context of our own economic disaster here in Belize, the By: Mike Rudon Jr. I’ve talked to grown men who admitted to having tears in their eyes as they watched the footage of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. I’ve also talked to grown men who said they had to turn off the television because it was just too much. In fact, the true tale of destruction, death, grief and misery continues to play out in garish full-color each and every day, and the full extent of the tragedy has yet to be realized. It is a horror story of epic proportions. Today news reports indicate that the death toll has topped 150,000 and could double in the days ahead. I am forced to realize that a disaster of that proportion would be nothing less than a death knell for our small nation of 300,000. Despite being caught in our own era of struggle and adversity and economic hardship, our people have still reached deep into their hearts and souls and pockets for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Yesterday the Red Cross reported that it has raised about $350,000. In the grand scheme of things, this is a drop in the bucket of new life for Haiti. But coming from a people with little to spare, Belizeans have shown that they are big in heart if a little low in cash. I was touched to learn that with the exception of a few corporate donations, the majority of this money has been donated by the common man and woman on the street – me and you, so to speak. There have been so many graphic images of the Haiti tragedy – images of loss and a misery beyond words. With all that, my mind for some reason has held on to an image of the Haitian president Rene Garcia Preval immediately after the quake struck. He was caught on tape wandering aimlessly and shocked. He had been reduced in mere minutes from ‘royalty to ruins,’ so to speak. His presidential palace, his home, had crumbled to the ground. He is currently living in a borrowed home and operating an office out of a nearby Police Station. And I think to myself – how easily these trappings of wealth and position can be turned into nothing – as substantial as smoke in the wind. And of course, being the hateful political creature I am, my mind kept

gluttony of the Barrows was obscene. The other day, I was in this little café down the street stocking up on some snacks for the afternoon munchies. In walks first lady second wife Kim, a woman I had never met before. Far from the relaxed smiling barefooted Caribbean woman on the cover of a magazine, though, this was designer chic Kim from carefully styled head to expensively shod feet. Nothing wrong with that, but it was her attitude which threw me off a bit. She wasn’t exactly rude to the staff in the café, but very nearly so – every inch an aristocrat being served by the underlings as is her just due, if you know what I mean. I was unpleasantly surprised by her attitude, to be frank, and even more so when I heard that she was at some Christmas party or the other telling all who cared to listen about how much she spent on Christmas shopping in Miami, and how she didn’t know what she would do if there was no Miami. Then my mind wandered onto first wife second lady Lois, who has made millions since Dean Barrow took office. She has been heard to boast that she will pull in about $12million from GOB this year. She is the non-resident Ambassador to the UN and holds paid positions on several Boards under

sunday, January 31, 2010 GOB control. She is also the attorney on record for several companies under GOB control. And from there I thought about Anwar Barrow, who has turned into an instant multi-millionaire under the UDP. He too has ridden the BTL gravy train with mother Lois, courtesy of Daddy Dean. My mind paused a bit on the image of Anwar sitting at a table with about a dozen bottles of Moet & Chandon. Then I thought about Deanne, the royal princess and latest Barrow millionaire who recently told a Justice that her firm does not allow pro-bono work. Yes, the Barrows have amassed great wealth and power in Belize since Dean Barrow took office – like pigs slobbering in the public trough. I wonder how much Dean, Kim, Lois, Anwar and Deanne have contributed to the relief efforts in Haiti. I wonder if they have contributed anything. I find myself doubting it very much. They are so involved in their own enrichment that someone else’s sorrow and misfortune would probably be an unwelcome distraction. And as the thought of fleeting wealth enters my head, I find myself wishing very much for the downfall and misery of those who have gotten so very rich so very quickly while so many suffer.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

Strictly Personal Barrow is bogus!

managing the portfolios of the ministries of health and national security, for example, and they CAN be found outside of the current national assembly. A good leader does not have to be a person of integrity, in fact, honesty may NOT be the best policy, especially in our politics. Integrity and prudence are preeminent principles of management, though, and the persistence of the corruption that has so swiftly become a hallmark of this administration, bespeaks its own volumes. Dean Barrow has no personal integrity. He has little by way of by glenntillett@yahoo.com credibility left as a result. His Having ser ved two-terms feeble justifications for his ex-wife, first as a Cabinet minister and then as Deputy Prime Minister, as well son, daughter, sister, nephew and as two years as of February 8th, longtime law partner all feeding 2010 as Prime Minister, along with from the BTL trough say it all. The serving five years as Deputy Leader deeds soundly trump the words. In a moment of bitter humour of his party while in opposition, one of my friends remarked that just and 10 years as Leader of the because of that situation we have to Opposition, Dean Barrow, it would coin yet another term – ROB(ber) appear, is exceptionally qualified by that experience to lead Belize. Why s, Relatives Of Barrow, to go with then is his government failing so SOBs (Supporters of Barrow), and FOBs (Friends Of Barrow) in our badly? There are to be sure extenuating quest to distinguish between the factors, some beyond our control as myriad, byzantine entanglements a nation, which have exacerbated and conflict of interests. There is no greater responsibility and continue to worsen what is a or more sacred duty if you are an bad situation but there are some issues that our executive leadership elected member of the National Assembly than your role as a has failed to address. I would not gainsay that defender of the public’s tr ust, Dean Barrow is a good leader; particularly the money harnessed his resume is proof that he has from our taxes. The massive failure led and succeeded. I would argue, of this administration to protect though, that this Dean Barrow the public wealth is an unspeakable administration is a great illustration crime but in my book it is not as that good leadership and sound evil as the utter lack of vision and management is not the same thing. compassion that is Exhibit A in my This administration took case. Princely politicians, paupered office it would now seem apparent, psyches: Next Tuesday will mark believing their own propaganda and one year since canero Atanascio were not prepared to manage what Felix Guttierez was shot and killed they met. They had assumed office by members of the Belize security on the propaganda that the country was a mess and government was forces. It will also mark one year since the Barrow administration bankrupt. The reality is that they met has failed to offer condolences and a cash-rich government and went assistance to his widow and five on a profligate spending spree. children. I pray that Dean Barrow and Good managers in times of the his Cabinet cohorts will find it in feast prepare for the famine. Good their hearts to erase this stain from leaders don’t necessarily have to be the nation’s soul and do that which prudent but good managers are. My political partisans often is right. Although I did not vote p o i n t t o t h e e v i d e n t l a ck o f for any of you and neither did my competence at the Cabinet level children, you still represent all of as the primar y reason why the us. Just do the right thing. government continues to fail and the nation to founder. I disagree. I lay the blame squarely on Barrow’s head. Yes, while the composition of the Cabinet is unfortunate, the proverbial hand basket with which at www.belizetimes.bz to back water, the salient point is that Barrow could bring in the ~ POST YOUR COMMENTS requisite talent through the Senate. A good leader can make the ~ VOTE ON ARTICLES square peg fit into the round hole ~ VIEW OUR PHOTO but good managers know that it is counter-productive – any short GALLERY term gain is far eclipsed by long term losses. With 2 million hits per We over are the most visited There are several persons newspaper in Belize month we arewebsite the most visited who could do a far better job of

