Belize Times March 16, 2014

SCAN HERE

The Belize Times

Established 1957

16 MARCH 2014 | ISSUE NO: 4886

The Truth Shall Make You Free

www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

Laura

Esquivel

booted

from BTB

Executive Managers cast Vote of No Confidence

Pg. 4 John Saldivar’s death sentence for BDF Soldier John Saldivar

BDF Corporal Norman Rodriguez

Penner

REJECTED! Pharmacist Association opposes

Appointment of Erwin Contreras’ daughter

Pg. 3

Pg. 8

The Penners vacationing in Chetumal

flees to Chetumal

CALL THE ELECTIONS NOW!!

Pg. 6

2 02

OPINION OUT

OUT

BTB Senior Managers Bash Laura Esquivel

! tion

16 MAR

THE BELIZE TIMES

Delroy Cuthkelvin Squeals ‘Foul!!’

!

March 5, 2014 Honorable Manuel Heredia Jr. Minister of Tourism, Culture and Civil Avia-

Dearest Minister Heredia, After several meetings held with you, past and present Chairmen of the Board, Board Directors and the CEO of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, we, the undersigned, have composed this official grievance to express our dissatisfaction and to put forward our vote of no confidence as it relates to the current Director of Tourism, Mrs. Laura Esquivel Frampton.

This vote of no confidence is based on the evolving discussions that we, the undersigned, have had over the past year with you and those outlined above, which have clearly delineated three (3) major concerns.

The first major area of concern is leadership. In our opinion, a leader should exhibit character that is beyond reproach, be transparent in their motives and demonstrate integrity as an example for and on behalf of staff and industry partners.

Instead, her actions have exhibited a secretive, egotistical philosophy of policy implementation that is directly responsible for the current lack of morale throughout the organization.

She has failed to discern leadership from manipulation. And while the institution has a mandate, a mission and vision, there is a lack of a clearly articulated direction and purpose.

In addition, it is clear that the best interest of the industry is not being considered as is evident in the current financial management con-

LOCAL 14 Mar

March 13, 2014 Ms Pearl Stuart Secretary General UDP Headquarters Belize City

Dear Ms Stuart: The Committee to Elect Delroy Cuthkelvin hereby informs the UDP Secretariat of our disapproval with the arbitrary decision to prepare a block-out

cerns that exist, which have not only limited the ability of the various departments of the BTB to fulfill their mandates, but also resulted in significant dissatisfaction with industry partners. After a series of very serious meetings, at the highest level, as a management team (three as recent as July 2013, October 2013 with the most recent being February 28th 2014, we feel that she has disregarded our concerns, especially as it pertains to the finances of the institution. Moreover, all calls made for further discussion or “deep diving” into the current financial position of the organization have been largely discounted.

Similarly, she has failed to display requisite leadership, levels of honesty, transparency and integrity in the current budget process, a process which should have at heart, the best interest of the industry first and foremost. Her almost complete absence in the interaction with the industry, coupled

weather 15 Mar

16 Mar

list of almost 900 voters who the Party Chairman and Secretariat propose to disallow from voting in what is contradictorily being called an ‘open’ convention to elect the party’s standard bearer for the Stann Creek West Constituency scheduled for this coming Sunday March 16, 2014 in Independence Village.

We note that at a meeting in Silk Grass Village on Tuesday March 11, 2014, attended by our candidate and other representatives of our campaign committee, a maximum of just over 200 names were presented, reviewed and agreed on. Yet the Secretariat has prepared a list of almost 900 names, which we understand was compiled in conjunction with Melvin Hulse, one of the other contestants in the Convention. We have still not seen the entire list and were only emailed by the Chairman, upon our demand, snapshots of five pages of the document which contains names that were never presented to us at the meeting. We were told by the Chairman that the full list would not be presented to us until Sunday Morning, an hour before the convention. This we find unacceptable.

We hereby demand an urgent reconContinued on page 3

with the blatant disregard of valid concerns from the management team as it relates to the ‘macro’ picture of the industry is not only callous but irresponsible, and has resulted in proposed budgetary allocation that will surely work to contract an industry that employs 1 in every Belizeans directly.

Accordingly, it is our humble stance, that we risk stymieing the innovation, growth and development of not only the organization, but of the industry at large, if we are to embrace the status quo. We firmly believe that the organization and industry deserves a leader who leads.

All of the undersigned are willing to meet with you and go over in more detail these three areas of concern.

We want to express to you, Minister, that we are fully conscious of the potential political ramifications that this official grievance may pose and we are fully prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder to ensure a process that will have the least impact on your position as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation

17 Mar

2618Mar Mar

and the organization. It is our humble opinion that if decisive action is not taken at this time, it will lead to an even worse position at a worse time.

Minister we thank for your consideration and for your stalwart and visionary leadership in this matter.

Sincerely, Members of the Executive Management Team Belize Tourism Board Kevin Gonzalez, Director, Destination Planning Armeid Thompson, Director of Quality Assurance Keisha Faber, Director of Administration Javier Paredez, Director of Revenue Collection/ Registrar of Hotels Alyssa Carnegie, Director of Marketing, Industry Relations Valdemar Andrade, Director of Cruise and Regional Initiatives Karen Pike, Director of Information Management

2014

OUT Chan Pine Ridge will support Hon. Dr. Marco Mendez on elections day!

!

Dear Editor, The people of Chan Pine Ridge wish to publicly express their full and unwavering support to our Area Representative duly elected Hon. Dr. Marco Tulio Méndez in Orange Walk East, who over the recent years has positively impacted our once forsaken village. As Simon Sinek once declared, “Great leaders don’t need to act tough. Their confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness”. That saying serves to underscore the great personality and unparalelled charisma of our beloved Area Representative. Past politicians have raised our expectations and have wisely manipulated our humble minds, but not our muy Honorable Representante!

On Saturday, March 8th, we were there on endorsement day to stand by our Area Representative’s side to reassure him that his victory in Chan Pine Ridge and the entire OW East is just a matter of time. Most certainly, we shall never change our beloved Hon. Dr. MénContinued on page 3 SCAN HERE

The Belize Times

Established 1957

14 APR 2013

|

ISSUE NO: 4840

The Truth Shall Make You Free

www.belizetimes.bz

|

$1.00

serving Belize since 1957 as the longest continuous newspaper.

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OFFICE ASSISTANT

Roberto Peyrefitte Printed and Published By The Belize Times Press Ltd. Tel: 671-8385 #3 Queen Street P.O. BOX 506 Belize City, Belize

27 Mar Mar 6 19 Feb

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16 MAR

2014

OUT

THE BELIZE TIMES

REJECTED!

Pharmacist Association opposes

Chan Pine Ridge will support Hon. Dr. Marco Mendez on elections day!

Continued from page 2 dez as our political leader in OW East until we change the people who elected him; a change, however, that can only be attributed to the feeble hallucination of the red mind.

The great leader that we certainly see in Hon. Dr. Méndez is unquestionably characterized by humbleness and respect for his people unlike the UDP standard bearer who seems to linger in a red abyss of illusion and arrogance, creating division and unrest amongst his political puppets in OW East, especially in Chan Pine Ridge where even the current Village Council gave him the cold shoulder on convention day. My advice to the UDP Standard Bearer: stop mystifying their humble ignorance in wanting to mythologize your wasted candidacy.

You are NOT the duly elected Area Representative of OW East! Our Honorable Doctor is and will continue to be! ¡Adelante con el muy Honorable Doctor Marco Tulio Méndez!

Yours truly, Germán Tzul (signed) Chan Pine Ridge resident

OUT Delroy Cuthkelvin Squeals ‘Foul!!’

Continued from page 2 vening of the parties involved by the end of today to resolve this matter. Failing this, we will take necessary action to defend the interest of our candidate and campaign committee. We register our strongest disapproval of these measures by officials of the party clearly intended to prejudice the outcome of the convention in favor of one candidate, and we call on the leadership of the party to reconsider its decision and let Democracy prevail.

Yours Truly, The Committee to Elect Delroy Cuthkelvin Cc: Mr. Alberto August (UDP Chairman) (Editor’s Note: A consistent feature in the UDP conventions has been the conniving manner in which the UDP Secretariat meddles in the affairs of what should be a democratic process, to give their preferred candidates an unfair advantage. This has resulted in further internal fighting and the election of very unpopular candidates.)

Appointment of Erwin Contreras’ daughter Belize City, March 13, 2014 The Pharmacist Association has reacted furiously to the appointment of UDP Minister Erwin Contreras’ daughter to the post of “Drug Inspectorate” in the Ministry of Health.

The Association held an emergency meeting last week to discuss the appointment, after reports surfaced that Danini Contreras was unqualified for the post.

The BELIZE TIMES reported last week that Contreras, who is a

recent graduate of a University in Guatemala, was not a suitable candidate for the post. She has no experience in pharmacy in Belize and is not even a registered pharmacist in the country. Her only qualification seems to be her direct connection to her father, Minister of Trade and Economic Development, Erwin Contreras.

Those were two main points among others brought up by the Pharmacist Association in a press release issued on Wednesday.

“As an association we find it dis-

03 3 respectful and discouraging that once again the Ministry of Health has chosen to make a mockery of our profession. In recent years we have had to lobby and fight to ensure persons seeking to practice pharmacy in Belize are properly evaluated. This undertaking provided some assurance that such practitioners were equipped to provide safe services to the people of this country. As indicated above, the PBA has submitted numerous revised versions of legislation, again to ensure safe and effective pharmaceutical services to the people of Belize.

Now, to have a position of such importance created in secrecy and filled by a person with reportedly strong paternal political ties, is one more indication that Continued on page 31

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Laura Esquivel booted from BTB seven directors who head the various BTB departments, declared a “vote of no confidence” on Esquivel-Frampton. (See letter on page 2) The senior managers said they had three main issues against the Director: her disrespect towards them and disregard for their con-

Hon. Manuel Herredia Jr.

Belize City, March 12, 2014 There was no rolling out of the red carpet or extravagant “farewell parties” which Directors at the Belize Tourism Board have become accustomed to when political appointee, Laura Esquivel-Frampton, stomped out of the Albert Street office on Tuesday.

