belize times december 8, 2013

The Belize TimesThe Truth Shall Make You Free

Established 1957

8 DECEMBER 2013 | ISSUE NO: 4874 www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

SCAN HERE

Pg. 4

PUP SUPPORTS CANE FARMERS

Barrow ThreaTens

Cañeros

Pg. 6

“I CAN’T AFFORd $5 PER dAy”

BARROw gIvES ELvIN PENNER $90,000 AS ChRISTMAS ChEER

ThE POLITICAL POLICE

NO CROP, NO SUgAR ROAdS, SAyS PM

Pg. 11

Pg. 8

In February 2009 cañeros took to the streets after Prime Minister Dean Bar-

row rejected their call for support

CORdEL IS BACK!

Cordel Hyde was Guest Speaker at the Fort George Standard Bearer Endorsement

Convention for Rt. Hon. Said Musa at St. Mary’s Hall on Wednesday, December 4 2013

THE BELIZE TIMES 8 DEC2013 202

OPINIONOUT OUT

OUT

Continued on page 9

! !!Greedy UDP

lawyer!More arguments

for Ladyville/Lord’s Bank Town

Stake Bank awaits final

approval

CANADIAN DOLLAR (CAD): $ 0.52

Guatemala Quetzal (GTQ): $ 3.95

Sterling Pound (GBP): $ 0.31

Euro (EUR) : $ 0.37

Eastern Caribbean (XCD):$ 1.35

Barbados (BBD): $ 1.00

United States (USD): $ 0.50

CHINESE YUAN (CNY): $ 3.04

Trinidadian (TTD) : $ 3.21

INDIAN RUPEE (INR): $ 31.28Exchange rate

of One Belize Dollar

6 Feb

LOCAL weather26 Mar 27 Mar11 Dec10 Dec9 Dec8 Dec7 Dec6 Dec

serving Belize since 1957 as the longest continuous newspaper.

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

EDITOR

Alberto Vellos

LAYOUT/GRAPHIC ARTIST

Chris Williams

OFFICE ASSISTANT

Roberto Peyrefitte

Printed and Published ByThE BElIzE TImEs PREss lTD.

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Belize City, BelizeEmail: [email protected]

[email protected]

The Belize TimesThe Truth Shall Make You Free

Established 1957

14 aPr 2013 | ISSUe NO: 4840 www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

SCAN HERE

Dear eDItOr,I write to warn resi-

dents of Caribbean Shores about a UDP crony and attorney known to many as the “Pigtail Boy” who

is pretending to have the community’s best interest at heart by encouraging ef-forts to extend a small park on Seashore Drive into a piece of crown land on the sea front all because someone couldn’t get the land for his private use.

This UDP lawyer had recently pur-chased another property near the once mangrove piece of crown land and may have wanted to secure the crown land in order to allow him to expand plans for a multimillion dollar mansion he alleged-ly planned to build for his wife. I have been made to understand that when he learned that a resident of Caribbean shores, a first time land owner who is not rich, had already applied to lease the same parcel of crown land, he became upset and went complaining to Belmo-pan but was rejected out of hand.

The Pigtail Boy allegedly began, in what could only be described as rank hy-pocrisy, to lobby to make the land a part of the park that is beside it. He prepared a caution that was filed on the same par-cel of land, in an attempt to block the other person from acquiring the land.

These UDPs are a dishonest and greedy bunch. Someone cleared down the mangroves that were on the proper-ty without a permit and threw a load of sand that made the land into what could only described as muck in an attempt to make it a part of the park. Well things came to a head last week when the orig-inal resident of Caribbean shores who had applied for the land applied to re-move the caution that had been placed on it.

The UDP attorney is the same lit-tle fellow who the UDP has placed on several boards so he could collect perks, typical of a UDP crony. He is the son of the pigtail man and brother to the same one who was part of that KHMH stink, remember?

Beware of this man.Signed,Concerned resident

Dear eDItOr,On Wednesday

November 27th, three cruise ships entered our waters outside of

Belize City. On a regular scheduled visit these ships normally anchor about 3.5 nautical miles from Be-lize and tender boats transport the waiting visitors to the Fort Point Tourist Village where service pro-viders in the industry await to pro-vide anything from hair braiding, arts and crafts, local food dishes and of course, tours around the city and sometimes as far as Altun Ha or Lamanai. On Wednesday this did not happen as scheduled; heavy winds and waves caused two of the ships to turn around and leave the shores of Belize cut-ting short the long awaited visit to Belize for those waiting passen-gers on those ships. This was an estimated loss of $600,000 (BD) to Belize as per industry experts’ calculations.

It is known in the industry that cruise ship owners have been saying for some time that they will stop coming to Belize if their

Dear eDItOr,Further to my first

letter regarding Ladyville/Lords Bank becoming a town, with your kind per-mission, I wish to discuss

the issue of revenues. Conceptually, the revenue streams

for the town of Ladyville/Lords Bank would be as listed in the table below. The revenues raised by the Town would be used to meet recurrent expendi-tures such as salaries, utilities, street cleaning, garbage collection and traffic management. Notably those business-es whose employee base is made up of seventy percent (70%) or more of Ladyville/Lords Bank residents would be exempt from paying trade licenses. The benefits of encouraging businesses to come to Ladyville/Lords Bank would therefore be job creation and domestic spending.

A very important feature of the rev-enue structure of the new town would be its property tax regime which would have two distinct components: a base rate and an infrastructure rate.

The base rate would be payable on a square yard basis at the rate of $0.50 per square yard no matter where the land is located or what it is used for. It is my view that the current system of

charging according to the “market value” of property is arbitrary and such practice effectively punishes residents for invest-ing in the upliftment of their community.

The base rate, to be used to meet recurrent expenditures, will be fixed for a period of ten years after which the Coun-cil may review with the approval of the residents.

Municipal infrastructure would be funded by a direct tax (the infrastructure rate) which will also be assessed on a per square yard basis. To be able to levy the infrastructure rate of the property tax, the Council would have to first develop a work plan for each financial year. The work plan would set out the works to be done and the related costs on a per square yard basis. This would then be put to a vote for approval by residents. If the plan is ap-proved residents pay their “infrastructure rate” and the works are carried out in ac-cordance with the plan. If the residents reject the work plan they will have to con-tinue to live with crumbling infrastructure. But that would have been their choice!

The work plan for the first year, by way of example, could include the pav-ing of Perez Road in Ladyville proper; the paving of Cuello Avenue in the BDF housing Site Area; the paving of Edison Parks Street in Lords Bank proper and the paving of the entrance road to Los Lagos. Initial estimates show that these works would cost about $2.98 million. This translates into $0.90 per square yard (assuming 3,333,333 square yards of taxable property in the new town, i.e. 4,000 house lots each 100’ x 75’). The next financial year would see another set of streets paved and so would the third year and the fourth year and so on until all the streets are fixed. The important thing is that the residents will be able to adjust the pace of the infrastructure work.

What I have set out in this letter is by no means a perfect solution but it is a start. I dare say that with sound planning, hard work and a serious commitment by residents, every road in Ladyville/Lords Bank can be paved within 10-12 years.

SignedMajor Lloyd Jones (Ret’d)[email protected]

Revenue Source Quantity Unit Cost Subtotal Drivers LicenseVehicle License

3,0003,000

$60$175

$180,000$525,000

Instead of residents licensing in Belize City or with the Transport Department this money would go to the upkeep of the infrastructure of the Town

Liquor License 50 $200 $10,000 We would need to examine liquor sale in grocery stores

Subvention 1 $2,000,000 $2,000,000 Central government would be asked to support the new town with a higher than normal sub-vention until its revenue streams stabilize. $2 million p.a. for the first three years, $1 million p.a. year 4 -8 and $.5 million p.a. thereafter.

Property Tax 3,333,333 $0.50 $1,666,667 Flat rate per square yard no matter location or use

Total Recurrent Revenues $4,381,667

THE BELIZE TIMES8 DEC 2013 3 03

Francis Fonseca

WOMAN HATERS

Fort George ConventionSaid Musa

Honourable

Undisputed Fort George champ, Rt. Hon. Said Musa

Deputy Leader Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia

PUP & Fort George Chairman, Henry C. Usher

The electrifying Dickie Bradley

Eastern Caucus Chairman, Dr. Francis Smith bramming

with Shirley

Fort George supporters turned out in large numbers at the St. Mary’s Hally to recommit their support for Rt. Hon. Said Musa

The Grandmaster

PUP Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca, Rt. Hon Said Musa & Cordel Hyde are ready to bring down the UDP Government


Officer Down!

04

PUP at 60% of threshold

UDP Political Officers/Caretakers

on the

By Francis w. FonsecaThe National Assembly

is made up of 31 Area Rep-resentatives each elected by voters in their respective constituencies. In the 2012 General elections voters elected 17 UDP Area Repre-sentatives and 14 PUP Area Representatives.

In the areas that were not won by their Party both political parties have politi-cal officers or “caretakers” as the UDP calls them, who have responsibility for lead-ing the efforts of the Party in that particular area.

It is expected that the

UDP caretakers will have a direct line of communica-tion to the Prime Minister and his Ministers and will therefore be in a position to assist residents of their area. That is politics in Be-lize and we can’t and won’t complain about that.

What we can and will complain very loudly about is the consistent practice by this UDP Prime Min-ister and his Ministers to completely ignore the duly elected PUP Representa-tives and the people they represent.

Virtually every Gov-

ernment decision taken in any of the 14 areas represented by the PUP and in the three munic-ipalities (Orange Walk, Punta Gorda, Dangriga) governed by the PUP is done, not in consulta-tion with the duly elect-ed PUP representative, but with a UDP caretak-er. Further to this, PM Dean Barrow, as Minis-ter of Finance, insists on advancing Government Funds to these UDP caretakers-officers of his political party.

The UDP Christmas Cheer Program 2013 is the latest ex-ample of this practice.

UDP area representatives are getting assistance at a val-ue of $90,000 per constituency for a total of $1,530,000.

PUP representatives are getting $25,000 for a total of $350,000.

And yes, 14 UDP Political Officers (caretakers) are get-ting $25,000 each for a total of $350,000.

First of all, there should be no difference between what the UDP and PUP representa-tives are receiving. The people the PUP represent have needs too.

But how does Mr. Bar-row justify giving Government funds to his political party offi-cers?

This is an ongoing practice that must stop.

There are no scrooges in the PUP. Christmas cheer is good but it must be limited to duly elected representatives of the people and it must be equitable.

THE BELIZE TIMES8 DEC 2013 5

Game Over

05

EDITORIAL

It is now clear to all that Dean Barrow is heartless, cold, chancey and pow-er-hungry Prime Minister. The PUP has been preaching the danger that is Barrow since 2007, but many perceived our warnings as mere political propa-

ganda.Fast-forward now to present day Belize and

well, let’s just say that Barrow’s wicked ways have even surpassed the PUP’s expectations.

Like a typical dictator, Barrow employs ruth-less strategies to achieve his end game: holding onto power, whatever the cost. From the mo-ment he opens his eyes each morning, Dean Barrow is scheming. He has no time to govern, no time to stimulate the economy, no time to care about creating jobs for our people when the collapse of his government is staring him in the face all day long.

Dean Barrow was the first to tell us that there was a major visa hustle in the Ministry of Immi-gration. But now that the proverbial doo-doo has hit the fan, Dean is the chief defender of these very same visa hustlers.

People may be genuinely confused by Bar-row’s flip-flopping on the matter of immigra-tion. However, the reason for Barrow’s most recent statement that “No one is Hustling” is very simple: It is because “Everyone is Hus-tling!”

