Sunday, August 26, 2012
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THE BELIZE TIMES
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SUNDAY August 26, 2012
Issue No. 4810
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Breaking Belize’s Back Creditors say Belize “turning into international pariah”
Belize City, August 22nd, 2012 Today Prime Minister Dean Barrow convinced every Belizean, and even the world, that he is not the kind of leader who plays by clean rules, even if it means having to break the nation’s back to get his way. Prime Minister Barrow called a press conference on Wednesday morning to finally face the public on the Superbond crisis. Although the PM claimed to have no intention of “spooking” Superbond creditors, he Continued on page 4 Prime Minister Dean Barrow & UDP Ambassador Mark Espat flanked by Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, Minister of Immigration, Labour & Local Government Godwin Hulse & Central Bank Governor Glenn Ysaguirre
PUP Leader urges GOB TO focus on economy
See page 4
See page 6
One victim says he was pepper sprayed on his genitals
Unions give GOB a 9-day deadline Belize City, August 22, 2012 Union Leaders have given the Barrow Administration a new deadline by which they expect the long-drawnout negotiations for a salary increase to be completed. Failing to meet the deadline would trigger the Unions to step up their action and look at every available option. “We have written the Prime Minister to say “the time has ar-
See page 6
See page 10
BELIZE CITY, Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012 By Alton Humes The Gang Suppression Unit (GSU), created by Prime Minister Hon. Dean Barrow, has proven to be the most infamous and dangerous unit of Belize’s National Security. It has developed a reputation for bringing fear and brutal, unstoppable force to the lives of all sorts of people, even the innocent. The late George Street boss, Sheldon ‘Pinky’ Tillett, disdainfully referred to them as the ‘Govament Schuppid Unit’.
Belize City, August 21, 2012 While Belizeans remain at the edge of their seats as the Barrow Administration gambles the country’s future with hardball tactics in the Superbond re-negotiation, it appears the nation’s lifeblood, the economy, is running on auto-pilot mode. This, cautioned People’s United Party Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca, does not bode well for the Government, the country nor the people. While on the Love FM morning show on Tuesday,
MISS EARTH
GSU Madness Again
PUP Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca
PLAY ON BASS, PLAY ON Belize City, August 22, 2012 Well-known Belizean musician and composer, Leroy “Bass” Castillo, born in Corozal Town, passed away on Wednesday morning after battling heart complications.
See page 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
03 BSI DELAYS DIVIDENDS TO SEPTEMBER 08
Chicken prices shoot up
PUP stalwart passes
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THE BELIZE TIMES
UWG calls for action against exploitation of youth August 21, 2012
The United Women’s Group (UWG) of the People’s United Party is appalled by the recent reports of sexual misconduct of adult men with minors, by persons in positions of trust and authority; and in particular by the matter involving the Principal and Pastor of the Belmopan Baptist School and Church who has confessed to being involved in an inappropriate relationship with a teenage female student and church member. The UWG finds this report against this individual very disturbing. At a time when our young people are faced with lack of opportunities and positive role models, those in positions of authority entrusted as the guardians of the welfare of our children and youth, must not betray this trust for their own selfish gratification. The UWG condemns in the strongest terms, any exploitation, sexual, physical, emotional or economic of Belizean youth. We deplore any conduct that preys on upon our women, youth and children. The UWG calls on the Ministry of Education, the Belize Association of High School Principals, the Baptist Association of Belize and the Belize Council of Churches to act swiftly and decisively in dealing with this matter; and to immediately implement appropriate measures to ensure that such actions does not re-occur within the school and church systems in Belize. The UWG encourages all Belizeans to continue to advocate in the most vigorous manner for the protection of our children to keep them free from all forms of exploitation and abuse. (Press Release)
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Sunday, August 26, 2012
Belmopan Coalition of Churches urges Pastor Norman Willacy to “step down” Belmopan, August 22, 2012
Together as Pastors & leaders of the Belmopan Area Coalition of Churches, we wish to express our deep sadness, shock, & dismay at the recent events regarding the terrible moral failure and wrongdoing of Pastor Norman Willacy, one of our own. As Christian leaders, we have a sacred trust to protect and defend, as well as instruct those who have been entrusted to our leadership and care. Our hearts are broken that one of our own has abused this sacred charge for personal gratification. This sin is severe, inexcusable, scripturally and morally wrong, and we condemn the actions and wrong choices in the strongest manner possible. We fully embrace and affirm that proper correction must come, and quickly. We are confident that the Baptist Church, the school board, and other related authorities will diligently work to correct this tragedy. We urge in the strongest way possible that Pastor Willacy step down from both church and school to pursue personal healing and moral restoration, and we pledge as friends and partners to be part of that healing process with him. The responsibility of trust afforded him as Pastor and Principal has been abused and as such, the road ahead is long for this trust to be restored by those from whom it is needed. Moral failures like these affect individual lives, families, the Church, and the nation. Our prayers are for profound repentance on his part and healing to his family, church, and school, and especially the victim involved, her mother and family. Redemption is when God takes that which was intended for evil, and He turns it for good. To those deeply offended by this tragic moral failure, we offer our deepest heartfelt apologies in recognizing that what took place is completely contrary to God’s heart of love, holiness, and integrity. May this failure not define us as the Church, but make us stronger, wiser, and provoke us to live by Godly principle to avoid destructive pitfalls. (Statement Prepared by 20 Area Pastors and Leaders)
Burglars target two homes in Corozal Town Corozal Town, August 22, 2012 Corozal Town Police are seeking suspects responsible for two house break-ins in the Hall’s Layout of Corozal Town. Frank Rosado reported to Police that around midday on August 21st, his home was broken into. But he was not the only victim in the neighbourhood. A house belonging to Rosado’s neighbour, a school teacher, was also broken into. Police say the homes were broken into when burglars pried open the entrance doors with a blunt object and then cutting the screws from the lock itself. It is not known what volume of possessions was taken by the perpetrators. Police have picked up a person of interest and continue investigating.