Reports are that the cheers and “party” actually started after Esquivel-Frampton walked out of the building, as the staff only had good riddance to say.

Esquivel-Frampton becomes the 4th Director to fall out of grace at the institution within only six short years under the Barrow Administration. This serious instability within an institution that plays a key and integral role in the nation’s economy and development is a sad state of affairs.

But Esquivel-Frampton’s departure ends on a sourer note than those who have walked through the exit door before her.

Esquivel-Frampton was forced out of BTB by members of her own senior management team.

A kind of high level backstabbing. Seven senior managers (Kevin Gonzalez, Director of Destination Planning; Armeid Thompson, Director of Quality Assurance; Keisha Faber, Director of Administration; Javier Paredez, Director of Revenue Collection/Registrar of Hotels; Alyssa Carnegie, Director of Marketing, Industry Relations; Valdemar Andrade, Director of Cruise and Regional Initiatives and Karen Pike, Director of Information Management) met secretly and plotted how to turn against Esquivel-Frampton. They complained bitterly to the Minister of Tourism, Manuel Herredia Jr. that she must go. A letter addressed to the Minister dated March 5th, 2014, signed by the

cerns, her mismanagement of BTB’s finances and her lack of leadership. “…her actions have exhibited a secretive, egotistical philosophy of policy implementation that is directly responsible for the current lack of morale throughout the organization.

She has failed to discern leadership from manipulation,” wrote the Directors in their letter.

The straw that broke the camel’s back in the relations between her and the senior managers, according to the letter, is her ill-conceived budget preparations.

The managers say that Esquivel-Frampton disrespected them

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2014

by disregarding their concerns about her proposed budget allocations. They believe her decisions would continue to limit the ability of the various departments of the BTB to fulfill their mandates and contract the industry. “…she has failed to display requisite leadership, levels of honesty, transparency and integrity in the current budget process…” they wrote.

The BELIZE TIMES understands that Esquivel-Frampton also had strained relations with the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Tourism, Tracy TaeContinued on page 6

16 MAR

2014

THE BELIZE TIMES

05 5

EDITORIAL

R

Belizean Roulette

ussian Roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against his head, and pulls the trigger.

A careful review of Dean Barrow’s actions and reactions to the Penner saga confirms that Barrow is a gambling man and Penner is his “single round”.

Last week Monday, history was made when the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Francis Fonseca, overcame all odds and delivered a big win for the people of Belize.

In September of 2013, Prime Minister Dean Barrow set the tone for his minions by publicly announcing that Elvin Penner did not commit any crime and that there was no need for an investigation.

Following the landmark decision by the Chief Justice of Belize, and with the world now watching his every move under a microscope, Barrow was forced into a corner and had no choice but to change his tune. When asked about the Penner investigation last week Friday, Barrow grudgingly declared that the investigation was “none of his business”. All of a sudden.

In September of 2013, Dean Barrow did not foresee that the PUP would lead a charge to expose the worst cover up in the history of our young nation. Dean Barrow truly believed that the illegal issuance of a Belizean passport to a Korean criminal would have been swept under the rug, just like that, no questions asked.

It is now clear for all to see that Dean took a gamble.

Either he sails with Penner or he sinks with Penner.

But in reality, it is not as though Barrow had a choice.

Had he instructed the police to charge Elvin Penner, the disgraced Minister of State would have squealed like a little piggy, calling the names of other Cabinet Ministers involved in the immigration scandal.

With Godwin as his “backstop” and the Compol as his pitcher, Dean figured his chances of a getaway were solid.

Readers may recall that this is the very same Godwin who once advised his niece, Marion Jones, to “do the right thing” and fess up. Oh how the tables have turned and now Godwin is sitting smack dab in the eye of the storm. History will remember him as the Senator who blocked a Senate inquiry into HIS own

Ministry.

The ComPol is now a battered, bruised and tired pitcher. Unfortunately for him he sacrificed his name, credibility and years of service for his UDP government, which will in short course, turn around and kick him to the curb.

At the behest of his political bosses, Whylie continues to make a mockery of the Supreme Court’s Order, delivering incomplete files to the DPP in hopes that she follows his lead like a zombie and sings Barrow’s chorus that “Penner is innocent, Penner is innocent”.

The PUP Attorneys have written to the Compol advising him that he could be held in contempt if he continues to willfully defy the court’s orders.

And then there is Barrow. Like a wounded villain with his back against the wall, Dean Barrow has decided that he will go down in a blaze of fire. Barrow is seen here, there and everywhere blowing his wad, spending the nation’s resources wildly, irresponsibly, braggingly, all in the hopes that Belizeans will be tricked, distracted and lulled into a deep sleep and forget.

Barrow is hoping that we forget about: Elvin “Passport” Penner; Edmund “Clear the Checks” Castro; Pablo “13 babies” Marin; Sedi “Artificial Border” Elrington; Gapi “Not a Normal Belizean” Vega; Mark “Casino Brawl” King; Santi “SIF” Castillo; Patrick “Dock Teachers’ Pay” Faber; John “Only a Few Visas Recommended” Saldivar; Erwin “Lord Gibson’s pet” Contreras, Michael “Bukut” Finnegan and Anthony “Yo mother” Martinez; and the list can go on and on.

Barrow’s latest “magical” budget is a sick joke. He sings high praises for a government that is surviving almost exclusively on another country, Venezuela. On the same day that Barrow read his fantasy land budget, the Amandala newspaper carried a story on the plight of a real Belizean family struggling to stay alive.

In that same newspaper, readers saw the usual myriad of homes, hotels and farms up for auction as Barrow’s economy continues to swallow up businesses one by one. Indeed, it is a tale of two cities.

In spite of all the gambling games being played by Barrow with our nation and its resources, Belizeans are now more focused and determined than ever. The next move for the Belizean people is simple. It is obvious.

It is coming.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Laura Esquivel booted from BTB Continued from page 4

gar-Panton.

A press release sent out by the Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday misleadingly claimed that Esquivel-Frampton had resigned for personal reasons.

Sources indicate to the BELIZE TIMES that the storm at BTB is not about to calm anytime soon.

Esquivel-Frampton is the daugh-

ter of former Prime Minister and former UDP Leader Manuel Esquivel. She is also a former UDP City Councillor. She clearly enjoys tremendous political protection and the expectation was that she was one of the untouchables. It is expected that there will be longterm ramifications and continued backstabbing as a result of her sudden departure.

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2014

Penner flees to Chetumal Belize City, March 12, 2014 Elvin Penner, Belize’s most hated UDP politician and a fugitive who is wanted for a serious crime against our nation, is on the run with the help of the UDP Government.

Photos have surfaced on Facebook showing Penner and his wife frolicking inside a popular restaurant in nearby Chetumal. The photos were posted on Saturday March 8th.

Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie seems not to have understood the seriousness of an order issued by Supreme Court Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin for an accelerated criminal investigation into Penner’s issuance of Belizean nationality and a passport to Kim Won Hong, a South Korean national who was in prison in Taiwan.

The Police have been conducting a reluctant and slow-paced investigation, only interviewing two employees of the Ministry of Immigration in Belmopan and the Immigration Minister Godwin Hulse since the Court order.

But the man at the center of the investigation, Penner, has not even been contacted by the Police, and from all indications has been

allowed to roam free, as if there was no urgency to get to the bottom of his criminal actions.

A leaked February 20th 2014 memo from the Director of Public Prosecutions revealed that the Police Department had been given “instructions” to halt their investigations into fraud at the Immigration Department. The DPP asked who had given such instructions but did not get a response.

It is obvious who gave the instructions for the Police to abandon their probe. The Police answers to the Commissioner of Police, and he answers to the Minister of Police. The Minister of Police follows the orders of the Prime Minister, who has already gone on record to say that he sees no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Penner.

Belizeans are watching the UDP Government mishandling of the Penner scandal, just as the UDP has botched every other scandal involving UDP Ministers in corruption.

But Penner will have his day to face Justice. The Opposition Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca will not rest until Penner faces the music for the wrongdoing committed against Belize. Other organisations such as COLA is also committed to the fight.

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2014

07 7

THE BELIZE TIMES

John Briceno, Jose Mai & Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez for PUP OW CENTRAL, EAST & SOUTH

Hon. John Brice単o, Orange Walk Central Area Representative & PUP Secretary General Myrtle Palacio

PUP Secretary General Mrs. Palacio & Hon. Jose Mai, Orange Walk South Area Representative

Orange Walk Mayor Kevin Bernard, Party Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca, Toledo West Area Representative Hon. Oscar Reque単a, Dangriga Area Representative Hon. Ivan Ramos & PUP Eastern Caucus Chairman Dr. Francis Smith

BYM members in attendance

A packed hall of supporters at the Endorsement Conventions held at the Crystal Auditorium in Orange Walk on March 08 2014

PUP Secretary General Mrs. Palacio & Hon. Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez, Orange Walk East Area Representative

Special Belizean Flag presentation by the PUP Marshalls

PUP Deputy Leader Hon. Mike Espat

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16 MAR

THE BELIZE TIMES

2014

John Saldivar’s death sentence for BDF Soldier Belize City, March 12, 2014 The family of Belize Defense Force Corporal Norman Rodriguez have resigned any hopes that the Government of Belize will show compassion and sympathy for their loved one, a military officer who is desperately seeking assistance for medical treatment.

In 2007, Corporal Rodriguez found out he had Arterio-Venous Malformation (AVM), an abnormal connection between arteries and veins in his brain which causes pain and can lead to hemorrhages and difficulties with body movement and coordination.

Corporal Rodriguez began receiving medical treatment for free, as is afforded to every BDF soldier.

About two years ago, the BDF decided they would no longer provide medical service to him. Corporal Rodriguez said he doesn’t know why his requests for medical assistance have been rejected but his concern has heightened since his last medical tests show that the malformation had increased in size and had spread across his brain.

In January when Corporal Rodriguez turned to the media to tell his story and ask the public for support, the BDF reacted ma-

liciously and suspended the officer’s pay. Immediately, Corporal Rodriguez’s worries increased and his condition worsened, with increased pain and terrible headaches.

