no. 01 tuesday november15, 2011 price: $1.00 ... - belize...

Northern STAR -Tel: 629-1308 or 636-1409 - Email: [email protected] - Friday December 09, 2011

No. 01 Tuesday November15, 2011 Price: $1.00

No. 03 Friday December 09, 2011 Price: $1.00

Insidethis Issue

( Pg. 3) Thoughts across the

miles

( Pg. 4) From the Publisher

( Pg. 11) Faces and Places of

Belize

( Pg.5/14/15/17) Embracing our History

( Pg. 22/23) International News

( Pg. 11) Takeda Recipes

Two Hunded and Twenty Five more House Lots!Two Hundred and Twenty Five more House Lots!AAdelante Con Orange Walk North !

Hon. Gaspar VegaGiving to the present, safeguarding the future.

On Thursday 1st. Decemberthe residents of Orange WalkNorth in the Trail Farm Areareceived a high spirited visitfrom their Area RepresentativeHon. Gaspar Vega who wasaccompanied by seniorofficials of the Ministry ofNatural Resources.

Two hundred and twenty-fiveHouse Lots were issued to thepeople in the Orange WalkConstituency. The lots are inthe Bishop Martin School Areaof Trial Farm. This land wasbought by the Government ofBelize and surveyed at no costto the recipients who will onlyhave to pay seven hundreddollars to attain their LandTitle.

During his address the AreaRepresentative and DeputyPrime Minister of Belize Hon.

Gaspar Vega stated that he“will continue lobbing thegovernment in Cabinet forevery benefit I can bring tothe deserving Constituencyof Orange Walk North”!

The people of OrangeWalk North openlydisplayed their gratitude totheir representative and tothe hard working team ofsenior officials of theMinistry of NaturalResources present there.

In giving to the presentmothers and fathers theirright to land the Hon.Gaspar Vega told to us that“this is the only way totruly safeguard the future oftheir children. Adelante conOrange Walk North!”

See photos on Pg.12

The Corozal Free Zone. The reality today!from $30,000 profit - $901,000.00 a year

David AkiermanExecutive Chairman ofCorozal Free ZoneExculsive Report.

In February 2008 theGeneral Elections broughtthe dawn of a new UnitedDemocratic

Party Government. Along withthat new government came ournew management for the CorozalFree Zone. The expectation ofinvestors at the Zone wasriddled with questions. Changeswere met with skepticism

Continued -page 2

Rosendo ‘Chendo’ Urbina Jr. and FamilyThreatened

On Sunday, December 4th shortly after 6pm while exiting his compoundin the Honey Camp area, Rosendo ‘Chendo’ Urbina Jr. and his wifeBecky Urbina were ambushed by a group of five men dressed incamouflages and masked. They were held at gunpoint for a period oftime where they were threatened and intimidated into paying a large amountof money. Continue on page 18

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- Northern STAR -Tel: 629-1308 or 636-1409 - Email: [email protected] - Friday December 09, 2011

The Northern StarNewspaper

Publisher:The Northern Star Newspaper

Ltd.

Director:Vernon Cutkelvin

Managing Director/Editor:Maira Montejo

Printer:The Reporter Press80 Otro Benque Road

Orange Walk TownBelize, Central America

Tel: 629-1308or

636-1409Email:

[email protected]

Editorial

...............................

The Corozal Free Zone. The reality today!

as millions of dollars were atstake and the new directionwas uncertain.

From the inception of thetakeover of this newmanagement of the CorozalFree Zone it was noticed thatthe complete network was inshambles. A lot of work hadto be done and drasticmeasures had to beimplemented in light of thesorrowful situation weencountered therein.

The Corozal Free Zonewas plagued with thefollowing problems

before the advent of ournew management in

2008.

1. Gross mismanagement ofthe Corozal Free Zonefinances reflecting in the billsaccountable to the Banks andthe Private Sector. The auditfor 2007 reflected profit ofonly $30,000.00 Bze. perannum.

2. The Security System wasin the most deplorablecondition having beingprivatized costing themanagement $600,000.00 perannum.

3. Security Personnel wereworking under inhumaneconditions with very limitedresources.

4. The infrastructure was in asorrowful conditions. Streetswere in bad shape. Garbage

was scattered all over theplace and the drainage was ahuge problem irrespective ofthe fact that the then P.U.PGovernment paid two milliondollars for a thoroughrestructuring.

