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THINK ABOUT IT BARROW LOSES 3 MORE In the famous/infamous quotation of Malcolm X on the death of US President John Kennedy, the chickens have come home to roost. Dean Barrow has lost three more important court cases and has plunged poor Belize deeper into the abyss of debt. In another big blow to the poor taxpayers of Belize, the United States Supreme Court has ordered Dean Barrow to pay the Ashcroft group ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS more. This, in addition to the more than HALF A BILLION DOLLARS that Mr. Barrow was forced to give Ashcroft for unlawfully taking B.T.L. (a wealthy company now run by Barrow’s millionaire son). It is not known how much legal fees Barrow, his brother, his law partner, his exwife and the late Michael Young have all racked up in in what is now seen as senseless and arrogant governmental over-reach resulting in avoidable litigation. But what is known is that all these many, many millions will have to be paid by the people of Belize. These payouts on top of payouts come at precisely the time when the economy of Belize is in recession and on the verge of ruin. As we scribble the above lines with pain in our hearts, the news is announcing that butane cooking gas has sky-rocketed by an additional $15.00 and petrol, the infamous multiplier which impacts the cost of living, has gone up again to $10.00 for a gallon of regular gasoline. The name Dean Barrow is stink out dah street. It has become a curse word. Every one of his costly, unnecessary litigation has been overturned at the higher courts with massive costs to our country. DUPED, AGAIN On 15 December 2016 the Senate of Belize, or more correctly the UDP majority in the Senate approved the Special Agreement signed by the UDP government in December 2008. This Special Agreement is also called the Compromis and provides for Belize and Guatemala to agree to go to the International Court of Justice after holding a referendum in each country. As usual the government lied to the nation on the matter. The government said it was being done to show the international community that Belize is serious about going to the I.C.J. The truth is that what the Senate did was ratify a treaty between Belize and Guatemala to take the Guatemalan claim to the I.C.J. Only the Senate can ratify treaties. A treaty is a binding agreement between countries. There are international consequences for a country which violates a treaty. By forcing Belize to ratify the Treaty the government has condemned the people of Belize to being unable to come out of the referendum/I.C.J. matter. If Dean Barrow were to die in the next year or two, or become more ill and has to leave office, or is driven from office; the people of Belize or any new government could not say that the referendum need
22 JAN
THE BELIZE TIMES
not be held. Neither can Belize say it will not pursue the I.C.J. option. We are now bound by International law to do so. The question is, why have our British masters and puppet government seen it expedient to have us ratify a government’s decision made from December 2008? The other question is, has Guatemala ratified the Special Agreement in their Congress? Another question is why is Guatemala so confident of success in their claim at the I.C.J.? Why? Belizeans also need to ask themselves - why is it that Guatemala has a law for the past ten years with maps showing our national and international waters as their fishing territory, covering seas all the way up to the front of Punta Gorda. Ten years. These facts give Guatemala an upper hand and strengthen their claim at the ICJ. And why have they successfully taken control of our half of the Sarstoon River and are patrolling it for the past two years without a single formal protest from the Belize government or a report of violation of our sovereignty to the United Nations? CRIME - NO SOLUTIONS Last week there was one brutal gang murder in Punta Gorda. The previous week there were five murders over the long New Year’s weekend. One observation is that most of the killers and most of the victims are young people. Several were 19 years of age. This means that nine years ago on 7 February 2008 when Dean Barrow and the UDP became government, these killers were 8, 9 and 10 years of age. It means the absolute lack of any policy for the hundreds of little, unfortunate children who were deprived of an education, skills training and apprentice jobs in order to save them from a life of crime and early death. Wasted lives thanks to you know who. Most of the Belize City murders are happening on the Southside of Belize City where the UDP Ministers are long-time Area Representatives. Their practice of stealing taxpayers’ dollars and bribing voters for an election, then neglecting them for five years has reaped an ugly whirlwind - young criminals and wasted lives. Another observation is that the biggest and most murderous gang is the George Street gang. The George Street gang is in the Prime Minister’s Queen Square constituency. Most of the gang members are on his voters’ list. Is that not a frightening, disturbing situation? Mr. Barrow has been in Queen’s Square since 1984. He was there before any George Street killer was born. He was there when their parents were young people, 33 years ago. OMG! Doesn’t that say it all? What a shameful legacy. The New Year’s weekend murders highlighted the other shameful aspect of the murdering that goes on unabated. Not only have a thousand persons been murdered since Dean Barrow became Prime Minister in February 2008. The brutal fact is the total lack of any solution to the crime problem.
