Belize Times June 26, 2016

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The Belize Times

Established 1957

26 JUNE 2016 | ISSUE NO: 4999

The Truth Shall Make You Free

www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

GOVERNMENT BRUK!!

BARROW GAMBLES WITH THE PEOPLE’S MONEY

Belize City, June 22, 2016 The Dean Barrow Government is broke, broke, broke.

While the impacts of the economic crisis are being felt by all sectors of the country, the Government is demonstrating just how desperate it has become for cash with its recent reckless antics. Two week ago, the Barrow Administration went into overdraft in order to pay public officers. Things are really dread in Belmopan. Reports have now surfaced

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PUP CALLS TALKS WITH GUATEMALAN “A FAILURE” Opposition Leader Demands Radical Change in approach to Guatemala

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GOB HIKES FUEL TAX AGAIN! Pg. 2

Team Belize wins 6 Gold at XXVII Central American track & field championships

The Bloody Pg. 12 Mess is Here!

391 DAYS SINCE BARROW LOST THE SARSTOON

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26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

ANOTHER UDP WAR!

Orange Walk, June 21, 2016 There is an undercover battle for power going on in the United Democratic Party. We’re not talking about the Patrick Faber vs. John Saldivar chronicles. That one is done and the victor has gotten the spoils while the other’s plans were spoilt. We’re talking about Margarito Gapi Vega vs. El Odio Aragon Jr. battle taking place in the north. That is the one to watch and both men seem to know a few tricks.

When Gaspar Vega stepped down the other day he expected Dean Barrow to run behind him and give him back the Ministry of Natural Resources. But ever since Lady Zenaida accused him of being somewhat lacking in the pants, Barrow has been hell-bent on proving that he has bigger cojones than everybody else.

So poor Gapi didn’t get that call he was expecting. He didn’t get that plea to come back. And just like that he was gone.

So Gapi figured out that he could use the back-door and supported John Saldivar for Deputy Leader.

Sources say the northern political don was hoping that if John won he could get back political power. That certainly backfired on him big time. There was

also one last push in Cabinet after the convention to get Barrow to move Godwin. That didn’t work either.

Long story short Gaspar is fighting for power. He has a lot of money, fancy vehicles and big houses all over the place. But he wants more power.

Barrow has emasculated him by giving him a Ministry that has traditionally been given to the less senior and less favored UDPs. Enter Nuevo El Odio Aragon Jr. Aragon must have seen opportunity in Vega’s downfall and word is that he is doing all he can to climb that ladder. He

thinks he is on his way, but his problem is that Barrow recognized a long time ago that he is a limited individual.

Like Gaspar he is not the brightest bulb or the sharpest tool. Unlike Gaspar he has no war chest. So for now, all he has is a little Minister of State position which gets him his Government ride and driver but no power.

Now Elodio hit the political jackpot. He backed the successful man in the convention. He picked the right horse and now he is said to believe that is his claim to fame. You heard the rumor that the new Deputy in town wants him to be the new Minister of Lands, right? Well it’s true. Patrick Faber, newly anointed Deputy Prime Minister has already put in his list of requests to the PM. If Patrick has his way, Nuevo El Odio will be the man with all the access to power in Orange Walk, all the access to land which is like a pot of gold to other ministers and with powerful power brokers in the country.

That’s going to happen soon. Wait for it.

According to Nuevo El Odio, he is the new UDP caudillo in Orange Walk. Margarito has now been put to pasture. There’s a new sheriff in town.

This one is going to be interesting.

THE MESS IS HERE INDEED! By the Nationalist The leaders of the PUP went to the Sarstoon in fulfilment of a promise they had made to the people of Belize. I am proud of those that went, and proud of my Party Leader John Briceño for keeping his word.

That’s a funny situation down there, though. We understand that the Foreign Ministry informed their Guatemalan counterparts that the PUP would be going and asked them to allow the expedition free passage of the river to avoid conflict with the Opposition. Sounds messed up right? Shouldn’t Belizeans be allowed into our part of the Sarstoon without having to inform anybody?

There’s something fishy about the Sarstoon you know.

But friends, stay focused. No doubt the Belize/Guatemala thing is huge. We’re talking about going to the ICJ and potentially losing ter-

LOCAL 23 Jun

ritory. A few years ago we wouldn’t have contemplated the thought of something like that. But it’s happening. Look at what’s going on right at the Sarstoon.

The thing is, though, there’s a whole lot of bad stuff happening which threatens our existence as a stable, peaceful country. We’ve been saying it for months now. They said we were lying. Every year Mr. Barrow gets up in the House of Representatives and talks about how great things are. Every year when he gives the Budget speech he sells himself as the savior, the modern-day messiah. But he won’t be able to do that for much longer.

The IMF report is in and it’s as bad as we expected, maybe worse.

We are in real trouble and the UDP doesn’t have a clue about getting us out. And it didn’t happen overnight.

While the UDP fat cats are gloating

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and living large, every sector in Belize has been going down the drain.

Can you believe that oil is done and as a people we never did feel the benefits of all those millions of barrels of black gold pumped out?

Marine products down to practically nothing. The agriculture sector is on life support because nobody in the UDP listened. Instead of pumping Petrocaribe money into the productive sectors, this government decided to spend millions on contracts for cronies to build roads. Now the Petrocaribe money has all dried up just like our farmers’ land. The only industry still bringing in money is tourism, and it’s not enough.

The IMF Report talks about a weakening economic position – the economy slowing down which makes Belize much more vulnerable. Our foreign reserves are down, Continued on page 31

2627Mar Jun

2016

GOB HIKES FUEL TAX AGAIN! Belize City, June 22, 2016 If you didn’t heed the media’s warning that the Government was about to sneak in higher fuel prices on midnight Tuesday, then your visit to the gas station today led to a major headache with the news that the price of a gallon of Premium gas is costing you 59 cents more.

Like it has done for several years, the Government didn’t even send out a simple notice to fuel consumers of the price hike. Just the usual “tek your licking” treatment from GOB, with consumers finding out at the pumps.

Since the last report on increased fuel prices on May 6th, the fuel prices have gone up twice.

This week’s increase is one of the most painful though. Premium fuel went up by a whopping 59 cents.

The price went from $9.87 to $10.36.

This is the Belize City price, where it is lowest. In other towns, such as Punta Gorda, the price is now nearing $11.00.

So what is driving the cost of fuel?

It certainly isn’t global crude oil prices.

Those have maintained very low since last year. The answer to that question lies in the financial crisis which the Government is experiencing and their cold choice to squeeze revenues out of commuters. The Prime Minister warned in his 2016/2017 Budget speech that the Government would raise $50 million from a fuel tax hike.

But after the first hike, there was another, and another. The Government has raised almost $100 million from its fuel tax alone.

At time when most countries in our region are spreading the benefits of lower world prices, the UDP Government chooses to assault Belizeans by jacking up fuel prices.

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The Belize Times

Established 1957

14 APR 2013

|

ISSUE NO: 4840

The Truth Shall Make You Free

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serving Belize since 1957 as the longest continuous newspaper.

Founder: Rt. Hon. George Cadle Price, People’s United Party Leader Emeritus EDITOR

Alberto Vellos LAYOUT/GRAPHIC ARTIST

Chris Williams

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Roberto Peyrefitte Printed and Published By TIMES NEWSPAPER LTD. Tel: 671-8385 #3 Queen Street P.O. BOX 506 Belize City, Belize

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Exchange rate of One Belize Dollar

United States (USD): $ 0.50

Barbados (BBD): $ 1.00

Eastern Caribbean Euro (XCD):$ 1.35 (EUR) : $ 0.46

Sterling Pound Guatemala Quetzal CANADIAN DOLLAR (GBP): $ 0.35 (GTQ): $ 3.85 (CAD): $ 0.67

CHINESE YUAN (CNY): $ 3.28

Trinidadian (TTD) : $ 3.27

INDIAN RUPEE (INR): $ 33.71

26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

2016

GOVERNMENT BRUK!!

BARROW GAMBLES WITH THE PEOPLE’S MONEY

Continued from page 1 that the Prime Minister himself has been lobbying for his Government to get a large bailout from the people’s savings at Social Security Board.

In a letter from the Prime Minister Dean Barrow to the SSB Investment Committee, Barrow suggests that SSB could buy $10 million dollars-worth of G.O.B. shares in B.T.L. and forty-five million dollars-worth of G.O.B. shares in B.E.L. Barrow is well aware that the people’s savings, collected from social security payments paid for by every single worker sits at the SSB. But this money is not for the Government to dip its dirty hands into whenever and however it wants. It is not meant to bailout a cash-strapped Government that has no solution to the economic crisis it has led us into. Much worse, it is not to be invested in risky ventures such as buying shares with an inflated value which only brings about great losses to the workers’ savings. This has become a habit for the Barrow Administration.

In 2010 after his appropriation of BTL, Dean Barrow in an act of des-

peration “persuaded” the SSB to purchase shares in BTL. On November 23, 2010, the SSB, led by soonto-be disgraced Merlene Bailey-Martinez, purchased 10 million shares at $5/share for a total investment of $50 million. The purchase represented an acquisition of 22.12% of the shares that were nationalized by GOB. Mr. Barrow’s cunning and deceit in relation to the SSB share purchase was finally laid bare by the recent decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The PCA’s decision required that GOB pay to the former owners of BTL $5.60/share.

Remember now, Mr Barrow in his usual arrogance had offered the former owners a mere $1.44/share.

Once the details of the arbitration award had been leaked, Mr. Barrow, quick to try and save face, issued a press release in which he boldly declared that “from the draft valuation of $5.60 per share, only 40% or $2.24 is directly attributable to the share value which is only $0.80 more than what GOB offered.

GOB sold those shares for $5.00 per

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share.” By his own admission Mr. Barrow had sold the SSB shares in BTL at an inflated rate of $5/share: almost 3.5 times what his government was prepared to pay for those very same shares. Unbelievably it was the SSB that bore the cost of Mr. Barrow’s personal vendetta by paying $35.6 million more for shares in BTL. Shares that should have been sold for $14.4 million Mr Barrow “persuaded” the SSB to buy for a whopping $50 million.

Looking at the annual benefits paid to the worker of Belize. In 2015 total benefits paid out by the SSB was $13.2 million dollars. This means that the extra $35.6 million that SSB was required to pay for BTL shares

by Mr. Barrow, could have covered almost 3 years worth of benefits to the Belizean people. It could have been used to increase benefits to workers and to pensioners. It could have been used to maintain the $100/month non-contributory pension instituted by the Musa Administration. Instead what the workers of Belize got was a removal of coverage on the commute to and from work.

What a cruel irony Mr Barrow, after you have disrespected the workers of Belize you want those same workers to help bail you out of the BTL nightmare?

03 3 The fact is that Dean Barrow has been unable to dispose of the remaining 35,199,961 shares that he grabbed from the previous owners for two reasons (1) his short-sighted constitutional enshrinement of GOB majority shareholdings in public utilities and (2) the lack of investor confidence. GOB now has to find almost $500,000,000.00 within a year to pay for those shares as soon to be instructed by the arbitration court, but Dean Barrow has squandered the Petrocaribe money. He has mismanaged the economy and he is unable to find money to pay for BTL. Now he cometh once more to SSB. He once more wants to “persuade” SSB to buy even more shares in BTL. Thankfully the Social Security Act limits a single investment to be no more than 20% of the total amount of the Reserves of the fund.

Today the SSB Reserves stands at $500,566,854 which means that Mr. Barrow can milk another $50 million from the workers of Belize and still remain “within the law”. It is therefore the workers of Belize who must resist Barrow’s gamesmanship with their hard earn dollars. It is the Unions who must hold the Barrow Administration accountable and defend the workers of Belize.

We remain concerned about the health of BTL and the games that are being played by Anwar Barrow.

Remember how in May, after the arbitration award was leaked forcing his father to put out the now famous press release, that it was Anwar Continued on page 4

4 04

THE BELIZE TIMES

HARD KNOCKS

Here we go again!

So Sedi’s back from Washington where he spent some quality time cuddling with Carlos Raul Morales. He explained to the media today that he got a hell of a lot done and we should be proud of him. Like for example he managed to have a cozy tete a tete with Carlos Raul over tea in a corner at Barnes & Nobles.

And oh yeah, they went for a walk at the National Mall and the Smithsonian, a little stop at the Lincoln Memorial, some sightseeing, picking up gifts for the family back home in Belize and back home in Guatemala. So then that rascally bunch of reporters, impudent buggers, asked him about the Sarstoon. What about it, said the brand new Guatebelizean minister.

Well did you discuss it at all, clamored the media. Isn’t that what you were in Washington to do? Oh sure we discussed it, at length, said Sedi. After five hours of intensive discussion, claimed the fatigued politician, a passionate back and forth and tense standoffs across the diplomatic table, we finally agreed to mention the Sarstoon at our next meeting and probably at the next one too. Ayyy Chihuahua, this fellow has got to go.

From Sarstoon to SSB! The sneaky devils at government and the SSB were trying to pull a fast one right under the noses of the Belizean people. How yu like dat? Remember they did it with Santander, trying to give a rich Guatemalan company our money. Now they want to take $50 million of our cash and give it to government for shares in BTL and BEL – wutless mi seh! You could imagine that po people have to live pon leebit or nothing from Social Security. Fi donkey’s years pension noh gawn up noh even by wah dalla. And now Mister Barrow wants to raid the piggy bank. Cause that’s all Social Security really is – one big fat piggy bank.

And you know what’s true – all the millions in Social Security are put there by the hard-working people of Belize – but we noh gat no say ova how dih money spend. NONE. Well dis one ya noh deh goh soh.

Dis ya chancey UDP betta lef wih money right inna Social Security cause Mister Barrow only midi play play civil unrest. But ih wah get dih sense!

Dah Petro Gih Wih! How dih song goh again? Yu sih mih house, dah Petro gih mih. Yu sih mih cala TV, dah Petro gih mih. When last you hear datideh song?

Dat dah weh yu call wah one hit wanda. Nobody’s talking about Petrocaribe anymore. And the thing is it’s no joke. The UDP spent close to $400 million dollars in Petrocaribe money between 2012 and 2015.

That’s a hell of a lot of money. Petrocaribe never did nothing real for nobody poor. UDP cronies got rich off bloated contracts, Petro style.

Petrocaribe paid for one time political handouts, political rallies, political propaganda and even elections. But not one red cent of the Petrocaribe money ever went to help the poor. And look where we are now.

Petrocaribe is done. Nothing left and we are still damned poor. People still have to walk across London Bridges to reach their homes. People still take a crap in buckets and dump it wherever they can. So many people still don’t have electricity in their homes. So many people can’t afford to send their kids to school. So many people don’t know where the next meal is coming from. And there’s no more singing paid for by the almighty Petrocaribe which has died but will not rise again.

Crackhead GOB! Dih Paaty Leader honourable Johnny seh dat dis UDP deh goh awn like wah crackhead government. And it’s true. You know why? Cause the government is broke. Money done! Remember you heard it here first. GOB is soon going to announce a wage freeze for public officers.

GOB is soon going to announce a hike in the General Sales Tax. GST is soon going to announce a preliminary retrenchment of select public officers. GOB is going to continue to raise taxes on fuel. GOB is soon going to remove some of the items which are zero-rated. And that’s only to start with. When we tell you the sky is falling, you better run for cover. Look out for the arbitration award coming within a week.

Wait for it!

26 JUN

2016

PUP CALLS TALKS WITH GUATEMALAN “A FAILURE” Opposition Leader Demands Radical Change in approach to Guatemala

22 June 2016 The People’s United Party expresses its deep disappointment at the failed talks held yesterday, June 21 2016, in Washington D.C. However, we are not surprised at yet another failed meeting. Our reports are that there was no positive result except the agreement to continue to talk. It was a complete failure.

The PUP decided that it would not attend the talks in Washington D.C. because we fundamentally disagree with the approach being adopted by the Government of Belize. It is plain that Guatemala intends to maintain control of Belize’s portion of the Sarstoon River, and the Government’s response is to keep talking and hoping that Guatemala will at some point in the future withdraw from asserting control.

Talking and hoping is not a plan. It is not a strategy. It is a failed approach by Belize to an annexation crisis.

Conversely, the PUP believes there must be a coherent Belizean strategy arrived at after wide and genuine consultation that includes stakeholders such as Labour, Business, Academia and Civil Society.

It is clear that Belize needs a

full-time dedicated team working through a well-staffed secretariat, advised by international lawyers, to resolve the illegal control of the Sarstoon by Guatemala and the continued rape of the Chiquibul and degradation of our rivers and water resources. We repeat the call for a clear-minded, organized mobilization internally and internationally, keeping the Belizean public fully informed.