Barrow can’t attack Castro yet defend Can-delaria. He can’t attack Penner but let Pablo, John and Erwin off the hook. So instead, he defends them all. All of them, who for some strange reason (not money according to Bar-row), have issued letters of recommendation for Chinese nationals that they have never met.

What at first seemed like a couple rotten

eggs is now a whole bucket-load of corrupt, self-serving politicians.

And who is Barrow to go against his entire Cabinet when he himself has been giving out legal contracts to his daughter, ex-wife and brother worth tens of millions of dollars? How could he condemn corruption when he handpicked his criminal son to be the musical ambassador?

Barrow is now caught between a rock and a hard place. His latest remark is that he wants to see 1000 letters of recommendation in order for him to be convinced that there is a visa hustle.

The truth is Barrow’s game is over. But, like the good wiggle waggle that he is, Barrow will continue to preach from the pulpit with his big words, promise millions and millions, prevent a real investigation into the immigration hustle and attack media personnel and threaten their demise.

All he’s really doing is buying time for the inevitable.

But while Barrow continues to quench his thirst for power, our nation’s economy will con-tinue to plummet; our precious natural resourc-es will continue to be exploited; our children will continue to go to school without a meal each day; the rights of our people will continue to be trampled; the police will continue to slay our youths; our health system will continue to fail us and our newborns; and yes, our elected representatives will continue to hustle, hustle, hustle.

The PUP was the first to predict that Dean Barrow was dangerous for Belize. Dean Barrow was the first to predict that his government would fall because of corruption in immigra-tion. It is time for us to fulfill his prophecy.


Continued on page 8

06

Barrow ThreaTens CañerosNO CROP, NO SUgAR

ROAdS, SAyS PMBelize City, December 3, 2013

The master of double standards Prime Minister Dean Barrow has spit in the faces of cane farmers with his threat that the UDP Government will not budge to repair any sugar road in the Orange Walk or Corozal Districts unless the cane farmers give in to the demands of the foreign owners of Belize Sugar In-dustries.

Before media camer-as, Barrow claims to sup-port the cane farmers, but behind closed doors his Government is wrapped up in sugarcoated bed sheets with American Sugar Refin-ing Inc., BSI’s owners. The PM’s position that no sug-ar road will be fixed unless cane farmers start deliver-ing cane is a callous tactic designed in concert with the Yankee Company.

Barrow’s ultimatum is not in the best interest of cane farmers. The sugar roads have been neglected for many months and the heavy rains have made a really bad situation much worse. The fact is that the roads are in dire need of attention, and it is the Gov-ernment’s responsibility to carry out repairs as a matter of priority.

While Barrow admit-ted “it’s my responsibility to fix all the roads in the country”, he claimed that the sugar roads were not a priority unless the cane farmers committed to start-ing crop by delivering cane. This position, clearly, is in the interest of ASR who has tried everything possi-ble to distract and dissuade cane farmers from their strong lobby for payment for bagasse.

The claim for a stake in the revenue generated by BSI through the use of ba-gasse to produce electricity has brought the sugar in-dustry to a virtual standstill. While the cane farmers have proposed a payment formula of $10 per ton of bagasse extracted by the factory, BSI has rejected the suggestion, stating that the cane farmers have no such claim to make.

The cane farmers say that under their agreement

with BSI, payment must be negotiated for any byprod-uct of sugar cane; however, BSI argues that bagasse is waste material and is not a byproduct. Moreover, BSI claims that the cogenera-tion plant was an invest-ment made and risk taken by them entirely.

Both the cane farmers, through the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association, and BSI, through ASR’s Vice President Ricardo Lima, have publicly said that they will not change their positions, even if it means delaying or frustrat-ing the 2013-2014 sugar crop season.

The preliminary start date, December 1st, came and went with none of the parties softening their posi-tions. BSI has warned that if December 15th passes and the season does not start the repercussions will be costly to the industry.

In the face of this cri-sis, the Government led by Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega (Minister of Agriculture and an Orange Walk Representative) and his Deputy Hugo Patt (for-mer head of the Sugar In-dustry Control Board) was paralysed and almost non-chalant about the situation until Barrow resumed as PM after undergoing sur-gery for his ailing back.

It seemed that the Prime Minister followed a game plan: tell the cane farmers you support them but stab them in their backs still!

rePeat OF 2009 rIOt?

The question in the minds of Belizeans is whether the present im-passe will lead to a repeat of the civil disturbances of February 2009, when cane farmers led a series of pro-tests and even a riot which ended with cane farmer Atanascio Guttierez being shot in the head by state security.

Barrow would sure-ly recall that he is the one who threatened cane farm-ers and then deployed the security forces to, as he had put it, “do what they have to do”.

Then, cane farmers were protesting the in-

stallation and use of a quality testing machine known as a core sam-pler. BSI refused to heed the call, so cane farmers protested by blocking the roads used to deliver sugar cane. When Prime Minister Barrow learnt of the Another image showing the cane

farmers 2009 protest


ARTHUR SALDIVARTriumphs in BELIZE RURAL NORTH

Party Chairman Henry C. Usher swears in Arthur Saldivar as the PUP Belize Rural North Standard Bearer

Hundreds of supporters rejoice the PUP’s upcoming victory in Corozal North

Arthur and supporters rejoice following victory

Arthur & Alburn show unity


PUP

– Freetown’s Mr. Quitar?

$350,000 for illegal “caretakers”

For Sale By Order of the

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Com-panies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage dated the 19th June, 2006 made between Elvis Cabral (Borrower) of the one part and The Small Farmers and Business Bank Limited of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 22 of 2006 at Folios 427 to 448, which said Mortgage was assigned to Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. by a Deed of Assignment of Mortgage made the 30th day of May, 2008, Elvis Cabral of Independence Village, Stann Creek District, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 19 of 2008 at Folios 1401 - 1418, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto. All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotia-bank (Belize) Ltd.

SCHEDULE

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land situated in Independence Village, Stann Creek District, being Lot No. 151 containing 1100.5387 Square Metres bounded described as shown on Plan No. 328 of 2006 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DateD this 15th day of November, 2013. MUSa & BaLDeraMOS

91 North Front StreetBelize City

attorney-at-Law for Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

For SaleBy Order of the

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Compa-nies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 22nd day of June, 2010 ALBERTO SHAL of Big Falls Village, Toledo District, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 19 of 2010 at Folios 1381 - 1448, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto.

All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

SCHEDULE

ALL THAT piece and parcel of land being Lot No. 24 (1302.51 SM or 1557.81 SY) situate in the Big Falls Village, Toledo District, Belize and bounded described as shown on Plan No. 524 of 2000 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DateD this 15th day of November, 2013.MUSa & BaLDeraMOS


attorney-at-Law for Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

Barrow ThreaTens CañerosNO CROP, NO SUgAR ROAdS, SAyS PM

confrontation he chose to side with BSI and threatened cane farmers.

a DIFFereNt BarrOw?There is little difference in the Dean

Barrow handling the present situation. Having learnt from 2009, Barrow will sim-ply be wilier in his dealing with the situa-tion, but the bottom line is that he cannot be trusted. He has already shown us why.

Firstly, if the Government doesn’t start fixing the sugar roads early, even if BSI or the cane farmers change their po-sitions, the crop will be delayed because of the poor access to cane fields. Mean-while, the bad roads are already affect-ing everyone else, including students, workers and other farmers who must transport their produce.

Continued from page 6 Secondly, Barrow’s claims that the repairing of sugar roads will depend on the prioritization of Government’s limited money is hogwash. Under the European Union’s Accompanying Mea-sures for Sugar, millions of dollars are allocated annually for sugar road reha-bilitation. The Barrow Administration has not done any work on sugar roads which means this money should be safe and untouched in an account out of the reach of the sticky fingered politicians.

Thirdly, as stated earlier, Barrow’s claim that he supports the cane farm-ers is inconsistent with his attempts to force cane farmers into commencing crop season in favor of ASR’s position by dangling sugar road repairs as a car-rot.

BARROw gIvES PENNER $90,000 AS ChRISTMAS ChEER

Belize City, December 4, 2013The UDP’s most disgraced politician,

Elvin Penner, will be getting $90,000 through a special Christmas Cheer pro-gramme set up by Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

Penner, who has been become a pub-lic pariah, and a supposed outcast of his own political party, continues as a UDP elected area representative in Cayo North East.

The Prime Minister plans to di-vert $1.53 million in public funds to give $90,000 to each of his UDP area repre-sentatives so they can give out political

sweets this Christmas. Penner is one of the 17 UDP Representatives who will be receiving this money, but there is no guar-antee that he will distribute it to the peo-ple of the area. The UDP Cayo North East committee has ostracized Penner and has said they support the PM’s decision to no longer consider Penner a UDP. Yet, he is still part of Barrow’s Christmas Cheer.

There is more to the UDP’s abuse of taxpayers’ money. $350,000 will also be diverted from GOB’s coffers and shared among 14 “caretakers” in the fourteen di-visions where there are elected PUP area representatives. These caretakers and the authority given to them by the UDP are totally illegal. Providing them with public funds to spend is also unconstitutional and another example of Barrow’s nose-thumb-ing to our laws.

This kind of wasteful spending should be very vexatious to teachers and pub-lic officers who have been demanding a small salary adjustment since 2008, but have been told “no money deh” every time by the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, every year the UDP finds money for their political gimmicks.


Continued from page 7

The Rt. Hon. Said MusaA Bridge to the New Revolution

ment of Guatemalan nationals unto our territory continues to be threats to our territorial in-tegrity, sovereignty, Belizean identity and survival as a nation state, but to explore and capi-talize on the opportunities that exist.

This will require a new form of diplomacy that focuses on the strengthening of relations with our traditional Caricom and other partners, but bal-anced with greater integration with Central America, particu-larly, Mexico.

Technology, harnessing the hidden potential of our people and resources, and access to new markets for trade and eco-nomic integration, is critical to this, and represents the only way for a prosperous Belize.

Sports and culture must also have new meaning within our education process and eco-nomic recovery, as they have the potential as income gen-erators, while forging national unity.

The Rt. Hon. Said Musa believes in the PUP, in the Hon. Francis Fonseca, but more im-portantly, he believes in Belize and the Belizean people. His optimism for the future of Be-lize and the PUP was a thread of the conversation.

The Rt. Hon. Said Musa is

integral to the New Revo-lution, that will build on the achievements and success-es of the peaceful, construc-tive Belizean revolution, will learn from the experiences of our former leaders, and be anchored in our philos-ophies of social justice and democratic nationalism, that will stand on the three pillars of governance, econ-omy and education, and that it is designed to achieve four goals:

• To protect and thepeople and nation state of Belize, for if there is no na-tion state, there is no us, and if there are no us, there is no Belize.

• To regain the con-fidence of the Belizean people in our party and our democratic processes;

• To eradicate pov-erty and bring about social progress; and

• To forge nationalunity and create the Belize that all of us can be proud to leave for our children.

Only so can the new revolution be meaningful and bring about true change and reform, so that all Beliz-eans, not a select few, can enjoy a high quality of life in a just and safe society.

By C. trench-Sandiford - Deputy Party Leader

Change is constant. If we are to survive as a party, a people and a nation, we must embrace change, we must adapt to change. This was perhaps the message that reso-nates with me from my conversa-tion with the Rt. Hon. Said Musa.

We discussed the many chal-lenges confronting Belize and the People’s United Party today, includ-ing but not limited to party unity, purpose and regeneration, the im-portance of loyalty, of staying true to our cause, and of restoring the confidence and trust of the Beliz-ean people in us, all of which inter-twines.