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sunday, January 31, 2010

J. A. Rebel

Barrow buttering media palms

Things in Belize are quite interesting, politically speaking. I listen to various morning shows and perhaps the most balanced are those when the hosts are not butting in, and in the process stopping callers from commenting on burning issues. In addition it is always good when the hosts keep their mouths shut after a caller gives his or her opinions. If the host wishes to expound on a particular topic brought up by the caller, then it can be accepted, but what I find disturbing is for the host of a morning show to rebut or give his/her personal interpretation on a caller’s personal opinion. Nothing is wrong for the host of a show to tell a caller that he/she (the host) agrees or disagrees with the caller’s point; after all it is good to agree to disagree and disagree to agree. I say this because a few particular hosts and even reporters, journalists and to a certain extent the media are showing how partial they are to various sectors in society. For instance, I heard a caller to a morning show in Belize City speaking on the high cost of living in Belize and saying that it appears as if it is being ignored by the dominant media houses. The caller pointed out that a newspaper claiming to be the largest in circulation in Belize spends more time spanking the PUP leadership and former leaders and members of the PUP than they spend pressuring the current administration. The caller pointed out that on other occasions when the PUP was in office, that same newspaper would flog them. Before the caller could have gotten to the next point, the anti-PUP host cut the caller off the line. After listening to the caller attentively, thoughts began running t h r o u g h my h e a d . T h e s a m e particular newspaper was adamant to see the PUP go down. It was all a big orchestrated campaign to see the PUP fall. I say this because some of the same issues that affected the past administration are plaguing the current administration and that particular newspaper has gone deafeningly silent. That newspaper behind “cerco de lamina” is yet to pressure government on the crime situation. The crowd operating that newspaper is yet to ask DPM Vega how come SSB lost the island on Ambergris Caye and it is now in the hands of Minister Montero. The same newspaper is yet to ask the Barrow administration how come things have gotten so much harder out here than before.

The Belize Times

Again - where is the so-called “Corruption Watch,” that Jules and his UDP station ran while the PUP was in offi ce. It seems that the current administration has been declared corruption free by Jules. Interestingly, the collaborators in Belize for the World Corruption Index are no long er assisting them, but that does not mean that Barrow and the UDP are saints and corruption free. Far from it. There is

the stench of corruption within the current administration; corruption within the Lands Department, corruption in the Health Department, cor r uption in the Ministr y of Tourism, corruption in the Police Department, corr uption in the Housing Department, corruption in the Agriculture Department and yet the dominant media outlets refuse to hammer the cur rent administration. When things become obvious to more than just a few people, and the real issues are not being hammered in the news outlets, then it leads to assumptions. We don’t have to g o far - look at the lucrative position and returns Daddy Vasquez got to bad press the previous administration. Daddy Vasquez has his bread buttered on six sides. That widely circulating newspaper protecting the current administration is well paid. They are getting the big government cheques from Barrow Telecommunication Limited and the Social Security Board and are hog ging up the

27 government paid ads. Understandable of Jules and Daddy Vasquez - they will die UDP hence their support to the current administration is unquestionable. But what about the other media houses? Are they just political sketel? If their hands are not buttered properly then they shake the boat and move from one party to another. Guess what? This dory is shaky, so let’s see who will jump over to our side.

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PON DI GULLY

D “These are people who E have the final say” tion of the “research” carried out so far by this hydroelectric company and have found that they have built roads without permit, felled trees, clogged up streams just to built a causeway and have cleared an acre within the nature reserve. But, as I said, the Prime Minister will say that they are just doing “research”, that all that is just ancillary to the research the hydroelectric company is doing, and that we don’t know better. But now back to this throwing under the bus thing. Juan Coy (sorry, Honourable

By anthony sylvestre If it weren’t such a serious matter, it would be outrageously funny: the way Juan Coy threw his boss the Prime Minister under the bus in a television interview over the controversial research permit granted to a hydroelectric company and signed by, of all persons, the anti-corruption-machete wielding Prime Minister. But for the people living in the villages around the Bladen Nature Reserve in the Toledo District, it is no laughing matter. For as the woman in the news clipping explained: “Me I travel night and day in this river and I want no dam in this river because we drink the water, we have nowhere else to drink water. We have nothing more but this river. All the villages them drink water from this river” The granting of the permit then, is a matter of extreme, utmost importance to these villagers in our southernmost district. Their grouse is simple and straightforward, but a fundamental one: what guarantees are there that their communities will not be “messed up” and affected by this research permit to of all people, a hydroelectric company, and in of all places, a nature reserve. But more to the point, that a dam will not be built in the nature reserve. As my good friend would say, “Amazing!” For, as the woman in the news clipping, Zenovia Requena articulated: “[a] ll those people back of those villages drink from the river because the river has a lot of branches, a lot of veins which run to meet up with the other rivers and that is why this will mess up whole of the place and with this river they should do nothing, nothing at all because that will affect this river bad.” Our all knowing Prime Minister, of course, will say that the villagers like Ms. Requena are being alarmist; that the permit is just to do research, and not to do “exploration” or “development”. But surely these villagers must know and understand their environment better than an outsider. They must know what will disturb the ecosystem in which they live. And too, what type of research would a company with a name like “Hydroelectric Development and Management” be doing? Come on, they have to, mussi wah do some type of exploration and testing. In fact, the people over at the Yaxche Conservation Trusts, who co-manage the Bladen Nature Reserve, have done an inspec-

Minister of State, Juan Coy) remember him? He was the Minister who had ordered the BDF to return some contraband liquor and other beverages to some of his favoured constituents. That was back in March, 2009. The no nonsense- anti-corruption- machete wielding Prime Minister threw Coy out of Cabinet for this. Remember, the Prime Minister had pledged to the heavens that his anti-corruption double-blade machete would chop whoever offended the golden rule and wherever there was a “whiff of corruption.” Yea sure… if you say so Mr. Prime Minister. And if Juan Coy is to be believed, when the Prime Minister was booting him out of Cabinet in March, 2009, the Prime Minister some months earlier had secretly signed some agreement with this hydroelectric company to do the kind of “research” it has so far done in the Bladen Reserve. According to Coy, although the Bladen Nature Reserve is in his constituency, he was neither consulted before the concession agreement was granted to the hydroelectric company, nor was his opinion sought. Now that is a hell of a thing. Looking at Juan Coy in that news clipping, you get the distinct feeling that this public revelation gave Juan Coy

Sunday, January 31, 2010 great pleasure. What, with the Prime Minister being out of the country and all, what better time to tell-tale and get back at the Prime Minister. It may get Coy booted out of Cabinet again, but since he is fighting for his own political life with all the heat that is coming down on him in Toledo West, I guess it is worth the gamble. After all, it is a huge slap in the face of Coy to have had such a critical decision on a vital resource in his constituency taken without his input. Coy tried to deflect the obvious criticism that would be leveled at him. “The Prime Minister,” he said, “ in his capacity has all authority; likewise the Minister of Natural Resources. It is true to the extent that it is my jurisdiction but these are people who have the final say.” His response is very telling; a member of Cabinet believing that he is powerless and cannot help his people even in the face of an obvious wrong. It is a pervasive feeling in Belize these days. And while we have a government that invariably has the final say on just about everything, the people at the Yaxche Conservation Trusts are proving that we are still a country of laws and that justice can still have its day.

