Sunday, August 28, 2011
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THE BELIZE TIMES
www.facebook/Belize Times
SUNDAY August 28, 2011
Issue No. 4760
Crisis at the Border!! GOB’s incompetence leads to dangerous border tensions
Belize City, August 23, 2011 Seven honest, hardworking Belizean soldiers dodged the chill of death on the wrong side of several hand guns and an AK-47 battle riffle. On Monday, August 22, 2011, while most of us in Belize were counting down to rice time or enjoying the last of the television game shows, these brave soldiers’ lives and the families they support were left out to dry by the stubborn incompetence of this Government. The official report is that the Belize Defense Force border patrol unit was in the process of executing routine borderline missions and joint patrols, coded as “linkup”, in accordance with the Organ-
isation of American States’ supervised Confidence Building Measures. While waiting for their counterparts, our Belizean soldiers were aggressed by five, heavily-armed Guatemalan encroachers. What unfolded was an international incident which was sloppily dealt with by the UDP Government. To no fault of his own, the world including the GuaContinued on page 4
The Barrow Administration’s “artificial” national security policy places every BDF soldier’s life on the line
VISA
SCANDAL
is “still dangerous” Briceño says PUP will fight to maintain constitutional supremacy
Entry granted to 19 Sri Lankans to “scout film locations” in Belize
Belize City, August 23, 2011 Opposition Leader Hon. John Briceño says the People’s United Party is still opposed to the 9th Constitution Amendment Bill, despite the Prime Minister’s promise that changes will be made to the proposed legislation. On Monday afternoon, the Government issued a release claiming that in a meeting with the Council of Churches and the Association of Evangelical Churches, Prime Minister Dean
Belize City, August 23, 2011 The reputation of the Immigration Department under Minister Carlos Perdomo is one that is already mired with scandal and serious allegations of corruption, as reports of questionable visa and passport transactions have been recorded. It appears bound to worsen. Today there is yet another report
Back to School Blues See page 8
lied to God’s face
9th Amendment
Another
See page 6
Barrow
Hon. John Briceño
Shameless Barrow tricked the Council of Churches
See page 9
Continued on page 8
Acclaimed musician, Giovanni Chi, shot dead Tuesday August 23, 2011 Acclaimed musician, Giovanni Chi, 33, a father of four, was gunned down like a cold criminal not far from his home shortly after 10 last Thursday night. The incident happened on Jane Usher Boulevard, just 5 minutes from where he lived with his common law wife, Elaine Castillo and their two daughters, aged five and three. Chi had just fixed his daughters’ bi-
Continued on page 6
Music icon, Giovanni Chi
See page 15
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 28, 2011
From the ghetto streets
Exploiting the Poor People
Barrow does not run the Church Dear Editor, First off I want to say it is good that we are all talking about the constitution, and good that the game-changer centers around the strengths and ailments of the “body of Christ”. Interesting enough a church sister and a Godfrey Smith Flash Point article were saying almost exactly the same thing. They are both saying that the right thing must be done, despite who is hated or maligned. This is not a discussion about Ashcroft or a confusion as to whether Belizeans do not want to own our utilities so we can get lower rates. The government is trying to strangle and kill their only competition, i.e. the CONSTITUTION. The “supreme law clause” which reminds politicians that they must be checked by the “will of the people” is being attacked by the amendments. The constitution is the will of the people not the will of the “legislators/politicians”. The gullibility of some church leaders particularly Plus TV who seem to believe that Dean Barrow, and his words are gospel, is frightening. This whole argument that Amendment 9 is a battle between “judicial supremacy vs. parliamentary supremacy” is a red herring and a misnomer. The law as it stands does not name either of those two bodies as having any supremacy. Section 2 speaks of “constitutional supremacy” for the very same reason this greedy Goliath Government is trying to muffle and hijack the birthright its only check and balance. It is a dumb argument because a court cannot make law. The judiciary is only a referee or an umpire. I am disappointed at how deep in his wrong legal opinion Pastor Wade is despite Mr. Gordon and every Christian attorney’s advice to the contrary. But we, church
The Party is nothing but the vanguard of the people, the active organ of the people, working at all times in the service of the people.”
people, tend to be either extremists or mice waiting for the sweet by and by. For this one there is no margin of error. At the very least the church should take the conservative position of opposing the amendment back to the status quo so that nothing changes for the worst. If we don’t understand reset the question and request that nothing moves until we understand and then make an informed decision. Church, we MUST get this right. Before meeting with Barrow, the Church should remember that the first rule in dealing with the Devil is “don’t”. Pray without ceasing. A. Mckoy
Audrey MaturaShepherd blasts the UDP & El Guardian Dear Editor, Please allow me some space in your newspaper to set the record straight on some outright lies and deception written against me and to which sadly I must respond so as to stop the continued fabrications and deceptions by the Guardian Newspaper. Under the heading of an article “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” the un-named author seeks to cast aspirations and in typical political bullying fashion suggests that I would be running in the next general election under a PUP banner and worst yet that my esteemed colleague Phillip Palacio is being asked to step aside to make way for me in the Mesopotamia Division. This is an outright lie and one phone call to me could have easily verified this but the Guardian Newspaper under this “lot” is nothing about truth. As the founding editor of said newspaper and a former journalist myself, I am indeed disappointed at the fecal level of their writing and reporting. Unlike the coward author and his editor, who hide behind anonymity I would like to make it absolutely clear, for the avoidance of doubt, that if I should ever chose to run for office it would surely not be under a PUP banner and definitely not by stabbing anyone in the back to take over any seat. The back-stabbing is more what the Guardian newspaper and the owners and advisory board is about by printing outrights lies and seeking to distract from the truth about their outright attempt to deceive the unsuspecting people of this nation. My style is forthright and to the point and surely not cowardly and deceitful – I am fearless in my conviction to live by my conscience and will continue to do so as long as God gives me life. I am very cognizant of the fact that the UDP and its mouthpieces, includ-
Dear Editor, Kindly save a space for this letter to the Belizean people to read the street news. Belizeans struggle day by day looking for jobs or trying to make ends meet, if they have any ends to meet at all. We find ourselves forced to make good or bad choices in life, but that only happens when there are no jobs being created. We are living in a lawless country, thanks to Dean Barrow and his brainless crowd. They have the Belizean people in a state of crisis without any chance of changing any time soon. Mr. Prime Minister, what did we do to you to get this bad treatment and to make our lives a living hell? Don’t tell me that you hate
poor Belizeans that bad! It seems that to you the poor people of this country are the last people you give help to but we were the first people you turned to promising the moon for our ‘X’ on election day. Remember Mr. Prime Minister, the Belizean people can only be fooled one time and no more. Come 2013 you will be gone. Justice will redeem the poor people again. We are just being used by this dictator Prime Minister and his government like some guinea pigs. We need to remind you, Mr. Barrow that this is not a laboratory and we are not guinea pigs. We are people! We are using our voice, so open your ears and listen. The people are the power to change anything. Mr. Barrow you and your government are a waste of time. Call the elections now!
ing the Guardian cannot deal with the fact that there are independent-minded patriotic Belizeans whose moral and ethical compasses are not calibrated by political hand-outs and patronage. God forbids a Belizean woman would dare speak out, for that male-dominated organ (no pun intended) this is tantamount to blasphemy. It seems the truth about what I have to say is hurting so bad they need to get personal and downright dirty – fecal dirty. Don’t worry my brothers and sisters on that side – I do not hold any grudges or discontent in my heart – they are forgiven. I know it hurts them that not every one can be their puppet and that the eyes of the people of this nation is being opened and this is only possible when people like myself dare speak out and share information and knowledge. It is unfortunate that my dear friend Alfonso Noble, Editor of the Guardian allows this trash writing to the point of questioning my legal learning. If he really believes that my legal acumen is that poor I don’t know why until recently he kept seeking my counsel in advising him and the newspaper on the potential libel of their cartoons after being threatened with lawsuits following his publications. Despite them claiming to have all the legal prowess in an act of kindness and friendship I so aptly advised free of cost until recently. But of course the UDP’s scandalsheet just don’t get it…in my book: I am not owned by anyone; national interest is above individual or party interest; wrong is wrong; not because I do not agree with all you do, means I am against you. I just do not ascribe to party-fanaticism because it gets us nowhere. Now on the matter of the decision of the CCJ – I know it is incumbent on the Guardian to try and save face and say such erroneous and mis-leading statements on the issue of the Ninth Amendment, but as long as we remain a democratic nation their deception will be uncovered. Without going into the details of the ruling it is sufficient to just say to people, read the Bill for yourself, think critically for yourself and make sense out of nonsense. If the present administration is not seeking to change our system of democratic governance why would it write in the Bill the following words: “a law passed by the National Assembly to alter any of the provisions of this Constitution which is passed in conformity with this section shall not be open to challenge in any court of law on any grounds whatsoever.” And if their intention was never to seek to stop the courts from reviewing unconstitutional amendments then why write it in section 69(9)? And if the changes are only about nationalization why didn’t they just refer to ‘any law dealing with nationalization’? why leave the wording so wide to be all-
encompassing? Plus the Ninth Amendment does not even use the word “nationalization”. They got not a slap from the CCJ but a “knock-out punch” because unlike what they want to fool people into believing that this amendment makes nationalization untouchable the truth is that a basic principle of our constitutional democratic system is that ‘no parliament can bind future parliament’. Simply put any future duly government can also amend the Constitution on the issue of the so-called nationalization. Further, the other deception is that there is need to stop Ashcroft from accessing the courts and so cut out litigation – but the truth is they enjoy all the litigation so as to make profit for their own loyal “law-firms” and attorneys too. From my end – I speak out, write and present free of cost….simply put my silence cannot be bought and the political bullying will not deter me! Thanks for publishing my letter. Respectfully, Audrey Matura-Shepherd Attorney-at-law
THE BELIZE TIMES EDITOR
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
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THE BELIZE TIMES
What the People are saying about the 9th Amendment Audrey Matura-Shepherd, “We are ousting the jurisdiction of the Court and I would dare say that in our democracy, the Court, the judiciary, is one of the most important pillars of democracy. It cannot be done, it should not be done. To allow this amendment to pass is to say we no longer want to be a democratic society, we’re going into some other form of governance.” – July 27 2011
Senator Godwin Hulse, “The most significant thing is that you are now putting any changes that you make to the constitution beyond the reach of the Courts – ensuring that amendments made by the national assembly are beyond the reach of the Courts and that’s a dangerous thing.” – July 26, 2011
Moses Sulph “We don’t want that to be passed because we understand the implication it can have. We’re not against; I will say that I don’t believe it is against the nationalisation at all for us, because it’s about the other clauses that we believe will affect us negatively. And it is too broad, it can leave way for victimization and it can leave way to take away many of our fundamental rights and freedoms”. - August 1, 2011
Kay Menzies, Chamber “You take a risk as a Belizean in supporting this amendment of losing the freedoms that you hold so dear right now; freedom of expression, freedom to own property, the rights that you are used to every day of the week. Once the government passes the 9th amendment, any future government can pass any amendment to infringe on those freedoms that we take for granted right now and make those freedoms disappear and you have no opportunity to question that in Court.”
Hubert Elrington – “Your liberties and freedoms are at stake. This particular amendment now puts the life, liberty and freedom of every single Belizean at stake – all of our freedoms, all of our lives, all of our liberties are now being put at stake. This is absolute madness”. – July 25 2011
Arthur Saldivar – “As it relates to constitutional amendments, you don’t have that right anymore by virtue of what is being proposed in the 9th Amendment Bill. This is what this does – this erases, eradicates, demolishes, destroys, strips away totally the citizens’ right to challenge anything that threatens his existence and existence of his freedoms. There is no democracy with this. Democracy would be dead.” - July 25 2011
Oscar Sabido – “Because of this amendment, if you go ahead and change it anything you wish to put in the constitution, preventative detention, etc, then it can be said that that cannot be challenged in a Court of law. It is absolute, it can’t be questioned. It’s final. You cannot bring up the question of natural justice.” - July 25 2011
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, “This amendment is saying you cannot challenge any amendment to the Constitution on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional; for instance, or that it’s unlawful or void. And that to me is a frightening situation that has developed in our country that the Prime Minister and his government believes that they have to go to this extent to what I would call not only eroding the rights and freedoms of our people but to remove the very substrata, the structure, the essence of what it means when our Constitution talks about the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to security of the person and so on”. July 26 2011
NO 9th Amendment!
F
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Crisis at the Border!! Continued from page 1
temalans, listened to Major Dalton Roches, BDF Operations and Training Officer. This is lamentable and reckless as the Government left a soldier obviously untrained in the art of public relations, to speak on behalf of country. This would never happen anywhere else in the world. Surely, it ought never to have happened in Belize, were there is a volatile, combustible and ripe border dispute. Where is the incompetent Minister of National Security, or the Minister of Foreign Affair? Ironic that these two half-alive ministers are in charge of the single, most important job of any Government, i.e., to keep us safe. Both these ministers are confirmed failures by their own government. Both performed so disgracefully that they were demoted in their previous ministerial portfolios. Sedi’s AG and Foreign Affairs Ministries had to be severed, while half of Perdomo’s Ministry of National Security had to be taken away and given to an unelected crony. The BELIZE TIMES is informed that the text book local protocol was not followed. Even if the Minister of National Security was too lazy or under the influence of his own ineptitude, this soldier should not have been put in this situation. The fact is that in the BDF, for ordinary matters, the Chief of Staff is the Officer who speaks for both the Minister of Defense and the Commandant. But this is no ordinary matter. Each of these incidents is a flirt with catastrophe, even if it is weighed only by the number of Belizeans soldiers’ lives which are surrendered to Government’s inability to deal with this border crisis. The last time we heard from Sedi and the border is when he signed the secret agreement for the compromis. He was calling it “artificial” and prodding us to expect “war” if we did not swallow his clandestine liaisons with the Guatemalans. If he wants to push Belize to war, he is surely on the right path. Frightening as it all is for the daughters of these soldiers, the nation should be exponentially more petrified as we learnt that this is the second time in a month that a joint patrol has had to be postponed because of a skirmish with armed and hostile Guatemalan civilians. How did that big statement blow over like a little breeze? Is there more to that story as to why the BDF and GAF have not been able to “link up”? Could there be a bigger problem? One cannot dismiss this national security crisis. Belize is a narrow strip of land. There are only twenty four miles separating Guatemala from the House of Representatives. To help the insomnia of Belizeans, we are reminded that there are barely a thousand soldiers, which is smaller than the Melchor Town’s Police Force. The nightmare is complete as the British have totally pulled out in the dead of UDP night. All this has happened while the most incompe-
tent Government in Belize’s history is stuttering and fidgeting with every single issue in this country from the Constitution to Preventative Detention. While Barrow has been busy fulfilling his mandate to “quitar” and indiscriminately victimize anyone within his reach, the vulnerable national security situation has been steadily deteriorating. He put a political dunce and a four-time failure of a politician in charge of the single-most important issue to all Belizeans. As the Guatemalan military downsizes and the unemployed Khaibils hungrily look across the border at the easy pickings of Belizean abundance, this could only get worst. They are Central America’s best trained commandos, Israeli-trained at that. A high ranking officer told us, “we [Belizeans] are lucky that these ex-
Kaibils are gainfully employed by the drug cartels to carry out their criminal executions than to mess with us over here right now”. The lives of these Belizean fathers who serve as soldiers and their families should never be “collateral damage” to the Governments’ failed or neglected policies. If the UDP were truly a government they would not have waited for the second incident and the escalations. What there should have been was a review of the international policy, national security initiatives and the clearly ineffective “confidence building measures”. This is not even the tip of the iceberg. We have not even considered the Rio Bravo area. We do not need for Barrow to tell us it is “very serious”. He knows because it is the fruit of his failure. The media has been blowing
Sunday, August 28, 2011 whistles and trumpets on the issue of national security for at least a year and a half. Despite the hopping up and down and waving to get GOB’s attentions to the eroding of respect for Belizean sovereignty, the UDP Government has been too busy landing drug planes, selling visas and making “pool table money”. If these children’s fathers were harmed or killed, the blood would be on the hands of this Government. While the UDP Ministers sleep at the wheel and go to their posturepedic beds, our soldiers must dodge AK47’s powered by UDP incompetence. While the children of soldiers cannot sleep at the thought that their fathers will not return, the UDP is busy filling their pockets and starting wars. Treason!