We repeat our call for the immediate removal of Wilfred Elrington as Minister of Foreign Affairs for lack of competence and for misleading the Belizean people.

There is a complete loss of trust and confidence in Mr. Elrington, and his deep affection for the Foreign Minister of Guatemala continues, in our opinion, to cloud his judgment.

The PUP believes that now, more than ever, there is an urgent need for a radically different approach from the failed path on which the UDP is now leading Belize. We are prepared to share such an approach with the Government and people of Belize.

The PUP will remain vigilant and will continue to work towards the reassertion of Belizean sovereignty over all our territory at the earliest possible time.

GOVERNMENT BRUK!!

BARROW GAMBLES WITH THE PEOPLE’S MONEY

Continued from page 1 who quickly took to TV to tell the Belizean people that BTL had had a record year? What Anwar was doing was really beginning to make the case to the Belizean people that BTL was a good investment. He knew that papa Dean would have to come back to the SSB for money to pay for the BTL white elephant.

If BTL is such a good investment why haven’t Mike Singh, Heritage Bank, Denys Barrow, Lois Barrow, Michael Young, Net Vasquez and Jules Vasquez bought any significant number of shares in BTL? Why

hasn’t GOB been able to attract foreign investors? Here’s why. There is no confidence in the telecoms market from a foreign direct investment perspective and undeniably BTL is technologically retarded.

The question remains though.

Will the Unions allow Dean Barrow to gamble with workers’ money?

Perhaps the biggest question of all is how much will SSB be made to pay for shares in BTL? By Mr. Barrow’s own admission just last month, the shares are worth $2.24/shares! Will he once more “persuade” SSB to buy shares at $5/share?

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

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EDITORIAL Barrow’s Financial and Economic Nightmare

A

fter issuing bloated contracts to their cronies and squandering $325 million in PetroCaribe loan funds with the sole purpose of winning the 2015 General Elections, the UDP Government has maxed out its “credit card” and is now desperately trying to find new ways to maintain their high lifestyle. In vintage UDP style, the Dean Barrow government has begun the systematic draining of the public financial system in Belize.

By the end of 2015, with additional domestic borrowings of $118mn, the government had reached its legal ceiling in both Treasury Bills and Treasury Notes at $200mn and $225mn and approached its ceiling with over $63mn in advances from Central Bank, the legal limit being roughly $80m. In fact, Central Bank was the primary willing victim in this raid in 2015 as it increased its lending to the Government through loans, T-bills and T-notes to the tune of $113mn, mostly financed by printing money. Currency issued by the Central Bank in circulation increased by an unprecedented $60mn or 20.6% to an all-time high of $345mn.

In one year, the Central Bank increased its lending to the Government by 85%, which means it almost doubled its entire debt stock with the Government. Overall domestic debt of the Government increased by an astounding 31.4% or $118mn in 2015 alone, over 95% of which came from Central Bank.

In 2016, faced with these legal ceilings, being fiscally bankrupt and with the knowledge that it has to pay Lord Ashcroft hundreds of millions of dollars more which would in effect mortgaged our foreign exchange reserves, this UDP government swiftly increased the legal ceilings on T-bills and T-notes, by amending the law at the end of February this year to double the ceiling for Treasury Bills from $200mn to $400mn and double the ceiling for Treasury Notes from $225mn to $450mn. No sooner had it increased this ceiling that it has now issued another $40mn in debt by way of a new issue of Treasury notes. Another $15mn of those notes was taken up by the Central Bank again.

Now if all that was not bad enough, in a few weeks the arbitration award concerning Belize Telemedia Ltd. (BTL) will soon fall on the backs of the Belizean people. We already know that the Government will have to pay another $187mn towards the settlement and interest and legal fees will be millions upon millions more. At the moment, Government does not have the money to pay its debts. However, the news

reverberating around the country over the last few days is that there is severe pressure being placed on Social Security to buy Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) shares. Government is so broke that after raiding Central Bank, it is now raiding Belizeans of their pension fund to pay one man – Lord Michael Ashcroft.

The state of the economy is no secret. We all are living this nightmare. The recent Article IV consultation by the IMF reiterated what Opposition Leader Hon. John Briceno stated in his budget speech, that is, the economy is in a dyer state of affairs and there are no signs of it improving anytime soon. The IMF projection is that our economy will only grow a meager 0.5% over the next fiscal year. Data coming from the Statistical Institute of Belize confirms what we already know – we are in a recession, our economy is shrinking and we are becoming poorer by the day. Exports of almost everything are down. As of the end of April 2016, merchandise exports for the period January to April totaled $141.6 million, down 29.5 percent from the $200.7 million recorded for the same period last year. Shrimp is down, oil is down, sugar is down, citrus is down, banana is down, papaya is down and out. The Government tries to tout tourism which has shown positive signs in spite of the Government. However, the confirmation of the Zika virus in Belize is already beginning to have an effect on this sector. And according to industry stakeholders, the only ray of hope for the industry is coming from certain parts of the country. In fact places like the Cayo district are down by double digits.

While exports are taking a beating, imports have not come down to match leaving a widening trade imbalance.

The net effect is that apart from the foreign exchange outflow on the government side with its reckless maneuverings with Ashcroft and burgeoning external debt, there is a further foreign exchange outflow on the private sector side.

It should be no surprise then that over the past year our foreign exchange reserves have fallen by around $150mn and this is before the Ashcroft arbitration award. Once that award becomes final, we will have 10 days to come up with half the money and one year to come up with the balance.

This will mean an even further drain of tens of millions in our foreign exchange reserves to satisfy Ashcroft.

The economic mess we’re in because of the recklessness and incompetence of the Barrow Administration is an issue that must concern us all. The BELIZE TIMES will continue to do its part and provide relevant information to our readers.

06 6

THE BELIZE TIMES

Hundreds of Teachers Won’t Return to Classrooms Belize City, June 21, 2016 Hundreds of teachers will not be returning to their classrooms in September after receiving letters from the Ministry of Education informing them that their applications for teaching licenses were not approved.

In February, Education Minister Patrick Faber announced that only persons who have obtained teacher’s licenses and those who qualify for special teaching permits will remain employees of the Ministry. About 1,300 teachers were staring the ugly face of retrenchment.

The announcement surprised teachers, principals and school administrations who had not been properly alerted that the Ministry would be taking such drastic decision. School administrators have been encouraging their employees to comply with the requirements for their full licenses. The criteria includes University training and fulfilment of pedagogical and workshop training. While there are teachers who have been operating without licenses, many have developed excellent teaching skills and the failure to complete the process of could be just a technical matter to clear

26 JUN

2016

have their licenses to fulfil the criteria needed. This move was seeing gradual progress. But suddenly, the Ministry took the austere stance.

Some have posited that the decision by the Minister was a political one since the economy is facing a severe

Patrick Faber up. The Ministry invited those teachers to apply for “special permits” but that message might have been obscured by the serious threat in the Minister’s message.

Reports from the Ministry are that they received over 735 requests for special permits.

The Ministry has not released data on how many of those were accepted or rejected.

The Ministry has indicated

Antiquated Justice System Gets Technology Boost Belize City, Wednesday, June 15, 2016 United States Ambassador to Belize Carlos Moreno symbolically signed off on what is a US$372,000 donation to the justice system in Belize through the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). The donation includes state of the art audio recording equipment and related IT equipment for the Supreme Court and Magistrate’s Courts.

Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin accepted the donation on behalf of the Judiciary, explaining that “as of today, there are ten Courtrooms in the Supreme Court in Belize City, Belmopan, Dangriga and Orange Walk as well as seventeen Magistrate’s Courts in Belize City, San Pedro, Dangriga and Orange Walk as well as in the remaining five judicial districts in Belize outfitted with audio recording systems. Magistrates will now be relieved of the task of taking verbatim notes and they will be able to focus on the adjudication function.”

Previously, Magistrates and Justices have had to record the Court proceedings in a notebook which would effectively be the only record of a trial. Taking the very real matter of human error out of the equation that still resulted in matters before the Courts proceeding at a snail’s pace so the donation is a welcome one.

Ambassador Moreno, who served as a Supreme Court Judge in the United States told the BELIZE TIMES that in the end the donation is just one aspect of a Justice Sector Reform Project between the Governments of Belize and the US that will see support valued at $1.4M. The intention, says Moreno, is really to expedite justice for all involved in every arena and at every level.

Moreno further explained, “I think that for cases to proceed to trial after the passing of three, four even five years is not good for any justice system. It’s often been said that justice delayed is justice denied. That applies equally to those who have been accused who are entitled to a speedy and efficient and accurate trial. It also applies to the prosecution who will suffer in the cause of justice with witnesses no longer able to be located, memories being lapsed and so forth. I think the efforts of CARSI are really to improve the system in that respect”.

however that many teachers have yet to contact the Ministry to find out their status.

Interestingly, the decision by the Ministry to fire teachers on the basis of the license has not received any objection from the Belize National Teacher’s Union. In fact, the Union has supported the move.

Questions have arisen, however, as to the real motive behind the timing of the decision. For several years, the Ministry has encouraged those who did not

financial downturn and the Barrow Administration, with no answers for it, has had to follow the prescriptions of the IMF to, among other things, reduce their wage bill.

The wage bill can only be lowered by cutting salaries or firing workers.

The teachers were recently promised an overdue salary increase, which meant retrenchment was the only option.

Is the Ministry’s fuss over licenses just a veil to cover up retrenchment?

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

07 7

New Zika cases surface in Caye Caulker Village Belize City, June 22, 2016 Latest reports coming out of the Ministry of Health are that there have been a total of five confirmed cases of the ZIKA virus in Belize.

The presence of the ZIKA virus in Belize was inevitable as neighbouring countries have been battling with the confirmed cases months prior to Belize confirming its first case.

Friday, November 13 saw the Caribbean Public Health Agency announcing the confirmation of five confirmed cases of the virus in the CARICOM territory. Six months later, on May 15, local health officials confirmed its first case in country. That case came out of Belize City and ten days later another case was confirmed in the Cayo District. On June 20, three other cases were found in Caye Caulker Village.

Zika continues to be a serious health concern, nationally and globally. The virus can affect pregnant women significantly leading to microcephaly, a condition where babies have unusually small heads and underdeveloped brains, and also cause other neurological disorders in newborns. On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Local health authorities say they have heightened their efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus. There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika and symptoms last approximately four to seven days. Complications are rare and no deaths due to Zika have ever been recorded.

Corozal Free Zone Crumbles!

The images here show a crumbling infrastructure at the Commercial Free Zone in the Corozal District, just one more reason why the once vibrant economic hub has been facing collapse under the incompetent management of CEO Raul Rosado and the UDP Government. Earlier this year, the SSB Board Chairman, Doug Singh indicated that they rejected a request to finance infrastructure works at the Free Zone because “it is dying�.

08 8

THE BELIZE TIMES

HERREDIA KEEPS HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN POOR AND UNEDUCATED IN SAN PEDRO UDP Rep. promised a new school 4 years ago…STILL NOTHING!

dia’s response was one of the most deceptive and shameful.

He answered, “…if all goes well, I am happy to say that before the end of my term of office, if we go for the full five years, a government primary school should be completed”.

What a most cunning reply!

Herredia did serve a full term, but it was not for a full five years as his Prime Minister, in a hurry to become a third-term head of Government, dissolved the National As-

Manuel Herredia Belize City, June 14, 2016 UDP Belize Rural South area representative Manuel Herredia should hang his head low in shame.

He appears to be ignoring one of his constituency area’s most pressing problems – the lack of access

to education for hundreds of children on San Pedro due to a lack of classroom space.

In 2012, Herredia campaigned and won in the general elections on the promise that he would build a new school for Belize’s top tourist destination. In November 2014, the Government and Herredia announced that they had $1.2 million for the new school on the island and had even designated a parcel of land situated across the Bowen and Bowen Distribution Center located on Blake Street, which would be acquired for the immediate construction of the new Government school.

Residents waited and waited. In February 2015, with no construction for a school in sight, a local media house questioned Herredia about why there was still no school. Herre-

ARSONIST TARGETS JEEP WRANGLER ON AMARA AVENUE Belize City, Wednesday, June 15, 2016 On Tuesday afternoon at around 2:45 a Jeep Wrangler belonging to Tenchtronics Communications on Amara Avenue was deliberately set on fire while it was parked in front of the business located on Amara Avenue.

By the time Fire Department personnel got to the scene, the entire interior of the vehicle was consumed by flames.

While the Fire Department is investigating, the cause of the fire seems to be clear-cut since surveillance footage shows a man on a bicycle committing arson. He was seen first scouting out the area before throwing what is assumed to be flammable liquid in it and then returning to light it.

Police are currently trying to identify the suspect from the surveillance footage. As to a motive, preliminary indications are that it could be a dispute involving a female. The gold-colored Jeep Wrangler in question is said to have been used primarily by the son of Tenchtronics Communications owner Evan Tench.

26 JUN

2016

sembly and called snap elections

by November 2015.

Herredia, the politician, can now use the lousy excuse that because he did not serve a full five years, he was not able to keep his promise. His political existence and success, apparently, is more important than the real crisis facing children and their families.

Some 300 plus children are estimated to be shut out of the fundamental primary school learning because the island’s three grant-in-aid schools have insufficient classroom space. The fees at the three private schools are unaffordable to many.

Due to his tremendous failure, when classes resume in September 2016, hundreds of children will continue to be out of school in San Pedro. What a society Herredia is nurturing on la isla bonita! Increasing poverty and widening the gap between those who access education and those who don’t.

PATCHAKAN VILLAGE COUNCIL ELECTION 2016!

El pueblo de Patchakan está listo para el CAMBIO! Mi nombre es Ricardo Carcamo nacido y crecido en nuestra bella aldea. Hoy humildemente como aldeano I padre de familia junto con mis otros seis (6) colegas le pedimos su apoyo en las Elecciones del Concilio Aldeano que se celebrara el día 3 de Julio 2016. Este concilio piense trabajar mano a mano con todos los grupos religiosos y todos los grupos no gubernamentales para poder disfrutar de un pueblo lleno de vida que alguna vez conocimos.

Como Orgullosos Beliceños prometemos estar firme y defender nuestro patrimonio nacional, prometemos ser la vos de los mudos, la fuerza de los débiles, y las extremidades de los discapacitados. Lo mejor no está por llega, lo mejor está aquí esperando!

8 MAY 26 JUN 12 19 JUN

2016 2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

Galen University hosts “Defending Belize’s Sovereignty” Symposium

By: Alton F. Humes (Freelance Reporter) San Ignacio Town, Cayo District, Monday, June 20th, 2016 “We can’t continue as a nation to kiss and hug with the enemy of our nation… we are now in a state of emergency. It falls on us to protect our territory, to ensure it remains ours”, Senator Eamon Courtenay told Tertiary Level students The deeply complex dynamics of the Belize-Guatemala dispute are ofttimes enough to drive the most studied of people up the wall. Whether we end up being driven up the wall by all the machinations of the recent updates and stories coming to light on a daily basis, or we merely take it all in stride as part of the lengthy process to resolving the matter for good, it is just as important to have access to the relevant information necessary to make a pertinent decision in a future referendum on going to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in turn will help to shape the future not just of ourselves and our families, but the very future of our nation-state.

And since it is the students, the youth, who will be part of that decision in the immediate future, it would naturally fall on the tertiary level institutions to be a part of the information-dissemination process. That process was given a critical boost when the Galen University hosted the first-of-its-kind National Tertiary Level Empowerment Symposium on Friday, June 17th, 2016 at the Sacred Heart College Auditorium in San Ignacio Town. The event which was sponsored by Zitro International Ltd. (Western Union) and Atlantic Bank Ltd., was held under the theme: “Defending Belize’s Sovereignty”.

Some of the most-skilled minds on the issue, Ambassadors James Murphy and Stuart Leslie from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rafael Manzanero of the Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), cultural and social anthropologist Dr. Ludwig Palacio, and Senator Eamon Courtenay, attorney-at-law, former Foreign Minister and representative for the People’s United Party (PUP) on the Bi-Partisan Negotiating Team, were presenters on the issue.

Just over 400 students, representing eleven schools from across the country, attended the event with their lecturers. A brief opening ceremony led by the Dean of Student Enrollment and Marketing at Galen, Dr. Martin Cuellar, preceded the event, which officially kicked off at around 10:15 a.m.

