Belize Times September 2, 2012

Sunday, September 2, 2012

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THE BELIZE TIMES

SCAN HERE

Issue No. 4811

www.facebook/Belize Times

SUNDAY September 2, 2012

Running out of time Superbond stalemate could lead to irreparable economy, costly litigation

Time is runnng out on the UDP Government and the Superbond Team. Taking Belize down the road of litigation will only benefit UDP lawyers. (L to R) Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse, PM Dean Barrow, UDP Ambassador Mark Espat & Central Bank Governor Glenn Ysaguirre

Belize City, August 29, 2012 A stalemate continues between the Government of Belize and creditors over the re-negotiation and payment of the Superbond. The Government has taken an arms-folded “the bondholders

will come” attitude and position, while the creditors are refusing to engage in talks, accusing the Government of withholding information and being “unnecessarily provocative” when it missed a US$23.5m coupon payment that was due on Monday August 20th.

UDP shuts down “Pro Poor” Policy!

But the stalemate cannot continue for long. Belize is running out of time. Since defaulting on the August 20th payment, Belize has temporarily avoided the serious legal, financial and economic ramifications because of a 30-day grace period which ends on

September 19th. Once that deadline passes and Belize continues its hard-pay position, we can expect severe repercussions – from credit rating agencies dumping Belize’s credit standing to below Continued on page 4

Woman kills ex in jealous rage

200 poorest of the poor fired…640 more on the chopping block

Belize City, August 29, 2012 A young Belize City woman, 26 year old Calaney Flowers, is in Police custody today after she knocked down and killed her exboyfriend on Tuesday night.

29 year old Lyndon Morrison was driving his motorcycle on Freetown Road with his current girlfiend, Sochyl Sosa, on the

backseat when a red Saturn Ion car slammed into them. The car was driven at the time by Flowers.

Continued on page 3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Calaney Flowers & Lyndon Morrison during happier times

Mark King showed no remorse upon firing 200 poor Belizeans

Belize City, August 27, 2012 The UDP is repeating sad and cruel history by firing 200 Belize City workers who were employed under the Barrow Administration’s Southside Rejuvenation Project. The Junior Minister of Gangs, Mark King, has confirmed that 600 more workers will be terminated within weeks, including those in the Poverty alleviation, CYDP and the Gang Truce.

This dastardly act will record the

See page 4

GOB says no aid for cane farmers Flooding caused $7.54m in damages, cane farmers’ association says Corozal District, August 27, 2012 Cane farmers are about to face very difficult times despite having had a productive cane season. Severe flooding from the passage of a tropical depression over northern Belize on August 8th caused tremendous damage to hundreds of

See page 3

WILL unions hold gob to salary demands?

02 10

CHIEF MAGISTRATE SCOLDS POLICE OFFICER

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Fuel prices

Increase to record

high of $13

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Sunday, September 2, 2012

National Service Day

BSI ends silence, updates on ASR’s Equity Investment in BSI

14 August, 2012 At a recently convened meeting of the National Executive of the People’s United Party (PUP), the Executive reviewed, discussed and unanimously agreed to support the initiative of the George Price Center for Peace and Development to commemorate the life, work, dedication and service of the late Rt. Hon. George Price by declaring the 19th of September as “National Service Day”.

As proposed by the Center, leaders and members of the PUP will pay tribute to the legacy of the Father of the Nation by carrying out community service projects and delivering his message of making a positive change through hard work and service to the people of Belize, in keeping with the PUP motto “Serve the People”.

In addition to setting aside a day of national service, the PUP has also resolved to press the government to declare the 15th of January a national holiday to mark the birth of a true Belizean patriot, a leader who loved his country unconditionally and above all things, the man who led our nation to independence and dedicated his entire life to the betterment of all Belizeans.

(PRESS RELEASE)

24 August 2012 The process to conclude the investment by American Sugar Refining, Inc. (ASR) is advancing well and in accordance with the target timetable.

Meetings were held in mid-July between representatives of BSI and ASR Management and Boards, supported by their respective legal counsels to advance final negotiations on key investment documents, principally the Subscription Deed (purchase agreement) and the Shareholders’ Agreement. Since then BSI and ASR have continued to be actively engaged and fully committed to expediting the process in the context of the defined timetable for completion of the transaction.

During the period of discussions with ASR, the management of BSI also held several meetings with the Protectors of BSI Employee Holdings Limited (BEH) and the Belize Workers’ Union (BWU) Executive Committee as part of management’s efforts to keep them and employees informed about the status of the transaction.

Agreement between BSI and ASR has now been reached on all commercial matters and legal documentation with respect to the Subscription Deed and the related approvals from existing shareholders in BSI have been secured. Accordingly, the parties signed the Subscription Deed documentation yesterday 23 August 2012.

The completion date of the entire transaction is estimated to occur one month following yesterday’s signing of the Subscription Deed.

During this time BSI and ASR will press on to conclude various conditions precedent actions and obligations connected with the transaction. These include, formal engagement with existing lenders to BSI and Belcogen regarding repayment of lending and release of security upon the deal completion.

Efforts by all parties remain focused on concluding the entire transaction at the very earliest.

J J Montalvo BSI Group CEO

NOTICE TO READERS AND ADVERTISERS In an effort to improve the quality of the Belize Times the management has taken the decision to cease printing of the newspaper temporarily.

The Belize Times will publish online at www.belizetimes.bz until further notice.

Advertisers are advised to contact us at email:

belizetimesadvertisement@yahoo.com

to find out more information.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for the support.

Fuel prices increase to record high of $13 Belize City, August 27, 2012 Fuel prices reached record levels over the weekend when they increased by almost $1.00, taking prices to over $13.00 in certain parts of Belize.

Premium gas went up by 94 cents while Regular gas increased by 88 cents, taking up the price at the pumps to $12.97 and $11.95, respectively.

But for other parts of the country it’s much worst. Commuters in Punta Gorda, who must travel the farthest distances for commerce, pay up to $13.20 a gallon for premium fuel and $12.19 for regular fuel.

The new prices are excruciating for consumers, so much that when news broke of the increase via the social media, it caused consumers to flock to local gas stations in fear that if they wait too long, their pockets would feel the pain.

The increased prices seem to be so embarrassing to the Government that they have yet to officially announce them.

The increase in fuel prices follows weeks of rises in the cost of other commodities including butane gas and poultry products.

THE BELIZE TIMES EDITOR

Alberto Vellos LAYOUT/GRAPHIC ARTIST

Chris Williams STAFF REPORTER

Alton Humes Published By The Belize Times Ltd. #3 Queen Street P.O. BOX 506 Belize City, Belize Email: belizetimesadvertisement@yahoo.com

editortimes@yahoo.com

Sunday, September 2, 2012

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Taking from Peter to give to Paul

treatment, while the others have to wait in line.

Shaw said bus operators would meet on Wednesday to put their concerns in writing, after which they will take those concerns to the Ministry of Transport.

Transport Board denies BBOC runs, but gives West Line new permits

Belize City, August 28, 2012 Trouble is steaming in the public transport industry as a major bus operator is accusing the politically-appointed Transport Board of heavily favouring a bus company owned by a well-known UDP crony.

The Belize Bus Owners Cooperative (BBOC) claims that three of its runs were denied renewals by the Transport Board, and handed to the Cayo-based company, West Line.

The Transport Board, now headed by Merlene Bailey Martinez, the former Social Security Board CEO who was fired following accusations of insider trading, did not renew three of BBOC’s permits for bus runs on the Western Highway.

Those runs were for 3:00pm, 3:15pm and 3:45pm. To BBOC’s surprise, the runs have been granted to West Line, which is owned by Sergio Chuc, a known supporter of the United Democratic Party.

Since entering the bus industry in 2011, Chuc and West Line have been stirring up controversy. Their entrance upset many bus owners as permits were

Sergio Chuc

BBOC

taken away from long-time operators to make way for West Line. The operators accused the Transport Board and former Transport Minister Melvin Hulse of practising favouritism.

In May 2012, the Belize Bus Owners Association held protests and even blocked the highways with burning tires to show their dissatisfaction. They promised to “shut down” the country if their demands for transparency and fair

GOB says no aid for cane farmers Continued from page 1

acres of cane fields.

The Belize Cane Farmers’ Association (BSCFA) estimates the damages at $7.54 million. This BSCFA looked at the state of cane fields and the damages caused by a rapid infestation of the froghopper bug. A total of 8,000 acres of cane field were affected by the flooding, damaging up to 107,255 tons of cane valued at $4.24 million.

Additionally, the bug infestation has caused further damages to cane fields, assessed at $3.3 million.

Initially, the BSCFA turned to Government for aid to offset the losses to cane farmers. A meeting was held with BSCFA officials and the Minister of Agriculture who was also the former Chairman of the Sugar Industry Control Board, Hugo Pott, and the Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega. But despite the severity of the situation, the senior Government officials delivered bad news to the association, indicating that Government would not be able to provide any sort of aid.

BSCFA Vice-Chairman, Alfredo Ortega, said the Ministers couldn’t even commit to repairing damaged cane field roads.

“They indicated that presently the Government is facing difficult times. They mentioned the superbond and they said there is no money to help us. He promised to take the matter to Cabinet on Tuesday, but up to now I had not heard anything.

“We also asked if the Ministry of Works could help to open up

clogged drains which were causing access roads to flood, but they said that they have a shortage of equipment at the district level. That they only have one grader and one bulldozer per district”, Ortega told CTV-3 News in Orange Walk.