His family has launched several appeals to the Government and public, but they have fallen on deaf ears.

“I’m appealing to the Minister of National Security John Saldivar to intervene in the case of Norman Rodriguez and help get this soldier to a hospital ASAP so he can undergo the surgery he so desperately needs. Norman doesn’t need any more wild goose chase, “no more call this one or that one” in the ministry. He needs action!

We are now in 2014, how much longer must Norman wait?” said one of Corporal Rodriguez’s family members on a Facebook post.

Minister Saldivar responded coldly when he addressed the issue at last week’s House Sitting.

Saldivar in effect declared a death sentence for Corporal Rodriguez as he stated that the cost of the Corporal’s medical needs outweighed the BDF’s budget.

Saldivar offered no solution.

He also didn’t offer any apology that his Ministry abandoned the soldier in his greatest time of need.

Rodriguez said he can access treatment abroad but his family cannot afford it. He remarked that after thirteen years of service to the country and Government, the least he should expect is medical protection.

In a February 5th interview with Channel 5, Corporal Rodriguez sent a strong message to the Prime Minister.

“I’m not scared to die. If I was afraid of dying I wouldn’t

have joined the military. But I just want to appeal to their conscience if they have any conscience, if they have any common decency left in them.

I want to appeal to the Minister of National Security, the C.E.O., the Prime Minister to let them look after me.

I served my country thirteen years. I was never a camp soldier. I was always out on the front lines when things were happening,” said the Corporal.

Corporal Rodriguez has two children, including an 8 year old and a 2 year old son.

Look like only Barrow fu eat!

NEPOTISM = CORRUPTION

Lois Young Barrow (Ex-Wife)

Anwar Barrow (Son)

Shyne Barrow (Son)

Kimano Barrow (Nephew) PUC Board Member/Granted Oil Exploration Licence

Naima Barrow (Niece) Appointed to Election and Boundaries Commission

Liesje Barrow (Niece) Appointed to Belize Advisory Council

United Nations Ambassador

Appointed to BTL Board

Cultural Ambassador

Denys Barrow (Brother)

Appointed to Court of Appeal/Private Attorney for GOB

Cheryl Krusen (formerly Barrow) Appointed to Solicitor General

DEAN BARROW IS BELIZE’S BIGGEST PROBLEM!!!

16 MAR

THE BELIZE TIMES

2014

Clueless Herredia!

Tourism Minister held at ransom by BTB managers

Hon. Manuel Herredia Jr. Belize City, March 13, 2014 Tourism Minister Manuel Herredia has not properly explained how his flagship tourism institution is again in turmoil. The Belize Tourism Board is searching for their fourth tourism director after only six years under Herredia’s leadership.

The Minister appeared shaken and, as usual, incapable of speaking with sense when he was interviewed about the internal fighting at BTB which resulted in Director Laura Esquivel-Frampton pushed out of her post.

Herredia was held at ransom by seven senior employees who felt that his political appointment of Esquivel-Frampton as head of BTB was a terrible decision. In a scathing letter calling for the head of the BTB Director, the senior managers forced Herredia to face whatever political repercussions came his way with getting rid of Esquivel-Frampton, who is the daughter

of former Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel. Choosing not to do so would welcome a worse scenario, the managers told Herredia.

The letter was leaked to the media and when asked about it on Wednesday Minister Manuel Herredia Jr. decided that his best option was to deny any knowledge that the letter existed or that he knew of any problems with Esquivel-Frampton.

But Herredia shot himself in the foot and exposed himself as either a liar or a clueless Minister.

Herredia claimed that he had not seen the letter that was sent to him and that he does not watch the evening news 99% of the time, so he wasn’t aware that it even existed. He said the letter could be the making of “mischief”. Yet the Minister boasted that he is “always on top” of everything going on in his Ministries and that he addresses issues “as soon as possible with the least possible consequence”.

Herredia also appeared nonchalant about the uprising against his appointed Tourism Director because as far as he knows Esquivel-Frampton had impeccable integrity.

BELIZE TIMES

it as “like a thief in the night”.

Before them, the least liked CEO, Michael Singh was denied a contract renewal. He was replaced by the lazy Lindsay Garbutt.

Overall, in just five years under the UDP, the BTB has changed four Chairmans. They have also switched through three CEOs and now its fourth Director.

Belizean Graduates of Cuba to hold reunion Belize City, March 13, 2014 The Embassy of Cuba and the Association of Belizean Friends of Cuba invites all Belizean graduates of Cuba to the 2014 Graduates Reunion to be held on Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 10:00am.

The reunion will be held at the residence of the Ambassador of Cuba H.E. Jose Prieto Cintado on Princess Margaret Drive in Belize City.

Misguided Spending

By Norris Hall There is a whole heap of money being spent irrationally in Belize City as compared to the rest of the country where neglect is rampant. It appears that for every ten dollars spent on the least productive area of Belize, one dollar is spent everywhere else. Apart from the millions borrowed by the City Council, the government is also pumping millions more into the old city. This includes proposals for a new City Centre and the “forever” ongoing work at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex. The latter appears to be taking as long to be completed as the Tower of Babel, and, with good reason. It has become the mammary for corrupt politicians and the equally corrupt building Contractors who continue The fastest selling newspaper in Belize to suck from this enlarged tit loaded with implants.

call 650-8429

But the letter itself points out that the serious problems with Esquivel-Frampton have been simmering for some time. The Directors indicate that their issues with Esquivel-Frampton have existed from as far back as July last year and that it does involve her management of BTB finances.

So how could Herredia who is “always on top” of things not have become aware of the festering internal battles at the vital Tourism organization?

Even more alarming is that the BTB is now in need of its 5th Director in just six short years. The UDP curse on BTB continues. Executive officials only last a year or so there.

On September 23rd, 2011, BTB Director Seleni Matus abandoned her BTB post and hurriedly left to the United States, following exposure of lavish spending by former Tourism CEO Lindsay Garbutt. Before Matus, other high officials were either booted or simply left including once Deputy Chairman Santiago Castillo and Stanley Longsworth who were both fired in such a dramatic manner that Santi described

09 9

These include millions of dollars from the Government of Taiwan. They now appear to be complicit in feeding this corruption by continuing to pump loads of money into this and other projects with inflated construction costs and without any apparent need for accountability.

NO HOUSING, NO HEALTH INSURANCE Quick arithmetic figures indicate that more than $100 million is being spent on the Belize City infrastructure while the government continues to pay lip service to rising poverty and unemployment. It has been diverting funds from the Social Security Board for everything else except a full rollout of the National Health Insurance Scheme. This is one sure way for the government to appear to be serious about addressing the growing poverty that plagues Belizeans by providing national health insurance, especially in those poverty ridden areas of Belize City, which has one of the highest levels of poverty nationally and not yet served by the NHI. One in every two Belizeans is now considered poor.

There is an obvious political agenda by

the Barrow Administration to keep the electorate both poor and dependent.

This concrete mania for the streets of Belize City will only serve to highlight in contrast with dilapidated shacks that seem to sprout so well in the swamps on the outskirts of Belize City because of obvious lack of any meaningful housing programme. Not too far away though, there are mansion-like law offices with a common name on the shingles - Barrow and….

NO DEVELOPMENT PLANNING With all this spending in Belize City, it is obvious that there is no comprehensive national development plan, that the government’s agenda is politically skewed towards Belize City which is one of the least productive areas of the country and is for the sole purpose of serving a political agenda.

Some would argue, this writer included, that Belize City is parasitic and feeding on the fat of the land from the productive areas of the country. National statistics bear this out. But it is a distorted colonial mindset, and one held by the Prime Minister, that Belize City remains the country’s centre of Continued on page 12

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THE BELIZE TIMES

WOMAN IN THE HOUSE

By Dolores Balderamos Garcia

The Bar is watching you, Sedi The Bar that I talk about this week is not the one where we go for a beer, drink or glass of wine.

It is the Bar Association of Belize, the worthy gathering and conglomeration of attorneys-at-law who are qualified and admitted to practise law in Belize. I checked with Mr. Pennil, and he told me that there are well over two hundred persons who are admitted as lawyers, having paid their requisite fee to the Bar Association and having also paid for the practising certificate that must be had yearly by all lawyers.

There is the Constitutional right to freedom of association, and so the question arose last year as to why all attorneys MUST

pay the fee to join the Association.

Senior Counsels Rodwell Williams and Godfrey Smith have given a well-reasoned opinion that compulsory membership in the Bar Association is not necessarily unconstitutional, since lawyers play such an important role in the society and so should be regulated and sanctioned when necessary.

I believe that the Association is in good hands and is as vigorous as ever. The Executive and Committee comprise Eamon Courtenay, Emil Arguelles, Darlene Vernon, Edwin Flowers, Denys Barrow, Melissa Balderamos Mahler and Jacqueline Marshalleck. The General Legal Council, the body which is responsible for disciplining and sanctioning

attorneys, has as members Lisa Shoman, Aldo Salazar, Derek Courtenay and Christopher Coye. It is chaired by the Attorney General in the person of Hon. Wilfred Elrington. He may send an alternate to meetings.

At the Annual General Meeting two weeks ago some forty or so attorneys received the President’s Report, after Rodwell Williams paid a heartfelt tribute to our respected and recently deceased colleague Lionel Welch, having himself had an extremely close call a few years ago.

In the past year the Bar has sponsored a well-received legal education seminar as well as a conference on developing trends in the law with regional and local participation. Also, Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson was bestowed the honor of receiving the prestigious Custos Justiciae Award, joining Derek Courtenay as recipient of this award.

The Association has also taken note and acted on several matters regarding the administration of justice, which in many ways seems to be in crisis, and there is strong debate at this time concerning the utter failure of the Court of Appeal and its President to manage the Court and to deliver on its remit in an efficient and timely manner.

My remarks herein, however, go back to Bar President Eamon Courtenay’s report to us that the Attorney General, who knows that there is a

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pending complaint against him, seems to have suddenly decided that he will start to chair meetings of the General Legal Council (GLC).