THE BELIZE TIMES EDITOR
Alberto Vellos LAYOUT/GRAPHIC ARTIST
Chris Williams STAFF REPORTER
Alton Humes Published By The Belize Times Ltd. #3 Queen Street P.O. BOX 506 Belize City, Belize Email: belizetimesadvertisement@yahoo.com
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Sunday, August 26, 2012
THE BELIZE TIMES
The chickens have come home to roost How Barrow’s “nationalisations” screwed up the economy! Belize City, August 14, 2012 “Belize fiasco is that the 2029 bond is not the main debt problem faced by the government…Rather the compensation that needs to be paid for the nationalizations, combined with amortizations due to multilateral and bilateral creditors, are the most onerous debt obligations over the next several years.” Dr. Carl Ross, Openheimer Report Deceit, half-truths and misinformation may have won the Barrow Administration a second term in office, but it is also the reason the economy and more directly, and perhaps more importantly, the Superbond re-negotiation is in a major predicament. The Barrow Administration has refused to discuss the issue of the so called “nationalisations” and how it is affecting the Government’s ability to negotiate with bondholders fairly. Financial experts and the holders of the bonds believe it is a critical issue affecting the Government’s ability to pay, but the Government is having a hard time admitting this. It seems deliberate. Excluding the debt owed for the expropriation of two private companies, Belize’s public debt stands at
Dr. Carl Ross
2.36 billion. Including the four-year outstanding compensation, the public debt skyrockets to 3.3 billion. The problem of the Superbond’s unsustainability is an economic one. The Barrow Administration seized Belize Telemedia Limited in August 2009 at a time when the world was bracing for recession. This single action, taking a company away from private owners, shattered Belize’s credibility as an economic safe zone and triggering painful consequences. Seven months later, when the Barrow Administration faced
Chicken prices shoot up Belize City, August 22, 2012 The UDP Government has been successful at making the lives of Belizeans difficult and miserable. Jobs are hard to find, poor people are getting poorer and the cost of goods continue going up. But when the cost of a common Belizean staple is increased, it is a sign of serious trouble. The price of chicken at one of Belize’s largest poultry producers and distributers, Quality Poultry Products, went up on Monday, August 20th. The price increased by 10 cents and 12 cents for whole chicken and parts per pound, respectively. Chicken is a daily part of the Belizean meal. Unlike delicacies like pork and beef, chicken has always been affordable to poor Belizeans, but now that might change. According to the Quality Poultry Products Branch Manager, Peter Letkeman, the price hikes are driven by the increase in the cost of doing business. “It is something that just has to happen because of commodity prices across the world. The United States is experiencing a severe drought and
that has pushed the price of the soybean up. Corn has gone from twentyfour cents a pound up to thirty-four cents a pound and fuel prices, everybody knows about them. Those are the three commodities that the chickens are dependent on, so considering that we had no choice but to go up with the price,” explained Letkeman. The increases are reflective of the overall market conditions and other companies are expected to raise the price of their products also.
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THE BELIZE TIMES www.belizetimes.bz
the public, it was to report economic disaster. Revenue shortfall, decreased Foreign Direct Investment, and increasing debt led to a serious economic deficit, the first in many years. The Barrow Administration has not been able to recover. In fact, it didn’t even learn its lesson. In June 2011, the same was done to another private company, this time the Belize Electricity Limited. Once more, the world watched in terror as the Barrow Administration seized private assets and refused to pay. Together, the BTL and BEL compensation add up to just under one billion dollars. The Barrow Administration has been unable to find the money to pay, and coupled with the decline in the economy, bondholders believe it is part of the reason the national debt has become unsustainable. Dr. Carl Ross wrote in the Open-
3 heimer Report last week, “The fall in foreign direct investment and the huge additional debt burden as a result of nationalizations will have an ever more negative effect on Belize’s gargantuan debt burden… the government unilaterally nationalized these companies, creating a huge contingent liability…it is difficult for bondholders to analyze this restructuring offer from the government without first knowing the size of the settlements to be paid to the former equity holders of the companies…”. Another writer, Martin Hutchinson, penned in Reuters, “Belize wouldn’t need to borrow so much if it hadn’t put political jollies like telecoms nationalization ahead of debt payments”. The Barrow Administration has made Belize the victim of a vicious and cruel circle. This circle loops around the central point of having terribly failed Belize’s economy. The Superbond was meant to improve Belize’s debt sustainability and it was projected to do just that. But the UDP and their ineptitude were swept into office, and down went the economy. Now down comes the Superbond, and if Barrow has his way, the entire nation will follow.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Breaking Belize’s Back
Continued from page 1
did just that and possibly more by announcing that if prolonging indefinitely or worsening the dark period of economic uncertainty and looming catastrophe for Belize is something he must do, he will. Government’s Superbond re-negotiation has hit a major wall. On Monday August 20th, the Barrow Administration took the extreme position of defaulting on a US$23.5m coupon payment that was due. This, according to the Prime Minister, is because they had failed to identify funding even after the pay-
GSU Madness Again Continued from page 1 But the village of Crooked Tree, a peaceful hamlet located in the Belize District corridor known as the Belize River Valley, would never have imagined their little slice of cashews and home-made brewed wine would be at the very mercy of the GSU, until that changed forever on Monday night, August 20th, 2012. At least twenty individuals – most of them young men, some not even from the area - were descended upon by the ‘Dark Tornado’ of black-and-camo-suited officers armed with their weapons as well as Tasers and pepper spray as most of them were in preparations at a local basketball court to compete in a neighborhood basketball tournament. Many of the victims say they were kicked and beaten beyond all reason, while others were viciously tazed, hit with their own basketballs. Another claims he was even pepper-sprayed in his ‘private parts’. Even young Devin Swasey, the village fisherman who’s still recovering from a crocodile attack, was targeted and beaten, with a GSU officer stepping on his hand after another tried to break it in pieces. Yet the million dollar question remains: what exact intelligence, since that is the actual lifeblood of such a Policing organization, led the GSU to target Crooked Tree? According to the media interviews the residents gave, the GSU were seeking two ‘gangs’ they believed were operating drugs and other illicit activity in the area, although one resident disdainfully said, after being attacked, “….I dah noh even from this village yah and dehn wah know about wah gang!!!” The bottom line is now that residents of this peaceful community have now seen it threatened severely, and not by the criminal elements, but by a Police organization. Mrs. Bernice Wade, a senior resident of the village whose grandson and nephew was attacked, was angered at the action, “I am upset, because I neva expect such thing in our village. I expect those people to come inna the village, seek about what they want to know and what they want to find, but noh brutalize the youths and minors like they did last night. I don’t like it….” The Police Press Office has advised Crooked Tree residents that any complaints should be filed at the Police Special Branch office situated at the Raccoon Street Police Station.