5. There were repeatedincidences of fire.

6. Garbage collection wasprivatized yet the zone wasmaintained in very unhygienicconditions.

The Corozal Free Zoneunder this new

management today hasrealized the following.

1. The administration of theZone was restructured andpeople well capacitated wereput in place. The result wasthat we established a betterManagement / Private Sectorrelationship recognizing theCorozal Free Zone Chamberof Commerce as the liaisonbetween management andinvestors. Automaticallyuplifting investor confidence.

2. We created the soundfiscal management of theZone and a transparentfinancial system where thefirst year audit reflected$901,000.00 profit ascompared to $30,000.00previously. We also put inplace a yearly SocialInterventions Program to thetune of some $40,000.00perannum.

3. The Zone’s Infrastructurewas upgraded. Streets paved,drainage improved drasticallywhich automaticallydowngraded the floodingproblems. Garbage collectionunder this new Corozal FreeZone (CFZ) Management hasbeen more cost effective asthe services has been greatlyimproved with theprocurement of twocompactor trucks. Werestructured the entrance tothe CFZ landscaping to givea more picturesque view ofCFZ.

4. We completely upgradedand restructured the SecurityServices under CFZManagement creating a moreinvestor and visitor friendlyatmosphere while improvingthe working conditions of theemployees. (Security hut,booths and bathroom facilitieswere upgraded with allamenities) We have a morevisible security patrols whichincreased investor and visitorconfidence while reducing thespate of burglaries.Yet our management has seensavings of over $120,000.00perannum by centralizing thesecurity services.

Continuous flow of traffic of purchasers from Mexico into the Zone

Continued from front page

Continued on page 4

In this week’s edition Iwould like to take time to sayCONGRATULATIONS toall the Police Officers. Notonly the ones who bustedthe Mexican National withthe one hundred and elevenpackages of cocaine butthose who are neveracknowledge in the media.

Policing is not a small joband the reward is next tonone, while the responsibilityis, to respond promptly toanyone who shoutsPOLICE!

The media often goes mutewhen there is a peacefulcelebration, public activityor days of calm in thecountry. This is becausetheir barometer which isused to measure theperformance of the PoliceDepartment is automaticallydeactivated when there is nodirt, no complaint, nocriticism to be leveledagainst the Department.Case in point; lately youwould believe that the G.S.Uhas beendisband because not a wordhas been said in the mediaabout them. Ever wonderwhy?

While no member of themedia would be prepared toput down their pen and tradejobs with any member of thePolice Department, not evenfor a day; our ink readily runslike a ruptured water-mainwhen something evolvesthat gives us the everslightest reason to point anegative finger at the police.

In the movie Ghost Bustersthe theme song had thesewords, “If there is somethingstrange in your

Continue on page 12






THOUGHTS ACROSS THE MILES

Dr. Errol Elrington

Saint George of Price

TREASON: The offense ofattempting by overt acts tooverthrow the government ofthe state to which one owesallegiance...

QUISLING: A traitor whocollaborates with the invad-ers of his country...

Believe this, there are peoplealive today who still worshipthe devilish Adolf Hitler! Thatis a straight up fact. Mosttyrants, despots, dictatorsand political mass murderersstarted out small, but used thevery power loaned to them bythe electorate to become themonsters that then preyed onthat same electorate! Whenpeople look back at the waythey voted, some say: “Ididn’t know..” Then there arethe others who: “Frankly didnot care”. Then there are theones like Woolrich HarrisonCourtenay who knew exactlywhy they sold out. ActiveParticipation; Culpability!When Ralph said that themess that Belize is in wascaused by the PUP he knewexactly what he was talkingabout and he was 100% right.

When my father led the dis-cussions concerning the po-litical points of the day on ourverandah, he was very clearabout why he could NEVERsupport Price nor the PUP.This is the proper time for meto share these reasons withyou:

1) Price was sent into poli-tics by a millionaire capital-ists who did NOT want topay taxes: the relevance totoday is that we have a bil-

lionaire who wants All theBelizeans’ money - and doNOT want to pay taxes. APUP win would allow the bil-lionaire to have his way withBelize. Different time, samemotive!