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
5
BARROW BULLIES BELIZE Barrow is afraid of elections. If he calls election now, he knows he would lose. But instead of calling elections he is trying to pass the ninth amendment to extend his time in government for another ten more years. He took over the phone and electricity company to pay his bills, but he has not paid the owners of the companies yet. What he is doing is buying time. He figures that he will use the profits from these two companies to pay his ever growing public debt. The IMF is in town and wants their pound of flesh, so Barrow is saying that he will meet his payments with these two new companies he “jacked”. How can “Re-Steal Belize” work when the leader of the land is showing gangsters how to take properties from people without paying? And if the Court returns the properties, just steal it again. In gangster-style Barrow offers the bullet instead of the ballot. His Minister of Foreign Affairs is inciting violence. He is saying take to the streets if you do not agree with the 9th Amendment. He claims he was a hero in 1981. He forgot that other people were there. The only real heroes were the students from Technical College that marched out in protest while the now Minister hid behind his desk. Be real Mister Minister, you are no hero. You are a disgraced Minister who disrespected Belizean sovereignty by calling our borders “artificial”. Dean is drowning in debt and driving Belize deeper into default. Remaining unchecked, the Prime Minister will be tethering on the edge of default by August of next year. He can barely pay his bills and now has assumed two expensive utilities for which he has no money to pay so he is using his executive power to buy time by putting up more legal hurdles. The stock market in Europe and the USA has plunged into chaos. Even neighboring El Salvador is saying that they need to get out from the US dollar because they are losing competitiveness. Blackouts are now with us from Punta Gorda, to Corozal to Belize. The Emperor has no clothes. The pharaoh is caged in his own prison. While the PM will want the public to think that Ashcroft has a receipt that says he bought the PUP, this is not so. In fact, Barrow continues to work for his Boss and his firm continues to get paid from Ashcroft Alliance. The UDP is bought by Barrow’s Boss. Minister Boots forgot how he used to go shopping with the Boss’s money and had three carts of goods at the check-out in Miami when he was in opposition. This same Boots did not check his change. Out of the three hundred workers he paid to come out to parish Hall only 75 were his. The UDP has lost the streets. Barrow should listen to Arthur Saldivar, “…nationalize the Chief Justice, nationalize the Chief Magistrate, nationalize the Solicitor General and nationalize the oil…” Our emperor Barrow-Young is now naked. Everyone who has eyes can see he has no clothes. While those around him, like particular media houses, continue to kiss up the brown spot, telling the PM that he has people on his side, the truth is totally the opposite. You must choose now, you’re either proclaiming power to the people, or power to politicians. Barrow is a one trick pony. History will record Dean’s regime with three letters. BTL. Barrow Tell Lies.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Another
VISA
SCANDAL Continued from page 1
of a major visa scandal from a Department that should carry out its duties in an extremely guarded manner. On July 19th, 2011 a purported letter from Director of Immigration, Ruth Meighan, was used to authenticate the issuance of visa entries for 19 Sri Lankans and 2 Indian nationals at the Phillip Goldson International Airport. The purpose of the visit was alleged to be the “scouting for locations and film a movie project” in Belize. The arrival of a Bollywood entourage to Belize would excite anyone, but since precedent shows airport immigration officials have been set up many a times, this time the matter was handled cautiously.
Acclaimed musician, Giovanni Chi, shot dead Continued from page 1
cycle and went out to get some food supplies for the home. He was returning with the items on his bicycle when a gunman apparently followed him and shot him once in the head. Police say the weapon used was a shotgun. Chi collapsed in a pool of water with the food items about him. The one thing missing was his wallet, according to investigators. At first glance, it appeared that robbery was the motive of the killing, but suspicion is that he was the victim of street violence retaliation. While he led a normal life, his brother, Andre Trapp, was shot dead near the courthouse last year. Some believe Chi was innocently targeted because of his brother’s involvements. Chi was known internationally for his contribution to Punta music, and for accompanying the late Andy Palacio on his Watina/the Gairfuna Collective world tour, and the legendary Paul Nabor. He also performed and played with now Minister of Culture of Costa Rica, Manuel Obregon in La Orquestra de la Papaya. Chi’s was also a member of the Ugundani Dance Group in Belize City. His family and his children have lost a great man, but much more importantly, the country has lost a great musician to gun violence. The BELIZE TIMES calls on this government to take constructive measures to address the crime scourge in this country before more lives are lost.
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Sunday, August 28, 2011 Officials became suspect when they scanned the list of names and found some of the following: “Joseph Mary Róselin, Pushparajah Sinthushan, Lazuras Yookalista, Thillalyampalam Satheeskumer, Charles Darwin Jegathevy, and Lazarus Mary Sooriya. Those names are either clearly of real Bollywood actors, or poorly clever scam artists. The BELIZE TIMES understands that to verify the arrival and purpose of the delegation, immigration officials ringed the NICH office in Belize City but no one had knowledge of the “special” arrival. Officials then contacted NICH Director Diane Haylock, but this time she was clean as she claimed she had no idea who they were. After attempting to contact various persons, airport officials got a surprise call from “a very high official”
in the Ministry of Immigration, who instructed that the delegation should to be allowed entry without any more questions asked. Our calls to the Department of Immigration were futile, as no official was available for comment. The Minister of Immigration was neither available for questioning. This recent incident follows a series of scandalous reports: the November 2010 issuing of visa entries to 33 Chinese nationals bearing Japanese passports who landed at the international airport in the dark of night on a privatelychartered plane from Haiti, Channel 5’s investigative reporting which showed that Somalians and Sri Lankans were obtain Belizean documents to get to the United States, and the sudden disappearance of a private jet at the airport.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
7
THE BELIZE TIMES
FROM THE DESK OF THE
PARTY LEADER
Failing our Young People When Dean Barrow and the UDP came to the Belizean People with their 21 Pledges they promised to create thousands of jobs. They also promised that our economy would grow every year and that he would bring down the cost of living no matter what. Today many of us must ask the question, how much effort has the Prime Minister and his government put into creating more jobs among construction workers, teachers, tour operators, other Belizean providers, especially the thousands of young people who are looking for jobs? When Barrow introduced his stimulus package in 2009 he said this was going to make the difference. It is now more than a year and we need to know, how many jobs for average Belizeans were created? In 2010 the Prime Minister reported that he was satisfied with the efforts of his government. He said this even when he reported that the Belizean economy, which registered no growth the year before, only achieved a 0.5 percent growth in 2010. So, what is this government doing to address the ominous shortfall of jobs, especially among the young people who have done their part and completed their education? The records show that our educated young people are more and more being marginalized economically because they cannot find work. This problem is especially alarming among low-income young people, especially in communities in South Side Belize City, where the unemployment rate among young people is hovering near 50 percent. According to a number of reports, the employment rate among teenagers has dropped considerably, most notably among young women, who in the past two years have seen their rate of unemployment double and their income decrease considerably. This is worrisome on several counts. First, young people who do not find work tend to become discouraged early in the process and stop trying. They fail to develop the work force skills that make them attractive to employers, which mean that they are likely to remain unemployed or underemployed well into their adult years. Second, the more talented migrate to other countries where they give their best years to the development of some country other than Belize. Third, the inability of a young person, who wants to work and cannot, can also lead to them engaging in illegal activities. Another factor to consider is that of our young students who must work and go to school. The part-time jobs that were once a rite of passage for high school students, like packing grocery bags and selling newspapers, have all but disappeared. This is now a full time job for someone who is currently doing that task in an effort to provide food for his or her family. This results in additional stress on those low income families who must now find other sources of funds to help to educate their children. Also, people who do not find work in their early years also have higher dropout rates in school and are more likely to commit crimes — meaning they are at higher risk of becoming permanent burdens to society. It is the responsibility of this UDP Administration to provide the climate that will foster job creation. While the private sector should be the main source for employment, government must provide the enabling environment to foster job creation. Where our young people are concerned, and more so where jobs are concerned, the Barrow administration is failing miserably.
Under Barrow & the UDP: UNEMPLOYMENT is 24% POVERTY is 43% GST was raised to 12.5% COST OF LIVING is the HIGHEST EVER NO SALARY INCREASE for Teachers, Police, Nurses FUEL PRICES are almost $12.00 NO NHI ROLLOUT School FEES have INCREASED Sugar is NOT available BUSINESSES ARE SHUTTING DOWN INFRASTRUCTURE IS WORSE NO KENDALL BRIDGE MORE PAIN & SORROW
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THE BELIZE TIMES
9th Amendment
is “still dangerous” Continued from page 1
Barrow agreed to the “trimming…of the Bill” to “put an end to any public disquiet over the Bill’s purpose and effect”. The release made no indication of which specific sections of the bill would be removed or what the amended version would end up looking like. It neither promised to make available the revised edition any time soon, indicating that additional changes may be made to the Bill until the time it goes back to the National Assembly for the second reading. While the Government release was vague on its commitment, a statement from the Council of Churches pointed out that three sections of the Bill would be struck out including: Section 69 – 3.: “and a law passed by the National Assembly to alter any of the provisions of this constitution which is passed in conformity with this section shall not be open to challenge in any court of law on any ground whatsoever.” New section 145(1)(b): “and no court shall enquire into the constitutionality, legality or validity of the said acquisitions not withstanding anything to the contrary contained in section 17, section 20 or any other provision of the Constitution or any other law or rule of practice.” New section 145(2): “The bar on the jurisdiction of the court contained in subsection (1) above is absolute and no court shall assume jurisdiction on any ground whatsoever including, without limitation, any alleged ground of lack of jurisdiction in the persons making the said Acquisition Orders, or any ground alleging breach of the rules of natural justice.” Briceño said the Prime Minister
Back to School Blues BELIZE CITY, Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 By Alton Humes With the school year literally days upon us, most parents will be very lucky to scramble around for all their children’s school-related needs. But with the economic state of our country, and the hardships faced by many poor families will the task be an impossible one? At the Government Book Shop on Gabourel Lane we spotted a Creole female and her family about to leave the bookstore. She and her husband are the parents of four children, all school-aged, with at least 1 in primary school. The kicker: mom is seeking fulfillment by going back to school (or evening school, at least), and she’s also balancing an
Continued on page 9
continues on a path of dishonesty, and the talk of making changes to allay the public’s concern is not truthful. He said the portions which the Churches’ release claims the Government promised to remove are only part of what makes the 9th Amendment dangerous to Belize’s democracy, therefore the announcement is no reason for comfort. Briceño said that the proposed Section 2 (2), which is not included in the sections for removal, states that “no law passed by the National Assembly” can be found inconsistent with the Constitution and it has the same effect as the proposed Section 69 (3) which transfers supreme rule to Parliament instead of the Constitution. The Bar Association has shed more light on the danger of that part of the amendment, noting in its July
27th 2011 release that the amendment to Section 2 “undermines the Rule of Law, lays bare from constitutional and judicial protection our fundamental rights and freedoms and the way we are governed and violates the doctrine of Separation of Powers”. For those reasons, the 9th Amendment was also rejected by the Chamber of Commerce, the Landowners Association of Belize, Belizeans for Justice and has even been criticised by Jamaica’s leading newspaper, the Gleaner [see page 26 to read The Gleaner’s Editorial “Belize On A Slippery Slope”]. “From what we have heard, there are no fundamental changes to the 9th amendment. Parliament wants to maintain its supremacy over the Constitution which still makes it dangerous,” Hon. Briceño told the media on Tuesday morning. The Opposition Leader said the Government’s strategy of simply promising to make changes, without indicating what it will change, does more harm than good.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
“We are at a major disadvantage that we do not know what the PM intends to change. Belizeans do not trust this Government or that they will do as they are saying,” Briceño said. Finally, Briceño also indicated that if the 9th Amendment was being amended, then “there needs to be a reset” of the consultation process because the Government would be presenting a new Bill and Belizeans deserve the right to have their say. “We need to start the 90-day consultation period all over again. Belizeans must be respected and consulted properly,” Briceño told the BELIZE TIMES. The People’s United Party rejected the 9th Amendment Bill in the form it was initially presented on June 24th 2011 because it said could not allow the Barrow Administration to empower itself with greater authority than the Courts and the Constitution. The PUP said its Constitution supports the full nationalisation of utility companies, unlike what the Barrow Administration is doing, which is placing only 51% ownership of utilities in public possession.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
Barrow
lied to God’s face Belize City, August 24, 2011 On August 8, 2011 the Church leaders tabled their position the Ninth Constitution Bill. They were clear and decided. Their informed vote was that they did NOT support the proposed changes to Sections 2 and 69. The Church’s contentions and alarm was founded on two objections. The first can be summarized as simply a need to protect the “supremacy of the constitution” and “the separation of powers”. The second was because they believe that the Judiciary should have the power… “ to [substantively] review legislation to ensure compliance with the constitution” not just to be demoted as handcuffed spectators “merely checking to see that the procedural requirements for changing the Constitution set out in section 69 have been met. No resistance would be raised that logically the only way that the Church’s position would be reversed is if these objects were eradicated. So since the Church has swung to the other extreme, we must ask whether the amendments to the amendment have removed these offending concerns. The Government Press Release deceitfully says that it has. But it has
not. The Government has only made cosmetic changes and admits that in the release, if we read carefully. They do not say that the “changes” will give access to the Court. To the contrary it only says that we will “see the removal…of SPECIFIC LANGUAGE barring court enquiry into the validity of any law passed to alter the Constitution”. They explained what this means, using their own words, all that is done is “TRIMMING OF THE LANGUAGE”. Trimming does not affect substance, it is cosmetic. The truth is that the Government is still trying to force into the Constitution its belief that it has uncheckable “Parliamentary Supremacy”. The Government can pretend to make concessions by those deletions because those deleted portions have the EXACT effect as the untouched proposed amendment to section 2. The Prime Minister failed to make full, fair and honest disclosure of the intricacies of constitutional law. The Church has been lulled to sleep by the use of his legal thesaurus. If a real discussion was to have been had the PM should have invited the “Bar Association Executive” to meet with the Church leaders at the same time as himself, so that both
“positions” could be analyzed side by side and at the same time. But he barred such possibility. In fact a condition of the meeting was that the Church could not attend with an attorney, not even the Bar President who is an executive member of the Council.