ment had been included in the recentlypassed Budget. But there seems to be more to it. PM Barrow also stated that holding out on future payments “will remain the case” unless they get creditors to agree on the terms imposed by Belize’s Superbond team. Those terms include creditors getting a 45% cut on government bonds along with delayed payments for 15 years. This Malpago, practised by the Barrow Administration, gives some credence to the accusations made by some creditors that the Government is playing hardball in an attempt to force them into renegotiation. While creditors are alarmed at Government’s initial tactics, the Prime Minister’s revelations today are enough to worry the entire nation. According to the Prime Minister, he is prepared to take Belize to the limit. “Belize is prepared for all the options,” responded Barrow to Bloomberg reporter Michael Ferris, who asked whether the Government could afford to stay out of the credit market and face
tons of lawsuits. Barrow explained that Belize has no need for the capital market, as it is not engaged in commercial borrowing. This explains why public investment in infrastructure and other projects has been at a bare minimum under the Barrow Administration, and why it will continue that way. As for possible litigation that could see Belize spending millions of dollars on the Barrow Administration’s well-known preferred private attorneys and Court costs, Barrow said to bring it on as well. He added that he was not fearful of the country losing assets if foreign governments chose to seize any, as a form of protective action on behalf of creditors, because as far as he knew Belize had no assets abroad. Standard and Poors downgraded Belize’s credit rating last week and announced on Monday that it considered Belize a “selective default” nation. Today, Moody’s credit rating dropped Belize’s ratings to negative as a direct
Sunday, August 26, 2012 result of “the government’s decision to renege on the coupon payment… after publicly budgeting for the $23.5 million outlay in the 2012/13 budget discussion held in June”. But while the local private sector sees danger in the multiple credit rating downgrades, the Prime Minister is not having sleepless nights. He said the lowering of Belize’s credit image has no “practical consequences on Government’s day to day business”. But the PM did concede that there will be an impact on the bonds, lowering its value to the point bondholders may be forced to sell in fear of facing greater losses. Prime Minister Barrow was all bluff, bluster and bravado this morning, even at the prospect of Belize considered an international financial outcast. The reactions from creditors have only worsened. “We’re mystified,” said A.J. Mediratta, a partner with Greylock Capital Management and the head of a creditors’ sub-committee which holds more than half of Belize’s bonds. “I’m sure every country could benefit from not paying their debt but this isn’t the way to do it. They’re unnecessarily turning themselves into an international pariah”.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
THE BELIZE TIMES
Selective Malpago
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When the Barrow Administration set out to renegotiate the Superbond they must have at some point realized that they would have had to do much more than giving lip service when they showed up in Washington to negotiate with bondholders. How could Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s team show up looking sad and petrified and with excuses that coincidentally ignored the fact that the Barrow Administration was the one giving away public money to political candidates and writing off loans just a few weeks ago? How could anyone buy into their cry of hard times when the international watchdogs saw how much money Barrow spent between November 2011 and March 2012 to influence the elections? How can Barrow explain racking up more debt with the acquisitions of BTL and BEL when the terms of the bond prohibit Belize from adding any additional debt? Before we go any further, let us state that we are not on the side of the bondholders. The People’s United Party restructured the debt in 2007 and set Belize’s economic future on a sustainable path. Belizeans must not be made to suffer for the UDP’s mismanagement and incompetence. We would want to see the Superbond restructured any day over falling into default. But we can’t allow the Prime Minister to get away just like that. As good as he has tried to explain things most Belizeans are still perplexed, still wondering when Barrow will ever get anything right, starting with the economy. The Prime Minister’s argument that bondholders must take haircuts and scalping would have been made easier to accept if his administration had led by example. Why hasn’t the Government taken a much-needed haircut of its wastefulness and unnecessary expenses? The tragedy and hypocrisy in all this is that Barrow has done to public officers, teachers, Police, nurses and BDF exactly what he is doing to bondholders, poking them in the eye and exacting “discipline” when the Government continues its waste, hiring of UDP contract workers (whose salaries and perks are never affected by austerity measures) along with the paying of millions to the PM’s ex-wife and brother to do the work that a whole Ministry is already paid to do in Belmopan. The UDP administration’s strategy of blackout negotiations, misinformation, and putting Belize’s economy at risk by holding out on payments to bondholders is reckless and tantamount to blackmail. Much worse, it reminds us of the way street thugs behave, and we have seen this from them before. Remember the UDP taking over BEL and BTL, but refusing to compensate the owners? We believe that proper dialogue and the negotiating with facts is the way forward, along with preserving Belize’s image at all costs so it doesn’t further jeopardise the investment climate and getting the best results. We fear that last week’s actions will have far reaching consequences for Belize as long as Barrow and the UDP remain in power.
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Unions give GOB a 9-day deadline Continued from page 1 rived”. We have basically gone to our constituents and we have said we would want to conclude our negotiations by the end of August 2012,” announced George Myvette, the President of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, when he appeared on Plus TV’s Rise and Shine morning show. For the past few weeks, Union leaders have been on a media campaign to inform Belizeans of their plight. They explained that over the past six years, the value of the Belizean dollar has reduced by about 30 cents because the cost of living has increased exponentially. Meanwhile, wages have remained the same. “You can feel it in your pocket that we have lost at least 30 cents on the dollar. And that is the reason why we are asking for the 30% salary adjustment,” remarked Luke Palacio, President of the Belize National Teachers Union. The Union is not asking for an immediate 30% salary increase. They had proposed, as far back as 2008, a gradual increase over three years. The Barrow Administration refused to accept that the increase was necessary. In 2010, when the BNTU revived the request, the Government said they couldn’t afford it. The Unions are now also lobbying for a set of 23 proposals to improve benefits for employees. The Union leaders indicated that they are negotiating with the Ministers of Education, Public Service and Labour. Today, when Prime Minister Dean Barrow was asked whether Union leaders will be asked to hold off on their demands, considering the Government’s debt crisis, the PM said he doesn’t see the Government position changing.
PUP Leader urges GOB TO FOCUS On the economy Continued from page 1 August 21, Hon. Fonseca said he doesn’t see why the Government has not been able to get the economy on track as he promised to do leading to the March general elections. While the Government has been focused on the Superbond, the Opposition Leader said that the economy is too important to ignore. He suggested that both issues should be placed on a “parallel track”. “We don’t see the sense of urgency. We have not heard of a plan to grow the economy,” said Hon. Fonseca. Hon. Fonseca noted that prior to the elections the Prime Minister had gathered members of the business sector and lured them with promises of reform, a new era for their relationship with the business community and economic growth. But those promises have fallen flat and the UDP Government seems to have forgotten the private sector and the economy. Over the past week, the prices of local commodities including fuel, poultry and butane increased. Meanwhile, a recent study found that the unemployment levels remained at the highest since 1998.
THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Moody’s revises Belize’s outlook to negative Aug 21 - Moody’s Investors Service has changed the outlook on Belize’s ratings to negative from developing. The foreign currency rating remains at Ca local currency rating remains at Caa3. RATINGS RATIONALE Today’s rating action reflects the government’s decision, announced on August 14, to renege on the 8.5% August coupon payment on the $547 million sovereign bond maturing in 2029 (the Superbond), after publicly budgeting for the $23.5 million outlay in the 2012/13 budget discussion held in June. The Superbond, which accounts for 48% of total central government debt and 57% of external debt, is itself the result of a distressed debt exchange completed in 2007. Moody’s estimates that the indicative scenarios
released by the government on August 8 - a par bond and two discount bond options - result in bondholders absorbing losses of 70-80% in net present value (NPV) terms. While this marks the beginning of a negotiation process between investors and the government, we expect the debt restructuring process to impose severe losses on investors. The government’s decision to trigger a credit event and force investors to take deep haircuts is a credit negative development that increases the odds of a protracted debt exchange process. We now expect that the government will formally default following the expiration of a 30 day grace period in September, unless a restructuring agreement is reached before then. The government needs to secure the agreement of 75% of investors to invoke the Superbond’s collective action clause to compel remaining investors’ participation in the exchange
and reduce the risk of holdouts and litigation. Belize faces weak short- to medium-term growth prospects; an unsustainable medium-term public sector debt overhang; and financing gaps exacerbated by declining oil revenues, escalating debt service costs, and accumulating contingent fiscal liabilities in the form of compensation costs for several recent nationalizations. However, the fundamental driver of the restructuring process continues to be a deterioration in the government’s willingness to service its external debt. Moody’s views this as a structural weakening of the country’s institutional environment that will be a ratings constraint over the medium term. CEILINGS As part of this rating action, Belize’s local currency bond and deposit ceilings were lowered to B2 from B1. The foreign currency country ceilings on bonds and deposits remain unchanged at Caa2.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Humor
in UDP Politics! The following were matters discussed in Cabinet: - A proposal was tabled to fire the committee responsible for the bonds and that their commission and salaries be suspended. That a new committee be setup and that John Saldivar become the new Team Leader. This motion was met by a lot of scepticism. “But why you John, John?” someone asked. Saldivar replied, “Because every super team needs a real super hero.” - Cabinet did approve a proposal to cover the payment of the Superbond team by considering the following: a. selling the jade head, b. growing and selling marijuana, c. accepting bids from Guatemalans for gold in the Maya mountains, and d. taking over Zabaneh’s farms. Just then Gapi suggested, how about e. selling Barrow? In other Cabinet News. Cabinet asked Gapi Vega whether he thinks he works harder than everyone else there. Gapi said he does because it takes an extra effort having to pretend to be prime ministerial at times. …………………. Boots turned to Gapi and asked how he could go from “normal” to “special” Belizean. Gapi replied, “tek it easy Boots. You know you already too special…when’s your next rehab session?” …………………. Finnegan was seen shopping downtown with his CEO holding his grocery basket which caused a shopper to say, “look weh di Ministry a House come to, di CEO di back basket fi di Minista”. …………………. A business owner dragged before the Court was asked why the Court should accept his proposal for the Court to accept a haircut when he owed $500. This prompted his reason, “Because I dah noh like Barrow, I noh have millions in my US account”. …………………. The Mayor was asked about his twenty million dollar bond. “If the Central Government doesn’t have the money to pay their bond, how will you pay yours?” The Mayor smiled cunningly, “Come on man, can’t you see the Prime Minister has set a precedent…we don’t have to pay”. …………………. The Committee investigating the missing grader has filed a new report stating that they traced where the grader went. The report said the machine was traded for bus, which has been seen operating in Belize. The bus has a license plate marked “Tilapia” and a sticker that says “Clear the land!”
Mark Iscariat Espat surfaces Belize City, August 22, 2012 Mark Judas Iscariat Espat has surfaced. Where else but behind the zinc fence. He was seated in a wicker chair at a slight angle from UDP apologist/tv host for an interview on Tuesday night. Iscariat had not made an appearance since selling out his constituency and party supporters to Dean Barrow. Insiders in
the past few years while never once offering even a mild criticism of the present Prime Minister Barrow. The newspaper appeared to be at a loss for any rational explanation as to why the worst case of political treachery was committed by its owner’s son-in-law. Not a single editorial has attempted to explain Iscariat’s behaviour. Not only did Dean Barrow award Iscariat with an Ambassadorship and diplomatic passport but put him in
UDP Ambassador Mark Espat surrounded by PM Barrow, Anthony “Boots” Martinez & Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington
the UDP had said Iscariat had cut the 30 pieces of silver deal from October of 2011. His immediate reward from Barrow was for him to be named Ambassador, less than a week after Barrow won/ stole/bought out the elections with Iscariat’s help. Last week, on the front page of his father in law’s newspaper, the traitor’s photograph was splashed alongside that of Dean Barrow. As if to signal in a not sosubtle way – the present Prime Minister and the future Prime Minister. The newspaper had published over thirty editorials personally attacking former PUP Prime Minister Said Musa over
charge of a team to renegotiate the Superbond. Every other member of the team is more qualified and experienced than Iscariat but the selling of the elections required big rewards. Iscariat not only was placed on top of the others but paid monies in the region of a quarter million dollars annually. Last week Iscariat started to brief (no pun intended) certain groups about his work. It was unclear if UNIBAM was among those given a private brief, but the zinc fence would have received along with certain others. On the Tuesday show, Iscariat’s eyes looked beading and shifty. Neither he nor the host said anything of importance. The show looked contrived and staged. It was only to allow the Judas to surface.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
BSI workers elect new Chairman, but no dividends ‘til September
BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 21st, 2012 By Alton Humes The Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI) and its long-planned, heavily overdrawn sale to the American Sugar Refinery (ASR) has been the subject of several stories within the pages of the BELIZE TIMES. And while we on this side of the media world are still patiently awaiting a complete and final deal to be signed, it is the struggles of the factory workers who toil as the lifeblood of the factory that we’ll be chronicling here. The factory workers’ Union, the Belize Workers Union (BWU), based out of Orange Walk, elected new leadership this past Saturday, August 18th when 40 of the Union’s 147 members supported the election of Ramiro Ramon Gongora to the post of Chairman (replacing former Chairman Ian Leiva, who resigned suddenly and unexplainably from his post). The Secretary is
PLAY ON BASS, PLAY ON Continued from page 1 At age 50, Bass was more than an accomplished musician. He was known as a jack of all trades on the stage, as he was able to play numerous instruments. He was even lead singer at times, and had composed his own music which won accolades in local song competitions. But Bass, as his name indicates, was best recognised for his masterly skill on the bass guitar. This was his forte and he was often called upon many times to join music bands in concerts. He was a member of the Santino’s Messenger Baby Band, Santino’s Messengers, the New Dimension Band and the Players and Musicians Band. He was also a role model in the music industry, and provided motivation and support for a number of young artists who have launched their own career today. Bass passed away around 1:30 Wednesday morning at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan. He was to celebrate his 51st birthday on Friday, August 24th. He will be buried in Corozal Town on Saturday, August 25th.
now Baldemar Magana. Gongora, who is another of those ‘uncensored’ Unionists, is not resting on his laurels, and is now on the attack over the BSI’s failure to promptly deliver the first amount of dividends due them via the planned agreement between BSI and ASR. If you might recall, the initial facets of the deal as announced to the media, included the payments of back dividends, starting with at least 50% of the total, due two weeks after June 30th, 2012. Well, that date, July 13th, is long gone, and BZC$2.5 million is not in the workers’ hands. But BSI (unclear if still under old or new management), via a release, or ‘information bulletin’, is singing a different tune with the workers. They said that any payment of dividends will be made before the closing date of the entire transaction (whenever that is), but will be “...subject to the signing of the Purchasing Agreement, which is expected to be executed within the next ten days”. The release also stated that the first dividend payment will be made a week following the signing of the subscription deed and an agreement with Government in which it agrees to unknown concessions, and media reports from Orange Walk are that it will
Sunday, August 26, 2012 come in September. Gongora and the other workers are not having that at all. In an interview with CTV-3 in Orange Walk, he bluntly suggested unless BSI gets their act together, “I believe the workers will need to voice their opinion and echo their concern to the country, to the Government and to the world then, and [while] we don’t foresee any strike, it could be a protest or a peaceful demonstration because if the NTUCB help the Police Association, how it is that the BWU is not being given that help that they need?” The bottom line is, there seems to be continued trouble a-brewing in the land of sugarcane and the BELIZE TIMES will do its best to keep following this still-developing story.