The event’s Moderator, Mr. Reynaldo Guerrero, who heads the consulting firm that assisted in planning

the event, RG Consulting Ltd., moderated the day’s discussions, each about 30 minutes long. The topics on the agenda were the history of the Claim and the Compromis/Special Agreement’s Guidelines and expectations for the referendum led by Ambassadors Murphy and Leslie, impact of the economic and cultural issues with both countries led by Mr. Manzanero and Dr. Palacio and “Information for Future Actions” led by Courtenay. But the key part of the event was what was referred to as the Student BreakOut Group (SBG) panels, which allowed students to not only take away the most salient points from each panel, but also to ask relevant questions to each panel, as well as coming up at least 10 “Best Actions” to increase awareness not just amongst the students themselves, but also amongst their peers and the community at large by the end of the day’s sessions.

Ambassador Leslie, bringing his own bit of lightness to the day’s heavy discussions, played British rock band Coldplay’s popular single, “Clocks” during his presentation, which posited a question that, at least in his mind, might be even more relevant than the question that is to be answered in the future referendum on going to the ICJ: “Am I a part of the cure, or am I part of the disease?” By contrast, the presentations of Manzanero, Dr. Palacio and especially Mr. Courtenay were far from light, and hammered home the impor-

tance of not being a mere bystander in the future course of our country.

The FCD Executive Director presented on the human, and oftentimes Guatemalan, eco-imprint in a place not often looked at in discussions of the dispute – the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. With 24 Guatemalan villages within 10 kilometers from the border, the race to protect this precious slice of Belizean territory is fast and furious, but even he admits to the lure of what brings the ruthless Guats into what is clearly Belizean land.

“On the one side, there are devastated villages laid to waste and ruin; on the other side, there lies a beautiful, precious jungle that is now constantly under siege,” Manzanero shared.

Panning for precious resources like gold, harvesting xate leaves, and carrying out illegal farming and logging, and even soon-to-be threats such as marijuana cultivation and cattle ranching are the issues that have made the protection of Chiquibul, and by consequence, all of Belizean territory, all the more important and necessary. He duly summed up the state of affairs in the Chiquibul thus, as he has done many times before, but with greater urgency.

“If we don’t have or get the necessary support to fight and contain these threats, we will lose the Chiquibul for good,” he warned.

Dr. Palacio used an olden folktale,

9 SPORTS 09 “Tale of the Skeletons”, to highlight the ‘dynamic’ history of commerce and student ‘exchanges’ between the nations, even going as far as to say that such discourse will continue for eons to come, referring to the historical proximity of the countries as being “skeletons with the same color”.

Students preferred to ask about enforcing our laws to protect our resources from continued threats in the face of a potential pro-Belize ICJ ruling should we go to the Dutch-based court, or even whether Belize still had the ability to defend and man the borders since gaining independence in 1981. The answers to both questions were blunt, with Manzanero gloomily stating, “It is clear that Belize itself cannot protect the Chiquibul from the Guatemalan threat”.

Palacio, in response to the latter question, said, “Yes, we’ve lost that ability to defend our borders. We simply don’t have the volume in our military, etc. to defend our borders”.

But perhaps the most dynamic presentation was that of Mr. Eamon Courtenay, who made a disclaimer that he would speak solely of his own accord and not in the capacities described earlier. Courtenay held nothing back, telling the students gathered at the event that it was “very important to instill patriotism” in all Belizeans, students and citizens alike, and said the citizens and the Government have an “important role to play” in addressing the issues at hand, and must do so without being divisive. Ripping at the Government for what has been their clear lack of fortitude in handling the matter, he said: “GOB is not addressing the issue the way it ought to be addressed”. After conducting his own in-house poll amongst the students, he realized and made note that the majority of those present want to solve the Guatemalan problem, regardless of any stance taken of wanting to go or not wanting to go to the ICJ. The first of his points was that the referendum question “Do you (the voter) agree that any legal claim of Guatemala against Belize relating to land and insular territories and to any maritime areas pertaining to these territories should be submitted to the International Court of Justice for final settlement and that it determine finally the boundaries of the respective territories and areas of the Parties?” is meant to ensure that the neighbouring Republic lays out all of its claims, should the matter proceed to the Court, thus ensuring that whatever they lay out cannot be altered or reversed when the matter proceeds. The crux of the potential case for Belize, said Courtenay, is the 1859 Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty and the 1931 Exchange of Notes, both of which defines the boundary of British Honduras/Belize, and even if they were declared null and void in international law, he noted that the established border retains and will retain a life of its own, regardless of the decision.

Continued on page 10

10

THE BELIZE TIMES

26 JUN

2016

Galen Attorney tells court his client has been wrongfully accused of armed robbery University hosts

Belize City, Friday, June 17, 2016 A Belize City man who was accused of committing an armed robbery was remanded to prison, despite submissions from his attorney who urged the presiding Magistrate not to read the charge to his client because he is not the man who committed the robbery.

Cassian Young, 27, appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers to be arraigned on the robbery charge.

Young, a resident of Bagdad Street, allegedly robbed Eve Street resident and security guard Kareem Yasin Hafiya, 40.

Before the charge was read, however, Young’s attorney Herbert Panton made a lengthy submission, urging Magistrate Rogers not to read the charge to his client, “Because he is innocent and it would be an injustice”.

Hafiya victim did not identify Young as the attacker, Panton told the court. He also argued that after carefully reading the facts of the case against his client, he is con-

Cassian Young vinced that there is no evidence that makes out a prima facie case against his client.

Magistrate Rogers took a few minutes to read the facts of the police report with the allegations against Young. She listened to prosecutor for the Police, Corporal Kennard Clark, who submitted that all the factors and issues that Panton brought up are

matters that should be addressed at the trial stage. Despite the half hour spent in his submission, however, Panton could not convince the court to withdraw the charge against Young.

Rogers read the charge to Young and he pleaded not guilty. Due to the nature of the charge, she could not offer bail to him. Therefore, he was remanded to prison until August 13, 2016.

Kareem Yasin Hafiya, reported to police that he was walking on Regent Street West when he was approached by two persons, one from in front and the other from behind. They subdued him and robbed him of his cell phone and wallet containing bank cards and identification cards along with $2,850.

The Police claim that when Young was detained on Thursday, June 16, 2016, he admitted that he was in the area around the same time in which the robbery occurred, but he denied being involved in any robbery.

Woman accused of obtaining property by deception released on bail Belize City, Tuesday, June 21, 2016 A Belize City woman was released on bail after she pleaded not guilty to three counts of obtaining property by deception for allegedly taking monies from persons who she reportedly told that she was working on a housing project in the Faber’s Road Extension area along with Belize City Councillor Phillip Willoughby and that the monies they were paying was for their house and lot.

The accused woman, Gina Cherrington, a resident of 10 Yarborough Road, appeared for arraignment before Magistrate Carlon Mendoza along with her attorney Simeon Sampson, S.C. this afternoon.

Magistrate Mendoza read the first charge to Cherrington which stated that, “For you Gina Cherrington on

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Gina Cherrington

the 14 day of April 2016, at Belize City in the Belize Judicial District, by deception, dishonestly obtained from Shanice Bailey the sum of $192 Belizean currency in cash with the intent to permanently deprive Shanice Bailey of such property by stating that you are working on a housing project in the Faber’s Road Extension area with Phillip Willoughby and the money was payment towards the house and land. You are charged for obtaining property by deception. Do you understand the charge?”

Cherrington replied, “Yes I do.”

How do you plea, Mendoza asked Cherrington, who replied, “not guilty.”

Cherrington was also charged with another two counts of obtaining property by deception. The complainant for this offense is Basil Baiza who reported that he paid Cherrington $400 cash in Belize

currency on the same day as Bailey.

The following day, April 15, Biaza allegedly paid another $120 in cash to Cherrington as payment towards a house and land in the Faber’s Road Extension area.

Cherrington pleaded not guilty to the two additional charges.

The court prosecutor objected to bail, saying that the charges showed a trend and that he was not sure if anyone else would come forward to make a report against the accused woman.

Under the new rules governing cases at the Magistrate’s Court, accused persons must be provided with a summary of the facts against them.

When Mendoza asked Cherrington if she had been provided with the summary of the facts in respect of the charges brought against her she replied no.

Attorney Sampson asked the Court to grant her bail and that she could return to Court and be given a proper disclosure by Police.

Magistrate Mendoza agreed and offered Cherrington bail of $2,500 plus one surety in the same amount on the condition that she report to the Precinct 1 at Euphrates Avenue every Monday.

Her case was adjourned to August 9, when she will be given full disclosure and a date set to begin her trial.

“Defending Belize’s Sovereignty” Symposium

Continued from page 9 He also pointed out, amongst other points, that a letter by Guatemala former Foreign Minister Pedro de Aycienna which asserts that Guatemala knew that Great Britain, and later Belize, has maintained consistent control over all its territory, as well as the Court’s decisions in the Libya v. Chad and Cameroon v. Nigeria cases, will be key to Belize’s potential case due to presenting treaties from colonial and post-colonial eras. While he joins in being ‘confident’ in the strength of Belize’s potential case, he made crystal clear to the gathered audience that a winning presentation of Belize’s case is not a guarantee that on-the-ground matters and issues (economics, immigration, incursions, etc.) will cease to continue.

He even went further by saying that even after going to the Court and the period between a decision being handed down, enforcement will take years to put in place and even then, the only way it can be maintained is by invoking the UN Charter, which starts an entirely different process, which would involve the UN Security Council, and there still won’t be any guarantees in regard to enforcing the decision on the ground.

Courtenay closed off his presentation with this fiery statement: “We can’t continue as a nation to kiss and hug with the enemy of our nation… we are now in a state of emergency. It falls on us to protect our territory, to ensure it remains ours”.

During the Q&A for the 3rd SBG panel, a Galen University student, E. Bradley, bravely asked: “Is Belize prepared for war with Guatemala?” Courtenay turned the question on the student, asking if he personally would be ready to go to war with the Republic, later clarifying his stance, “Nobody is advocating for war here, but one must also create a chance to protect our territory. Our elders always like seh: ‘softly, softly, taiga ketch monkey.’”

Another student from Galen, Ms. Rashina Anderson, expressed concern that the event had no anti-ICJ panellists on hand to create a fair balance.

The event closed off sometime around 3:30 p.m. with the presentation of the Best Actions by the students.

According to Dr. Cuellar, it cost some BZ$15,000 to pull off the event, and it may be expanded to other tertiary schools as necessary. Undoubtedly, it was an initiative that was sorely needed, and one that must continue in the present climate to ensure Belizeans, student and citizens, will be duly prepared for the challenges ahead in tackling this issue going forward.

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

11

12 SPORTS

8 MAY 26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES TIMES THE BELIZE

2016

Team Belize wins 6 Gold

at XXVII Central American track & field championships Ashantie Carr pass baton to twin Ashontie in 4x 400m relay

Kaina Martinez wins GOLD and new Record in 100m

San Salvador, June 19, 2016 Team Belize won six Gold medals and set six new records in the XXVII Central American Senior Track & Field Championships at the Jorge “Magico” Gonzalez Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador over the weekend.

Overall, Belize won 12 medals: 6 Golds, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze.

Gold Medals Kaina Martinez- 100m 11:56sec Tricia Flores - Long jump 5.95m Itohan Aikhionbare - Shot put - 15.67m Brandon Jones - Triple Jump - 16.22m Katy Sealy – Heptathlon – 4817 points Kaina Martinez, Faith Morris, Tricia Flores, Samantha Dirks 4x100 Relay - 46.61sec Silver Medals Alexis Neal - 100m Hurdles - 15.08sec Kaina Martinez - 200m - 23.68sec Itohan Aikhionbare – Discus - 47.40m James Bregal, Brandon Jones, Shaun Gill, Mark Anderson - 4x100m - 42.13sec Bronze Medals Shaun Gill - 100m - 10.97sec Ashantie Carr - Triple Jump 12.04m Other Results: Ashontie Carr - 800m 2:24sec (6th of 7 athletes) Ashantie Carr - Long Jump 5.42m (new Belize Junior record) Mark Anderson - 200m - 22:06sec (6th of 7 athletes) Mark Anderson - 400m 49.98sec (9th of 13 athletes) Bret Scheve - 400m Hurdles - 54:11secs Kenneth Brackett - Long jump - 6.75m (6th of 10 athletes) James Bregal - 100m -11:39 (8th of 10 athletes)

Katy Sealy No.167 wins Gold in heptathlon

Team Belize wins 6 Golds - sets 6 new Records

Alexia Neal silver in 100m Hurdles

City Boys leads Mundialito

Luis sosa Jr., attacks

City Boys lead SMART Mundialito Belize City, June 18, 2016 Defending champs City Boys have already won their spot in the 2016 SMART Mundialito playoffs after their 7th win in Week 10 of the tournament at the MCC Garden last Saturday. The defending champs are leading the tournament with 23pts as the playoffs begin on July 2.

In Game 4, the City Boys overpowered an undermanned Reality Youth squad 3-0; with Rasheid Lord scoring in the 1st half, and Cyril Jones and Kayia Requena scoring after the break. The winless Reality Youths started the game with only 9 men.

Other results: Collet Strikers vs. Heights FC – 1-0 Goal by Chris Maskall Hattieville Riverside Boys vs. Ladyville Rising Stars - 4-0 Goals by Ruben Darius (3), Jaheed “Rice” Baptist Face of Belize vs. Young Warriors - 1-1 Goal by Kaseem Santos, Jonah Chebat Brown Bombers vs. Ladyville Jaguars – 2-0 Goals by Jaylen Whyte, Eldon Byrd

Rashied Lord scored City Boys’ 1st goal

09 11 SPORTS 13

8 MAY 26 12 JUN 19 26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES 2016 2016 Giovanni Lovell, Kaya Cattouse & Shaun Codd win CFB cycling road champs

BWS disconnects Telemedia 62-58

Roaring Creek Village, June 19, 2016 Team DigiCell’s Giovanni Lovell, Team SMART’s Kaya Cattouse and Shaun Codd of Belize Youth Club won the Cycling Federation of Belize national road championships, held over a 38-mile circuit from the La Loma Luz roundabout on the George Price Highway to Garbutt’s Service Station in Roaring Creek village on Sunday. The Elites and masters rode 2.5 laps, while the Females, Juniors and Youths rode 1.5 laps.

Elites 1st Giovanni Lovell – Tam DigiCell 4G - 4:30:52 – 1st under-23 2nd Nissan Arana - Team Westrac Alliance – 1st Elite 3rd Ron Vasquez – Team SMART - 4:30:57 4th Joslyn Chavarria – Team Digicell 4G - 4:31:46 – 2nd U-23 5th Tarique Flowers – Team Benny’s Megabytes – 3rd U-23 6th Erwin Middlleton - Team DigiCell 4G - 4:31:47 7th Joel Vanegas - DigiCell 4G - 4:32:20 – 4th U-23.

8th Robert Liam Stewart- Team Benny’s Megabytes 4:35:37 – 1st Masters 9th Delawn Abraham – Team Westrac Alliance - 4:40:16 – 5th U-23 10th Shane Vasquez – Team SMART - 4:50:26 – 2nd Masters.

Females 1st Kaya Cattouse – Team SMART - 3:18:01 2nd Patricia Chavarria – Tram SMART- 3:20:05 3rd Gina Lovell – Team DigiCell 4G 4th Alicia Thompson - Belize Bank Swoosh - 3:26:50.

Juniors 1st Shuan Codd – Belize Youth Club - 2:47:07 – 1st Youth 2nd Ernest Banner – Team Big Shep - 2:48:09 – 1st Junior 3rd Juhawi Ysaguirre – Team Cabral /Marin - 2:48:17 4th Kaydine Pinello – Team SMART - 2:49:18 5th Darien Anderson - WKC Strikers 6th Gian Lino - Team Cabral/Marin - 2nd Youth 7th Brian Sutherland - Team Cabral /Marin 8th Patrick Williams - WKC Strikers 3rd Youth.

9th Andre Belisle - Team Cabral /Marin 10th Edgar Macu – Belize Youth Club - 2:50:46.

Individual Time Trials: 19.30-miles on the Burrell Boom bypass on Friday Elites 1st Joel Borland – Team DigiCell 4G – 43:59 - 1st U-23 2nd Giovanni Lovell – Team DigiCell 4G - 44:01 - 2nd U-23 3rd Tarique Flowers – Team Benny’s Megabytes - 44:37 - 3rd 4th Nissan Arana – Team Westrac - 45:11 – 1st Elite 6th Angel Tzib – Team BECOL Uprising - 47:03.

7th Tariq Cano – Team SMART - 47:30.