Discussions also revolved around the unprecedented pover-ty and deepening inequalities that characterize Belize today, the acute unemployment among our young people and women, the institution-alized corruption and mismanage-ment of public resources, our fail-ing education and health system, and the erosion of our fundamental Belizean and cultural rights and our sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Of course, the great achieve-ments and successes of the Said Musa led government of 1998-2008 was also on the table, as well as the lessons learned, and what is rele-vant to travel with us on the journey of calibrating the points and mile-stones of the New Revolution.

While this article will not drill down into these, for they are too numerous to mention at this time, some noteworthy ones are a cul-tural renaissance that transformed the way we perceived our unique identity, a political reform process that was far reaching in decentral-izing and sharing power with mu-nicipal and village governments at the community level and with social partners, enhancing the separation of powers of the three arms of gov-ernance, and the unprecedented expansion of the housing stock and the physical and social infrastruc-ture of the country, and the national health insurance and non-contribu-tory pension for our elderly.

There were many lessons learned, but primarily, that of con-sulting and reporting to the Belizean people, and keeping them more engaged in the decision making of government at all times, so that they are better informed of the why

and how, and expected results of decisions and how it impacts their lives, and also for govern-ment to benefit from their contributions.

And of the significance of the timeliness and sharpness of decisions when necessary to mit-igate the looming internal and external threats that can undermine and overshadow the many positive and achievements of the work of gov-ernment.

As to where we go from here, we started with governance, perhaps because of the central and critical role it plays in decision making. The Rt. Hon. Said Musa traced governance from pre to post independence, and the expectations of people today and the future.

People are not only expecting, but demand-ing, more from our leaders. They want greater accountability and transparency in public life, and civil society and social partners can play an important role in this process. In addition, equal representation of wom-en and young people is a must.

According to the Rt. Hon., as we mature as a nation and as a people, there is a new consciousness about the value of our environ-ment, and conservation will continue to be a central feature for us, as we unearth new natural resources and recognize the untapped and tre-mendous value of exist-ing ones.

He pointed out the need for a new mean-ing of development, one that is indigenous to needs and aspirations of the people of Belize, and how we go about shaping this definition, will enable us to set the parameters for the New Revolution, which ultimately determine its success.

This requires that the monumental ap-proach of the tangibles, big buildings and mas-sive infrastructure proj-ects, must be balanced with the intangibles of discipline, good work ethic and compassion for the poor and more vulnerable.

He reminds us that we cannot lose sight of the fact that globaliza-tion and the encroach-


by kELSEy Hemsley

VEGAS COME UP AGAIN!

Espats will join UDP ranks

RODWELL FERGUSONStandard Bearer - STANN CREEK WEST

New PUP Stann Creek West Committee sworn in

PUP Stann Creek West Standard Bearer Hon. Rodwell Ferguson sworn in

Party Leader Hon. Francis em-braced by PUP supporter at the

special convention


Costly Corporate Greed

Edmund Castro

Elvin Penner

Godwin Hulse

Notice is hereby given that WEN HUA LI is applying for a Restaurant Liquor License to be operated at “Canton Restaurant”, situ-ate at 63 New Road, Belize City under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that MARGARITA BLANCO is applying for a Beer Liquor License to be operated at “Blanco’s Mini Shop”, sit-uate at Yo Creek Village, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Li-censing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that GABRIEL GALLARDO is applying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Kali’s Cool Spot”, situate at San Estevan Village, Orange Walk District under the In-toxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that CRISTINA MOGUEL is ap-plying for a Convenience Store Liquor License to be operated at “D&J Store”, situate at #8 Stadium Street, Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Li-censing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that EZEkIEL LOPEZ is apply-ing for a Publican Special Liquor License to be op-erated at “La Nueva Nos-talgia”, situate at Sapodilla Street, Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Li-censing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that DANIEL WAkELIN is ap-plying for a Publican Spe-cial Liquor License to be operated at “Thirsty Pirate”, situate at #5 St. John Street, Belize City, Belize District under the Intoxicating Li-quor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

LIQUOR LICENSE NOTICES

ThE POLITICAL POLICEOrange walk town, December 5, 2013

The UDP has done their best to infiltrate and corrupt our Police De-partment. This is why Belizeans can-not get justice at the hands of our men and women in uniform who should be serving and protecting the people’s interest. Instead they serve and protect the interests of the UDP, like Elvin Penner who is yet to be properly investigated or arrested for his criminal wrongdoing.

We have already exposed for-mer Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries doing the bidding of the UDP. The BELIZE TIMES understands that Jeffries, who is an elected UDP Councillor in Hattieville, considered putting his name as a UDP candi-

date in Belize Rural Central. We have also seen another ex-Commissioner David Henderson campaigning for the UDP in Cayo, dressed in red and rubbing shoulders with the UDP hi-erarchy.

Last week, the word went out that another Police Officer serving in a high position announced his affilia-tion and loyalty to the UDP. Deputy Commissioner of Police “El Odio” Aragon Jr. wants to run for the UDP in Orange Walk East.

While Aragon has all right to join the UDP or any other party, what he does not have is the right to break our laws or the public service rules sim-ply because he believes he has the backing of the UDP Government.

Aragon, who was promoted to

Deputy Commissioner under some controversy earlier this year, is cam-paigning as a UDP even though he is an Officer of the Police Department. The BELIZE TIMES has not heard of Aragon’s official resignation, and therefore calls out his hypocrisy al-ready. This is against our laws and a serious infraction of public service rules. Is the Public Service Commis-sion asleep??

Aragon is either very lazy or so flagrantly confused that even in his campaign flyers his poster photos are of him in his Police uniform displaying his Deputy Commissioner rank.

Aragon has clearly gotten off on a bad start. Someone needs to disci-pline him before he continues to reck-lessly shoot himself on the foot.


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NEWSENTERTAINMENT

Latest Christmas CD from Mr. Joe and Dad-dy P of the Coolie Reb-els. It has a number of ORIGINAL Christmas songs produced by the best producer in Belize Osmond ‘Baby Paul’ Al-varez along with Orvin ‘Dr J’ Jones and Ernest ‘T-Bone’ Jones. Intro-ducing guest artist Del-onie and your favourite Lady P are also on this CD. Digital download available for $10.00 Bz.


advance to football nationals

BES girls & Ebenezer boys

Ports & Customs

14 SPORTS THE BELIZE TIMES 8 DEC2013

Gwen Liz girls

Belize City, November 24, 2013The defending national

champs, the Belize Elementary School girls, repeat as the Be-lize City primary schools foot-ball champs, while the Ebenezer School boys won the male cham-pionship at the M.C.C. Garden last Friday.

The BES girls out-gunned the Holy Redeemer girls 3-1 in a penalty shootout after regular time and overtime ended in nil-zip draw. BES’ goalie Keila Oyu-ela stopped 3 shots on goal as the Holy Redeemer girls tried to convert. Keila, Kristin Musa and Julianna Ramos converted for BES while only Kelsie Moss con-

verted. Both teams go on to the district finals to challenge the San Pedro girls and the Pancotto Nazarene girls from Sand Hill.

The Ebenezer School boys won the city championship 3-0 against the St Martin De Porres RC School boys. Tyreek “Pippin” Muschamp scored Ebenezer’s 1st goal. Dion Ca-cho scored a 2nd goal before the half, and Bernard Bailey scored a 3rd goal.

Both teams go on to the district finals to challenge the San Pedro RC School boys and the Guadalupe RC boys from Sandhill.

SMART Mundialito

Bombers, City Boys, hattieville & rising Stars are in

eNterS PLayOFFS

Belize City, November 30, 2013

Hattieville United, City Boys Jrs., the undefeated Brown Bombers and the La-dyville Rising Stars have all won through to the 2013 SMART Mundialito football playoffs, as all teams won in Week 9 of the competition at the MCC garden last Saturday.

Third World picked up their 4th win by default when the Belize Elementary girls and boys were a no show for their game.

Undefeated City Boys picked up their 6th win: 1-0 when Kenny Linarez scored the winning goal in the 2nd half.

The Rising Stars won 2-0 over the Survivors; with An-dres Velasquez scoring both goals, one in each half.

The Brown Bombers posted their 8th win 1-0 when Jovan Ramos scored the win-ning goal over the Ladyville Jaguars.

Hattieville United also picked up their 5th win by default when the Young Stars were a no show.

Belize City, December 3, 2013The Gwen Lizarraga High

School and Wesley College girls will clash in the central high school basketball competition championship finals.

The Gwen Liz girls entered the playoffs undefeated with 4 wins. They eliminated the No. 4 seed: the Ladyville Techni-cal High School girls: 29-28 on Monday to advance to the fi-nals.

The Wesley girls eliminated the No. 3 seed St Catherine’s Academy girls: 17-9 in Tuesday’s playoffs.

Gwen Liz girls take on Wesley

in basketball finals

Survivors’ Sanja Pitts controls

Lyndon Flowers vs Jovan Ramos

Camryn Lozano attacksSherwin Requena

shoots

kenny Linarez scored City Boys

1st goal

BES Girls

Ebenezer Boys

THE BELIZE TIMES8 DEC 2013 1515SPORTSTHE BELIZE TIMES8 DEC 2013

UB wins ATLIB national

volleyball champs

Paradise Freedom Fighters still leads Belikin Cup

National Championship regatta this weekend!!

ACC boys face SJC in basket-

ball finals

Belize City, December 3, 2013The ACC boys are into the finals

after a 53-28 blowout of the Gwen Liz boys in Tuesday’s semifinals. Douglas Valley had led the ACC boys to their 5th win: 65-52 against the Gwen Lizarraga High School boys on Monday

ACC will face SJC in the finals games. The SJC boys advanced to the finals by a 62-60 win over the Sadie Vernon Technical High School boys in Tuesday’s semifinals.

SJC had entered the playoffs with 5 wins after eliminating No. 4 seed the Gwen Lizarraga High School boys 67-55 last Friday. Cor-dell Gonzalez and Dudley Erskine each scored 16 pts for SJC; while Mark Thompson led Gwen Liz with 13 pts.

Belize City, October 30, 2013

The University of Belize male and female teams won the 2013 Association of Tertiary Level Institutions of Belize AT-LIB national volleyball champi-onships at Bird’s Isle in Belize City on Friday, November 29.

In the female champion-ship finals, the UB girls dom-inated the southern regional sub-champions, Ecumenical Junior College, 25-23, 25-22.

The UB girls had qualified to the finals by eliminating the North-ern regional sub-champions, the Corozal Junior College girls: 25-19, 25-19.

In the male championship final, the UB men dominated the south-ern regional sub-champions, the Ecumenical Junior College men: 25-18 and 25-21. The UB men had qualified to the finals by eliminating the Northern regional sub-champs, the Belize Adventist Junior College men: 25-14, and 25-15.

UB girls

UB men

Belize City, December 1, 2013All games of Week 5 of the Be-

likin Cup football tournament end-ed in 1-1 draws, so all teams main-tained their ranking in the Premier League of Belize.

On Sunday, December 1, Devauhgn “Beckham” Zuniga equalized for the FC Belize in the 15th minute after Norman “Bat” Pipersburgh had scored first for Verdes in the 8th minute. FC Be-lize needed the win, but try as they might, they just could not get that 2nd goal.

At the Toledo Union Field in Pun-ta Gorda, the defending champs, Police United were still looking for their first win, but the No. 1 team

Paradise Freedom Fight-ers shut them down un-til the 85th minute when Alex Peters scored for his home squad. Luckily for the Police, Bernard Linarez equalized in the 86th minute and so the game ended.