Felix Godoy targeted by blood-thirsty gunman BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 21st, 2012 By Alton Humes 33-year-old Felix ‘Munchie’ Godoy lived at a downstairs apartment at the corner of Boots Crescent and Doris Brooks Street. He was a father of two young girls. He loved street basketball and dancing, and from all accounts was never any trouble for anyone. Yet, Godoy became a victim of criminal violence when he was murdered outside his home. On Sunday, August 19th just around 7:00 p.m. a lone gunman riddled Godoy with at least 6 so bullets, killing him almost instantaneously. According to his brother Arlon ‘Oreo’ Godoy, the only member of the family willing to speak with the media about the murder, his brother, who was employed through the Conscious Youth Development Program (CYDP), had returned from playing street ball and was on the outside steps of the house when the gunman targeted and attacked him from behind.
Felix Godoy The area in which Godoy lived is considered affiliated to one of the numerous street gangs throughout Belize City, but it remains unclear why exactly Godoy was targeted and even whether he was the actual target or not. But for Oreo and his kin, that doesn’t matter in the least. In his mind, his brother was ‘chanced out of his life’ and the only hope now is that “only the Almighty could answer all of this”. Police have detained a suspect, who is believed to be from a gang-affiliated area. Their investigations continue at this time.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Belize Officials Meet with Leading Businessmen in Houston to Establish Strategic Partnerships Newswire, Houston August 19, 2012 On August 15, 2012, four (4) members of Belize’s Parliament and two (2) Town Mayors visited Houston to improve the links between Houston and Belize, and to gain a better understanding of each other’s economic growth and business opportunities. Leading the delegation is members of Belize’s Parliament representing the Toledo District; Hon. Michael Espat, Hon. Oscar Roquena, and Mayor of Punta Gorda Town, Hon. Anthony Fuentes (photo unavailable), Toledo. They are joined by two other Members of Belize’s Parliament representing the Stann Creek District; Hon. Rodwell Ferguson and Hon. Ivan Ramos, and Mayor of Dangriga Town, Hon. Gilbert Swaso (photo unavailable), Stann Creek. The two districts have established a
Stann Creek West Area Representative, Hon. Rodwell Ferguson
Toledo East Area Representative, Hon. Mike Espat
Toledo West Area Representative, Hon. Oscar Requeña addresses gathering
joint community and business purpose in their visit to Houston. The delegation met with local firms such as Quality Hospitality Travel, a company founded by Darryl King, sponsored a private luncheon on Thursday, August 16, at a disclosed location to discuss business opportunities and the upcoming launch of FlyToBelize.com, a website Mr. King says will assist many in scheduling trips to Belize. “We look forward to building stronger relationships with the delegates from Belize,” said Darryl King. “Both countries have much to share with each other and there will be great mutual benefit for all parties.” Maria Lugo, Travel Advisor for Quality Hospitality Travel states, “The world is smaller due to technology; with our new website, travel to Belize will be much easier to coordinate.” The combined delegation from the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts chose Houston as a partner to share resources and community and business opportunities.
10 Belize City, August 20, 2012 Belize’s environment has a new ambassador and she equally captures the beauty and elegance of it all. She is Jessel Lauriano, who won the Miss Earth 2012-2013 at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday August 18th night. Jessel was selected by judges from among a group of four formidable contestants that included Katalina Jones, Claudia Lara, Idolly Saldivar and Kimberly Ann Robateau. First runner up was Miss Air Idolly Saldivar who also won the award for Miss Photogenic. Second runner up was Miss Water Katalina Jones who also won the award for Miss Congeniality. Third runner up was Miss Fire Claudia Lara. The pageant consisted of swimsuit and evening gown segments, cultural presentations, and the always nervewracking questions and answers. Miss Earth now prepares for the Miss Earth international pageant to be held on October 28, 2012 in Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia. The pageant is slated to be aired live on E! Entertainment Television.
MISS EARTH
THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 26, 2012
BELIZE
2012
Jessel Lauriano: Miss Earth 2012-2013
Far right in red is second runner up is WATER Miss Katalina Jones second from right in white is third runner up Miss Claudia Lara Miss Fire. Third from right in white is Miss Earth Belize 2012 Miss Jessel Lauriano. Fourth from right in white is the first runner up Miss Air Miss Idolly Saldivar. In Back is Miss Earth Belize 2011 Miss Kimberly Ann Robateau.The Officers in white are The Belize Coast Guard. Proudly representing.
Photos by Cams Photo / Video
Sunday, August 26, 2012
THE BELIZE TIMES
THINK ABOUT IT HARD PAY GOVERNMENT Belize, like most other nations, has debts to overseas creditors. The largest of our overseas debts have been placed into one package and is referred to as the Superbond. Investors bought our Superbond debts in 2007. It was some half a billion US dollars at the time. The UDP became the government in February 2008. Each year since then the UDP government had in excess of half a billion Belize dollars in revenues, to run the public sector. The current UDP budget for the present fiscal year, 2012/2013, is over $900 million BZ. After weeks, and perhaps some months of indication, the government has formally announced it does not have the financial capacity to pay the Superbond creditors. The amount it cannot pay is $23 million US. After five years in office and handling in excess of THREE BILLION Belize dollars in revenues, the government is saying it cannot pay its overseas debts of US $23 million this month. The government missed the first day of the payment, which was Monday, August 20, 2012. If it fails to pay by the end of one month, it will breach the contract with the Superbond holders and face serious consequences. Some would say dire consequences for the country. Some of these consequences are being taken to court successfully in the U.S.A by the bondholders, and also includes a downgrade of Belize’s financial standings (which are already very low) to rock bottom. Another consequence is a pariah status in financial markets and a drying up of investments and access to funds. Belize is unable to produce enough monies locally to grow as a nation. It needs access to financial markets and institutions and it needs every investor, big and small, that it can attract. The government’s failure to make a payment to the bondholders on Monday was deliberate. The government is hoping to force the bondholders to accept far less than they are entitled to. The government has been bold enough, facey even, to tell the bondholders they should accept only 55% of what they are entitled to. The bondholders do not appear to be convinced that the government is unable to pay them. During the last four and a half years of the UDP, the government has presided over a budget that has grown annually by leaps and bounds. The government got into a public, petty quarrel with the owner of B.T.L. and actually passed a law taking away that company from its owner. When the matter was challenged in court, the Court of Appeal ruled the governments’ action to be unconstitutional. The government changed the Constitution after previously sending police officers to take away the company from its previous owner. Government took away B.E.L from its own-