2) Price failed to completethe prescribed course ofstudy at seminary. Rel-evance: Smith explained thatby the end of Price’s longreign, things worsened andcorruption reached a criticalmass; continued failure.

3) Price was expelled fromthe meeting in London aftersecret, unauthorized schem-ing with Granados. Rel-evance: Chiquibul, and in-deed the whole border con-tinues to be threatened byGranado’s countrymen.

4) Price sold out. His thirtypieces of silver was thepromise of becoming the 1stPresident of a proposed Cen-tral American Federation.

5) Price was totally againsta West Indies Federation andhe refused twice to give theland for the UWI campus atthat University’s birth. Rel-evance: Belize would havehad a superb teaching, terti-ary level hospital, I lay theblame of every one of thepremature deaths on theshoulders of Price and hispeople.

6) Price would shamelesslyrun into the protected armsof the very ‘Colonial British’that he claimed to be fightingagainst, whenever he wantedto save his skin or when itsuited his selfish needs. Ex-amples: i) When Hector Silvaand Santiago Perdomo,backed by Ydigoras Fuentes,wanted to push him aside.

ii) Whenever solders, war-ships and harriers wereneeded to come to the aid ofBelizeans.7) Price went from house to

house and community tocommunity to encourage Citi-zens to give him their alle-giance - rather that theCOUNTRY. He used the vis-its to encourage class and eth-nic separation. Relevance:Today’s population is not asnationalistic and unified as itneeds to be, especially whenfaced with threats from out-side.

8) Price told Pollard that aBritish passport would be ir-relevant because Belize wouldsoon become a Departmentof Guatemala. Relevance:The totally unfunded claim isstill being pushed by the en-emies of our state.

9) Price had been receivingmonthly cash contributionsfrom the Guatemalans. Rel-evance: Guatemala wantswhat it feels that is has paidfor - problem is; Price waswrong to put Belize on theselling block, because Belizewas NEVER his to sell.Smith, Richardson andGoldson turned away fromhim because of his ‘greatlove’: Guatemala. Belize be-longs to Belizeans; our des-tiny lies with coming fully togrip with that fact; 100% own-ership of our Jewel.

10) Price lied under oath dur-ing the Sharpe Inquiry (con-tact with the enemy of Belizewas established) to save hiscowardly skin. Perjury! Rel-evance: The PUP continuesto use LIES to steal from theCitizens of Belize. Drugs,Guns, Violence, Corruption,Lies, Greed, Stealing, HumanTrafficking, Prostitution, Con-tact, Treason, Sedition, SellOut. A Criminal Gang thatstrayed into politics and theyhave surely put a severe hurton Belize.

11) Price encouraged vio-lence to get his way. Hisbehavior in my view affectedothers adversely. Silky, Cain,Lightburn, Smiling, mar-

shals.... were encouraged toharm Belizean Citizens.Stoning, gunshots, arson....Relevance: One of the big-gest problem the once peace-ful Belize is now fighting is amassive crime/violence prob-lem.

12) Price ALWAYS placedhimself, his family and hisparty well above the interestof Belize and Belizeans. Rel-evance: Belizeans are worstoff now than when he enteredpolitics 60 years ago; ex-pected, since he went in tolook after the interest of ascrooge....Shameful andWrong!

I have offered you a taste ofthe material we discussed. Inow say that the sneaky pushfor sainthood is a sinistermove by those who facilitatedPrice to feel good about theiractions. They did wrong bysupporting him and the knowl-edge of their massive unpat-riotic error brings them severemental pain. To escape, theymust justify their deeds.Their plan for relief is to makePrice a hero and a saint; im-possible! They know that heis neither! I strongly advisethem to look at mythology fora way out....

In closing I want to warn thatif at the end of the reading,you come to the conclusionthat this article is about Price,then you have misunderstoodme. Despite the many ap-pearance of that name; thefocus is on those individu-als who allowed him to messwith Belize. This article is agentle warning to the votersto be careful - do not voteagainst your interest andagainst the country. I am re-ally begging you NOT to votePUP; that would put thecountry in grave peril. INEVER VOTED BLUE,NOW YOU KNOW WHY!





FROM THE PUBLISHER

5. With the acquisition of a fire truck some two years ago andthe construction of a fire station with all amenities the CFZhas seen reduced incidences of fire. There has been onlyone incidence of fire since the upgrading of the CFZ FireDepartment.