As I said the GLC is the body that has the statutory responsibility to recommend the sanctioning of attorneys to the Chief Justice where there has been professional misconduct or gross professional misconduct.

Heretofore the Attorney General has normally sent his representative to meetings of the GLC, and when no representative of the Attorney General attends, meetings are often postponed.

It is my fervent hope that the Attorney General will certainly not proceed with this completely wrongheaded proposition of wishing to chair meetings at which a complaint against him may be deliberated upon.

One cannot be a judge in her/ his own cause, and the Bar is watching closely that there will not be any conflict of interest. This UDP Government has time and again behaved in outrageous fashion where conflicts of interest are concerned. So I repeat. I surely trust that Hon. Elrington will take a step back, consider carefully and desist from any intention to put himself in a position of patent conflict of interest. The vigorous Bar is watching you, Mr. Sedi.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Misguided Spending Continued from page 9

gravity. That is a too long held myth that must be dispelled.

THE MISUSE OF EDF $64M… The Government of Belize has received from the European Development Fund $64 million for rural development programmes and for the upgrading of roads in the north of the country, mainly cane roads.

Sugar remains one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. Some of the EDF money that was dedicated specifically for cane roads passing through cane fields and cane producing villages have been taken and diverted to street projects in Belize City. Meanwhile the government has been handing out money in drips and dribbles for the repair of these roads following the recent months of unusually rainy weather. The government has given the cane farmers a raw deal by not using most of that EDF money for its expressed purposes. This helped to exacerbate the recent crisis in the sugar industry and affected cane deliveries, as the money, that was to be dedicated to roads in the north was diverted to Belize City. …PETRO CARIBE Belize City is also enjoying an extraordinary use of money from the Petro-Caribe agreement which should be used to boost the productive sector. This is a specific part of that agreement. By neglecting the stipulations of “Petro-Caribe”, the Prime Minister is creating another “super-bond” scenario to leave the country heavily in debt when he

Liquor License NOTICES

Notice is hereby given that NORIELLI SANDOVAL is applying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Keyhole Bar”, situate at Caye Caulker Village, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that CARLOS LEE is applying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Déjà vu Bar”, situate at 19 Orange Street, Belize City, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

goes into oblivion which many hope will be soon.

Meanwhile the rest of the national infrastructure has been neglected and crumbling for the past six years (the Hummingbird Highway is the worse).The government is now attempting to do mediocre work in an attempt to placate the electorate now that elections appear to be on the horizon - certainly for the cities and towns.

It would be wise for Belizeans to know that all the work currently taking place in Belize City and more recently, elsewhere, is not geared to boost the economy, which by the way has flat lined, it is not geared towards

to reduction of poverty or for the creation of long-term employment opportunities.

HOODWINKING THE ELECTORATE It is designed to hoodwink the electorate by providing low level, menial, short-term employment and to sweeten their empty bowels come Election Day, when they will be seduced for their votes and then held hostage for another five years.

Improving the old colonial capital is good but this should not be at the expense of the rest of the country and certainly not at the expense of the most productive

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sectors and the people in the rural communities who remain the lifeblood of the national economy.

The nation’s Capital, has been uniquely different and a model for the country for many years since its construction more than forty years ago. But in the last eight years this “Garden City” has been allowed to rapidly deteriorate into a state of neglect and disrepair that serve only to embarrass and anger its residents.

This is now the sad state of affairs countrywide, except for Belize City where the government has the highest political stake. This is certainly not the way to govern.

Belizeans all deserve a government that promotes equal rights for all and that includes the right to enjoy infrastructural development in their communities regardless of party political interests. Is it too much to expect a “Government for All”?

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THE BELIZE TIMESTIMES THE BELIZE

2014

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14 SPORTS

Belize Bank Bulldogs reign as La Ruta Maya Champs

Belize City, March 10, 2014 The Belize Bank Bulldogs team of Armin Lopez, Amado and Daniel Cruz demonstrated major superiority, tact and skill when they won the 16th annual Belikin Ruta Maya River Challenge for the 3rd year.

Bulldogs won the 4 stages to win the prized Kinich Ahau trophy, and a trophy for 1st place first in the Male category at the Belcan Bridge in Belize City in on Monday. The

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THE BELIZE TIMES TIMES THE BELIZE

Bulldogs won with a time of 17:25:13.

Males 2nd N.I.C.H. team: Oscar Cordon, Felix and Efrain Cruz - 17:31:42 3rd Telemedia “Cobb’s Arm”: Roy and Eric Cano, Andres Cobb - 17:36:26.

Intramural 1st Wat Eva Boyz: Adrian Williams, Sergio Lopez, Jesus Linares - 17:40:37 2nd Crime Fighters 2:

2014

3rd Belize Coast Guardians: Toni Franzua, Tiffara Welch, Glen Jones - 18:20:09 Pleasure 1st Weh Dem Deh: Miguelito Guerra, Jesus Cruz, Daniel Mena - 18:39:41 2nd Crime Fighters 1: Nery Waight, Amin August, Danny Jimenez -18:52:50 3rd Print Belize: Kylan Hyde, Rudoph Gentle, Francisco Perez - 19:1421 Masters 1st Grumpy Ol’ Men: Victor Seguro, Stanley Bailey, Jerry Wilkens - 19:04:15 2nd Watt a Ting: Johnny

Trevor Lennon, Carlos Linarez, Armin Lopez Jr 18:17:54 3rd Turdz: Martin Gideon, Serjio Barrera, Glenford Sutherland - 18:41:50 Mixed 1st Black Orchid: Wilberto Daniels, Jayda Guydis, Jermain Sanchez - 18:02:48 2nd Coast Guard ACE: Geanne Cayetano, Godfrey and Jonathan Alford 18:16:23

“Watt” and Michael Searle, Robert Bailey - 19:14:47 Watt a Ting won the Perseverance award Females 1st Koop Sheet Metal: Ana Camp, Lily Cruz, Delilah Cabb - 19:26:45 2nd Peacemakers: Audrey Moody, Kylee Joseph, Josette Conorquie - 19:42:20 3rd Serve the People: Jane and Bobby Dee Usher, Ceilidh Boyd - 19:51:29 Family 1st “Bubble and Grine: Felipe Vanegas, Michael and Philip Reyes -24:01:40

Belize Bank Team displays winning trophy

Baron Bliss harbor regatta revives

San Ignacio United

draws with FC Belize 3-2 Belize City, March 9, 2014 San Ignacio United drew 3-1 with FC Belize when the Premier League’s 2014 closing season kicked off at the MCC garden on Sunday.

FC Belize’s star striker Jarret Davis scored in the 13th and 19th minute to lead 2-0 almost up to the half, until San ignacio’s Carlos Vasquez scored in the 38th minute.

In the 2nd half veteran Wilmer Garcia equalized for San Ignacio on a free kick in the 58th minute, and rookie Tremayne Gentle came off the San Ignacio bench to embarrass FC Belize goalie Glenford Chimilio with a 3rd goal in the 60th minute.

Michael Hernandez entered the game in the 2nd half for FC Belize and finally equalized 3-3 in the 86th minute.

Other matches Belmopan Bandits vs. Verdes - 1-1 Paradise Freedom Fighters vs. Belize Defence Force - 1-0

Carlos Vasquez scored San Ignacio’s 1st goal

Gwen Liz girls advance to softball nationals Belize City, March 11, 2014 The Gwen Lizarraga High School will take on the northern regional champs, the Belize Rural High School girls, at the high school softball championships to be hosted

by Kings College in Maskall on March 14-15.

The Gwen Liz girls defeated the Ladyville Technical High School girls 6-3 to advance to the nationals as the central zone champs.

The championship kicks off on Friday afternoon with the Western Zone champions from Alvin Young High School taking on the southern regional champs, the Independence High School girls. The winners play for the championship on Saturday morning, while the losers play for 3rd place.

Kevin Velasquez receives prize from Governor General

Gwen Liz’s Ashley Lucas

Belize City, March 9, 2014 The Belize Sailing Association’s 47 Optimist class sailing dinghies were the young stars of the annual Baron Bliss Day harbor regatta on Sunday, March 9.

Kevin Velasquez, 12, of the San Pedro Junior Sailing Club, emerged the overall winner as he won 3 of the 4 races held that day. The Optimists had sailed a triangular course from in front of BTL Park, bob- and-weaving into the wind to the Radisson Fort George Hotel, then running before the wind to Northern Drowned Caye and turning to head back to the Fisheries Department, where they turned and headed back to the starting point.

Continued on page 15

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Nazarene

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wins softball central zone finals Belize City, March 11, 2014 The Nazarene High School boys will take on the northern regional champs, the San Pedro High School boys, at the high softball championships to be hosted by Kings College in Maskall on March 14-15.

The Nazarene High boys was undefeated through the central zone competition, winning the St John’s College boys 7-6 in the finals at the Rogers Stadium on Monday, March 11.

The nationals kicks off on Friday afternoon with Belmopan Comprehensive School taking on the southern regional champs, the Independence High School boys. The winners play for the championship on Saturday morning, while the losers play for 3rd place.

Holy Redeemer girls

Holy Redeemer boys

Primary school softball results

Belize City, March 11, 2014 Central Christian girls vs.Trinity Methodist - 11-0 Muslim community vs. Holy Redeemer - 14-1 St. Luke’s Methodist vs.Trinity girls - 15-2 Holy Redemer boys vs. Unity Presbyterian - 10-0 Buttonwood Bay Nazarene vs. St. Mary’s School - 7-0 Unity Presbyterian vs. Wesley Upper - 7-6 St. Luke’s boys vs. St. Mary’s - 12 runs

22 children participate in BTA tournament Baron Bliss harbor regatta revives Continued from page 14 Results 2nd Antonio Ricardez - Belize City Sailing Club 3rd Blanca Velasquez - the San Pedro Junior Sailing Club 4th Trent Hardwick - Sea Scouts 5th Faith Noel - San Pedro Junior Sailing Club “Sandra” – 1st Place in Dory race “Old Finch” – 2nd Place in Dory race Isaac Ritchie – 1st Place in “Laser” class sloops Carlos Villatoro – 2nd Place in “Laser” class sloops Tyrone Usher – 3rd in “Laser” class sloops “United” – 1st place in Sand lighters “Radio” – 1st place in Sand lighters “Heather” – 1st place in Open race “Sandra” – 2nd place in Open race

Belize City, March 3, 2014 This past Saturday March 2nd twenty-two children ranging from ages 4 to13 years participated in a tennis tournament hosted by the Belize Tennis Association at the Belize Pickwick Club Tennis Courts.