ers. The cost is anywhere from 350 million to 500 million with interest and consequential damages. The government squandered away millions of dollars in oil revenues from B.N.E. It failed to levy additional taxes and despite public outcry failed to really get additional millions from the windfall tax on exported petroleum when the international prices were going through the roof. Monies from B.N.E. oil could have met at least one third of our total Superbond debt. Only a few months ago, Belizeans, the world, and certainly the bondholders saw the government take a few millions and give it to UDP politicians to bribe voters in the general elections. Against this kind of background the government has a hard time convincing overseas creditors that we can’t find money to pay them. So to convince them the government has resorted to defaulting on its payment. It is a risky gamble. It may work. It may not. Added to this is another gamble. The Prime Minister has shown public disrespect to the constitutional opposition over its proposal to default on the country’s loan payment. Although the House of Representatives is scheduled to meet on Thursday, August 23, the Prime Minister called one of his “press conferences” for Wednesday, 22 of August, where he reported for the first time of his government’s default in the payment. To report on such a momentous decision, at a press conference rather than to the National Assembly is disrespectful. To add insult to injury, the Prime Minister uttered words to the effect that he did not consult the constitutional opposition. And worse, he said he did not do so because he did not want when he was successful with the bondholders, for the opposition to try to say they had helped in that success. Yes, this sounds incredible but the Prime Minister did offer this explanation. This is the same opposition, which represents half the population of Belize. The same opposition that came within 66 votes of becoming government in March this year. The same opposition whose members the government need if the country is to show solidarity with the risky path we have now embarked on in defaulting on payments on our debts. It is irresponsible. Indeed, the Prime Minister opened his statement with remarks that it was the PUP borrowing between 2000 to 2006, which had resulted in the Superbond debts. He referred to corruption with the funds. This was raw party politics. But apart from alienating the opposition, it would also have the effect of signaling to bondholders that Belize is not united in the governments’ risky gamble with them. The Prime Minister indicated he was confident the bondholders
would eventually accept his move and agree to new terms of restructuring the payments. For the sake of Belize, we hope he is right. There is also a game being played with the Belizean people. A number of bondholders have signaled to the Government that they are prepared to work out a deal. So the Government already knows that it has prospects of success. It has to get the agreement of a number of other bondholders to also agree. Putting the good name of Belize on the line and causing the country’s credit worthiness to be irreparably damaged may not have been the best way to go about in the restructuring exercise. Poverty, unemployment, hopelessness, social ills, poor healthcare and hosts of other problems have not been solved by this government. Blaming the past PUP might be good politics but it does not grow the economy or solve any problems. On a side note, the new Leader of the Opposition, a trained economist who has been proposing better and more substantive ideas than the government, needs to start educating Belizeans about the MANY beneficial projects undertaken during 2000 to 2006 and give the lie that one billion dollars were somehow stolen and wasted. CONGRATS-LUIS ZABANEH Galen University in the Cayo District held graduation ceremonies last Sunday. This Belizean university has been doing its share of developing the country by producing quality trained and educated graduates. The one thing that can take the nation forward is an educated population. Tertiary education is crucial. To the man with the vision who has put his all into making Galen such a success, Luis Zabaneh, we offer maximum respect and congratulations, both to you and your hard working and dedicated staff. HIPOLITO BAUTISTA Of the several persons who have accepted invitations to radio and television shows to give their take on the Superbond issue we single out Hipolito Bautista. Mr. Bautista, who is apparently the leader of the Better Business Bureau had taken time to read the Superbond documents. The most important being the Offering Memorandum dated December 18, 2006. It is 170 pages with an additional 30 pages of announces. Respect Mr. Bautista. MINISTER PENNER Deputy Minister of Immigration Elvin Penner is conducting a campaign to remove the Director of Immigration. Under the law, the Director of Immigration is the Head of the Immigration Department. Her appointment should be by the Public Services Commission, and that commission can only move her through proper legal safeguard and procedures. The Constitution gives ministers general direction over the departments. It gives ministers no authority whatsoever to hire or fire or transfer public officers.
11 Public officers are protected under the Constitution and must get due process and fair treatment. The Constitution sets up an impartial Public Services Commission to protect public officers from the whims and fancies and shenanigans of politicians and ministers. We hear of the hustle going on by ministers and their cohorts with visas for Chinese to enter the country. The Immigration Director does not and cannot make policies. She and her staff only carry out ministerial policies. The present policy is just like the old policy. Allow certain persons to come with lists signed by ministers for Chinese to be given visas to come from mainland China to Belize. It is a big, BIG hustle. A million dollar hustle that government ministers are creaming from. CIGARETTE Cigarettes are bad news, really bad news. Why the Belizean Health authorities are not doing more to educate us about the ill effects of tobacco smoking is a sad commentary. Respected surveys have shown that up to ONE BILLION persons WILL die this century from smoking tobacco. In the U.S.A. some 400,000 persons die each year from smoking tobacco. And this is because America has been doing a lot to help reduce tobacco smoking among its citizens. The death rates were much higher. In Belize, in addition to neglecting the health of Belizeans who are smoking themselves to death through various forms of tobacco related cancers, young people smoking marijuana are increasingly using fonto to smoke their weed in. Fonto is a piece of tobacco leaf sold in most shops in which weed is rolled and smoked. PUBLIC SERVICES UNION The Public Services Union has done their members a great disservice for the past FOUR years. It is hard to think of any other period when the union has been so duped by the government. The present leaders of the union are recently elected and are not to blame. For the past four years, the union have been disrespectful and pushed around. In 2008 with an election imminent, the then Union Leaders failed to get written commitments from the UDP to grant them a salaries increase. Sure enough, when the March 2012 general elections were imminent the Union Leaders failed again to get binding commitments that their members would get a salaries increase. With cost of living galloping and picking up speed, public officers have been poorly served by their Union Leaders.