6. Our employment capacity has been maintained at a stablelevel of basically 2,700 employees.

Since the takeover in 2008 this new management has shownrelentless efforts in improving the conditions of the CorozalFree Zone and by extension the livelihood of all involvedwith the CFZ.

Continued from page 3

The Corozal Free Zone. The reality today!

To be continued in Next Week’s Edition exclusively in The Northern Star

Wayne Andy Williams was apersonal friend to us here at TheNorthern Star. The news of hisuntimely death came as a shockto us, one that we must admitthat we have not quite come toterms with as yet.

In life you meet few people thatleave a lasting impressionforever, rubber-stamped in yourmemory. Wayne was one ofthose persons that we willalways remember.

His departure from this physicallife was sudden but yet knowingthe nature of the individual onecannot help but visualizing himsaying, “cho da dat u di worrybout, by mawning a wa fixdat. A done gat somebody diwork pa dat as we speak”.

Yes, Wayne Williams was aworkaholic but one would notexpect nothing less from a manwho worked with individualswho demand nothing less thanexcellence like the Hon. MelvinHulse or C.E.O CandilaraSaldivar Morter.

Wayne loved his family dearlyand was a devoted father. I willnever forget when the Hon.Melvin Hulse, who is alwaysworking;

on one specific weekendasked everyone to report towork early the next day whichwas a Public and BankHoliday. Wayne’s commentwas simply, “I have tobabysit and when I am donewith that, I will come”. Out-spoken he was, reliable wouldbe an understatement,passionate about bothdelivering and ensuring that thejob got done right was for himnatural in his nature.

Yes if you did not have theopportunity to have knownthe man, you’ve just missedthe chance to have known areally good man, friend andcolleague; Wayne AndyWilliams.

Wayne worked at NEMO andwas the Director of the CentralBuilding Authority. He alsoowned his own reputablebusiness Williams EngineeringServices.

Working with the extremelycompetent staff at NEMOmeans that he was always oncall, night and day-day andnight continuously. Especiallyduring the Hurricane Seasonwhich accounts for half ofevery year in Belize.

Mrs. Noreen Fairweather,Colonel Shelton DeFour, Mr.Ramon Frutus, Mr. ManuelLopez, Mr. Dennis Gonguez,Mrs. Candilara SaldivarMorter and the Hon. MelvinHulse and all the Managementand Staff of the Ministry ofTransport, Communicationand NEMO will all dearly missour friend.

But, let us not forget that thereis a problem out there thatmust be fixed immediately,taking into account that therewas a water truck painted fullblack, without any lighting,reflectors or even thetraditional pieces of bush toforewarn motorist of anobstruction ahead amounts tonothing less than grossnegligence on the part of thedriver.

Notwithstanding, the thoughtthat the condition of thatstretch of highway may alsohave been a factor whichcontributed to this horrificaccident is simply one thatcannot go away. The saidpiece of highway has beenresponsible for many deathsby accidents occurring thereand for years, despite thehorrific nature of thoseaccidents absolutely nothinghas been done to correct thatslippery portion of the road.

I can recall vividly stoppingalong that stretch to renderassistance to the driver andpassengers of a pickup truckthat had flip several times offthe highway while traveling onthat same stretch of road.

At the time it was drizzlinglightly and upon exiting myvehicle I found myselffighting to hold my balancewhile walking wearing adecent pair of shoes on thepavement of that road.Slippery isn’t the word. Itwas like trying to walk on iceor learning to roller skate forthe first time.

There is no question, thatdamn road is bloody slipperyand will cause many morehorrific accidents which willresult in deaths.

That piece of highway needsto be fixed and fixed now!We at the Northern StarNewspaper will lobby inevery forum possible to getthat piece of highwayresurfaced. Our late brotherwould want nothing less.

On behalf of the Minister,Hon. Melvin Hulse, theC.E.O, Mrs. CandilaraSaldivar Morter and the entireManagement and Staff of theMinistry of Transport,Communication and NEMOWe hereby extend ourdeepest condolences to hiswife Mrs. GuadalupeWilliams, his sons and hisentire family.

WayneAndy Williams.September 17th.