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

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THE PATRIOT

Barrow’s Peeping Tom Obsession

“Dis govamint really di taiyad mi. Tell dehn fi chrai hurry up an get out nuh! Chrai fi mi nuh daalin?” begged the female vendor, standing at the door of her coke shop looking at her butane bill. Overwhelmed and sighing, she sluggishly stepped out the way so that the stocky creole man could continue to drag the gas hose to her empty tank. Yes Miss, I hear you and, well, we all feel the same way. Now, although in my opinion high prices for cooking gas is near state extortion because we all use it to eat and it definitely is the furthest commodity away from a luxury, the butane costs that this UDP Government is choking us with is not what was “taiyading” me. Rather, it was the passing of a white Toyota Land Cruiser with a huge metal chamber pot turned upside down on the top of it. Yap, you guessed it, the spy truck! To think of it, it was disturbingly amusing as it rocked like Noah’s Arch through the craters in the street and swerved from a pack of dogs ravishing a hill of uncollected garbage. Two point three million… $2,300,000! Wow! Barrow is splurging two point three million dollars on his obsession with eavesdropping. Makes mathematical sense I guess, only forty thousand for all the park renovations our youths play in and a ten per cent cut for the fight against crime. But we can afford that much money so Barrow’s government can get aroused at the expense of your privacy. This surely is a perverted government. Papa Jeff should adjust his police statistics because this peeping tom campaign is really the political crime of the government burglarizing your privacy. Hypocrites! First they said they did not want to hear what we had to say by depriving us of a referendum vote when they try to trample our fundamental rights and freedom. Now this schizophrenic government has swung on the other side and

wants to listen in on our private conversations? Make up unu mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine a time in Belize when the Government itself is into home invasion because that is exactly what they are doing. We, the people, made one mistake and now we must suffer through this government being in our House for another two and a half years but that does not mean we want them listening on the other line and reading our texts. When I say “House” I mean, House of Representatives. Shucks!!! (While I am at it I must say, you Pablo, boy, no touch that and please ﬁght the urge to press any of the shinny buttons, ok son) Can’t they just stay in their room facing the corner and wait out the time? Come on. When you list all the things that need to be done, you will surely not put Government intercepting your emails, chats, texts and telephone calls anywhere in your top 100. Plus, did we not cast a previous UDP demon of a Government out of ofﬁce for doing this same kind of hogwash? Remember the SIS during the ’84 to 89’ UDP administration? Tell me that this Perdomo guy is not for real, please. Let’s go over this. He has said that “yes” they brought in another Israeli Company, hopefully not like the ones that came in with the illegal gambling rink after Sedi removed the Israelis’ need for visas to Belize. But Perdomo says “yes”, they specialize in software that can intrude in the privacy of citizens. In fact, the Israelis will enable the Government to “eavesdrop on telephone conversations and intercept faxes, emails, chat and text messages.” And yes they have already begun to do “data gathering” for the technology to the extent of marching on the two telecommunications companies in Belize. But…but… Perdomo wants to have us believe that they have not started to “implement” this tool of tyranny on us. So boss,

weh di chamber pat SUV di do yah? Fool di taak but da no fool … Watch yah “mi bally” we don’t want this Middle East style of politics in Belize. Yuh hear?? Most dictators and tyrants employ this very same method of monitoring because their hold on power is tenuous and fragile. But no people on earth can remain oppressed and tyrants know this; yet their addiction to power is so corrupting that they are driven to increasingly more desperate and offensive action using state resources. A Government to citizen relationship is much like a dating relationship. Should your signiﬁcant other have the right, authority and capability to rummage through your phone, hi5, email and text messages? If that person did so, we would say that those are signs of control which is the red ﬂag for abuse. Is Barrow’s Government then not controlling and abusive? Government spying through your bathroom and bedroom windows, nice touch, you imps! You have really outdone yourself this time. Where will this end? Dehn bally facey!! Is there nowhere in that little plagiarized UDP constitution that tells you to have respect for our civil liberties? If not, we the people of Belize who stand in the form of the People’s United Party and the 1981 Constitution that was hammered out to keep Belize democratic and its citizens free from exploitation, “di tell unu” it is unconstitutional. This government is so despotic that it publicly endorses eavesdropping and spying. Barrow himself used a babble of big words to basically say that he

29 supports this spying when he said that they would “not shy away from this as a distinct likelihood.” Talk straight baas man. This UDP patlicka will never change its diet. We remember all the tell tale signs of this Government’s pedigree: SIS, John Saldivar’s confession of email theft in Parliament and no sanction by the UDP(remind them of that, Zenaida, all of them are in your boat), wire tapping proposals along with preventative detention, and whatever else the UDP vultures in the BTL boardroom are doing. The problem is that we, Belizeans, have been so bombarded with all the foolishness that Government is doing and/or not doing, grenades, Guatemalan intrusions and the stiﬂing cost of living that this eavesdropping thing really has not hit home yet. On Saturday, the people will begin a leg of their march against this government, I, personally, am with the people when we collectively say: “Read our lips: we don’t want you and any form of your corruption, betrayal, victimization or treason!!!” In closing I wish to paraphrase a soon to be scorned second lady who once said: “Now you may have heard people use all kinds of words to describe this UDP administration. But did you know you could call them dodo birds, Pablo Marin, Gapi, Perdomo, Boots, Faber, Willoughby, stewpid, liad, retarded, thief, cheap, haad pay, oppressive, hypocritical, cold, arrogant, or sanctimonious. You can use all kind of words to describe people in this UDP administration but “Government” is not one of them."

The Belize Times

sunday, January 31, 2010

Belize #1 Sports Page

Caribbean Pride wins Boom to Manatee Lodge canoe race

Team Caribbean Pride - Chris Guydis, Jermaine Sanchez and Justin Sanchez won the Burrell Boom to Manatee Lodge canoe race held by the Belize Canoe Association last Saturday. The Caribbean Pride team clocked 1:25:27.15 to win the $100 1st prize in the men’s division and the first place trophy. Six-time Ruta Maya champs Armin Lopez, Daniel Cruz and Amado Cruz in the Belize Bank canoe out-sprinted the Cruise Solutions canoe paddled by Jerry Rhaburn, Efrain Cruz and Felix Cruz to win the $50 2nd prize, clocking 1:27:59.09 seconds. The Cruise Solutions team finished 6 seconds later to win the $50 3rd prize.