Back to School Blues Continued from page 8 internship. Crazy, you say?! Well, she might agree with you, referring to the struggle of getting books alone as “very tough”. Worse, she has to battle cost, because, like so much else these days, textbooks & notebooks at bloated prices are “ridiculously high”. She told us she’s spending as much as approximately BZ$800 for schoolbooks alone versus close to BZ$500 in previous years. She recounted that she’s currently paying as much as BZ$60.00 for one textbook, and that’s with a subsidy for primary school students with the Government of Belize’s Textbook Program. At Youth for the Future, a Government-operated program, I spoke to one of their male staff. He’s in a common-law relationship
9 The low and wicked lengths to which the PM has stooped is only an attempt to lie himself into getting support. He has shamelessly managed to drug the Church and manipulate their genuine and legitimate opposition to this undemocratic Amendment.
at the moment; siring 4 kids (3 are in primary school). In the past, he was lucky enough to get sponsorship for two, worth about BZ$300; today, he’s wrangling those needs now at an estimated BZ$500 to $600, and says it’s been “rough” because “you have to cut corners, and spread yourself thin while doing so”. Finally, it was on to a local shop on North Front Street, which sells books from other folks. There we met a Hispanic single mother. She’s living with her folks, while mothering 4 kids solo. One is attending Junior College/6th Form, two are in High School, and one is in Primary School. To get by she sells books from other people (mostly high schoolers moving up a class) to make ends meet. But it’s been a beast, sadly, as she’s still unable to meet some expenses for her kids. Whereas she’s spending BZ$1,000 now on schoolbooks and such, she’s the first to tell us its “impossible” to compare it to past, lesser expenses. While she’s getting help from the Government textbook subsidy (at both primary and high school level), she says it’s been “rough”, but that she’s “trying”. Three very different stories, with the same message: “Just fix the situation with the expensive textbooks, or…. life ‘wa get haad-a out ya…’”.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Female bartender beats cannabis charge
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Aug. 24, 2011 By Roy Davis Stacey Belisle, 24, a bartender who allegedly tried to smuggle 31.7 grams of cannabis in a foam plate with food to her boyfriend, Alexander Underwood, was freed of a charge of possession of controlled drug when it was dismissed by #4 Court Magistrate Roberto Ordonez on Monday, August 22. Magistrate Ordonez explained that he dismissed the charge because the foam plates were needed to be tendered as evidence and that was not done. He also explained that at no time the police corporal who busted Belisle pointed out her in court as the accused. In addition he stated that the police corporal did not hand over the drugs to the exhibit keeper until the following day and there was no report from the exhibit keeper that the drugs were handed over to him. Based on the absence of these elements that the prosecution needed the accused has no case to answer, said Magistrate Ordonez. The incident occurred around 11 a.m. on February 16, 2011 on the ve-
Stacey Belisle randah at the back of the Magistrate Court building. Underwood, a prisoner remanded on a charge of murder was in the bus waiting to be taken to prison when Belisle brought a foam plate with food for him. Before the food was passed to Underwood, the police corporal searched it and found an extra foam plate at the bottom. When he lifted the foam plate at the top he found 3 transparent plastic bags containing a green, leafy substance that was later identified as cannabis.
Jungle Scavenger goes to jail again BELIZE CITY, Wed. Aug. 17, 2011 By Roy Davis It was two strikes and off to incarceration for “Jungle Scavenger”, Warren Logan, 40, when he appeared in the #8 Magistrate’s Court on Monday, August 15. Logan, who was charged a second time in one week for handling stolen goods, pleaded guilty to the charge. Magistrate Emmerson Banner fined him $1,500 and ordered him to pay $500 forthwith and the balance by September 15. Logan was unable to pay the money so he was taken to prison to begin serving a term of 18 months. Logan will also serve 8 months for the first count of handling stolen goods which he pleaded guilty to last week in the #4 Magistrate’s Court. He was fined $750 and ordered to pay by September 10. Logan’s common-law wife, Stephanie Hemsley, 38 was charged jointly with him for both offences but in each case the charge against her was withdrawn. Both offences occurred on August 9 when the police searched Logan’s
Warren Logan house, located at 2 ½ miles on the Western Highway, and found a number of stolen items. In the first case the items were one DVD player, one iron and 5 assorted DVDs. They were stolen during the burglary of the residence of Josephine Waller, 31, located at Mile 4 ½ on the Western Highway. In the second case the item was a 25” RCA flat screen television, valued at $2,500, which was stolen during the burglary of the residence of Elizabeth Gomez. Logan claimed he bought the television from a friend for $250 and he did not know it was stolen.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
Duo pleads guilty to handling stolen goods BELIZE CITY, Wed. Aug. 24, 2011 By Roy Davis Two persons, Channing Garoy, 23, and Sherman Galvez, 25, charged with handling stolen goods in connection with the burglary of Sherry Shop, pleaded guilty to the charge when they appeared yesterday in the #8 Magistrate’s Court. They were each fined $2,000 by the Magistrate, Emmerson Banner who gave them until September 30 to pay. If they default on payment they will serve 2 years. Around 1 a.m. yesterday the police went to Garoy’s house, located at 3062 North Creek Road and recovered one black laptop Acer brand computer and one HP desk jet printer. The computer and printer have a combined value of $1,900. Shortly afterwards the police went to Galvez’s house, located at 7 Raccoon Street and recovered one red Acer brand lap top computer which has a value of $1,000. The items were identified by Chinese businessman Yin Li, 38, the owner of Sherry Shop, as items that were stolen during the burglary of his business place. Li reported to the police that the burglary occurred between 1:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, August 21. He said that besides the com-
Channing Garoy
Sherman Galvez puters and the printer, the burglars stole 3 digital cameras, assorted liquor, $400 in coins, 12 packs of wave caps and 4 packs of super glue. Later the same day the police recovered the wave caps and super glue from a yard two houses away from Sherry Shop, which is located at 3598 Central American Boulevard.
Prisoner charged for allegedly beating four inmates BELIZE CITY, Wed. Aug. 24, 2011 By Roy Davis Kareem Eagan, 29, an electrician residing at 23 Set Site, a house located behind the Complex Building, was charged with 4 counts of wounding when he appeared today in the #4 Magistrate’s Court. Eagan pleaded not guilty to the charges. Magistrate Roberto Ordonez offered him a bail of $3,000 and adjourned the case until October 17. But Eagan did not meet bail because he has a court fine for which payment is outstanding. The incident occurred around 11:30p.m. on Saturday, August 20, in the cell block at San Pedro Police Station. Four men, who were detained in the cell block with Eagan, reported to the police that Eagan beat them and caused injury to their faces. The four are Selvin Chi, Miguel Navarette, Alexis Nunez and Roque Caliz. They were each given a medico-legal form and taken to the clinic in San Pedro. The doctor, who examined and treated them, classified their injuries as wounding. Eagan who has a cut to his lip told
Kareem Eagan Magistrate Ordonez that a police officer struck him on his mouth with a gun and cut his lip. Eagan also had lacerations to his left wrist and right wrist. He told Magistrate Ordonez that the lacerations were caused by the handcuffs that were put extra tight on his wrists. He said he was handcuffed all through the night until the following morning.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 28, 2011
BELIZE'S #1 SPORTS PAGE
Belize faces Guatemala on September 6
Belize City, August 23, 2011 The 2014 World Cup second round qualifier match between Belize and regional rivals, Guatemala, will be held at the Football Federation of Belize/ Caribbean Tires Field in the City of Belmopan on September 6. The game was confirmed this week by the FFB who announced that common sense had prevailed in their negotiations with the Ministry of Sports. On June 17, 2011 Minister of Sports John Saldivar suspended the FFB and nearly caused Belize to forfeit its game 2 pre-qualifier match against Montserrat. Belize had won Game 1,
Belize faces Guatemala on September 6
3-1, which was played in Trinidad and Tobago. But the home game had to be played in Honduras because as part of the FFB’s suspension, the Government refused to provide security if the game were held at the FFB-built Field, which is the only FIFA-approved football stadium in the entire country. The Ministry even distanced the nation from the national football team, claiming they were not representing the country The national selection players, who returned home excited about their next game, were disappointed by the Government’s decision. The
Belize vs. Grenada September 2nd Guatemala vs. Belize September 6th Grenada vs. Belize October 7th Belize vs. Guatemala October 11th Belize vs. St. Vincent & the Grenadines November 11th St. Vincent & the Grenadines vs. Belize November 15th
team’s captain, goalkeeper Shane Orio, said in his view their dreams and aspirations were being destroyed by a petty political vendetta. After weeks of negotiation, legal battles, and intervention from a special FIFA team, the Government finally crumbled to immense public pressure
and agreed to give the national football team their due recognition and respect. Before facing Guatemala, the national team will have its first 2nd round qualifier match against Grenada on Friday, September 2nd. The venue of that game has not been confirmed.
CYDP & Bulldogs to meet in interoffice finals Belize City, August 19, 2011 The Belize Bank Bulldogs will take on the Conscious Youth Development Programme in the Belize City interoffice basketball championship finals which begin at the Belize City Center on Wednesday, August 24. CYDP made it to the finals by eliminating Ports Belize Ltd 72-66 in Game 3 of the semi-finals series on Friday, August 19. CYDP’s Earl Johnson had 18 points, 6 boards. Ports’ Lennox Bowman had 17 points, 3 boards. The Bulldogs made it to the finals by a 69-58 upset of Ministry of Education/Alamilla’s Furniture (9-1) in the semi-finals. Bulldogs’ Darwin “Puppy” Leslie had 17 points. MOE’s Brandon Rogers had 16 points.
CYDP’s Marcel Orosco scored 15 points
MOE’s Omar Gordon shoots
MOE’s Greg Rudon scored 8 points and made 6 rebounds CYDP’s Earl Johnson scored 18 points
Ports’ Andrew Robateau shoots
MOE’s Brandon Rogers blocks Kachief Thomas’ shot
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
BELIZE'S #1 SPORTS PAGE
Milt Palacio
signs deal with Spanish league Belize City, August 24, 2011 Belizean basketball superstar, Milton Palacio, has signed on with European team, Obradoiro CAB, for the 2011-2012 season. Milt, who is 33 years old, will play as a point guard for the team. Having had experience in the NBA with teams such as Grizzlies, Celtics, Cavaliers, Jazz and Raptors between 1999 and 2006, Milt switched to the European League in 2007, playing with teams Partizan, Khimki BC, and then off to a basketball league in Greece in 2010 where he joined the teams EK Kavala and Buesa Arena.
Milt Palacio
Millennium conquers
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BTL faces
Roaring Creek in softball championships Belize City, August 19, 2011 The Belize Telemedia softball women will challenge defending national champions, Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy, in the upcoming XXI National women’s softball championship on Friday to Sunday, August 26 to 28. The Belize City champions, Telemedia and sub-champion, Mirage Lady Rebels, will take on the champions and sub champions of the affiliated associations in a double elimination format in the tournament. They will be competing with the Belize rural champions, UB Jaguars, and sub-champions, Easy Does It of Flowers Bank, and will also face challenges from the Cayo district sub-champions Ontario Rebels. ISF Hall of Famer Hilly Martinez, who is also an honorary Life Member of the Federation and former Belize commissioner of softball (1981-1991), will officially be declare open the tournament in official opening ceremonies scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Untouchables 4-2 Kursha Pollard scored Millennium 1st & 4th goals
Sand Hill, August 21, 2011 Belize City’s Millennium girls dusted off the Sand Hill Untouchables 4-2 to enjoy their 2nd win of the Belize District women’s football competition at the Sand Hill football field on Sunday afternoon. Kursha Pollard blasted in the 1st goal past Untouchables’ goalie, Emily Cerpa, in the 5th minute of play when she put the finish on a pass from Sara Arzu. Arzu then added a 2nd goal with a left foot shot when she executed a freekick in the 10th minute, drilling the ball through the crowd of defenders. Jahkema Meighan put Sand Hill on the scoreboard in the 25th minute with a long lob at goal that beat Millennium goalie Rhoshea Chan just under the crossbar. Shenese Rhaburn picked up the rebound at the edge of the 30 yard box and blasted in a shot to embarrass Chan with a 2nd goal that tied the game 2-2 in the 35th minute and it was still a 2-2 ball game at the half. In the 2nd half, Sand Hill’s Shinelle Gentle, Erla Smith, Veronica Flores and Mercedes Choc held off the Millennium attacks, until a corner kick found Geanne Cayetano, whose shot delivered a 3rd goal for millennium in the 55th minute. Pollard was back in form when she sealed the win with a 4th goal in the 65th minute for the city girls.