The only response the government could provide is to have the Police repeat the Prime Minister’s bland, hollow words, that there will be aggressive policing. Aggressive police action is another buzz word for unleashing brutality on the young people. Not a word about instilling hundreds of cameras. Not a word on more effective community policing. Not even a concerted ‘guns for money’ program to remove guns off the mean streets of the country. No increase in criminal investigators. There was even talk of the Police developing a strategic plan. After eight, no, nine years and a thousand corpses, the government is admitting it has no short term or medium term plan to tackle, curb and drastically reduce murders and gun violence. In the words of the American Hip Hop artist, Jay Z – it’s an epic fail. Epic! Monumental failure! THANKS TEACHERS The nation of Belize can hold its head high with pride that humble teachers of Belize stood up to a petty, victimizing and small minded government. And won! Not only did our teachers expose the arrogance and maladministration of the UDP government. But they publicly caused the high and mighty Prime Minister to eat his own vomit. Fearing riot and revolt the bully caved in and agreed to all eight of the teacher’s good governance demands. The teachers did it without getting trapped into the party politics that so easily consumes those who speak out or stand up for principles. Efforts to force teachers to cut short their Christmas and New Year’s holidays and return to classes on 3 January was trashed. Victimizing Patrick ‘Pibil’ Faber was made to look small and silly. Many school’s Boards of Management looked stupid for following Faber. They should resign. COCAINE IS COMING IN An increasing number of young persons are using cocaine. This is sad, very sad. While an outdated police system is harassing the young people, wasting the court’s time, and costing taxpayers to jail marijuana users, cocaine is destroying lives. Sad! INJUSTICE Injustice is this. An elderly man is riding his bicycle heading to Orange Walk Town. He is knocked down on the road and killed. A person is charged. Because of the huge backlog of cases in the Supreme Court the trial takes about three to four years. The person pleads guilty. The family is advised they can sue the insurance company. They are then advised that after one year from the date of the accident they cannot sue the insurance company. This is injustice. If there is a law that protects insurance companies and allows them to get away with this gangsterism, that law need to go. A young man borrowed money and
2017
opened a pizza hut in Stann Creek. Like bad luck a fire burned his little wooden hut. Police and fire service investigations show no arson is involved. A white man from Miami arrives. He acts like Donald Trump, disdainful and disrespectful. He tells the young man he won’t get the eighty thousand dollars he is insured for. He offers twenty thousand, take it or leave it, in one week. The young man wants to sue so he can use the money to start over. He is told his insurance policy has a one year limit in which to claim. He learns this after the one year has passed. He is angry and wants revenge. Can’t blame him! This is injustice. Insurance in Belize is a racket. It is legalized theft like the third party insurance in which many victims of vehicle accidents don’t get a dime. Injustice! N.G.O.s NGO stands for Non-Governmental Organization. There are over 140 NGOs in Belize. There is a law which governs how these organizations must function and be accountable for monies and their objectives. Of the 140 NGOs, only 29 have been complying with the law. This is a sad tale of lack of accountability. Under which Minister does the portfolio of the NGOs fall? Such a Minister and his Chief Executive Officer are negligent. Under which House of Representatives Committee do NGOs fall for basic oversight? Oh! How slack is the running of our country. Where there is a slack, incompetent and corrupt government there will be a slack, incompetent and corrupt country. No wonder the Guatemalans have affectively taken over Belize’s half of the Sarstoon River for the past two years and the response to this major attack on Belize’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the government has said and done NOTHING. By the time Belize reaches the ICJ (if we reach there) Toledo will be gone to Guatemala. ADIOS TO JUDGE GONZALEZ Supreme Court Judge John Troadio Gonzalez was not in Monday’s official ceremonies marking the opening of the 2017 Supreme Court calendar. Troadio quietly retired in mid-December 2016, having been blessed to see the retirement age of 75 years. The much loved Judge was a former Chief Magistrate, Director of Public Prosecutions and acted as Chief Justice on several occasions. We hope that a Belizean will be appointed to the vacant post. We note that there are several good, competent Belizeans who would do us proud as compared to some of the arrogant foreigners now judging over us. We consider the D.P.P Cheryl-Lyn Vidal a formidable candidate (she is a transplanted Belizean). Also available is Merlene Moody, a former Prosecutor, Director of the Family Court and Senior Magistrate. Godfrey Smith and Michel Chebat are top candidates as are several others in the private sector.