8th Robert Liam Stewart – Team Benny’s Megabytes 45:33 - 1st Masters.

Females: 12 miles on the Burrell Boom bypass 1st Alicia Thompson – Belize Bank Swoosh - 32:20 2nd Kaya Cattouse – Tam SMART - 32:27 3rd Patricia Chavarria – Team SMART - 34:28.

Juniors: 12 miles on the Burrell Boom bypass 1st Kaydine Pinello – Team SMART - 28:28 2nd Ernest Bradley – Team SMART - 28:35 3rd Anthony Marin of the Cabral/Marin team - 29:29.

Youths 1st Patrick Williams - 28:58 2nd Shaun Codd - 29:55 3rd Gian Lino - 30:30

Belize City, June 17, 2016 In Game 2 on Friday June 17, BWS ended Telemedia’s call for the day, winning the game 62-58. BWS was led by Jamir Enriquez with 15pts.

In Game 1 Friday, the Warriors outlasted the Belize Bank Bulldogs 98-94 in double overtime. They were led

by Winston “Air Jun” Pratt with 27pts and 10 rebounds.

Marvin Skeet added 22pts and 14 rebounds, while Kevin Lorenzo scored 16pts and Russel Humes scored 11pts. Bulldogs’ Lincey Lopez top-scored for his team with 21pts.

Heritage Bank slayed the Dragons 79-75 on Thursday, June 16, led by Andrew “Bynum” Ortiz scoring 20pts and picking up 7 rebounds, while Felix Martinez added 18pts. Kurt “Chengo” Burgess scored 13pts, 9 rebounds and Devon Defour had 12 pts.Dragons’Akeem Watters top-scored 29 pts, Andrew Vasquez added 23pts and Sydney “Bucket” Bradley – 8pts.

In Game 2, Atlantic Bank rounded the Civil Aviation Drones: 62-58 to post their 3rd win. They were led by Ervin “Poty” Orosco with 30pts. Jermaine “Gumby” Tillett scored 10pts and picked up 11 rebounds. Drones’ Roger Reneau scored 20pts, while Ernest Tench added 15 pts and Francis Flores got 9pts.

Lennox Cayetano scored 7pts

BTL & Belize Bank Bulldogs win in Belize City women’s softball

Belize City, June 17, 2016 Belize Telemedia and the Belize Bank Bulldogs posted big wins against the Beacon girls in the 2016 Belize City women’s softball tournament at the Roger’s Stadium last Wednesday and Friday.

On Wednesday, BTL hammered Beacon 8-3; led by pitcher Mary Flowers striking out 9 batters, though she walked 4 and gave up 4 hits. Lydia Cacho, Yuko Tokunaga and Catherine Cobo scored 2 runs apiece, while Erlene Belisle and Mary Flowers scored 1 run apiece. Only Licia Ferguson scored 2 runs for Beacon, and Kira Arnold came once.

On Friday the Bulldogs won 7-0 over Beacon by mercy rule in the 5th inning as Ashley Lucas pitched a 7-0 no-hitter, striking out 3 batters. Beacon’s pitcher Hortense Thurton struck out 1 batter, but gave up 9 hits. Georgia Williams, Sharette Vernon and Kiri Lizama score 2 runs apiece, and Tyra Moriera came home once.

Belize Bank Bulldogs

Muschae MacDonald makes catch

Interoffice Softball Results:

Top 6 winners

Belize City, June 18, 2016 The BEL Powersockets are leading the 2016 Belize City interoffice softball competition; posting their 6th win: 25-8 vs the Guardians at the Roger’s Stadium on Friday, June 17. The National Sports Council schooled Belize Telemedia: 12-9 on Saturday.

Melanie Blake pitches

14

THE BELIZE TIMES

26 JUN

2016

26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

2016

15

PUBLIC AUCTION SALE

BY ORDER OF THE MORTGAGEE HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED, a Licensed Public Auctioneer will sell the following property at the place and time as listed.

At the Parking Lot across the street from the office of Holy Redeemer Credit Union Limited, No. 1 Hyde’s Lane, Belize City on Wednesday July 6, 2016 at 10:00a.m.

SCHEDULE ALL THAT piece or parcel of land comprising 52.159 Acres situate between the Caribbean Sea and the Northern Lagoon, South of San Vicente Point and on the East Coast of the Turneffe Islands, Belize District, being such land comprised in MINISTER’S FIAT GRANT No. 307 of 2008 dated the 4th day of February, 2008 and more particularly shown and delineated on a Plan of Survey No. 307 of 2008 dated the 5th day of February, 2008 by J. H. Hertular, Licensed Land Surveyor, recorded at the Office of the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, Belmopan City, Cayo District in Register No. 29 Entry No. 11188 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon the FREEHOLD property of GAUTAM NANDWANI.

DATED this 15th day of June 2016 All sales are strictly cash and deemed final. For more information contact: HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED 1 HYDE’S LANE, BELIZE CITY, BELIZE Phone: (501) 224-5644 Fax: (501) 223-0738 Email: hrcu@btl.net

34 16

26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

2016

17

18 JAN

26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES 2015

2016

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE PROGRESS PUP Leader meets supporters during nationwide campaign for PUP Village Councils

Party Leader Hon. John Briceno visiting residents of Paraiso Village

Bullet Tree Village, CAYO

Bella Vista Village, TOLEDO

Hon. Jose Mai with newly elected Chairman of Fireburn Village

Party supporters attending meeting with PUP Leader

Party Leader was embraced warmly

PUP Leader Hon. John Briceno congratulates newly elected chairman for Bullet Tree Village, Tai Wu for the historic victory.

Party Leader Hon. John Briceno and David Castillo Jr. in Paraiso Village

Secretary General Linsford Castillo, newly elected chairman Tai Wu and PUP Cayo North Standard Bearer, Michel Chebat

Trio Village, TOLEDO

Party Leader and Corozal South East Area Rep., Hon. Florencio Jr. in village councils campaign

Paraiso Village, COROZAL

Trio Village team with Party Leader and Hon. Mike Espat

Roaring Creek Village, CAYO

Chan Pine Ridge Village, ORANGE WALK

Yo Creek Village, ORANGE WALK

Party Leader and Hon. Jose Mai

Carmelita Village, ORANGE WALK

Party Chairman Henry Usher discussing important village matters with supporters

18

Lorenzo Antonio Cob

Member

Uncontested

Senaida S. Coyi

Member

Uncontested

THE BELIZE TIMES Election Date

Village

26 JUN

Corozal District Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

396

2

ELECTIONS AND BOUNDARIES DEPARTMENT VILLAGE COUNCIL ELECTIONS 19 JUNE 2016 OFFICIAL RESULTS San Andres

Natalia E. Poot Dominguez Edubijes

Chairperson

179

Glenford Melvin

Chairperson

192

Gelnford Absalom Garnett

Chairperson

7

2016

Total Votes

18

Elected

2202

19/06/2016

Corozal District Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Concepcion Raulo Castillo

Chairperson

297

Fidel Chable

Chairperson

304

Ruben Mendez

Member

285

Alberto Novelo

Member

298

Elected

Pastor D. Castillo Jr.

Member

300

Elected

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

624

1 23

Elected 3571

19/06/2016

Xaibe Election Date

Village

Martita D. Nah

Member

297

Member

299

Elected

Rodolfo Lainez

Member

300

Elected

Higinio F. Medina

Member

300

Elected

Sleiter Moh

Member

298

Elected

Enric J. Aban

Member

294

Joann M. Rodriguez

Member

295

Domingo E. Cabanas

Member

293

Jiovanni H. Cano

Member

289

Candidates Name

Position

Election

Received

Xaibe Leidy R. Triminius Angeles S. Itzab

Chairperson Chairperson

383

Village

23

Sergio G. Basto Luis A. Villamil Elvis A. Reyes Nianeri Itzab Edgar Noh Marisa Novelo Edilfonzo Alcoser Andres Novelo Carlitos A. Catch Santiago Yam Nianeri Itzab Shumager Gomez Marisa Novelo Leonardo Mai Andres Novelo

19/06/2016

Election Date

Santiago Yam Village Douglas

Election Date

Village

Shumager Gomez Name Candidates Leonardo Mai

Member

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

723

1

Elected

49

291

Member

368 412

Member 415 Member 281 Member 412 Member 275 Member 409 Member 273 Member 409 Member 273 Member 281 Member 270 Member 275 Member 268 Member 273 Orange Walk District Member 273 No. of Votes Member 270 Position Received Member 268

Elected Elected

Chairperson

Candidates Name Martha Elena Zapata

Position Chairperson

105 No. of Votes 222 Received

19/06/2016

19/06/2016

Member Chairperson Member Chairperson Member

103 105 108 222 105

Juan D. Tuyub Nadine G. Alamilla Guadencio D. Mendez Adelaida L. Mendez Edwarda A. Tuyub Elodia Canul Elsa M. Osorio Juan D. Tuyub Joseph S. Chan Guadencio D. Mendez Guadalupe Choc Edwarda A. Tuyub Zenin D. Nicholson Elsa M. Osorio Nelson L. Rendon Joseph S. Chan David E. Mendez Guadalupe Choc

Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member

109 103 105 108 106 105 210 109 217 105 215 106 211 210 208 217 208 215

Cayetano Cristino Dominguez

Member

165

Salustiano Dminguez

Member

163

Celestino Censo Nicholson

Member

162

Rody Carlitos Zetina

Member

192

Elected

Armando Zetina

Member

198

Elected

Maria Luisa Ancona

Member

195

Elected

Ian Joel Daniels

Member

197

Elected

Romana Teresita Lima

Member

195

Elected

Member

201

Elected

17

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

96 Antonio Benigno Copo

Chairperson

63

Maria Amalia Friesen

Chairperson

30

Ludvin Daniel Perez

Member

57

Elected

Jaime Chi

Member

60

Elected

Samuel Copo

Member

60

Elected

Rigoberto Javier Orellana

Member

60

Elected

Elvia Santos

Member

60

Elected

Isabel Vasquez

Member

60

Elected

Isaias Manzanero

Member

37

Rosa Angelica Vasquez

Member

35

Gladys Carolina Leiva

Member

35

Hermelinda Vasquez

Member

35

Leandro Baldemar Uck

Member

34

Wilselvin Leiva

Member

35

Elected

3

Election

Elected

Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Nuevo San Juan

Elected

1

Orange Walk District

Elected

28

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

216 Oseitas Jair Blanco

Chairperson

Baldomar Lizzardo Tuyub

110

Elected

3

103 1267

Remarks

Remarks Elected

Douglas Nadine G. Alamilla Isaias Zapata Adelaida L. Mendez Martha Elena Zapata Elodia Canul

173

28

Elected

Orange Walk District Isaias Zapata

Member

569

4093 19/06/2016

172

Sandra Isela Zetina

Fire Burn

19/06/2016 Remarks

172

Member

Orange Walk District

COROZAL DISTRICT No. of Votes

Member

Germin Jerome Avila

Deisy Dalila Gonzales

Date

Alfonso Tun

Nidia Gricelda Ramirez

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

338

2

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected 11

Polled 1916 338

Votes

Votes

19/06/2016

2 11

Elected 1916

Ruperto A. Mendez

Member

106

Elected

Veronica Baeza

Member

111

Elected

Gregorio Sanchez

Member

109

Elected

Magdalena Blanco

Member

109

Elected

Elvia D. Acosta

Member

110

Elected

Edgar A. Menjivar

Member

109

Elected

Beatrice Lorena Tuyub

Member

105

Sucely Yaseni Osorio

Member

100

Maclovio Osorio

Member

101

Juan Mendez

Member

103

Hector A. Mendez

Member

103

Jodie J. Rendon

Member

99

2

11

Elected Elected Elected

Zenin D. Nicholson

Member

211

Elected

Nelson L. Rendon

Member

208

Elected

David E. Mendez

Member

208

Elected

Orange Walk District

11

Elected Elected Elected Elected Elected Elected

Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Guinea Grass

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

1012 Mirna A. Jimenez

Chairperson

563

Rosvelt Rodney

Chairperson

417

Elected

Filiberto Coh

Member

544

Elected

Arselito U. Sanchez

Member

573

Elected

Carlos A. Dominguez

Member

577

Elected

Clinton F. Guzman

Member

571

Elected

Felipe Pech

Member

570

Elected

Owen E. Velasquez

Member

556

Elected

Enio A. Lopez

Member

434

Rafael A. Castillo

Member

417

Elijia L. Can

Member

417

32 5901

Corozal District Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

San Victor Election Date

San Victor 19/06/2016

19/06/2016

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes 19/06/2016

Corozal District Concepcion Cobb

Village

Position

Candidates Name

Chairperson Position

No. of Votes Received

Uncontested Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Filberto Tek

Member

Uncontested

Eliseo Perez

Member

Uncontested

Adilett Azucena Novelo

Member

Uncontested

Ismael Camara

Member

413

Lorenzo Cawich

Member

Uncontested

Anneth L. Desus

Member

409

Lorenzo Antonio Cob

Member

Uncontested

Olegaria O. Pott

Member

405

Senaida S. Coyi

Member

Uncontested

15

Corozal District Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

San Andres

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

396

2

Orange Walk District Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Palmar

Natalia E. Poot Dominguez Edubijes

Chairperson

179

Glenford Melvin

Chairperson

192

Gelnford Absalom Garnett

Total Votes

Chairperson

Filomeno Graciliano Cantun

7

250

Rogelio Cantun

222

Guadalupe Copo

88

172

Alejandro Mendez

Member

256

Elected

Germin Jerome Avila

Member

172

Irene I. Canche

Member

264

Elected

Sandra Isela Zetina

Member

173

Cassandra Zuliema Canche

Member

260

Elected

Saturnino Cantun

Member

271

Elected

Erica Balam

Member

268

Elected

Oswaldo Cantun

Member

269

Elected

Maria Lopez

Member

229

165

Salustiano Dminguez

Member

163

Celestino Censo Nicholson

Member

162

14

3482

Member

Member

Votes

Elected

Nidia Gricelda Ramirez

Cayetano Cristino Dominguez

Rejected

Votes

31 Chairperson

2202

19/06/2016

Spoilt

Polled 605

Lorenzo Aldana

18

Elected

Total Votes

17

19/06/2016

Continued on page 19

Gardenia

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

Member

256

Elected

Irene I. Canche

Member

264

Elected

Cassandra18 Zuliema Canche Continued from page

19/06/2016

Date

Village

19/06/2016

Election Date

Village

Date

Village

19/06/2016

Date

Village

Member

31

Elected

Dorita Dawson

Member

42

Elected Elected

Saturnino Cantun

Member

271

Elected

Ruth Dawson

Member

41

Elected

Erica Balam

Member

268

Elected

Keisha Card

Member

41

Elected

Oswaldo Cantun

Member

269

Elected

Jada Dawson

Member

35

Elected

Maria Lopez

Member

229

Trisha Leona Dawson

Member

15

Sonia Tun

Member

228

Diana Dawson

Member

15

Joel Rodriguez

Member

254

Hector Sosa

Member

240

German Chi

Member

223

Ismael Cantun

Member

202

Perlita Sarrion

Member

121

Yasmina Sabido

Member

84

Abigail Dominguez

Member

65

Diego Mendez

Member

71

Olegario Novelo

Member

74

Hugo Tzul

Member

84

CAYO DISTRICT

19

Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Enelda R. Rosado

Chairperson

499

Ralph Henry Humes

Chairperson

148

Trcie Nadine Young

Chairperson

175

Reyna Isabel Amador

19/06/2016

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

882

1

Elected

450

Elected

Miguel Angel Neal

Member

444

Elected

Yesenia Guadalupe Smith

Member

271

Elizabeth Maria Usher

Member

342

Celina Maritza Novelo

Member

292

Juan Gabriel Cantun

Member

323

Francis Hughdonald Staine Jr.