The Belize Defence Force had to come from behind to avert a loss after Carlos Vasquez scored first for San Ig-nacio United in the 29th minute at the Norman Broaster Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The BDF did not equalize

until Khalil Velasquez scored in the 89th min-ute.

The competition continues with Verdes visiting the Bandits at the Isidoro Beaton Sta-

dium on Saturday night, San Ignacio United will host the Police Unit-ed on Sunday, and the BDF visit the Paradise Freedom Fighters.

Belize City. 4th December 2013The general public and sailing

enthusiasts are invited to witness the National Championship and Bird’s Isle Regatta scheduled for the weekend of 14th and 15th De-cember. Thirty six sailors will com-pete for the “Denys Bradley Cup” and the “Bird’s Isle First Male and First Female” trophies and medals.

Optimist sailors, boys and girls all under the age of 15 from the Belize Sailing Association (BzSA) clubs from Belize City, Caye Caulk-er, Corozal Bay, Placencia and San Pedro Ambergris will sail a series

of 6 races; four on Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday morning.

The 1927 sterling silver “Denys Bradley Trophy” will change hands for the third time in BzSA history. In 2011 Alex-ander Rhaburn of San Pedro Sailing Club (SPSC) won the first national championship. This regatta was sailed in a strong nor’wester in San Pedro. In 2012 the championship was again sailed in san Pedro and was won by Kevin Velasquez also of SPSC.

FC Bze Travis EileyGilroy Bredda Thurton


Illegal Guatemalans caught panning for gold inside the Chiquibul forest


HABET AND HABET ad

For SaleBy Order of the

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 4th day of April, 2002 GARY AYUSO of Lot No. 39A Mile 8 Western Highway, Belize District, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded in Deeds Book Vol. 17 of 2001 at Folios 765- 818; and Deed of Assignment and Transfer of Mortgage made the 22nd June, 2009, between Social Security Board, of the first part, Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. of the second part and GARY AYUSO of the third recorded in Deeds Book Volume 14 of 2009 at folios 1317 - 1340; and the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto. All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

SCHEDULE

ALL THAT piece and parcel of land being Lot No. 39A situate on the southern side of the Western Highway at Mile 8, Belize District, Belize and bounded as follows: On the North for 30.996 metres by Lot No. 37B; On the South for 30.996 metres by Lot Nos. 39B and 39C; On the East for 15.008 metres by a street; and On the West for 15.008 metres by Lot No. 39 containing 465.188 square metres of Land as shown Plan No. 2042 at the office of the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DateD this 5th day of December, 2013. MUSa & BaLDeraMOS


attorney-at-Lawfor Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

Application for a Moneylender’s

CertificateI, Adan Cal, hereby give notice that

I have applied to the Magistrates’ Court sitting at Belmopan on the 13th day of De-cember, 2013, at 9:00 AM for a Certifi-cate to be granted to me under the Mon-eylenders Act, Chapter 260 to authorize me to carry on business as a Moneylender in the name of Capital Jewel Quick Loan at Venus Store Mall, Market Square, City of Belmopan.

Adan M. Cal

UdP dOdgES gLOBAL TRANSPARENCy wATChdOg

Belize City, December 4, 2013For the 5th year in a row, the Barrow

Administration has snubbed the global transparency watchdog, Transparency International (TI), in their request for in-formation about the UDP Government’s governance practices.

On an annual basis TI conducts a corruption assessment of all countries around the globe. Since 2008, when the UDP took office Transparency Inter-national has not included Belize on the list of countries placed under scrutiny. TI explains that they are unable to access the appropriate information about the Government of Belize.

Well, with the daily, mounting evi-dence of hustling and stealing by UDP Ministers, it is no surprise that the Barrow Administration has chosen to dodge the watchdog group once more.

The UDP, which came into office under the promise of transparency, ac-countability and good governance, are terribly afraid of scrutiny by the interna-tional community, afraid that their total falsehood will be exposed for all to see.

what is the UDP hiding?Imagine if Transparency Interna-

tional would get their hands on the ev-idence that Elvin Penner helped to pro-vide Belizean nationality and a passport to an international fugitive who was in a prison across the world. Imagine if they learnt of the allegations of visa hustling

against not one or two, but seven UDP Min-isters. Imagine they learnt of the Rose-wood hustling, where the illegal exporter was sold the prized lumber at less than its market value. Imagine they learnt of the hus-tling with pharmaceuti-cals at the Ministry of Health.

What if Transpar-ency International learnt of the under the table payoffs at the So-cial Investment Fund? What if they knew of the “hotbed of corrup-tion”, as the Prime Min-

ister called it, at the Ministry of Lands, where the Minister of Lands gives land to his family because they are not nor-mal Belizeans.

And it’s not like the Prime Minister’s hands are clean. If the watchdog group opens the books on Dean Barrow they would find his son, the U.S. convict, serving as the music ambassador. His ex-wife as a high paid Ambassador. His brother as a private lawyer hired by his Government. His son serving on the Ex-ecutive Board of a Government owned company. His nephew, a computer spe-cialist, enjoying a controversial contract to explore for oil.

This is why the UDP dodges Trans-parency International and hides the truth from the world.

why it still mattersThe reports put out by Transparency

International serve as a tool for many in-vestors, who would rather invest their monies in real democracies.

It matters for Belize to at least ap-pear in the Index. The data is closely monitored by investors, economists, and civil society campaigners. It is an indicator of the strength of a country’s democracy and rule of law.

Most importantly, it tells the world how corrupt free or not a nation is per-ceived to be. This could explain the cen-tral reason why the UDP Government fears Transparency International.


Happy Holidays!

Belize dragged down murky world of scandal

and corruption


Hon. Dolores Balderamos

Garcia concerned

about Police shootings

The Economist Magazine highlights Belize visa scandal

Continued on page 29

OUT

Stake Bank awaits final

approvalpassengers have to disembark from those huge ships to small waiting ten-der boats. As large as these hundred passenger tender boats may be, when viewed from these large ships (some as large as several football fields) they appear to unsuspecting passengers as small unstable carriers, and for this reason many passengers are reluctant to leave the ships. Cruise ships have given Belize up to 2015 to correct this situation or they will discontinue Be-lize as a destination.

The proposed Stake Bank Proj-ect facility will be the solution to this problem since the berth at Stake Bank will be capable of servicing Voyagers, the size of ships currently coming to Belize. However the Project still ap-pears stalled and waiting final approv-al by Cabinet to become operational. The project which is over seven years old was originally approved in 2007, as per reliable sources, has been te-diously going through the process of re-gaining approval once again to be-come operational. All indications are that approval is forthcoming; howev-er, the drawn out process has been

taxing to the developer, Michael Feinstein, and his management team which has complied with all request and only awaiting final approval to commence with the project. One can only imagine Mr. Feinstein’s frustrations after the substantive investments in time, effort and finances.

A new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was done and approved and the required Envi-ronmental Compliance Plan (ECP) has been signed by Environmental Officer, Martin Alegria and ready to go. Yet surprisingly, the go ahead is still delayed.

This is a classic case of the ole saying: grass de grow but the horse de starve. All the necessary requirements have been met to launch this monumental project, yet it has remained stalled.

The Stake Bank Project will bring over $100 million USD into the economy which will be a tre-mendous infusion of capital invest-ment alone, especially into Belize City. It will provide thousands of needed jobs in the construction phase of the project, especially for youth, many who will be looking for employment after the comple-tion of the dismantling of the Civic Center.

Can anyone explain why this project is taking so long to be launched when it will serve such a great need? Mr. Feinstein, in the recent press conference I saw, stated he was ready to begin “to-morrow”!

Sincerely, David FelixTour Operator

Belize City, November 26, 2013The Barrow Administration has

succeeded in dragging down Belize’s reputation as a once safe and law abiding haven to one where scandal and corruption is the norm.

The immigration scandal in which UDP politicians Elvin Penner and Ed-mund Castro have been implicated, has caught the attention of several in-ternational organisations and watch-dog groups. One such organization is the widely-read and highly-esteemed The Economist Magazine which fea-tured Belize’s visa scandal in an arti-cle published in its November 23rd 2013 issue.

The article entitled “Passports to ignominy: the murky world of the Bouterses” focused on Dino Bouterse, the son of Suriname’s president, who faces trial for pass-port fraud and aiding terrorists, but

segues into Belize’s current scandal involving former UDP Minister Pen-ner and present Minister Castro.

“Belize has buzzed with re-ports of passport and visa fraud”, noted the article. It then reported on Penner’s direct involvement in the issuance of a fraudulent passport to South Korean fugitive, Kim Won-Hong, who at the time of obtaining the Belize nationality certificate and passport was sitting in a jail cell in Tai-wan, and the heap of allegations of visa fraud against Castro.

“If both lose their parliamen-tary seats in possible recall votes, the government would lose its ma-jority,” added the article.

The article, read my millions of persons around the world, exposes how low the Barrow Administration has pulled Belize. And this is because the article made no mention of the

September 2012 incident when Raf-fic Allaboun, a U.S. terror suspect, obtained a Belize nationality in a de-ceased person’s name, social security card, driver’s license and passport in just 72 hours. The true story of this il-legal and criminal facilitation is yet to be fully investigated, and considering the involvement of UDP politicians in similar r recent incidents, it ought to be.

Neither did the article venture into the many known reports of strange visitors including Somalians, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Nigerians and Middle East nationals who arrive at the Belize airport at odd hours of the night with suspicious immigration documents.

Thanks to the UDP Belize’s name is now matched with visa hustling, passport scandal, terrorist facilitation and widespread corruption.

November 29, 2013As Area Representative for

Belize Rural Central, which in-cludes the sprawling Suburban/Rural community of Ladyville, I register my extreme concern about the recent Police shooting which resulted in the death of Tra-vis McKay.

This is the second shooting this year that has ended in the death of a young Ladyville res-ident at the hands of the Police. I cannot, in my capacity of repre-senting the Ladyville Community, stand by and say nothing. In both instances there are many ques-tions regarding the shootings, and while I cannot make defini-tive pronouncements about the exact facts of the cases, I feel compelled to add my voice to the cries of concern from Ladyville residents about the actions of the Police.


Reid

Visa Hustle Scandal Widens

then there are the cane farmers who were warned that unless they bring in a crop, there would be no fixing of the roads up north. Notwithstanding of

course, that money has already been se-cured from the eU for just that purpose. If that was meant to frighten the cane farmers, it did not work since the cañeros remain recalcitrant.

By G. Michael reid“If I hear you intervene 10

times and I hear you intervene 20 times – what I am to think? Except that you’re involved in a hustle. If you hang out with Ali Baba you must be one of the 40 thieves.” ~ PM Barrow at a press confer-ence on October 10th, 2013

“Man if he signed 200 visa recommendations, if he signed 1,000, I can do nothing. I can say to him bwoy, I have my own view and you must realize that out there people won’t think that you’re signing 100 visas or 75 visa applications just like that.” - PM Barrow at a press conference No-vember 26th, 2013

It took the Prime Minister just a little over a month to go from “For GOD’s sake, stop it” before you bring down the government, to, carry on with your hustle “bwoy” because I am hamstrung. The obvious reason that the Prime Minister’s hands are tied is that his majority is slim and having already lost one member of his team, he simply cannot afford to lose another. Despite overwhelm-ing evidence of wrongdoing, the best that Mr. Barrow can do is to defend his band and try to ward off the media.