Sand Hill’s Sara Cal on the attack
Millennium team
Game Summary: Kursha Pollard 1st goal, 5th minute, Millennium Sara Arzu 2nd goal, 10th minute, Millennium Jahkema Meighan 1st goal, 25th minute, Untouchables Shenese Rhaburn 2nd goal, 35th minute, Untouchables Geanne Cayetano 3rd goal, 55th minute, Millennium Kursha Pollard 4th goal, 65th minute, Millennium Sand Hill’s Shenese Rhaburn equalized the game
Geanne Cayetano scored Millenium’s 3rd goal
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 28, 2011
BELIZE'S #1 SPORTS PAGE
Hattieville Heat burns Ladyville Orchids 3-0 Sand Hill, August 21, 2011 Hattieville Heat burned the Ladyville Orchids 3-0 in week 2 of the Belize district women’s football competition at the Sand Hill football field on Sunday afternoon. Jersha Estrada scored the Heat’s 1st goal in the 5th minute when she razzle-dazzled the ball past the Orchids’ goalie Karina Villanueva, who had come out of the goal to meet Estrada’s attack. Estrada made it double trouble when she added a 2nd goal in the 10th minute when she outran the defense
to blast in a shot that Villanueva did not have a hope of stopping. The Orchids’ captain Leida Contreras and Lenny Ayuso tried to get an attack going but were frustrated by the Heat’s defenders. Erma Dyer added a 3rd goal in the 25th minute when she picked up the rebound and drilled the ball into the net to lead 3-0 at the half. The Heat got the chance to make it 4-0 with a penalty conversion in the 2nd half, but the kicker missed her shot.
Island girls team
Island Girls
drench Ladyville Tornadoes 2-1 Sand Hill, August 21, 2011 The Caye Caulker’s Island Girls outlasted the Ladyville Tornadoes 2-1 in week 2 of the Belize District women’s football competition at the Sand Hill football field on Sunday afternoon. The Tornadoes’ Mertell Bailey scored the 1st goal in the 5th minute, with a shot to the crossbar that goalie Maribel Dominguez could not reach. In the 26th minute the Ladyville defenders goofed into giving up a penalty. Lillian Joseph converted with ease to tie the ball game 1-1, and so it remained until the half time break. In the 2nd half, the islander’s de-
fense shut down the Tornadoes attacks, but the Island Girls brought in replacements with fresh legs as Stephanie Duarte, Jacqueline Riverol and Kenia Duarte took over from Iriani Pineda, Shenady Chan and Josepha Enriquez and later Roselle Castro entered the ball game for Aliny Guzman. The fresh strikers kept Tornadoes’ goalie Emeda Alarcon on her toes, but Lilian Joseph outran Salambu Munnings, she got off a shot that Alarcon could not stop and the Caye Caulker girls took a 2-1 lead in the 60th minute.
Mundialito
finals kicks off this Sunday Orange Walk Town, August 23, 2011 Info submitted by Alex Palacio After weeks of competitive summer games, the Orange Walk Mundialito under-14 finals will kick off on Sunday August 28, 2011 at the Louisiana Football Field.
The first game is at 2:00pm between Brazil of San Victor Village and Germany of the Louisiana Area competing for 3rd place. The first place game will be at 3:00pm between Argentina of Yo Creek and South Africa of Trial Farm.
Ladyvile Heat girls team
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BELIZETIMES SUNDAY AUGUST 28, 2011 THE BELIZE TIMES see full color at www.belizetimes.bz or Facebook/ Belize Times
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Trudiva releases new single
Rising dancehall artist Trudy, aka Trudiva, has followed up with the poignant single “Hear Mi Now”. The new single follows recent releases “Party All Night” featuring Elephant Man, and “Booty Dance”. Described as a cross between Rihanna and Kesha, but with a style all her own, Trudy has almost overnight caught the eye of leading industry tastemakers. Trudy’s maiden Reggae Sumfest performance in mid-July highlighted the dancers who participated in her recently held Booty Dance Competition, Sweden’s Black Out Crew and Japan’s SML Girls.
SeanPAUL talks new album
Q: What can you tell us about your new album? “I don’t have a title in mind. I just have a lot of songs. Basically, I have over 20 songs that I can pick from right now. I’m not doing such a long album. I think that people don’t really pay attention to the rest of the songs, only the singles. That’s a very unfortunate thing, however, I do put more than the average Joe. This album will have half Jamaican dancehall producers and half international sounding dancehall. It’s very interesting. I don’t know when it’s going to hit the streets. I’m hoping late this year instead of early next year.”
Bernadette
• • • •
Cosmetologist Sign: Aquarius Favourite Food: Belizean & Italian Favourite Color: Purple & Black
• Likes: Singing, Modeling, Writing songs, Spending time with family, Travelling
• Lives in Placencia • Fav. Quote: “One life to live, live it to the fullest”
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Cruel land victimization
in Copper Bank
Officials threaten to cancel 5-year old lease Copper Bank Village, Corozal District, August 19, 2011 By Carmelita Perez There have been multiple, and seemingly endless, cases in which the Ministry of Natural Resources has taken away land from poor, hardworking Belizeans without rhyme or reason under the Barrow Administration. Their actions can be linked to the leader of the United Democratic Party’s election promise that they would “quitar” all lands awarded by the former PUP Government to persons affiliated or believed to be associated to the People’s United Party. True to his word, under Dean Barrow, such victimization is real, and another case has surfaced. 16 years ago Reynold Tzul and his family began farming on a parcel of crown land located on the outskirts of Copper Bank, now known as the Pueblo Nuevo Area. Tzul said the land was occupied, at the time, by a man identified as Elijio Tzul. Elijio Tzul did not have papers to the land, but claimed he was the owner. Reynold Tzul said Elijio demonstrated very little interest for the land since he was a fisherman. They negotiated a price, and he eventually paid Elijio to become the holder of the land. Because
land. Recognising the work he put in and the role the land plays to provide for his family, the then Government approved Tzul’s application. Tzul was the proudest Belizean when he received his lease papers. But today that pride has become fear and aguish, as the family has received an official letter that no longer recognises Tzul as the leaseholder. The Lands De-
Reynold Tzul
Elijio did not have documents for the land, no papers were exchanged and no receipt of payment exists. Tzul said that since then his family has been harvesting the land. “We have been farming on the land since then. We started by paying a bulldozer to clear out almost 3 acres, we paid a Mennonite to remove the debris and plough the land, and then we began to plant cane,” said Tzul. In 2006, Tzul applied to the PUP Government’s Land Management Program seeking land ownership for 20 acres of
Sunday, August 28, 2011 partment in Corozal is saying that there is no record that Tzul has a lease for parcel 669. The Lands Department goes even further, because it states that their “records” show that Elijio Tzul is the lessee of the parcel of land. Understandably, Tzul and his family is concerned and terrified that they could be removed by force. The Corozal Lands Department has advised Tzul that he has 15 days to visit their office and present evidence that proves tenure of land parcel 669. Tzul is told that failure to provide evidence would mean that he is illegally working the land, which means legal action can be taken against him. Tzul has retained the services of an attorney to assist him to find the UDP’s shameful victimisation.
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
simple ideas to make
Belize better
Belize City, August 24, 2011 With the economy staggering, jobs as scarce as sugar, criminal activity as high as the Ministry of Works’ phone bill ($300,000 in 2010), and businesses closing down like UDP representatives’ offices, one thing is for sure: the UDP have dePUP Leader Hon. John Briceño is stroyed the counready to lead the nation try, and have no idea how to remean more investment in the local store it. Opposition Leader John Brice- economy and an increase in emño said he is ready for the task of ployment. Even better, Belize would restoring Belize and on Tuesday he take on an ICT initiative and possibly shared four easy ways of getting the become the leading call center destination in the hemisphere. nation back on track. Making ITVETs work Pro Port Briceño pointed out that instead Briceño said he believes Belize City must become the next cruise of under-utilising the ITVET centers terminal destination. This would en- which were built by the PUP across tail supporting and helping to build the country the facilities could be a cruise port terminal facility that used by the Government to train would enable an increase of tourist young people on the use of Information, Communication and Technolvisits and spending in the city. The PUP leader said this would ogy (ICT). This would ensure our young boost the local sectors, with investBelizeans have priority access to ment and job creation. employment, and there will be no A Tender proposal Briceño said financial assistance need to seek foreigners to fill local would be offered to the local small jobs. Belize will be for Belizeans. This would make ITVET centers tenders through loans so they could upgrade their boats and be able to work for the benefit of the people work and make money to repay their instead of having the classrooms empty as the UDP Government has loans. This would further boost em- them today. PUP Vision ployment, and have tourist dollars In those four simple ways, Bricecirculating throughout the country. Families would have greater spend- ño said, the nation could be made ing power, and would be able to live better. He said Belizeans do not need to face the extreme hardships in better standards. they are under the UDP. The probBreaking bandwidth blues The PUP leader said internet lem is that the UDP Administration rates are too high in Belize, and it is knows how to destroy the country, becoming an obstacle to economic but have no idea how to restore development. He believes that tak- things. Briceño said nation building is ing necessary steps to reduce the cost of the service could impact the not rocket science. “It takes ideas, vision and the will to make things economy positively. He explained that by reducing in- happen. We in the PUP are ready ternet rates, more call centers would to make Belize better,” he told the be attracted to Belize. This would BELIZE TIMES.
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
Ivan Roberts speaks on land rights, loss of freedom with 9th Amendment Bill BELIZE CITY, Monday, August 22nd, 2011 By Alton Humes In speaking with Ivan Roberts, board member of the Belize Landowners Association and president of the Never Delay Community, Ltd., his comments didn’t only extend to the 9th Amendment Bill, but its effect on land rights & Belizean democracy. In our interview, he mentioned Section 17 of the Belize Constitution, which protects the ability of the government to acquire property so long as it is for “public purposes”. But he went to town on the UDP Government, saying they’re hijacking the law, and it will “not apply” to the Belizean people. Furthermore, he even accused the Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow, of promoting the foreign ownership of Belize Natural Energy Ltd (BNE) due to being the company’s local attorney. But he didn’t stop there: he firmly holds the belief that this bill would “strip” Section 2 of the Constitution and rendering it DOA; trampled upon and disrespected by the munitions of the Prime Minister and the UDP.
of the deep incompetence with which the UDP Government is handling this issue, he bravely opined that we “shoulda lef’ di white man dey…” to rule over us as before because as a nation under this UDP government, we are “digressing from where we were before Independence”. (Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted before the
Ivan Roberts
Finally, we asked about some choice comments he recently made while on LOVE FM’s Business Hour show on Monday, along the lines of ‘someone needs to be hung…shot…’ and that the 9th Amendment on the whole needed to be ‘shot down’. He admitted that he only holds with the latter, and that he was being “tense” and “passionate” about the issue. And because
news of purported changes to the 9th amendment surfaced. In fairness to Mr. Roberts who, like everyone else, has not seen the amended amendment we point out that the report is based on the original 9th amendment. Once the amended version has been widely circulated we shall contact Mr. Roberts for his views.)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Stewart Krohn inducted into CBU Hall of Fame
Belize City, August 19, 2011 Former News Director of Great Belize Productions (News 5), Stewart Krohn, is one of two inductees to the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Hall of Fame. The induction was officially announced during the CBU’s annual meeting held President of the CBU Vic Fernandes (centre) is this year in San Pedro, flanked by J.A. Lester Spaulding (right) and Stewart Krohn, the two newest inductees into the Caribbean Ambergris Caye on Broadcasting Union Hall of Fame. August 17, 2011. Krohn and the Chairman of Radio Jamaica Communi- the company into securing a television cations Group, J.A. Lester Spaulding, broadcast licence and became the were recognised for their leadership leading free-to-air broadcaster in Bein broadcasting in the region and were lize. handed instruments of induction into The Caribbean Broadcasters’ Hall the region’s highest body of recogni- of Fame was inaugurated almost 15 tion for media excellence. years ago and its members include: Both Krohn and Spaulding were Rafiq Khan, Hugh Cholmondley, Dwight former presidents of the CBU. Whylie, Tony Cozier, Olga Lopes Seale, Spaulding led the transition of Ra- Vic Fernandes, Sir Trevor McDonald, dio Jamaica from a single station into a Ken Gordon and Jones Madeira. media group with three radio stations, a free-to-air television station, cable entities, and a multimedia company remains a member of the boards of CANA and the CMC. Krohn established a television production company, Great Belize Productions, more than 20 years ago, and led
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
CWU wants Ports
Commissioner ‘Gone’ BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 By Alton Humes The small, but boisterous protest held yesterday by the offices of the Belize Port Authority (BPA) on North Front Street, organized by the Christian Workers’ Union (CWU) is now a warning shot, the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”; a signal of mass displeasure with the Ports Commissioner, John Flowers. Flashback, if you can, specifically to February of 2008, when the CWU leadership, including Union President Mr. Antonio Gonzalez, signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the BPA which was supposed to guarantee basic, if not, reasonable, access to benefits and supports for the staff workers at the Port Authority. Then Flowers took over as Ports Commissioner from BDF Major Lloyd Jones, and all of that work is believed to have gone clean out the window. Under his tenure, things have gone progressively bad; no workers received their varied stipends, and other people were hired in clear violation of the terms and conditions of the CBA of February 2008, according to the CWU. To seemingly remedy the dete-
riorating situation, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 29th, 2011, but that’s been ignored too. In speaking via telephone with CWU president Gonzalez today, he characterized the attitude of Mr. Flowers as “don’t-give-a-damn” and highly “hands-off”, refusing to meet with the workers of Port Authority, as well as his overall militaristic style of leadership. Matters came to a head yesterday at North Front Street. Mr. Gonzalez, along with his union brethren and around 40 or so workers picketed at the Port Authority’s offices, and voiced as much as possible their displeasure with, and their fervent desire to remove Commissioner Flowers from his post. Mr. Gonzalez is confident that the CWU will see headway with the matter, that it will “proceed in a reasonable and respectful manner”, and is in the interim, seeking an audience with Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow, to help in solving this current impasse. Joining in Monday’s protest were John Brackett of Belizeans for Justice/Citizens for Safety and Ras Kareem representing Coalition for the Liberty through Action (COLA).