Member

107

Oscar Delgado

Member

76

Julian Rodolfo Rosado

Member

171

Robert Joseph Blease

Member

198

Hans Henry Badilio

Member

370

Adrian John Joseph

Member

97 46

Mineli Guadalupe Young

Member

293

Harry Gilroy Young

Member

186

Myrna Vanina Sosa

Member

335

Marilyn Maria Alarcon Cresencio Eduardo Arceo

Member Member

254 122

Margarito Concepcion Cu

Belize District Member 147

Candidates Name Cresencio Eduardo Arceo

Position Member

No. of Votes 122 Received

Chairperson Position Chairperson

No. of Votes 110 Received 102

Date

17

19/06/2016

19/06/2016 17 Elected

Elected

Los Tambos

Remarks

Elected Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

336

1

Election Date Election 19/06/2016

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

336

1

Votes 14

Date

Steve Perriott

Chairperson

102

Danold Tillett Tillett Arlene

Chairperson Member

107 99

George MireilleGuest Aragon

Chairperson Member

3 69

Claudeth Adolphus

Member

59

Laurence Banner Arlene Tillett

Member

102 99

Election

Ruben Crawford Mireille Aragon

Member

54 69

Election Date

Dean Tillett Claudeth Adolphus

Member

135 59

Michael Webb Laurence Banner

Member

99 102

Sheena Crawford Burns Ruben

Member

136 54

Elected

JasonTillett Wallace Dean

Member

55 135

Elected

Salome Tillett Michael Webb

Member

160 99

Elected

Karim Swasey Sheena Burns

Member

100 136

Elected

Sean Periott Jason Wallace

Member

115 55

Elected

Henry SalomeWestby Tillett

Member

103 160

Elected

Kevin KarimHerrera Swasey

Member

83 100

Dion Crawford Sean Periott

Member

98 115

Elected

Francelia Ortega Henry Westby

Member

85 103

Elected

Anna Gillett Kevin Herrera

Member

124 83

Elected

Dudley Tillett Dion Crawford

Member Member

100 98

Francelia Ortega

Member

85

100

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Chairperson

55

Kathlyn Tillett

Chairperson

60

Member

Uncontested

Member

Uncontested

Marixa Bineth Gutierrez

Member

Uncontested

Amalia Elena De La Rosa

Member

Uncontested

Gonzalo Miranda

Member

Uncontested

Cindy Elizabeth Duarte

Member

Uncontested

Candidates Name

1793

14

Elected

Chairperson

53

Byron Orlando Miranda

Chairperson

41

Member

49

Date

Remarks

19/06/2016

Village Village

Date

Teakettle

Election

LosVillage Tambos

Los Tambos

17

17

19/06/2016

19/06/2016

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

2

Elected

Elected

Member

43

Leon Seguro

Member

53

Elected

Chloe Cal

Member

55

Elected

Leopold Seguro Jr.

Member

76

Elected

Melanie Moguel

Member

35

Celeste Flowers

Member

44

Elected

Janet Cal

Member

80

Elected

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

101

1

7

Member

53

Elected

50

Elected

Walter Zepeda

Member

51

Elected

Equileo Cisnero

Member

52

Elected

Meliton Jones Samuel Ramirez

Member

39 50

Elected

Blanca Otero AudelioEstela Zepeda

Member

38 41

Abel Zepeda Meliton Jones

Member

39

Blanca Estela Otero

Member

38

Abel Zepeda Bryan Gabriel Monterroso

Member Member

39 39

Deiny Erroll Jones

Member

37

Bryan Gabriel Monterroso

Member

39

Deiny Erroll Jones

Member

37

6

6

David Requena

Chairperson

David MarvaRequena Elsie Ayala

Chairperson Member

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Remarks Uncontested

Total Votes

Spoilt

Polled

Votes

Rejected Votes

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

15

Uncontested

Jisela Carolina Tamai

Member

Uncontested

Mirna Consuelo Castillo Marva Elsie Ayala

Member

Uncontested

Catalina Rowland Jisela Carolina Tamai

Member

Uncontested

Felipe Zacarias Mirna ConsueloCastillo Castillo

Member

Uncontested

Ana Dorotea Quintanilla Catalina Rowland

Member CAYO DISTRICT

Uncontested

Felipe Zacarias Castillo Candidates Name Ana Dorotea Quintanilla Candidates Name

CAYO DISTRICT Member No. of Votes Position Member No. of Votes Position Received CAYO DISTRICT Received

Uncontested Remarks Uncontested Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Total Votes Polled

Spoilt Votes

Rejected Votes

Polled 503

Votes

Votes

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Uncontested

Polled

Votes

Votes

Candidates Name Shelmadine S. Magdaleno Sebastian Villalta Marcus Kingston Sr.

Position Chairperson Chairperson Chairperson

No. of Votes 41 Received 129

Patrick D. Vanegas Sebastian Villalta Smith Aitiana Gabrielle Marie L. Vaccaro Celso Recinos Howell Hutchinson RicardoGabrielle Miranda Smith Aitiana

Chairperson Chairperson Member Chairperson Member Chairperson Member

32 6 104 86 169 89 6

Harvey Miranda Celso Recinos Natalie S. Smith Jessica RicardoLopez Miranda Deborah Goff Alberto Miranda Mejicanos Harvey Miguel Iko EdwardLopez Ku Jessica Gilbert N. Andrews Alberto Mejicanos Brisford A. Welsh Edward Ku James A. Guy

Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member

86 59 89 50 86 54 89 89 155 86 124 89 122

Marcus Kingston Jr.

Member

129

Rafael A. Rivas

Member

103

Marva Hill

Member

125

Romey M. Kingston

Member

42

Marvin W. Corea

Member

83

Adriana E. Luna

Member

98

Doreen R. Montero

Member

101

Armando Hiron

Member

105

Kishawn Francis

Member

120

Rosa E. Sanchez

Member

85

Elias A. Cruz

Member

175

Elected

Rose M. Jones

Member

166

Elected

531

28

Uncontested Elected Elected Elected

531 2641

Elected Elected Elected Elected Elected Elected

33

Marcelina.V. Vanegas

Member

156

Elected

Kenroy Banner

Member

183

Elected

Timoteo A. Vanegas

Member

215

Elected

Michael West

Member

158

Elected

CAYO DISTRICT Remarks

Gardenia

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Election Date

43 Egbert Hendicott Woods

Chairperson

30

Rita Elizabeth Shaw (Dawson)

Chairperson

13

Kelsy Warrior

Member

31

Elected

Dorita Dawson

Member

42

Andrea Gentle

Member

40

Ruth Dawson

Member

Keisha Card

Member

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Duck Run 111

Elected

Victor Ismael Perez

Chairperson

97

Jose Manuel Perez Sr.

Chairperson

87

Ovidio Quinonez

Member

94

Elected

Elected

Isela Magali Larios

Member

98

Elected

Elected

Mirna Raquel Quinones

Member

96

Elected

41

Elected

Baudilio Castro

Member

97

Elected

41

Elected

Ruben Perez

Member

97

Elected

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

186

2

Elected

2 1091

260

19/06/2016

Total Votes

Elected

Member

Position

117

Cherrymae Crawford

Received

Votes

Elected

Marvin Rolando Fuentes

Candidates Name

Date

Elected

52

No. of Votes

Remarks

Elvia Angelina Fuentes

Yalbac Village

19/06/2016

Member

Position

Received

No. of Votes Position CAYO DISTRICT Received

1793

Rhana Andrewin

Candidates Name

No. of Votes

Ruben Dario Menendez

BELIZE DISTRICT Village

Position

Candidates Name

453

Election

Rejected

Votes

Uncontested

Village

19/06/2016

Elected

Belize District Jobie Spencer

Spoilt

Polled

Yalbac

3 110

124

Total Votes

CAYO DISTRICT

107

Member

Chairperson

Gonzalo Alberto Miranda

Alfonso Ramirez

Chairperson Chairperson

Member

Remarks

544 Elected

Chairperson

Dudley Tillett

Received

La Gracia

George Guest John Gillett Sr.

Anna Gillett

La Gracia Village

Elected

Belize District John Gillett Sr. Candidates Name Steve Perriott

No. of Votes

CAYO DISTRICT Election

Member

Member

Position

Francisco De La Rosa

60

Seleny Villanueva

Ricardo Alcala

Candidates Name

Santa Teresita

Belize District

Biscayne

19/06/2016

Kelsy Warrior

40

Belize District Election

260

Member

Crooked Tree Danold Tillett

19/06/2016

13

Andrea Gentle

Crooked Tree Election

Chairperson

Elected

4541

19/06/2016

Rita Elizabeth Shaw (Dawson)

Elected

260

Caye Caulker

19/06/2016

30

Member

Caye Caulker Election

Chairperson

3482 Alejandro Mendez

19

43 Egbert Hendicott Woods

19/06/2016

Continued on page 20

20

Neville Lopez

Member

58

Samuel Lopez

Member

19

Lavern Augustine

Member

79

Kirt Kent Ramirez

Member

106

Elected

Mellissa Valdez

Member

99

Elected

Trinell Rosemary Smith

Member

109

Elected

Emerson Castillo

Member

96

THE BELIZE TIMES Timoteo A. Vanegas

Member

215

Elected

Michael West

Member

158

Elected

Hopkins

26 JUN

2016

Continued from page 19 CAYO DISTRICT Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

STANN CREEK DISTRICT

Remarks

Duck Run 111 Victor Ismael Perez

Chairperson

97

Jose Manuel Perez Sr.

Chairperson

87

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Election

Polled

Votes

Votes

Date

186

2

Elected

Village

2 19/06/2016

Date

Chairperson

208

Thomas Miranda

Chairperson

31

Elected

Mirna Raquel Quinones

Member

96

Elected

Norman Castillo

Member

335

Baudilio Castro

Member

97

Elected

Troy Coleman

Member

160

Ruben Perez

Member

97

Elected

Joel Coleman

Member

229

Kelvis Tobar

Member

96

Elected

Gloria Lambey

Member

210

Johny Anthony Sandoval

Member

86

JodeenMartinez Nunez Clyde

Member Member

369 218

Maria Biatriz Hernandez

Member

85

Dhalia Miranda HilarIa Ramos

Member Member

28 207

Edgar Hernandez

Member

85

Rodrick Castillo Leonard Nunez

Melvin Alexander Perez

Member

85

Francis Zuniga Jr.

Jose Fredy Berganza

Member

85

Dina De Jesus Salazar Perez

Member

84

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

3

19/06/2016

Election Date

Andres Toribio Cal

Chairperson

72

Bruno Villanueva

Chairperson

80

Village Pomona

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

159

3

19/06/2016

Member

65

Gregorio Choc

Member

68

Francisco Chun

Member

71

Brian Ishim

Member

71

Prudencio Oh

Member

72

Gelasio Shal

Member

75

Agapito Taca

Member

80

Elected

Nicasio Assi

Member

80

Elected

Godfrey Sho

Member

78

Elected

Stephen Tush

Member

79

Elected

Orlando Bol

Member

79

Elected

Gumercindo Chiac

Member

79

Elected

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

7 Hope Creek

Chairperson

107

Solomon Andrews

Chairperson

124

Delroy Valerio

Chairperson

135

Election Date

Village

Member 45 Member 198 STANN CREEK DISTRICT Member 381 No. of Votes 335

Elected Remarks Elected

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Received 333

Polled

Votes

Votes

Ashford Miranda

Member

396

Elected

383

Aaron Baide

Chairperson

209

Elected

Ivan Acosta

Chairperson

155

Josefina Acosta

Member

223

Elected

Melinda Pabon

Member

224

Elected

Melloney Meighan

Member

226

Elected

Kira Young

Member

208

Elected

Anthony Rancharan

Member

217

Elected

Kerwin Williams

Member

216

Elected

Sylvinio Ical

Member

134

Errol Acosta

Member

127

Idalia Cortez

Member

123

Adrian Vanegas

Member

131

Alex Cruz

Member

132

Francisco Munoz

Member

117

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Chairperson

111

Elroy Wade

Chairperson

192

Ramona Amaya Elvis Young

Member

105 115

11

Francisco Lizama Oswald Garbutt

Member

105 117

Ryan Chun Carrette Anderson

Member

179 103

Elected

Octavia Ramirez Sean Chun

Member

161 113

Elected

Francisco Garcia Ramona Amaya

Member

162 105

Elected

Rosalia Burgos Francisco Lizama

Member

168 105

Elected Elected

105

Nigel Chun Octavia Ramirez

Member

164 161

Elected

Ana Villalta

Member

92

Francisco Garcia

Member

162

Elected

Rose Sho

Member

100

Rosalia Burgos

Member

168

Elected

Sarita Bol

Member

81

Joseph Linarez

Member

168

Elected

Clara Aranda

Member

89

Nigel Chun

Member

164

Elected

Abel Pixabaj

Member

133

Elected

Shanna Bowers

Member

132

Elected

Pedro Pixabaj Jr.

Member

128

Elected

Eufrasio Bol

Member

136

Elected

Janet White

Member

124

Greys Pixabaj

Member

121

Jessie Guzman

Member

124

Sharlette Brooks

Member

115

121

Member

109

Candidates Name

Position

Election

15

Received

Chairperson

92

Judith Cecilia Palacio

Chairperson

37

Jose Maria Aleman

Chairperson

62

John Paul Augustine

Chairperson

36

John Kenroy Morgan

Chairperson

64

Rejected

Votes

Votes

10

23

23

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Sarawee

Election

Elected

Date 19/06/2016

Elected

Village Sarawee

Candidates Name

Total Votes

Spoilt

Polled

Votes

314

2

Rejected Votes

Election Date

Village

23

19/06/2016

1547

Position

No. of Votes Received

Uncontested Remarks

Member

Douglas Emmanuel

Member

Uncontested

Uncontested

Chairperson Member

Uncontested

Richard M. Williams

Member

Uncontested

Ian AllanM. McLaughlin Jevonna Castillo

Member

Uncontested

Victor M. Barahona Douglas Emmanuel

Member

Uncontested

Roxanna Zepeda

TOLEDO Member DISTRICT

Richard M. Williams Candidates Name Ian Allan McLaughlin

Corazon Creek Victor M. Barahona

Elected

STANN CREEK DISTRICT Chairperson

Jevonna M. Castillo

Derrington P. Ramirez Roxanna Zepeda

19/06/2016

Seine Bight Peter Justo Augustine

Date

Derrington P. Ramirez

Remarks

Spoilt

Polled

STANN CREEK DISTRICT

STANN CREEK DISTRICT No. of Votes

Total Votes

Elected

Member

Member

16

1683

19/06/2016

Elected

David Saravia

Ewing Wade

Frank Brooks

19

313

168 179

Terrence Salam

5

Member Position Member

Member

107

5

Vernel Castillo Candidates Name Ella Carr

Joseph Linarez Ryan Chun

124

22

Elected

105

Member

1

Elected

Member

Member

Votes

642

Elected

Guadalupe Bull

Maria Banegas

Rejected

Votes

Elected

Hope Creek

2061

Sandie Depaz

Spoilt

Polled

STANN CREEK DISTRICT

377 Dolores Sho

Total Votes

2094

7

Elected

David Michel Cal

Remarks

3449

19/06/2016

Date

Wayne Casimiro

Elected

Village

Village

347

98

Silk Grass

Election

34

Chairperson

94

STANN CREEK DISTRICT

19/06/2016

Chairperson

Ted Mckoy

Member

904

Date

Gregory Augustine

Member

Santa Rosa

Election

Received

Isela Magali Larios

Village

19/06/2016

No. of Votes

Ovidio Quinonez

STANN CREEK DISTRICT Election

Position

Hopkins

1091

19/06/2016

Candidates Name

Member Position Member

No. of Votes Received

Member

Uncontested Uncontested Remarks Uncontested Uncontested

Sebanias Choc

Chairperson

29

Manuel Cal

Chairperson

43

Fidencio Cal

Member

Uncontested

Julio Kal

Member

Uncontested

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

72

Elected

Orvin David Ramirez

Member

78

Apolinario Acal

Member

Uncontested

Becky Lee Arzu

Member

98

Florencio Akal

Member

Uncontested

Junior Palacio

Member

64

Santiago Ash

Member

Uncontested

Yvonne Guzman

Member

48

Santiago Cucul Cab

Member

Uncontested

TOLEDO DISTRICT 19/06/2015

Linghberg Mark Augustine

Member

60

Lorris Moreira

Member

120

Elected

Winston Ramirez

Member

98

Elected

Monique Guzman

Member

111

Elected

Alexander Williams

Member

92

Winifred Sandoval

Member

94

Junie Myvett Lopez

Member

97

Neville Lopez

Member

58

Samuel Lopez

Member

19

Lavern Augustine

Member

79

Kirt Kent Ramirez

Member

106

Mellissa Valdez

Member

Trinell Rosemary Smith Emerson Castillo

Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Dolores 21

66 Pedro Kukul

Chairperson

46

Julian Pop

Chairperson

19

Elected

Miguel Cucul

Member

Uncontested

Alberto Chun

Member

Uncontested

Leonardo Ack

Member

Uncontested

Elected

Miguel Pan

Member

Uncontested

99

Elected

Jose Pan

Member

Uncontested

Member

109

Elected

Emilio Choc

Member

Uncontested

Member

96

19/06/2016

1

TOLEDO DISTRICT Election

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

STANN CREEK DISTRICT Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Hopkins Gregory Augustine

Chairperson

34

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

642

1

Continued on page 21

26 JUN

2016 19/06/2016

Julian Pop

Chairperson

1

19

19/06/2016

Alfredo Teul

Village

59

Cirilo Che

Member

58

Santiago Choc

Member

57

THE BELIZE TIMES

Alberto Chun

Member

Uncontested

Leonardo Ack

Member

Uncontested

Benacio Teul

Member

58

Miguel Pan

Member

Uncontested

Jose Chub

Member

103

Elected

Jose Pan

Member

Uncontested

Polorencio Ack

Member

92

Elected

Emilio Choc

Member

Uncontested

Alanberto Teul

Member

99

Elected

Predencio Choc

Member

86

Elected

Fermin Kib

Member

88

Elected

Elodio Co

Member

59

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

TOLEDO DISTRICT

Olario Ical

Chairperson

Election

Uncontested

Date

Pablo Akal

Member

Uncontested

Pedro Batz

Member

Uncontested

Ermelindo Acal

Member

Uncontested

Alberto Peck

Member

Uncontested

Alehandro Ack

Member

Uncontested

Marcos Pan

Member

Uncontested

Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Golden Stream Marcus Cholom

Chairperson

59

Chairperson

50

19/06/2016

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Elected

1 618

19/06/2016

Asterio Coc

Member

57

Elected

Zacceus Caal

Member

59

Elected

Bricenio Canti

Member

57

Elected

Thomas Pop

Member

58

Elected

Felix Canti

Member

57

Elected

Antonio Shol

Member

58

Elected

Juan Pop

Member

44

Clemente F. Pop

Member

44

Osmundo Caal

Member

45

Margarito Cal

Member

44

Alfio Cal

Member

46

Sipriano A. Canti

Member

46

Candidates Name

Santiago Salam Sr.