Channel Five has been bring-ing pressure to bear and reporter Mike Rudon has been doing some excellent investigative reporting. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the nation and to the Prime Minister proving that the hustle at the Immigration Depart-ment is widespread and of Olym-pic-size proportion. In his press conference in October, the Prime Minister opined that, “if there is one thing that can and would bring down this government it is hustling in Immigration. I have heard that ministers are procuring visas for people. I’ve said pretty much in every second Cabinet if

you are doing so (I have no proof) for God sakes stop it! Stop it! That is what would cause the govern-ment to fall.” Okay, the pudding has been eaten and the taste has given proof. The summer was delightful but the fall is at hand.

It seemed for a minute that the Barrow government would have been able to withstand the Elvin Penner fiasco. We still have not been informed of how bad it was and how much was the additional evidence found on Penner but af-ter three months, the country was growing weary of asking. It would have been most unfortunate but the issue actually seemed ready to

die a natural death when up jumped the devil!

Channel Five began procuring proof and it is now certain that Pen-ner and Castro were not alone in the special UDP visa program. Of course, the Prime Minister did say “ministers” but the names are just now coming forth. Castro, Con-

treras and yes, John Saldivar are all guilty as sin. Unfortunately it does not stop there for even the “beyond reproach” sister of Minister Saldivar has been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. This is one holy mess and all the weaseling and hem hawing by the Prime Minster will not be able to blow this one away.

The Prime Minister’s response to all this has been to issue what is in ef-fect is a “cease and desist” order on Channel Five. According to Mr. Bar-row, “we’re not allowed to because if we were I would have banned all like Channel 5”. Why would Mr. Bar-row ban Channel Five from his press conference? Is it because they are digging for and finding the truth? Dean Barrow forgets how vicious he was when in opposition; calling even for “sustained civil disobedience”. I guess this is a classic case of “duh suh nuh like duh suh”.

During the PUP term of office, Channel Seven was unrelenting and merciless to then Prime Minister Said Musa; even disrespectful at times. Not once was Jules Vasquez

threatened or insulted. Never was he blacklisted or banned from any meet-ing or conference where members of the media were invited. Never did Said Musa or any of his ministers ever run from the media or thumb nose at the Belizean public. So, put that in your PUDP pipe and smoke it.

Of course, there were other mat-

ters discussed at the Prime Min-ister’s first “post-back surgery” press conference. There was the announcement that loads of mon-ey would be spent on stuff that the government should be doing any-way. Then there are the cane farm-ers who were warned that unless they bring in a crop, there would be no fixing of the roads up north. Not-withstanding of course, that money has already been secured from the EU for just that purpose. If that was meant to frighten the cane farmers, it did not work since the cañeros remain recalcitrant. The Prime Min-ister did admit that the farmers have good grounds to stand on but stopped short of promising to help them in their fight. If the crop is not delivered by December 15th, there will no doubt be hell to pay.

This whole visa and passport scandal has exposed a serious sit-uation in Belize. Even with a loud whistle blown and damning evi-dence produced, Belizeans are car-rying on as if this is the normal way that government should be handling

our business and stewarding our money. We are setting a very dangerous precedent here. Fortunately, we know that the PUP does not con-duct business in the type of vicious and heavy-hand-ed way that the UDP does. Still, politicians must know that if they are involved in the type of criminal activity that these scoundrels have been caught in, that there are consequences to pay. The next Prime Minister

should commit to the people of Be-lize that he will never defend any of his ministers in the way that Dean Barrow is defending his; in particular in the face of such blatant wrong. Matthew 5:30 advises: “If your right hand offends you, cut it off…” These hands have been most offensive and it is time to cut them off!


OW Town Council & Private Sector

join hands

LIQUOR LICENSE NOTICES

Notice is hereby given that CATHERINE WHITING is ap-plying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Rum Shack”, situate at La-dyville, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Or-dinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that CAR-MELO CASTILLO is applying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Cas-tillo’s Cool Place”, situate at San Estevan Village, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Re-vised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that ALMA ALCOSER is applying for a Spirituous Liquor License to be operated at “Orange Plaza”, situate at Tangerine Street, Or-ange Walk Town, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Re-vised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that ROGER LIBERTy is applying for a Spirituous Liquor Li-cense to be operated at “Sug-arland Lounge”, situate at Belize Corozal Road, Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District un-der the Intoxicating Liquor Li-censing Ordinance Revised Edi-tion 1980.

Notice is hereby given that RU-ARk REyES is applying for a Publican and Special Liquor License to be operated at “The Video Karaoke Lounge”, situate at #33 San Francisco Street, Or-ange Walk Town, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Re-vised Edition 1980.

Orange walk town, November 21, 2013A few residents and businesspersons from Guadalupe Street,

Orange Walk Town, held a meeting with Mayor Kevin Bernard to discuss plans for a Guadalupe Street Improvement Project.

The Mayor has pledged his full support. A key meeting will be held next Thursday November 28 with all residents of Gua-dalupe Street to finalize plans and to move the project forward. Guadalupe Street will set the stage for the rest of the town, and the country.

Caption: In photo from L to R: Hugo Mendoza (CGI), Osma-ny Salas (Nahil Mayab/De’Bur-gess), Leonardo Cano and Alfredo Ortega (BSCFA), and Abe Rempel (RBs Multiser-vice)


The Guadalupe Street Improvement Project

Home Economics

By richard harrisonThe Guadalupe Street

Improvement Project, in Or-ange Walk....is a very noble citizen-driven project, aimed at improving the conditions of one particular street...per-haps as a frustrated response to very poor maintenance of streets in Orange Walk, and Belice in general.

My only criticism comes from comparison with school feeding programs.

Many kids who go hungry to school have parents who abuse alcohol, cigarettes, boledo and make other poor choices in sourcing and allo-cating their scarce resourc-es...so society sets up feed-ing programs in schools...free bus transport...then school bags...then school books and supplies....next will be shoes and uniforms... and maybe even a cash stipend. Those parents have more to spend on alcohol, cigarettes, boledo and other poor choices.

The parents who make sacrifice and good choices in allocating resources for their children’s education do not gain from these charities....in fact, they lose more...be-cause they are the ones who ultimately pay for them.

So there is reward for de-linquency and poor choices...and punishment for sacrifice and good choices. A system of reward and punishment that pushes society towards more delinquency and poor choices....

When private citizens start building their own pub-lic infrastructure....I fear that the consequence will be the same. Government, who col-lects taxes to fulfill this re-sponsibility, will now have more money to allocate to the poor choices they have been making while not build-ing and maintaining our in-frastructure. Turkey and ham come to mind at this time?

I am not against giving ba-sic nutritional supplement in schools...like a glass of soy/dairy milk or seaweed drink per day....or a vitamin-packed cookie...something that can be given to ALL students, without fear or favor....but I

do not think that feeding “needy” kids an entire meal for the long term is doing anything good for families and children in “need”...it’s just setting up more dependency...and encouraging those delin-quent parents who have been making poor choices.

Feeding programs are stepping in to take re-sponsibility from parents to feed their children.....private sector building roads is taking responsibil-ity from the government to provide those goods for which they collect taxes.

Perhaps agreeing with government to build the street...and the cit-izens would then build the drains, signage, and painting the lanes, speed bumps, etc., would be like giving dietary supple-ments to school kids. It would still be a hard pill for me to swallow....because I know the GOB have the money to get the entire job done...but I think I could swallow that pill.

I wonder if the same amount this citizens or-ganization will be spend-ing on that road....if it used this money and the group energy it now has organized....to organize a countrywide lobby to get the ROAD CONSTRUC-TION & MAINTENANCE BOARD into law....if that would not be a better use of funds...in a way that will benefit all Belice, not only those on one street in Or-ange Walk? Just asking...but please don’t take this negative....what you guys are doing is making a dif-ference....and that is what really counts. I applaud this initiative to make a difference.

Richard Harrison is a local businessman and in-vestor in the manufactur-ing and service industries. Mr. Harrison holds a Mas-ters in Business Adminis-tration degree from Lan-caster University, United Kingdom. Send comments to [email protected]

VaCaNCyadministrative Specialist

terms of reference

Background:

The Belize Natural Energy Charitable Trust (BNECT) is a partnership between the Gov-ernment of Belize and Belize Natural Energy Ltd. (BNE), established by Trust Deed dated February 25th, 2008. The Trust was established to make a difference in the lives of Belizeans and thus seeks to empower people and communities to thrive in a har-monious, socially and environmentally responsible manner so that they can be the conscious architects of their own future. The Trust’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for people and communities to believe in themselves so they can achieve their full potential.

Position: administrative SpecialistThe Trust is looking for a mature, motivated, dynamic, organized, and well-disciplined candidate to fill this position. The specific responsibilities include:

1. Update and maintains oversight of the general filing system for the General Man-ager and BNECT’s general correspondences;

2. Assist the General Manager in identifying human resource development needs for all BNECT employees;

3. Assists the General Manager in the planning, organizing and coordinating of inter-nal training and education opportunities and

activities;4. Ensures that all performance appraisal documents are properly filed and kept

confidentially;5. Coordinates BNECT Staff Activities;6. Maintains and updates BNECT’s official distribution list (media houses, hotels,

caterers, etc.);7. Assists the Accountant with day to day accounting duties including management of

the petty cash system8. Administrates and manages procurement of office supplies and stationery from

suppliers;9. Maintains and manages inventory of office supplies, stationery and equipment;10. Assists the Accountant with regard to administrative items that are necessary for

audit preparation11. Assist the Accountant with processing staff related benefits such as vacation

leave, sick leave, etc.;12. Maintains all staff employee records ensuring up-to-date information and confi-

dentiality;13. Assist the Project Administrator with maintaining the project files, preparing cor-

respondences for projects;14. Assist Project Administrator with planning and organizing project launch and

inaugurations;15. Coordinates internal and external meeting logistics and international travel ar-

rangements for GM and Board;16. Provide support and backstopping for interns

Qualification requirements:Associate Degree in Business Administration or Secretarial Administration (pre-ferred); knowledge of basic accounting practices;At least three years’ work experience in the field of general and/or secretarial admin-istration.

Key Competencies, attitudes and Behaviors• Ability to adhere to confidentiality policies;• Customer Service Oriented;• Flexible; Ability to pay attention to detail;• Ability to meet deadlines;• High level of multitasking capabilities;• Team player; Mature and highly motivated;• Ability to operate standard office equipment;• Proactive and takes initiative

Skill requirements

• Advanced level of computing literacy (Microsoft Office applications etc.);• Excellent written and oral communication skills;• Excellent interpersonal skills;• Excellent decision making and problem solving skills;• Excellent organizational and planning skills; and excellent analytical skills

Salary: Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.Interested candidates my submit applications including a cover letter, resume and at least two recommendations to the GeneralManager at the above address. Deadline is Friday, December 20th, 2013


Recipe of the week

Ingredients 2lbs. flour1lb butter2lbs. brown sugar1lb. brown sugar for stewing fruit 1pt. stout1/2 pt. caramel colouring1 qt. rum1lb rasins1lb currants1lb citron1lb dates1lb cherries1lb mixed peel1lb pecans/walnuts8 eggs1tsp. baking powder1tsp allspice1tsp nutmeg

Directions• Soakfruitsinrumandsugar1-3weeksbe-

fore baking cake.• Creambutterandsugaruntillightandfluffy.

Black Cake• Addeggsoneatatime,beatingconstantly.• Siftflourandbakingpowder.• Add flour, baking powder and spices into

the butter, sugar and eggs mix with a spoon. • Then add stout and colouring to themix-

ture. • Beatforabout4minutesathighspeed.• In a separate dish pour the rum off the

fruits.• Therumshouldbekepttoaddtothefin-

ished cake after cooling.• Lightlycoatfruitswithflourandaddtothe

batter. This keeps fruits from settling at the bottom of the cake.

