Belize Times May 10, 2020- The best Is Yet to Come

APP

The Belize Times

Established 1957

10 MAY 2020 | ISSUE NO: 5197

The Truth Shall Make You Free

www.belizetimes.biz | $1.00

UDP Retrenchment Has Begun The best is yet to Come

The Mayor of San Ignacio and Santa Elena Towns is throwing in the towel and calling it quits.

Earl Trapp has no answer to maintaining and governing said municipality so he is terminating the services of some of his town’s employees. If he has no workforce to handle then he should best do the Singh thing—resign in frustration. Trapp and the UDP cannot stay in power if they have no answers to Covid’s challenges. Belize has been too big a challenge for

Pg. 2

NO SHAME IN THE UDP GAME

HEREDIA VS THE UDP RED TIDE

Pg. 14

Dry Weather Politicians Pg. 8

Pg. 13 UDP Government Threatens the Public Officers and Teachers

Pg. 2

PANDEMIC OPPORTUNISM: STRIPPING OF OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES Pg. 12

Use A Mask|Good Hygiene|Social Distance|Believe in Belize

02 2

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

UDP Retrenchment Has Begun

2020 UDP Government Threatens the Public Officers and Teachers

GOB Ultimatum to PSU and Teachers: Accept this or We will Pass a Law Continued from page 1 The UDP has the teachers them and the coronavirus is way out of their league. exactly where they like them In mid-1990s the UDP bolstered people’s vocabulary by infaat home in a sort of extended mously retrenching hundreds of public officers. This is their horrible vacation. What will the teachtrack record of incompetence in balancing Belize’s economy. This ers do, strike? In the past two dismal inability to govern at the expense of Belize is tragic and had years, Faber has attempted to kept back Belize’s development as the UDP has always found ways unilaterally slide policy into the to squander there time in government and Belize’s human resourcteacher’s side during late June es. and July. During this time they Fast for ward a quarter century later the UDP has the same virus of incompetence and pettiness which now has even led them dealt only with the principals to criminal judgements vis-à -vis the unconstitutional spending of who are largely of government roughly 400 million of taxpayer dollars. Instead of resigning when high schools. Now the PM and clearly caught with their fingerprints all over their rank ineptitude the UDP feel they can do as and utter malpractice in the decision-making that stems back to they please. The PUP and the 2008, the UDP seem to dig in to find different ways to persevere in Belizean public is on the PSU their quest to top their last infamy. and Teachers side. It might be But their trudging over Belize always results in Belizeans being best if they cease and desist. jobless and increasingly poor. Covid-19 has given the United DemPSU and Teachers are asked ocratic Party a reason to become more crooked and spiteful. The for pay cuts while UDP conUDP could care less in developing protocols that fit Belize in the anti Covid fight. They see a whole new arena that can breed other tract officers and Ministers are Imer’s and Gapi’s.

NOT cutting enough when they We urgently need to allow Belizeans their ‘UDP antivote’ to rid should cut all. During this Covid Belize of our endemic UDP virus. time it is obvious that many ministries and its contract officers are very irrelevant and of no function to the development of Belize at this time. Belize is looking to self-sustain for

the long haul.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL As to our sacred democraThursday, May 7, 2020 For Immediate Release cy, Belize is in the process of renewing and THE PUP SUPPORTS THE PUBLIC SERVICE UNION replacing this in The People’s United Party Č‹ ČŒ …‘Â?†‡Â?Â?•ǥ ‹Â? –Š‡ •–”‘Â?‰‡•– ’‘••‹„Ž‡ –‡”Â?•ǥ –Š‡ competent UDP ƒ””‘™ dministration’s arrogant, disrespectful and dictatorial letter of ultimatum to government –Š‡ —„Ž‹… ‡”˜‹…‡ Â?‹‘Â? Č‹ ČŒÇ¤ ‡ „‡Ž‹‡˜‡ •—…Š ƒ Ž‡––‡”ǥ Šƒ• Â?‘ ’Žƒ…‡ ‹Â? ƒ †‡Â?‘…”ƒ–‹… with a PUP Gov•‘…‹‡–› ™Š‡”‡ ™‘”Â?‡”• ƒ”‡ •‡‡Â? ĥ ‹Â?’‘”–ƒÂ?– ƒÂ?† ‡“—ƒŽ ’ƒ”–Â?‡”• ‹Â? †‡˜‡Ž‘’Â?‡Â?– ƒÂ?† ernment led by ‰‘˜‡”Â?ƒÂ?…‡Ǥ John BriceĂąo

and his PUP Š‡ •–ƒÂ?†• ‹Â? •‘Ž‹†ƒ”‹–› ™‹–Š –Š‡ ‹Â? …ƒŽŽ‹Â?‰ ˆ‘” –Š‡ ‰‘˜‡”Â?Â?‡Â?– –‘ …‘Â?‡ …Ž‡ƒÂ? ™‹–Š –Š‡ –”—‡ Â?—Â?„‡” ƒÂ?† ‹†‡Â?–‹–› ‘ˆ –Š‡‹” ’‘Ž‹–‹…ƒŽŽ› ƒ’’‘‹Â?–‡† ‘Â?–”ƒ…– ˆˆ‹…‡”• ƒÂ?† team. The latter –Š‡ –‘–ƒŽ †‘ŽŽƒ” ˜ƒŽ—‡ ‘ˆ –Š‘•‡ …‘Â?–”ƒ…–•Ǥ is the constitu tional calling of ‡Ž‹œ‡ƒÂ?• †‡•‡”˜‡ –‘ Â?Â?‘™ Š‘™ ™‡ ‰‘– Š‡”‡ ƒÂ?† ™Š›Ǥ Â? ƒ††‹–‹‘Â?ÇĄ ™‡ Â?‡‡† –‘ Â?Â?‘™ elections in less Š‘™ ‹– ‹• –Šƒ– ƒˆ–‡” ̈́͡ͲͲ Â?‹ŽŽ‹‘Â? ‘ˆ ‡–”‘…ƒ”‹„‡ ˆ—Â?†• ƒÂ?† ̈́͸ͲͲ Â?‹ŽŽ‹‘Â? ‹Â? ‘‹Ž ”‡˜‡Â?—‡ǥ than six months ƒŽ‘Â?‰ ™‹–Š Š—Â?†”‡†• ‘ˆ Â?‹ŽŽ‹‘Â?• ‹Â? †‘Â?‡•–‹… ƒÂ?† ˆ‘”‡‹‰Â? Ž‘ƒÂ?•ǥ –Š‡ ‰‘˜‡”Â?Â?‡Â?– ‹• Â?‘™ by the Governor •ƒ›‹Â?‰ –Š‡› ƒ”‡ „”‘Â?‡Ǎ ‡–’• Â?‘– ˆ‘”‰‡– –Šƒ– Œ—•– ƒ ˆ‡™ Â?‘Â?–Š• ÂƒÂ‰Â‘ÇĄ –Š‡› ™”‘–‡ ‘ˆˆ ̈́͝Ͳ Â?‹ŽŽ‹‘Â? ‹Â? ƒ……”—‡† ŽƒÂ?† –ƒš‡•Ǥ General on the

advice of the

ˆ –Š‡ ‘˜‡”Â?Â?‡Â?– ‹• ‹Â?†‡‡† „”‘Â?‡ ƒÂ?† ‹• •‡”‹‘—• ƒ„‘—– ĥÂ?‹Â?‰ —„Ž‹… ˆˆ‹…‡”• –‘ Prime Minister. •ƒ…”‹ˆ‹…‡ ƒ ’ƒ”– ‘ˆ –Š‡‹” ‹Â?…‘Â?‡ǥ –Š‡Â? –Š‡› Šƒ˜‡ ƒ †—–› ƒÂ?† ‘„Ž‹‰ƒ–‹‘Â? –‘ „‡ Š‘Â?‡•– ƒÂ?† The only –”ƒÂ?•’ƒ”‡Â?– ™‹–Š —„Ž‹… ÂˆÂˆÂ‹Â…Â‡Â”Â•ÇĄ –Š‡‹” Â?‹‘Â? ƒÂ?† –Š‡ ‡Â?–‹”‡ Â?ƒ–‹‘Â? ‘ˆ ‡Ž‹œ‡Ǥ d o c u m e n t

Š‡ ƒŽ•‘ ˜‡Š‡Â?‡Â?–Ž› …‘Â?†‡Â?Â?• –Š‡ Â?‘– •‘ ˜‡‹Ž‡† –Š”‡ƒ– ˆ”‘Â? –Š‡ ”‹Â?‡ ‹Â?‹•–‡” worth signing –‘ …‹”…—Â?˜‡Â?– –Š‡ ƒ–‹‘Â?ƒŽ ••‡Â?„Ž› ƒÂ?† •‡‡Â? –‘ Šƒ˜‡ –Š‡ ‘˜‡”Â?‘” ‡Â?‡”ƒŽ ƒÂ?‡Â?† by the Governor –Š‡ —„Ž‹… ‡”˜‹…‡ ‡‰—Žƒ–‹‘Â?• —Â?†‡” –Š‡ –ƒ–‡ ‘ˆ Â?‡”‰‡Â?…›ǥ “to give the Minister General today (PM) the power to alter salaries, emoluments, and incrementsâ€?Ǥ that will move

Belize forward is Š‹• ‹• ƒÂ? —Â?Â?‡…‡••ƒ”› ƒÂ?† ‘—–”ƒ‰‡‘—• ƒ„—•‡ ‘ˆ ƒ—–Š‘”‹–› ™Š‹…Š Â?—•– „‡ the one that dis”‡•‘—Â?†‹Â?‰Ž› ”‡Œ‡…–‡† „› ƒŽŽ ‘—” •‘…‹ƒŽ ’ƒ”–Â?‡”• ƒÂ?† ‹Â?†‡‡† „› ƒŽŽ ”‹‰Š–nj–Š‹Â?Â?‹Â?‰ ‡Ž‹œ‡ƒÂ?•Ǥ solves this UDP

government for

good. They do --MORE-not have to wait for the 5 years this can be done today.

Public Service Union: Post May 7 evening meeting Our Union Position Remains!

If Belize Government cannot implement cost savings measures as PSU recommended, No increment freeze!!!!

If Belize Government cannot provide the union with real data for analysis and comparison, No increment freeze!!!!

If Belize Government cannot audit community votes, No increment freeze!!

If Belize Government cannot stop rehiring retirees on contract, No increment freeze!!

If the senate selects committee report cannot be tabled, No increment freeze!!

If the tabled Auditors General reports cannot be reviewed by the PAC, No increment freeze!!

If Belize Government cannot park none essential Government vehicles outside work hours, No increment freeze!

If Belize Government cannot disconnect cable and stop buying TV for CEOs and Heads of Department who have no need for cable, No increment freeze!!!

Until the Belize Government stop furnishing ministers, chief executive officers and heads of department offices with luxury furniture, No increment freeze Until Belize Government can demonstrate control of government vehicle fleets, No increment freeze!!!!

The Belize Times

Established 1957

14 APR 2013

|

ISSUE NO: 4840

The Truth Shall Make You Free

www.belizetimes.bz

|

$1.00

serving Belize since 1957 as the longest continuous newspaper.

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

Fay Castillo EDITOR

JosĂŠ JimĂŠnez LAYOUT/GRAPHIC ARTIST

Chris Williams OFFICE ASSISTANT

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

editortimes@yahoo.com

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

03 3

EDITORIAL

I

Belize’s Comorbidities

t is now seven weeks since the COVID-19 virus finally found its way to Belizean shores.

Thankfully, and in great part due to the cooperation and the sacrifice of Belizeans, we have avoided widespread propagation of the dreaded virus. There is no doubt that the virus brings with it serious medical issues and that it is far more dangerous to those whose health is compromised by what medical experts call comorbidity. For clarity Britannica. com defines the term comorbidity as “a disease or condition that co-exists with but is often independent of another disease or condition.” Researchers from the Feinstein Institutes conducted a study among 5,000 COVID-19 patients in New York and concluded that those with high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease were most at risk of becoming severely ill and dying. Several studies in China, Italy and now New York coincide that these underlying preexisting conditions augment the severity of the disease. The recommendation is to eat healthy, exercise, manage stress in order to reduce the comorbidities. These of course are very hard under a state mandated lockdown where fresh and healthy foods are not immediately available, and unhealthy processed foods such as ramen and corned beef are encouraged during these times of crisis.

Belize has been attacked by Covid-19 and the worsening symptoms are evident as long lines form at the Social Security Board offices countrywide, and the many people who have become disenfranchised from government food assistance and pantry programs. Belize has for the last decade suffered from comorbidities such as poverty, a defunct health system, an abandoned agriculture sector, rampant unemployment, and festering corruption on many fronts. These preexisting conditions have weakened Belize. There are countries with far less resources than Belize who have buckled under the onslaught of this virus on their health systems and financial resources.