110

Juan Caal Chun

Village

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

San Lucas

TOLEDO DISTRICT Election

12

Uncontested

Otoxha

19/06/2016

21

Member

TOLEDO DISTRICT

Date

70

Member

Miguel Cucul

Continued from page 20 Election

Member

Salvino Chic

Chairperson

Uncontested

Pedro Salam

Member

Uncontested

Thomas Salam

Member

Uncontested

Sebastian Ico

Member

Uncontested

Carmelo Tzalam

Member

Uncontested

Major Papaya Exporters Phase Out

3

TOLEDO DISTRICT Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Indian Creek Nicholas Choc

Chairperson

93

Marcus Teck

Chairperson

101

Ernestor Choc

Chairperson

45

Adriano Mas

Chairperson

19

Domingo Acal

Member

132

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

268

2

Elected

10

1226

19/06/2016

Elected

Chester Ical

Member

141

Elected

Juan Choc

Member

143

Elected Elected

Efrain Maquin

Member

147

Santiago Choc

Member

116

Juan Coc

Member

114

Santiago Pop

Member

117

Victoria Makin

Member

88

Sericia Coy

Member

92

Maria Ical

Member

127

9 Elected

Elected

TOLEDO DISTRICT Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Medina Bank

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

66 Marcus Caal

Chairperson

22

Romano Cal

Chairperson

27

Alejandro Cal

Chairperson

1

Pablo Salam

Chairperson

16

Pedro Xi

Member

45

Josephina Rash

Member

20

Heronimo Cal

Member

13

Dominga Cucul

Member

48

Elected

Joseph Cal Jr.

Member

47

Elected

Marcella Ical

Member

38

Elected

Alfredo Ical

Member

48

Elected

Mateo Rash

Member

15

Lorenzo Pop

Member

48

Elected

324

19/06/2016

Elected

2

Elected

TOLEDO DISTRICT Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

Total Votes

Spoilt

Rejected

Polled

Votes

Votes

San Miguel

19/06/2016

Juan Kus

Chairperson

Uncontested

Kenny Cal

Member

Uncontested

Aurelia Cal

Member

Uncontested

Ricuberto Kus

Member

Uncontested

Jose Ack

Member

Uncontested

TOLEDO DISTRICT Election Date

Village

Candidates Name

Position

No. of Votes Received

Remarks

Silver Creek

177 Everiscio Coh

Chairperson

69

Alberto Choco

Chairperson

107

Elected

Carmelo Chun

Member

108

Elected

Alfredo Teul

Member

70

Salvino Chic

Member

59

Cirilo Che

Member

58

Santiago Choc

Member

57

Benacio Teul

Member

58

Jose Chub

Member

103

Elected

Polorencio Ack

Member

92

Elected

Alanberto Teul

Member

99

Elected

Predencio Choc

Member

86

Elected

1 949

19/06/2016

12

Corozal District, June 21, 2016 As of this week, the papaya industry is just about non-existent in northern Belize as the largest papaya exporters, Belize Fruit Packers and Fruta Bomba, based in San Joaquin Village, Corozal District, have scaled down their operations drastically.

The company which once employed over 300 Belizeans is down to a mere ten employees today. They will carry through the final activities for the company which includes the destruction of the papaya trees that remain in the fields. Operations will come to a complete close within the next two weeks. The company will migrate to the Dominican Republic and will export papaya grown in Guatemala.

The initial announcement came on February 9 when the company confirmed that they would reduce the volume of papaya exports.

The company said in a release, “All employees affected will be paid the full amount required by the government of Belize. We regret very much having to do this but financially we have no choice. We are still committed to growing in Belize fewer acres”.

About forty eight hours after that announcement, however, came a statement from the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Smith, who clarified that the company’s entire operation would be shutting down permanently and that the two hundred and fifty employees would be laid

off within the next three to six months.

Smith declared in a statement, “After 22 years of operating in the Central American country of Belize, Brooks Tropical has found it necessary to close its growing and packing operations there”.

Smith explained that damages sustained from Hurricane Dean in 2007 had hindered the company substantially from rebuilding into a profitable operation. He added, “efforts over the last three years to build and maintain efficient growing and packing operations in Belize have not been successful and as a result we had incurred substantial annual loss in Belize that the company can no longer sustain”.

With the sugar industry facing its own challenges in northern Belize, the closure of the papaya exporting companies has worsened the economic situation for families who relied on their livelihood.

On a national level it is worrisome as Belize has now lost millions of dollars in revenues.

As a testimony to the carefree attitude of the Government of Belize, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour, Hugo Patt, whose constituency has been severely affected by the job loss, said in media interviews that his Government’s priority is to ensure that the companies pay the employees their due severances. Patt, who once served as the deputy Ministry of Agriculture, shied away from discussing the overall state of the agriculture sector in Belize.

22

THE BELIZE TIMES

DREAMSCAPES in Belize Became a Nightmare Belize City, June 13, 016 Litigation is ongoing before a US Court in West Palm Beach, Florida where several Americans and Canadians were hoodwinked by some investors claiming to be developers of a 563-acre expanse of land located in the Stann Creek District.

Dreamscapes in Belize was the name given to the project where lots and model homes were being marketed online with the amenities of an 18-hole golf course, a marina and cascading waterfalls in its surroundings. Many persons bought into the project, spending anywhere between twenty to thirty thousand dollars for a vacant lot plus much more if they wanted model

homes constructed. Buyers, after some years, however, got anxious and began looking into their investments.

In 2015 a lawsuit was filed to see how their monies can be retrieved. According to the Miami Herald, there were persons who spent all they had set aside for their retirement fund and were now left empty handed as all that exists on this plot of land is overgrown grass.

Following a review of some of the files in the Panama Papers, it was found that a pair of offshore companies set up by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm in Panama which is at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, and a Florida-based skin-care company that is now non-existent were the initial developers. The project changed hands

over the years but the lawsuit names director and founder Clifton Goodrich and Kenneth Dunn, among others as the defendants.

Dunn is reportedly a disbarred attorney and makes up part of the group behind this scheme. According to the Miami Herald, the players includes a disbarred lawyer whose penny stock offering ran afoul of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, another disbarred lawyer who went to prison for scheming with mobsters, and two Palm Beach County-based company directors — one past, one present — each of whom blames the other for the project’s troubles.

It is estimated that in total the investors had put in about ten million US dollars into Dreamscapes in Belize.

Drought heightens seasonal food scarcity in Guatemala SAN JUAN ERMITA, Guatemala (AP) — A prolonged drought has worsened the hunger problem among Guatemala’s heavily indigenous population. In a country where about 60 percent of the people live on less than $3.50 per day, hunger is always a concern.

But now, it has hit especially hard in areas like Chiquimula, one of the provinces where meager rainfalls limit farmers to one crop per year.

The victims are like 2-year-old Narcisa, who is being treated for severe malnutrition at a Chiquimula clinic.

Her father, Samuel de Jesus, doesn’t leave her bedside, but he couldn’t feed her either. A farmer, Samuel de Jesus hasn’t been able to get the work he needs to tide him over between harvests for four months. With a wife and two other children, there was no way to make ends meet.

It is part of what experts call “seasonal hunger,” the period between June and September when the previous harvest runs out and the Guatemalan government has to provide food assistance for about one million people before the crops come in.

The farmers, many of them Chorti Indians, live off corn, beans and coffee, but don’t grow enough to make it through the year.

Jovita Vasquez says she needs a 110-pound (50-kilogram) sack of corn each week to feed her 11 children.

They live in a shack with no running water or electricity in the mountains near the border with Honduras.

“Last year we planted corn, but it didn’t rain and we lost everything,” Vasquez says. “There is no work here, and my husband has to really hustle to get even tortillas for the kids.”

The Jupilingo river is one of the few sources of fresh water in the area, but its level has dropped and the surrounding hillsides have been largely deforested.

“We walk three hours a day to get water, and after that we go out to look for firewood,” said local resident Elda Perez Recinos.

Farmer Enario Martinez said it has been four years since there was enough rain to bring in a decent crop of corn and beans.

Martinez said he had been able to get some day labor jobs, but they weren’t enough to even keep his family fed.

In this May 31, 2016 photo, too tired to play, Giovani Martinez rests on a makeshift bench outside his home in the village of Caparrosa, in Guatemala’s eastern state of Chiquimula. Historically affected by poverty, thousands of people in eastern Guatemala are suffering from a prolonged drought that has resulted in a food crisis. Many of the children are beginning to show signs of malnutrition. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

26 JUN

2016 PM slow to act in call to ban dangerous chemical

Belize City, June 17, 2016 Every year the Coordinating Group of Pesticides Control Boards of the Caribbean meets in one of its member countries for a few days to discuss the management of pesticides use in their respective countries.

The 21st meeting concluded on June 10, 2016 with Belize as its host country and was held under the theme, “A Changing Climate; A Changing World; Responsible Pest and Pesticide Management - Our responsibility”.

Interestingly enough, however, despite the 5-day discussions held on disposing of obsolete pesticides, promotion of alternatives and strengthening of pesticides management in the Caribbean as well as the multilateral environmental agreements in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, the Southeastern Watershed Alliance Group has highlighted the Government of Belize’s irresponsibility through inaction when it comes to the Glyphosate pesticide.

The alliance group began a petition on the website, www.change.org asking the Prime Minister, Dean Barrow to ban the use of the Glyphosate chemical; a decision that several countries have already taken.The petition is seeking the public’s help in bringing to the forefront the hazards of this chemical which is used for killing broad leaf plants and grass and in some instances to regulate plant growth and ripen fruits.

The discussion over the Glyphosate pesticide has been taking place around the globe. In Argentina, the world’s largest exporters of soy, the Supreme Court was petitioned to place a ban on Glyphosate use after a high incidence of birth defects and cancers in people living near the crop-spraying area.

Even genetic malformations in amphibians were linked to exposure to the pesticide.

Last year, in Sweden, a scientific team found that exposure to the chemical is a risk factor for people developing non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s arm in France, had declared the pesticide a cancer-causing agent.

For Belize, this petition began almost two months ago by a local group called South-eastern Watershed Alliance Group (SWAG) whose focus is to monitor the water quality along north Stann Creek, and Mullins River, with an emphasis on organophosphates, carbamates, and other toxins.

The petition remains online at the CHANGE. ORG which is geared at helping persons and/or organizations from around the globe to lobby their local decision makers for changes in various areas of their country.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow is one step behind. He has yet to respond to the petition while several countries including El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Canada, Colombia, among others, have ruled Glyphosate as a restricted pesticide.

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

POTEMKIN DEAN

By Hilairé Bennett, Voice of the Common Man On August 21, 1998 a victorious People’s United Party took the reins of the Government from an inept United Democratic Party. Along with the victory came an air of optimism to the dismal atmosphere left by the worthless red party.

In his State of the Nation address at the National Assembly in Belmopan on the 16th day of September 1999, Prime Minister Said Musa began his address with a narrative that bore a striking resemblance to Dean Barrow’s rule in the Esquivel/Barrow administration during the term 93-94.

The Honorable Said Musa recalled the story of the Empress Catherine of Russia in 1787. He said “according to the legend when she toured her Empire’s Southern provinces, her Chief Minister Gregorio Potemkin would go one day in advance, setting up fake fronts that made poor wretched villages look prosperous. When the visit was over, he would dismantle the props and move them to the next destination. Ever since, the term “Potemkin village” has been used to refer to apparently happy scenes that are in reality nothing but a façade, bearing no relation to what really lies behind them”.

Prior to the People’s United Party’s success at the polls in August 21, 1998 the United Democratic Party under the leadership of Dean Barrow was waging wanton destruction on the country of Belize. They degraded the economy into a Potemkin economy with their political rhetoric and their masterful propaganda. Dean Barrow’s government conjured the apparently happy scenes of Belize wallowing in prosperity although the poorer class of Belizeans was being swallowed up in the rising tide of poverty. The Barrow administration lied to the Belizean populace that the economy was strong and secure when the stark reality was that it was in shambles and the social fabric of the nation was disintegrating into tiny shreds.

As the UDP made a hurried exit and the People’s United Party took office the damage was realised and assessed.

The Blue Machine had to move quickly to prevent Belize from the destructive path Hurricane Dean Barrow and the UDP took the Jewel. The People’s United Party began to address the “thousand and one problems” of the country and a neglected citizenry. This they had

Dean Barrow to do quickly and simultaneously. Evidence clearly shows that the UDP has little or no regard for the country and its citizenry.

In the year 1994, early in the UDP term in Government the Ministry of Economic Development embarked on a National Economic Strategy. The economic experts drafted a Medium Term Economic Strategy Paper for the periods 1994-1997. The objectives in the paper included the following: a) to ensure continued growth in an increasingly competitive international environment. b) to ensure that growth is translated into improvements in living standards through the development of human resources and the alleviation of poverty. c) to protect the environment It was also advised that there must be a shift from the IMF-type programs which are not people-centered and do not consider the very survival

of vulnerable groups including children, young mothers, the elderly and indigent.

However, instead of heeding the recommendations drafted by the economic experts in the PAPER the UDP Government took Belize on the path of economic destruction. What follow were the crushing blows dealt to the Belizean people with massive retrenchment and the implementation of the killer VAT under the Esquivel/ Barrow rule. The residual effects continue to linger. The National Economic Strategy became defunct and the Medium Term Economic Strategy Paper is laying somewhere in Barrow’s Ministry feasted on by termites.

As the country moves to election 2020 (or before) the “Potemkin” propaganda is being resurrected. Instead of accepting blame for the sad state of affairs and the fiscal mismanagement of the people’s purse since 2008, newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber has elected to use the phantasma known as the superbond by the UDP. This is the UDP attempt to distract from the economic storm hovering over the collective heads of all Belizeans - the product of the UDP’s ineptitude to govern.

There is no superbond. There never was, Mr. Dean Potemkin.

There was an amalgamation of debts incurred during the terms of both UDP and PUP. In the wake of the lingering effects of Hurricane Dean Barrow, the People’s United Party government found it prudent to approach the commercial markets instead of the continued borrowing from the traditional lending institutions like the IMF. This became nec-

23 essary to the survival of the Jewel in the aftermath of the UDP manmade disaster compounded by several natural disasters that ravaged the country.

Today Belizeans find themselves “battened down in the hatches” as this UDP government insists on taking the country towards the eye of the economic storm that is approaching. The ones that will be affected the most are the poor; notwithstanding, almost a billion dollars funded to this government to alleviate the conditions of the poorer class of society. This includes the $325 million funded by the late Comandante Hugo Chavez to help the poorest of the poor in Belize but which was siphoned away by the UDPs. They failed to consider their own objectives laid down in the Medium Term Economic Strategy of ’94 to ensure that growth be translated through the development of human resources and the alleviation of poverty. It was never about “the base”. The economic pundits continuously suggest that economic growth through areas such as infrastructural development oftentimes fails to trickle down to the poor. The reason is greatly contributed to the political-ism and schism employed by the UDP’s middle-man-ism, parasitism, nepotism and clientilism (buying of votes).