Ortega said if the flooding persists, it will be devastating to the next crop season. Not only will it prohibit cane farmers from accessing fields, but the floods can affect the quality of cane.

In addition, the level of mud and dirt in cane deliveries will likely increase, leading to problems for the sugar factory.

Cane quality is affected after cane fields remain under water for longer than five days. Ortega says while the water levels have reduced at some cane fields, one week after the storm, he is concerned that the worst of the rainy season is not over. If sugar roads and their drains and culverts are not properly maintained in time the damage could be unbearably lasting.

treatment were not met. But the UDP Government quieted the association by dividing their membership. In the north, Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega held meetings with individual northern bus operators, in which he placated them in exchange for them to distance themselves from the association. The strategy worked and the association lost internal support and had to give up its fight.

But West Line is back in the thick of controversy, and President of the Belize Bus Owners Association Thomas Shaw says the favouritism is obvious. Shaw said that while West Line and Chuc have received their new permits after paying for them, no other operator has been granted new permits. This could only mean that West Line is getting priority

Woman kills ex in jealous rage Continued from page 1

Morrison was flung about 50 feet away, while Sosa landed nearby. Both were rushed to the hospital where Morrison passed away about two hours later.

Sosa suffered abrasions to her hands and a cut wound to the head, and is under treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

It is not clear what triggered the attack, but Flowers is currently held by Police and is under investigation. Flowers and Morrison are the parents a 7-month old child, but their relationship came to an end some time ago.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Running out of time

Continued from page 1

junk territory, huge losses of investors, and a slew of costly litigation pursued by angry bondholders that could have long-lasting impacts.

Carl Ross, the managing director of investments at Oppenheimer, told Channel 5 on August 24th, that if the stalemate doesn’t end by the September deadline, creditors could commence litigation which could be lengthy, as well as very costly.

“If September 19th comes and goes and the payment is not made and the grace period is over and

UDP shuts down “Pro Poor” Policy!

Continued from page 1

UDP’s legacy of abuse of the poorest of the poor. The UDP hired the workers under a so-called “propoor” programme and inflated the Government’s wage bill recklessly. It was all a ploy to gain votes, knowing well that they wouldn’t be able to sustain the initiative for long.

One could recall a staged meeting with the workers at the Civic Center when Prime Minister Dean Barrow promised them that their jobs were secure under a UDP second term. Barrow spoke like a true politician, and told the workers that the UDP was committed to a “pro-poor” where they would have jobs.

Now that the elections are over, the UDP shows absolutely no remorse. 200 were fired last week Friday, August 24th, and 640 more will be terminated by October.

Barrow and his serpent tongue did not even face the workers. He sent his junior minister instead who further embarrassed the Government by admitting that “it is not in the best interest of this government to be terminating jobs”, that the programmes lacked “direction”, and if were up to him, there would have been something different.

King also exposed the UDP Government’s wastefulness. Even though he considered the programme lacking in substance, he said that the Government was spending over $7 million every year to fund it.

2012 will be remembered by 600 Belizeans as another black year, similar to 1995 when the UDP fired 800 Belizeans before Christmas. But this time it is much worst. The firings occur not only before Christmas, but also just as the school year is about to start and parents have to find money for school fees and school books.

It also takes place just weeks before the September Independence Celebrations, a period which will no longer be joyous for our people.

the parties are not even remotely reaching a settlement then I think you’re probably going to see some litigation begin and it’s just gonna be unfortunate for everybody.

It just becomes a back and forth where lawyers are making all kinds of money and booking all kinds of hours and then it costs everybody money that is unnecessary I think,” Ross stated.

For context, Argentina continues to face million-dollar lawsuits in United States Courts, even up to today, for defaulting on its debt back in 2002.

Creditors have also been speaking out in the international media against the Government’s position, and especially the new proposal terms that would see them take up to a 45% loss.

Ross told Reuters news agency a week ago that the Government of Belize’s proposal is not even much of an option.

“At one end of the range would

be outright repudiation of the debt, and the other end would be for Belize to say, ‘Oh, we were just joking,’ and pay the interest in the grace period. I think the reality is going to be somewhere in between, using the coupon as a sweetener,” said Ross.

Mike Gerrard, managing director of BroadSpan Capital which is advising creditors, said to Reuters that they were preparing for a long drawn out battle. “We are working through our analysis and expect to share our views with the government within two to three weeks,” said Gerrard.

Noting that International Monetary Fund’s economic data on Belize that didn’t have the slightest warning of a debt default, bondholders say they want to pursue a new debt sustainability analysis. It is expected that the analysis includes discussion on how the debt owed for the 2009 and 2011 takeover of private companies Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) and Belize

Sunday, September 2, 2012 Telemedia Limited (BTL). Prime Minister Dean Barrow told the BELIZE TIMES last week that he doesn’t believe that the issue of the “nationalisations” and their compensation should be brought into the picture, and added that while creditors are making it an issue, he doesn’t believe compensation will be settled before the Superbond re-negotiation is completed.

At least one financial analyst has said that the Barrow Administration is being very cunning. Arturo Porzecanski, an international finance professor at American University in Washington, told Reuters that he believes the Belize Government is trying to hoodwink creditors into helping them pay the compensation which they alone cannot afford.

“The government is trying to get the bondholders to forgive enough principal and interest so they will be able to pay for the nationalizations they have undertaken,” said Porzecanski.

The professor also agreed with creditors that Belize not meeting the August 20th payment is an outright case of “unwillingness to pay”.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

THE BELIZE TIMES

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UDP’s post-election gift to Poorest of the Poor There is no doubt that the timing of last week’s firing of over 250 Southside Poverty alleviation workers by the UDP Government had something to do with the Government’s silent Superbond strategy. The UDP will try to use the Superbond, but we strongly believe that given the political climate with workers, be them government employees, teachers, police, BDF soldiers and nurses, agitating for salary increases; the UDP administration just worsened the situation.

The Barrow Administration is in serious trouble. It has had a hard time convincing anyone that they are genuinely financially-strapped. Neither do the unions believe them nor do Superbond creditors. The UDP Government’s problem is that the evidence of its financial mismanagement, wastefulness and reckless spending is everywhere. The UDP Ministers are all driving brand new SUVs – costing from $70,000 to over $200,000 each as is the case of the Deputy Prime Minister’s 2012 Toyota Land Cruiser. Meanwhile, the Ministers and their family and friends are seen at odd hours of the week and day, driving all over, wasting expensive fuel that is paid for by taxpayers. And then there are the political programmes, the millions wasted at the defunct Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Works, meant to feed the UDP’s supporters and affiliated gangs and to keep them dependent on the ruling party. Even the Gang Minister Mark King has admitted that the work program which hired the 250 terminated workers had “no direction”.

But the workers should have known better as the UDP’s plan was to use them to win the March double elections. They should have read between the lines, when the UDP Ministers paid them cash to wear red shirts and flock to the national assembly where the UDP cried about the Superbond and not being able to grow the economy. Now that the double elections are over, it was only a matter of time for the UDP to get them off their backs. It was written on the wall.

Belizeans must prepare to stand up or brace for worst. They must call on the Barrow Administration to lead by example. They are the ones who should take a pay cut or feel what it’s like to not be able to pay one’s bills. They are the ones who need to practice discipline instead of wasting millions of taxpayers’ dollars on cronies hired as contract officers and luxury rides. Instead, while Barrow tells Belizeans “no money no deh”, the UDP spends wildly in Belmopan and continues to pay gang members.

Last week’s mass firing of Belize City’s poorest of the poor couldn’t come at a worst time. With the ever increasing rise in the cost of living and the opening of schools, it will certainly affect the payment of school fees, uniforms and books. It also comes weeks before the Independence Day celebration. 250 persons will join thousands of other beleaguered Belizeans in asking, what is there to celebrate?

We have said it before, and we’ll say it again! Barrow doesn’t care, and never will. He knows now that Belizeans wouldn’t give him a third term and with a margin of two seats, any number can play. The Leader of the Opposition has indicated his strong objection to the mass firing, pointing out that the UDP must not be allowed to take advantage of Belizeans. Hon. Francis Fonseca has also called on the Barrow Administration to tackle the real problem: to grow the economy. Failing that they should do the honourable thing and resign. Barrow and the UDP must not be allowed to destroy Belize.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Sunday, September 2, 2012

CAN YOU AFFORD TO LIVE

UNDER BARROW/UDP’S ECONOMIC POLICIES???

Butane

Gasoline

Chicken

Cost of Living

Poverty

Unemployment

The HIghest in over a decade

The HIghest in over a decade

33% 23%

Sunday, September 2, 2012

THE BELIZE TIMES

…while Belizeans struggle & suffer This is how the UDPs roll…

Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s new Law Firm Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega’s 2012 Land Cruiser valued at $180,000

Ministry of Energy and Science CEO Colin Young’s 2011 Toyota Hilux – valued at $65,000

Minister of Gangs Mark King’s Ford 150 - valued at $74,500

Minister of Works Rene Montero’s 2012 Toyota Prado – valued at $96,000

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Humor

in UDP Politics!

After last week’s press conference, Barrow asked his colleagues to know how he did. Boots was the first to kiss up and said he gave it a nine out of ten.

Santi said it reminded him of drinking rum and red bull all night long. When it was Sedi’s turn, he referred to a text from his brother, which said, “Barrow reminds me of a former British Prime Minister who was always saying a lot, talking about a lot, but really saying nothing”. ……………………..