Belize has so far been able to rid itself of active cases and controlled the spread of the virus so that our health system is not overrun. Belize has in country only four ventilators, therefore only that many patients can be intubated at any one time and this poses a grave concern. The health system lacks basic infrastructure and maintenance and it seems characteristic that while yet another sports complex in the city nears completion we do not have adequate isolation facilities for COVID patients and they must be housed in tents and rodents fall from the roof of the Emergency Room at the KHMH. San Pedro, the country’s premier tourist destination continues to be without a public hospital. It seems ironic that while we pay 100M for a road to Caracol our farmers struggle on unsafe and deteriorated farm roads to bring food to our tables.

Belize suffers many comorbidities and even though we have not felt a major shock of COVID-19 on our health system, we feel the effects on our socio-economic front quite keenly. Already the life support that the GOB has stingily doled out has proven insufficient. Families cry out that the assistance comes too little too late or not at all. It seems that it is being used as a means to curry political favour and votes in an election year rather than to alleviate the current financial crisis many families face.

In the end, no matter how mild the case of COVID-19 may be for Belize, these chronic underlying conditions are now made acute. There have been no preparations made for any eventualities, disease, natural disasters, or climate change.

The governing of the country under normal circumstances, let alone under current conditions, has become an insurmountable task for the PM and his Cabinet. This pandemic has merely accelerated the process and made these acute conditions even more profoundly felt by a wider cross-section of society. In tandem with the gross incompetence of this administration and their inability to demonstrate leadership, compassion, empathy, and integrity this pandemic presents a great threat to our existence.

We must remain optimistic and cautious while we continue to rely on that strong sense of community that has brought us this far. #BESAFEBELIZE

04 4

THE BELIZE TIMES

EDITORIAL

2020

en Español

Comorbilidades de Belice

H

10 MAY

an pasado siete semanas desde que el virus COVID-19 finalmente llegó a las costas de Belice. Afortunadamente, y en gran parte debido a la cooperación y el sacrificio de los beliceños hemos evitado la propagación generalizada del temido virus. No cabe duda, el virus trae graves problemas médicos y que es mucho más peligroso para aquellos cuya salud se ve comprometida por lo que los expertos médicos llaman comorbilidad. Para mayor claridad Britannica.com define el término comorbilidad como “una enfermedad o condición que coexiste con pero es a menudo independiente de otra enfermedad o condición”. Investigadores de los Institutos Feinstein condujeron un estudio entre 5.000 pacientes de Covid-19 en Nueva York y concluyeron que aquellos con presión arterial alta, obesidad, diabetes y enfermedades cardiovasculares tenían mayor riesgo de enfermarse gravemente y morir. Varios estudios en China, Italia y ahora Nueva York coinciden en que estas condiciones preexistentes subyacentes aumentan la gravedad de la enfermedad. La recomendación es el comer sano, hacer ejercicio, controlar el estrés con el fin de reducir las comorbilidades. Estos, por supuesto, son muy difíciles de lograr bajo un confinamiento obligatorio estatal donde los alimentos frescos y saludables no están disponibles de inmediato, y los alimentos procesados insalubres como el ramen y la carne de res enlatada se fomentan durante estos tiempos de crisis.

Belice ha sido atacada por Covid-19 y el empeoramiento de los síntomas es evidente ya que se forman largas filas en las oficinas de la Junta de Seguridad Social en todo el país y la mucha gente que se han visto privadas de programas gubernamentales de asistencia alimentaria y despensa. En el último decenio, Belice ha padecido comorbilidades durante la pasada década como la pobreza, un sistema de salud obsoleto, un sector agrícola abandonado, un desempleo desenfrenado y una corrupción persistente en muchos frentes.

Estas condiciones preexistentes han debilitado a Belice. Hay países con muchos más recursos que Belice que han sucumbido a la avalancha de este virus en sus sistemas de salud y recursos financieros.

Belice ha podido hasta ahora librarse de casos activos y controlar la propagación del virus para que nuestro sistema de salud no sea sobrecargado. Belice tiene en el país sólo cuatro ventiladores, por lo tanto sólo tal número de pacientes pueden ser intubados en cualquier momento y esto plantea una grave preocupación. El sistema de salud carece de infraestructura básica y mantenimiento y parece característico que mientras otro complejo deportivo en la ciudad se acerca a su finalización no tenemos instalaciones de aislamiento adecuadas para los pacientes COVID y deben ser alojados en tiendas de campaña y roedores caen del techo de la sala de emergencias del KHMH. San Pedro, el principal destino turístico del país, sigue careciendo de un hospital público. Parece absurdo que mientras pagamos 100 millones por un camino a Caracol nuestros agricultores luchan en caminos agrícolas inseguros y deteriorados para llevar comida a nuestras mesas.

Belice sufre muchas comorbilidades y, aunque no hemos sentido un gran impacto de COVID-19 en nuestro sistema de salud, sentimos los efectos en nuestro frente socioeconómico muy profundamente.

El soporte vital que el GOB ha distribuido con gran tacañería ya ha demostrado ser insuficiente. Las familias gritan que la asistencia llega demasiado poco y muy tarde o no llega en absoluto. Parece estarse utilizando como un medio para ganarse el favor político y los votos en un año electoral en lugar que para aliviar la actual crisis financiera que enfrentan muchas familias. Al final, no importa cuán leve sea el caso de COVID-19 en Belice, estas condiciones subyacentes crónicas se han agudizado. No se han hecho preparativos para ninguna eventualidad, enfermedad, desastres naturales ni cambio climático.

Gobernar el país en circunstancias normales, y ni hablar en las condiciones actuales, se ha convertido en una tarea insuperable para el Primer Ministro y su Gabinete. Esta pandemia no ha hecho más que acelerar el proceso y hacer que estas condiciones agudas se sientan aún más profundamente en un sector más amplio de la sociedad. Junto con la grave incompetencia de esta administración y su incapacidad para demostrar liderazgo, compasión, empatía e integridad, esta pandemia representa una gran amenaza para nuestra existencia. Debemos seguir siendo optimistas y cautelosos mientras seguimos confiando en ese fuerte sentido de comunidad que nos ha traído hasta aquí. #BESAFEBELIZE

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

BELLY of the

BEAST

GOB Bruk Belize has almost miraculously been spared the full wrath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our neighbours Mexico and Guatemala are currently taking a licking, while our jewel has reported only 18 cases with two deaths, and no new confirmed cases in almost a month. Imagine that, after only a little over a month of lockdown, most businesses are already being allowed to open up. That right that is nothing short of a miracle. But while COVID has not brought mass deaths to the jewel, what it has done is shine a glaring spotlight on the economic situation of the country. GOB is already broke and crying about money. Imagine that. Suppose this pandemic had really devastated the country like it did to so many others. Suppose we were faced with thousands of cases and hundreds of death, God forbid. Suppose we were in a situation where the country had to be totally locked down for months and months. The UDP ran this country into the ground even before Covid-19 reared its ugly head. While so many UDP ministers and their cronies and family members became millionaires, our jewel was neglected. That why we are where we are right now. Say it ain’t so Dean.

Threat Faced with bankruptcy as a result of its own corruption and incompetence and neglect, the UDP has now resorted to threatening public officers, telling them that if they don’t agree to a pay cut and freezing of increments, the UDP will pass a law which gives the Minister power to cut public officers’ salaries. What public officers need to do is ask Government if it has gotten back the $800,000 paid to a UDP crony and Gaspar Vega’s son Andre. Public officers need to ask Mr. Barrow if he has gotten back the tens of millions given to UDP cronies in a land compensation fiasco at the hotbed of corruption.

Public officers need to ask Mr. Barrow if he has gotten back any of the millions paid out to Imer Hernandez for crappy work that he has done across this country. Public officers should never agree to their salaries being cut while unqualified contract officers and political appointees are receiving thousands of dollars every month in allowances.

The PUP will stand by our public officers. NO TO ANY PAY CUT. NO TO ANY INCREMENT FREEZE. Audit The people of Belize are demanding an audit into the monies which the UDP is saying it has spent during this Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Barrow sat in front of the nation and talked about all the millions and millions which he was able to access to help Belizeans who were hardest hit. He talked about the millions and millions he had available to assist the poor with groceries and food items, and the millions and millions he had to provide front-line personnel with the equipment they needed. But the millions and millions are not adding up. Most of the people who applied for assistance in the relief program never received one red cent. Only a couple thousand food packages were sent out – and that’s it. If it weren’t for other organizations shipping in and helping out, Belizeans would literally be starving because help from this government has been nowhere around. We need to know where all the millions and millions and millions have gone, because for sure it hasn’t reached to the many Belizeans who are still desperately begging for help during this difficult time. The people need to know, Mr. Barrow.

Hustle A lot of people have been talking about some serious hustling in the Ministry of Health during this time of Covid-19. See, government had to move fast to purchase equipment, so we are told that there was very little check and balance in the process and a few very well-connected people in very high places got very rich quick. We are told that somebody who is involved in the procuring process for the Ministry has been receiving some sudden perks, including a fancy government ride 24/7, all for allegedly just turning a blind eye to what has been going down. If this is so, and knowing the UDP, we have no reason to think it isn’t happening, then those involved will go to jail. It’s as simple as that. The UDP has taken advantage of the people for way too long, and that will soon come to an end. All those who have gotten rich as a result of the rampant corruption will go to jail. Mr. Barrow can take that to the bank.

05 5

6 06

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

COVID QUESTIONS

1. Considering how quickly the government was able to procure houses to place in hospitals across the country, will the Minister of Housing please say how many houses have been bought and built in the past four months?

2. Considering the amount of arrests that the police have been making on a nightly basis, will the Attorney General please tell Belizeans how the Police Department is respecting the social distance in the holding of prisoners in police stations?

3. Will the Minister of Health please tell Belizeans how many ventilators have been bought and delivered to our hospitals in Belize and which companies were given the contract to purchase these ventilators?

4. Will the Prime Minister please say if he is prepared to lay off 50 percent of the contract officers who work for the government?

5. Good job Belize, continue to practice social distance, good hygiene and be kind to others.

CARTOON

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

07 7

Party Leader John Briceño Mother’s Day 2020 Address It is often said that our Mothers make the first and greatest impression on our lives. For sure, they are our first experience with love and compassion. This is why celebrating Mother’s Day is so important. Not just for the flowers and the gifts, but because it acknowledges that great example of unconditional love.

I feel lucky and blessed to know some amazing mothers. My late mom Felisita, my motherin-law Mamma Elia, and my wife Rossana have all made a tremendous difference in my life and in the lives of their children. Like other moms, they are the bond that holds our families together and they are the best example of unconditional love.

Now I know that this year, families will be challenged to find creative ways to celebrate Mother’s Day, but celebrate we must. For we are fortunate that so far here in Belize we have not lost a single mom to the Coronavirus. For this, we must give thanks and, from this, we must be inspired to keep practicing the good hygiene and social distancing measures that have kept us with manageable amounts of infections.

We make these sacrifices including the wearing of our masks in public so that we may keep each other safe and so that we can continue to show our love and appreciation to our mothers as well as our friends and other family members for years to come.

Este Día de la Madre 2020 tenemos la oportunidad de agradecer por tener o haber tenido una madre que nos enseñó a tener conciencia de nuestros pasos y a tener certeza por la vida.

Nuestras familias no funcionarían sin una madre, ya que ellas son el eje y la magia para que estemos unidos.

Hoy les damos gracias por enseñarnos cómo hacer escalones con las piedras del camino. El amor de una madre es la única fuerza humana que nos enseña cómo hacer cosas imposibles. Las madres nos enseñan a vivir, a soñar en grande, a dar las gracias, a reír mucho y a amar… ellas nos enseñaron todo eso que sí importa en la vida. ¡Gracias!

A todas las madres y en especial a las madrecitas beliceñas, hoy en este día, les quiero enviar, de parte de todos en el Partido Unido del Pueblo, un saludo muy especial. ¡Felicidades en su día!

From all of us in the People’s United Party to mothers everywhere: thank you, we love you and Happy Mother’s Day!

8 08 8

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

Dry Weather Politicians Being a politician in times of plenty was “amazin” thing to behold.

Those days of ole when bountiful coin of the realm was rolling to the tune of “Roll it Petro Caribe Roll it.” The feast days of Pibil Tacos and Cheers of all sorts, of two for one government vehicles and first class trips and accommodations at five star hotels…those were the days of living life large. The thing about feasts and parties is that they must inevitably come to an end and the bill for the frivolities must be paid. The story is quite different when times are tough, when the stores of coin of the realm have been depleted.