Muslims end Ramadan After 29 days of fasting the month of Ramadan Muslims of Belize will join the nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide in celebrating the end of the fast on Monday, August 29th. The fast began on the first of August and is a yearly requirement for all Muslims who have reached the age of maturity, in good health, not pregnant or travelling. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is based on the lunar calculation. Muslims are required to fast from before daybreak to sunset everyday abstaining from food, water and sex during the fasting period. One in every four persons in the world is a Muslim and that figure is expected to double in the next twenty years according to the report, “Mapping the Global Muslim Population,” an extensive new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Islam is fastest growing religion in the world;
analysis says that Islam is growing faster than the world population. Contrary to the belief that most Muslims are in the Middle East the study found that India has more Muslims than any country except for Indonesia and Pakistan, and more than twice as many as Egypt. China has more Muslims than Syria. Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon and Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya put together. The Muslim population has also grown extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Muslims in Belize number around ten thousand scattered throughout the country with the majority living in Belize City. The end of Ramadan celebrations called, Eid al Fitr, will begin on Tuesday morning with prayers and will go well into the evening with festive music, drumming, poetry and Quranic recitation. (PRESS RELEASE)
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THE BELIZE TIMES
The Secret to living
Above the law There is a moral vacuum in Belize. The jaundiced glaucoma of the Integrity Commission, Contractor General, Internal Affairs Department, and Ombudsman is shameful. Belizeans have a justified distrust of public officials. There are no check and balances in these swamps of the Mosquito Coast. But moral authority and respect for the rule of law, where no one is above the law is an imperative of any progressive society. Who polices the corrupt who have absolute power? On Friday August 12, 2011, the highest member of the men in khaki who are sworn to “protect and serve” ran over a civilian. So, is he on interdiction? Is he preparing a defense for his Notice of Intended Prosecution? No, he is peacefully reclined at his Hattieville residence. This is the mile 17, section of Hattieville long after the roundabout and not to the right of it. In many cases where “blue trouser” police officers fall off the tight rope of the law, there is a consolation package of charges for the victimized citizen. We all know them “resisting arrest, assault, obstruction of an officer in the performance of his duty, etc, etc.” We know them. The tactic is an old school scare trick of abuse and oppression. It is predicated on the strategy that the best “defense is an aggressive offence.” If the victim is busy fending off the claustrophobia of criminal prosecution, he has no time to fight for his legitimate right. The BELIZE TIMES has consulted with a number of persons in the legal profession, one whom is a former Director of Public Prosecutions, and we must responsibly say that the channel 7 report that a “traffic offence, … is a summary offence and strictly speaking, not a criminal matter” is a gross misstatement or misrepresentation of the law. When someone drives a motor vehicle without proper care and consideration for other lawful road users, both a civil and a criminal wrong has been done. They are separate and independent infractions. A citizen cannot “settle that criminal matter out of court” because the offense is committed against the “State”. We are told that in fact, the complainant is the “people of Belize”.The person who actually received the physical injuries is called “the virtual complainant”. The result of that criminal matter, if found guilty, is jail time or a fine. On the other hand, for the civil wrong, either negligence or carelessness, the victim is referred to as a “plaintiff” and he can sue the person that knocked him down. When he wins, the court makes a money award, legally called “damages”. The BELIZE TIMES is informed that ONLY civil cases can be settled out of court, in fact, if you try to stop someone from going to court in a
criminal matter, you can be charged for “attempted suppression of evidence at a criminal trial”, Criminal Code, sections 263: “Every person who with intent to defeat, obstruct or pervert the course of justice at the trial of any person for any crime, in any manner causes any person to refrain from giving evidence at such trial is guilty of a misdemeanor.” So why has the Top Cop not been given equal treatment under the law? In a twilight zone twist, the motorist has been buried by a mountain of bogus charges that could possibly have swamped him enough for him not to seek his legitimate right. Who is the virtual complainant in those charges? If the effect of the laying of those is to unlawfully “pervert the course of justice”, should not Jefferies be charged under section 263? But who is to charge him? Who has the moral authority to do it? Let us do the lineup. According to the Police Standing Orders “decisions regarding criminal proceedings against police officers will be taken on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions.” Who? Cherilyn Vidal? Jefferies would have a good case to ask who prosecuted her when she sat there while a two hundred pound man is alleged to have abused a seven year old girl in her presence and reportedly under her “aiding, abetting or procuring”. Then she became a judge in her own cause. Remember despite a medical examination form by an independent doctor as clear evidence of the crime, she said suppressing the facts in this way (confusion over a toy)...“was conduct grave enough to warrant the imposition of that form of punishment…the correction administered did not exceed acceptable limits.” Cheryl Lyn Vidal makes a Freudian confession, “I was there… Further, the doctor who examined the child gave the least classification of the injury possible.” Let us translate for this lawyer. The doctor concluded that a crime, i.e. harm, had been committed. The BELIZE TIMES found that actually “common assault” is the least classification, but again if you are investigating yourself, you can get away with murder. Who prosecuted Vidal? Ok, can another authority with moral force investigate Jefferies? He ran the gentleman over within city limits so how about the City Council? Joke! There is a reason why after Philloughby played bumper cars on August 5, with a Cayo resident’s body, no charges were put on him, in fact not even an accident report in the sitrep. The fact is that it is reported that “Mr. Joe(his victim) has been offered monies to keep quiet and not go to court”. Who is the head of the same Police Department that did not prosecute this above the law rogue? Section 263, anyone? What about the Minister of Police? His boss? Dough Singh? Can
he investigate Jefferies? Singh, who in July of 2010 was fingered and named in a 28 foot boat suspected by the Anti Drug Unit (ADU) to be a drug boat. The ADU is a department under Jefferies. Who investigated him? Who prosecuted Singh? The same people who believed Singh’s story, NO ONE! Well we have to go higher. Dean Barrow is without sin, right? How about him? Pump the breaks remember that he is head of the Government who committed contempt of court by dishonoring a clear Court of Appeal order. Not only did the UDP leadership break the law by not obeying a court order but they further used the army and, yes, the
Sunday, August 28, 2011 same Police headed by Jeffries, to commit the politically shameful and unlawful acts. Who prosecuted Dean Barrow? Nothing will happen to Jefferies. Just another “big man” in Belize who is laughing at the ordinary citizens in his glass tower above the law. What is good for the goose must be sauce for the Compol, so Jefferies must claim.
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
REALITY CHECK! What we must never forget…..Why?!
By Carla Bradley Why is it that the UDP chooses to only victimize the people of our country? Why is it that the UDP ignores the cry of the people? Why is it that the UDP wants to buy their way into office again? Why is it that the UDP ignores the people’s choice of not allowing the drilling offshore and in our protected areas? Why is it that the UDP insists on pushing the 9th amendment when they know they have not been fully honest with what this amendment actually says? Why is it that even though over 43% of the population of our country lives in poverty, this government still sings its false “pro poor” anthem?
Why is it that even though 23% of the population is unemployed, which is almost 3 times the amount it was in 2007 (which was 8.1%), the Barrow administration still says that they have created jobs? Why is that even though between January 2010 and June 2010, there were 53 murders, in the same period of January to June of this year (2011) the murder rate stood at 73, this administration says that the programs they have introduced (Vision 360, GSU, Restore Belize, Jaguar Operation) are actually effective? Why is that Barrow and his sorry excuse for an administration can’t see that we are living in hard times, because of their stealing, and lies and greed... Just to mention a few? Can this government be so blind to all these concrete evidence? These aren’t possibilities PM Barrow, these are facts! This is the plague you all have placed on the Belizean people! We know you will cry and say it’s the “superbond’s” fault but really PM
Barrow, is that the only word in your high vocabulary? Aye Mr. Barrow, come on we know you can imagine another excuse! The people want a change! The people are tired of imagining! The people want action! How many of your 21 promises have you actually made reality? Or is it that these promises can only be seen fulfilled in the imagination? In PM Barrow’s press conference back in February of this year, he mentioned that he had no favoritism for his family members, but we all know this is a big fat lie! His ex wife has gotten millions for legal services, the son has gotten high positions in BTL, the wife after becoming first lady was made an ambassador for children, the other son who is the so-called musical ambassador is claiming that he is a Israeli Jew, not a Belizean, the daughter is studying on how to get more oil money. Hmmm doesn’t this sound like favoritism? Single mothers at the market sleep on the cold ground to be able to take care of their produce, running the risk of being robbed, raped or even being killed. Why? Single mothers wonder helplessly for a job, so that maybe they may be able to put their kids through school and put food on the table for them. These are just a few examples
23 of what our country has become under this current administration, and there is nothing positive in any of this. What do we have to look forward to in the 2 years that are left under this distasteful government? We need to think about the mothers who have wept unnecessary tears because they have lost a loved one to this escalating crime. We need to think about how many children can’t afford to go to school because their parents are not able to get jobs. We need to stop listening to the noise and begin to check our change. We Must remember that we as citizens of this country, have much more power than the government, and they are there because of us, and we can take them down as easily. We must remember that united we are stronger, and united we will protect our country from the Dictatorship and hardship being forced upon us by PM Barrow and his government.
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NoNo says on August 23, 2011 at 9:44am
I say no to the 9th Amendment, the UDP serve one term and they have a whole pile of $**% they want to do and change, and they say the listen to the People and they don’t, all Dean is thinking about is his selfish act and about making money on our poor belizeans.”
Me says on August 23, 2011 at 12:23pm
Barrow you have made history. The most tyran of them all. The most abusive, the prime minister that went crazy with power. NO is NO barrow you are not fit for any public job.”
Glenda submitted on 2011/08/19 at 3:13pm
Lawpolo says on August 24, 2011 at 10:56am
I’ve been a UDP supporter for years; however, I am disappointed with the proposed 9th ammendment. I do not support the 9th ammendment. The PM is acting on behalf of his own interst. I’ve been seeing that some people are supporting it due to their political affiliation; but they are not reading between the lines. Our freedoms are being taken away right before our own eyes.”
Confidence in the country is not only needed by the lending agencies and foreign investors of the world, but also by those of us Home Grown Belizeans abroad furthering our education. We want to make the most of our earning potential, but would gladly and immediately sacrifice some of that earning potential to return home. Right now some of us feel that returning home would only be equivalent to shooting ourselves in the foot. I never thought I’d be one to say this, but good luck J Briceno and the PUP. Help me see a future for myself in BELIZE, THE JEWEL OF THE WORLD and want to go back home!”
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Reid Every year around this time, we are faced with the same old questions which lead to the same old tired arguments. Was the Battle of St. George’s Caye real or is it just a myth? Was it a case of ‘derring-do’ or was it just documented lies agreed upon? Is it realistic to believe that slave would have fought “shoulder to shoulder” with master or would they have taken the opportunity to escape? This matter has been debated ad nauseam and at the end of the day, we seem no closer to the truth than the day when the questions were first asked. We do know that a hundred years after the fact, a determined patriot by the name of Simon Lamb succeeded in convincing Belizeans that there was enough evidence to warrant a yearly commemoration of the event. As a child, I grew up marching every September 10th, at first only for “lemonade and a piece of cake” but later in the belief that our forefathers had indeed “fought a glorious fight”. Simon Lamb himself died in 1913 but I can still remember each year, watching a man playing Simon Lamb with a long sword that would draw a line in the sand and dare the Spaniards to cross. I’m not sure when the tradition stopped but each year on the Tenth of September, a wreath used to be lain on the grave of Simon Lamb. When last I enquired, no one was even able to find the spot where grave was. What a shame! Until the time of my departure from Belize in 1972, the Tenth of September was still being celebrated with much vigor and gusto. Since the late fifties when the political two-party system was established, simultaneous parades were held throughout the city. Leading up to the official day, many contests and ceremonies were staged with events like the “Battle of the Bands”, “Queen of the Bay” and many others being held nightly at the Memorial Park. It was time of much celebration. By the time I returned to Belize two decades later, I discovered that party politics and petty ideology had long since killed the “Spirit of Simon Lamb”. Simulacrum had replaced shivaree and a once hearty and vibrant celebration had been replaced by pompous officials and political delegates seeming to simply be going through a motion. Political tribalism had become the order of the day with neo-celebrants embracing Independence and loyal pseudo patriots clinging to the Tenth. “That deh time neva stand like a befo time”. Each year, I observe this sad phenomenon with chimerical longing for good old days gone by. Of course, there is no turning back the clock and we are where we are. While I remain convinced, after doing some research, that the events of September 10th, 1798 was real and worthy to be commemorated, there might be
one area in which even Simon Lamb might have missed the boat. While the circumstances surrounding the battle, skirmish or to whatever degree the confrontation was, does proffer room for doubt, there is one event indubitably documented that gives greater reason for public pride and patriotic stirrings. There is no doubt that Belizeans are as creative, athletic, professional and proficient as the citizens of any other state or nation on this planet. Only rarely do we break out and excel however, and quite often that comes only from those who have been exposed to foreign environs and influences; case in point, Marion Jones and Arlie Petters. The best we have done in international competition was in 1998 and in Mexico
with our basketball teams. Even then, it took a majority of foreign groomed or even foreign born participants to push us up to the top. Our people lack confidence and self esteem. I have a theory. It is my belief that the major cause of our under-achievements is that we do not have enough to make us feel good about ourselves. As a nation, we have no major accomplishments to our credit; we have won no major battles or overcome any major obstacle; or have we? I have always felt that the Battle of St. George’s Caye was a significant story to tell; if only to enhance and influence the ego of our people. We needed desperately to inculcate this into the psyche or our consciousness; even if it requires augmenting and embellishing existing facts. Our people need heroes and victories to nudge them on to excellence. The event that Simon Lamb missed, (and that Assad Shoman in his otherwise excellent and extensive narrative of our history failed to even mention), were the proceedings of a town meeting that was held in the then colony way back on June 1st of 1797. This saga I believe to be epic and matching the mark of courage and resolve found in