There were three different categories: green/ advance, orange/intermediate, and red/beginners.

The advance and intermediate category played doubles.

In the green/advance category Harnadar Tut and Gavin Riveroll took the 1st place with Adrian Marshalleck and Jonathan Smith taking 2nd place.

In the orange/intermediate category, which had the most participants, the competition was tight, but in the end Jayda Smith and Devesh Hukmani took 1st place and Sofia Solano and Marianna Diaz took the 2nd place medals.

In the red/beginners category Daniel Musa came out on top with John Paul Jaramillo taking the runner up position. Both Daniel and John Paul are extremely promising players and they held the longest rallies of the entire tournament, impressing all parents and fans present!

The Belize Tennis Association continues to focus on youth development in the sport of tennis and it encourages all kids to keep practicing and learning the game of tennis.

Lords Bank Sunrise spanks Isabella Uprising 146-54 in cricket Lord’s Bank, March 8, 2014 Lord’s Bank Sunrise walloped Isabella Uprising 146-48 when the SMART Harrison Parks national cricket competition continued at Lord’s Bank on Saturday.

Upcoming games (Saturday, March 15): Sunrise vs. Berlan Brave Union vs. Isabella Uprising Suga Boys vs. Central American Health Sciences University (CAHSU) Brilliant vs. Wicked 11 Excelsior vs. Easy Does It Brave 11 vs. Western Eagles Police vs. Bright Star

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THE BELIZE TIMES

NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the companies have been dissolved and struck off the International Business Companies Registry with effect from the dates indicated:

12th day of March, 2014 -- ARLITECH ELECTRONIC CORP. Power Point Trust (Belize) Limited Registered Agent

CREDIT MASTER SYSTEMS BONDED COLLECTION AGENCY

WE ARE CURRENTLY RESEARCHING INFORMATION.

CONTACT CMS IF YOU KNOW THE WHEREABOUTS OF ANY PERSON LISTED AT

www.cmssearch.bz CREDIT MASTER SYSTEMS #11 DOUGLAS JONES STREET BELIZE CITY TEL# 223-5845/2283

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PEOPLE”S UNITED PARTY

Charting Greater Pathways For Belizean Women As Nation Builders

THE BELIZE TIMES

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2014 WOMEN’S AGENDA

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PUP NOTICE

PUP NOTICE

Queen Square Standard Bearer Convention

Corozal Bay Standard Bearer Convention

The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Queen Square Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday May 18, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Tuesday March 18, 2014.

PUP NOTICE Albert Standard Bearer Convention The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Albert Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday May 25, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Tuesday March 18, 2014.

PUP NOTICE Caribbean Shores Standard Bearer Convention The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Caribbean Shores Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday, June 1, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Friday March 28, 2014.

PUP NOTICE Lake Independence Standard Bearer Convention The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Lake Independence Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday, June 8, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Friday March 28, 2014.

The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Corozal Bay Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday, March 30, 2014 from 8:00am to 5:00pm at St. Francis Xavier R.C. School.

PUP NOTICE Mesopotamia Standard Bearer Convention The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Mesopotamia Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday May 18, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Tuesday March 18, 2014.

PUP NOTICE Belize Rural South Standard Bearer Convention The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Belize Rural South Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday, June 22, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Friday March 28, 2014.

PUP NOTICE

Orange Walk North Standard Bearer Convention The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Orange Walk North Division is scheduled for June 15, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Tuesday April 15, 2014.

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Home Economics Review of the 2014-2015 Budget

By Richard Harrison Last week the Government of Belize read its proposed annual budget for the nation.

The proposed TOTAL REVENUES & GRANTS should increase from around $900 million, to around $956 million….a growth of 6.2%.

The proposed TOTAL EXPENDITURES will grow from around $974 million, to around $1,013 million….a growth of 4%.

Thus financing will be required to bridge a deficit of around $57 million…..which when combined with loan amortization of $69 million, total financing of around $126 million is required.

From the point of view of expenditures growing slower than revenues….with sustained, increased investments in capital projects….financial and organizational support for the citrus industry…along with salary adjustments for public officers and teachers….this proposed budget is the best that could be drafted taking into consideration short-term political interests….all things remaining equal.

The budget is an accountant’s dream and pride…the numbers on paper look good….no tectonic shifts…no revolution.

The only problem is…..that all things remaining equal…means that: 1. With a 2% growth in the economy projected…and 6% growth in government revenues (mostly from increased tax revenues that will come from the private sector)…the private sector will be choked out a little bit more from the economy than it already is. Development of the private sector is the only way to create new, long-term and stable jobs in the economy. This obviously is not a consideration in this budget.

This fact, combined with increased pressure on the private sector to raise salaries and benefits after government workers get their projected pay raise, will cause private sector employment to continue to decline, faster than the public sec-

tor can create temporary jobs through capital projects. Real unemployment will remain high at around 16%. Public sector-led growth, without concurrent private sector development, is unsustainable. Within a couple years, the “benefits” of salary adjustments will be eaten away by real (as opposed to imaginary) inflation. This budget would be more progressive if it made provisions for the necessary structural adjustments to improve competitiveness and productivity of the economy in a substantial way…which, in the end, is the only way to create wealth in an economy. We need lower tax rates with the burden more broadly spread....with elimination of all tax/ duties on fuel except a 10% General Sales Tax. 2. Distribution of wealth is as important to Belize, as creation of wealth. There are no real fiscal or monetary measures proposed to improve wealth distribution, thus, with a meager 2% nominal GDP growth, the gap between haves and have not’s will continue to widen… and the amount of people falling into poverty will continue to increase faster than those coming out of poverty. Free, free, free giveaways and entitlements are a façade that never attend to the real development of people that needs to take place…this growing trend since Independence will come back to haunt our children…it is more of a short-term vision, politically motivated vote-courtship than a building of sustainable safety nets. These practices only serve to make our people more dependent, creating more demand for so-called “safety nets”.

This budget keeps the establishment in place…and placates, with handouts, those who are continuing to fall through the cracks and are willing to do whatever it takes to access these politically-driven handouts…..it does nothing in terms of correction of the “national formula” for wealth distribution. All the money pumped into the economy by way of public sector “stimulus”

will continue to rush past the lower and middle income, into the hands of the already fat establishment. Government continues to think, erroneously, that it is a better allocator of resources than individuals and businesses.

3. There are no real fiscal or monetary measures proposed to improve competitiveness and productivity in the economy, thus everyday it gets harder to turn an honest profit here. Building more and better roads is not nearly enough.

Because of this, we will continue to attract only those investors that can negotiate under-cover “investment incentives” that make them more of a burden than a benefit to Belize. They use the resources and infrastructure, deteriorate the environment, and pay no taxes, in return for a few minimum wage jobs. Domestic and foreign bonafide investors will continue to watch and wait….more will fall through the cracks, since not everyone can afford to watch and wait.

There is no clear strategy to increase exports relative to imports in any significant way, and doing nothing is tantamount to accepting that our current position is working well for us.

We all know this is a far cry from the truth…. as this past year our imports surged to triple our declining exports. What we need is fiscal and policy overhaul to create the enabling environment for lowest-cost production…to produce more of what we consume…and to make our existing and potential production for export more competitive and profitable.

One would have hoped that this budget would have pushed us on that direction….by at least removing import duties from packaging materials, as was proposed by the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

4. The country continues to spend more than it earns, living in deficits financed by debts ($48 million) and life support from Taiwan ($20 million)…and now Venezuela ($59 million)….yet not much is being proposed in terms of reversing this trend….in fact, the budget speech has even touted deficit spending as a “norm” for our future budget speeches….suggesting it is not such a bad thing after all.

The situation looks worse when the grants from European Union and other sources are taken into account. This reality points to that our boat floats not from our own buoyancy (not by the sweat of our brow and the

21 work of our hands)….but rather because Taiwan and Venezuela (among others) are putting big pegs into the holes in our boat. What will happen when these pegs are no longer there? This budget suggests that we can wait and cross that bridge when we reach it…it does not prepare us in any substantial way for that day that is sure to come.

5. There are no provisions made on the expense side for settling “acquired” assets that are still outstanding….yet revenues from these are included in the revenue estimates.

6. This budget is silent on the issue of policy to reduce or halt the massive foreclosures taking place…with so many losing their homes and businesses. Also, it is silent on policy to increase the role of housing construction and improvement in expanding the economy and creation of new jobs. These can be undertaken through extra-budgetary measures…by directing a much larger amount of financing (from Social Security and other sources) via the National Bank of Belize and Credit Unions….and by Central Bank guiding policy to extend the terms of home financing to 25-30 years…so one can only hope that these extra-budgetary options will be exercised. This budget should have at least recognized these great challenges our people are facing, instead of turning a blind eye to them.

So….there will certainly be a lot of capital works going on in Belice. The cement and steel importers and the road and highway construction contractors will have a heyday…they and their stakeholders will see some sunshine on their garden…but the rest of actors in the economy will be left wanting. The scale and concentration with which these capital investments are taking place…will result in sharp improvements in small portions of the national infrastructure…and sharp declines in most areas…principally the major highway arteries that will continue their rapid deterioration, since most have lived their life expectancy.

There will be more freebies to go around….and all the political circus (on the supply, management and demand sides) that takes place around these freebies.

The accountants and political lawyers are in the front control room….the business managers in the basement.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Alcohol Addiction is Only One Sip Away

By Angela Banner-Joseph Alcohol can ruin your life and the lives of others, so why take even one drink? - Duane Alan Hahn Why do young people drink alcohol, and what can we do to educate them about the consequences of their first sip? One of the most dangerous addictive drugs in the world is alcohol, and it is deadly. Universally, alcohol use is the fifth leading risk factor for premature deaths and disability among people between the ages of 15 and 49.