Petty politicians are separated from the true leaders during the dog days and long nights of scarcity, disease, hunger and abject poverty, Certainly, Belizeans like the PSU and BNTU recognize the need for austerity measures. Tough times call for tough decisions and measures. However, these must be applied across the board and in equal measure. The PSU calls that unnecessary spending stops, cost cutting measures become implemented and that spending on community votes be audited and the Senate Select Committee reports are tabled. In addition they demand that GOB demonstrate control of their fleet of vehicles including the parking of those vehicles outside working hours. The PUP has stated their support for the PSU adding that GOB must provide the proper accountability for the 500M in Petro Caribe Funds and 600M in oil revenue. Furthermore, the PUP calls out the GOB to “cease and desist from any further abuse of authority under the guise of a State of Emergency.”

It cannot be that in this day and age Belize has been saddled with “dry wedda politicians” who are content to govern only when the weather is pleasant, but crumble when the storm looms ahead. Those that are content to shine and spend treating cronies when the purse is full are the same ones that hide when disaster strikes claiming that the purse is empty. The purse is as empty as the promises they made. We look forward to a time soon when we can feel the difference between the governance of a true leader, and not the empty rhetoric of politicians. The PUP leader rolls up his sleeves and gets to work following in the vision of The Father of The Nation. John Briceño does not hide from hard work or difficulties, he faces them with his team and plans the best way to move Belize forward. There is light at the end of this dark tunnel, but we can get there only through hard work. We must soon decide as a nation whether we will travel this arduous path behind a bunch of high rollers who have become accustomed to the living their best life at our expense. The alternative is to travel the same path beside leaders who will not cower at the obstacles but inspire Belizeans to move forward and lead always by example.

VACANCY Senior Mechanic – Workshop Supervisor We hereby invite application from qualified persons to fill the post as Senior Mechanic – Workshop Supervisor in the Mechanical/Electrical Department in the Port of Belize Limited.

Duties & Responsibilities: • Receive and process all work orders.

• Provide necessary tools, spares and parts necessary to fulfill work orders.

• Ensure a standards-based approach to all repair works undertaken at the workshop.

• Ensure the timely repair of equipment lodged at the workshop.

• Dispatch work to all workshop employees.

• Ensure safety compliance in the workshop.

• Ensure compliance with lean housekeeping.

• Provide supervisory duties to all mechanics.

• Signing of job cards and completion of work orders upon successful repairs.

• Ensure the general husbandry and cleanliness of the workshop area.

• Maintenance of all relevant records that reflect the activities taking place at the workshop.

• Familiarize, implement and adhere to PBL’s Procurement Procedures and Policies.

• Provide support to the other senior mechanics as directed by the manager.

Qualifications and Experience: • An Associate's Degree. Minimum three (3) years experience working as a Mechanic.

Must possess a valid driver’s license.

• Basic Knowledge to scan Electronic Engines.

• Basic knowledge on Propane Fuel System.

• Basic knowledge of electric equipment.

• Knowledge of predictive maintenance.

• Knowledge of Microsoft office.

Competencies: • Punctual • Ability to work independently.

• Ethical • Team Oriented • Good communication skills Objectives: • Maximize availability of equipment • Maximize reliability of equipment • Optimize cost of ownership.

Salary: Will be competitive and in accordance with the companies salary structure.

Interested individuals are asked to submit their application packages and include the following documents: 1. Application letter with Curriculum Vitae 2. Copy of Certificates & Diplomas 3. Two (2) recent reference letters 4. Copy of recent Police Record 5. Copy of a valid Social Security Card Applications should be sent by email to jobapplications@portofbelize.com Closing date for receipt of application is Friday, May 15, 2020.

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

099

Belize Affected by Norwegian Cruise Line and Airline Bankruptcy & Unemployment Anytime the global transportation industry sneezes, Belize definitely catches a cold. In the age of the coronavirus, Metternich’s words are damning and were eerily repeated by PM Dean Barrow as he tried to explain how a US recession would affect Belize. In the middle of a pandemic that has helped to put the lives of Belizeans for ransom, the UDP government has kept its citizens hostage with whisked up Statutory Instrument to another. The ransom charged on our economy had more than tripled by the novel coronavirus which had a very willing accomplice—the leaderless, incompetent and corrupt United Democratic Party.

Just as 2020 was celebrated as the year when the PUP will rescue Belize from the grips of the UDP, our world would being seized by Covid-19 the perfect scapegoat for a UDP that was reeling from a 72-hr sworn-in leader who was caught smack in the middle of request tranches of cash from now a convicted felon in Utah. The UDP then fumbled a tragic loss of four pilots as their helicopter crashed during a mission that has too much classified information thus not allowing Belizeans to have closure and a sense of justice prevailing. Slightly anticlimactic, the Ministry of Education and Sports were mired in scandal as Herman Longsworth, former Minister out of the Albert Division was named in an Auditor General’s report has having handled some money from the construction from Marion Jones Stadium with his personal bank account and the Albert UDP constituency account. During that same time, Simeon Coc went into a couple million dollars in spending at Julian Cho High School in Toledo by teachers who were all connected to the UDP list of delegates destined to vote most likely for Patrick Faber.

Lest we forget, Covid and the coronavirus is NOT the reason the UDP is broke. They were broke before Covid in more than one way. They had the Belizean economy broke and their spirits was broke as well.

Along then come these two: Norwegian Cruise Line “Norwegian’s attempt to bolster is finances comes as cruise operators have been forced to suspend their operations due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

They have been left out of a $2.3 trillion stimulus package that U.S. lawmakers have adopted to support the economy and provide aid to troubled companies.”

This Cruise line company was even considering possible filing for bankruptcy. In Belize, they have the Stakebank Interest that given the size of the Belizean economy would be affected definitely. If cruise ships are to return to Belize, when is the question that the Belizean economy cannot afford to wait for an answer. Belize must consider the cruise industry as a secondary or tertiary means of progress and find other means now. A giant obstacle is the void that the outgoing UDP government has by still being in office. There is need for a new mandate to be filled by the innovative People’s United Party. Belize is praying for the coronavirus to stay away as well as the UDP. Airline Industry

The airline industry as it relates to Belize is directly affixed to the United States as is our dollar. When they go belly up Belizean tourism suffers and so the economy that was so over dependent to tourism.

Presently the airline industry in the United States is being kept afloat by the US government. But come this October 2020 this safety net will disappear and so might many of the airlines that had flight to Belize.

When will new air carrier link themselves to Belize once more is anyone’s bet. The story for the Belizean economy is the same. Belize must become innovative and change the course of our dependency for foreign dollars to the agro productive sector. It is not easy either way. It all means work and Belize needs leaders who are not tired and who have entrenched themselves into corrupt practise that has pulled Belize into recession and poverty. Hint: The UDP needs to go.

This will be the message until they disappear from Belize’s government. It cannot happen fast enough.

JOB OPPORTUNITY/VACANCY Applications are invited for the post of Chief Executive Officer Looking for a highly experienced Chief Executive Officer to deliver a step change in results at the Port of Belize.

The ideal candidate should be well versed in international best practices from across the port sector in the areas of commercial, people development, operations, and project development.

Responsibilities: The CEO shall ensure effective and profitable operation of the business, providing maximum profit and return on invested capital, formulation and execution of current and long-term objectives, development and implementation of the terminal’s operating plans and policies. The CEO shall lead the Port of Belize and maintaining safe and environmentally friendly working conditions while establishing a cost-efficient operation with high productivity.          

Drive, develop and deploy best practices within all departments.

Develop and implement strategic initiatives to improve existing methodologies, processes and measurements to ensure positive development in business unit performance Implement agreed operating and financial targets and monitor performance for the business with respect to revenue, cost, and profit.

Deliver a level of service to customers that is equal to best international standards.

Develop and engage staff for highest delivery of Port performance Enforce safe working practices and work towards a “zero” target for lost time injuries.

Liaise closely with relevant members of government, shipping companies, port authorities, regulatory bodies, customs agents, trucking companies, and other statutory authorities to ensure that their operational requirements are met.

Responsible for setting and achieving the budget for the reporting functions.

Assist in developing the cargo terminal expansion with cargo handling international best practices.

Qualifications: Minimum 15 years in Port sector experience.

Minimum 3 years of COO or CEO experience in port companies.

Must have worked in at least 3 ports outside of Belize with volumes of at least 200k TEU in each.

Experience with working within a collective bargaining environment in Belize Must possess an MBA or Master Mariner STCW. Must have Lean Six Sigma experience.

Proven measurable improvement results within Ports.

Compensation Package: Will be commensurate (in accordance with the Company's Salary Structure).

Applications should be emailed to:

jobapplications@portofbelize.com Closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, May 15th, 2020

10

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

11

Defunct Belize Revenues and Appropriations Act 2020-21 In late March 2020, amid the onset of the first and hopefully the only coronavirus ‘wave’, the leader of the opposition, John Briceño, rebutted the Revenue and Appropriations Bill 2020 that had been proposed by Prime Minister Barrow two weeks before. Just at that time he had infamously offered 900 thousand dollars to the people of Belize to prepare for the undesired but inevitable coming of the novel coronavirus. The all-points bulletin was missed by the UDP government who did their best Trumpian act. Belizeans will never forget how the UDP and Dean Barrow was not accounting for tens of thousands of people who had fallen through the canyons of unemployment. When the UDP government hesitantly acceded to allowing open registration of unemployed for token cash relief, the web portal crashed since their numbers were hugely wrong.

The Barrow 2020 budget had to be wrong given the massive unemployment unearthed by Covid-19. Everyone had to eat so they registered thus exposing the true numbers. This wasn’t Statistics Institute of Belize calculus. This wasn’t demographics. The web portal was raw and real poverty crying for help at a social and virtual distance. Belizean poverty was registering to eat and Barrow cannot afford to just feed the peoRegistered Office

Site Office ple for even a month. So after a blink the portal 15 A Street Mile 68 George Price Hwy was closed with over 80,000 applications most Belize City, Belize San Ignacio Town,

Cayo District, Belize of which were either unprocessed or unsuccess

Phone: 824‐2085/3016

ful. The first wave of the coronavirus tapered off Fax: 824‐4512 and more than half of said numbers were not fed

by the UDP.

The PUP representatives at the rebuttal of VACANCY for ACCOUNTANT the Barrow 2020-2021 budget were not satisfied but the coronavirus threat was looming. In hindBELIZE ELECTRIC COMPANY LIMITED (BECOL) is accepting applications for the post of sight, it might have been best. With “revenues ACCOUNTANT. down to a trickle” and the expectation of some 400million projected to be lost, the budget act is in need of a gargantuan overhaul. The goverPOSITION PURPOSE: nor-general endorsed document is definitely worthless.

To manage the Company's accounting, budgeting, financial reporting and cash management The Barrow Administration should quit doing activities. patchwork with the people’s money and amend the budget act for 2020-21. If the UDP is consistent, there will be inaction until the troubles MAIN DUTIES: that we are seeing on the horizon turn into raging infernos. The UDP government is warned…

1. Financial Statements, Statutory and Stakeholders Report Preparation rewrite the budget the one we have now is use2. Budget and Forecast Compilation / Monitoring less. That should take care of all the brush fires 3. Preparation of Departmental Expense Reports and Analyses that the government is having with the PSU, 4. Management of Invoicing, Receivables, Payables and Inventory Control teachers, Health and everything else under the 5. Maintenance of all General Ledger Accounts UDP sun. They will be gruesome numbers but 6. Liaison with External and Internal Auditors 7. Assist with development and maintenance of financial processes and procedures they need to be transparent.

CALL

671-8385 or

EMAIL: belizetimesadvertisement@yahoo.com

To place advertisement in the Belize Times Newspaper

QUALIFICATIONS: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Education/Experience/Skills required of the Position.

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or Accounting Certified Public Accountant (its equivalent) or is prepared to work towards certification Five years’ experience in a senior accounting capacity Computer literate with knowledge in Microsoft Office applications, QuickBooks, and other pertinent software

SALARY:

Dependent on Qualifications and experience

The successful applicant must reside in the vicinity of San Ignacio/Santa Elena Town or Benque Viejo Del Carmen Town.

Send Application letter, résumé and two (2) recent letters of reference to: corporate@becol.com.bz Deadline: 22 May 2020

12

VOICE OF THE COMMON MAN

PANDEMIC OPPORTUNISM:

STRIPPING OF OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES

By Hilly Bennett Undeniably, Belize’s political apparatchiks have reached a dangerous low in the advent of the novel coronavirus. With the stroke of a pen and the signing of a myriad of statutory instruments, Belizeans have been gradually stripped of their civil liberties.

Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr. in a contribution in The Atlantic, ‘States Are Using the Pandemic to Roll Back American Rights’ wrote: “The coronavirus Pandemic has led governments around the world to adopt draconian measures. Some of these, such as social-distancing mandates, are, quite obviously, bona fide and necessary efforts to control the rate of virus spread. Others, however, pretty clearly constitute a form of political opportunism.”

In Hungary, parliament was dissolved and Prime Minister Viktor Orban was made to rule, by decree, indefinitely.

Under the cover of the State of Emergency(SoE), Barrow is attempting to alter the Public Service Regulation regarding the salaries, emoluments and increments of Public Officers and Teachers. Normally, it would necessitate the approval of parliament to alter or enact legislations.

Apparently, the President of the Public Service Union, Gerald Henry is dissatisfied with the cost saving measures being implemented. Henry alluded to other areas that should be considered to cut cost. The area of concern is the salaries and perks of contract officers. Additionally, the President is requesting a committee be commissioned to identify wastage in government spending.

Interestingly, in early 2015 the PM Dean Barrow commissioned the Committee to Evaluate and Advise on Cost Saving Measures (CEACS ). CEACS re-

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

ported that there was too much wastage in government spending and that public money can be spent more efficiently by limiting unnecessary spending in several areas. The report was compiled and was validated as credible by Financial Secretary Joseph Waight and submitted to Honourable Dean Barrow, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Curiously, one of the areas identified that concerns the PSU - contract officers. The report noted that over time there has been a considerable increase of Permanently Established (PE) positions being filled under contract instead of permanent appointments through the formal standard recruitment process or promotion.

Additionally, the increase in employment of contract officers had created a negative impact on the Public Service as contracted officers were given exorbitant remuneration plus lucrative benefits that the regular PE officer was denied.

Evidently, the PSU have a valid case which can be justified by the CEACS report laying on Barrow’s desk gathering dust.

The emperor has been defrocked and the rationale for extending the SoE is clearly for “political opportunism.”

Similar to the cartoonish character Swiper the cover of COVID-19 is to swipe the rights of the Belizean populace.

If Charles Dickens was alive in Belize today he would pen: The last twelve years were the best of times for the UDP cronies, lackeys, lapdogs and sinister ministers; whilst it was the worst, the most brutal of times for the rest of us. The time is now and here to denounce Barrow’s chicanery and poppycock. Sound the bugle call for the People’s United Party’s wisdom and social justice philosophy.

ALUTA CONTINUA! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

2020

NOTICE O&S INTERNATIONAL GROUP LTD. IBC # 39,138 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that O&S INTERNATIONAL GROUP LTD. a) Is in dissolution b) Commenced dissolution on the 14th day of April, 2020; and c) CILTrust International inc. of 35 Barrack Road, Third Floor, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator of the Company.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE Mellus Limited IBC # 130,923 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that Mellus Limited: a) Is in dissolution b) Commenced dissolution on the 27th day of April, 2020; and c) CILTrust International inc. of 35 Barrack Road, Third Floor, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator of the Company.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE Farday Trade Inc. #79,460 (“the Company”)

Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that Farday Trade Inc. has been dissolved as at 3rd April, 2020 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE CONDOR INVESTMENTS LIMITED #53,58 (“the Company”)

Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that CONDOR INVESTMENTS LIMITED has been dissolved as at 14th April , 2020 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

10 MAY

2020

HEREDIA VS THE UDP RED TIDE

Last week, failing Minister Heredia picked up the UDP mayor Guerrero who was himself is there after a questionable election and decided to tweak the then standing State of Emergency regulations. Minister Heredia has joined the long list of UDPs that have gone rogue in a leaderless UDP and thus sputtering with reckless and dangerous frustration. As we all know, breaking the law and in the case the State of Emergency regulations should get you arrested, charged and when convicted a hefty 5k fine. Jail time is also a possibility.

The Prime Minister had already uttered that what his Cabinet Minister was wrong and that he got scolded as has become customary in the countless times the Ministers have been wrong. Such wrong often do not make the light of day and much less the court room.

The unelected Attorney General also chimed in to this affront to his Statutory Instrument; how dare Heredia amend his work. Peyrefitte had this to say, “We just have to remind them(Mayor Guerrero and Minister Heredia) that while that is admirable the national applies to the entire country and so all we need to tell them is we have to convince them that listen what we have in place nationally is good enough for everywhere and since we had that discussion from like a week or so ago with Minister Heredia and Mayor Guerrero it has gone smoothly, so Minister Heredia when I spoke to him he just told me Mike I just want to make sure that my people are safe, that’s my number one concern.”

Many people in Belize have been arrested as they are searching for their meal of the day. Many people

13

THE BELIZE TIMES

have not gotten anything promised from government but instead of being helped they are jailed for walking the street.

Most ‘normal’ people in Belize, if they did anything remotely similar to what Heredia did, would be picked up and charged and if convicted, fined when in violation of a Covid State of Emergency regulations. But of you are a UDP Mayor, UDP Village Council Chairman, Minister, UDP Councillor, UDP Crony, UDP Standard Bearer, Caretaker or the like then you are told to ‘not do it again.’

If you are in said list then you also get to appeal/complain that you have the backing of others. You are then told once more to not do it again.

Such is the case with barefooted Minister Manuel Heredia and San Pedro’s UDP Mayor Guerrero who in tandem craftily attempted a masked move to gain some independence from the mainland by amending the State of Emergency regulations to suit Ambergris Caye at their fancy.This move did not sit well with the mainland UDP big cheeses.

Heredia has been isolated much longer than he can account for. Think about it, San Pedro and Ambergris Caye contributes reportedly 30 or so percent of our countries taxes yet they do not have a hospital to show for it nor much of anything. Heredia seems to not have it when it comes to convincing cabinet that San Pedro is to get their rightful part.

The PM according to himself wasted no time to advise him to cease and desist during a cabinet meeting which no one else has chaired except him.

Of course, no one is mightier than the PM. Even as Manny protested he was not dealt with by the authorities as other normal citizens.

NOTICE ATHENA INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING LIMITED #79,460

(“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that ATHENA INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING LIMITED has been dissolved as at 15th April , 2020 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE COTEHILL SERVICES LIMITED #20,780 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that COTEHILL SERVICES LIMITED has been dissolved as at 22nd April , 2020 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE Almar Group Limited IBC #118,024 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011, notice is hereby given that Almar Group Limited has been dissolved as at 25th April , 2020 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies.

CILTrust International Limited Registered Agent

14

NO SHAME IN THE UDP GAME

Thursday, 07 May 2020 The news that the Attorney-General’s law partner sits as the secretary on the board of the UDP’s newly formed monopoly butane company should come as no surprise to anybody. For the longest time, decisions made by the UDP have had nothing to do with the good of the people, and everything to do with filling the pockets of a select few. But Belizeans are watching the UDP, and the good old times of UDP hustling will come to an end very soon.

Belizeans have also watched as Michael Peyrefitte’s star has burned brightly. Peyrefitte has been unable to achieve political victory because not enough people have been foolish enough to vote him into power, but despite that he has obviously made the right moves which have earned him the favour of some powerful people in the UDP. First, Peyrefitte was made Attorney-General. And after he made those powerful UDPs happy, he was made Minister of National Security. And if that was not enough, Peyrefitte has also been named Chairman of the UDP. He wouldn’t have been able to pull off that one if it had gone to a contested convention, but sources have informed the Belize Times that the right palms were greased and so those who opposed Peyrefitte for that position stepped away.

So what has Peyrefitte done to make powerful UDPs so happy? That’s anybody’s guess, but sources are saying that it may have a lot to do with the butane company which we are told will make some specific persons very, very wealthy. Peyrefitte has led the charge in the Attorney-General’s Ministry to craft legislation which has effectively run the three big butane suppliers out of business. Peyrefitte was also instrumental in handing down legislation which prohibited those three companies from

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

selling butane cheap to consumers, allowing the Government’s monopoly butane company the ability to charge consumers excessive prices.

Inquiring minds want to know about the majority shareholder in this butane company who is an American pig-farmer. Where did he come from, and how is it that out of the blue he was able to wrangle majority ownership in a company which the Prime Minister told Belizeans was local. How could a company majority owned by an American pig-farmer be local? Mr. Barrow claimed that the monopoly was a good thing because now the butane company would be Belizean owned, and that is how he justified wresting it away from the Central-American wholesalers. But like the honourable Cordel Hyde so eloquently put it – it doesn’t matter who is shafting us. What matters is that we are being shafted, and the people are tired of being shafted – end of story.

Inquiring minds also want to know how the law partner and personal friend of the Attorney-General ended up playing a huge role in this butane monopoly, and even filed the papers for the company. Does that mean that the AG will have a financial stake in this company? And why did this majority American company reportedly get 13,000 acres from government with massive tax breaks? Who brokered that deal?

Whose palms got greased?

Every week we are forced to sit in front of our televisions as the Attorney-General and Minister of National Security talks to Belizeans like they are disobedient children. It is time for the AG to answer the tough questions now. What is his role in this butane monopoly company, and who is getting rich off it. As with everything else under the UDP, a select few ALWAYS get rich while the majority of the people get the shaft.

2020

NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF DISSOLUTION Notice is hereby given to all interested parties that the company AQUILO VENTURES INC. (“the Company”) incorporated under the IBC Act of Belize commenced dissolution on the 7th day of April, 2020; and SOCRATES ELLINAS of 21 Vasili Michailidi, 3026, Limassol, Cyprus is the Liquidator of the Company, and any claims against the company should be forwarded to the Liquidator within 30 days from commencement.

Belize Corporate Services Limited Registered Agent

NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF DISSOLUTION Notice is hereby given to all interested parties that the company TECHNICAL SERVICES OF PETROLEUM LTD. (“the Company”) incorporated under the IBC Act of Belize commenced dissolution on the 30th day of April, 2020; and Mrs. Brigitte Lecourt of Le Chateau Périgord, 6 Lacets Saint Leon, 98000, Monaco is the Liquidator of the Company, and any claims against the company should be forwarded to the Liquidator within 30 days from commencement.

Icaza Belize Trust Corporation 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 date indicated: AQUILO VENTURES INC. – 6th May, 2020 Belize Corporate Services 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 date indicated: NAFISAS PROPERTY S.A. – 1st April, 2020 GCC Corporate Consultants Group Limited Registered Agent

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

15

16

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

The People’s United Party, Party Leader John Briceùo and the PUP National Executive wish all our Mothers a

2020

A Special mention for the mothers who are on the frontline (Security Forces, Medical Personnel, Farmers, Grocers and all other Essential Workers) of the battle to keep Belize safe and fed.

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

17

To all Nurses

Happy Nurses Week (May 6-12, 2020)

Theme: Nurses a voice to lead - Nursing the World to Health

On this the Year of the Nurse, you are answering the call to serve humanity during our greatest time of need in generations.

From all the PUP Family a heartfelt, Thank You.

18

THE BELIZE TIMES

THINK ABOUT IT

BARROW MESS WE UP A disaster worse than the threat of Covid-19 has fallen on the people of Belize. Our Prime Minister has not only broken the government financially, he has no solutions as to how helpless citizens are going to live and survive in the near future.

Because the government is broke and the UDP and its leader have no money in the treasury they hurriedly closed down the social assistance program with two more months left to go. The reason the government hastily opened up government departments and shops and stores is to have an excuse when the grumbling and criticism start that people need assistance.

The government has also been more than embarrassed when they claimed they were prepared to give assistance to some twenty thousand needy persons. It turned out there are 81,000 persons who applied. Frightened by this number and broke like ‘cobo’, they hurriedly shut down the assistance program. Thousands of citizens have received no assistance for the past month. Not even a dollar.

Our concerns are those of the Leader of the Opposition. Not only has Honourable Johnny Briceño raised a recovery program at the last sitting of the House of Representatives, but has now gone further.

Honourable Johnny Briceño had suggested a bold recovery program for the country and its people. Nothing came from the Prime Minister.

There are two reasons for this, the Prime Minister has no money and the Prime Minister has no ideas. There is supposed to be a deputy Prime Minister but he is such a nowhere man, somewhere in his nowhere land, making not one single nowhere plan.

The rest of the clan in Cabinet like their Prime Minister have no idea how to offer hope and solutions as the country faces an uncertain future. It is very clear there is a leadership crisis as well.

Can we not have a public discussion on some ways forward?

Let’s start with the importation of food items.

Our supermarkets, Chinese stores and convenience shops are bulging with imported juices and drinks. There are many kinds of junk food and imported foods and items. Most of these can be substituted by locally produced Belizean food and drinks.

We cannot be eating and drinking food and drinks produced in other countries.

We cannot afford it. We cannot afford to be supporting foreign farmers and producers. We have our own farmers and producers. They need our help. We have to eat what we grow, we have to grow what we eat.