Sunday, August 28, 2011 the history annals of any country on this planet. When the meeting had ended, a small but giant-hearted group of true patriots had decided to defy all odds and stand to fight and defend what was to become our homeland. We owe them much and to dismiss and discard this tale of momentous courage is to do disservice not only to those heroes but a grave injustice even to ourselves. In 2009 and shortly before his death, Dr. Neil Garbutt funded and spearheaded a tribute to the heroes of that historic vote and a monument was erected in the village of Flower’s Bank in their honor. The names of William Flowers, Caesar Flowers, Joseph Toney, Adam Flowers, William Scott, William Pinder, George Grant, James Hercules, William Crofts, David Dawson, John Dawson and Joseph Smith, freed slaves whose timely intervention broke a 51-51 deadlock that resulted in the decision to stay as opposed to evacuate, remains forever etched on not only that monument that is dedicated to their memory but on the very essentials of Belize’s existence as a nation state. This is the type of courage that lends impetus to the achievement of great things. What a waste Belize, what a waste!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
The Next Revolution…One Belize Prosperous, United and Free
The Right of Every Family to a Decent Home By Carolyn Trench-Sandiford – Deputy Leader People’s United Party - Belize
This morning I felt compelled to call the talk show to bring about awareness of a serious situation occurring in Belize, the wanton eviction of families from their homes every day. I started the conversation by firstly commending a student of Edward P. Yorke, Jonas Sanchez, who sat and passed 16 Caribbean Examination Council [CXC] with 13 Grade 1, 2 Grade 2 and 1 Grade 3. I will definitely be doing an article on him, and others, like Micah Goodin of Sadie Vernon High School, as I consider their achievements remarkable, and their journey, inspirational. However, the angle was purposeful as it served as a reminder of the Hon. Gwendolyn Lizarraga, fondly know as Madam Liz, who led the fight for both land and housing for the poor, and families living in deplorable and inhumane conditions, and the right of their children to an education to open doors to opportunities and a better quality of life. At that time, only the children of the wealthy had the privilege of going to school. She pioneered land ownership for women, because she saw firsthand the challenges they had in providing a decent home for their families. She understood, as a Muslim quotation says, that ‘a man is an individual person but a woman is a nation’. Madam Liz knew that by addressing the needs of a woman, she addressed the needs of a family, and consequently a nation. In addition, her persistence and strategic arguments and actions culminated in the construction of Belize Junior Secondary #1 and #2, now Edward P. Yorke and Gwen Lizarraga High Schools for children of disadvantaged and marginalized families. She would be proud of Jonas Sanchez and the thousands of graduates who have excelled and brought honour to these institutions. Unfortunately, the reality of 2011 is that three of every five children of secondary school age do not get the opportunity to attend school. [I will write about this another time] Today also, many families are losing their homes, because of being forced into poverty. Did they ask to become poor? In many cases, they are the elderly and single parents, but even nuclear families or families with both parents, are falling victims to the economic meltdown in Belize, and the United Democratic Party government and the Development Finance Corporation, which they control, and is the main culprit,
cannot be bothered. It must be noted that when these individuals entered into mortgages, they had dreams and they had jobs, and there was a government overseeing a robust economy. Unfortunately, after consistently laboring and making their monthly payments for many years, and sweat, blood and tears and thousands of dollars later, they lose their jobs, and cannot pay. Why? Because of the current economic climate of reduced foreign direct investment, unprecedented unemployment [24% nationally and 55% in some communities] and high cost of living caused by an incompetent government. So their homes are advertised in the newspapers, placed on the auction block and sold from under them. DFC must get their pound of flesh and everything that comes with it, for this is Belize, and not a Shakespearean play. There is no Portia as there was in the Merchant of Venice. There is no mercy for them. DFC sends a letter telling them that they must leave within a day or two of receiving the letter, or immediately. If they refuse, their possessions are put on the streets by the new owner. Their dignity is not a concern. If they wish to make an application to the court for time to find other means of accommodation, that has a cost. An attorney must be engaged. But they have no money. So what are they to do? Who do they turn to? Am I saying that they ought not to pay their mortgage? No. You have a responsibility to meet the payments as per the agreement. But your circumstances have changed. And whose fault is it? They want to work, but there is no work to be found. It is the duty of government to create the environment to stimulate economic activity so people can work. A government also has a moral and ethical responsibility to protect the poor, to shelter the homeless, to cloth the naked and to feed the hungry. It must have compassion and a heart. And what happened to the thousands of dollars that these families have labored for and paid over time? Does that go down the drain? This was their life savings and investment. Furthermore, a house is not just a shelter, it is a home, a place where children are nurtured, values instilled and traditions passed down to another generation. When families lose their home they begin to disintegrate. Grown men see it as a loss of their manhood, and hang their head in shame, for they could not provide for their families. Women lose hope and the children, well, they are collateral damage. Our family is the foundation of society and a country. When they fall apart, so does the country. Assad Shoman in a History of Belize in 13 Chapters points out that “The social reality of Belize that history made-the scandalous levels of poverty, social exclusion, inequality and injustice-make it abundantly clear that our society, our governments, are grossly
violating the Constitution, and they should be called to account for it.” What DFC and the UDP government are doing to the Belizean family is a shame and a crime against the family. Thus the next revolution must guarantee each Belizean family a decent and affordable home, regardless
25 of their economic situation. It must also enshrine their right to take the government to court for violating the constitution and if through no fault of theirs, they are forced into poverty. For comments email carolyntrench@gmail.com
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THE BELIZE TIMES
EDITORIAL Belize on a slippery road Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Sunday | August 21, 2011 There are many ways, the saying goes, to skin a cat. But the process is unlikely to be efficient with a blunt axe, wildly wielded in a crowded room. You may, in the end, get the cat, but with great collateral damage and at a cost far greater than intended, or you dared to contemplate. Which is what we fear is likely in the English-speaking Central American country of Belize, where the United Democratic Party administration of Prime Minister Dean Barrow is attempting the ninth amendment of the Belizean constitution and is in a fight with almost everyone in the country over the matter. Jamaica has an interest in the events unfolding in Belize, for like our island, Belize operates a Westminstertype system of government and is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). And a few Jamaican companies have interests in Belize. It matters little that the proverbial cat the Barrow administration is trying to skin is Lord Michael Ashcroft, the hardly liked and shadowy former deputy chairman of Britain’s Tory Party, who casts a long, and some claim manipulative, shadow over the Belizean economy. Lord Ashcroft, who for years avoided paying taxes in the UK by claiming resident status in Belize, controls a
wide range of business in that country, from banking and offshore business registration to telecommunications. Ashcroft’s holdings include Telemedia, which is a near-monopoly in Belize’s telecoms sector. Lord Ashcroft developed a seemingly cosy relationship with the former People’s United Party (PUP) administration which, his critics say, allowed him privileges, as well as an appointment as Belize’s permanent representative to the United Nations, until the PUP lost power in 2008. privatisation muddle In 2009, Mr Barrow’s party, using a hurriedly passed telecommunications law, nationalised Telemedia, over whose secretive licensing arrangements there was much controversy. The acquisition was upheld by the Belizean Supreme Court but was this year overturned by appeal judges, who held that the government did not have sufficient or compelling reason for the nationalisation. Now, Mr Barrow, who needs more than 75 per cent votes in Parliament to amend deeply entrenched clauses of Belize’s constitution, is attempting to place Telemedia’s nationalisation beyond doubt by making a provision of the constitution that the government must control public utilities. The water company, privatised in 2001, has been back in government
hands since 2005, but Mr Barrow recently nationalised the electricity company, owned by Canada’s Fortis Corporation. Telemedia’s status remains in limbo. While the appeal court held its nationalisation to be wrong, it made no specific ruling on what to do. So the government says the board of directors it appointed remains in place. Lord Ashcroft’s lawyers have taken that and related issues to the Caribbean Court
Sunday, August 28, 2011
of Justice. In the meantime, Mr Barrow is moving ahead with his constitutional amendment, including an adjustment to Section 69, to remove “all doubt” that any “law passed by the National Assembly to alter any provision of this Constitution which is passed in conformity with this section shall not be open to challenge in any court of law on any grounds whatsoever”. Mr Barrow should be warned that his government’s action is having a chilling effect on the private sector and is bad for Belize’s economy. But worse, this high-handed behaviour, because he has the parliamentary numbers, poses graver danger for Belizean democracy.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
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THE BELIZE TIMES
BELIZETIMES EXCLUSIVE
Living with
AUTISM pt.3 Contributed by Yadira Williams
Weak Synchronization in Toddler Brains May Be a Biological Marker for Autism As compared to the control brain (top), the autistic brain (bottom) shows weaker inter-hemispheric synchronization in several areas, particularly the superior temporal gyrus (light blue) and the inferior frontal gyrus (red). (Credit: Image courtesy of Weizmann Institute of Science) ScienceDaily (July 27, 2011) — The biological causes of autism are still not understood. A diagnosis of autism is only possible after ages three or four; and the tests are subjective, based on behavioral symptoms. Now, in research that appeared in Neuron, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, San Diego have found, for the first time, a method that can accurately identify a biological sign of autism in very young toddlers. By scanning the brain activity of sleeping children, the scientists discovered that the autistic brains exhibited significantly weaker synchronization between brain areas tied to language and communication, compared to that of non-autistic children. While many scientists believe that faulty lines of communication between different parts of the brain are involved in the spectrum of autism disorders, there was no way to observe this in very young children, who are unable to lie still inside an fMRI scanner while they are awake. But work by Malach’s group and other research groups pointed to a solution. Their studies had shown that even during sleep, the brain does not actually switch
off. Rather, the electrical activity of the brain cells switches over to spontaneous fluctuation. These fluctuations are coordinated across the two hemispheres of the brain such that each point on the left is synchronized with its corresponding point in the right hemisphere. In sleeping autistic toddlers, the fMRI scans showed lowered levels of synchronization between the left and right brain areas known to be involved in language and communication. This pattern was not seen either in children with normal development or in those with delayed language development who were not autistic. In fact, the researchers found that this synchronization was strongly tied to the autistic child’s ability to communicate: The weaker the synchronization, the more severe were the symptoms of autism. On the basis of the scans, the scientists were able to identify 70% of the autistic children between the ages of one and three. Dinstein said, “This biological measurement could help diagnose autism at a very early stage. The goal for the near future is to find additional markers that can improve the accuracy and the reliability of the diagnosis.”
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Jealousy
A
s human beings we develop relationships with those around us, while some may be merely acquaintances there are others that we build a solid intimate bond with. But what happens when that relationship is threatened and the little green eyed monster rears its ugly head? Jealousy is an emotion. Other than that no one can say for sure what it really is; attempts to define it are elusive for a reason. It is a complex emotion that involves, at a minimum, distressing feelings such as fear, abandonment, loss, sorrow, anger, betrayal, envy, and humiliation. Some believe it is a survival mechanism that can cause an individual to act irrational and do things that he/she would not do under normal circumstances. It is an intense emotion that can and has led to many homicides worldwide. But why do we get jealous? Are our partners to blame for our jealousy? How do we overcome it before it spirals out of control and we end up like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction? Nothing can bring a relationship or marriage to ruins faster than jealousy. Being in a relationship with a jealous partner is difficult. The jealous person acts untrusting or unworthy and his/her feelings of jealousy do make them unattractive and at times even repulsive. Some possible root causes for jealousy are the lack of self confidence, meaning that you have doubts about your abilities and skills. It can also stem from having a poor self image – if you think or believe you are unattractive, chances are you’ll experience jealousy when you see your partner talking to someone more attractive. Fear is another possible cause – it can be the fear of ending up alone, being rejected or losing your spouse, which is all understandable but self control on our emotions, is key. Insecurity is another, which would stem from the first two mentioned, poor self image and lack of self confidence. If you experience or suffer from any of those emotions mentioned then you have some work to do in those areas. That is not to say that your partner may not share some of the blame for your jealousy, perhaps he flirts a lot with other women around you, or maybe he has been unfaithful before which made you break that
trust you had in him. If you believe that your jealousy stems from your partner’s behaviour then you do need to communicate that with him. When the feeling of jealousy steps in the first thing you need to do is ask yourself whether the emotion is more based on fear or more based on anger – then ask yourself why. It is key to recognize which body part is being affected. Usually if you get that dropping or clutching feeling in your stomach – it would more than likely be fear. Whilst if you get a tight and burning sensation in your neck, jaw and shoulders – you’re likely angry. Then there could be a combination of both. In this case you need to let your feelings be known but rather than speak in accusatory manner, express your emotions with, ‘I felt.....” rather than “you are...” One of the positive points with being jealous is that it can signal to you what you want and what is important for you. So ask yourself, why are you feeling jealous? What is making you jealous? What is it that is being threatened or what are you trying to hold on to or keep? Understanding what makes you jealous is important as you can then start to work on keeping what is being threatened rather than become caught up in a wave of negative emotions. Be sure to remove false beliefs and change them into positive ones. Once you start creating a happy and fulfilling life for yourself you will find the anger, the fear and the jealousy will vanish. Avoid people that create these negative beliefs for you like gossipers and trouble makers. This step in overcoming jealousy is crucial. Do not compare yourself to others! Make a list of all your good points and only compare yourself to yourself. Uplift your sense of self worth and confidence by noting your accomplishments, inner qualities and other positive things about you. Work on your self esteem by opening a journal each day and jot down supportive messages to yourself. In time it will sink into your subconscious. With high self esteem the feelings of jealousy will not over power you. Finally, FAKE IT!!!! You heard me...put on a show while you’re work through these steps. Even if you are still jealous, portray a non-jealous facade this will protect you from appearing jealous to others. It takes strength to do this but it will be worth it.
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
Brainiest!
r brains again We will be exercising ou w school as we get ready for the ne term! like a powDid you know our brain is our memerful computer that stores as humans ory and controls how we think and react? of our Our brains are the centre ls our nervous system; it contro emories thoughts, movements, m ain and decisions. They cont billions of nerve cells that send and receive information around the body!