Alcohol is a disease that can affect the brain and physical well-being. Heavy drinking can lead to damage in the brain and internal organs and increases the risks of cancer. Research shows that brain development continues well into a person’s twenties. Alcohol can affect this development and contribute to a range of problems, including depression.

Alcohol abuse can be caused by peer pressure among friends, social factors, and genetics. The symptoms of alcoholism include personal issues, suicidal or harmful thoughts, aggression, abuse of other drugs, and legal problems. Its effects vary from person to person, based on a variety of factors such as how often you drink, how much you drink, your health status, your age, and your family history.

Alcohol is a highly addictive drug, just like marijuana, tobacco, and cocaine. Starting to use alcohol at a young age may be the beginning of a lifetime journey to addiction. Today, the news, social media, movies, and celebrities glamorize the use of alcohol by portraying images of drinkers as powerful, happy, and successful, even though these qualities may be lost by the alcohol user.

We have seen how this drug in a bottle has created endless numbers of alcohol-related illnesses, crimes, and accidents. Alcohol is a drug that kills more teens than wars do.

Why is drinking so attractive to teens? Teens drink for many reasons. Some reasons include

to forget a major issue, to be a part of a group, or to relax. While some drinkers celebrate at a party or social gathering, others drink because they are lonely. We have seen how families become enablers for the development of underage drinking by leaving unattended beer and other alcohol in open view for easy access.

Children from junior high to college have confirmed that just one small sip of alcohol a day has increased the joy of living, yet another sip boosted them to getting drunk at least once a month until the habit maximized to a daily addiction. Below are a few facts about teens and alcohol.

• Average teenage boys have their first drink at age 11; for teen girls, it’s 13.

• Students who begin drinking by age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or drug abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after the age of 21.

• Teens who drink heavily are three times more likely to try to injure themselves than those who don’t drink.

• Students under the age of 21 often visit the emergency room for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.

• Teens who drink are more likely to engage in sexual activity, have unprotected sex, have sex with

a stranger, or be the victim or perpetrator of a sexual assault.

• Young people who were killed in a motor vehicle accident after drinking and driving often were not wearing a seat belt.

• Male teens who drink heavily tend to complete fewer years of education, compared to male teens who do not drink.

• Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all violent deaths involving teens.

• Young people tend to binge drink (drinking five or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days).

• Teens drink less often than adults do, but when they do drink, they drink more than adults.

Parents, it is important that you pay close attention to the warning signs that indicate your son or daughter may be an under-

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age drinker. Some of the signs you may see in your child are slurred speech, academic or behavioral problems, problems concentrating, changing friends, difficulty with coordination, and breathing problems. Almost certain signs are finding alcohol among their personal belongs or smelling alcohol on their breath.

We must teach teens that underage drinking is not acceptable and is not worth the trouble it can cause. Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by teenagers globally. It is important for parents to have a talk with their children before it’s too late, because they may be just one small sip away of becoming an alcoholic.

Dr. Angela Banner Joseph holds a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Change from the Fielding Graduate University

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THE BELIZE TIMES

The full PUP Social Justice Agenda is available at www.pup.org.bz

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Recipe of the week

Shrimp Roll You can mix up your Lenten sacrifice with other forms of seafood aside from fish. Try this quick and easy recipe.

Shrimp is full of satiating protein that will keep you full all day long.

Ingredients 1 pound shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined 1 1/2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil Salt and pepper, to taste 4 whole-wheat hot dog buns, toasted Tomato slices Lettuce leaves Garnish: lemon wedges (optional)

Preparation Chop shrimp, and mix with mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice, chopped fresh basil, and salt and pepper, to taste. Top each hot dog bun with tomato slices and lettuce leaves. Spoon shrimp salad into buns; serve immediately, garnished with lemon wedges (if you have some).

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KIDS SUDOku

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BRAIN

TEASER

SUDOKU PUZZLE #57/2014

See answers NEXT WEEK

Public Notice The Registration Certificate #BZ-1109 for boat vessel “She’ll Get Over It” belonging to James S. Janmohamed of San Pedro, Amergris Caye, was Lost. A new Registration Form as required by Part III of Harbours & Merchants Shipping Act, Chapter 234 of the Consolidated Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000 has been requested.

Answers for last week’s puzzle SUDOKU PUZZLE SOLUTION #56/2014

Answers for last week’s puzzle

See answers NEXT WEEK

16 MAR

27

THE BELIZE TIMES

2014

BELIZE TIMES WEEKLY

SCIENCE & TECH R

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Largest ever yellow star is 1300 times bigger than sun 12 March 2014 by Jacob Aron A monster version of our sun has been found, the largest known member of the family of yellow stars to which our sun belongs.

The whopper sun emits light in similar wavelengths as our sun but its diameter is over 1300 times larger. That means it would engulf all the planets between Mercury and Jupiter if placed at the centre of our solar system.

The star’s size also means it is touching its smaller, companion star.

Dubbed HR 5171 A, the star is located in the constellation Centaurus around 12,000 light years from Earth. It was already known to be a hypergiant, the largest class of stars, but its exact size hadn’t been well studied.

Now a team led by Oliver

Chesneau of the Côte d’Azur Observatory in Nice, France, has taken a closer look with the Very Large Telescope in Atacama, Chile. They report that it is twice as large as expected.

It still isn’t the largest star we know about – that crown goes to UY Scuti, which is around 1700 times larger than our sun. But UY Scuti is in a different stage of stellar evolu-

tion and so belongs to a different family of stars called red stars.

Peanut sun Both red and yellow stars can be hypergiants, but yellow hypergiants were previously thought to be at most 700 times the size of the sun. The new measurement of HR 5171 A shows they can be much bigger. HR 5171 A is 50 per

cent larger than the red hypergiant Betelgeuse, which is located in the constellation Orion and is the ninth brightest star in the night sky.

Another surprise for Chesneau’s team was the discovery that HR 5171 A has a little brother. Previous observations suggested the star varied in brightness.

Now the team has shown that this is due to a companion star that is around one third its size.

The two stars orbit each other, forming a binary system. However, though their centres are separated by more than the distance between our sun and Saturn, HR 5171 A is so large that the two are touching, forming a continuous peanut-shaped structure. Guess this star system ain’t big enough for two.

Perjurers and fake reviews train software to spot lies 7 March 2014 by Paul Marks LAWYERS and judges use skill and instinct to sense who might be lying in court. Soon they may be able to rely on a computer, too.

An AI system trained on false statements is highly accurate at spotting deceptive language in written or spoken testimony. It can also be used to weed out fake online reviews of books, hotels and restaurants.

The system is the work of computational linguists Massimo Poesio at the University of Essex in Colchester, UK, and Tommaso Fornaciari at the Center for Mind/Brain sciences in Trento, Italy. It is based on a technique called stylometry, which counts how often

certain words appear in a passage.

The method is often applied to determine who wrote a piece of text, but software can employ it to pick out deception instead. The strategy is to seek out the overuse of linguistic hedges such as “to the best of my knowledge”, or overzealous expressions such as “I

swear to god”.

“But all previous studies had used deceptive texts created in the lab,” Poesio says. “What has been missing was a system that could work on real-world lies.”

So he and Fornaciari trained a machine learning system by feeding it Italian courtroom depositions and statements by defendants known to have committed perjury. The researchers say it is now nearly 75 per cent accurate at indicating whether a defendant or witness is being deceptive. “We can achieve an accuracy that is way above chance,” says Poesio.

Sam de Silva, chairman of the London-based Law Society’s

technology and law committee, says that such a system could act as an aid to a counsel’s “gut feel” about a witness. “There’d be no bar on using it, but it depends how reliable it is and how much it will cost,” he says.

The researchers are now feeding the system online book reviews known to be fake, in order to expose authors who have written fawning reviews of their own works. “We can now assess the likelihood a review is deceptive, again with an accuracy way above chance,” says Poesio, who will present the results at a conference on computational linguistics in Gothenburg, Sweden, next month.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

New exhibit at Turton Library provides unique look into Colonial Past March 12th, 2014 The Windows of Belize in collaboration with Turton Library Center presents a unique visual display of artifacts used in the colony of British Honduras. The display will be housed in the Turton Library Center building located at number 156 North Front Street, which was built in the 1800’s.

In 1935 the present Turton Library Center was the original home of the first museum of British Honduras.

February 2014 will commence the opening of a unique display; through the Windows of Belize. Most of the artifacts displayed were once an integral part of the typical household in the colony of British Honduras (now Belize), and have never been publicly displayed before. The Mission of Windows of Belize is to encourage students and all Belizeans to foster an appreciation of our cultural heritage, and learn the ways of the Belizean changing cultural practices and lifestyles.

One can appreciate things often taken for granted; as they go back in time to see the difficulties endured

by our ancestors to carry out everyday task such as cooking washing and Ironing. The cooking exhibit highlights the Creole, Garifuna and Maya’s basic cultural tools through the recreations of a Belizean home setting in the early 1900’s. In this exhibit we depict the modest way of live in British Honduras, and recapture the memoirs that transformed Belize.

The Exhibits also highlights glimpses of the works of Dr. Karl Huesner and the Black Cross Nurse Association. We invite you to come and see the treasures our ancestors left behind; recapture the cultural practices that makes us a unique culture. See furniture and some tools used to make them. View our bottle collection which dates back as far as the 1600’s; medicine, poison, liquor, cologne, and soda bottles. Be fascinated with pictures of old faces and sceneries of British Honduras, old tobacco pipes, pots, stamps, lamps and currency from around the world and much more.

PUP Mourns passing of Hon. Louis Sylvestre March 11, 2014 The People’s United Party wishes to record our profound sadness at the passing of the Hon. Louis Sylvestre. Mr. Sylvestre served as a PUP Representative in Rural Belize from 1957 to 1984 under the leadership of the Rt. Hon. George Price. During that period he served in different capacities as a Member of the Cabinet. Louis was a humble, “people’s man”, whose contributions to politics and development in Belize will not be forgotten. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, daughters and family at this time of great personal loss.