The People’s United Party must move urgently to tear apart the Potemkin façade being used to distract the Belizean people, especially the poor from the harsh realities fast-approaching the shores of the Jewel.

This is my attempt at doing just that.

The time to save Belize is now.

24

26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

MY PERSPECTIVE

By Dolores Balderamos Garcia

BE CAREFUL, MARLENE Jamaicans would say: “What a Prekeh!!” and indeed what transpired last week was a hullabaloo involving no ordinary Jamaican.

The subject of this prekeh was no other than Jamaican Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte.

In the aftermath of the horrendous murders at the Orlando, Florida gay nightclub in which nearly fifty persons were killed and another fifty-odd injured, the United States Embassy in Kingston flew the US flag and the Rainbow flag at halfmast.

As is well known the Rainbow flag is a symbol of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community worldwide.

The next day, Monday, June 13, 2016 Ms. Malahoo Forte posted a ‘Tweet’ which said: “I strongly condemn Orlando shooting but find it disrespectful of Jamaica’s laws to have the rainbow flag flown here. My personal view”. Everything went crazy for her by the next day. There was a huge firestorm of comments, mostly of condemnation of her, on social media. She really drew the ire of many. There were even calls for her resignation. The Jamaica Observer newspaper published a news story which was entitled “Marlene Retreats.” It said that she was stung by fierce public criticism, and that she tried to walk back her position by claiming that her tweet was misconstrued.

She reportedly insisted that her remark was misinterpreted, but the thing is that she did not in any way say how. She only tried to soften her indiscretion by saying that the killings were a horrible act that no one could condone.

The United States Embassy asked her to explain, but there was no reply from her. Now, it is trite knowledge that in international law countries’ embassies are “inviolable.” They are considered each country’s own soil and a country is free to do as it wishes on its own soil. Words like insensitive, unwise, ill-advised have all been used to describe Ms. Malahoo Forte’s comment.

K.D. Knight, the Opposition PNP Senator, responded: “She should express some regret. She clearly misspoke.” Mark Golding, Opposition spokesperson on justice, said there was “poor judgement

on the part of the country’s most senior attorney and adviser to the government.” Others intoned that she commented in a flippant way and that she ought to have been more circumspect.

I had to wonder which Jamaican laws the attorney general was referring to in saying that they were being disrespected, and to my mind it would have to be the anti-sodomy law that is on the books of Jamaica and as well Belize. Belizeans are awaiting the ruling of the Chief Justice in Caleb Orozco’s challenge to this same prohibition in our Criminal Code. I ask, was the Jamaican attorney general defending Jamaican laws or was she displaying her own anti-LGBT sentiments? One commentator said this: “Her comments were nothing more than unnecessary sanctimoniousness borne perhaps out of her seeming latent intolerance for those the rainbow flag represents.”

Of course the debate has two sides. The Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) and the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society came out in support of embattled Ms. Malahoo Forte. They called the rainbow flag provocative and in support of the gay agenda. The US, they said, is sending an overt message that it is aligned with those who would break our laws. A spokesperson for LCF even asked the US Embassy to take down the flag and so “eliminate potential misunderstanding and barriers to the natural outpouring of sympathy and support for the US and those who have suffered.” I am not sure that I understand that reasoning at all.

However, we are well aware of what a hot button issue this is in Jamaica.

I would only add that in my view the attorney general should be careful. It is so enticing to use social media to gain popularity or appear to be with the mainstream. But always pandering to the mainstream is surely nothing but demagoguery. In the important position that she holds there must have been displayed some inexperience on her part. Her personal view should not matter, as chief legal adviser to her government. Perhaps she should have kept it to herself. She obviously tweeted before she thought out the consequences, leading another senior commentator to caution that “unthinking utilisation of informal social media has its dangers.” I would have to agree that Marlene needs to be careful.

2016

For Sale

By Order of the Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 4th day of August 2009, between ANDREW BAIRD of Hattieville Village, Belize District, Belize, of the one part, and SCOTIABANK (BELIZE) LTD., of the other part, and recorded in Deeds Book Volume 19 of 2009 at Folios 37 - 102, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto.

All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. SCHEDULE ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being Lot No. 99 situate in the Windmill Area, Hattieville Village, Belize District and bounded and described as follows: TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

On the Northeast for 29.322 Meters by Lot No. 98; On the Southeast for 29.332 Meters by Lot No. 92; On the Southwest for 30.496 Meters by a 50 Feet Road Reserve; and on the Northwest for 30.496 Meters by a portion of Lot No. 93; Containing 894.204 Square Meters of land as shown on Entry No. 4004 Register 21 at the Office of the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DATED this 6th day of June, 2016.

MUSA & BALDERAMOS LLP 91 North Front Street Belize City Attorney-at-Law for Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

For Sale

By Order of the Mortgagee Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 1st day of April, 2009 between LIBERATO TEUL of Dangriga Town, Stann Creek District, Belize, of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded in Deeds Book Vol. 8 of 2009 at Folios 691 – 718, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto.

All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. SCHEDULE ALL THAT LEASEHOLD INTEREST IN ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being Block No. 29 situate in the Maya Mopan Area, Stann Creek District and bounded as follows:- On the North for 487.646 metres by Block No. 26; On the South for 487.646 metres by Block No. 32; On the West for 251.339 metres by a Road Reserve ; On the East for 251.339 metres by Block No. 30; containing 29.995 acres (12.139 Has.) as shown on Plan No. 1921 at the Office of the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DATED this 15th day of June, 2016.

MUSA & BALDERAMOS LLP 91 North Front Street Belize City Attorneys-at-Law for Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

26 JUN

2016

Live and Let Live

By G. Michael Reid In men whom men condemn as ill I find so much of goodness still.

In men whom men pronounce divine I find so much of sin and blot I do not dare to draw a line between the two, where God has not - Joaquin Miller News that Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin was poised to deliver judgement in the Caleb Orozco versus the Attorney General of Belize case has sent advocates of both sides scurrying into action. Social media is on fire with comments running the gamut from ridiculous to sublime. It was recently revealed that the CJ would finally deliver said Judgement on Wednesday, July 27th. Anticipation is high and many have drawn forward to the edge of their seats.

The case which has been in the courts since 2010 and which concluded over three years ago in May of 2013 has been awaiting judgement for an inordinate amount of time.

Justice has certainly been delayed but it is left to be seen if it will also be denied. This case has drawn international attention and no less than the New York Times in 2015 carried a lengthy story about Orosco, prompting many to believe that it might have been an attempt to put pressure on the CJ to deliver his judgement.

For some background, this all started in July of 2010, when the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) and its executive director Caleb Orosco jointly filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of Belize’s anti-homosexual law. Section 53 of Belize’s Criminal Code reads: “Every person who has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with ANY PERSON OR animal shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years”. Orosco is asking the court to remove the words “any person or” from the law

THE BELIZE TIMES nations found Belize and Suriname to be the two countries most tolerant of homosexuality. In Belize, a survey conducted among a random sampling of people between the ages of 18 and 64 found that 34% consider themselves accepting of homosexuals while another 34% described themselves as tolerant. The remaining 32 percent found homosexuality to be unacceptable. At the other end of the spectrum, Jamaica has been described as the “most homophobic country in the world” primarily because of the high level of violent crime directed at Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgendered (LGBT) people.

Jamaica’s law on the same matter reads very similar to Belize’s law and both seemed to have been modelled after an archaic Indian Penal Code of 1860 which reads, “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which

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(whose case was dismissed by the way) had challenged the laws of both Belize and Trinidad which prohibits homosexuals from entering our countries. Eamon Courtney, lawyer for the Churches of Belize, who had joined the case as interested parties against Orosco, has been arguing on basically the same grounds upon which Tomlinson lost his case; that being that neither of them has been claiming that it “breaches the right able to point to any specific incident to privacy given under sections where either law has affected either 3(c) and 14(1) of the Belize Conof them personally or has violated stitution”. Orosco also claims that any of their respective rights. This the law as it now stands, violates will be very interesting indeed. his right to equal protection under Some members of the Church the law given in section 6(1), freehave been very vocal and in pardom of expression under section 12 ticular, Louis Wade and Scott Stirm and non-discrimination under section of Plus tv. In a facebook post of 16(1). According to Orosco, the law this week, Wade commented that “criminalises and stigmatises con“Christians consider S53 as a sensual sexual activities between GATEKEEPER law that helps to gay men, violating their right to keep at bay the teaching of gengive expression to their sexuality”. der fluidity in Schools, bathroom If I am allowed a personal opingender wars, Same sex marriage, ion, I believe that people ought to be and public displays of Gay pafree to be who they want to be and do rades in the streets. The Belize what they want to as long as it does constitution does not mention “sexual orientation” as a criteria for special rights”.

Judge Benjamin’s decision will have huge For his part, Stirm has implications for not only Belize but for many been quoted as saying that, “They are trying other countries both in our region and to push this issue as a around the world. At last check, 77 of human rights issue. And there is an internationthe world’s countries still have laws agenda that is that make homosexuality a criminal act al/global pushing homosexuality and abortion.” Both and of those, ten allow the death penhave suggested that an alty as punishment. amendment to Section 53 would spell doom for may extend to ten years, and shall Belize and put us on a path with to not infringe upon the rights of other be liable to fine”. Compare that to a fate similar to Sodom and Gomorhuman beings. Interestingly enough, Belize Sec. 53 or to Jamaica’s Sec. 76 rah.

Belize’s original law on this matter which reads, “Whosoever shall be Maybe we are indeed seeread that “Whosoever is convicted convicted of the abominable crime ing a fulfilment of prophecy here of unnatural carnal knowledge of of buggery, committed either with and maybe this is a case where a any person, with force or without mankind or with any animal, shall “small nation will rise up” and lead the consent of such person, shall be liable to be imprisoned and the rest of the world toward a pebe liable to imprisonment with kept to hard labour for a term not riod of renewed enlightenment and hard labour for life, and in the disexceeding ten years”. tolerance. Whatever the case, next cretion of the Court to flogging”.

A recently concluded case bemonth’s judgement is long overdue That law was amended in 1944 to fore the Caribbean Court of Justice to label it “landmark” would be a remove the requirements of force or (CCJ) might give some insight as to gross understatement. For sure, lack of consent and to add the secwhere our own case might be headthe world is watching and whichtion referring to animals. At the time ed. In that hearing, Jamaican lawyer ever way it goes, there will be huge of Independence in 1981, the estaband gay activist Maurice Tomlinson repercussions. GOD save Belize!! lished Criminal Code replicated the provision and the law has stood unamended since.

I am also in favour of amending Section 53 of our law if only to address the section that equates human beings with animals. Apart from being un-Constitutional, it is unethical.

Humans are rational beings and as such cannot be classified in the same group as animals. Even those who murder are considered eligible for human rights and I cannot believe that any would consider homosexuality a more serious offense than murder.

Judge Benjamin’s decision will have huge implications for not only Belize but for many other countries both in our region and around the world. At last check, 77 of the world’s countries still have laws that make homosexuality a criminal act and of those, ten allow the death penalty as punishment. Interestingly enough, a 2013 United Nations poll of Caribbean

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26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

2016

NOTICE

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the below company has been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Register with effect from June 14th, 2016.

Notice is hereby given that the below companies have been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Register with effect from June 16, 2016.

LEAD INVESTING LTD. ALEMAN, CORDERO, GALINDO & LEE TRUST (BELIZE) LIMITED Registered Agent

NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the below company has been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Register with effect from the 15th of June, 2016:

ELANDES FINANCE INC.

Belize Corporate Services Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the below companies have been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Register with effect from the 16th day of June, 2016:

Emeraude Capital Inc. MURIN SECURITIES LTD. HARLUN INVESTMENT LTD.

ARIAS, FABREGA & FABREGA (BELIZE) LIMITED Registered Agent

NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the company named “SAFFRON S.A.” has been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Register with effect from the 16th day of June, 2016.

ARIAS, FABREGA & FABREGA (BELIZE) LIMITED Registered Agent

ALBUENA FINANCE S.A.

BANZAI S.A. BRAYDON INVESTMENTS LIMITED

Belize Corporate Services Limited

NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the below company has been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Register with effect from June 18th, 2016.

FRENCH MILL CORPORATE LTD.

ALEMAN, CORDERO, GALINDO & LEE TRUST (BELIZE) LIMITED Registered Agent

NOTICE OF COMMENCED DISSOLUTION

International Market Investments Corp. (“the Company”) Notice is hereby given that International Market Investments Corp. commenced dissolution on 21st June 2016; and Moore Stephens Magaña LLP whose registered office is at 3 ½ Miles Phillip SW Goldson Highway, New Horizon Building, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator of the Company.

Quijano & Associates (Belize) Ltd. KEYSTAR OPERATION INC. #123,731 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, notice is hereby given that KEYSTAR OPERATION INC.:

a) is in dissolution b) commenced dissolution on the 15th day of June, 2016; and c) CILTrust International Inc. whose address is 35 Barrack Road, Third Floor, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator of the Company.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

27

THE WONDERER AND THE MANATEE MURDERERS Happy Belated Father’s Day to all you fellas and also ladies handling double duties!

I always wondered why so many ladies in Belize handle double duties. I wondered and guessed it’s because they have lots of Belizean so-called men who don’t honor their responsibility as “Daddies”.

As I wandered through the FACEYBOOK I encountered the webpage for the Coastal Zone Management Authority and it intrigued my mind that LAST YEAR up to August there were 37 manatee deaths compared to 34 in 2014. BTB, CZMAI, the Port Authority along with other stakeholders have been working hard on a plan to “completely” eradicate incidents of manatee deaths mostly from collisions or strikes by high speed boats. We must applaud them for trying to protect these gentle mammals.

Belize has the largest surviving population of the Antillean manatee subspecies, Trichechus manatus manatus, classified as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. These herbivorous mammals depend on the lower Belize River as a medium for migration and as a source of freshwater.

NO WAKE zone means travelling at speeds 1–5 knots.

Apparently during the training given to the boaters the speeds were reduced drastically. In the past weeks I’ve taken the photographs below that show both private and tourism boats doing anywhere between 30 plus knots within the wake zone. Just this past Monday evening as I drove over the Hualover Bridge a “SERIOUS” boat moved below the bridge and towards the River mouth at speeds closer to 40 knots.

Obviously the boaters are not taking the training seriously.

The authorities need to put in place a permanent monitoring program and not only for the Belize River mouth but also other places where the manatees like to wander. The GOB seems to have money for everything except to assist these departments that want to do good programs but are impeded due to lack of funds.

Hopefully the Harvest Caye project along with BTIA can

finance a program that assists the protection of the manatees in Placencia zone as they are there in abundance and they use the west side of Harvest Caye for several months per year, exactly where boats will be circulating around.

Last year the Board said it was working on drafting and

implementation of legislation to ensure that all boats and/or watercrafts are outfitted with prop guards as a condition of granting licenses by the BPA. We are still waiting for this implementation. The boaters especially the tourism-related ones enter the Belize River to make money…money….

money…serious! Have you ever wondered if they really care about these mammals? They will use them to make money and if they eventually disappear, well we’ll find somewhere else or something else to showcase!

Nonsense! I believe we should protect these and other endangered species for Belizeans, and for the Belizean kids not born yet! I wonder how other Belizeans feel about this issue.

I wonder if you are wandering or wondering. I believe the Authorities should charge a fee to all tourist boats that enter the Belize River and other similar zones. These monies should be forwarded to CZMAI to continue their work in protecting these gentle-mammals. Another wonderful idea would be to enforce the use of prop guards inside all Rivers and probably the sole importer should be the CZMAI so that the profits could be used to protect the Belizean manatee or if they obtain a portion of the sales and installation fees.

The CZMAI’s Faceybook showed a photo of a dead MAMA & BABY MANATEE floating together. I followed up on that picture and found that both of them were hauled inland and then de-boned. I took pictures of the complete set of bones for both mama and baby. The wonderer believes that the Mama was giving birth when she was hit by a murderous boat. Other photos I saw showed the umbilical cord attached to her baby and the newborn partially outside the mama. The wonderer found that the manatee was indeed hit by the props of a speeding boat and probably died on the spot. The baby died because of lack of care from the dead mama. Look at the crushed vertebrae and broken ribs in the photos. It had to be a propeller. This is no wondering!