Team Reag an International - Nolberto Seguro, Jeremy Sanchez and Sheldon Seguro clocked 1:31:44.28 to place 4th; the N.I.C.H. team - Oscar Cardona, Jimmy Valdez and Manuel Rodriguez clocked 1:52:37 to take 5th place, while the Belize Poultry team - Anthony Rodriguez, Orlando Habet and Francisco Coleman in the “Just Do It’ canoe clocked 1:35:01.58 to place 6th. Team Print Belize - Rudolph Gentle, Javier Guardado and Erwin Cruz clocked 1:38:42:58 to place 7th overall and win 1st prize in the Pleasure division. Team Bell Scat - Henri Cruz, Trevor Lennon and Jesus Linarez won 2nd place in the Pleasure Division, clocking 1:40:36.27 to place 8th overall. Team “Grumpy Old Men”- Jerry Wilken, Francis Codd and Stanley Bailey clocked 1:43:13.58 to place 9th overall and win the Master’s Division. Team Diplomat - Ronald Mendez,

Corozal FC & Guinea Grass FC win thru to F.F.B. U-16 football semifinals

The Corozal F.C. U-16, Guinea Grass U-16, Griga Esieni and Las Flores FC have won through to the Football Federation of Belize’s national under-16 football semifinals, in quarterfinals games played on Saturday, January 23. Corozal capped their 6-0 win over Palmar this week with a 3-0 win at the Louisiana field in Orange Walk to lead the competition with a 9-0 goal aggregate, while Guinea Grass also advanced on goal aggregate 4-3 following a 1-1 draw with Trial Farm Zion at the Louisiana field. Corozal’s Leonardo Jones, Jesusito Williams and Urbano Rivero led their attack, with the help of Nelson Rivero, Denis Charlie and Rai West at midfield, but were frustrated by Palmar’s defensive line of Desmond Hill, Nisany Bermudez and Zair Aldana who held the visitors to a nil-zip draw until the half time break. Meanwhile Palmar’s Lawrence Romero, Nigel Cabanas and Adel Caseres were trying to get an attack going, supported by midfielders Albertico Casares, Dani

Romero, Gaspar Logan and Albert Smith, winning several corner kicks, but failing to impress Corozal’s goalie Luis Chi or the scoreboard. The visitors won a free kick outside the 18 yard box and Rai West executed with deadly precision to score Corozal’s first winning goal. Palmar’s goalie Shawn Hill had no chance when Corozal team captain Nelson Rivero blasted in a 2nd goal and Leonardo Jones put the game on ice with a 3rd goal for the 3-0 win. Trial Farm Zion scored first on Guinea Grass U-16 when #22 Rafael “Gordo” Sabido drove the ball past goalie Rafael Castillo and Jesus Sutherland, Antonio Melendez and Andy Uh kept on the pressure as they strove for a 2nd goal to take them through to the next round. The Guinea Grass defenders Arnulfo Perez, Roman Hernandez, Hugo Canul and Brian Castillo had their work cut out to keep Trial Farm from scoring again before the half time break. Guinea Grass’ Edwin Lara and Kevin Ramirez led the counterattack in the 2nd half, with Brian Westby and Noe Hernandez bringing the ball up the sideline, while Amelio Magana and Carlos Landaverde broke up the Trial Farm attacks to create their own plays at midfield. Kevin Ramirez headed in the equalizer on a free kick into the goal area from Noe Hernandez, which Trial Farm’s goalie Rowley Padilla failed to clear. Griga Esieni hosted the San Martin Meds for a 2-1 drubbing at the Carl Ramos

Audrey Moody and Eldon August clocked 1:46:38.16 as they finished 10th overall to win 1st prize in the mixed division. “Rob’s Angels” - Ana, Francisca and Marcela Cruz clocked 1:47:38.28 to win the Female division, finishing 11th overall. Team “Vista Chicks”- Susan Wilken, Shelly Bowen and Laura Thompson clocked 2:00:58 to win 2nd price in the Female division, finishing 15th overall. The Coast Guard Mermaids - Joycelin Galvez, Keyren Tzib and Sheridan Sambula were the 3rd female team, clocking 2:03:01.27 to finish 16th overall. Team “Really F---ing Grumpy Old Men”- Mike Roberts, Bruce Bowen and Joe Fuzy won the Dorey division, clocking 2:05:27.128 to finish 17th overall. Canoe rookies Mike Roe, Samantha Singh and Chris Bradley paddled their “Pinky & the Brain” canoe to win the Youth division, clocking 2:20:00 to place 19th overall. The Burrell Boom to Manatee Lodge race was the first of the preliminary races held by the Belize Canoe Association in preparation for the 12th annual Ruta Maya River Challenge to be held over the Baron

Bliss Day weekend. Chris Guydis and the Caribbean Pride team will be organizing a Haulover Bridge to Burrell Boom race, paddling against the current on February 6th, and the final dress rehearsal for the Ruta Maya will be the annual Burrell Boom to Belize City race to be held on February 20.

Corozal F.C, Club Atletico, Griga Eseini & FC Toledo win thru to F.F.B. U-19 football semifinals The Corozal F.C. U-19, Club Atletico of Belmopan, Griga Esieni and FC Toledo have won through to the Football Federation of Belize’s national under-19 football semifinals, in quarterfinals games played on Sunday, January 24. Corozal F.C. posted a 2-0 win over Santa Cruz U-19 at the Ricalde Stadium on Sunday. Rafael “Chenco” Rivero and Erminio Aban led the Corozal offensive with the help of Rigel Correa and Ardon Budna on the wings and Kennard Teck and Darnell Mossiah at midfield. The Santa Cruz goalie had no chance when Rivero blasted in the winning goal from the edge of the goal areal and Erminio Aban also tasted success with a 2nd goal for Corozal’s 2-0 win. Santa Cruz’s Elvis Usher pressed

Stadium on Sunday. Jose Martinez and Carlos “Fubu” Thomas scored for Esieni, while Jimmy Reyes scored a consolation goal for San Martin. As in their first encounter with FC Toledo, the Las Flores U-16 squad scored first in the rematch at the Toledo Union field on Sunday. Eric Gonzalez and Lincoln Lopez scored 2 goals each for Las Flores’ 4-1 win; only Darrol Lambey scored a consolation goal for Toledo.

the Corozal defense as he strove for the equalizer, but the Corozalenos: Moises Perez, Asrael Sutherland and Christian Budna were letting nothing through, and closed up shop to hold the Cayo squad goal-less until the long whistle. Club Atletico held football clinic for the Julian Cho Warriors at the F.F.B. field of Belmopan on Saturday with a 3-zip schooling on strikes by David Madrid – 2 goals and Brian Samayoa - 1 goal. One goal for a 1-0 win over Exodus U-19 F.C. at the Carl Ramos stadium on Sunday was enough to see Griga Esiene through to the next round. They were already leading the series with a 2-1 win in Belmopan Benque U-19 posted a 2-1 win over FC Toledo at the Marshalleck Stadium on Saturday; the referee had to call the game off when the Benque fans invaded the field when Alex Andres Maquin Jr. scored goal for F.C Toledo. Toledo still won through to the next round on goal aggregate, by a 3-0 win when they hosted Benque F.C. at the Toledo Union field last week.