Bee-rific-Speller! Spelling caps on! Below are some words that are often wrongly spelt. Can you choose and circle the word that is spelt correctly?
forseeable
Happened happend
Gist jist
Glamorous
Independent
glamourous
independant
Irresistible Harassment harrassment
Humorous
irresistable
humourous
ANSWERS: Achieve Accommodate Basically Believe Bizarre Calendar Aggressive Argument
Foreseeable
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
Ninth Amendment: What’s Your View? I read a comment over the weekend suggesting we should have a tenth amendment. The person mentioned that this amendment would ban musical artists from singing about natural disasters in their songs. One artist sang about hurricane and it came, while another sang about tornado and it also came. People ask: what is the problem in amending the Constitution? The answer is a very serious one as a constitution is a bunch of laws and ideals which govern a country and its inhabitants. It sums up your freedom while creating a parameter of expectations for your actions which are inconsistent with its strict parameters. Within a constitution consists the provision for your very own DEATH, for your freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom to work. You must carve your behavior within the boundaries written down in this document. What it says is right is “right” and what it says is wrong is “wrong”! Because of its complexity, depth and power to determine the parameters for one’s freedom of movement and even worse whether one lives or dies, this is not a document to be played with! You don’t run to it and amend because someone did you wrong and you would like to find a way to get back to them. It is to be changed only with great care, consideration, and careful planning. The two most dangerous things about the constitution is that it is ‘Man Made’ and therefore man can ‘tamper’ with it! If the man’s heart is wicked and has vile intentions he can make provisions to facilitate his quest within the laws itself! Man functions many times on emotions and if he is upset this may drive some things that are put in the constitution! I remember the story of a King who got drunk and made a promise to a young girl who danced beautifully for him that she could have anything she wanted. He was saddened later by the request for the head of a young man named John who was his very friend! See this king forgot that any word or instruction he uttered would immediately become law and he was so drunk that he wasn’t thinking. This is why the Christian manual says it is not good for kings to drink wine because wine alters your lawmaking faculties and you may make a senseless law! Sometimes politicians are drunk with hate, or greed, or revenge and surely this is not the right frame of mind to be in while tweaking a Constitution! Well I have some good news for you, there is a constitution for all countries that was not written by man and cannot be changed by man, and is not subject to the interpretation of man. They may attempt to change the written words of it but you will not be judged by this change as that does not change the original inscription! In fact the words of this constitution will never change and never pass away Matthew 24:35! Even worse, you are warned that any man that adds to it will have sickness added to him and any man that takes away from it his name will be removed from the Book of Life Revelation 22:18,19! As we continue to scramble on the Earth to make amendments to our artificial Constitution whether successful or not we must keep in mind that there is a higher law or a higher Constitution to which we will be held accountable, and for which one day we will be held before a Judge. We will have to give account of our movements and decisions. This constitution cannot be manipulated by a lawyer, you cannot look for loop holes, the judge is completely righteous and worst of all, this constitution decides your eternal place of lodging. It decides which part of the “country” you will live in for eternity! You will either spend eternity in prison which is set aside for torment and punishment of its guests Revelation 20:10-15, or you would have been diligent to purchase your ticket and secure a pristine piece of eternal real estate inside the “country”! It is your choice; just remember, while you can manipulate the courts or the judge using your lawyer or even your own wits, in this court there is only one thing that is able to get you off the hook! And it is blood! If you desire to purchase your ticket to live in the eternal city and not in prison, it can only be bought while you have life on Earth! In case you are wondering, yes there are only two clauses to the “Constitution”!! Firstly, love the Lord your God with all your heart!! And secondly!!Love your neighbor as yourself!! On these, hang all the prophets and whole “Constitution” called the BIBLE! Until next week, God bless!
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BELIZE TIMES WEEKLY
SCIENCE & TECH R
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Selected By Chris Williams
Anti-dengue mosquitoes released in Australia 24 August 2011 by Wendy Zukerman Some 300,000 mosquitoes with the potential to block the spread of dengue fever have been released in Australia, in a large-scale trial of one of the most promising techniques to rid the world of the disease. Dengue fever infects around 100 million people in the tropics each year, killing 40,000 people annually. Insecticides and nets provide the most effective means to control the disease at present, says Scott O’Neill at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, but the dengue virus’s range continues to grow. In 2009, for instance, it reached Buenos Aires in Argentina for
the first time, while France reported its first locally acquired case of dengue fever in 2010. Last year, O’Neill and colleagues announced plans to release Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with a fruit-fly bacterium called Wolbachia. The bacterium makes the mosquitoes less able to carry the dengue virus, and it could therefore limit dengue transmission if it were to become widespread in the mosquito population. Fast spreader In principle Wolbachia can spread quickly as infected male mosquitoes produce viable offspring only if they breed with Wolbachia-infected fe-
BHS QR Code What is a QR Code? A QR Code, or Quick Response Code, can be read quickly by a smart phone and is commonly used to store information from a transitory media in your phone. Once stored, it may provide you with quick and easy access to details such as website URLs, email addresses, location, and other contact information. A QR Code is like a barcode but is considerably more useful and user friendly because they can store much more data than the standard barcode, and can be scanned by many modern cell phones, eliminating the need for bulky hand scanners. How do I use a QR Code? First you will need: 1) A “smart phone” with a camera, such as an iPhone or Android phone. 2) “QR Code Reader” application installed on the phone. This application can be downloaded for FREE for from www.block5.com/ iphone (for iPhone users only) and from www.i-nigma.mobi. (for all other phone users). Once the QR Code Reader appli-
“The code that talks to cell phones” cation is installed, your phone is now ready to “talk” to the QR code. You simply launch the reader application, hold the phone up to the QR Code image and allow the application to scan it. The information stored in the QR Code will automatically be transferred to your phone and will available for speedy and effortless use at any time!
males. What’s more, all the offspring of infected females will carry Wolbachia, whether the male parent is a carrier or not. To test this, O’Neill’s team began releasing the mosquitoes in Queensland in northeastern Australia, which has experienced relatively severe dengue fever outbreaks in recent years. First they released around 2500 A. aegypti mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia into two outdoor enclosures which mimicked a typical north Queensland backyard – complete with potted tropical plants and trees. For every infected mosquito, one uninfected mosquito was also released. After 30 days, the entire population in one cage had become infected with Wolbachia, and after 80 days all the mosquitoes in the second cage were also infected. On the back of that success, the team released almost 300,000 Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in two towns in northern Queensland: Yorkeys Knob and Gordonvale. ‘Pleased as punch’ After four months, the team found that all of the mosquitoes they trapped in Yorkeys Knob and 90 per cent of those trapped in Gordonvale were carrying Wolbachia. “We were pleased as punch,” says team member Scott Ritchie at James Cook University
in Cairns, Queensland. However, two weeks later infection rates had fallen to 95 per cent in Yorkeys Knob and 81 per cent in Gordonvale. The researchers speculate that this might reflect the onset of the dry season, which brought uninfected mosquitoes from surrounding areas into the towns. O’Neill’s team also monitored neighbouring towns to see whether Wolbachia spread beyond the release area. Evidence of spread could prove legally problematic if one country wants to use Wolbachia in an antidengue strategy but a neighbouring country does not. However, infected larvae were detected beyond the town limits on just three occasions. “We don’t expect Wolbachia to establish in those mosquito communities,” O’Neill says. He says the team is now ready for the final test: releasing Wolbachiainfected mosquitoes in areas with a high incidence of dengue. Pending government approval, the team will begin trials in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia or Brazil within twelve months.
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
en Español
Barrow trabaja para la Alianza Ashcroft El primer ministro Dean Barrow debe sincerarse ante el pueblo de Belice y explicar cómo se puede parar delante de ellos y hablar mal del Sr. Ashcroft y los que trabajan en favor del señor Ashcroft, como el enemigo público número uno, mientras que al mismo tiempo, el Sr. Barrow sigue siendo un beneficiario de hace mucho tiempo de la Alianza Ashcroft en relación con su bufete de abogados Barrow y Williams. Tan reciente como el 9 de Agosto un tal Sr. Bonner de la calle Ben Bow recibió una carta de Barrow y Williams, en nombre de sus clientes o sea el Banco de Belice (propiedad de Ashcroft), indicándole que “cese y desista”. ¡Esto confirma claramente que la Firma de Abogados del Primer Ministro aún trabaja para la Alianza Ashcroft y al hablar mal del Sr. se expone a la peor clase de grandilocuencia hipócrita! Entonces, ¿cómo puede el Primer Ministro ponerse de pie en cualquier terreno moral y continuar con su campaña, cuando aún está bebiendo de las fuentes de la Alianza Ashcroft? A menos que Barrow corte la fuente de ingresos de Belize Bank con su bufete de abogados, el no puede pretender ser mejor que cualquiera de sus colegas de abogados que representan a Ashcroft. Ashcroft ha admitido que él financió la campaña del UDP con una suma de aproximadamente 3 millones de dólares en las últimas elecciones. Ashcroft también confirmó que tiene una buena relación con prominentes ministros del UDP, tales como Boots Martinez, Finnegan y Sedi. ¿Adivinen quien es parte de la verdadera alianza de Ashcroft ahora? Lo que sucede es que los beliceños no se preocupan mucho de Ashcroft y Barrow. Lo que le importa a los beliceños es si tienen trabajo, si pueden poner comida en sus mesas, y que sus comunidades sean más seguros. El Primer Ministro ha tratado de cambiar el enfoque de su incapacidad para mejorar el país y la vida de los beliceños, hacia su pelea con Ashcroft. Estos hombres son millonarios y multimillonarios atrapados en un intercambio de besos que refleja lo que la madre África nos dice: cuando los elefantes se pelean, sólo las hormigas son pisoteados. En cierto sentido, es buena lección para Ashcroft porque él pensaba que el PUP era el enemigo, mientras que Barrow fue su amigo y abogado bien pagado. Hoy Ashcroft y el pueblo de Belice se han dado cuenta que Barrow resulto ser peligroso, muy peligroso y un dictador. La pregunta es, mis paisanos Beliceños, trabaja Barrow para la Alianza Ashcroft? A menos que rompa los lazos de sus relaciones entre la firma de abogados de la Alianza Ashcroft y el Banco, los cheques seguirán fluyendo de 64 Market Square a Equity House en la calle Albert. Sin lugar a dudas, el mejor espectáculo de todo esto es la distracción de Barrow y la connivencia a la población de Belice. ¡Lo que no sabe Barrow, sin embargo, que si bien se puede engañar a algunas personas a veces, no se puede engañar a todos siempre!
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Statement of Fact
Thewas Port ofand Belize was paid acquired from the Government of since Belizethen in 2003, and has since and operated The Port of Belize paid acquired fromand the Government of Belize in 2003, and has dynamically managed then dynamically managed and operated the Port in all its aspects. the Port in all its aspects. The maintenance all its facilities as as its equipment an integral part of the process which involves thethe repair and replacement of Theof maintenance ofwell all its facilities as is well as its equipment is an integral part of process these items as required. The maintenance of and the pier and trestle isofanthese ongoing process as over theThe years the Port has changed which involves the repair replacement items as required. maintenance of the gratings and beams on a continuous basis as required. pier and trestle is an ongoing process as over the years the Port has changed gratings and
beams on a continuous basis as required.
Presently there are a number of beams located in the Port compound which were imported from Mexico; additional beams are under contract and are being manufactured for the commencement of a replacement cycle of the beams. The replacement program as planned is Presentlyasthere are number beams located in the Port compound scheduled to commence early as thealast week inofAugust or the first week in September. It is the which practicewere of theimported Port to notify Shipping from Mexico; additional beams under and are being manufactured fora time the when necesAgents to search for the best window to minimize the are closure of thecontract pier for maintenance for a few days or a week at commencement sary to meet scheduling cycles. of a replacement cycle of the beams. The replacement program as planned is
scheduled to commence as early as the last week in August or the first week in September. It is
In terms of equipment the Port two additional cranes, a 155 cranefor and a 90 tonwindow crane. Both serve to provide the practice of has theacquired Port to notify Shipping Agents to ton search the best to minimize the standby capability to theclosure existingofcontainer equipment. The maintains two Manitowoc craneswhen at thenecessary pier head totoprevent the pierlifting for maintenance forPort a few days or a week at a time meet and minimize costs to works being done at the pier head if a breakdown is to occur while the 90 ton crane serves as a backup to the Container stacker scheduling cycles. and Hyster.
termsDivision of equipment thethree Portvessels has acquired additional cranes, a take 155 out toncargo crane and a 90 In terms of the In Marine the Port has to servicetwo the Pilots that bring in and and cruise vessels, as well as ton crane. Both serve to provide standby capability to the existing container lifting equipment. to ferry stevedores to and from the sugar vessels in the harbor. All vessels are in excellent working condition with the newest member of TheMV Port maintains two Manitowoc cranes at the pier head to prevent and minimize costs to the fleet being the Harbour Pilot about to be officially launched. works being done at the pier head if a breakdown is to occur while the 90 ton crane serves as a While the Port backup has beento thethe object of misinformation in Hyster. order to destabilize its operations, here are a few facts. Container stacker and
1. The dredgingInofterms the Port done with Government but rather the to Port in its purchase acquired the debt and is still paying of was thenot Marine Division the Portfunds, has three vessels service the Pilots that bring in and CDB for such loan.
take out cargo and cruise vessels, as well as to ferry stevedores to and from the sugar vessels in the harbor. All vessels are in excellent working condition with the newest member of the fleet 2. The Port of Belize has an average depth of 9.3 meters or 28’ average and not a 6 meter or 18’ as has been published. Last week a vessel of being Harbour Pilot about todock be officially launched. 23’ draft docked at thethe pier,MV in 2009 the largest vessel to had a draft of 28’; this was less than two years ago. However it is important to note that even though larger vessels were interested in coming to Belize, this was largely at a time when surplus vessels were available and has for been the object misinformation in order to destabilize operations, hereFoot Equivacompanies likeWhile Maerskthe wasPort looking markets to workofin. However although large vessels may carryits 1200 TEU (Twenty lent), less than are 10 percent of these are for the Port of Belize. a few facts.
3. As a part of the preliminary stage of of thethe repair cycle section of the pier has been cordoned specifically forPort the heavy 1. The dredging Port wasa not done with Government funds,off but rather the in its lifts required by the 155 ton crane, however this area is still used for trucks and containers. This move is strictly an extra precautionary safety measure and purchase acquired the debt and is still paying CDB for such loan. this does not affect the length of the vessel that can dock. In addition, this safety precaution has not affected the performance of the loading and unloading in terms of the number of TEUs loaded and unloaded per hour. As noted earlier, within this current 2. The Portwill of be Belize has in anthis average maintenance cycle three beams replaced area. depth of 9.3 meters or 28’ average and not a 6 meter
or 18’ as has been published. Last week a vessel of 23’ draft docked at the pier, in 2009 the to dock hadincrease a drafthas ofbeen 28’;granted this was lessPort than two years it is 4. The Port of Belizelargest is tariffvessel driven and no tariff to the since 1980 whenago. that However tariff was introduced. Thus any reference to additional costs which is passed to consumers is totalvessels fabrication. important to note thaton even though larger were interested in coming to Belize, this was largely at a time when surplus vessels were available and companies like Maersk was 5. Repairs to the warehouse are carried outtoaswork required but no repairs are required at this time. looking for markets in. However although large vessels may carry 1200 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent), less than 10 percent of these are for the Port of Belize. 6. The rate of container moves per hour at the Port of Belize is comparative to other ports in the region in spite of the fact that the Port of Belize has the only finger pier of half mile“Service long.isVessels at all other ports in the region dock alongside the land based wharves. our business; Safety, our main concern; Accuracy, our guideline.” 7. The Low Berth is used for the loading and unloading of domestic cargo between Belize City and the islands. The only charge levied to barge operators is berthage fee for docking at the low berth. There is no fee for the use and access to the low berth, security costs, cargo going in and out of the Low Berth, and while the Port is regulated in terms of the tariff, there are no regulations in terms of charges for cargo being transshipped. 8. On many occasions the Port becomes the scapegoat for new charges adapted worldwide by other ports and thus the Port of Belize categorically denies any increase in charges other than what the 1980 tariff allows it to charge. 9. Presently despite efforts of the Belize Ports/Port of Belize and an investment in infrastructure of over 70 million dollars the Port has not been able to get the necessary permits from the Government for the completion of a much needed cruise terminal for the country of Belize.