The CabSec advised the Prime Minister that it was difficult to distinguish any difference between Hall Mark and Mark, since Mark is a majority shareholder in Hall Mark. He told the PM only man full of himself puts his own name on a company’s name yet pretends to hide it. ……………………..

An argument broke out in Cabinet over Gapi’s statements that he worked harder than everyone else.

Boots got up angry and said he is the one who works harder that everyone else, for he leaves home at 3am.

Castro interjected and said no one works harder than him because he has to work on his tilapia farm and clear the land at 4am. Just then Finnegan jumped up to defend Gapi. “Stop unu fool,” he said “Gapi works harder than all of us, as he has to work the midnight shift to open and close his warehouses to secure his containers “CONTRA BAND 1 & CONTRA BAND 2”. ……………………..

A secret meeting Cabinet meeting with only the top UDP honchos discussed how they would handle the firing of 600 employees from the Southside program. “We already win the election and we move on up like Jeffersons…we noh need dem noh mo,” one said. “We need someone to announce it who is crazy and suicidal,” another said. Just then the name popped up, “Of course, as Zenaida mi seh, ‘dah Mark King’”. ……………………..

During Cabinet meeting, Castro said that he thought it was unfair for the UDP to ask bondholders to “take a haircut”. Castro said he took offense because he has being growing dreads for long time.

“Plus”, he said, “Barrow not even have hair, for him to suggest a haircut”. Just then the CabSec intervened and whispered to Castro, “Rasta, by haircut we mean pay cut”. Castro said, “Well, that worst!”

In other related news: A caller to PLUS TV expressed how she has been working in the BDF for over 20 years and still can’t get a piece of land. The woman asked how much harder she had to work to be not just a normal Belizeans like Gapi. “That’s easy,” said the show host, “you noh have to work. Just change your name to Vega and yu gaan clear”. ……………………..

Another caller to PLUS TV said it was not right for Barrow to fire the poorest of the poor. “He say he got no money for the poor, but I bet he got money fu pay Mark!”

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BELIZE'S #1 SPORTS PAGE

THE BELIZE TIMES

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Belize eyes gold medal at CODICADER Games

Felicia Richards

Mishek Musa & Harim Ochaeta represent Belize in Table Tennis

Telemedia is National Softball Champions

Belize City, August 27, 2012 Telemedia defeated its nemesis Mirage Lady Rebels in 4 innings to retain its billing as the number one female softball team in the country on Sunday August 26, 2012, in the 12th and final game of the XXII National Women’s Softball Championship. The Telemedia offence was keyed by third baseman Norecia Frazer who had a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 1st inning and a run producing triple in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Telemedia scored 10 runs on 10 hits, while Mirage Lady Rebels scored 3 runs on 4 hits.

The winning pitcher was Mary Flowers and the losing pitcher was Lanisha Jones.

In the third place game, Mirage Lady Rebels edged Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy by the score of 5-3 to advance to the championship game against Telemedia. The winning pitcher for Mirage Lady Rebels was Lanisha Jones and the losing pitcher was Leandra Guy. Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy finished with the Bronze medals.

BTL is champ

Belize City, August 29, 2012 The Ladyville softball girls, who are representing Belize at the 2012 CODICADER games in Retalhuleu, Guatemala, are one game away from winning the country’s first gold medal.

The Ladyville softball team has dominated the softball pitch inside the Retalhuleu Sports Complex, blanketing El Salvador, and defeating Guatemala in the first two games. The BELIZE TIMES was unable to find out the results of today’s game with powerhouse Nicaragua, but whatever the result was, Belize is on its way for silver or gold medal.

The game against El Salvador ended Belize 15, El Salvador 1. Guatemala also defeated Nicaragua, 16-0.

Game 2 for Belize was against Guatemala. The Belize team faced tough competition, as Guatemala had sharpened its pitching and offense. But the local girls gave it their best and pitcher Ashley Lucas was too much for the Guatemalan batters.

The game for gold will be on Thursday.

CODICADER Medal Count COUNTRY

Guatemala Costa Rica El Salvador Nicaragua Panamá Honduras Belize

How they advanced:

Mirage Lady Rebels vs. Camalote United – 8-1 Winning pitcher - Lanisha Jones BTL vs. Sandhill Unstoppables – 10-3 Winning pitcher – Mary Flowers Easy Does It vs. Falcons – 22-0 Mirage Lady Rebels vs. Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy – 7-2 Winning pitcher - Lanisha Jones Telemedia vs. Flowers Bank – 7-0 Winning pitcher –Mary Flowers Sandhill Unstoppables vs. Falcons – 9-1 Winning pitcher – Sheraine Westby Camalote United vs. Flowers Bank – 8-5 Winning pitcher – Francine Salazar Telmedia vs. Mirage Lady Rebels – 5-3 Winning pitcher – Mary Flowers Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy vs.

Camalote United – 8-4 Winning pitcher – Leandra Guy

Ladyville girls

GOLD SILVER BRONZE

9 9 5 3 2 1 0

10 0 9 5 2 5 0

5 5 6 6 5 6 0

Lydia Cacho tagged at 3rd base

Grace Kennedy won 3rd place

Individual Awards: Batting Average: Greta Davis (Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy) – .556 Most Stolen Bases: Earline Belisle (Telemedia) – 2 Most Home Runs: Norecia Frazer (Telemedia) – 2 Most Runs Batted In: Norecia Frazer (Telemedia) – 6 Most Wins: Mary Flowers (Telemedia) – 4-0 Most Strike Outs: Leandra Guy (Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy) – 14 Most Valuable Player Award: Norecia Frazer Lennox “Carrots” Cattouse Award went to Raymond Lashley (Telemedia)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

THE BELIZE TIMES

Of this and that…

PORN CLASS FOR KIDS A woman is beauty. Her form is superb. God put in work to shape that sex.

He made them with dignity. He made them with class. He made them with mystery.

Carnival undresses women. They are released into the streets. Drunk and naked. The women will be wining. Jiggling.

It is indecent exposure. They will be bent into assorted sexual positions.

A man will be behind her. He will thrust into her. It is sex with clothes on.

The organizers say children are in a different section of the parade. This cures their exposure, they say. What about the pickney on the street side watching, bra?

Who will explain the X rated parade to them?

Carnival is an abomination. It is not dancing. It is not patriotic. It can never be.

It is just sleck and evil.

CURIOUSITY KILLED THE ARMSTRONG Neil Armstrong is dead.

Armstrong invented the moon walk.

He did this long before Michael Jackson. He walked on the moon on July 20, 1969. He was the first man to do that.

Neil was a full 82 years old. He was a big scouts man.

In life Neil passed into space. In death he has traveled past the heavens.

He left us with something.

“Curiosity” is what we have now.

Curiosity is still alive. Neil is dead. He died nineteen days after a machine landed on Mars. The name of the machine is “curiosity”. It is a high tech remote control car.

This is extra terrestrial poetry. The early expeditions were across a flat world. Then it was impossible. Our views have changed.

Exploration is no longer impossible.

Science and scouts have shrunk distance and impossibilities.

1969 was impossible. 2012 is merely curious.

RETRENCHMENT LEOPARD A leopard never changes its spots.

Especially the red leopards. This UDP government is just plain old wutless.

They sent their party idiot to give the news. The Government will fire over 800 Belizeans.

Déjà vu all over again. In 1995 the UDP fired 800 people at Christmas.

Now they fire 800 during September Celebrations.

Stupidity is costly. Firing these people in August is reckless. We will pay for this recklessness. We will pay for it in the form of Belizean lives.

We cannot afford this. The truth is that there is a big difference. A huge difference between 1995 and 2012.

The firings in 1995 were largely skilled people. Teachers, firemen and those sorts. In 2012 the firings are gangsters, drug dealers and murderers.

The UDP called it a safety net then cut it. Our society then is now in danger.

Mark King confessed to punking the gangs.

The elections are over. So is UDP sympathy. So is the money for the UDP bribery program.

UDP got what they wanted. The people are no longer necessary. They are collateral damage. They are dismissed.

But the UDP should do well to re-

member the retrenchment curse.

OF TRAITORS AND COWARDS A picture is worth a thousand words.

Mark Espat sitting beside Dean Barrow.

Mark Espat is a UDP. His pieces of silver are being paid in ambassador dollars. It ain’t thirty pieces either, bra. More like six figures.

It clars your blood every time. The audacity. The betrayal. The backstabbing treachery. This could never happen any where in the world. This could never hapen in Belize.

George Price would never had become an Ambassador under Dean Lindo. Musa would never accept a job under Esquivel. Johnny would never take no posting under Barrow. The UDP would never dear think of cursing Francis by offering him no political job.

Every fowl have their Sunday, bra.

INTEROFFICE FRAUD Congratulations to the office called “Tuff ENuff”.They are the 2012 Interoffice Basketball champs. Or are they?

That Interoffice Basketball League was a fake. Interoffice was first created for middle age potbelly professionals. It was family time for office people. It was about fun.

Then it was sold. It became about “mullah”. It lost all its love. It lost its truth.

Unemployed ballers hijacked the league.

It became a league for street wise and unemployed twenty year olds. It became about winning.

It became ridiculous. There was an Atlantic Bank team in 2011. None of the players worked at that Bank. Not a single player.

It destroyed basketball in the Belize City. There was no Semi pro basketball.

Star hungry youths refused to play in developmental tournaments. They could dazzle the old folk at interoffice.

There is no entertainment in Belize.