In a small, third world country like Belize, when the government goes broke, the economy of the country gets crippled. Hard times are coming to Belizeans. In the phrase of our elderly- “we wha know how barley grow”.

“Dog wha eat we supper” if the government cannot provide leadership. What has ruined Belize is not only the waste and corruption but – failure of leadership and ideas.

Agriculture has to now get priority, real priority. Make more lands available to new small farmers, provide all the support they need.

Back yard gardening must be started. Many hundreds of yards can start to raise chickens and sell to farmers cooperative. Advice must be provided to a new grouping of our women and young people to raise chickens and plant garden food. We can do it. Every yard can have bananas and plantain and coconut and vegetables. Yes we can do. So let’s do it.

No more importation of furniture. We have enough lumber in Belize. Let’s start to teach wood work. Like start right now. Beds, chairs, doors and windows.

Sewing. School bags, face masks, jeans, shirts, blouses, T-shirts. All proudly made in Belize and proudly worn by Belizeans. If and when tourism starts again, lets ban imported souvenirs and encourage Belizeans to design and make local souvenirs.

Where there is a will, there is way. The People’s United Party will have to help show us the way. The UDP and their arrogant leader has brought Belizeans to ruination.

We cannot sit back and wait for Barrow to go begging and borrowing. He will do the same thing he has always done when he gets money – waste and corruption.

COVID – FREE By now most Belizeans know there is no Covid virus in our country. We pray it remains this way.

If there was the virus among us, many would be coughing and experiencing fever and breathing problems.

BODY 2000 On Saturday 2nd May, 2020 police raided Albert Street in Belize City. Closed down the stores and cited the owners for breaking the law that only food places and grocery stores should re-open.

In order not to send so many merchants and business people to court for breaking the State of Emergency regulations, the government announced on Monday 5th May that they had changed the law to suit the business people.

On Tuesday 6th May, four or five workers were inside Body 2000 on Coney Drive, cleaning up and doing maintenance for when the gym re-opens. Police raided the gym. It had down its metal shutters, padlocks and a big sign that the gym was closed. The workers (no private persons were exercising) were all carted off to Police Station and charged for breaking curfew.

The owner of Body 2000 visited the Police Station to find out what happened.

He too was charged.

In the classic book Animal Farm, the Politicians and Ministers in the form of greedy pigs used to change the law to suit themselves. This is how Belize has become.

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. Oink. Oink.

10 MAY

2020

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

UDP 1st, UDP 2nd, UDP 3rd

By President of the Belize Youth Movement, Karim Adle When Covid-19 brought Belize, and the world at that, to its knees we all felt a sense of togetherness as it was a fight for all. Covid-19 would not discriminate; it would not pick persons from special groups; it would target ALL. For the first time in my life, I felt helpless as the virus reached closely to members of society that I know and share friendships with. It even claimed the life of a brother to whom at this moment I would like to say, Rest In Peace

and Rise in Glory brother Hubert. Also the same goes, to the other victim and all the other victims worldwide.

In Belize, we have grown accustomed to the UDP way of arrogance and self-centeredness. Mark King once described how they view Belizeans when he said, it is UDP first, Belizeans second and PUP last. Doug Singh has followed it up and said what the present-day UDP feels towards Belizeans. As the saying goes, maybe it serves us right for believing that they would fight this disease together as a country and put differences aside for once for the greater good of ALL our people. What begun as a “togetherness” quickly turned sour and the ugly bearing arrogance of the UDP once again reared its ugly head.

All our Belizean brothers and sisters are suffering at this dilemma. All have been affected, whether working at a tourism sector-based business or whether working at a call center, your life has changed this year thanks to Covid-19. The press conferences of the PM have become like recording as all he would boast is how ready we were, and how much finances he has

sought. However, the reality of things is that the people have not felt the aid. Our people have and continue to suffer. Citizens that used to work for a living are now relegated to government’s mercy in the form of the relief fund that has taken many weeks to simply get a response.

Then they came bearing gifts in the form of a food pantry program that has simply been politicized from its inception. In my hometown of Cayo North, I have personally assisted members of the constituency to fill out the online forms as not all citizens have access to the internet. To date, not one of these individuals have obtained a response to their right. What is by far the biggest slap to the gut, is hearing the cry from the same persons waiting, that a UDP operative working for the ghost minister in Cayo North is gathering names and getting approval for their people in a day or two. The people are furious

19 Mr. UDP, Mr. PM. Our people in this crises should not be suffering while those cronies keep getting the bigger chunk of the pie.

Covid-19 hit all Belizeans across all sectors regardless of political persuasion. Covid-19 has unmasked the UDP for the heartless and vindictive individuals they are. Their true colors were on full blown display this time around as they showed Belizeans that they are in fact UDP first, UDP Second and UDP last. If you don’t believe me just ask Doug, or better, ask Omar who has been hiding in the darkness while the people he represents for now are suffering, and crying out for better. Many of those persons on the edge have never begged or been dependent on any government program but times have changed for everyone, for once do the right thing Mr. GOB.

20

THE BELIZE TIMES

THE REAL SUPER HEROES OUR NURSES AND MIDWIVES

By Senator Elizabeth Bennett There are lots of things we all hate about COVID 19 for sure!

We hate the isolation from family and friends, the quarantine, the face mask, state of uncertainty, and most certainly the death of our loves ones! But arguable too, this pandemic has done one of the greatest accomplishments yet for the world, which cannot be denied, overlooked, breezed through, push under the rug. Covid-19 has forced the whole world to examine, to appreciate and to celebrate NURSES and MIDWIVES and not the movie stars, cars, sports athletes, horse races, or politicians…! Covid-19 has provided global evidence of who the real super heroes are and why they must be celebrated. But

how can we celebrate them in Belize during quarantine time?

Nurses are adept at thinking on their feet as they literally walk miles on each shift or stand for hours during a surgery to provide quality care or provide a listening ear whilst their bladder is screaming for relief. They are expected to give the most empathic response to both their anxious patients and sometimes angry family members about a life and death situation even when they don’t know themselves.

They remain determined to provide quality care under pressure knowing they are using the last N95 mask or the last dialysis tubing in the whole unit. At the same time, they are brainstorming how to source the next one for the next patient that is to come.

They provide comfort to a crying father who is in utmost despair at the passing of his newborn baby girl, whilst forcing back their own tears and melt down. And, they often just sit silently in support of the young mother as she shares her ordeal while waiting patiently for the result of her breast biopsy. And night after night, they sit seemingly unmovable like a loving parent holding the hands of the toddler or elderly patient who is scared of being alone in the dark in a new environment.

Whilst in nursing education, the nurse educators, comb

through papers, virtual presentations, grades and points allocation and agonies when a student drops or fails a course. And the nurse administrators who once had an eight hours shift are now working 24 hours as if on call, because Covid-19 has the hospital in the worst shortage of supplies ever to be experienced.

Our rural and public health nurses now need to stand even firmer with strong nursing ethics and a cape of bravery amidst the confusing ever changing Covid-19 protocols yet still wear the biggest shield of support when reassuring a concern and worried community. The psychiatric nurses screams for virtual stress management and self-care sessions and spends sleepless nights on a policy for a nationwide counseling hotline whilst simultaneously making a mental checklist of how many homeless patients need a visit and some medication. With very few nurse anaesthetists in country, there is no chance of implementing staffing flexibility and appropriate staffing transitions; instead they so often need to lift, change and direct the trolley with the patient to the recovery room. And our midwives brace both mommy and baby for a safe landing and a healthy loud scream to life while simultaneously praying silently to hear the heartbeat of another in fetus distress.

10 MAY

2020

But all that is merely our stories on the inside of nursing. What is your story? Which nursing super hero helped changed your life or a family member’s life forever? It is time to tell the world!

And only your side of the stories can really make this week of honour and appreciation complete. So as we open a “quarantine” nurses week, lets show some true love and appreciation to the nurses and midwives of this nation by wearing a yellow mask, or a piece of yellow clothing or tie a yellow ribbon on your old oak tree this week. Yellow represent the personal power and fulfilment, abundance, courage and self-confidence of OUR nurses and midwives. Yellow stands for wisdom and understanding and the logic, super memory, concentration, will-power and communication skill they possess. Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy, happiness, clarity and sunlight which our nurses and midwives display.

Let’s take the opportunity this week to post a picture of a nurse or and a midwife on all social media and share our gratitude for the work they are doing. Please tag the Nurses Association of Belize, the Nurses and Midwives Council of Belize and the KHMH Workers Union– Facebook pages. I most definitely welcome your special posting to my public figure page as well – Senator Isabel G. Bennett. To our talented Belizean song writers, poet, musicians, and artists of all types… both here and abroad, in this downtime, bless our nurses and midwives with a masterpiece that would go down in the history pages of our country. Be a part of this historic year as declared by the United Nations The Year of the Nurse and Midwife. They deserve our full salute and honour!

Nurses a voice to lead Nursing the World to Health

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

End the Secrecy resentative on SSB among others were so convinced that those, who were unemployed before Covid-19, whom they view as lazy individuals who want free money from government, should not receive any of the relief funds that Willoughby even denounced the idea on 7 News Belize on April 7, 2020. Singh also denounced the idea with journalist Aaron Humes. Since then those two SSB parasites among others have done everything possible to sabotage the distributing of relief funds to the most vulnerable group in the society—the unemployed which include thousands of single mothers, handymen, and tradesmen.

Out of more than 80,000 ap-

By Gilroy Usher, Sr. “Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government.” – Jeremy Bentham.

The government needs to open a functioning office in each town and city to deal with concerns about applications for Covid-19 financial relief from persons who lost their jobs due to Covid-19 or were unemployed before Covid-19. Kindly note that unemployed simply means persons are informally employed. In layman terms such individuals engage in a wide range of activities daily to care for their families.

After submitting their applications for over a month from the 1st week of April, thousands of fully qualified Belizeans have not received any funds to deal with hardship caused by the lockdown and other measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

The main reason for delays with the receiving of the funds are ‘incorrect Social Security numbers’, ‘error with banking information’, ‘the spelling of names’, and ‘lack of access to the internet to know when one’s debit card is ready’ for the person to access the relief funds.

Presently efforts to rectify the problems that have resulted in long delays with the distribution of the relief funds, lead to endless frustration as persons are taken around and around in a circle.

Whenever calls are made to the numbers listed for assistance with Covid-19 financial relief, the result is voicemail 24/7; texts to the numbers listed direct one to the Covid-19 website (covid19.bz), which request that persons with concerns call the same numbers that no one answers.

The administration of $75 million of taxpayer money for Covid-19 financial relief in total secrecy raises many concerns including the highly likely manipulation of the system by members of the ruling party to ensure that the applications of their supporters are facilitated and fast tracked for approval in every possible way.

Belizeans are very understanding; they know the importance of the regulations put in place to help prevent the spread of the deadly virus. They will all wear masks and maintain social distance in visiting any Covid-19 office to sort out problems with the approval of their applications for relief with the pandemic, in the same way they do whenever they visit any business place to conduct transactions including accessing the relief funds with their debit cards or savings books for the different banks and credit unions.

It was mainly the Opposition and concerned Belizeans, who convinced the government that the pandemic would cause severe hardship for those who lost their jobs as a direct result of it and even greater hardship for those who are informally employed, therefore they all deserve financial relief with the coronavirus except for persons, who are still employed, or are benefiting pantry, boost, or pension etc.

Doug Singh former Chairman of SSB until recently and Phillip Willoughby government Rep-

plicants included tens of thousands of persons, who were unemployed before Covid-19, over 50,000 persons, have not received even $1.00 in relief money after weeks and weeks of endless waiting.

Despite pleas on the morning talks shows from concerned Belizeans across the country, the UDP administration has refused to end the total secrecy regarding the administration of $75 million in Covid relief funds by opening temporary offices within Social Security buildings across the country. Until that blackout of information is ended, Belizeans have every right to believe that it is an uphill battle they face in trying to correct errors with their SS# and banking information, etc. To clear the way for them to receive financial relief with the pandemic is part of a secret war being waged by Willoughby, Singh, and other persons of similar thinking. They wear a grin on their faces daily. They truly view the unemployed as below their social standing, and are secretly engaged in

21

the last ditch efforts to prevent tens of thousands of unemployed Belizeans from receiving financial relief with the pandemic.

22 OUT Mask or No Mask

!

Dear Editor, Allow me some space to share my opinion, On April 30, 2020 the Attorney General appeared as an “expert” on “Ask the Experts” webcast to inform the entire nation of Belize that we MUST wear a mask the second we leave our homes or risk a hefty fine or jail time. On another segment he even mentioned that the kids too at a day-care must wear a mask and practice the 6 feet social distancing rule.

I am surely no expert but pure common sense told me that was the most ridiculous statement ever. How on earth could you keep children 6 feet apart all day long – Impossible!