• Heatovento300ºF.• While the oven is heating just let batter

“settle” a while. • Linebakingpanwithaluminumfoilorwax

paper. Grease lightly with butter. • Spoonbatterevenly intothebutteredpan

about 3/4 full. Bake in slow oven for about 3 hours. Insert toothpick in centre and it should come out clean when done.

• Whencakeiscompletelycoolsprinklerumall over.

• Thecakecanalsobegarnishedwithcher-ries and walnuts.

• Youcansprinklecakeagainwithrum,bran-dy or wine before storing to keep moist.


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CHRISTMAS is 18 days away!

Join us as we count down!

Colour Mary & Joseph who are on their way to Bethlehem.

The Wise Men are travelling to be there for Jesus’ birth. Can you help them through the maze?

Can you connect the dots?


BraIn Teaser

See answers NEXT WEEk

SUDOKU PUZZLE #46/2013

SUDOkU PUZZLE SOLUTION #45/2013Answers for last week’s puzzleAnswers for last week’s puzzle

See answers NEXT WEEk

Port Loyola Standard Bearer Convention

The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Port Loyola Electoral Division is scheduled for Sunday, Jan-uary 19, 2014.

Application are available from the Committee Chairman Mr. Norman Usher or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

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

Deadline for submission is December 18 2013.

PUP noTICe

LIQUOR LICENSE NOTICE Notice is hereby given that GIL-BERTO L. NOVELO is applying for a Publican Special Liquor License to be operated at “Piano Bar”, situate at 20 Lover’s Lane, Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Re-vised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that AAR-ON GONGORA is applying for a Shop Liquor License to be oper-ated at “Gongo’s Enterprise Limit-ed”, situate at #5 Corner Hopkins Street and 1st Street, Belize City, Belize District under the Intoxicat-ing Liquor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that VER-NA SAMUELS and DENVOR GILLETT are applying for a Restaurant Liquor License to be operated at “Bird’s Eye View Lodge”, situate at Crooked Tree Village, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordi-nance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that LUIS CUELLO is applying for a Shop Liquor License to be operated at “L&R Liquors”, situate at 46 Eu-phrates Avenue, Belize City, Be-lize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Re-vised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that LUIS CUELLO are applying for a Pub-lican General Liquor License to be operated at “L&R Liquors”, situate at 993 Mayflower Gar-den, Belize City, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Li-censing Ordinance Revised Edi-tion 1980.

Notice is hereby given that MIN HUA FAH is applying for a Shop Liquor License to be operat-ed at “K-Fan’s Shop”, situate at 3303 Partridge Street, Belize City, Belize District under the In-toxicating Liquor Licensing Ordi-nance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that SU-FANG HUANG is applying for a Publican Special Liquor Li-cense to be operated at “Shun Feng Restaurant”, situate at 7598 Faber’s Road, Belize City, Belize District under the Intox-icating Liquor Licensing Ordi-nance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that SHIFENG HUANG is applying for a Shop Liquor License to be operated at “Luck Star Super-market”, situate at 2805 Pelican Street, Belize City, under the In-toxicating Liquor Licensing Ordi-nance Revised Edition 1980.

THE BELIZE TIMES8 DEC 2013 27 Barrow’s gSU vs.

Barrow-Sponsored gSg

Could China combat smog with artificial rain?

5 December 2013 by Michael Slezak

According to local news re-ports, a document released by the China Meteorological Ad-ministration says that from 2015, local weather authorities will be allowed to use cloud seeding to create rain and clear the coun-try’s notorious smog. It’s part of the government’s plan to invest 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) in tackling air pollution. But will it work?

Programmes to generate artificial rain have been run-ning since the 1950s. In recent

years, the controversial technique has gained some credibility. “There is indeed something to be said in favour of cloud seeding, provided it is very targeted,” says Roger Stone, a climate scientist from the Uni-versity of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Australia.

China has used cloud seeding before on a sporadic basis, for ex-ample, to ensure clear skies for the opening ceremony of the Bei-jing Olympics. The technique the Chinese use involves firing rockets carrying a payload of silver iodide particles into the clouds. Ice crys-tals then form from super-cooled

liquid water in the clouds, using the particles as nucleation points. The crystals fall as rain or snow depend-ing on the temperature below. The idea is that the artificial precipitation should clear the smog below.

There are other methods that deploy different chemicals de-signed to work in warmer clouds, but the “glaciogenic” method the Chinese use is considered the most effective, says Steven Siems from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

However, he doubts cloud seed-ing will be effective in smoggy con-ditions. This is because smog is

made of particulates of soot and dust, which should already have acted as ice nuclei. If it hasn’t rained already, Siems reasons, then adding more particulates in the shape of silver iodide won’t help.

Satellite data suggest Chi-na doesn’t have the right at-mospheric conditions for cloud seeding, Siems says. “I can pretty much confidently say they don’t.” And he adds that the skies over China already contain a lot of ice nuclei from factory pollution and dust from the Gobi desert.

SCIENCE & TECHBELIZE TIMES WEEKLY

R E V I E W

Brain stimulation gives you will to persevere

5 December 2013 by Bob holmes

Perseverance in the face of adversity is an admirable charac-ter trait – now it turns out you can conjure it up with a quick zap to a tiny spot in the brain. The discov-ery in two people with epilepsy was accidental but it is the first to show that simple brain stim-ulation can create rich, complex alterations of consciousness.

Josef Parvizi, a neurologist at Stanford University in California, and his colleagues had implanted electrodes in the brains of two people with epilepsy to help iden-tify the source of their seizures. In the course of their work, they noticed that an odd thing hap-pened when they stimulated a region in the anterior midcingu-late cortex – a part of the limbic system involved in emotion, processing, learning and memo-ry. Both patients reported feeling a sense of foreboding, coupled with a determination to over-come whatever challenge they were about to face.

During the stimulation, one patient reported feeling “worried that something bad is going to happen” but also noted that “it made me stronger”. The other said he felt as if he were figuring out how to get through some-thing.

He likened it to driving your car when one of the tires bursts. You’re only halfway to your destination and you have no option but to keep going for-ward. “You’re like… am I gonna get through this?” he said (see video). He also reported a sense of urgency: “It was more of a positive thing like… push harder, push harder, push harder to try and get through this.”

One singular sensationIn contrast, when the re-

searchers applied a sham stim-ulation – going through exactly the same procedure, but with the current set to zero – neither vol-unteer reported feeling any spe-cific sensations. Stimulation of other nearby regions of the brain less than 5 millimetres away

of success by identifying and targeting the exact part of the cingulate that produces feelings of perseverance, says Parvizi.

The study is also the first to show that simple brain stimu-lation can create rich, complex alterations of consciousness, says Patricia Churchland, a neurophilosopher at the Univer-sity of California at San Diego. “I was just bowled over by the implications for how we can start nailing down the circuitry underlying consciousness,” she says.

Already, the result is a powerful argument against the claims by some philosophers that consciousness must in-volve something more than just electrical activity in the brain. “If you can stimulate and get these complex effects, then stop the stimulation and the effects go away, it’s hard to see how you could maintain with a straight face the notion that conscious-ness is not a function of the brain,” Churchland says.

also failed to produce the feelings of either foreboding or perseverance.

The discovery may have implica-tions for people with obsessive-com-pulsive disorder, which can be thought of as a disease of exces-sive perseverance. People with severe OCD are sometimes opt for surgery to the cingulate cortex, but not every person with the condition shows improvement. Surgeons might be able to improve their odds

China plans to open the heavens to bring back its blue skies.


Understanding Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood sugar/glucose. Glucose is an important source of energy for the cells of muscles, tissues and the Brain. If you have Diabetes, it means you have too much sugar in your blood which then damages the small and large blood vessels of most organs leading to complications.

Long term complications of diabetes can be disabling and even life-threatening. The longer you have diabetes and if your blood sug-ar control is poor, the higher the risk and the faster you are likely to develop complications. Complications of Diabetes include:

-heart/Cardiovascular disease: Diabetes causes narrowing of the arteries called arteriosclerosis. This significantly increases the risk of a diabetic person developing a heart attack, stroke or circu-lation problems.

-Kidney Disease: Poorly controlled diabetes leads to damage of the small blood vessels in the kidneys called glomeruli. This is the main filtering system of the blood. Severe damage to this filtering system leads to kidney failure and then the need for dialysis. Poorly controlled Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney failure and the need for persons to require dialysis.

-Nerve damage/Neuropathy: High sugar in the blood damag-es the small blood vessels to particularly the feet leading to nerve damage. This leads to numbness, tingling burning and pain partic-ularly at the tips of the hands and feet. Person may be unable to touch and feel properly and increases the chances of accidents or injuries particularly to the feet. Ulcers can form and the risk of de-veloping infections in these foot ulcers is higher in poorly controlled diabetes. Ulcers can become so severe with pain and infection that it increases the likelihood of amputations to toes and lower limbs. For men, damage to the nerves can lead to erectile dysfunction.

-eye damage/retinopathy: Diabetes can damage the small vessels in the back of the eye potentially leading to blindness. Oth-er eye conditions such as cataract and glaucoma are more common in diabetics. It is important that persons with diabetes are regularly examined by an eye doctor.

-Skin and mouth conditions: Diabetes may leave you more prone to bacterial or fungal skin infections and gum infections.

-Osteoporosis: Diabetes can lower the normal bone density leading to osteoporosis.

The most important factor in preventing the complications of diabetes is for good control of the blood sugar with lifestyle mea-sures such as diet and exercise as well as taking your medications whether it is insulin or tablets. It is important to visit the doctor/clinic regularly to ensure good blood sugar control and to detect any potential complications early.

By Dr. Mark Musa

Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines, a

Healthcare CrisisContributed

Belize’s healthcare industry faces a global challenge to control spiraling healthcare costs. It has to ensure the appropriate use of scarce resources, while, at the same time, guaranteeing quality outcomes. A response to this challenge is the concept of pharmaceu-tical care. Pharmaceutical care is de-scribed as the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achiev-ing define te outcomes that improve a patient’s quality of life. Counterfeit and substandard medicines undermine pharmaceutical care. Counterfeit drugs pose a serious threat to quality assur-ance and can lead to severe health out-comes for patients including prolonged disease and death.

Controlling the cost of medicines is not simply a matter of medicine acquisi-tion costs. An available effective hospi-tal formulary has to be under constant revision to ensure successful patient care outcome, bearing in mind, that the impact of ineffective or inefficient drug use will have consequences beyond the acquisition cost of the pharmaceutical product. The presence of substandard and counterfeit medicines in developing countries which lack efficient drug reg-ulatory mechanisms and drug test lab-oratories makes pharmaceutical care a challenging, difficult endeavor. In Belize, we are faced with an increasing number of counterfeit and substandard, generic and brand named medicines imported from countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Central and South Ameri-can countries.

Many developing countries have been collaborating with the United States Pharmacopeia’s Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program to detect and remove substandard and counterfeit medicines from the market. Similarly in Europe, in 2013, 37 member states including the European Union signed the Convention on the Elabora-tion of a European Pharmacopeia, com-mitted to contributing to the protection of public health by elaborating harmon-ised standards to ensure the quality of medicines. It is a model that Belize, the Caribbean and Central America should follow.