Everyone went to the Turks. They bought clothes and shoes. They flocked the games. No one questioned why “Interoffice basketball” became a transvestite

semi-pro league.

James Adderly deserves a pay cut.

He said squat about this scandal.

News is that some savior is bringing back a real “interoffice” league. Kudos.

If basketball is life. Then Belize was living a big fat lie.

CLOSE DOWN UB The University of Belize and Galen are the homes of the country’s intellectual elite. Those schools are not producing revolutionaries. They are not producing ideas.

Where are the Universities in the September Celebrations? Not a single forum.

Not even a single book from a student. Not a poem. Not a play. Not even a paragraph from a professor?

The University wants tuition. The country wants leaders.

The universities graduate employees.

The country yearns for nation building employers.

University is failing Belize.

This is unacceptable.

DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS I hate the September celebrations theme. “Many faces, many dreams, one goal celebrating Belize.”

Many faces? The government has shown only two faces. One face before the elections and one after.

Many Dreams? What is that? The Government keeps on selling dreams.

9 They hope we remain asleep.

One goal? That goal is to celebrate?

Who has money for that? Gas is so expensive we cannot drive. Crime is so high we might not live. Or maybe the goal is to UNIBAM or to weed or to lose to Guatemala.

JUSTICE ON HOLIDAY All the Courts are closed. The Judges are on holiday. The rich lawyers are taking a vacation to spend all their money.

The small court is also on holiday.

Not officially. What is happening is all the cases are being adjourned to October.

This is laziness. This is dangerous.

September is the month of temptation. Criminals have short-term memory.

Knowing they have to go to court would have sobered them. They would have to “hold it down.” A kind of prevention.

Reports on the news of completed cases would have reminded the delinquent.

Crime never goes on vacation. In fact vacation is high season for criminals.

So why is justice at home snoring or at the office in casual close with its shoes off?

STICK WITH JESUS Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Hebrew 4:14

10

THE BELIZE TIMES

Will Unions hold GOB to salary increase demand?

Belize City, August 22, 2012 Union leaders have sent Prime Minister Dean Barrow a letter to remind him of the August 31st deadline for his administration to meet their demands for salary increases for workers.

The letter is signed by the Presidents of the Association of Public Ser-

vice Senior Managers (APSSM), the Public Service Union (PSU) and the Belize National Teacher’s Union (BNTU).

In the letter, the Union leaders point out that the salary increase has become an imperative considering the high cost of living. They note that over the last six years, the cost of living has

increased, but wages haven’t. In effect, they say, the value of the dollar has reduced drastically.

While the letter does not carry the sanction of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, it does get the support of the private sector group, the Belize Business Bureau.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Bureau and Union leaders have forged an alliance. Last week they met to look at the economic conditions in Belize, and to come up with ways in which the Government can cut waste and save money in order to meet the workers’ demands. Proposals were drafted and have been forwarded to the Prime Minister for his consideration.

The Unions leaders are now waiting for an official response. If the Government fails to meet their demands, they have promised to step up their actions and look at every available option.

In 2008, the UDP while in opposition had promised the Unions salary increases. That promise has still not been kept.

Harvest for Kids touches more young lives, but needs continued support

BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

By Alton Humes Alexander Perez and his Belize Camping Experience (BCE) are continuing on their faith-oriented mission to provide children, aged 6 to 12, with hope and faith to make an invaluable difference in Belize and the world via their Harvest for Kids Initiative. And as the Founder-Director of this impactful youth organization, he’s been solely responsible for teaching young people, via 2 corn fields in Orange Walk and Cayo, how to sow and reap meaningfully for Almighty God, even with the little they might have.

But, even as the message continues to spread everywhere it can, the monetary support hasn’t been coming in as it ought to for such a worthy cause. Perez visited the BELIZE TIMES again this week to share the initiative’s latest initiatives. Via a press release from BCE, he spoke of the organization’s latest trip to their San Carlos corn field in Orange Walk this past Saturday, August 18th, 2012.

22 of the kids from the organization witnessed for themselves the successful growth of the 20-acre field.

Admittedly, the kids even participated via hand-harvesting the most ripe, juicy corn by themselves, after which they used what they picked to make a meal to eat with the local farmers who also work with the initiative, as well as taking some home to their own families.

The press release also mentions

that even as they are prepared to fully harvest in October, the mostlymature corn will be given full time to further mature until then, because, as Perez explained, it “may be made into a product used for such purposes as corn tortillas and chicken feed”.

But before October, BCE and Har-

vest 4 Kids need the public’s help to subsidize the cost of the upcoming harvest, so that the profit can be used to finance continued programs such as day camps in the summers, as well as subsequent follow-ups, to keep kids on the straight and narrow. It can’t happen, however, unless the gen-

eral public, via ‘caring citizens’, partner with the kids through donations, thereby throwing its full strength behind it.

To donate even as small as BZC$5 to this cause, you can contact Alexander Perez at 621-5541 or his partner, Miss Sashà Garnett at 622-9239.

High school student stabbed with machete in Belmopan BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

By Alton Humes By most accounts, 16-yearold Yasmani Aguirre Mejia was like most students returning to high school at Belmopan Comprehensive School – winding down towards the end of summer and looking ahead to the ‘grind’ of the next step in completing his high school education. But thanks to the bizarre events of last Friday, August 24th, 2012, young Yasmani was cruelly forfeited of that chance after he was stabbed to death, following a bizarre series of events.

It started sometime earlier in the evening, when 19-year-old Jesus Enrique Flores apparently confronted Aguirre over an issue, and the pair got into a fight. They were separated and Flores went to his

own house on Guyana Street to cool off.

Unfortunately for Flores, Aguirre’s younger sister Johanna heard about the fight and in a reckless move she confronted Flores. Flores reportedly slapped the young girl, and attempted to chop her with a machete. Yasmani appeared once more and confronted Flores again, this time by throwing a rock at him. Flores then allegedly ran over and stabbed Aguirre in the chest area, leaving the young man to die as he bled out well before reaching a hospital.

But the story doesn’t end there.

Flores and his girlfriend, Joanni Coc, were arrested with the expectation of being charged for Aguirre’s death, but Coc contended that it was actually Aguirre who started the fight when he and his friends beat her in an apparently drunken rage after not being able to speak to her boyfriend. Aguirre, she says, was the one armed with the machete and some

rocks, and when Flores attempted to disarm him he was ‘hoisted’ on his own machete, as it were, and referred to the death as ‘unintentional’.

Coc also said that Aguirre’s family has issued a series of death threats against them, and even hired paid hitmen to kill them The young woman said she was “scared for [my] life”.

The threat of any criminal charges has been abated for the moment, according to Belmopan Police Officer Commanding, Senior Superintendent Alvan Gentle. On the directives of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Flores will not face charges, as under the Laws of Belize, he was defending his ‘life and property’ against Aguirre, who confronted him on his own land.

Aguirre’s family, in the meantime, will be burying him this week. Police investigation remains open at this time.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Reid Mayday, Mayday!

By G. Michael Reid With each passing press conference and with each passing House Sitting, whether Special or otherwise, one gets the distinct feeling that our little Belize is in some seriously deep shit. There is no nice way of putting it, no soft-landing to proffer, only some hard cold facts to face.

For the majority of us, these are some very tough times and looking out to the horizon, little hope of any better to come anytime soon.

Of course, Dean Barrow and those who promulgate his propaganda will have us believe that it is all because of this dreadful Superbond. Were it not for the Superbond, they tell us; all Belizeans would be living in the lap of luxury and sapping honey from the gutter of prosperity. All the crime, the astronomical cost of living, the high poverty rate, all the unemployment and even the rampant corruption is as a direct result of this awful Superbond.

Oh the life we would be living, were it not for this dratted Superbond!

What Barrow and crew would have us forget is that along with the Superbond, they inherited a gainful oil industry and a booming Tourism industry! If we are to believe the folks at BNE, we have sold billions of dollars of oil since the first well began producing. According to their figures, Belize receives almost a hundred million dollars each year in revenue from that oil; more than enough to service our external debts.

Then there are the millions more that are raked in from granting new concessions. If we are to believe the people in tourism, arrivals have been constantly on the rise, with each tourist paying a head tax and the cruise companies paying hefty fees and taxes. Where is all that money going?

While Dean Barrow has proven to

11

THE BELIZE TIMES

be a very poor leader, none can deny his exceptional ability at conniving and setting in place an infrastructure and network to support his lies and chicanery. The unions have been infiltrated with ardent support at all the key levels. When is the last time that you heard from one of those so-called leaders? The so-called independent media is busy promoting UDP agenda as the radio stations feature one government representative after the other as guests. They are given all the airtime that they need to badger us with their lies and propaganda. All the hitherto respected and revered objective thinkers, Godwin Hulse et al, have all been bought and are now firmly entrenched in the red corner. Who, pray tell, will deliver from this evil?

As for the print media, the fire that burned so brightly from 2004 til 2008 has all but been extinguished. The Reporter…well, the Reporter is busy being the Reporter; addressing issues that are hardly of any significance while totally ignoring the pressing issues of the day. The last few issues of the Amandala have dealt with the Superbond from the perspective of promoting Hall Mark as a savior, Said Musa’s firing of a couple of workers and of a pastor named Willacey who had consensual sex with a teenage girl. Not that Norman Willacey was right in what he did; he was as wrong as two left shoes, but with all the problems facing our country today, is this really the best we can do for headline news?

Or are all these just convenient distractions from the real problems that we face?