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Lessons from the Olympics Murder and Adultery; what’s Common? There are two things in Belize that we never seem to fail at. That is murder and adultery. According to the scripture there is something that they both have in common. They both evolve from the heart. Many times it takes careful planning and movements to accomplish the task of taking another person’s life or taking on a second wife. Jesus says that in his kingdom the minute you think or ponder on adultery or murder in your heart you are already guilty of committing those acts. (1 John 3:15, Matthew 5:28) I believe that one of the worst crimes you can commit against society is adultery. It seems to have a more devastating effect and appears to be even more disastrous than murder. See adultery has a cousin whose name is fatherlessness and a society without fathers is one that functions with the likeness of what Belize is currently experiencing! Belize is full of ‘zippers experts’ or in other words men who are more than capable when it comes to operating their zippers but finding true fathers is as rare as finding good politicians. We currently have a buzz going around our country of a ‘father, husband, mentor, counselor and teacher’ not only taking advantage of a young vulnerable minor, but guilty of committing adultery according to its definition as defined in the same book of law he preaches from on Sunday mornings. Although this person’s action is quite in line with the ‘zippertitis’ syndrome that too many in our country suffer from, the evil is quadrupled when perpetrated by one whose conviction condemns such behavior. Zippertitis (lust for sex) and Pistolitis (lust for blood) is a sickness that comes from a germ called lust. According to the manual this germ is something that you should run from because it not only leads to death but has a bigger problem where the more you feed it, the less it becomes satisfied! This germ is cultured in a garden called the ‘flesh’. The picture that defines the flesh would be one that compares us with animals where we pattern our behavior like them in the area of sex and violence etc. The picture of the Spirit would be defined as that which resembles God where we pattern our behavior after Him and the fragrance of His word. The truth is that for most of us it is easier and more appealing to live by the flesh. It is much sweeter, at least in the beginning, to live by the flesh and not by the spirit which seems too stiff and too obtrusive in our business, so most will not want to hear the instructions in the law book as it relates to these issues. Well for the few who desire change, who desire to live according to the instruction and laws of the manual, here is what it says we should do to the flesh. The only solution according to the constitution is that we should kill the flesh daily because it wars against our spirit causing us to do things we shouldn’t do! We kill the flesh by walking in the spirit according to Galatians 5:16. Hence the beginning to live according to the constitution of the kingdom of God is to wake up the spirit and kill the flesh continually! So how do we deal with this? First it is important to understand what we are up against and how it functions. This is especially for men as we normally have it worse when it comes to controlling our sexual desires and lust for power. Our flesh could accurately be compared to the incredible hulk. We feed it and it turns into this big green monster that we end up having no control over as it heads out destroying everything in its path. I believe this is the picture that God sees as He looks down on earth. Big green monsters shooting and killing each other and other big green monsters making babies all over the place and when not making the babies they are raping the babies! How do we kill this monster? It’s the little things that activate this monster and before we know it, he is controlling us and letting us do very evil things. When we fill our eyes with pornography, allow ourselves to get angry with our spouse, stop caring for them financially so that they can do their hair and look as good as anyone out there, when we follow the call of temptation to look at a little girl and begin to ponder on it we are waking up the monster and when he is awake we have no control over him! We must understand that we cannot feed the monster; we cannot do the little things that we believe no one sees or will harm no one because these are the said things that awaken and feed this monster that will never be satisfied! Eventually this leads us into destructive lives. Let’s begin to get rid of the monsters running around Belize who are carrying these two sicknesses (Zippertitis and Pistolitis) and call out the inner man who is created in the image of God to show forth his glory! Until next week God bless
By Stanley Lemus After two refreshing weeks of excitement, the Olympic Games came to a close. During the period, I blocked all the negative news from throughout the world, and allowed a new breeze of entertainment to take my attention. The Games taught me new things, the values and strong character displayed by the participants called Olympians, especially our small but brave team that made Belize proud, not only by their achievement. I was touched when the young man from Belize proudly marched and waved our Belizean flag. The games I am sure brought moments of sadness and joy as we remained glued to our media outlets for information. Many of the participating athletes and that included our very own Belizeans, showed courage, determination, willpower, perseverance and the need to excel no matter the circumstances they faced prior to the games. The games brought the nations of the world to true peace, unity, and a show of power through Sports with one main aim: to succeed and win. Even though many athletes never won a medal they were all winners on our world stage. The long wait of another four years seems like but a long time, but the games have taught us that countries throughout the world saw no po-
litical divide, no division along economic status, or racial or ethnic divide even if just for those two special weeks. That’s one area where many lessons can be sought. In Belize, our Political Leaders in Government continue to use all their energies to continue the politics of division, along racial and ethnic divide, taking us further down the road of more suffering and pain. Like the Olympians we as Belizeans are all winners in this Beautiful Jewel of ours called home. This is the land of our birth and that gives us many fundamental and God-given rights to enjoy a better way of life, and this should not be dished out by choices to some but as a deserving right to all Belizeans. In one of his popular reggae song, Bob Marley sang the words: “How long will they Kill our prophets, while we stand aside and look”. As Belizeans we are the prophets that are being killed in our streets, inside our bedrooms, denied the right to feed our families, because of a lack of jobs, as we stand aside and look at Dean Barrow and the tyrants in Belmopan. We need to stop the talking, stop looking, and start acting. That acting will lead us to stand up and speak out without fear and fight with determination to change the Barrow gang from further destroying every known fabric of our Belizean society. The time to go is now Dean, we can’t wait for five years.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
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THE BELIZE TIMES
BELIZE TIMES WEEKLY
SCIENCE & TECH R
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Selected By Chris Williams
Mass cellphone spamming sparks huge exodus in India 22 August 2012 “Madam, do not get out of your house. There is a lot of trouble. People from your caste are being beaten. Seven women have been killed in Yelahanka [a suburb of Bangalore].” This was one of the text messages that migrant Indians from north-eastern states, including Assam, received last week. They sparked a mass exodus of Assamese from Mumbai, Chennai and other cities in southern and western India. Thousands fled Bangalore alone, prompting comparisons to the mass migration at partition in 1947. The ubiquity of cellphones in India allows rumours to be spread easily. “There is a long history in India of the relationship between riots and rumours, and this precedes the emergence of electronic media,” says Lawrence Liang of the Alternative Law Forum in Banglaore. “What electronic media does is add velocity to this.”
They got the message (Image: Stringer India/Reuters)
Violence in Assam The texts alluding to violence began arriving on 15 August. They warned of attacks by Muslims, ostensibly in retaliation for recent violence in Assam against Muslim settlers from Bangladesh. Muslim leaders denied that their community was planning any such attacks, according to an open letter posted on Facebook by Walter Fernandes of the North Eastern Social Research Centre in Guwahati, Assam. The Indian government responded by imposing a temporary ban on bulk text messages and shutting down some 250 websites it saw as encouraging people to flee. “My fear is that this is going to become the basis on which you have all kinds of curbs beyond reasonable restriction,” says Liang. Electronic traffic billboards in Bangalore were used to counter the rumours and reassure Assamese that they were safe. The authorities are still trying to pin down the source of the texts.