“Service is our business; Safety, our main concern; Accuracy, our guideline.”
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THINK ABOUT IT HONORING OUR HISTORY? I was watching Tuesday night’s “Belize Watch Show” hosted by Rene Villanueva. On his right a dark skinned, attractive young woman. On his left a brown skinned attractive older woman. The older woman had a strange accent. They all spoke glowingly of the battle of St. George’s Caye September, 1798 – a fiction masquerading as fact which never knew any prominence until one hundred years after it supposedly occurred. It was described as one of the great sea battles in the region. Joke! Creoles in Belize are the descendants of Africans and white people, the same said Baymen. Creoles have been brainwashed into believing that their forefathers, the slaves, fought side by side with Baymen in defeating a whole armada of 32 Spanish battle ships. Lie! The only thing slaves did during the so-called battle was to row the pitpan boats up and down the harbour, keeping a safe distance from the many canons of the Spanish battle ships. No wonder no one was injured. Rene said the defining moment for him was the decision on 1st June 1797 when in a “democratic vote” the Baymen decided to remain and fight rather than abandon the territory. And that 14 freed black slaves had cast the deciding votes to change the results to 51 for evacuation and 65 for staying. 116 Baymen voting for a battle against 32 Spanish warships carrying over 500 sailors and 2000 soldiers. Excuse me, black people in a slave society, allowed to attend, much less vote in so crucial a matter? We talking white racist Baymen with slaves, allowing 14 so called free blacks to paddle all night from Flowers Bank to come interfere in a matter so serious. What Rene wouldn’t know is that the Baymen were voting expecting military help from Jamaica to fight the Spanish. There are letters in the Archives in Belmopan which show the Baymen repeatedly sending for military assistance. There is one dated 1st May 1797 in which 32 Baymen, tired of waiting for word from Jamaica, were requesting troops from the Roatan Island. In January 1798 Jamaica sent three companies of the 6th (Black) West Indian Regiment. Also the ship Marlin was sent. When military official Dundass told the Baymen to prepare to use their slaves to fight for the settlement, the Baymen refused and as a matter of FACT, as recorded in the Archives, sent their slaves into the woodcutting camps inland. The Baymen’s action was described as “the beginning of a long pattern of unruly conduct.” Throughout the “Belize Watch” show neither Rene nor his two Creole guests said a word that this is August 2011 and that in August 1834 slavery was abolished. The freedom of our great grandmothers and grandfathers was an annual event of great rejoicing and celebration in Belize as Emancipation Day. Not a single word about our real history. What is the theme of the September Celebrations? Honoring OUR history? “ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS”
Much praises are due to the Council of Churches for their concern and involvement in the secular matter of the 9th Amendment to our Constitution. Of importance, at the first public consultation was Canon Leroy Flowers who braved the UDP mob and made his point despite the heckling and booing of speakers. The Canon expressed the churches’ concerns. He made an important observation that Section 17 of the Constitution already authorized the government to nationalize once they followed the provisions of the Constitution. This Monday, following a biting criticism in Jamaica’s leading newspaper, the Gleaner, our government engaged in some damage control. It announced some changes in some words of the proposed 9th Amendment. Government said it was responding to the churches’ concern. It is a small victory for the churches. The real battle still lies ahead. The most dangerous proposal in the 9th Amendment is the addition to Section 2 which is the Supreme Law section. Government is putting in new words which mean once they include an amendment it will be UNCHALLENGEABLE by any one in any court. It is not yet known what explanation the Prime Minister offered to the church leaders on Section 2. If it turns out that he misled or deceived the church leaders on the meaning of the new Section 2, this would be a grave situation. The church leaders owe it to this nation to inform us what explanation, if any, was given by the Prime Minister on Section 2 of our Constitution. Section 2 is where the poison is. In days gone by, it would be a mortal sin to lie to church leaders. THANK YOU JAMAICA Jamaica has always been part of the history of Belize. The colonel British administered Belize through their officials in Jamaica in the 18th and 19th centuries. When Belize started to internationalize its quest for independence it was Jamaica who was a leading voice for us in the United Nations, Caricom, the European countries and the Non Aligned Movement. Last Sunday, the Jamaican Gleaner newspaper came out swinging for Belizeans. In clear and straight forward language, the newspaper editorial condemned our government’s effort to change our Constitution for the worst. Said the editorial “Mr. Barrow should be warned that his government’s action is having a chilling effect on the private sector and is bad for Belize’s economy. But worse, this high-handed behavior, because he has the parliamentary numbers, poses graver danger for Belizean democracy.” This is an extraordinary thing the Gleaner has done. Our own newspapers, for their personal and party political bias are unable to see the danger in amending our Constitution in a manner that jeopardizes our sacred rights and freedoms. It took a Jamaican newspaper to provide some clarity to the issue. There is a brilliant Canadian writer, her name is Naomi Klein. She wrote a best seller titled “Shock Doctrine”. Her thesis is that there are those who
know how to capitalize major events. Let’s say a hurricane is threatening Belize, the person selling plywood will jack up their prices. Let’s say America is planning to attack Iraq, and those big companies which already lined up to make a killing - no pun intended. The nationalization of BTL is a shock doctrine opportunity. Under the guide of nationalizing BTL for the people of Belize the government gets its greedy hand on a huge money maker. Under the guise of placing the nationalization of BTL in the Constitution, the government gets a chance to make other changes to the Constitution to further other shock doctrine opportunities. Those Belizeans who support nationalizing BTL are being manipulated because all they are being told is that the government is nationalizing BTL. No focus is placed on the offending amendment to Section 2 of the Supreme Law clause of our Constitution Poor Belize, when danger comes we are so divided that we can’t even respond. Under the guise of nationalizing BTL the government has gone far beyond the simple words that could achieve such a purpose. It has resorted to violating Section 2 and the words in the new Section 69 and Section 145 has exposed devious intentions. The only time a government should be changing a constitution is to make it better, not to make it worst. Oh, and by the way, thank you Mr. Editor of the Jamaica Gleaner . LEST WE FORGET Why should Belizeans be concerned about the language in the proposed change to our Constitution? Because this is the government that has deprived Belizeans of trial by jury. In 2008 they abolished the Referendum law which required that any amendment to our constitutional rights must first be approved by a majority of Belizeans. They passed dozens of vicious amendments to the Crime Control Laws to lock up whole families for one single bullet, or a harmless bullet proof vest or a flare gun used at sea in distress. This is the government who has authorized the police to beat and chance up hundreds upon hundreds of young Belizeans without lawful reasons. Never in our history have so many citizens been beaten, locked up, their homes broken into and disrespected without even an apology for such wrong doing by police. This is the government that has told the Supreme Court that the Maya people are false Maya, they don’t deserve to own and protect their lands from the oil drillers and the land speculators. This is the government that campaigned on a Reformed Senate and when the law was signed by the Governor General, refused to bring it into effect. This is the government that has unleashed the worst victimization since independence – land from thousands of PUP supporters, scholarships, and jobs taken away. This is the government that chased away Chief Justice Conteh and replaced him with a lightweight from a tiny island which is smaller than Caye Caulker. This is the government that has brought a foreign Chief Magistrate, foreign Solicitor General, foreign Head of
Sunday, August 28, 2011 University of Belize and is searching for a foreigner to be the Police Commissioner. Then they claim to be nationalist. This is the government that wants to amend the Constitution to bring in the Gestapo type Preventative Detention. This is the government that has most of the Judges on short-term contracts in open violation of the Constitution which requires security of tenure and independence of the Judiciary. Remember during the last UDP government they started to interfere in the Judiciary by taking three Judges to Belmopan and promoting them in breach of the Constitutional requirements. It is the same UDP government that amended the Constitution to put in the dreaded spy organization called SIS. It is the same UDP government which amended the Constitution to sell Belizean citizenship through the sale of passports. It is the same government that allows a foreign company to reap hundreds of millions of dollars by selling Belizean oil to Texas while 43% of our people are living in poverty. UNIT TRUST CLOSE DOWN The saving and financial institution on Central American Boulevard closed down. Just like that. This is another bad sign for Belize and its economy. The Unit Trust building was painted red. Was that just coincidence? Whatever it is, it’s always bad news when a financial institution goes under. No matter that it happened months ago. MAGISTRATE FORD Mrs. Aretha Ford, Magistrate for Court No. 7 and the Revenue Magistrate for the country, has been offered entry into the prestigious legal institution at Grey’s Inn in the United Kingdom. If Magistrate Ford accepts the offer and the government provides the finances we may be looking at a future Chief Magistrate. Mrs. Ford has been described as a very strict Magistrate but one who carefully weighs up the evidence and makes every effort to be fair in her decisions. It is our understanding that she holds a Master’s Degree from a British university. SOMETHING WRONG AT MET? Is something going wrong at the Meteorological Department? Remember one Thursday night some months ago a little baby hurricane blew into Belize City, ripping off roofs and blowing down trees. The Met Department had no idea this storm was coming. Fishermen at sea could have drowned. This week, tropical depression Harvey was said to be heading north of Dangriga. Baggarang tornado in Crooked Tree and San Lazaro Village in Orange Walk, many miles away. No warning whatsoever. What with all this million dollar high tech radar and equipment at the service at the Met Department? LAWS ARE LIKE COBWEBS “Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” Jonathan Swift. STARVATION 3.7 million people are facing starvation in Somalia. The United Nations World Food Program personnel say they are unable to reach over 2 million of those facing death by starvation due to fighting between the Al-Shabaab rebels and the government. The starvation is a result of drought, conflict and bad government.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE BELIZE TIMES
Looking for good managers not brand names, says Briceño PUP Leader says municipal slates will be finalised by October
Belize City, August 24, 2011 PUP Leader Hon. John Briceño has indicated that by the end of October 2011 all slates for municipal elections will be in place, in preparation for 2011’s Town and City Council elections. Briceño was fielding in questions on various issues at a breakfast meeting he had with members of the media. When asked specifically about the Belize City slate, Briceño indicated that Senior Deputy Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca has been tasked to coordinate the city team, and that the slate should be prepared by the end of October. Currently, applications are being accepted by the PUP Secretariat for candidates. Briceño was asked whether the PUP has been lagging behind in the process, while the United Democratic Party is preparing to have its team read
by next week. The PUP leader said it’s not about who has their team first, but who has the best team. A questioned posed by Channel 7’s Jules Vasquez looked at the prospective candidates in the UDP Belize City ticket, which included the “brand name” children of UDP ministers, and how the PUP could matchup with such individuals. To that Briceño answered that the PUP is looking for good managers, not brand names. Nevertheless, added Briceño, there is not comfort or glow in being affiliated to the City Council with the worst record ever. Briceño said the only thing the UDP has proven over the last six years is that they are
terrible managers and disgraced leaders. The Opposition Leader noted that with the elections seven months away, town and city residents will see the Councils hurrying up to do what they promised many years ago. The streets may be patched up and the drains may be unclogged within the next few months, but municipal residents must remember the neglect that existed over the years. Briceño said he is confident that the PUP will assemble the best teams with the most capable candidates who will work for the towns and cities and start the restoration process to bring back development, opportunities and pride in our country.
Vibes Radio is back on air Belize City, August 17, 2011 It is best known for its upbeat music and provocative morning show, which means radio supporters and fans of Vibes Radio were overjoyed when the station went back up on air late last week. As the BELIZE TIMES had reported, the radio station shut off last week to carry out the transfer of its transmission equipment from the Body 2000 compound on Coney Drive to the RSV
Russia snubs PM Barrow Belize City, August 24, 2011 Back in March this year, Prime Minister Dean Barrow boasted of a new found love with the Russian Federation that, he said, would see his administration gifted with $20 million dollars. The Prime Minister’s office was even shopping around for a Putin-style warm jacket, since Barrow claimed he would be travelling to the former European powerhouse in June. Well, we’re now in August and Barrow is yet to make it to Moscow. So, what has happened to his new economic partnership? It appears it has all fizzled. It is not only that Barrow hasn’t flown half way across the world, but also because during a Russian high-official’s visit to Central and South America this week, Belize was totally overlooked. Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, visited El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela to sign the very same trade and economic agreements, Barrow claimed he had obtained. It must be one of those piped dreams Barrow has been selling Belizeans all along. It began with his 21 pledges, then his $100m stimulus package, the $30m municipal project, and now the Russian $20m. If the sources were right that some of the Russian money was meant for the UDP to buy and steal the 2012 and 2013 elections, then Barrow is in deep trouble.
Limited/Love FM tower site in Ladyville. The process took up to four days. The transfer is part of Vibes’ upgrade initiative which includes improving its quality of sound and programming. Vaughan Gill, the operation’s coordinator, told us the station’s quality of sound has improved starkly since the relocation and the station can now be heard in other districts and rural communities.
Gill said the station is now focused on improving its music and talk shows to offer better entertainment, information and discussion to Belizeans. A longer-than-expected delay postponed the kick-off of its newest on-air programme, a live Top Ten countdown with DJ Jah Keegan and top model Norrieli, to this Friday. Gill said there will be more surprises. Vibes Radio’s FM frequencies are 90.5 and 102.9.
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Humor in UDP Politics! The Cabinet meeting this week the following were discussed. - That all hurricanes shall start to pay a fee to come on shore - That Fernandez be named the Minister of Salvador rum, white or strong, otherwise - That all UDP candidates pledge their allegiance to the 9th Amendment or they may face the wrath of the 10th ……………………. In other related Cabinet news Cabinet has given the thumbs up to the Minister of Police and the police bacchanal band for the carnival. The Dress wear is pink tights, satin pink tops, pink instrument, and their GTs all pink. ……………………. Things are so bad under Barrow that the local meal of every day ramen is now everyday ½ a ramen meal. So bad, a thirteen year croc tried to eat a man, now the man is eating the croc. So bad that Belize City Councillors Samuels and Singh are contemplating opening back their small barber shops. So bad that we no longer say plantain nuh eat like rice but now say plantain nuh eat like ramen. ……………………. In a good will gesture Moya has sent over a couple of her shoes for Joe Bradley’s daughter, Darrelitas, to try out for the job of mayor. The problem is the mayor is a size 8 ½ and Darrelitas a size 7 ½, so to make the shoes work – Darrelitas added a dalla more.
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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, August 28, 2011