Last week, Belizeans got some news that we have been expecting since a few days after the elections.

The gang-truce money is depleted and no longer will the bad boys be paid to “hold it down.” This is as bad as it can get and pretty soon this Barrow administration will understand what a real mess they have made of things.

It would have been better to have not started such a program in the first place than to spoil these miscreants and now try to cut them off cold turkey.

Everyone except Dean Barrow knew that that program was unsustainable.

Barrow had informed us a while back that it was costing the government $50,000 per week to keep the

The gang-truce money is depleted and no longer will the bad boys be paid to “hold it down.” This is as bad as it can get and pretty soon this Barrow administration will understand what a real mess they have made of things.”

gang boys happy. That was alarming enough but now Mark King tells us that it was in fact, actually costing $158,000 per week. That computes to a whopping seven and a half million per annum. Is it any wonder that we cannot meet our debt obligations?

The disconcerting thing about all that is that it never really made a difference. The murder rate continues to climb with almost a hundred already dead this year and with the year only half gone. Robberies, rape and home invasions have become everyday occurrences and the security forces believe that if they don’t report it, it means it didn’t happen. I guess if I cover my eyes it means you can’t see me, right?

At a press conference last Friday, Mark King informed us that “there was an atmospheric condition out there that know the programs weren’t being effective as they were.” I swear to GOD folks, that is a direct quote. Can somebody please explain to me exactly what this man was saying?

Mark King at least had some degree of honesty, explaining had he been given the program four years before, it would have had what he described as “an exit strategy.“ You mean it had none? King basically said that the program had no structure, no direction and was doomed to fail from the start.

Folks that is exactly what we have been telling these dunces from the start. For three years at seven million per annum, did it really have to cost us twenty million dollars to find that out?

Belize is in a mess and with an arrogant egomaniac at the helm; this ship seems destined to sink. Hubert Elrington, who once served alongside Dean Barrow in Cabinet, warned us that if we gave Dean Barrow the rudder, he would steer the ship straight onto the reef.

Those words are proving to be quite prophetic. Yet, even while we hasten to our rendezvous with disaster, cabinet ministers continue to splurge and live high on the hog. Like the legendary Nero who fiddled while Rome was burning, the Dean Team lives their dream while the rest of us suffer through the nightmare.

Regardless of how loudly the band plays and how much reshuffling is done to the chairs on the deck, it is obvious that severe damage has already done.

Barring some drastic measures, which do not exclude an immediate change of this most incompetent crew, we might as well fill up the lifeboats for this majestic vessel is on her way down. To ‘barrow’ some lyrics from Gypsy’s 1986 calypso “Should we abandon ship or should we stay with it, Captain you tell us what to do”

Reasons for Rise in Meat Prices Contributed by Orlando Habet Since 2007, the international price for grains initiated an upward trend which has not stopped. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) established in 1848, is the world’s oldest futures and options exchange. Importers of grains in Central America and the Caribbean depend almost entirely on imports of corn, soybeans and soybean meal for the feed mill industry that manufacture animal feeds. An increase in feed costs directly impacts the cost of meats (pork and poultry) and that of beef producers who do grain feeding.

In recent weeks, prices of poultry went up in all Central American countries with Costa Rican poultry meat prices rising above 7 %.

While Belize produces and utilizes its own corn for feed production, it imports 98 % of its Soyabean meal needs which is the primary protein source for all animal feeds. Increased costs of production for the past three months have been absorbed by the industry. However, producers cannot continue with the burden and must pass on some of the increases in costs to the consumer.

The industry will remain vigilant in the wake of these hard times and will make every effort to continue to provide this much needed protein source at the most affordable price and of the safest quality.

Why corn and soybean increase in Price: 1.

Volatility of Monetary Exchange.

2. Global drought but principally in the USA which is undergoing its worst drought in the last 60 years: 63% of its arable land has

been affected by the drought.

3.

Recent data from USDA indicates that the soybean harvest in the USA decreased from 87 to 70 million tonnes. Brazil and Argentina had excessive rains and production of soybeans was affected.

4.

In 2011, 40% of the corn reserves in the USA went to agrofuel production such as ethanol. It is expected that this percentage will increase in 2012. Consequently, there is less corn offered for sale by the USA. 5.

Great demand for grains by countries with emerging economies such as China 6.

The international reserves for cereals for use in animals have decreased in the past years.

7.

According to the World Bank corn futures prices have increased since June by 45% and soya by 30%.

8.

Feed cost represents 68% of total egg production cost. In broiler production, feed cost represents 60 – 75% of total production.

9. Increase in costs of fuel directly increase grain production costs, increase shipping costs of grains and ultimately animal feed and consequently that of meat and meat products.

Food prices are rising in 2012 because of high gas prices, which themselves are caused by high oil prices. Oil prices are expected to remain around $100 a gallon throughout the summer.

Prices for soybean-based food products will rise due to reduced soybean production in South America.

In addition, there are ongoing consequences from shortages that caused food prices to spike in 2011.

Last year, Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat producers had massive fires that destroyed wheat fields causing rises in wheat prices which drove prices of other grains.

Continued on page 12

12

THE BELIZE TIMES

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Home Economics

Superbond – Two negatives

can make a positive

By Richard Harrison The Superbond is a US$550 million bond bundled in 2006-7 from smaller bonds which Belize had with mostly private international commercial lenders.

Bond holders had agreed to a 23-year payback period, with a step-up interest rate over time. This super bond accounts for approximately 46% of Belize’s total sovereign debt exposure. Its restructuring is of vital economic interest to Belize, and all its international partners.

At the time, Belize had recently found crude oil in commercial quantity in 2005, and the world economy was not yet in recession. It had forecast that it could grow its economy in a manner that would allow it to pay its debts as agreed.

Belize Government claims that its circumstances have changed….that its forecast on crude oil exports is not as bullish given decreased world market prices and lower domestic production... that the world economy has been in recession for an extended period of time since 2008….and that it was obliged in 2010-11 to acquire the electricity and telecommunications companies owned by foreign interests. Hence, there is need to restructure the super-bond at this time….given Belize’s current unemployment and poverty scenarios, its deteriorated infrastructure and its deteriorating social conditions.

Given that interest rates in the USA and Europe have been near ZERO since 2009-10….and that the interest rate on these bonds have now climbed up to 8.5% p.a., it is unreasonable to expect Belize, a relatively poor country, to continue to pay these exorbitant rates. LIBOR +1.5 would allow bond holders to profit given world market scenarios.

Given that the sustained depression has caused significant decrease in remittances, in foreign direct investments, in profitability from its foreign exchange earners (export of commodities and tourism) and significant drop in capital asset valuations in Belize….it is reasonable that relief on the principal of the super bond be achieved. A 30% relief on principal would be along the lines that could be considered reasonable by all sides.

It would be an abomination to restructure the debt past its current term, which is already too extended…and burdening the children of Belize, even those who are not yet born.

Where problems exist…..pragmatic win-win solutions are always in the sights of keen eyes….as long as goodwill is maintained around the negotiating table. How can we and the world benefit at the same time?

Here are some things that I believe could add value to the negotiations: 1. Belize should negotiate a major debt-for-education swap with the United States, Canada, Taiwan and United Kingdom. There already exist linkages that provide for US, Canada, Taiwan and UK students to study in Belize, and these have been growing steadily over the past twenty years, with increasing demand. These linkages only need to be deepened and broadened. 2000

students at an average of US$15,000 per annum would be US$30 million per year….over a 10-year period would be $300 million. The Belize government would bear these costs locally, while the corresponding governments would assume their negotiated portion of the US$300 million debt. Belize would have to increase its domestic budget for education significantly, which can only be a win for Belizean students. 2000 foreign undergraduate students in Belize would internationalize our educational institutions in a big way, attracting many more international students to come to Belize from all countries of the globe….expanding our market for education services.

Investing in education that is internationally valued....can never hurt us....and can benefit many from other countries.

There is no underestimating what 2000 more mouths to feed and rooms to shelter would do for our domestic economy.

2. Belize should negotiate a major debt-for-nature swap with Japan and the rich Scandinavian countries….aimed at developing our forest and marine resources…especially the pine forests at Mountain Pine Ridge, The Chiquibul Forests, the swamplands of north-eastern Belize and the Belize Barrier Reef protected areas (which should be expanded).

Belize should agree to completely band the exploration of crude oil in marine and coastal areas. US$200 million over 10-years should be our target. There is a lot of biomass here which is yet undiscovered. Pharmaceutical interests alone would push these negotiations along…. but Belize cannot be arresting and bullying researchers such as John McAfee… it has to have legal framework to allow research and development of scientific and technology products and services.

This amount would be peanuts for these countries, when spread among five target countries….Japan, Switzerland, Norway, Austria and Sweden. We need to develop long-term relations with these countries anyway….if we are to become a contender in the world market for highvalue products and services. Apart from our human resources, our natural resources is our greatest wealth...but only if it’s developed sustainably to serve humanity!!!!!

3. Belize should reconsider its position with regard to government ownership of public utilities. If BEL, under government management, only reported BZ$2 million profits in 2011…it will take 50 years to pay back if the final settlement is for BZ$100 million. It is not the kind of investment that the people of Belize should see as interesting. We can do much better with our investment dollars.