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

Belize #1 Sports Page

SCA & Gwen Liz girls win in CSSSA football last Wednesday, with Jaslyn Cadle scoring Gwen Liz’s 1st goal before the half time break. Kursha Pollard picked up a pass from Leera Maldonado and outran the Gwen Liz captain Candice Neal to drive in the equalizer early in the 2nd half. The Gwen Liz girls tightened their defense, but their enthusiasm cost Jersha Estrada a yellow card caution. A 2nd strike by Faith Mejia in the closing minutes of the ball game delivered the 2-1 win for the Gwen Liz girls. The St Catherine’s Academy and Gwen Lizarraga High School girl both enjoyed wins in the 2010 Central Secondary Schools Sports Association (CSSSA) football competition at the M.C.C. garden last week. The St Catherine’s Academy girls ran over the Pallotti High School girls 5-0, their first win in 2 outings. Alexis Rosado, Leera Alvarado and Kursha Pollard led the S.C.A. offensive. With the help of Angelica and Aimee Vasquez and Katherine Maradiaga creating plays at midfield, Kursha Pollard

ran through the Pallotti defense to drill the 1st and 2nd goals past goalie Christian Chun in the 1st half. The S.C.A. defenders Ashley Pelayo, Inga Woods, Diedra Gill and Aaliyah Williams held Pallotti’s Athnee Alford, Shinelle Lord and Vicky Zelaya scoreless up to the half time break. Kursha completed her hat trick with a 3rd goal in the 2nd half and added 2 more for the 5-0 win. Pallotti’s Sade Lopez, Gorlee Marin and Darcy Rodriguez were trying to get an attack going, but SCA brought in fresh players: Christian

Rodriguez, Kiana Wagner, Kiana Singh, Gabriella Habet and Samari Samos to remain on the offensive, and SCA goalie Carlisia Petillo handled all balls that came her way to shut out the Pallotti girls till the final whistle. It was the Pallotti girls’ first loss as they had drawn twice in their 2 previous outings against the Edward P. Yorke High School girls and against Wesley College. The Gwen Lizarraga High School girls posted their 3rd back-to-back-toback win outlasting the SCA girls 2-1

Kulture Yabra & City Stars both win 3-0 in Over-35 football Orlando Vega led the Stars’ attack at midfield with the help of Jose “Shaggy” Caceres, Francis Budna and Hector Martinez. North-side’s Albert Eiley and Steve Mayen led the counterattack, but made no impression on the City Stars’ defense anchored by Kent Gabourel Sr., Alberto

The Kulture Yabra now leads the Belize City over-35 football competition after posting their 6th win 3-0 over Plaza at the M.C.C. garden on Sunday, City Stars won by that same score 3-0 over North-side United. Benigno Espinoza scored City Stars’ 1st goal when he finished a cross to center from Anthony Michael.

Acosta, George Hanson and Celso

Carcamo. Goalie Thomas Rivas took care of all other challenges, but Northside’s stiff defense left Alberto Acosta limping before the end of the 1st half and Richard Gordon came off the bench to replace him. Brian Meighan produced Northside’s best chance of a goal, but the goal post intervened. Benigno Espinoza tried for a 2nd goal, but his shot drained wide of the goal post. Francis Budna made no such mistake when he put the finish on pass to center from Anthony Michael, as he upped the ante to 2-0. Kent Gabourel repeated the

play with a pass that this time Richard Gordon finished for the win. In the nightcap, Kulture Yabra posted a 3-0 win with Charlie Slusher embarrassing the Plaza goalie twice, and Norman “Tilliman” Nunez made it 3-zip with a 3rd goal.

Brown Bombers & Kraal Rd win 1st Division football openers

Brown Bombers won the opening g ame of the 2010 First Division football competition 2-1 over BWEL at the M.C.C. g arden last Friday night, while Kraal Road FC won 3-1 over Atlantic Insurance on Saturday and Vinfa FC

and Rangers struggled to a 3-3 draw on Sunday. The Brown Bombers converted 2 penalties to win 2-1 over Atlantic Insurance on Friday evening. Roberto Savio scored first for Atlantic Insurance in the 41st minute, but the referee awarded the bombers a penalty in the 42nd minute, which Henry “Pulu” Gillett converted to tie the score before the half time break. Gillett converted a 2nd penalty in the 75th minute for the 2-1 win. Kraal Road FC also enjoyed a 3-1 win over B.W.E.L on Saturday. Kraal Rd seized a 2-0 lead when Dalton Zuniga scored in the 29th minute and Jack Dawson added a 2nd goal in the 36th minute for Kraal Road to take a 2-zip lead into the half time break. B.W.E.L.’s Daniel Hernandez drilled home a consolation goal before Zuniga sealed the 3-1 win with a 3rd goal in the 81st minute.

On Sunday Vinfa seized a 1-0 lead over Rangers on a strike by Giovanni Jefferies in the 1st minute of play, but 2 strikes by Douglas Rodriguez equalized the score and gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Vinfa’s Antonio Mucco came right back in your face to score a 2nd goal to tie the ball game at 2-2 before the half time break. Henry Veliz entered the ball game for the Rangers in the 2nd half, replacing Eric Miranda, but the Rangers’ defenders goofed in bringing down Mucco inside the 18 and the referee ruled penalty. Vinfa’s goalie Aldo Savala made no mistake as he converted to give Vinfa the 3-2 lead, but another Rangers’ 2nd half substitution brought in Jaime Rodriguez, who blasted in a free kick past Savala to tie the score 3-3 scant minutes before the final whistle.

The Belize Times

sunday, January 31, 2010

Belize #1 Sports Page

Tubal Institute boys lead CSSSA football 5-0

The undefeated TUBAL Institute boys lead the 2010 Central Secondary Schools

Spor ts Association (CSSSA) football competition with 15 pts, posting their 5th back-to-back-to-back win at the MCC garden on Monday evening. The TUBAL Institute boys posted their 5th back to back win 4-1 over the Edward P. Yorke High School boys on Monday evening. Ivory Copius led the attack with the first goal, and Alden Bradley soon added a second, but Ceto Martinez would get one in for the E.P. Yorke boys to trail 1-2 at the half

time break. It was a Tubal show after that, as Dion Gutierrez delivered a 3rd goal, and Clinton Jorgenson drilled home a 4th goal before the long whistle sounded to a 4-1 win. The TUBAL Institute boys had scored their 4th win 6-0 over the Anglican Cathedral College boys on Saturday. Clinton Jorgenson led the attack by scoring a hat trick; John King added two more goals and Alden Bradley made it 6-0. The Sadie Vernon Technical High School boys posted their 3rd win in a 2-0 upset of the Gwen Lizarraga High School boys with two strikes by Devon Bevans on Monday night. The Sadie Vernon boys had enjoyed their 2nd win 3-1 over the Nazarene High School boys on Saturday morning. The Gwen Lizarraga High School had done better last Friday when they posted

their 2nd win 5-2 over the St John’s College boys. Akeem Jones led the Gwen Liz attack with 2 goals and Raheem Flowers, John Valerio and Ralph Martinez each added 1 goal. Kendice Williams and Melhelm Hernandez scored St. John’s 2 goals. The Ladyville Technical High School boys rank No. 2 with 14 pts from 4 wins and 2 draws after a 2-0 win over Edward P. Yorke High School boys last Thursday on strikes by Jael Ottley and Raheem Mariano. The Wesley College boys posted their 3rd win 2-0 over the Anglican Cathedral College boys last Thursday, on strikes by Emiliano Oliva and Keenan Lopez. The A.C.C. cause was not helped when Troy Augustus and Franky Jean were sent off with red cards, leaving ACC playing with only 9 men.