16 MAR

2014

Avoiding Heat Stroke

Heat stroke is a form of hyperthermia, an abnormally elevated body temperature with accompanying physical symptoms including changes in the nervous system function. Unlike heat cramps and heat exhaustion, two other forms of hyperthermia that are less severe, heat stroke is a true medical emergency that is often fatal if not properly and promptly treated.

The body normally generates heat as a result of metabolism, and is usually able to dissipate the heat by radiation of heat through the skin or by evaporation of sweat. However, in extreme heat, high humidity, or vigorous physical exertion under the sun, the body may not be able to dissipate the heat and the body temperature rises, sometimes up to 106 F or higher. Another cause of heat stroke is dehydration.

A dehydrated person may not be able to sweat fast enough to dissipate heat, which causes the body temperature to rise.

Symptoms and signs Symptoms of heat stroke can sometimes mimic those of heart attack or other conditions. Sometimes a person experiences symptoms of heat exhaustion before progressing to heat strokes. The common symptoms and signs of heat stroke include: • high body temperature, • the absence of sweating, with hot red or flushed dry skin, • rapid pulse, • difficulty breathing, • strange behavior, • hallucinations, • confusion, • agitation, • disorientation, • seizure, and/or • coma.

How to prevent?

• The most important measures to prevent heat strokes are to avoid becoming dehydrated and to avoid vigorous physical activities in hot and humid weather.

• If you have to perform physical activities in hot weather, drink plenty of fluids (such as water and sports drinks), but avoid alcohol, caffeine (including soft drinks and tea), and tea which may lead to dehydration.

• Your body will need replenishment of electrolytes (such as sodium) as well as fluids if you sweat excessively or perform vigorous activity in the sunlight for prolonged periods.

• Take frequent breaks to hydrate yourself. Wear hats and light-colored, lightweight, loose clothes.

• Keep cars locked when not in use and never, ever, leave infants or children unattended in a locked car.

Who is most at risk?

• infants, • the elderly (often with associated heart diseases, lung diseases, kidney diseases, or who are taking medications that make them vulnerable to dehydration and heat strokes), • athletes, and • individuals who work outside and physically exert themselves under the sun.

16 16 MAR MAR

THE BELIZE THE BELIZE TIMESTIMES

2014

REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

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New Zealand to vote on changing national flag US senator: CIA searched Senate computers Dianne Feinstein says CIA illegally searched computers of lawmakers probing allegations agency used torture.

Prime minister and opposition pledge to hold referendum on flag that some view as a relic from colonial past.

New Zealanders will soon get to vote on whether to change their national flag, which many view as a relic from a colonial past.

Prime Minister John Key on Tuesday pledged to hold a referendum on changing the national flag if he wins a third term in office in September.

His political opponents said they would follow through with those plans even if they oust Key

in this year’s national elections.

The current flag depicts the Southern Cross star constellation and includes Britain’s Union Jack in the top left corner.

Many complain it is too similar to Australia’s flag and doesn’t reflect New Zealand’s independence from former coloniser Britain.

But many who have served in the military oppose a change.

Key said he was open to ideas but personally favoured a silver fern on a black background, the national emblem already used by New Zealand sporting teams such as rugby

union’s All Blacks.

Some say that would equate the country too much with its sporting heroes.

Others argue the country’s indigenous Maori should be represented in any new flag.

In a speech on Tuesday, Key said the flag represents a past era.

“The flag remains dominated by the Union Jack in a way that we ourselves are no longer dominated by the United Kingdom,” he said.

Mexico confirms killing of ‘dead’ drug lord Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, who had been falsely reported dead more than three years ago, killed in shoot-out with marines.

Mexico’s government says it has confirmed that a man killed in an early morning shoot-out with marines in the west of the country was the leader of the Knights Templar Cartel, who officials reported slain in 2010.

Federal prosecutor Tomas Zeron said the identity of Nazario Moreno Gonzalez had been confirmed by fingerprints, but added that further tests will take place, the AP news agency reported.

Zeron said the government is 100 percent sure that Moreno, also known as “El Chayo” or “The Craziest One,” was killed

this time.

Authorities were awaiting DNA tests for final confirmation that they had the body of Moreno, said an official in the federal government and one with the Attorney General’s office.

Moreno’s death would be one of the more bizarre twists in Mexico’s assault on drug cartels, in which two other senior members of the country’s most powerful cartels have been captured in the last year without a shot fired.

One of the officials said Sunday’s shoot-out happened near the farming hub of Apaztingan in the heart of western Michoacan state, where the Knights Templar have ruled

through stealing, killing and extortion.

Moreno would have turned 44 on Saturday, according to a government birthdate.

He led the La Familia Michoacana cartel when he supposedly perished in a two-day gun battle with federal police in December 2010 in Michoacan, his home state. No corpse was found then, however.

The government of the President Felipe Calderon officially declared him dead, saying it had proof, but some residents of Michoacan had reported seeing Moreno since then.

12 Mar 2014 A senior US senator has accused the CIA of criminal activity in improperly searching a computer network set up for lawmakers investigating allegations of torture.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein, in an extraordinary speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, publicly aired an intense but formerly quiet dispute between Congress and the spy agency.

The criticism by Feinstein is particularly biting because she has been one of the main defenders of intelligence agencies at a time when they have been sharply criticised at home and abroad following revelations about mass surveillance programmes.

CIA Director John Brennan, asked about Feinstein’s accusations, said the agency was not trying to stop the committee’s report and that it had not hacked into Senate computers, the Associated Press reported.

He said the appropriate authorities would look at the matter further and “I defer to them to determine whether or not there was any violation of law or principle”.

Bachelet sworn in again as Chile’s president Moderate socialist Michelle Bachelet takes oath of office eight years after she became first female to assume the post.

12 Mar 2014 Michelle Bachelet has taken over the presidency of Chile in a ceremony loaded with symbolism, after promising to stick to her tax-and-spend campaign pledges, despite a sharp economic slowdown.

Returning to Chile’s top job after a spell with the United Nations, Bachelet heads a coalition that ranges from moderate leftists to communists.

The new president says she wants to address social inequality by overhauling education and healthcare, funded by tax reforms.

Bachelet’s swearing-in at the port city of Valparaiso, the seat of Chile’s Congress, was attended by presidents from around the region, with the notable exception of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, who was due to come but apparently cancelled at the last minute, the Reuters news agency reported.

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THINK ABOUT IT

DISRESPECTING THE CHURCH “Fools rush in where wise men (and women) fear to tread”. So goes an important saying. It is sensible advice.

The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy wife and the Prime Minister’s Executive Director of the National women commission need some sensible advice.

Both are being quoted on Channel 5 and Channel 7 news as responding to a release signed by Roman Catholic Bishop Dorick Wright on why his church is not supporting the so-called Women’s Rally.

Bishop Dorick Wright’s press release said in part that the “National Women Commission promotes values that CONTRADICT Christian and moral teachings regarding respect for all human life, family marriage and human sexuality....The well-being of women cannot be enhanced by advocacy which promotes abortions and so-called pseudo rights of men and women and same sex relationships” Wow! Special Envoy Simpliss Barrow told Channel 7 News that the Catholic Church’s attack on the rally is “sexist”.

Ann Marie Williams, Director of the National Women’s Commission, told channel 5 news the Catholic management was engaging “in intimidation” and was “actually telling LIES, this is a sad day....”

Both Simpliss-Barrow and Ann Marie, who are paid by taxpayers, spent tax dollars to the tune of three hundred thousand dollars on the women’s rally. The government, strangely told schools that were free to release women teachers and school children for the rally but any teacher that attended their union’s rally in Belmopan on Friday would be victimized and their pay would suffer one day deductions.

Both Simpliss-Barrow and Ann Marie should have been more circumspect with their words or better shut up rather than disrespect the Roman Catholic Church and it’s spiritual leader, Bishop Dorick Wright who has said nothing but uphold his church’s doctrine.

Another wise saying, “Never pick a fight you cannot win”

Intelligence Unit appealed.

The Appeal Court said the matter should go through a full trial. By then only four of the original accused remained.

In the retrial, the F.I.U. brought a mystery witness who claimed she knew of the money and that it was sent from Costa Rica. Under cross examination she admitted the money was legal and legitimate and clean. The significance of this is a person cannot money launder clean money. The court found four person guilty, two employees were fined and Melonie and her dad sent to jail and fined.

Prison conditions aggravated Mr. Michael Coye’s diabetic condition. He started going blind and started the road to heaven. His lawyers got bail for him but five days after freedom he passed away.

Meantime, Melonie remained in prison and the family lost everything. Pawn shops, borrowing, sale of all things that could be sold, all were exhausted. There was not even money for food many a day. From millionaire to being paupers. No one knows what families go through when bread winners are put in jail.

After five years of hell on earth, Melonie got bail from the Court of Appeal which on Tuesday this week overturned her and the others conviction.

God be praised.

JUDGE LUCAS WAS RIGHT The decision of the Court of Appeal in the Coye money laundering case is a big vindication for Supreme Court Judge Lucas. His original legal ruling in the first trial has turned out to be correct in law.

The money laundering charge came about because over a million dollars in cash was found in a suitcase and bag at the Coye’s residence. Having money is not a crime. It has to be proved that the money is the proceeds of crime. The F.I.U. didn’t come close. Not even close.

Judge Lucas must be having a bit of a chuckles when he heard the Court of Appeal’s decision. Their legal reasoning and his are as lawyers would say, “Ad idim”…of the same mind.

CRISIS IN COURT OF APPEAL HUTCHIE GOT SUCKERED The crisis or series of crisis spreading across the country has seeped into the Court of Appeal. It seems to be centered on the President of the Court. His style of administration or lack therefore appears to be at the core of the problem.

If unchecked, the upper Judiciary may lose two of its shinning legal luminaries. Both Justice Mendez and Justice Morrison may decline to continue serving on Belize’s Court of Appeal.

Senior members of the Bar Association have been quietly expressing concerns for months but now there appears some urgency and the discussion is calling for a Revolution of the Bar respectfully requesting the President of the Court of Appeal to resign his position.