We should invest in combustion engine generation of electricity that can use the crude oil we have under our ground (or products that we can make with minimal processing of it)….then we would not be needing so much foreign exchange to pay Mexico for our electricity. Mexico considers us a burden anyway….we are always begging them for better rates and terms…and they prefer to sell to the more lucrative north American mar-

ket. Government can protect consumers of electricity and telecommunications through regulations….it does not need to “own” these assets to control them.

Taking these white elephants out of our debt stock scenario would greatly improve our financial outlook. Let’s not “spit in the sky”!

4. Belize is considered worse than Argentina and Pakistan as places to invest according to Reuters…because Belize laws are not conducive to foreign direct investments, our Customs Tariff Law is import-biased and does not allow production to be competitive and profitable, there is too heavy taxation on the basis of production (fuel), our justice system is not sufficiently independent, fair and unbiased, our crime situation is out of hand….BUT princi-

pally….because Belize is not adopting and adapting new technologies at a fast pace (mostly due to low level of FDI related to production). If this were the case, Belize would be viewed as much more dynamic….and its dire prospects for investments would be turned on its head. Belize needs to upgrade its profile as a country desirous of growing its industrial production base….even as it expands its tourism and services industries. Its investment portfolio would be deemed a lot less risky…and investors wishing to invest in Belize would be able to raise capital a lot easier. Let’s not “cut off our nose, to spite our face”…. let’s favor our production investors (domestic and foreign)…this importationbias has taken us downhill since Independence in 1981.

To proceed in this direction….Belize should make all efforts to avoid a sovereign default….and move aggressively during the rest of this year (before the next payment is due) to negotiate on all fronts, with its best minds put to work.

We have to be creative in managing our best interests, with those of our international partners. WIN-WIN should be our game.

Richard Harrison is a local businessman and investor in the manufacturing and service industries. Send comments to harrisonbz@yahoo.com.

Reasons for Rise in Meat Prices Continued from page 11 The Renewable Fuel Standards requires US fuel companies to ensure that about nine percent of their gasoline is made up of ethanol this year. About 40 percent of the US corn crop must be converted into the biofuel to meet the mandate.

Meat producers, who are forced to pay more for feed, and grain traders, such as Cargill and agribusiness and ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland, have been significantly impacted by the drought and ensuing jump in prices. The American Meat Institute as well as other livestock trade organizations has urged the Obama Administration to lift the ethanol mandate.

It is thought by professionals that if the mandate is lifted it can alleviate the prices of grains in the USA but can potentially increase the cost of fuel at the pump. This would directly increase shipping costs within the US and also increase export shipping costs.

Sources: • Food Prices to Rise in Wake of Severe Drought - NYTimes.com The Agriculture Department said the cost of beef would increase the most, up to 5 percent, because of the weather and rising prices for animal feed. h tt p : / / w w w. n y t i m e s . com/2012/07/26/business/foodprices-to-rise-in-wake-of-severedrought.html • Farmers Don’t Control Rising Prices For Meat and Milk Panama ...

13 Apr 2012 ... In the coming

days, meat and milk will increase in price, but it is the intermediaries who will establish prices and not the producers. This was ... http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/2012041309085750 • Why Are Food Prices Rising and Reasons for Food Price Inflation Find out the real reasons why, how rising food prices affect the global economy, ... that provide meat, further reducing the supply and increasing price volatility. http://useconomy.about.com/od/ inflationfaq/f/Why-Are-Food-Prices-SoHigh.htm • Meat prices set to jump after wheat crop failures - Telegraph 15 Aug 2010... meat prices are facing a new contagion: the fear that rising wheat ... There are several underlying reasons why pork prices might be high at ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/marketreport/7946789/ Meat-prices-set-to-jump-after-wheatcrop-failures.html Worst US Drought in 50 Years Drives Up Grain Prices, Ethanol ...

13 Aug 2012 ... The American Meat Institute as well as other livestock trade organizations have urged the Obama Administration to lift the ethanol mandate. http://www.environmentalleader. com/2012/08/13/worst-us-drought-in50-years-drives-up-grain-prices-ethanol-under-pressure/

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Sunday, September 2, 2012

THE BELIZE TIMES

In my perspective…

A nation in need of good leadership

By Rayford Young Traits of a Good Leader (Compiled by the Santa Clara University and the Tom Peters Group) Honest — Display sincerity, integrity, and candor in all your actions. Deceptive behavior will not inspire trust.

Competent — Base your actions on reason and moral principles. Do not make decisions based on childlike emotional desires or feelings.

Forward-looking — Set goals and have a vision of the future. The vision must be owned throughout the organization. Effective leaders envision what they want and how to get it. They habitually pick priorities stemming from their basic values.

Inspiring — Display confidence in all that you do. By showing endurance in mental, physical, and spiritual stamina, you will inspire others to reach for new heights. Take charge when necessary.

Intelligent — Read, study, and seek challenging assignments.

Fair-minded — Show fair treatment to all people. Prejudice is the enemy of justice. Display empathy by being sensitive to the feelings, values, interests, and well-being of others.

Broad-minded — Seek out diversity.

Courageous — Have the perseverance to accomplish a goal, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Display a confident calmness when under stress.

Straightforward — Use sound judgment to make good decisions at the right time.

Imaginative — Make timely and appropriate changes in your thinking, plans, and methods. Show creativity by thinking of new and better goals, ideas, and solutions to problems. Be innovative.

At the House of Representatives meeting on August 23, 2012, the Honorable Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize, pummeled the Honorable Francis Fonseca with demeaning charges and said he had no leadership qualities. I thought I would look up what kind of leadership traits to which he might be referring. Frankly, I was stunned at the way the PM went after the opposition leader; and all because the OL stood up and argued that the sale of BSI (Belize Sugar Industries) stay in

the hands of the local workers, who hold the majority share in BSI. I had never witnessed such rude and undignified behavior.

Whenever a politician begins his remarks saying he feels sorry for you, you know it won’t be good and it was not. Mr. Barrow said that the OL could not even read, that he was an idiot and ignorant. He even brought up the OL’s family in a negative manner. And throughout the tantrum Mr. Barrow was looking for applause from the audience. I thought the campaign was over, and

The week, while Mr. Barrow was insulting the opposition members, Standard and Poors lowered Belize’s sovereign rating to “Selective Default” - which is as near to the bottom of the barrel as you’d want to get. Mr. Barrow failed to pay the $23 million bonds payment. Belize’s unemployment is almost at 30% and the murder rate is about to reach 100 with four months to go. No new businesses coming to Belize. More businesses closed under this administration and this week 200 people who worked for the government’s South Side rejuvenation project are jobless. Another 450 people employed at the gang truce and CYDP will likely lose their jobs by October.

That’s your record, Mr. Barrow.

No wonder you don’t want to talk about these things. It’s so much

. I bet in Mr. Barrow’s mind, this kind of confrontation makes him look like a strong and decisive leader. Well I have news for you Mr. Barrow. It doesn’t make you look strong, it shows your character - you look foolish, childish, combative, arrogant and surely not a leader or a statesman.”

we were in the governing stage.

But it did not seem that way by his posturing. This is the PM we all know and expect no less from him.

He is always ready for a fight. The PM loves to argue and fight this is what he does best.

When you think about the policy failures and bleak future in this administration, you can’t blame him for going after anyone that has the audacity to question him. You blame everyone else and call the opposition all sorts of names. You don’t consult with them you just ignore them. Mr. Barrow is the type of leader who thinks he, and he alone, knows it all and can solve all the Country’s problems by himself. No need to ask him questions – he’s so superior to everyone… especially the opposition. “Trust me!”, well, we did Mr. Barrow and the record is dismal and we are at the door step of becoming a failed state under your brilliant leadership.

easier to degrade and insult the opposition. I bet in Mr. Barrow’s mind, this kind of confrontation makes

13 him look like a strong and decisive leader. Well I have news for you Mr. Barrow. It doesn’t make you look strong, it shows your character - you look foolish, childish, combative, arrogant and surely not a leader or a statesman.

This kind of behavior in the people’s house should not be tolerated at all. I also heard while the opposition leader was making his remarks someone from the audience shouted out “meet me outside”. Is this what the house has become? You insult your opponent, call them all kinds of names, the audience spouts threats and just makes a mockery of this once honorable institution? The leaders set the tone and Mr. Barrow set the tone we now have in the people’s house. Say whatever, do whatever and you will be applauded. I believe the speaker of the house should be more responsible. He should not allow personal attacks from either side of the isle.

No one in the audience should be allowed to shout out hateful remarks or threaten the members. This is unacceptable behavior.

This beloved country is in a dangerous position now. This is no time for silly and petty nonsense that goes on in Belmopan. People are out of work. Our infrastructure is crumbling. We cannot meet our obligations to our bond holders. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the isle to stop the silliness and get down to finding solutions to the Country’s problems - which are great.

This is no time to question who can read or who cannot. You both were elected to lead this country out of its problems. Both parties represent about half of the population of this country. So when Mr. Barrow insults the opposition delegation he is insulting the people they represent. Show fair treatment to all people.

Prejudice is the enemy of justice.

Display empathy by being sensitive to the feelings, values, interests, and well-being of others. That’s leadership Mr. Barrow, not your rant, insults and bullying. Grow up and be the leader this Country needs so desperately at this time.

Rayford Young is a BelizeanAmerican, who currently lives in Michigan, U.S.A. Send comments to rayfordyoung@comcast.net

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Sunday, September 2, 2012

BELIZE TIMES WEEKLY

SCIENCE & TECH R

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Selected By Chris Williams

Can cold fusion research survive pioneer’s death?