Queen Square girls & St. Martin’s boys win thru to Primary Schools basketball playoffs School by forfeit. Fredrick Williams had led Wesley Upper School boys with 16 pts as they romped to their 5th win 30-11 over the All Saints’ Anglican School boys Kirk Brown and Zachary Usher scored 7 points each for the Belize Elementary School boys to enjoy a 23-17 win over the St. Luke Methodist School boys; Joseph Lopez and Charles Garbutt scored 5 pts each for St Luke’s. Randy Franklin had scored 8 points to lead the St. John Vianney School boys

The undefeated St. Martin de Porres girls lead the Belize City primary schools basketball competition with 7 wins while the undefeated Stella Maris School boys are 8-0. Janell Grinage had led the St. Martin de Porres School girls with 4pts as they

enjoyed their 7th win: 8-0 over Queen Square Anglican School last Wednesday. The St. Martin de Porres boys made the cut to enter the playoffs as the No.2 seed from zone A, by a 36-21 win over St. John Vianney RC School boys in the final game of the regular season on Monday. The Queen Square Anglican girls also made the cut as the No.4 seed entering the playoffs and will take on the Martin’s girls in the first game of the

playoffs Wednesday afternoon. The Caye Caulker RC School boys also made the cut as the No. 1 seed from zone B with a 7-1 record; their only loss came from a 38-5 upset by the No.2 seed, the Grace Primary boys who are 6-2. The Wesley Upper boys also had a 6-2 record, but one of those losses was to Grace Primary. The St. Luke’s girls enter the playoffs as the No.2 seed with a 6-1 record; their only loss was to the Martins’ girls, while the Belize Elementary girls enter as the 3rd ranked seed. Clency Lopez led St. Martin’s boys to their 36-21 win with 8 pts while Karl Smith scored 8 points for St. John Vianney. The St. Martin’s girls got the easy bye to their 7th win when the Queen Street Baptist School girls forfeited their game. The Caye Caulker RC School boys posted their 7th win 22-18 over the Buttonwood Bay Nazarene School. Marcello Ventura led Caye Caulker with 9 pts while Ricardo Pavon top scored for Buttonwood Bay with 9pts.

Elwin Pollard top-scored 17 points for Trinity Methodist School in a 21-12 win over All Saints’ Anglican School; Dedrick Ramclam and Keyvon Evans had 4 pts each for All Saints’. Kirkland Lambey led St. Martin de Porres boys with 11pts in a 24-19 win over St. John’s Anglican Primary; Akeem Forbes scored 8 pts for St. John’s Primary. The Holy Redeemer RC School boys got the easy bye to a win when the St. Mary’s School boys forfeited their game. Fredrick Williams had a blast scoring 23 points for the Wesley Upper School boys in their 6th win: 38-20 over St. Ignatius RC School; Keimar Nicholas scored 8 pts for Nashus. The St. John’s Primary girls also got the easy bye to a win when t h e S t . M a r y ’s Primar y School girls forfeited their game on Thursday; so did the Belize Elementary School girls over Queen Street Baptist. The Central Christian School boys also won over Queen Street Baptist

to a 30-12 win over St. Mary’s; Lismo Williams scored 4pts for St. Mary’s. Alex O’Brian had scored 13 pts for St. Luke’s Methodist in their win over Queen Square Anglican, for whom Kurt Hemmans scored 10 pts. The Caye Caulker School boys posted their 6th win when the Queen Street Baptist boys forfeited their game. Trevor Jones top scored 15 pts for the Grace Primary School boys as they romped to their 6th win: 39-25 over St. Ignatius School: Sydney Bradley scored 16pts for Nashus. The Stella Maris School boys remain undefeated with a 29-14 win over Belize Elementary last Wednesday. Michael Graham led Stella Maris with 9 pts while Zachary Usher scored 6pts for Belize Elementary.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

UDP Corruption Revealed

(Continued from page 1) managers of the various sections of the Council, mails, cheques and or postal money orders were received from abroad and addressed/payable to one Mr. Elroy Archer, a fellow staff member. These mails when addressed to him, as well as the cheques and or postal money orders were handed over to Mr. Archer who in turn would supposedly cash them and prepare receipts for them. Since these were not passed through the Value Book, it could not be ascertained that all monies that he received were properly accounted for. A Collector’s Subsidiary Cash book was requested from Mr. Archer, however none was forthcoming as at the time of this report.” In another instance, auditors were unable to find verification that the Mayor’s sister-in-law, Sharon Wade, had actually provided the service for which she was paid more than $139,000. All indications after the investigation suggested that in fact she hadn’t, which smacks of blatant corruption and misappropriation of

taxpayer funds – “Sharon Wade re River runs, hardcore provided and usage of Truck During the period 6th December 2007 and 29th August 2008, Sharon Wade received payments for the sum of $139,535.00 (At Appendix XXXVIII) to deliver load of river runs and hardcore to 4 miles Western Highway and usage of truck for sanitation work. All payments were made from subhead 36 – Hire of Equipment. Again, no contract was seen for this individual. According to the Financial Manager, the contract was done verbally. Dialogue with Acting City Engineer and Works Supervisor on 6th August 2009 Dialogue between the Auditors and the Acting Chief Engineer (Mr. Harrison Smith) and Works Supervisor (Mr. Umberto Martinez) revealed that Belize Aggregates and Tiger Aggregates are the only companies, which supplied the Council with the river runs, 3/8 washed stones and hardcore sand while Manuel Malic

UDP Land Giveaway

(Continued from page 1) be given away and reserved land would be protected at the point of a sword if necessary. But from the documents we have seen, that has certainly not been the case. With the very first document presented below, Vega is proven a liar. In 2008, just months after entering office and right around the time he gave that speech about protecting Belize’s patrimony at all costs, Vega approved the survey of 6.7 acres of land, valuable caye land, located

on Northeast Sapodilla Caye in the Sapodilla Range in the Toledo District. The lucky recipients of that land were known UDP crony Lindsey Garbutt and former UDP Secretary General Kenworth Tillett. Not only is the 6.7 acres part of a caye, but it is also land lying within an area designated as a marine reserve. So what do you say now, Minister Vega. And there’s much more. The second document shows why Clear the Land Castro is now more commonly referred to as Grab the Land Castro. The

was the sole individual that provided river runs.” In another case, the auditors found where the UDP talk show Lik Road had been paid $10,000 for an appearance by the Mayor. In another, the auditors found evidence that taxpayer funds were used to pay for fuel for a private vehicle used by the Mayor’s husband. And in yet another case, the auditors discovered that taxpayer funds had been used to pay protesters who demonstrated in Belmopan against the previous administration. There is simply too much to get into here, but each finding and piece of evidence reveals a bit more of the twisted mess of corruption at City Hall. Interestingly enough, the Prime Minister who campaigned on an anticorruption platform and whose senses are supposed to be on full alert for even a whiff of corruption, decided to sit on this report for the past four months and has said absolutely nothing. There is enough in the report to merit immediate sanctions of political and other staff members. There is enough in the report

to merit a Police investigation into the criminal goings on in City Hall. And there is certainly enough information for the Mayor and her Councilors to be removed from office forthwith at the very least, or to be led out in bangles if the Prime Minister is really serious about his stance. But like in so many other instances in the past two years, Dean Oliver Barrow’s anti-corruption stance is about as substantial as his integrity – which is to say that it is non-existent. Like in so many other things, Barrow has shown that he is completely bogus. In the UDP’s Guardian this week, an article is carried bashing the Mayor. But Zenaida is not being bashed for her sticky fingered nature as revealed in the auditor’s report. She is not being condemned by Barrow because she could not be trusted with our money. Instead she is being condemned because she said that Dean Barrow has no balls. The Belize Times each week will carry excerpts from the very damning Auditor General’s report. The paper also calls on the authorities to immediately take steps to safeguard what, if any, is left of the people’s money at City Hall.