Thank goodness common sense from others involved prevailed and that statement was later retracted; NO daycare would be opened, period until further notice. I am left wondering under whose advice and recommendations the AG is operating.

It was abundantly clear after watching Channel 7’s newscast last night (May6) that even the Director of Health Services, Dr. Marvin Manzanero has his concerns with this mandatory mask recommendation, nor is he in full support. In fact, he went as far as to say that wearing a mask has to be a disciplined and educational process. He also stressed the fact that the suggestion of wearing a mask when you are running or riding a bicycle should not be recommended without the science – after all, science leads with evidence. Nor should children under two years of age be wearing a face mask as it can lead to suffocation.

The question then is why this mask situation was forced on us without relevant discussions or recommendations from the Ministry of Health. Are we operating politically rather than healthwise?

Thanks Name Withheld

THE BELIZE TIMES

OUT

!

Dear Editor, In my daily travel to the city in a bus we can see and hear the weirdest of things. During this coronavirus time it seems that our rights are being trampled upon left right and center. But is is ok… once you do not touch me personally. Well, sort of.

I have noticed that the police at checkpoints have been coming close and closer to the people. At the start of the reopening, which by the way is with empty buses, the police entered the bus and took a picture. Yes he did. Is this a part of the Commissioner’s policy that was so frowned upon?

The sight must have been a unique one as everyone in the bus was wearing a mask. Belizean people are law-abiding. But there are those that mar our numbers. The law-breakers are everywhere and they spoil the reality of a Belize the mostly obeys the law. Even policemen break the law, many of my friends and acquaintances are police and they are good people.

Lately, the police have been fondling the people’s belongings. This week they asked me to open my work bag for them to see what was inside. Yes he did. I complied but am annoyed about my personal space being abused. Then again, I remember the Commissioner saying to the effect that privacy doesn’t exist.

Why is this search necessary?

Do they think that I am bringing things from across the border?

Again, the hardworking people in the bus must bear the wrath of the lessening of our liberty to be law abiding civilians.

Thanks River Valley

OUT

!

Dear Editor, Please allow me a space in your newspaper.

For obvious reason I will withhold my name but in due time will reveal exactly who I am. I grew up and still very much reside in Maskall Village, the home village of the current and soon to be former Area Representative for Belize Rural North Edmund Castro. Like many of my colleagues who work in the Tourism industry from this area, Covid-19 left me jobless and I am now in dire straits. I applied for the Unemployment benefit and for some unknown reason my application was unsuccessful.

In desperation, I then applied for the food pantry assistance program or whatever is the name. I received a phone call from a woman whose name I prefer not to call who told me that my application would not be considered because I have been a BOOST recipient since 2012.

The woman gave me all the details as it relates to my family members. I was shocked.

Now, let me be clear. I have NEVER, EVER in my life applied for any BOOST. Prior to Covid-19, I made fair enough money to keep my family fed. I must also categorically state that I have NEVER, EVER received any BOOST. How my name and family details made

10 MAY

2020

it onto this program behooves me. Someone from Maskall has been collecting BOOST in my name. My question is who, and where did the money go? My other question is: am I the only one? I would venture to say Hell NO! Since I started making inquiries around the village, I found out that there are at least five more such families who were denied assistance because they were on the BOOST program they knew nothing about.

Someone must be held to give account and I pray that all Social Programs currently administered by the UDP Government will be thoroughly audited and proper investigations conducted into any impropriety, and that people be held accountable for their corrupt actions.

Because of someone’s dishonesty, my family has not received any assistance. Thanks to Mr. Marconi Leal and Ms. Danika, we received a food hamper that went a long way. The Belize Red Cross also assisted us with a food hamper. I am humbled by these gifts of love and I hope and pray that sooner rather than later I will be able to go back to work and will in some way or another assist other people like myself who are in need.

Thanks for allowing me this space to vent. This really, not gelling.

Name Withheld

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

Noh Figet

23

We have not forgotten these key issues that are definitely at the heart of the UDP mismanagement, bad governance and destruction of Belize even before any Covid-pandemic.

• • • •

Aldo Salazar the Immigration Report is still pending to the people of Belize.

When will the Prime Minister acknowledge and audit the PetroCaribe spending and the unconstitutional spending as ruled by the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Benjamin.

Herman Longsworth was to be investigated as per the Auditor General’s report. What was the outcome? Simeon Coc had his own 2 million dollar question.

John Saldivar was under investigation by ACP Vidal. Have they called Utah?

$1.4 BILLION Dean Barrow Spending NO TEETH

illegal and unconstitutional, says Chief Justice

Integrity Commission

Public Accounts Committee

Auditor General Contractor General

For the last 12 years ignored, underfunded, and immobilised by this UDP Government

EVIDENCE

and FACTS

BRICEÑO & ESPAT vs BARROW (LANDMARK CASE)

Violations of the Finance and Audit (Reform) Act Violations of the Contractor General Act

- $100 million spent in 2012/2013 was unconstitutional.

- 21 SPENDING BILLS from 2004 – 2018 passed by the Barrow Government all unconstitutional - injunction to restrain the Minister of Finance and the Financial Secretary from spending monies without prior parliamentary approval.

24

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

An Article for our UDP government to notice While we have a surplus of some staples due to the hard working farmers we have our neighbours in need and in high demand of a staple—beans. Our lame duck Prime Minister and minions have forgotten why they are the leaders of the country. The reason is not the Barrow legacy. The reason is NOT to satisfy a few UDP cronies. The reason is not to satisfy their power hungry egos.

The reason is to devise policy and strategy that will improve the quality of life of ALL the Belizean people and the next generation.

Case in point: Guatemala has greater needs in this time of Covid as their prices of beans are skyrocketing due to demand. The Belize Ministry of Economic Development and the PM should be looking to trade with our neighbour(s). Of recent, the debacle of the Cattle industry was because of the continued inaction by this UDP government; this industry is still waiting to be regularized and fixed. The Coronavirus is here to stay; the PM should pick up the phone and do something even if his UDP government is heaving its very last of breaths. If there is no breath, then leave immediately.

Meanwhile pay attention to this article.

Coronavirus: Precio del quintal de frijol sube 29% en un lapso de 50 días

En el mercado la libra de frijol se cotiza entre Q4.50 y Q5, pero en el mercado mayorista el quintal se vende a Q410 según el MAGA. (Foto Prensa Libre: Hemeroteca)

Por Urías Gamarro, prensalibre El pasado martes 5 de mayo el precio del quintal(approximately 100pounds) de frijol de primera -calidad- se cotizó en Q475($124.37 BZD) y el de segunda en Q455($119.13 BZD), según reveló el informe de la Dirección de Planificación (Diplan) del Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación (MAGA).

La variación al alza es del 29% desde el 16 de marzo cuando iniciaron las medidas restrictivas por el estado de Calamidad para frenar los contagios del covid-19. En esa ocasión la referencia era de Q368 el quintal y pasó a los Q475 o sea un incremento acumulado de Q107 hasta el pasado martes.

“Mayoristas indicaron que existió reducción de oferta, debido a que no hay cosecha en ninguna de las regiones del país, sumando a una fuerte demanda. El grano circulante en los mercados es producto que fue almacenado de la última cosecha de las zonas norte y oriente”, cita el informe de Diplan, que es la entidad que tiene a su cargo el monitoreo de precios de los granos básicos.

Otro producto que registró alza fue el huevo blanco mediano y la caja de 360 unidades, pasó de Q343.50 a Q347.50 o sea Q4 más en la semana del 23 al 29 de abril.

“De acuerdo con mayoristas el alza en el precio es derivado al aumento de la demanda y poco ingreso de producto de origen mexicano”, indica el informe de Diplan.

Frijol más alto en 10 años Consultado al respecto Gustavo García, técnico de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO) confirmó que los precios reflejados ahora son los más altos en los últimos 10 años, que en parte este asociado a factores de demanda por el coronavirus.

El precio promedio nacional que la FAO maneja hasta el sábado 2 de mayo señala que es de Q439 el quintal de frijol el cual no se había reflejado.

“Es puro factor de mercado ya que grano hay en existencia, pero se tiene en bodega y almacenado por mayoristas e intermediarios que cuentan con bodegas en la Capital y en los departamentos esperando sacarlo en julio y agosto cuando no hay cosecha”, explicó el técnico.

• 2015 precio promedio Q380 ($99.49 BZD)

• 2016 precio promedio Q376 ($98.45 BZD) • 2017 precio promedio Q427 ($111.80 BZD) • 2018 precio promedio Q371 ($97.14 BZD) • 2019 precio promedio Q372 ($97.40 BZD) • 2020 precio promedio Q439 ($114.94 BZD) García precisó que ingresó una pequeña cosecha de Alta Verapaz, pero no influyó en los precios y la conclusión a que llegaron es que los mayoristas e intermediarios tienen almacenado el producto.

El almacenaje responde por la situación actual de Calamidad por el covid-19 y la otra que en julio y agosto no hay cosecha del grano de frijol en ninguna región del país, y sube de precio de manera estacional, resaltó el técnico.

La siembra empieza en septiembre para levantar la cosecha en noviembre -segunda cosecha-, ya que muchos productores no se arriesgan en el inicio del invierno a perder el cultivo por exceso de lluvias o falta de las precipitaciones.

En el mercado la libra dependiendo el establecimiento está entre Q5 a Q6.

El área de cultivo de frijol es de 182 mil hectáreas, con una estimación de 3.2 millones, en el período 2018-2019, según la Encuesta Nacional Agropecuaria (ENA).

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

25

Section

Medidas tomadas en Centroamérica ante el Covid-19 afecta comercio terrestre

Por laprensa.com Más de 1,600 camiones de carga pesada, que trasladan mercadería de Nicaragua hacia otros países de Centroamérica se encuentran varados en Peñas Blancas frontera entre Nicaragua y Costa Rica, desde este lunes 27 de abril. La razón es que el país vecino ordenó 72 horas para ingresar y salir de su territorio a los conductores extranjeros, ante la pandemia del Covid-19, de lo contrario impone multas de 500 dólares, lo que ha provocado que los transportistas no quieran entrar al vecino país.

«Tres días es demasiado poco, la descarga de mercadería no depende del transportistas sino del importador, almacén, depósito, zona libre o recinto de destino; así como también la operación de exportaciones para cargar mercancías se depende de las bodegas de embarque, que aunque se cargue muchas veces hay que esperar la entrega de documentos y en estos momentos los operadores de comercio privado no están operando en horario regular y no podemos arriesgarnos a que nos multen», expresó Marvin Altamirano, presidente de la Asociación de Transportistas de Nicaragua.

La fila de camiones cubre aproximadamente 30 kilómetros de carretera, según afectados. A la multa se suma el cobro de impuesto del camión que se quedé más de los tres días permitidos. Este va desde 1,500 a 6,000 dólares según el año del camión, explicó Altamirano.

Las restricciones están en todos los países centromericanos por la pandemia, pero las más duras son las de Costa Rica. El problema fue expuesto mediante carta por la Federación Centroamericana de Transporte ante la Presidencia Protempore del Consejo de Ministros de Integración Económica Centroamericana.

En Nicaragua los transportistas informaron al Ministerio de Transporte, Ministerio de Economía y a Aduana.

También hubo una reunión virtual de Ministros de economía de todos los países centromericanos, donde la Federación de Transportistas propone que haya un trato igualitario en todos los países y proponen al menos 10 días para realizar su trabajo dentro de cada país, pero aún no hay resolución.

Discriminación para los transportistas nicaragüenses, Costa Rica trata con discriminación a Nicaragua porque también les exige visado por cada camión que cuesta 35 dólares.

«Es un obstáculo al comercio, al libre tráfico de mercancía, viola tratados

centroamericanos que dicen que el trato debe ser como a sus nacionales.

Nicaragua les da 30 días de estadía en el país y no les exigen visa», dijo el transportista.

En la carta del 29 de abril, la Federación de Transportistas Centroamericanos exponen que las medidas ante el Covid-19 afectan las operaciones del transporte de carga en el comercio intrarregional.

En Panamá se impuso de estadía migratoria con un plazo de hasta 72 horas desde su ingreso a su territorio a todos los transportistas centroamericanos, aunque en algunos casos se permite un tiempo adicional prudencial.

En El Salvador se impuso de estadía migratoria un plazo de 72 horas desde su ingreso a su territorio a los transportistas panameños y costarricenses.

Honduras ganará el dinero que El Salvador perderá

En Honduras se impuso de estadía un plazo de 72 horas a todos los transportistas centroamericanos que ingresan a su territorio, no lleva control migratorio, y en la práctica no se han visto afectadas las operaciones y se opera con normalidad.