Martin Fleischmann kick-started cold fusion controversy and faced decades of hostility. His colleague Michael McKubre ponders the future of the field 29 August 2012 by Jon Cartwright

Science advances one funeral at a time, said Max Planck. Now Martin Fleischmann is gone, what’s in store for cold fusion research?

I like that quote. It implies you’ve got to wait for the stubborn old bastards to die before you can make progress. But that wasn’t Planck’s intention: what he meant was that people refuse to even consider unorthodox arguments while their authors are still alive. Once they die, the argument becomes depersonalised. I do think there is an opportunity here. The hostility might abate because Martin is gone.

Fleischmann faced a backlash in 1989 when he and Stanley Pons said they had achieved fusion - the process that powers stars - in a lab. A bold claim that brought scorn for years.

They didn’t really claim that. They claimed to have observed an anomalous excess of heat in a tabletop experiment - a palladium electrode loaded with heavy hydrogen, or deuterium. That heat was too great to be explained by chemistry. When Martin and Stan first wrote their paper, they had a question mark after the word fusion. That question mark was removed, apparently, in the review and editing pro-

“Martin was just much more imaginative and inventive than your average scientist” (Image: SRI International) cess.

Was that such a big deal?

It was a sociological and

possibly political mistake to call it fusion. Scientifically, it was a prema-

ture assertion. Whatever Martin and Stan had found and made public was not a cold version of “hot fusion”, the kind familiar to nuclear physicists.

Is the distinction important?

Martin and Stan were laying claim to the idea that nuclear reactions occur in condensed matter - solids and liquids - in a manner different to free space, in hot plasmas. In nuclear physics, you’ve got two choices: fission and fusion. Fusion simply means the combining of light nuclei to make a bigger nucleus with a mass deficit, and that mass deficit shows up as heat. Today it’s quite clear that there is some sort of fusion going on - but it is a fusion process that hitherto has not been considered by

the mainstream physics community.

Why can’t you say what that process is?

We need a good, sound theoretical model - then we can experimentally test it.

We have a general idea of what’s generating the heat, but the details - how deuterium nuclei get together to fuse - have yet to be resolved. The hot fusion folk who criticised cold fusion got one thing right: if it were a pairwise reaction of only two deuterium nuclei, like in free space, you should always see the same products as in hot fusion. But, generally, we don’t see those types of products. A theoretical model is coming. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a good one in the next four or five months.

Do you think Fleischmann was a maverick?

I don’t think he set out to be a maverick. Martin was just much more imaginative and inventive than your average scientist. When I was at the University of Southampton, I would see him in the corridor followed by graduate students and PhDs. Whatever their question, he could toss an answer over his shoulder. He was able to conjure up answers and ideas faster than anyone I’ve known.

Older fathers pass on more mutations 22 August 2012 by Jessica Hamzelou

PLANNING to put off parenting? You might want to consider this: a man’s sperm collects mutations at a rate of two per year. While there may be perks to gaining some of those new mutations, others may be behind conditions like schizophrenia.

New sperm cells are continually created in the testes from a store of stem cells. These stem cells multiply by making copies of their DNA, but mistakes can occur during this process, forming mutations. “These mutations are not necessarily deleterious,” says Anne Goriely at the University of Oxford. “They’re essential

for a species to evolve.”

To find out how many mutations accumulate with age, Kári Stefánsson and his colleagues at Decode Genetics in Reykjavik, Iceland, sequenced the genomes of people with schizophrenia and autism, and compared them to the genomes of their parents, who did not have the conditions.

Both conditions are thought to be linked to new mutations, says Goriely.

The approach allowed Stefánsson’s team to tell in which parent the mutations that contribute to the conditions had originated. They found that most new mutations were inher-

ited from the father, and the number of them appeared to correlate with his age: about two new mutations occurred for every year older the father was when their child was conceived (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/ nature11396).

The rate confirms what reproductive scientists predicted, says Goriely, who wasn’t involved in the study. But although parents-to-be should be advised on how their age may affect the health of their offspring, the finding doesn’t mean that all older fathers risk passing on damaging mutations. “Some mutations may be related to disease, but some may be beneficial, and some are likely to have no effect,” says Goriely.

No reverse gear (Image: Peter Cade/Getty Images)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

15

THE BELIZE TIMES

Cayes GOT YOU JUMBLED?

CELEBRATING OUR JEWEL BELIZE

Did you know that there are more than 200 cayes (pronounced “keys”) off of our eastern coast? Most of these cayes lie within the protection of our almost 200 miles long Barrier Reef.

Happy 31st our beautiful Belize!

Can you unscramble the letters to name a few of them below?

I’m early I know but I couldn’t wait until September 21st.

This has to be my favourite time of the year after Christmas. Not even a great summer vacation can top the wonder of September when most of us seem to smile a little brighter, stand a little taller and walk with more pride.

You know we have fun celebrating all things Belizean here at MKC during September so jump in with us and test your knowledge!

1.

St’s cgaeygoere

2.

N.E. Illasopad yeca

3.

Ghinglau ridb ayec

4.

Nogl coco eacy

5.

Lhfa onom eyca

6.

Agrismerb ayce

7.

Yeca keblo

*Answers: 1. St. George’s Caye; 2. N.E. Sapodilla Caye; 3. Laughing Bird Caye; 4. Long Coco Caye; 5. Half Moon Caye; 6.

Ambergris Caye; 7. Caye Bokel

These Streets

These Streets

Can you find and circle the 17 streets of Belize City listed below?

Can you find and circle the 17 streets of Belize City listed below?

L E A B B L L C J S U C C U I M Q E D C D K I Q C

H I W D P N R I B P U O E H P X Q G X J N R L E F

J A Z Q A N G P V X P N S Z B W B B O E Z J T I X

P A R A C O O N S T R E E T E C M K T E L Y O H S

B P Z C R U R B K M P Y W D U G J F X P M V E C V

X U J I X R Q N Y A J D N L S P O N U T J A W T I

L C H E Q L A Z W H Z R A P K X G A S V A U U C Z

U L Y W D M K G O O E I F J G Z K H C F Z E U T M

I O H W M E T R A G T V X F L U L N O Q C V U S V

Y A B V M O K W C A P E H T H U H C X K U E F B O

H W R O A Z I G V N V Q E L O Y K M F X F S M S V

U P P E G G B L E Y T E E R T S S I R G I T Z G Q

D V A U A R R H R S R J N B F Z C W F A J R P B M

C K G Y Z P B K S T N I I U T T E F R G O E T P S

B O F A I T G B S R P C V B E L S B M S D E Z R O

Z G E U N E V A N E M Y A B E Z O M B S E T R C I

ALBERT STREET AMARA STREET BARRACK ROAD BAYMEN AVENUE CONEY DRIVE EVES TREET

G Z R V E E I T E E R T S T R E B L A R H R A R H

X U C H R R V H U T S O N S T R E E T T U V V U W

N C M I O T E E I X Q A P K S J Q S I Q H U K I K

D W P T A S H Y W F T B V N N H E I O T D R M U Y

D V C I D A O R L L A R K C O G Q R K F A V Y E F

J I U V W R A F D J Y A F F N P L I B S V J O U E

V S F P B A W Q P F D O B A R R A C K R O A D C R

Y L V O G M V S Z S X Z R I E F J A L A A N X K Z

T W K K H A I U H A J O R U V V O Z H K R S Y T U

ALBERT STREET AMARA STREET BARRACK ROAD BAYMEN AVENUE CONEY DRIVE EVES TREET FREETOWN ROAD HUTSON STREET KRALL ROAD LIZARRAGA AVENUE MAGAZINE ROAD MAHOGANY STREET ORANGE STREET RACOON STREET TIGRIS STREET VERNON STREET VICTORIA STREET

16

THE BELIZE TIMES

THINK ABOUT IT HON. FRANCIS FONSECA The Leader of the People’s United Party, Hon. Francis Fonseca, was a guest on “Open Your Eyes” hosted by superstar Marleni Cuellar and star William Neal Tuesday morning.

The topic was the restructuring of Belize’s debt, a.k.a. the Superbond.

Since becoming the Leader of the Constitutional Opposition late last year, Hon. Francis has grown considerably in the heavy burdens placed on him.

One of the country’s youngest Opposition Leaders and an apostle of the great George Price, Hon. Francis has been showing a level of maturity and composure as the country’s future Prime Minister.

Despite being publicly provoked by the Prime Minister at last week’s Press conference with remarks about the P.U.P back in 2000 to 2006 and of refusing to consult the Opposition over the Superbond restructuring – Hon. Francis in response was calm and unprovoked in his answer on the show.

Hon. Francis said he had to admit to the foreign media and financial investors that his Government had kept him and his party in the dark. But he refused to be Barrowlike and launch any counter attacks against the Government. This has to be a huge plus for him and it also puts on display for all Belizeans and foreigners one of the stark contrast between the Leaders of the two major parties.

Hon. Francis, whose party can throw a serious monkey wrench in the whole of Government’s negotiations, did not even mention such to Marleni’s question and in fact further displayed his leadership maturity by stating his party’s support for the P.M.’s negotiations because it is for the good of Belize and not for cheap party politics.

Neither did the Hon. Francis Fonseca enter a different argument by listing in details the many, many projects that were accomplished during the previous P.U.P. Government of 1998 to 2003.

During that period he was not even a Minister of Government but it is important for the P.U.P. to put the record straight. There were roads, schools, classrooms, houses, infrastructures, thousands of scholarships, potable water to villages, rural electrification, invested in tourism, abolition of “London bridges”, rescuing of the economy following several hurricanes – and the list goes on.