untidy Minister of State has been given permission to survey 25 acres of land in the Millers Bight/Petville Area of the Orange Walk District. Add this to 100 roadside acres on the Northern Highway and other parcels all over Belize Rural North which were granted to Castro after the UDP took office, and you can see why the Minister of State is one of the new wealthy elite in Belize. These two documents are not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Gaspar Vega has professed to be a saint beyond

reproach while presiding over a ministry which is acknowledged as the most corrupt it has ever been. And while gifting prime land to friends and cronies, Vega has also taken victimization to another level by seizing land from poor Belizeans because of political malice. In Corozal more than 200 parcels of land have been taken away from villagers, simply because they support the People’s United Party. Join us next week as the Belize Times brings you more evidence of the land expo underway at the Ministry of Natural Resources.

$2 MILLION DOLLAR BABY

(Continued from page 1)

Finance a whopping $2 million dollars for her work in the Westerhaven case. Readers will recall that GOB was seeking $36million in damages after that vessel grounded on the reef, and that the attorney on record for GOB was the PM’s daughter, Deanne working out of her mother’s law firm. Lois Young’s law firm has been raking in the big bucks since the UDP got into office, billing and receiving a confirmed $1.3million in the first year of her ex-husband’s administration. A quick check with our source in the Ministry of Finance has revealed that in the past six months Lois has been paid over $300,000 by GOB, and she has been heard to boast that she will take in $12million from GOB by the end of the year. In just January alone, she has already received $82,000 from GOB and with the submission of the $2million invoice, the pickings may well surpass even Lois’ predictions by year’s end. Sources inside the legal profession that we consulted this evening told us that they are not surprised at the revelation of this latest fleecing of taxpayers because the favoured status of Lois et al is a hot topic in legal circles. Rampant speculation backed up by the circumstances is that the Prime Minister has circulated a memo in all government departments stating that all legal representation must be done by his ex-wife’s law firm. The question, of course, is then why have we hired a Solicitor-General. Currently our Solicitor-General Oscar

Ramjeet is only seen exercising in the morning in Belmopan and his legal expertise is only experienced in his regular columns on a Caribbean net site. Other than that his employment has gone largely unfelt and unremarked.

In addition, government has trained attorneys on regular payroll to represent its interests in legal matters. But they too have been pushed aside so that Lois and Deanne can benefit from their relationship with the Prime Minister.

When we checked up to news time, the Ministry of Finance had not yet paid off the $2million in this latest installment of the Barrow Love Fest/ Financial Free for all (Barrows) but we will continue to make regular inquiries through our source at the Ministry of Finance.

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The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

BTIA Placencia Holds AGM

January 27, 2009 The Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) conducted its annual general meeting and elections of new offices for the Placencia tourism destination. The meeting commenced with the outgoing President Beverly Cabral giving thanks for the opportunity to have served in the leadership role and to have had the support of the entire membership and destination. She expressed confidence that any new board would continue to provide strong leadership and urged members to remain alert and proactive. In relation to the recent discussions for cruise tourism, she urged remain vigilant, get the information and ensure their positions are registered. The general meeting resulted in the election of the BTIA Board as follows: Wendy Lemus - Wendy's Restaurant - Chairman David Vernon - The North Beach & Toadal Adventures - 1st Vice Chairman Hannah Cowell - Platinum Designs - Secretary Gillian Zabaneh - Sunova Beach Gift Shop - Treasurer Patricia Ramirez - Splash Dive Shop - Councilor Jeanie Gabourel - Jag Auto Rental - Councilor Steven Christianson - Caribbean Cabinets & Furniture - Councilor The Executive Director for the Placencia BTIA office reported on several achievements over the past year. These included: * Reception of the award for Best Receptive Service from the BTB Awards 2009 * Successful Lobsterfest 2009 * Successful Mistletoe Ball 2009 * Road Clean up and maintenance activities with heavy support from private sector members * Continued marketing for Placencia via the website and Placencia Breeze newspaper Placencia BTIAPlacencia BTIA will as well be responsible for the implementation of this year's Placencia Sidewalk Arts & Craft Festival. The group as well considered the heavily discussed cruise tourism for Placencia and agreed that consultation and information is key. An invitation will be directed to the Ministry of Tourism and the Belize Tourism Board asking for a consultative meeting in order to receive information on the proposal being investigated. Spurred on by this discussion, Placencia BTIA is as well preparing to determine activities to derive a tourism development plan for the destination, so as to feed into the larger national tourism master planning exercise that the government will be embarking.

sunday, January 31, 2010

The Belize Times

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POVERTY IN BELIZE: FROM GRACE TO GRASS

This week, the Government of Belize, through the Ministry of Economic Development, undertook a series of consultation that culminated with national consultation with public and private sector agencies. At the consultations the draft executive summary and recommendations from the 2009 Country Poverty Assessment (CPA) report was presented. It is to be noted that the previous CPA report on Belize was undertaken 7 years ago and it indicated that 33% of the population was poor. The most recent CPA report is revealing that total poverty has increased to 43% of the population over this 7 year period. The objectives of the CPA were to identify the causes and extent of poverty in Belize; evaluate the effectiveness of policies and programs targeted at poverty and to make recommendations for programs targeted at reducing incidences of poverty. The methodology employed consisted of four basic elements: 1. A review of available reports and statistics; 2. The Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) which collects information on household income, expenditures, income and general characteristics; 3. Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPA’s) targeted at focus groups from communities throughout the country; 4. Meetings with 70 government and non-governmental agencies to discuss programs related to poverty reduction. The work of preparing the CPA commenced from October 2008. The timing of this assessment is critical to understanding the results presented. Since, only the executive summary has been presented thus far, this author will limit her review to general presentation of the data, as a more detail review of disaggregated information would allow for greater analysis and insight to be borne out. Firstly, it is important to understand how poverty is defined. In the CPA both income and non-income poverty were assessed. Income poverty refers to the lack of income to provide for basic needs, such as food, housing, education and health. While, nonincome poverty refers to an individuals’ well-being resulting from lack of opportunity, voicelessness, insecurity, vulnerability and inequality. The indigent is also indentified in the CPA as severe poverty whereby individuals are unable to meet minimum food requirements. In 2009 the national annual indigent line was $2,000 or $5.60 per day for food, while the national poverty line was established at $3,600 per annum or $10 per day. As presented in table 1, all districts experienced an increase in incidents of indigent households, with the exception of Toledo, although it still has the highest level of indigent households. Table 1: % of Households who

are Indigent

Table 2 presents the percentage of households who are poor, including the indigent, and the data indicated that all districts with the exception of Toledo realized an increase in households who are poor. Corozal recorded the largest increase in poverty, followed by Orange Walk and Cayo districts. Table 2: % of Households who are poor (includes the indigent)