Port Authority, CZMAI, BTB please process the enforcement of prop guards immediately. The photos above taken in the past weeks show that the boats are not respecting training and wake zones. They are there only to make money!

Please do something and stop wondering!

You can send questions or comments to THE WONDERER at thewondererbz@gmail.com

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THE BELIZE TIMES

A strange, low-pitched sound is coming from the Caribbean Sea Scientists have never heard anything like it.

FIONA MACDONALD 22 JUN 2016 The ocean’s a noisy place, but under the regular din of marine life and ship traffic, scientists have detected a strange, much louder sound coming from the Caribbean Sea. It’s too low to be heard by human ears, but the whistle-like noise is so powerful that researchers have been able to pick up its signature from space - and it’s like nothing they’ve ever heard before.

The sound was detected while researchers were analysing the sea level and pressure in the region over the past 60 years, in an attempt to predict what could happen in the future.

Their interest comes from the fact that the Caribbean Sea is an incredibly important part of the global circulation belt, responsible for forming currents that feed into the Gulf Stream. And if we want to understand how our climate’s going to change in the future, we need to better understand how hot and cold water moves around the planet.

So scientists from the University of Liverpool in the UK were looking at four

different models of ocean activity to try and figure out some of the ocean dynamics in the region.

But pretty quickly, they realised something strange was going on their models kept showing pressure oscillations across the Caribbean basin that just didn’t seem to add up.

“We were looking at ocean pressure through models for quite different reasons, and this region just didn’t work,” one of the researchers, Chris Hughes, told Gizmodo. “It felt like a sore thumb.”

To see if the strange phenomenon was actually real, they checked water levels and pressure readings taken from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea between 1958 and 2013, and also looked at readings from tide gauges and satellite measurements of gravity in the area.

It turns out the strange pressure oscillations were happening in real life, as well as in the models, producing a low noise that can best be described as a ‘whistle’.

It might not sound like much, but it’s so powerful, the effects can be

measured in space, through oscillations in Earth’s gravity field.

So what’s going on here?

The sound is being caused by a large wave, known as the Rossby wave, which travels westwards across the ocean, and has been seen to disappear when it hits the west of the Caribbean basin, before appearing 120 days later on its eastern edge.

That disappearance was picked up a few years ago, and labelled the Rossby wormhole. But now the researchers have discovered that the wave is still interacting profoundly with the seafloor in the sea, causing it to whistle.

“We can compare the ocean activity in the Caribbean Sea to that of a whistle,” explains Hughes. “When you blow into a whistle, the jet of air becomes unstable and excites the resonant sound wave which fits into the whistle cavity. Because the whistle is open, the sound radiates out so you can hear it.”

“Similarly, an ocean current flowing through the Caribbean Sea becomes unstable and excites a resonance of a rather strange kind of ocean

26 JUN

2016

wave called a Rossby wave. Because the Caribbean Sea is partly open, this causes an exchange of water with the rest of the ocean which allows us to ‘hear’ the resonance using gravity measurements,” he added.

But because the Caribbean Sea is so much bigger than a regular whistle, it causes the sound to be much lower than we can hear.

As Stone explains for Gizmodo: “It takes 120 days for waves to propagate east to west in the basin, yielding an A-flat tone that’s roughly 30 octaves below the bottom of a piano.”

The researchers have now labelled the phenomenon the Rossby whistle, and have published their results in Geophysical Research Letters.

Understanding how it works is pretty important to figuring out how the oceans in that part of the world will respond to climate variations in the future.

“This phenomenon can vary sea level by as much as 10 cm along the Colombian and Venezuelan coast, so understanding it can help predict the likelihood of coastal flooding,” said Hughes.

The researchers also predict that the Rossby whistle might have an impact on the entire North Atlantic, by regulating the flow in the Caribbean Current, which is the precursor to the Gulf Stream. They’re now planning to investigate the phenomenon further to better understand how it affects ocean dynamics.

26 JUN

2016

THE BELIZE TIMES

The SARSTOON Belize Guatemala

UNDER PUP The SARSTOON Belize Guatemala

UNDER UDP

THE TIME TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY IS NOW!

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The Bloody Mess is Here!

Our country has come under siege from crime and violence Belize City, Wednesday, June 21, 2016 The Ministry of National Security has remained silent on the issue of spiraling crime in the city which has resulted in a spate of shootings and murders. Gang warfare has escalated to new heights with the brazen broad daylight shooting of four persons, one of them a Police Officer, immediately in front of the Queen Street Police Station.

The brazen attack took place happened on Friday, June 17, at around 8:15am when a gunman targeted a known gang member coming out of the station. When the gunfire died off Police Corporal Alrick Arnold lay critically wounded, shot in the chest. Also injured were passersby Kean Smith, 24, Elroy Saldano, 44 and Graciela Castillo, 34.

Police say that the man in the crosshairs was Brandon ‘BT’ Tillett, a member of the George Street Gang. Tillett had just gone into the station to sign in as a condition of bail he was granted after being charged for a shooting incident in Lord’s Bank in June 2015. As Tillett exited the station a gunman waiting outside fired at him and missed.

As Tillett ran towards the Swing Bridge, Corporal Alrick Arnold who was outside the station drew his weapon and fired at the gunman.

In the ensuing shootout Arnold and three others who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time were shot.

Shortly after, elements of the Gang Suppression Unit picked up a minor, 15, who was identified as the gunman.

The brazen attack is part and parcel of the gang warfare which has continued to escalate despite the best efforts of Police Officer like Asst. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams. Williams told the media that he is familiar with the minor because he had been picked

by Police for being in a known gang area.

“We had removed him from a home in a known gang area on Southside Belize City and he was sent to Dangriga where we know his mother is. I guess for some reason or the other the mother did not supervise him properly. He came back to Belize City and he committed this heinous act,” explained Williams.

The attack on Brandon ‘BT’ Tillett is said to be an act of retaliation for the murder of Michael Wallace,

26 JUN

THE BELIZE TIMES

PC Alrick Arnold

said to be a member of the Southside Gang. Tensions between the George Street Gang (GSG) and the Southside gang (SSG) have heightened since the murder of GSG Don Gerald ‘Shiny’ Tillett in April.

The day did not end without fatal gun violence, as Edison Williams, 33, was killed on Friday night as he relaxed in his yard on Kraal Road. Williams was shot multiple times and died at the KHMH nine hours after while undergoing surgery.

According to family members, Williams was always in his yard hanging out. That’s what he was doing at around 8:30 Friday night when one assailant shot him at least three times.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Williams has been trying to control the savage Southside of the city in the face of escalating gang war.

He explained that “from what we have gathered from our investigation, which is still in the infancy stage, he was socializing through some alley in the Kraal Road area when a lone gunman came and fired shots at him.

Apparently he was the intended target because from what we understand, the gunman actually spoke to him, said certain things to him before shooting him”.

There is no information on what the gunman said before firing the fatal shots, and also no clear indication of a motive. Williams lived in a gangcontrolled area of the city but his family members say that he was not involved in that life. They claim that it was possibly his nickname, “Southie” which could have led to him becoming a target.

Most of the recent gang-related murders in the city are believed to have been spawned by the April execution of George Street don Gerald “Shiny” Tillett. Tillett was shot and killed as he gambled at the Wadani Shed in Dangriga. Police identified the shooter as Nicholas Swazo, a man believed to be affiliated with the Southside Gang (SSG).

Suspected target, Brandon Tillett

2016

A day later, the violence continued but this time in the normally peaceful community of Hattieville. Rural Eastern Division Police are trying to determine a motive and hopefully then identify the two men who killed Hattieville resident Mark Shepherd, 23, on Saturday night.

Shepherd was just outside the Green

from Punta Gorda town.

According to Officer Commanding the Punta Gorda Police, ASP Clement Cacho, they got the call at around 11:07 and arrived on the scene three hours after. Ack’s body had been dumped in some bushes in front of the school, and it was observed that he had been chopped multiple times.

Cacho explained that “Initial investigations revealed that at around 9:30 p.m. on the eighteenth June 2016 the deceased, Francisco Ack was heading home from church when he was attacked by two male persons who inflicted these chop wounds. The assailants were not positively identified.”

Based on that preliminary investigation, Punta Gorda Police are looking for one person of interest based, reportedly, on a prior altercation with the deceased Ack. Ack was heading home from Church Mark Shepherd when he was killed.

Iguana Lounge in Hattieville when two men walked up to him and one of them shot him twice to the back. He was rushed to the KHMH but died shortly after while undergoing surgery.

According to Rural Eastern Division Commander ACP Edward Broaster Police went to the KHMH just before midnight and “they saw the lifeless body of one Mark Shepherd and what appeared to be gunshot wounds to his right back - two gunshot wounds. Later investigation revealed that Mark Shepherd along with his common-law was sitting in front of the Iguana Lounge in Hattieville when two male persons, one dressed in a hood with what appeared to be a firearm, fired the shots that fatally claimed the life of Mark Shepherd.”

Family members say that Shepherd had come in from work and told them that he and his common-law-wife, pregnant with his first child, would be going to the Green Iguana Lounge for some beers and fun.

But Shepherd never got to finish his first beer. His common-law-wife came outside the lounge to use the bathroom. He followed and it was as he started to light a cigarette that the two men came from behind him and fired.

His common-law-wife had just exited the bathroom and saw what happened, but hid in fear. The two men ran away and Shepherd, mortally wounded, ran a block away before collapsing into the drain.

The murder has confounded Police because Shepherd has no known gang affiliation and is not known to walk on the wrong side of the law.

The fourth murder occurred in the Toledo District While Belize City continues to dominate the news with the spike in murders and violent crimes, Punta Gorda Police are trying to solve the murder of Francisco Ack, 36, a resident of San Benito Poite in the Toledo District. Ack’s body was discovered by residents of the village at around 11:00 Saturday night, in front of the school in the small community located about 40 miles

VILE VIDEO GETS HEATED RESPONSE FROM MINISTRY OF HEALTH Belize City, June 15, 2016 A disturbing video which has been circulating via internet since last week has drawn the attention of mental health officials from the Ministry of Health. The video features a man and a woman, said to have diagnoses of mental disorders being instructed to perform sexual acts by the persons who are recording them on a phone or tablet.

In its release, the Ministry states that “The audio on the video reveals that the couple was being encouraged in their actions only to be rewarded with a soda by the persons who were watching and recording the couple performing various sexual acts.

The Ministry of Health is appalled at this assault on human dignity and is dismayed that these persons felt comfortable enough to record and share this video to further humiliate this couple and their families”.

The voices of the persons giving instructions and recording the couple doing sexual acts are legible and identification would certainly be a possibility if there is any investigation into the matter by Police.

But whether that will happen is unclear.

ACP Chester Williams explained that there is a law against the proliferation of pornographic material, stating that “if one should post any pornographic material on any social media site or anywhere in public, they can be charged but the difficulty we’ll have in instituting charges against those persons will be to prove that they are the ones who actually posted it on the net”.

Williams also explained that if it can be proven that the persons in the video being instructed to do the sexual acts suffer from mental disorders then that is another angle that they would be able to pursue.

This vile video is just the latest in a series of increasingly depraved pornographic material being circulated on the internet.

In one of the videos spread online, a man is seen committing perverse acts with a chicken.

26 JUN

2016

THE MESS IS HERE INDEED! Continued from page 2 public debt is skyrocketing. It’s all bad news but you know the worst part? The government doesn’t have the answers. Mr. Barrow doesn’t know what to do. And he will have another bukut to deal with in a matter of days when Lord Ashcroft comes to collect his pound of flesh.

Mr. Barrow says oh, he’ll pay Lord Ashcroft through domestic borrowing. But it’s not as easy as that. We hear that the award could be anything from $350M to $500M – not exactly chum change. And if you do manage to borrow that money commercially, can you imagine the loan payments? The UDP loves to talk about the Superbond…but the figures which are now owed by this administration, added to figures which will be owed by the time the people have their say at the ballots in a few years makes the Superbond look like a baby bond.

So pay attention to Guatemala, for sure. But there are dangerous things afoot much closer to home.

And this UDP still has another four years in office. Imagine that. There is much more of this mess yet to come.

LIQUOR LICENSE NOTICES Notice is hereby given that DENISE R. OCKEY is applying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Belamari”, situated at 5865 Seashore Drive, Belize City, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor License Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that RUBEN RIVEROL is applying for renewal of a Malt Liquor License to be operated at “Machi’s Pool Hall”, situated at 2nd Street North, Corozal Town, Corozal District under the Intoxicating Liquor License Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that BETTY BACAB is applying for a Malt Liquor License to be operated at “B&B Bar”, situated at Caledonia Village, Corozal District under the Intoxicating Liquor License Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that HERON MORENO is applying for renewal of a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Shipstern”, situated at Sarteneja Village, Corozal District under the Intoxicating Liquor License Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Trigger-Happy Cop Remanded for Gun Antics Belize City, June 22, 2016 A strange maneuver occurred this afternoon when Police Officers who were tasked with escorting an accused colleague to the Magistrate’s Court took evasive action to prevent him from being spotted by court reporters. The accused cop was made to walk behind one of the policemen, while the other walked behind them from the junction of Regent Street and Treasury Lane to the Magistrate’s Court building.

They seemed to be covering up Detective Constable Urbie Alamilla, who is assigned to the intelligence section of the Eastern Division South, and who is tonight behind bars at the Belize Central Prison.

On Tuesday Alamilla was arraigned for discharging his firearm in public, specifically at the Green Jade Restaurant located on the Phillip Goldson Highway in Ladyville. He was remanded because the Firearm Act does not allow for bail at the Magistrate Court level.

Alamilla was picked up by Police after reports that he had fired his weapon while under the influence at the restaurant. The incident happened on Saturday night, and one complainant told Ladyville Police that Alamilla

fired his weapon toward the floor and she was injured by fragments.

When Alamilla was detained he took officers to where he had hidden the 9mm pistol in an open lot on Woodpecker Street.

Surveillance footage from the Green Jade Restaurant clearly shows Alamilla repeatedly intervening to stop an altercation between two men, one of them reportedly a family

member. Appearing calm on the footage, Alamilla pushes one of the men outside on two separate occasions to break up the potential fight, and when that man attempts to enter the restaurant a third time the Detective Constable can be observed drawing a weapon out of his pants, cranking it and discharging it in to the floor. Interestingly, the footage also shows the complainant who told Police she was injured by fragments outside the restaurant when the shot was fired.

But whether or not this shooting was justified, for Alamilla its two strikes you’re out. Just over a week ago, on June 10th, he had gotten in trouble with the Ladyville Police after he fired his weapon three times into the air while reportedly drunk at a bar on Perez Road. Although he was caught on footage he was not charged since Ladyville Police claimed that the gun was not pointed at anyone and nobody’s life was in danger.

Sounds more like the kind of excuse specially crafted for those cops who enjoy political protection from up top. Isn’t that so Minister Saldivar?

The Police confirmed that Alamilla’s weapon was confiscated

by Police after that incident, so they are trying to determine how the cop managed to get his hands on the other weapon used during the shooting at the Green Jade Restaurant.

Wasting Our Tax Dollars Belize City, June 21, 2016 It appears not all Ministers have gotten the memo that the Government of Belize is facing a severe financial crunch. It seems that while Belizeans have had to make adjustments to their lives in the face of the skyrocketing cost of living and tax increases, the big-timers in Belmopan continue to live like kings and emperors enjoying the perks and lavish living at the expense of everyone else.

Just look at this. The Government, through taxpayer’s monies, buys fancy vehicles for Ministers, CEOs and their political cronies.

The Government, through taxpayer’s money, pays for the fuel that keeps those gas-guzzling engines turned on and air-conditions blowing cooly so Ministers don’t sweat like the rest of us do. You would think then that with the economic hardships Ministers would consider limiting the use of their vehicles to minimise the waste and unproductivity. But, don’t hold your breath. UDP Ministers continue to abuse these vehicles. Government rides are seen racing up and down

our highways after regular working hours, late nights and even weekends.

Case in point, former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega’s latemodel Lexus SUV was seen parked outside the Plaza de Las America’s parking lot in Chetumal, Quintana Roo early Sunday June 21st. The vehicle displayed the license plates with the words “MINISTER” on it.

One concerned Belizean saw the vehicle and took a picture of it to prove that the Ministers, even as

senior as the former Deputy Prime Minister, continue their waste.

It is not only Government employees who are guilty of the bad practice. The Belize City Council Administrator’s assigned late-model pick-up truck has also been spotted cruising Chetumal streets. This is after two vehicles assigned to her have been wrecked while driven on the highway at odd hours. There seems to be no accountability to the overtaxed public.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

26 JUN

2016