Perhaps for another occasion.

Asked about Mark Espat, whom some in the party hierarchy have branded a traitor and worse, the Party Leader was most kind and generous with his words.

For a Leader who came within 66 votes of becoming the Prime

Minister, the Hon. Francis Fonseca was cool and collected, mature and articulate and very responsible in dealing with the issues.

His rating would have gone up among the business people, students and thinkers in the land. Not to mention half the population that wanted to change Government earlier this year.

Respect is due.

COST OF LIVING Cost of living get so high, rich and poor they start to cry How the weak will ever get strong.

Oh what a situation.

Early Sunday Morning 26 August 2012 the price of petrol across Belize went up by huge margins – almost a dollar per gallon more for premium, regular and diesel.

When petrol goes up, everything goes up. The trucks and the tractors, the fisherman and the tourists’ operators – everyone will get a hit.

Last week the price of butane for cooking and the price of chicken.

The government just does not have any plan to stem or hold the cost of living in Belize. They are absolutely bereft of any ideas.

Every week the merchants use the absence of any kind of regulation or monitoring to raise the cost of items in their stores.

Life dread.

On Friday 24 August the Government terminated the services of TWO HUNDRED workers from one of its showpiece programs.

They and their families were told under uncertain terms by several supervisors and managers that should they vote for the opposition they would be without a job. They voted for their jobs.

Who wouldn’t?

But now that the elections have gone, so too these workers have gone. They have been used cruelly by the Government. Extra cruel, because for the delayed budget, just passed in June/July they were publicly assured that NONE of Government’s pro poor programs would be affected.

They were safe, they were told.

Safe my back foot.

They couldn’t last out the end of August.

Next week school reopens. This means books, school fees, school bags, uniforms and all the related expenses. How can these poor people make it? Their two-weeks’ notice pay has to be used for food.

It is cruel. Cold hearted and cruel.

Let it be rewritten that the U.D.P. has a history of cold hearted treatment of workers. Before the 1998 elections they had fired over eight hundred public offiers. Not spread over a year or months. It was one big cruel massacre.

They called it retrenchment.

JAMAICA AND CHINA Jamaica and China last week Thursday signed an economic agreement for 423 million dollars.

Belize and China has signed not a single economic agreement.

Instead Belize is following the U.K. and the U.S.A. which is trying to antagonize China over its territory of Taiwan.

Belize gets economic help from Taiwan so that Belize, U.K, U.SA. and a handful of countries can vote for Taiwan at certain international organizations.

The future of Belize lies with China.

Moreover China has voting powers in the all-important Security Council of the United Nations.

Belize has no friends in the Security Council. The U.K. and U.S.A. support Guatemala in their efforts to take a portion of Southern Belize.

BARROW INFILTRATED PLUS TV During the Government’s efforts to amend the Constitution of the country with a so-called 9th amendment (to retake BTL and include BEL) they contacted Luis Wade, owner of Plus TV in Belmopan.

Prime Minister Barrow arranged for Lois Young-Barrow to hold a sit down with Mr. Wade.

It is unclear if it was one or several sessions. But thereafter Mr. Wade started sounding like Lois (by the way where is that concerned Belizean?)

Wade even starting quoting and referring to case laws and such unknown legal terms like the “Basic Structure doctrine” from Court cases.

After that, the show became an all-out opponent of those against the 9th amendment and he became Saul on the road to Demascus – a full convert to Barrow’s amendment.

Wonder how he feels now that it has emerged that Belize has to pay for the expropriation at a time when the Government has squandered all the oil revenue from B.N.E. and the billions in taxes it collected from 2008 to present?

Wonder what sweeteners were sent to the other media houses which did not present a balanced approach between the pros and con

Sunday, September 2, 2012

of changing the Constitution for a political cause?

‘BASS’ Leroy Castillo also known as “Bass” Castillo passed gently into the goodnight last week. He was laid to rest in his native Corozal Town last Saturday morning at a well-attended funeral. Had his funeral been in Belize City it would been a huge event with onlookers lining the streets.

Bass was well-known, wellloved musician. He was a warm and genuine human being. He struggled with illness the past few years.

But was always the cool dude who touched our hearts with his humanity and touched our spirits with his music. He also wrote songs. And the lyrics of his helped to popularise the P.U.P. message and to draw crowds at rallies across the country.

In the many dance in Belize, his bass was the driving force of the numerous bands he played with.

Base will always be missed. But we know he is strumming his music on harps to much wider audience.

To his brother, Linsford, and to all his siblings, family and friends our deepest condolences.

MEN SUCH AS THESE Archbishop Desmond Tutu was one of the great men of principle who fought the racist South African Government and system of apartheid and defeated it.

Like Nelson Mandela and others such, Tutu is still alive among us.

On Thursday 30 August 2012, former U.K. Prime Minister and several others including Tutu were to appear at an investment summit in South Africa. Tutu has said he will not appear on the same stage with Tony Blair.

The official release starts “The Archbishop is of the view that Mr. Blair’s decision to support the U.S. military invasion of Iraq, on the basis of unproven allegations of the existence in Iraq of weapons of arms destruction, was morally indefensible”.

There is a Muslim group in South Africa calling for the arrest of Tony Blair, for war crimes in relation to the illegal war by the British government in Iraq.

These matters you won’t see on CNN. Oh for great men such as Desmond Tutu.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Oceana drowns GOB “in shallow waters” with early legal victory BELIZE CITY, Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

By Alton Humes It’s safe to say that no other current legal warfare presently waged against the present Government of Belize will have more ramifications than that of Oceana in Belize, the Citizens Organized for Liberty thru Action (COLA) and the Belize Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage versus GOB over offshore oil contracts issued to several companies between 2005 and 2007.

Oceana’s Vice-President Audrey Matura Shepherd, and their legal ‘eagle’ Godfrey Smith, have been in Court since May of this year, first to file the application seeking legal challenge, then to respond a series of counter challenges by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and his legal ‘Merry Men’ (led by the less-than-impressive pedigree of Government Crown Counsel Herbert Panton) that there was nothing to challenge.

Last week, Oceana had to prove that there was no legal precedent which limits them, as an NGO, by either the Public Authorities Protection Act or the Limitation Act, regarding when, where and how court cases against the Government can be brought. They argued using the most recent case in the Courts, that of Gilharry’s Bus Line vs. Transport Board which was heard at the Court of Appeal in July 2012. Panton argued that Oceana had superseded the limitations for judicial review, as the contracts were signed in 2007, but the claim

17

THE BELIZE TIMES

was brought in 20011. Panton claimed there was a limitation of three months.

But on Friday, August 24th, 2012, the power shifted significantly to Justice Oswell Legall, who ruled that Oceana and its fellow claimants, via the Gilharry case, is bound by neither law. In addition, Justice Legall, cited a 2007 ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the case of Watson v. Hernandez and stated that Courts exist to deliver Justice and quoted from the noted CCJ case that, “Justice is not served by depriving the parties of the ability to have their cases decided on the merits because of a purely technical procedural breach….”

Oceana’s early victory now allows all claimants to move forward with the substantive case. But GOB, like its stubborn leader, isn’t backing down, and plans to make another challenge by attempting to strike-out the testimony of Mr. Bob Danenburg, a petroleum expert slated to give evidence on the contracts, which is scheduled to happen on September 12th, 2012.

The suit against the Government is over the oil concessions given to companies between 2005 and 2011, namely: Island Oil Belize Ltd., Tropical Energy Ltd., PetroBelize Company Ltd., Princess Petroleum Ltd., Providence Energy Belize Ltd. and Sol Oil Belize Ltd, which was filed on December 21st, 2011.

Chief Magistrate scolds Police Officer for incompetence Evidence-handling errors free accused drug trafficker!

BELIZE CITY, Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

By Alton Humes Mark Sacasa turned 36 years old yesterday, Tuesday, August 28th and had it not been for some gradeA screw-ups on the part of officers from the Anti-Drug Unit (ADU), he’d possibly be spending his birthday, in the Hattieville Prison.

The Police had been ‘caught cold’ with 51.3 pounds of marijuana in a vehicle that was stopped at a checkpoint up there on December 7th, 2011. But on Tuesday when the Police Prosecutor should have been fully prepared to send Sacasa to ‘Ramada’, he seemed to have forgotten a cardinal rule of prosecution: make sure everything is in order before you go to court.

But the Detective Constable (DC) had made numerous errors in handling the key evidence by holding over the

evidence before submitting it to the exhibit-keeper, as well as not sending samples to the testing lab immediately the next day, thereby creating contamination. Even the written statement was botched, describing events that ‘happened in the future’. These errors were grave for the prosecution, allowing Sacasa’s attorney Athur Saldivar to walk free from the charges, following a no-case filing before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith based on the mishandled evidence.

But while Sacasa dodged a major bullet in court, the same cannot be said for that Detective Constable, who was brought before the Chief Magistrate. Magistrate Smith spared no ease as she scolded the detective coldly.

“In all my years as a Magistrate, 7 years in St. Lucia, and 1 year here, I have never encountered a more incompetent Police Officer. My suspicions have been aroused by your incompetence,” said the Chief Magistrate.

She then ordered the Police Prosecutor to write a full report on the case and forward said report to the Officerin-Charge of the ADU to note the huge errors in Police work.

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THE BELIZE TIMES

Sunday, September 2, 2012