En Guatemala se impuso que luego de descargar las mercancías, la salida inmediata del territorio de los transportistas centroamericanos que ingresan a su territorio, pero dicha situación no lleva control migratorio y como la descarga puede tardar muchos días, en la práctica el conductor centroamericano puede estar el tiempo necesario, además que la autoridad no controla la salida inmediata, por lo cual no se han visto afectadas las operaciones y se opera con normalidad.

En Nicaragua no han limitado la estadía de los conductores centroamericanos, sin embargo, ante las limita-

ciones de los otros países, el gremio del transporte teme que se tomen medidas recíprocas que afectarían las operaciones del comercio regional, más con la reciente disposición del gobierno costarricense.

En Costa Rica recientemente se emitió la circular AJ-0755-042020-JM de la Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería de ese país, con la cual limita la estadía de los conductores de transporte con 72 horas de permanencia en territorio tico, contado a partir de la aprobación del DUA (Documento Único Administrativo) desde el puesto fronterizo de entrada a Costa Rica, disposición que aplica para todos los transportistas centroamericanos, incumplir el plazo cual conlleva sanciones pecuniarias.

«Es comprensible que ante la emergencia de salud, las autoridades enfoquen sus medidas como seguridad cuarentenarias por el alto nivel de contagio que representa el Covid-19, sin embargo, en todos los países la actividad del transporte de mercancías es de vital importancia para mantener el abasto de productos básicos para la población, inclusive para el traslado de productos en general para minimizar el daño económico a los países, ya que aparte de abastecer a las sociedades cada Estado percibe impuestos y otros derechos en los procesos de importación y exportación de mercancías», expone la Federación en la carta enviada a las autoridades Pro Tempore del Consejo de Ministros de Integración Económica Centroamericana.

Las limitaciones de El Salvador, Panamá y Costa Rica son las que más preocupan a transportistas porque puede desestabilizar el proceso de comercialización y abasto de productos en la región.

Por Diario.com Antes de iniciar la cuarentena domiciliaria que el Gobierno de Nayib Bukele ordenó para evitar la propagación del coronavirus, muchos empresarios salvadoreños habían firmado contratos para exportar productos textiles a Estados Unidos. Con las medidas de confinamiento, sin embargo, el cumplimiento de esos contratos quedó irremediablemente suspendido y existe el riesgo que sean adjudicados a otros países cuya industria, actualmente, no está completamente paralizada.

Eso advirtió Patricia Figueroa, directora ejecutiva de la Cámara de la Industria Textil, Confección y Zonas Francas de Continued on page 26

26

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

Section

El Salvador se encamina al “colapso” del sistema sanitario, según Bukele

Por Laprensa.com El presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, advirtió este domingo (03.05.2020) que el sistema de salud del país centroamericano se encamina al «colapso», luego de que se registraran 44 nuevos casos de COVID-19 este sábado, para un total de 490.

«Estamos en etapa de máximo contagio comunitario y en camino al colapso de nuestro sistema de salud», sostuvo el mandatario desde su cuenta de Twitter.

Bukele compartió un video en el que se observan cuerpos de supuestas víctimas del COVID-19 y señaló: «Esto es México, un

país con muchos más recursos que nosotros» y «es cuestión de un par de semanas para que veamos esto aquí si no hacemos algo ya».

Las autoridades de salud realizaron el sábado 1,635 pruebas y detectaron 44 nuevos contagios, lo que representa un alza de 9.86%.

Este número de casos es el más alto desde que se detectó el primero contagio el 18 de marzo pasado.

Los fallecidos se mantienen en 11, los casos «activos» suman 325, de los que 253 pacientes no presentan síntomas, 56 se encuentran estables, 4 tienen un pronóstico «moderado» y 9 «grave». En estado «crítico» se encuentran 3 personas.

El departamento de San Salva-

dor es el epicentro de contagios del nuevo coronavirus con 188 casos (38.3%). Le siguen La Libertad (centro) y Santa Ana (noroeste) con 31 y 30, respectivamente.

El Ejecutivo de Bukele ha detenido a 2,394 personas por supuestamente saltarse la cuarentena, pese a que la Sala de lo Constitucional de la Corte Suprema le ha prohibido dicha práctica. La cuarentena domiciliar obligatoria y el estado de emergencia nacional concluirán el próximo 16 de mayo, sin que las autoridades salvadoreñas descarten una nueva ampliación.

Honduras ganará el dinero que El Salvador perderá Continued from page 25 El Salvador (CAMTEX), en una entrevista televisiva en la que además dio a conocer que los principales competidores de los empresarios salvadoreños en este rubro están en Guatemala, Honduras y Birmania.

“Las que estaban terminadas (exportaciones) se pudieron completar, no así otras”, comentó. “Hubo una cierta incertidumbre de cómo trabajar y las empresas que optaron por no hacerlo perdieron contratos y eso es parte del impacto”, agregó.

Dijo, asimismo, que los empresarios salvadoreños mandarán un “mensaje positivo” a los empresarios estadounidenses para evitar que trasladen la demanda de productos textiles a los productores asiáticos o a los vecinos centroamericanos.

“Debemos estar preparados para poder recapturar esa oportunidad y mantener el empleo”, expresó. “Conocemos empresas que varias de sus órdenes se han ido para otros países de la región”, añadió.

Dijo considerar como una buena señal que el 16 de mayo sea la fecha límite para el mantenimiento de la cuarentena domiciliaria porque, según ella, extenderla más allá provocará pérdidas de hasta 300 millones de dólares en las exportaciones y unos 25 mil despidos en la industria textil.

“Estamos en el momento en que hubo pérdidas pero hay esperanza de salir adelante”, afirmó.

Recordó, además, que la industria textil exporta el 45 por ciento del total de productos que el país exporta al mundo y tiene unos 80 mil trabajadores.

“El impacto en la industria será enorme”, comentó.

La Asociación Nacional de la Empresa Privada (ANEP) ha calculado que el 30 por ciento del total de las más de 360 mil empresas existentes en El Salvador están en riesgo de cerrar como consecuencia de las restricciones de las actividades económicas vigentes para cortar la propagación del coronavirus.

Además en los primeros 15 días de la vigencia de la cuarentena domiciliar fueron despedidos unos 70 mil trabajadores que representan aproximadamente el 10 por ciento del empleo formal registrado en el Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (ISSS).

El 28 de abril la Universidad Francisco Gavidia (UFG) dio a conocer que la crisis económica consecuencia del COVID-19 provocará una caída de hasta cinco puntos del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) y el desempleo será mucho mayor comparado con el que se registró durante la crisis inmobiliaria que inició en el año 2008 con los grandes bancos de inversión del mundo occidental.

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

27

Section Sharefil Gaillard, loopslu.com May 4 - Saint Lucia could see an extension of existing curfew after the island recorded three new COVID-19 cases in less than one week. Health officials announced on April 29, two new cases, a 54-year-old female diabetic and a 20-year-old male, the son of a previous confirmed case.

On Sunday, May 3, 2020, another case was confirmed, which brought the island’s figures to 18. The patient is a 51-year-old male with no travel history. It is unclear whether the individual was exposed to a previous infected patient.

“Cabinet will be meeting today, Monday, to have that discussion, so I do not want to preempt Cabinet in anyway,” Prime Minister Allen Chastanet explained when asked if the curfew hours and partial shutdown would be extended because of the three new cases.

Currently, Saint Lucia remains under a partial shutdown while allowing for increased activity in some areas.

During an April 26 address to the Nation, Prime Minister Chastanet explained that due to the uncertainty of the island’s COVID-19 situation, the government has not yet given the all-clear, which is why it had extended the state of emergency and maintained a 10-

Cabinet may extend curfew amid new COVID-19 cases

hour curfew (7 pm to 5 am daily) along with the zoning.

These measures are in addition to Saint Lucia’s closure of its

airports to all incoming commercial and private passenger flights and its seaports to all non-cargo sailing vessels, until further

notice.

To date, there have been no deaths resulting from the virus in Saint Lucia.

CTO: Brace for ‘25-year’ tourism setback

By Kareem Smith, Barbados Today Barbados and other tourism-dependent countries across the region have been told to brace for declines in stay-over arrivals that could set the region’s major economic industry back as many as 25 years, according to Caribbean Tourism Organisation Acting Secretary General Neil Walters.

And, as regional stakeholders look toward a gradual re-opening of their borders, they are being encouraged to market the region as a destination which offers health, wellness and safety from the COVID-19 crisis.

During a CTO webinar today, Walters revealed that regional sectors have been left basically crippled following a 2019 season, which far exceeded global growth projections.

CTO statistics reveal a staggering 15.5 per cent reduction in air arrivals over the first quarter, when compared with last year.

As COVID-19 cases increased, Caribbean countries endured a 39.7 per cent reduction in March alone.

The downward trends continued in the cruise industry where arrivals dipped by an estimated 19.1 per cent compared with last year and by 57.4 per cent when compared with stay-over visits.

“Tourism is the major economic driver so obviously these metrics show that essentially zero travel by the end of April will lead to significant economic impacts for the Caribbean and what we are projecting based on preliminary numbers is a minimum 50 per cent reduction in stay-over arrivals regionally for this year.

This would basically take the Caribbean back to 1995/1996 levels

and basically reverse 25 years of stayover arrival growth,” revealed Walters.

“Although we know that even though the relationship between receipts and arrivals is not linear, there would be a significant reduction as well in the receipts from tourism and then the automatic economic spill-off to the rest of the economy,” he added.

Real GDP in the Caribbean is expected to decline anywhere between 15 and 30 per cent along with increases in public debt between 15 and 60 per cent depending on the magnitude of the tourism fallout, according to Caribbean Development Bank figures.

But on Thursday, the acting CTO Secretary General suggested that a combined regional approach is necessary to forge a new identity, which presents the Caribbean as a place of escape from the realities of the troubling pandemic.

This includes significant integration of public health and tourism authorities to ensure that states have the necessary capacities to cater to the health needs of citizens and visitors alike

throughout the ongoing crisis.

“Early on in the Caribbean’s time as a tourism destination, health and wellness was the attraction of the Caribbean.

People came to the Caribbean to be healthier and well. Something that is old can be used again to help promote this region as a destination that people will want to come to as solace from what they have been experiencing over the past few months,” Walter’s explained.

“We are looking at the idea that the Caribbean comes out of the crisis with a very comprehensive and integrated plan, looking at several areas of promoting the Caribbean again to travellers.

“No one really expects the virus to go away completely and if we want to promote our destinations where people want to travel, we must ensure a system is in place to monitor the health of visitors and citizens alike and have the systems to manage the virus and its effects over an extended period of time,” the tourism expert said.

28

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

Section

Senator votes with his feet after turning up to complain about session

By David Hinkson, Barbados Today Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn today walked out of a session of the Parliament after claiming that today’s meeting of the Upper Chamber put the lives of lawmakers at risk. He declared that the Senate was seeking to pass legislation that in his view could wait until after the pandemic has passed.

During debate on the Income Tax Amendment Bill, Senator Franklyn declared: “You are bringing us here, risking our lives, to debate something pending since last year, and the other bill today dates back three years.

“This is reckless! Why not tidy these matters up after this crisis is over? Right now we have a crowd, and we are not exactly practising social distancing; we could have done this via a Zoom meeting, so you are risking everyone’s lives. I gone!”

But the Opposition senator’s

action was condemned by Senator Kay McConney, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology, who maintained that Parliamentarians were frontline workers too. Senator McConney contended it was the lawmakers’ job to serve the people of Barbados, even during a crisis.

She told the Chamber: “If you look at Barbados’ pandemic preparedness plan… we recognize that the continuation of Government is one of the stipulations as a part of Parliament, even in a time of crisis.

Therefore it is unfortunate when one of the honourable members of this House would see it fit that doctors are our frontline workers and must be out there, bus drivers are frontline workers and must be out there, that supermarket workers are on the frontline and must be out there and I can continue that list on and on. Why then must the Parliament of Barbados not also be on the frontline?”

“And so I say shame on those parliamentarians, one in particular

who sought to walk out of this Parliament on a day when all of us chose to be on the frontline for this country.”

Earlier, Senator Franklyn questioned why the income tax amendments were now coming up when they were first mentioned in the last year’s Budget Speech. “This is a 2019 Budget measure.

Now the law allows Government to raise

Coronavirus is hurting the Caribbean’s tourism economies.

Why no one is offering a bailout

By Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald.

Apr 14-Caribbean leaders say a financial bailout offered to some of the world’s poorest countries this week by the International Monetary Fund to help cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t go far enough — and stressed that they, too, are in desperate need of a rescue.

On Monday, the International Monetary Fund announced that it was canceling six months of debt payments, totaling $215 million, from 25 nations. Haiti, which gets to keep about $4.8 million, was the only Caribbean nation to make the cut along with Afghanistan, Yemen, Sao Tome, Solomon Islands, Nepal and mostly war-torn African countries.