Impact on public healthCounterfeit drugs have been dan-

gerous and detrimental to public health in terms of human suffering and bur-den on the health services. Counterfeit drugs may be contaminated or contain inactive ingredients, incorrect ingredi-ents, improper dosages, sub-potent or super-potent ingredients. For example, lots of 500mg Zinnat tablets, an anti-biotic produced by Glaxo Operations, U.K., were discovered and proved to be counterfeit. Procrit, an injectable, sterile drug used by cancer and AIDS patients, was counterfeited when the drug was replaced with non-sterile tap water, which could have caused a severe in-fection of the bloodstream. The incor-

poration of diethylene glycol in pharma-ceutical preparations, fraudulently or by mistake, has caused the death of more than 500 people, mostly children. When ingested, diethylene glycol can affect the central nervous system, liver and kidneys, and can lead to death through kidney failure. There was recently, wide-spread protest in Kashmir, an Indian state, because of deaths caused by the wide spread use of counterfeit medi-cines from India. Counterfeiters in the U.S. labeled aspirin tablets as Zyprexa, a drug for schizophrenia and bipolar dis-order. In Belize, doctors are increasingly noticing the lack of response or no re-sponse of their patients, to some med-icines like the anti-platelet clopidrogel (Plavix), some anti-biotics and common non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and pain-killers.

what is to be done?Government must have the political

will and strong commitment if there is to be a concerted effort to improve drug control and decrease the prevalence of counterfeit drugs. The following is sug-gested:

- Comprehensive drug legisla-tion, including provisions prohibiting the manufacture, import and sale of coun-terfeit drugs.

- Adequately resourced drug reg-ulatory authorities (DRA) with the ap-propriate powers to enforce drug laws and regulations.

- Drug regulatory authorities need to ensure that the manufacture, importation, distribution, supply and sale of drugs are carried out under spe-cific licences/authorisation in licensed/approved premises under the supervi-sion of qualified persons.

- Sufficient and adequately trained drug inspectors with authorisa-tion to enter premises and seize any drugs suspected of being counterfeit.

Belize could also employ simpler and less resource-demanding testing/screening methods for the identifi-cation of counterfeit drugs. Thin-layer chromatography, test-tube colour reac-tions, melting point determination could be considered to serve the purpose. However, such simple tests or screen-ing methods must not be considered as a replacement of pharmacopoeal, com-pendial or legally accepted test meth-ods.

ConclusionCounterfeit and substandard medi-

cines erode public confidence in the Be-lize Healthcare System, in health care professionals, in the suppliers and sell-ers of genuine drugs. The public must be aware and must lobby political repre-sentatives to fight against counterfeit-ers and well-organized criminals whose skills and ingenuity have improved dra-matically, allowing them to exploit our regulatory system and to profit at the expense of public health.

The World Health Organization

Continued on page 29

THE BELIZE TIMES8 DEC 2013 29Mayor squeezes

vendors



Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines, a

Healthcare Crisis

(WHO) has reported that 25% of medicines are counterfeit in devel-oping countries like Belize. The time for the establishment of an effec-tive Belize National Drug Regulatory Authority is now. Counterfeit drugs cause a serious gap in quality assur-ance that leads to prolonged disease and death. There is a need for shared responsibility and cooperation be-tween the government agencies, the public and private health sectors and NGOs. Belize will need to col-laborate with U.N. organizations and other countries in an anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical network to ensure timely exchange of information, and the detection and eradication of counterfeit and substandard drugs from our health system.

Hon. Dolores Balderamos

Garcia concerned

about Police shootings

Cynthia Lozano, the mother of Ryan Lozano, who was killed in April this year, and Stephanie Usher, the mother of recently deceased Travis McKay, are Ladyville residents and stalwart members of the community. I express my deep condolences to them and their entire families at the loss of their sons.

I also must state that in no way can we as civilized persons and communi-ties turn a blind eye to what appears to be extra-judicial killings by the Police. Regardless of the alleged crimes of robbery and burglary that these young men were accused of, the Police have no right whatsoever to assume unto themselves the role of the judicial system. All citizens have the right to a fair trial and to due process of the law, notwithstanding that communities are being plagued by many crimes.

The Police must be held account-able, since we cannot condone Police impunity. I therefore join with the fam-ilies of Ryan Lozano and Travis McKay and with all Ladyville residents in call-ing for a full and proper investigation of all the circumstances of these two kill-ings in the Ladyville community with the results thereof being revealed in a timely manner.

City of Belmopan, November 27th 2013By Norris hall

The Mayor of Belmopan, in a desperate attempt to make up for City Council’s deficit budget, is attempting to squeeze market vendors by imposing more taxes on them when they re-locate to the new Belmopan open market early next year.

These mostly fruit and veg-etable vendors who eke out a living in deplorable conditions where they were relocated six months and where they will re-main until early next year, have been told by the Mayor that they will have to pay three months’ rent in advance when they return to the renovated market.

An herbalist and plants ven-dor reacted to the proposal say-ing, “This man is trying to take away ten pounds of my flesh.”

The vendors have formal-ly protested to the City Council about its demands for stall rent-als at an increased fee to be paid on a quarterly or yearly basis.

INSaNItOryThey have also complained

of “unsatisfactory sanitation” and of other poor conditions at the temporary market with inad-equate restrooms, a “lack of san-itary procedures” and about the Council’s failure to provide an en-vironment to meet the minimum health standards which by law is its responsibility.

Most vendors have also ad-amantly complained about a decrease in sales and of the in-difference of the Mayor with re-gards to their complaints.

In addition to an Annual Trade Li-cence fee, the Mayor and the City Coun-cil have demanded that market vendors pay an annual stall fee of $1,040 in addi-tion to an annual garbage collection fee of $144.

The City Administrator, with dic-tates from the Mayor, has written a letter to the vendors saying: “...the Council will no longer be doing dai-ly collection of market rental fees as we are trying to enhance our revenue collection…”

This cannot be true. The City Coun-cil is operating a deficit budget with 55 percent of it being used to pay its staff and labour force. Out of a bud-get of $4.28 million, the Council pays out$2.37 million in salaries and wages. This is certainly an unacceptable busi-ness model. The Mayor would have been fired from the popular television show “The Apprentice” even before it began.

eVery POUND OF FLeShIt is obvious that the Mayor is try-

ing a squeeze every possible pound of flesh from these market vendors while ignoring the bigger picture.

The City Council is of itself operat-

ing illegally by allowing numerous politically-connected businesses and bars to remain open despite their owing thousands of dollars in trade and liquor licences.

The Mayor has also failed to ad-dress with the World Bank consul-tants financing for the renovation of the market, the growing demand for market space and the need for the creation of an environment with a cultural ambience.

New MarKet NOt weLL PLaNNeD

Prior to the re-design of the market there were 115 vendors. The new market will only be able to ac-commodate seventy-five. The City

Council has no encumbrances, or debts for this project. It is being financed through the central gov-ernment.

A quick survey of other munic-ipal markets indicates that the fee the Belmopan City Council wants to impose on vendors at the new market will be way above the na-tional average.

The Mayor, at a recent cau-cus of his City Council has also proposed to provide vendors with “standardized tents to ensure uni-formity” at the market. Vendors will be required to pay for the rent-al of these tents “as a way of im-proving the revenue stream” says the Mayor who has been unable to collect almost a million dollars in property taxes.

Vendors perceive that the Mayor is trying to take advantage of them as they are the most vul-nerable of tax payers and the low-est source of income for the City Council which seems incapable of managing its own affairs without persistent hand-outs including yet another $150 thousand (hardly ad-equate) for the repairs of the City’s crumbling streets. Much more is needed to address the general ne-glect of the nation’s capital by the current Mayor and the City Council.

They are not cutting it.

Chancey Mayor Simeon Lopez


THINK ABOUT ITthe aMaZING arthUr

The amazing Arthur Saldivar has won his convention in Belize Rural North to be the PUP candidate in the next general elec-tions. Arthur Saldivar is an amazing man. Boundless energies and a bundle of ideas. He manages to juggle a full time busy ca-reer as an attorney while campaigning in a division with some 26 villages dispersed over the Belize District.

He is a devoted family man and his main hobby, other than politics, is reading. He is a fullbright Scholar with a universi-ty degree in economics and he holds a second University degree in law plus the additional two years of training at the pres-tigious Norman Manley Law School. This man is highly educated.

Arthur Saldivar, is a bold and a brash young man. He is in a hurry to get to Bel-mopan i.e. an elected member of the Na-tional Assembly and a Minister of Govern-ment. He has several departmental ideas for his area and for the country.

Three of those ideas are the Rural North bread basket project to suffice the tourists in San Pedro with all the fresh fruits, vegetables, food and other needs from the old Maskal Road communities. Another is the Gladden Plan to develop the whole coastal lands of the country and the rest of the population. And a third of his many ideas is one to open up the hinter lends to Belizean American with a host of economic and social incentives.

Along with dozens of progressive leg-islative ideas for reforms and improvement for Belizeans, Arthur is a force to be reck-oned.

Arthur is the only intellectual and uni-versity graduate who has joined the cause with the common men and women of Be-lize who call the morning talk shows to of-fer his considered views on topical issues. To Mr. and Mrs Maxwell Samuels, Linsford and Wendy Castillo, the campaign commit-tee members and to Arthur and his family congratulation are in order. Now go and win that seat and change the government.

NOw It’S U.B.

Now it’s the University of Belize that is regularly in the news.

And it is all negative and depressing.What is happening to our country? For

over a year there have been an ongoing and never-ending series of scandals, bad-news and negativity – all caused by gov-ernment incompetence and corruption.

Ask any child and the list rolls out easily – Noh Mul, Rosewood, 13 babies, Mark King meltdown; Finnegan disrespect in the National Assembly, Prime Minister cursing up a judge, gender issue, Penner, Castro, Visas, Hezbollah, police brutality and shootings, cañeros and bagasse, the worst streets and roads in history – and the list goes on.

And now our national university is the latest arena of political incompetence. The message: our country is poorly managed. Incompetence and corruption is dragging our country down. What is happening to Belize?

BaGaSSe

The deeper issue behind the threat of cañeros to strike in order to force B.S.I to give them a piece of the bagasse pie is this. The government should never have allowed A.S.R. to buy out our sugar indus-

try. Never.ASR stands for American Sugar Re-

fining. The government facilitated them in buying out B.S.I.

The government should have gone out of its way to make loans available to the Cane Farmers Association and to sign guarantees if necessary for any loans so that Belizeans would be the full owners of the sugar industry.

The Cane Farmers Association wanted to buy B.S.I. but the government pushed them one side and facilitated A.S.R. to buy it instead.

A.S.R. also bought cane fields and are planting their own care. In years to come they will not be held “ransom” by the cane farmers as they will have their cane and their own baggase. Cane farmers will be begging A.S.R. to please buy their cane. We will go down to the level of peasants and peons and cane slaves because of the very bad decision of the government.

With all the hardships that it will bring, we believe a strike by cañeros is an import-ant part of the battle for Belize. If such a strike takes place thousands of students and activists should travel to Orange Walk to show they fully support Belizean work-ers against foreign greed and its local col-laborators.

POLICe KILLINGS

Since the UDP became government in 2008, Police brutality, Police abuses and Police killings have increased dramatically. With no effort by the Cabinet, the Prime Minister or the Police Minister to put an end to the UNLAWFUL and CRIMINAL practices.

When the police detain or arrest a cit-izen and brings no charge that is unlawful

When the police lock-up a citizen at any police station and brings no charge that is unlawful.

When the police slap, punch, hit, kick, stamp, whip and beat any citizen that is unlawful.

When the police use excessive force, and in cases shoot where it is not neces-sary, and worst shoot dead a citizen, that is unlawful.