The explanations for the increase in poverty from 33% to 43% of the population were cited as the following, which are primarily economic reasons: • Severe flooding in 2007 and 2008; • Poor performance of the Corozal Free Zone; • Overall sluggish economy and poor economic performance; • PPA participants emphasized lack of employment, low wages and high prices. The non-economic reasons that would attribute to increase poverty would include: family breakdown; domestic violence; unplanned pregnancies; drug and alcohol abuse and other social ills. The CPA presents a conclusion that the perception that Government is the major cause of poverty is unfounded; as all the causes of poverty are economic and outside Government’s control. Unfortunately this writer strongly disagrees with this position. All Governments have a responsibility to ensure economic growth is realized and economic development is sustained, so as to increase the overall standard of living of its people. A quick check of the Belize Constitution would reveal Government’s responsibilities in this regard. Levels of poverty are directly related to the extent to which individuals and households would be able to avail themselves of the economic opportunities made available through the implementation of government policies. The increase in poverty in 2009 is understandable in light of the economic recession Belize has been experiencing over the last year, compounded with the devastating effects of the floods from the previous years. It is amazing that the recommendation would suggest

that the government has no culpability is misleading to the people of Belize. The report rightly identifies the private sector as being responsible for creating new jobs, but such a situation can only be obtained if Government creates the enabling environment that allows for enterprise development and continuous expansion. The task of reinvigorating the Belizean economy should be at the forefront of Governments’ agenda. If meaningful change is to be realized for the benefit of all Belize, it is incumbent on our leaders that a long term national development strategy is prepared that

provides the context within which an industrial strategy is grounded. It is only through the creation of such long term vision, that spans a budget cycle and across political and social lines, would Belizeans be able to realize the full benefits of economic development. As a small middle-income open economy the time is opportune to invest in our human capital and place Belize on a development trajectory that leads us into the next century well on a path of industrialization. Send comments to GwynethNah@gmail.com

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The Belize Times

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Open Letter to the Citrus Industry

I have been an observer and have been reporting on the citrus industry in Belize for more than 35 years. In light of the current media debate over the future of this industry as a major contributor to the country’s GDP, please allow me to add my “two cents” to the discussion: The citrus industry in Belize, if it is to survive, has to be in step with the rapidly changing global market, higher consumer demands for quality and quantity, changing weather conditions, more inputs from farmers for better returns from their groves, and the ever changing trade regimes that demand a level playing field without sympathetic preferential Markets. Unless some disgruntled individuals shake themselves out of their cocoon of the past, shed their egos, personal political agendas, self interest for control and the ancient regimes of doing business, the national citrus industry will continue to be bogged down in a quagmire of personality conflicts, political manipulation, disgraceful perennial skirmishes and the re-enactment of the past.

If growers, as represented by the Citrus Growers’ Association, and processors, meaning Citrus Products of Belize Ltd. (CPBL), cannot see the big global picture because of petty grudges and are not serious about the future of this industry that has contributed so much to the national economy over the past 50 years, and even more so in recent times, as sure as the sun rises, the global markets will begin to ignore the pettiness of those who continue to assert themselves without caring about the negative impact that their actions create in an industry that has so much potential for growth. While the world demand for citrus continues to increase, changing weather conditions in the north and south, coupled with increased access to regional markets in the Caribbean and Central America, have presented more opportunities for the expansion of citrus orchards in the Pomona Valley and beyond. Instead of all the in-fighting, more time and money should be spent on the expansion of groves and in improving farm husbandry and quality in process-

ing, issues that have also been met resistance while CPBL took the lead in introducing methods for quality control. It has been said that change is eternal. It is the tempo of change that varies. The eternal jingoism within the industry is reflected in the traditional resistance to change and investment for growth throughout its history. Some of the very ancient leaders in the industry who were perceived as positive agents for change have today become angry and hateful because their egos have been replaced by dynamic leadership in certain sectors of the industry. They have now become the catalyst for promoting disruption and negativity in the industry, with implied racial overtones in their continuous attempt to upset the orange cart. The new and dynamic leadership by the only processors in the industry, CPBL has taken the lead in attracting new Caribbean investments in the industry, both in the production as well as the processing sides. The very nature of leadership is

never without controversy. But leadership is what it is. For many years, bogged down as it were, by personal in-fighting, myopia has weakened the industries heart beat. Given the global backdrop including changing trade regimes and the demands of the competitive world, it would be wise for the naysayers in the industry to come to grips with this new vision for growth and development. It is imperative that the CGA focuses on the business of assisting growers in the efficient ways of producing quality citrus for processing. At the same time, CPBL must continue to focus its efforts in maximizing returns from processing citrus in order to obtain the best possible returns to the growers. We are all major stake holders in this industry that makes a significant positive impact on the national economy and thus impact all our lives. The reality is that in the global scheme of things we rely on the world market, and not the other way around. Norris Hall Belmopan

er Armead Gabourel, his sister, daughter and nephew Lisa, Sylvia and Said Perdomo (who got a double lot), his driver and campaign worker Omar Burns, and Lyn Singh, reported to us as the wife of UDP chairman Doug Singh. The lots are the property of Belize Healthcare Partners, formerly Universal Health Services, and their owners and principals were surprised to find out that their property had been appropriated without any Government Gazette notice of acquisition or any notice

at all. They have begun their inquiries and are asking for a meeting with Minister of Natural Resources Gasper “Gapi” Vega in the slim hope that there is a legitimate explanation for what is clearly an illegal act. Property owners who bought adjoining lots from the Government of Belize for $4,000, and then paid over thirty thousand dollars for filling, road and utility infrastructure are incredulous. The lots that have been illegally appro-

priated were filled and developed at Universal/Healthcare request as part of the Caribbean Shores Land Development Project. The adjoining lot owners who had to endure nearly a year’s delay due to a caution placed on the land, are wondering why these seven developed lots can be “sold” to cronies for only $2,500, while their $4,000 price tag for their then undeveloped land was and still is the subject of litigation by the Barrow administration.

Carlos Perdomo illegally grabs and rewards family and cronies with Healthcare Partners land Belize City, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010

Reliable reports to the newspaper tonight is that seven lots that are the property of the Belize Healthcare Partners have apparently been seized and transferred to family members and supporters of Caribbean Shores area representative Carlos Perdomo. Documents seen by us show that last September 8, seven lots numbered 4769, 4770, 4771, 4772, 4773, 4774 and 4775 were transferred and sold for $2,500 each to Perdomo’s campaign manag-

with

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Vibes Radio 90.5 FM & 102.9 FM

In Just two years of the UDP

sunday, January 31, 2010

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Clear the Land Cable Clear the Land Boutique Clear the Land Heavy Equipment Rental Clear the Land Construction Company Clear the Land Tilapia Producers Clear the Land Resort Clear the Land Real Estate Company Clear the Land Bus Company

After two years of the UDP

Still No Kendall Bridge

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Sunday, January 31, 2010