We say no more at this juncture.

COYE FAMILY VINDICATED The Coye family has been vindicated and justice has been served.

For Melanie, her mom Marleni, her brother Jude and the two of their workers, the wheels of justice was turning real slow, but it was turning.

First they endured a Preliminary Inquiry at the lower court where despite the lack of evidence against several of them, all persons charged were sent to Supreme Court for trial.

At the Supreme Court the trial ended when the attorneys made submissions that it was a waste of time as what little evidence there was, was insufficient to continue the trial.

Judge Lucas agreed that no criminal offense was proven and dismissed the charge.

Sure enough, then head of the Financial

16 MAR

THE BELIZE TIMES

In the course of the UDP convention in Ladyville for a standard bearer for the next general elections, Belizeans saw former Minister Hutchinson and elected area representative practically crying on Channel 5 news.

He was complaining how his party did not give him a red cent to do a little campaigning.

What a way to treat a former elected area representative and Minister who had won a major upset victory for his party for 2008 - 2012 and then was used as the Caretaker/standard bearer for 2013 to present.

That sounds worthless.

NOTHING ON GUN LAWS Despite the public outcry against the multiple injustices caused by the firearm laws and the public assurances by the government that there will be a revision.

Nothing has been done or started as yet.

BELIZE GETS BLACKEYE ister.

It has been a bad week for the Prime Min-

First, Francis Fonseca delivered two powerful punches, one to the body and another to the head with the writ of mandamus which exposed what kind of leader is in charge of the country.

The United States released a damning report that under Barrow our country has become a haven of money laundering criminals.

A United Nations report highlights that under Barrow, human rights abuses in Belize is becoming alarming.

These on top of statistics that the productive sectors of the economy continue to decline, while inflation is up and cost of living is increasing.

Ten women, black Belizeans on the south side of Belize City are driven by poverty and having children to feed take pick-axes and shovels and get in trenches on Central America boulevard to engage in back-breaking work. Nothing so exposes the cold heart of the UDP than this increasing and deepening poverty that is stalking the land.

Violent crime rears its ugly head again.

THE BUDGET The national budget by which millions of taxpayers’ dollars are used (and misused) to run the country, takes effect in three weeks.

Once again the budget is crafted without any consultations with the Belizean people or the many stake-holders and key actors in the economy and society.

It is a sham democracy when a handful of low-life politicians whom the country has no faith or trust in, can take control of one billion dollars and mismanage our country.

CONGRATS U.S.A. In honor of the outstanding black-American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, the U.S. Embassy in Belize sponsored an essay writing contest.

The contest was, how does the “I Have a Dream” speech by King inspire the contestant in terms of their own views and vision for Belize.

Elvis Usher of Dangriga won the top prize with an inspiring vision of the kind of country Belize can become.

The officials at the US Embassy deserve a prize for this initiative which has exposed the do-nothing officials at the Belize Ministry of Culture, NICH and the University of Belize.

SEDI Wilfred “Sedi Elrington” is not a part of the Dean Barrow government. Though he is in the government, he is not part of the government.

Although he holds two high profile and important portfolios - Attorney General and Foreign Affairs he has become the most invisible and inaudible Minister of government. The same can be said for his constituency.

As the country shakes its head and watches the once vaunted Dean Barrow descend in political sewage and preside over a corrupt and incompetent government, Sedi is nowhere to be seen.

Apparently stung by negative responses to his ill use of words and poor public chemistry, the Minister has opted for silence.

It is true to say the UDP is a one man government and a one clown circus but that is not an excuse for Sedi to withdraw from his responsibility to make needed inputs. Sedi is of an entirely different cloth than Barrow. Along with his outspoken brother and former UDP Cabinet Minister Hubert Elrington, Sedi should be making a bigger contribution in curbing the out-ofcontrol megalomaniac behavior of Barrow.

There is a country at stake, you know. A country of over three hundred thousand people whose young people are being deprived of a future and whose hard-working citizens are living in poverty.

The people of Belize really deserve better.

ANOTHER SHAM The public service commission is established by the constitution as the only body that can discipline, promote, transfer and demote public officers. It is intended to be an independent and impartial institution above the machination of politicians.

Not anymore.

The politicians find a way to subvert the commission by appointing a crony, party-hack or spineless person to be the chairman. Political interference in the public service is at an all-time high.

More sinister is the subversion of the public service. Only the Public Service Commission

2014

can hire and appoint public officers to jobs in the public service. This no longer happens. Politicians are employing their supporters.

Vacancies for jobs are no longer advertised.

Hand-picked party hacks and family members are given employment over educated and qualified citizens. The Ministry of Natural Resources is packed up with party supporters from Orange Walk, all doing the political bidding of their minister.

The Ministry of Health has long been another cesspool of nepotism. The Minister has so many family members on the payroll, it should be renamed the Ministry of Marin. The same goes for the Ministry of Vega/Hernandez.

Even the Prime Minister is in on it. His wife is a high paid Ambassador in Washington. His son is an Ambassador in Israel, complete with Jewish hairstyle and traditional black hat. His brother is a private lawyer huge legal fees from the Government.

One other flip side to this subversion of the constitution and manipulation of the public service commission recently appeared in the socalled discipline of immigration officers involved in the Penner Passport Scandal.

Three public officers at the immigration department were before the commission last week for wrong doing in allowing Minister Penner to commit serious irregularities and criminal activities.

From the written reports against the three and their weak responses and admittance of not following the laws and regulations governing the process of passport documents, they should have been disciplined. Because of political interference the commission gave them a little slap on their wrists.

Why? The government did not want any of the officers of the to be properly disciplined for fear that one or more would tell the nation what Penner did and what Penner and what other ministries have been doing with nationality, passports and visas. So the system was subverted to help crooked politicians.

The truth will find a way to come out.

Penner will go to jail.

We are so disappointed in the chairman of the public service commission. So very disappointed.

NEW JUDGE A foreigner was employed as a magistrate in Belize over a year ago. She was posted in Punta Gorda, then to Benque Viejo Del Carmen.

Now she has been made a judge in our Supreme Court.

The post of judge was not advertised.

Not a single Belizean in the Solicitor General’s office, the Magistrate Courts or DPP’s office was asked if they were interested. No interviews were conducted. No Belizean attorney from the more than one hundred Belizean Lawyers in the land were given any opportunity to apply for such an important post.

What the heck is going on in our country?

Next thing you know Marilyn Williams or Phillip Willoughby will become a judge, or one of Gapi’s cronies from Orange Walk.

RAY DAVIS Mr Ray Davis is a retired public officer who spent most of his years of service at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. He was a force to be reckoned with in Belmopan, in football and in the once effective public service union.

Mr. Davis has been appointed a Senator based on the recommendation of the trade union congress. Television footage shows him sitting in on the bogus and unlawful public accounts committee featuring John Saldivar, Finnegan and Faber, playing party politics with the serious business of the country.

Mr. Davis is reported to have been offered a special employment at the ministry of natural resources, where, according to lands commissioner Vallejos “only God can clean up the corruption there”. It is important for Senator Davis to clarify this situation.

16 MAR

THE BELIZE TIMES

2014

REJECTED!

Pharmacist Association opposes

Appointment of Erwin Contreras’ daughter Continued from page 3 the MOH has no real desire to support and strengthen the practice of pharmacy in Belize. There is the urgent need to ensure that such a position be filled following clear and transparent processes and to remove any suggestion of political interference or other conflict of interest,” stated the release.

The Association also stated that they remain suspicious at the secret manner in which the appointment was done.

“The shroud of secrecy in which the current Director of Inspectorate was installed and the obvious lack of experience and training of this individual, leads us to believe that either the Ministry is setting the individual up for failure or they are only interested in having a glorified rubber stamp in such a key position. We strongly suspect that the

latter would be the case,” pointed out the release.

The Association emphasized the need for a qualified person to fill that position in order for the issues affecting the sector such as counterfeit medications, prescription medications sold over the internet, selling over-thecounter and prescription items without a licensed Pharmacist and the importation of sub-standard pharmaceuticals to be addressed adequately.

“Hiring someone based on some preferential political agenda and under a speculated NHI contract is an act in futility that is not only costing the tax payers but calls into question the integrity of the NHI program,” the Association said.

The Pharmacists Association had demanded that the Contreras’ appointment be revoked and that the Ministry follow proper procedure in the creation and filling of the post.

PUP NOTICE

Municipal Elections – City of Belmopan The People’s United Party is inviting interested applicants for the upcoming City of Belmopan municipal elections to submit their applications. A Convention is slated for Sunday, June 29th, 2014.

Applications are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson Mr. Paul Wade or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee must be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application.

Deadline for submission is Tuesday April 15, 2014.

CARTOON

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Longsworth & Willoughby War!

Belize City, March 13, 2014 Tensions are running high in the UDP Albert Camp after absentee area representative Herman Longsworth called out his wanna be contender Phillip Willoughby for cherry picking on his plan for residents in area.

Longsworth took on Willoughby and his master Gaspar Vega last week when he exposed that Vega had stolen his idea of facilitating land papers for residents. Longsworth said the day after he visited Vega with land documents, he saw Willoughby walking through the Albert Division with Vega’s Commissioner of Lands Wilbert Vallejos.

Longsworth considered Vega’s move as the height of backstabbing in a party where no one trusts anyone anymore.

He said he found the undermining from his Cabinet colleague as disrespect. Sources in Vega’s camp indicate that Vega was simply exacting payback

after Longsworth supported Faber’s failed bid to unseat him as deputy leader.

As for Willoughby who is begging his party to feed his super big ego by allowing him to run in the Albert Division, Longsworth lashed out at him as a fake and a phony!

“This is almost 9 years that Mr. Willoughby has been a city councilor, did it take him 9 years that the people of Conchshell Bay needed assistance?” said Longsworth to the media.

Willoughby’s response to Longsworth tirade was timid. He simply said “I forgive him”.

As to the accusation that he and Vega are working to undermine Longsworth, Willoughby mouth seemed to operate faster than his brain when commented, “However if anyone interprets that, they are obligated to that opinion”.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

16 MAR

2014