It is hard to believe that of all persons, these abuses are going on under the re-sponsibility of Dean Barrow as Prime Min-ister.

We are so disappointed in John Saldivar. When he first took over the Police Ministry, the notorious G.S.U. showed him disrespect by publicly abusing residents of Taylor’s Alley, Belize City. Those residents were beaten and piled one on top of the other in a gross abuse of police authority. Minister Saldivar publicly spoke out and set up a small investigation. Since then the Minister has turned a blind eye to the relentless abuse that continues unabated.

We are disappointed in the British Em-bassy and especially the USA Embassy for the stony silence in the light of gross viola-tions of human rights being committed by Police.

We are disappointed in the new Om-budsman, who like the previous Ombud-slady has failed to expose and bring disci-plinary charges against rogue Police who abuse their authority.

We give credit to the print and televi-sion media who bring the citizens com-plaints to the nation’s attention. We ask them to start do follow-up stories.

We call on the Bar Association to do more to publicize what the law is, in relation

to police responsibility as it applies to arrest, detention and treatment of our people.

We call on individual attorneys and good citizens to form or join the human rights organizations to help citizen from this onslaught of abuse that is plaguing our so-ciety.

We call on the Belize Human Rights Commission to say more and do more in tackling this sore and leprosy that the gov-ernment is causing on our people.

hUNGer GaMeS – 2

“Hunger Games – Catching Fire” is now showing. The movie is part 2 to the popular Hunger Games that attracted large audience of teenagers worldwide. Part 2 has already collected three quarter billion dollars in sales.

In two weeks’ time the Belize govern-ment will release its Hunger Games. The government will take out millions of dol-lars from the taxpayers’ money and give it to their political standard bearers in the 31 constituencies to give out ham, turkey and groceries. Only UDP supporters will get.

No PUP supporter or needy family can get any of these free gifts even though tax-payers’ monies must be used for ALL citi-zens regardless of their political persuasion, such is the law. Such is the Constitution of the nation.

PUP standard bearers will probably be given a small amount of money for a similar program in order for the opposition not to condemn this vile UDP practice.

The unlawful Hunger Games go fur-ther. During the year, the UDP government uses taxpayers’ money for the UDP pro-gram called Food Pantry and Boost. The UDP political operatives put the names of their cronies and supporters on a list and only these persons get groceries and good-ies.

The UDP Hunger Games is again un-lawful and unconstitutional. Such programs, if indeed they are to be of help to the poor, all the poor, not only UDP supporters. If it was UDP money no problem. But it is tax-payers’ money. Taxpayers’ money is for all Belizeans – UDP, PUP and no P.

Help to the poor people must be done through accountable and transparent pro-grams through the public service or the churches.

Poor persons, regardless of their party, status, should be able to go to public ser-vice departments who will help them on a professional basis based on their needs.

It is unacceptable that our government can take our tax monies and use it to bribe the poor.

Remember, it is these same politicians who are using passports, visas and lands to hustle for themselves. Same way they are using the so-called Food Pantry and Boost and other political programs to buy votes so they can remain in office to hustle and enrich themselves.

SMOKerS

Persons who smoke cigarettes die 10 years earlier than those who do not smoke.

Tobacco smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer.

Every day across the world some Eighty thousand to One hundred thousand people become addicted to tobacco smok-ing.

Don’t let the tobacco companies ruin your lives. Don’t smoke cigarettes.

MILey aND CaMILa

Less than 5 years ago, Miley Cyrus was the child star of Disney Channel. Han-na Montana, a role model for millions of

children around the world. She has two multimillion dollar music albums. She had sold out concerts whenever she per-formed. It was estimated that by the time she reached 18 years she would be worth one billion U.S. dollars.

She is now 21 years and caused quite a stir at the recent music video awards show. She behaved a little raunchy, to put it mildly.

Miley had changed her handlers and promoters. She also did the wrecking ball music video, in which she is shown half naked swinging on a huge wrecking ball.

Little innocent Miley can’t be 21 years and getting into the adult music world if she ain’t going to dance sleck, half na-ked up herself and do outrageous things. That’s the name of music entertainment game. Miley’s records are now selling like crazy.

Half way down the globe from North America is another continent called South America. There, the unhappy country of Chile is going through a needed trans-formation. This country lived through a long and brutal military dictatorship under General Pinochet with U.S. backing when the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in 1973.

A 23 year university student, more beautiful and sexier than skinny Miley Cyrus is creating quite a stir in her coun-try. She is the student leader who is orga-nizing massive protests against the Chile government. She is facing death threats and police brutality in her fight for free university education for the young people of Chile. She was recently arrested.

The name of this heroine in Camila Vallejo.

What a world of difference between the Camilas of Central America and South America and the Miley Cyrus, Kardashians types of North America.

We watch our society slowly but surely sliding on a downward slope. Noth-ing is going good for the future of young people. Yet we hear nothing from Galen University or the University of Belize. It is as if they don’t live in the same society as the rest of us.

Part of the problem comes from the relentless brain washing they get from American music videos, songs and so called reality shows with lots of bubble heads sexy stars.

the MayOr’S Feat

The Mayor of Belize City claims he has cemented one hundred streets at a cost of twenty million dollars. Even if it is only eighty streets it is an accomplish-ment. But…

Citizens need to see the street by street costing. If not, the Opposition needs to get an engineer to do the cost-ing. Remember, the twenty million dollars is not from savings by reducing an over-staffed city council office or returning to voluntary work by City Councilors who are pulling in huge salaries for doing noth-ing. It is a loan that taxpayers have to pay back.

None of the 80 or 100 streets have proper drains. None.

In the course of the haphazard, hodge-podge, lack of planning that went with the cementing, the major has suc-ceeding in breaking up nearly all the re-maining sensible streets in the City.

This happened before the two weeks rain arrived, so don’t be blaming it on the rain.

Belize City never looked so utterly broken and down-trodden. There are thou-sands of pot holes and craters all over the place.


Reckless driver!!!

John Saldivar Pablo Marin Candelaria Saldivar

THIS MAY SPOIL YOUR WEEKEND

Press Office boss slams GOB vehicle into barricade

FaBer hOspitaliseD!Family of Slain Cop Questions Investigation

PUP NOTICEToledo East Standard Bearer En-dorsement Convention

The People’s United Party an-nounces the Endorsement Con-vention for Toledo East Standard Bearer to be held on Saturday, December 14th 2013.

PUP NOTICECorozal South East Standard Bearer Endorsement Convention

The People’s United Party an-nounces the Endorsement Con-vention for Corozal South East Standard Bearer to be held on Sunday, December 15th 2013.

PUP NOTICEDangriga Standard Bearer En-dorsement Convention

The People’s United Party an-nounces the Endorsement Con-vention for Dangriga Standard Bearer to be held on Sunday, De-cember 8th 2013.

MORE UdP MINISTERS NAMEd IN vISA SCANdAL

Hundreds of Visa “Recommendations” for Chinese nationals exposed; Barrow says “No smoking gun”

Belize City, December 3, 2013New evidence involving the big-

gest scandal to hit the UDP Adminis-tration has been exposed by Channel 5’s reporter Mike Rudon as the full magnitude of the corrupt visa hustle comes to light.

A string of documents made public shows that “special” visas for Chinese Nationals were not only fa-cilitated by Elvin Penner and Edmund Castro, but a much wider notorious band of UDP Ministers, illegal “care-takers” and even well-placed CEOs.

The names shown on the docu-ments revealed so far include Edmund Castro, Elvin Penner, Rene Montero, Erwin Contreras, Pablo Marin, Charles Gibson and John Saldivar who are all UDP Ministers. Ismael ‘Miley’ Garcia, Frank ‘Pawpa’ Mena are UDP care-takers who are also involved, while Candelaria Saldivar is the sister of Minister John Saldivar, and she is also named as one of the persons who recommended visas for Chinese of-ficials. Her case is very interesting, since she is the CEO in the Ministry of Immigration.

The documents show that most recommendations are channeled through Candelaria Saldivar’s office. Saldivar was named CEO after her brother John Saldivar was stripped of the Immigration portfolio last year. Once the CEO received the names of Chinese nationals, she would

write the Director of Im-migration Maria Marin requesting visas on be-half of certain Ministers. The Director seemed too willing to acquiesce to the requests, and in one case involving visa recommendations from disgraced UDP Elvin Pen-ner, Marin approved the visa for a Chinese nation-al even though she noted that there was insuffi-cient information on the individuals including un-acceptable pictures, and no required background data.

When asked about the increasing evidence of his UDP Minister’s di-rect involvement in the issuance of visas and the

Barrow then said that in order for him to even consider that something was going wrong he would have to see evidence of 200 or 1,000 recommenda-tions issued by his Ministers. He had at a prior conference said if there were 10 or 20 “involvements”, he would ascertain that hustling is taking place.

But Belizeans won’t swallow Bar-row’s bitter pill so easily. His disgraceful flip-flopping is obvious for everyone to

possibility of hustling, Barrow flip-flopped from his earlier position that “visa hustling” would “bring down the [his] Government”, to say that he saw no big deal with what was taking place.

“I really don’t think that what you have pro-duced is at all cutting it especially in light of the effort made in view of the position I had taken by the Minister to ascertain whether any minister at all was seeking to influence the process…what you have produced is in my view not even remote-ly close to a smoking gun,” Barrow said un-apologetically.

see. It is classic Barrow, saying one thing, but in re-ality, meaning something else.

Barrow defense of his Ministers is not surprising, he is living inside a crum-bling dolly house. As more evidence of corruption in his Government rolls out, he knows time is running out on him. When a man gets that desperate, not even the whiff of corrup-tion matters anymore.

Belize City, December 3, 2013Director of the UDP Government’s

Press Office, Dorian Pakeman, failed to report a serious accident he was in-volved in on Sunday night which nearly took the life of an innocent city resident and which seriously damaged Govern-ment property.

On Sunday night Pakeman, who is

considered a crony of the not-normal Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, was driving a vehicle assigned specifi-cally for official business of the Govern-ment Press Office, when he sped down Princess Margaret Drive and smashed into a tree as he tried to avoid a metal barricade.

Princess Margaret Drive from the corner with St. Joseph Street towards the Phillip Goldson Highway was closed to traffic because of the construction taking place around the Flag Monu-ment throughout the weekend. Metal Barricades were placed to stop traffic and a watchman was keeping guard. But none of that stopped the reckless Press Office Director who seemed to be shooting a stunt scene for Fast and Furious.

The vehicle sped towards the bar-ricade before Pakeman turned the ve-hicle towards a tree which stood along

the median. It crashed into both the barricade and tree, causing damag-es to the vehicle.

The watchman, who works for M&M Engineering, was sitting on the median when he leaped sud-denly to avoid being run over and crushed by the uncontrollable ve-hicle. Shortly after the incident, he told a witness that he was filled with fright. He said the vehicle was com-ing so fast, he was lucky he reacted instantly by springing to his right.

He also said that Pakeman claimed he had not seen the barri-cades and he thought the street had already been opened to traffic.

According to the lucky to be alive construction worker, Pakeman begged him not to report the inci-dent to anyone, especially to any of the media.

Up to news time, the Police were not aware of the incident.

Pakeman has also not reported the accident to his superiors. The ve-hicle has been enlisted for repairs, we understand, which will be paid for by taxpayers.

Dorian Pakeman

belize times december 8, 2013

Documents

parcel of crown land

belize dollar

mangrove piece of crown

time land owner

belize city

comthe belize timesthe

published bythe belize

greedy udp lawyer