Location of the mind remains a mystery 22 August 2012 by Douglas Heaven
Where does the mind reside? It’s a question that’s occupied the best brains for thousands of years. Now, a patient who is self-aware – despite lacking three regions of the brain thought to be essential for self-awareness – demonstrates that the mind remains as elusive as ever. The finding suggests that mental functions might not be tied to fixed brain regions. Instead, the mind might be more like a virtual machine running on distributed computers, with brain resources allocated in a flexible manner, says David Rudrauf at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, who led the study of the patient. Recent advances in functional neuroimaging – a technique that measures brain activity in the hope of finding correlations between mental functions and specific regions of the brain – have led to a wealth of studies that map particular functions onto regions.
who had lost brain tissue including the chunks of the three ‘self-awareness’ regions following a viral infection, they immediately thought he could help set the record straight. Not a zombie According to the models based on neuroimaging, says Rudrauf, “patients with no insula should be like zombies”. But patient R displays a strong concept of selfhood. Rudrauf ’s Mental functions might not be tied team confirmed this by to fixed brain regions checking whether he Previous neuroimaging studies had sug- could recognise himself in photographs gested that three regions – the insular cortex, and by performing the tickle test – based anterior cingulated cortex and medial pre- on the observation that you can’t tickle frontal cortex – are critical for self-aware- yourself. They concluded that many asness. But for Rudrauf the question wasn’t pects of R’s self-awareness remained unaffected. “Having interacted with him it settled. So when his team heard about patient R, was clear from the get go that there was
no way that [the theories based on neuroimaging] could be true,” says Rudrauf. However, R does have severe amnesia, which prevents him from learning new information, and he struggles with social interaction. Self-awareness and other highlevel cognitive functions probably do not relate to the brain in a simple way, says Rudrauf. “They involve layers of abstraction and mechanisms that cannot be explained by standard functional-neuroanatomy.” He suggests that there are fundamental mechanisms yet to be discovered. “We would all like simple answers to complicated questions, and we tend to oversimplify our conceptions about the brain and the mind,” he says. Linda Clare, a psychologist at Bangor University, UK, is also not surprised by the finding. “Awareness has many manifestations,” she says. “It’s not just a matter of a few brain cells.”
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Summer is almost over! No more lolling around, time to get back on track. We’ve been keeping our minds busy at Mariposa’s Kids’ Corner. Hope you have too! To help get you in “back to school” shape we’ve hunted down some cool brainteasers. Want to give them a try?
MESSED UP PROVERBS!
WORD POWER!
Below are some mixed up proverbs, can you tell which one is really a correct saying/proverb? A rolling stone plays the guitar. A rolling stone gathers no moss
1. What word, when written in capital letters, is the same forwards, backwards and upside down?
Strike while the bug is close. Strike while the iron is hot.
2. Pronounced as one letter but written with three, only two different letters are used to make me. I’m double, I’m single I’m black, blue, and gray. I’m read from both ends and the same either way.
A bird in the hand is a real mess. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
3. What call for help, when written in capital letters, is the same forwards, backwards and upside down?
If you can’t stand the heat, go swimming. If you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen. The grass is always greener when you water it. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
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1.NOON 2. EYE 3. SOS
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Butane prices increase! Belize City, August 21, 2012 The “haada” times are coming. On Thursday August 16th, higher prices for butane were announced by the Ministry of Trade, Investment Promotion, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection. A hundred pound cylinder went up by $12 for Central American imported butane, while it went up by
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THE BELIZE TIMES
The end of ‘Mello Drama’?
$4 for Mexican imported butane. That takes the cost back to over $100, after it had been reduced in July. The new prices are from $108 for Mexican imported butane and $109 for Central American imported in Belize City and Corozal to $113 for Mexican-imported and $114 for Central American-imported in Punta Gorda.
NEW BUTANE PRICES District
Mexican Import
Belize Cty Belmopan San Ignacio Benque Orange Walk Corozal Dangriga Punta Gorda
$108 $110 $110 $111 $109 $108 $112 $113
Central America Import $109 $111 $111 $112 $110 $109 $113 $114
21 yr. old shot at by masked man in Roaring Creek Belize City, August 15, 2012 Belmopan Police are seeking 28 year old Rupert Smith in connection to a dangerous shooting incident in Roaring Creek Village. 21 year old Jermaine Welcome told the Police that around 11:30pm on August 10th he was riding his bicycle in the Another World Area when he noticed a dark complexion male person wearing a mask following him. Welcome said that as the masked man drew near, he said “You memba weh ah tell you”, and then he drew out a .38 revolver and fired three shots at him. Welcome said he ran into the nearby bushes for cover and luckily he eluded the gunman. Police believe Smith can assist them in their investigations into the shooting.
BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 21st, 2012 By Alton Humes It’s the ultimate Belizean crime and media saga that has engrossed most observers who have been following it from the start – alleged Slovakian gangster-murderer and former Belizean Permanent Resident Karol Mello and his fight to walk free after first being dragged off the boat from San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, then being held over at Hattieville Prison (and then the Queen Street Police Station) for 20-plus days, then his habeas corpus trial (which gave him initial freedom), then being held on ridiculously patented immigration charges. That all ended yesterday, Monday, August 20th at the Belmopan City Magistrate’s Court, when that Court’s presiding Senior Magistrate, Linsbert Willis, on the advised pronouncement of the Police Prosecutor, dismissed the charges of perjury and uttering a passport which he was
not entitled to utter, a pair of immigration charges that, to put it kindly, held no water whatsoever in court. Previously, Justice Dennis Hannomansingh of the Belize City Branch of the Supreme Court granted Mello bail because he agreed with one of Mello’s attorneys, Andrew Marshalleck that the charges brought against Mello were ‘weak’, even as Mello had to give up his travel documents, as well as face other restrictions. The charges, as brought by Solicitor General Cheryl Krusen via the Attorney General’s Ministry, certainly were considered necessary, at least to the Government of Belize, to continue the hold-over of Mello until there was a way he could be extradited to his native country, even as Belize and the Republic of Slovakia do not have an extradition treaty. Yet in spite of that, the Solicitor General chose to not even bother to consult with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the DPP herself, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal; therefore, without them seeing the file, there was no way that a case could be brought. So, is the Slovak gentleman truly ‘free at last’, or will the Belize government make another patent attempt to hold him over once more? That, his chief attorney Godfrey Smith says, “is a matter for the State, the DPP’s Office and the Police. We just have to wait and see what the next move will be, if any”. As far as any outrage from the Slovak Government or any international parties, Smith bluntly stated that, as his lead attorney and legal adviser, “My job is to ensure that before he is removed from Belize, or if charges are brought against him, he is accorded his rights under the law….and that’s all I’ve been concerned to do”. But for this brief moment, the longdrawn “Mello drama” comes to a close.
PUP stalwart passes Belize City, August 21, 2012 The People’s United Party family is mourning after one of its stalwarts, Mrs. Shirley Williams, passed away on Monday, August 20th. Mrs. Shirley was a devoted supporter of the People’s United Party and a committed member of the Marshall’s Corps. Ms. Shirley was a true PUP, always at party events, always supporting Party candidates and always willing to serve the Marshall’s movement. President of the Marshall’s Corps, Steve Latchman, told the BELIZE TIMES that he remembers Mrs. Shirley as “one who gave service to the Party without seeking gains for it”.
Latchman said Ms. Shirley’s support to the party was extraordinary. “Her loyalty to the Party has been there throughout the years, even when the party has down. She even faced victimization from a heartless UDP gang when she lost her job. Her willingness to always be present for party activities, rendering invaluable service is hard to compare. Her special role of helping to keep other members of the group together will be greatly missed and irreplaceable”. The PUP is assisting Ms. Shirley’s family with funeral expenses. Funeral services will be held at the Church of Christ, located on Elston Kerr Street, at 1pm on Friday August 24th.
PUP Leader Hon. Francis embraces Mrs. Shirley during a Freetown gathering
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 26, 2012