“Up until now, there is no rescue plan for the Caribbean and we need a rescue plan,” said Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne. “This is not a situation where we

are trying to ask for assistance conveniently. It is an absolute necessity.”

With the Dominican Republic leading the region with 3,167 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 107 deaths as of Monday, the Caribbean region has registered more than 5,000 cases of the deadly rapidly spreading respiratory disease. The effects have not only been devastating in the loss of lives but also jobs, as governments closed airports and cruise ports and shuttered hotels to try to stop the spread.

The World Bank, in a report

released on Sunday, said the pandemic could send economies across Latin America and the Caribbean plunging by 4.6% this year.

Browne believes the projection is too conservative and fundamentally flawed, and underestimates the impact of the coronavrius on the Caribbean’s tourism-dependent economies.

Using his own debt-ridden and still hurricane-recovering island-nation as an example, Browne said, Antigua has already lost 20,000 jobs, which is half of its national workforce. He estimates another 6,000 could also be laid off as the government struggles to make payroll for its 12,000 public servants.

Meanwhile, he said, “they are looking at our per capita income and saying we’re so wealthy, we’re not eligible for assistance when, one, we have no surplus and second, about 80 percent of our revenue could be wiped out.

How the hell can we survive?”

Since the coronavirus

taxes either by introducing new ones or increasing the rates of existing ones, but the Government has to come to Parliament within four months of making these proposals to effect them. This is beyond four months now.”

He accused the current administration of constantly “rushing things after the fact”. He gave as an example the fact that no laws were changed when the bus fares were increased from two dollars to the present $3.50.

He also criticised the decision to write off Value Added Tax debt dating back to the turn of the century.

He told the Senate: “I have no difficulty in lowering taxes, but this Government allowed people who did not pay VAT to keep it. It is a criminal offence to receive VAT and not pay it, but in this case, the Government took on the role of the Director of Public Prosecutions and instead of charging these people for not paying, they wrote off their debts.

“You cannot act as you like, based on the numbers you have; don’t abuse your responsibility every chance you get.”

outbreak first reached the Caribbean’s sunbleached shores last month, Caribbean leaders say they have tried to get their creditors to help. They point out that many nations were already struggling to recover from a rash of devastating hurricanes over the last two years, and COVID-19 has only made life harder, forcing them to make extra investments in healthcare even as they have to keep making debt payments with no foreign revenue coming in.

“Right now the region needs a Marshall plan,” Browne said, calling for a write-off on debt payments and grants from the IMF and other Washington-based financial institutions. “I believe that after the next 60 to 90 days, [our] countries will become totally broke and would not be able to meet certain expenses, so there needs to be some level of international coordination and cooperation.”

Browne hopes to get the 15-member Caribbean Community regional bloc, known as CARICOM, to speak with one voice on the matter following an emergency virtual meeting Wednesday. High on the agenda are the virus’ economic impact and how leaders can best address the challenges resulting from it.

“We are doing whatever we can,” said St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who shut down his nation’s crystal blue waterways to yachting and recently offered citizens a stimulus plan valued at 4 percent of gross domestic product.

Even though Caribbean leaders are used to “adversity and making a little go a long way,” he said, it’s clear the current crisis is a threat and no Caribbean nation is immune from its potentially devastating impact.

BT Editor: For the complete story Visit the MiamiHerald.com

29

10 MAY

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

Section

‘The biggest shock was fresh air’: Italy begins cautious exit from virus lockdown

By Angela Giuffrida, theguardian.com “I literally haven’t been out of the house,” said Rina Sondhi, who lives in the Umbrian town of Orvieto. “The biggest shock for me was the fresh air. Today I feel liberated, but with caution – that’s the important thing, we can have the freedom but we must be really careful.”

An estimated 4 million people returned to work on Monday as part of what the Italian government called the second phase of the country’s coronavirus emergency, with the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, appealing to the public in a Facebook post on Sunday night to “act responsibly”.

Trenord, the company that manages train services in Lombardy, Italy’s industrial hub and the region worst affected by the outbreak, said the commuter flow in the morning rush hour was about 30% of pre-outbreak levels.

Life and death with a coronavirus ambulance volunteer in Milan – video The easing of restrictions is gradual, with factories geared towards exports and construction sites allowed to resume activity immediately.

Bars and restaurants can offer takeaway services but will not fully reopen until 1 June. Retailers, museums and libraries will open from 18 May, hairdressers and gyms from 1 June and schools from September.

Usually buzzing with activity in the morning, people wearing face masks queued outside bars

in Orvieto as they waited for their espresso.

“This is a great step even if we have to remain cautious – it gives you something else to smile about,” said Slavik Cebanu.

Jaskaran Singh, who works in Caffè Barrique, said: “We are happy to be able to open even if things are still restricted, and to see some movement. I just hope everything goes well.”

Although the infection rate has been steadily falling, fear of the virus lingers.

The vast majority of daily new cases are being registered in the northern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. No new cases have been recorded in Umbria for the past few days.

“Certainly, the fact that there are zero cases is important for us, but at the same time it doesn’t mean we’re fully secure as the virus is still there,” said Valentina Santanicchio, a chef whose restaurant in Orvieto, Capitano del Popolo, has been providing home deliveries. “In some ways, I’m more afraid than when we closed, as a lot will now depend on people managing the moment in a responsible way.”

Maintaining physical distancing will be crucial to ensuring Covid-19, which has claimed almost 29,000 lives in Italy, is kept at bay. People can now visit relatives and

Coronavirus:

There were feelings of relief and trepidation as people in Italy returned to the streets after almost two months indoors under a strict lockdown.

partners within their regions and go for a walk or exercise in a park, but most civil liberties remain curtailed. Travelling between regions is still banned, unless it is for a valid reason.

Walter Ricciardi, the scientist advising the health ministry on its coronavirus measures, said the country would go straight back into lockdown if the infection rate rose again.

“We’re still in a risky phase,” he told La Repubblica. “It will take two weeks to see how it’s going.”

World leaders pledge billions for vaccine fight

By bbc.com More than $8bn (£6.5bn) has been pledged to help develop a coronavirus vaccine and fund research into the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Some 40 countries and donors took part in an online summit hosted by the EU. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the money would help kickstart unprecedented global co-operation.

She said it showed the true value of unity and humanity, but warned much more would be needed in the days ahead. In total, more than 30 countries, along with UN and philanthropic bodies and research institutes, made donations.

Donors also included pop singer Madonna, who pledged €1m ($1.1m), said Ms von der Leyen, who set out the Brussels-led initiative on Friday.

The European Commission pledged $1bn to fund research on a vaccine.

Norway matched the European Commission’s contribution, and France has pledged €500m, as have Saudi Arabia and Germany. Japan pledged more than $800m.

The US and Russia did not take part.

China, where the virus originated in December, was represented by its ambassador to the European Union. Of the Continued on page 31

10 MAY

30

THE BELIZE TIMES

2020

Section

Coronavirus: Disease meets deforestation at heart of Brazil’s Amazon

By Kathy Watson, Bbc.com Coronavirus has overwhelmed the city of Manaus, where people are being buried in mass graves In the middle of the rainforest, the virus has taken hold. Manaus, the Amazon’s biggest city, is at breaking point. They are digging mass graves, or trenches. It is the only way overwhelmed authorities can cope with the deaths from Covid-19. People are asking whether this city, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, will become the next Guayaquil. It is hard not to compare the two, as the images of unburied bodies in Ecuador are still etched on many peoples’ minds here.

Amazonas has one of Brazil’s highest infection rates and also one of the most underfunded health systems, a combination that has brought chaos to the heart of the jungle.

In April, Manaus saw a rise of 578% in the number of people who died from respiratory problems. They are not officially noted as victims of Covid-19 but experts believe there can only be one explanation. With testing still low, there is a massive underreporting of the real numbers.

But even the official figures - about 92,000 confirmed cases and more than 6,500 deaths - saw Brazil reach a grim milestone as it passed China where the outbreak started.

“We don’t want miracles,” said the mayor of Manaus, Arthur Virgilio Neto.

It was a dig at President Jair Bolsonaro, who mocked the rising numbers of deaths by joking that his middle name was Messiah but he did not work miracles.

“What we need is a plane full of scanners, ventilators, medicines and PPE,” he said, referring to protective equipment for health workers. But help has been slow, while Mr Bolsonaro continues to downplay the severity of the virus.

Feeling of abandonment Home to nearly two million people, Manaus is the seventh-biggest city in Brazil and its most isolated urban centre. Amazonas also has the largest number of indigenous in the country, many of whom now live in the city.

Poverty, malnutrition and displacement make tackling the virus an even bigger challenge for these communities, some of Brazil’s most vulnerable.

In Parque das Tribos, on the outskirts of Manaus, several women are busy at sewing machines. History has taught people that viruses from outside bring devastation. Their only defence now are home-made masks, but much more is needed to protect them.

“We already have lots of people in the community with symptoms,” says

resident Vanderleia dos Santos. “We don’t have a doctor here, or a nurse to look after us.”

During the coronavirus crisis, she says, indigenous communities in the city are being attended to by the public health system, known as SUS. Rural indigenous communities have their own special health service, the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (Sesai).

She worries though that the system masks the true numbers of indigenous suffering from Covid-19. She says indigenous are not being registered as such, instead they are put down as “white”.

“Our identity is being questioned all the time,” she says. “And it means we can’t map the relatives who could be infected.”

With nearly half of Brazil’s indigenous communities now in cities, it is not a small problem.

“The indigenous in urban areas feel abandoned,” says Sonia Guajajara, who heads up the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous People. “They’re exposed to contagion and death because they’re not being attended to straight away.”

‘Double whammy’ For those living deep in the rainforest, the closest medical help is often days away by boat. Some communities have shut themselves away, fearful of contagion. Others remain uncontacted, but their livelihoods are at threat when there is also less oversight from indigenous and environmental agencies.

“It’s a double whammy,” says Jonathan Mazower of Survival International.

“Many of the field agents who would have been working to protect reserves from invasions have pulled back and are not patrolling anymore.”

That has huge consequences in a country where illegal loggers and miners have been emboldened by a government set on getting rid of protected areas and developing the Amazon.

“Many people are eyeing up these lands,” Mr Mazower says. “Undoubtedly they’re taking advantage and staking their claim.”

The figures speak for themselves.

In the first three months of the year, deforestation rose 51%.

“At the same time as adopting measures to combat Covid-19, we can’t forget the incursions and attacks that keep happening and are never resolved,” says Sonia Guajajara. “Looking out for Covid-19 makes the other issues invisible.”

She says illegal miners, loggers, hunters and evangelicals wanting contact with uncontacted tribes “aren’t in quarantine”, adding: “They are using this time to explore and they are the principal vectors.”

And there is an added urgency as

fire season begins.

Last year an unprecedented number of fires devastated huge swathes of forest in the Amazon. Peak fire season is from July which some experts worry could coincide with the peak of the coronavirus crisis.

“This will be double-trouble,” says Romulo Batista of Greenpeace in Manaus.

In 2019, there were more than

two and a half times the number of people with lung problems than usual, he said. And municipalities closer to the fire areas, like Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia, will suffer the most.

“When you have a lot of fires, you have a lot of people going to hospital and when you have a hospital full of Covid-19, it will be madness when the fires start this year.”

Coronavirus:

World leaders pledge billions for vaccine fight Continued from page 29 money raised, $4.4bn will go on vaccine development, some $2bn on the search for a treatment and $1.6bn for producing tests, the EU said.

In her opening remarks at the summit, Ms von der Leyen said everyone must chip in to finance “a truly global endeavour”.

“I believe 4 May will mark a turning point in our fight against coronavirus because today the world is coming together,” she said.

“The partners are many, the goal is one: to defeat this virus.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, another co-host of the conference, said the “more we pull together” in sharing expertise, “the faster our scientists will succeed” in developing a vaccine.

Mr Johnson, who spent three nights in intensive care with Covid-19, was to confirm the UK’s pledge of £388m for vaccine research, testing and treatment during the conference.

Along with the European Commission, the conference is being co-hosted by the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway and Saudi Arabia.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also among those who have signed up to the initiative.

In the open letter published in weekend newspapers, the leaders said the funds raised would “kickstart an unprecedented global co-operation between scientists and regulators, industry and governments, international organisations, foundations and healthcare professionals”.

“If we can develop a vaccine that is produced by the world, for the whole world, this will be a unique global public good of the 21st Century,” they added.

At the same time, the signatories gave their backing to the World Health Organization in the face of US criticism of its handling of the outbreak.

31

THE BELIZE TIMES

10 MAY

2020

10 MAY

2020

THE BELIZE TIMES

32