1966to

December6th. 2011

REST in PEACE!

Wayne Williams with his wife Guadalupe and one of their sons





Sugar Mill

Southern Foreshore Area Belize City

North side Forthpoint Area

River, Sea and Land became One!

The River

The Sea

The Waves on The Land

EMBRACING OUR HISTORY





For All Your Advertising Needs Call

At 629-1308 or 636-1409

Mexican National Sentenced to 24 Years for Drug

Martin Urias

The One hundred and eleven parcels of Cocaine

Hidden Compartment in the Camper

Forty four year old MexicanNational, Martin Urias whowas caught with a largequantity of cocaine onThursday, December 1st.was charged with drugtrafficking and importation ofdrugs and sentenced tosixteen years in prison onFriday, December 2nd.

He had apparently beenfrequently travelling throughBelize to Guatemala at leasttwice a month and back toMexico. He claimed to be ashoe salesman but onlytravelled with samples.

We understand that after hehad crossed the westernborder Urias was seen actingsuspiciously as he neared apolice checkpoint in the areawhere police were training.An alert police officer saw thepickup with Mexican Platesand recognized it because ithad already been flagged bypolice in Benque Viejo somemonths ago.

A search of the vehicle inCorozal turned up nothing. It

was then taken over to theCorozal Police station wherea detailed search yielded onehundred and eleven bricks ofcocaine stamped XT stuffedinside a hidden compartmentin the camper of his trailer.The cocaine amounted to atotal of two hundred andeighty-four pounds with astreet value of two million USdollars.

Magistrate Clive Linosentenced Urias to eight yearsin prison and fined him$100,000 for the count ofdrug trafficking. In default hewill spend eight years in

prison. For the count ofimportation of drugs he wassentenced to eight years andalso fined an extra $100,000or in default another eightyears in prison.

The ‘two’ eight yearsentences are to runconcurrently, meaning he willserve eight, not sixteen years.

The default sentences fornon-payment of the fines areconsecutive, meaning hecould serve a maximum of24 years in prison. Weunderstand that the fines havenot been paid yet.

He is presently at theHattieville prison, afterappearing in Corozal

Magistrate’s Court on Fridayand pleading guilty to DrugTrafficking and Importationof Drugs.

On Wednesday at a little after6:00am the two hundred andeighty-four pounds ofcocaine arrived and wasdestroyed here in OrangeWalk at Loskot Sawmill.

The drugs were escortedfrom Belize City to OrangeWalk in the dead of the nightby the Anti Drug Unit alongwith other elements of thePolice Department, the Mediaand the Judiciary.

The one hundred and eighty-four pounds of cocaine wascompletely destroyed in lessthan an hour in a cast-iron,cylindrical furnace at theLoskot Sawmill.

Trafficking and Importation of Drugs

Cocaine individually chopped open Cast-iron, cylindrical furnance

photos courtesy of channel 7





1.Check your motor vehicle to ensure that everything is in good working condition.Example- brakes, all lights, horn, wipers, tires, spare-tire, tire tools, oil, water,brake fluid & dash board gauges.2.Ensure that your driver’s license is valid and that your vehicle is licensed andinsured.3.Wear your seat belts at all times when on the highways. (It is an offence fordrivers and front seat passengers not to wear seat belts on the high ways).4.Don’t carry passengers in the back of open pickup trucks. (Vehicle onlyinsured to carry amount of passengers as stipulated on certificate of registration/title).5.Don’t drive if you are consuming Alcoholic beverages or taking medication(drugs). Have designated driver (alcohol and drugs affect your vision andjudgement).6.Avoid making calls on cell phone when driving, it is best to pull off to the rightto make calls or to answer your cell phone, don’t text whiles driving.7.Wear your helmet at all times when operating or being carried as a passengeron a motor cycle.8.Only overtake if you have a clear view of the road ahead, never overtakearound blind curves or when driving over a hill.9.Drive within the speed limit at all times.10. Obey all traffic law and signs.

TRAFFIC SAFETY TIPS FOR DRIVERS

THINK! DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE

Seasons Greetings FromDepartment of Transport

THERE’S A THIN LINEBETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.





SCENES OF THE PANISCEA RESTAURANT AND BAR

GRAND OPENING OF THE PANISCEA THIS WEEKEND!

The OwnersYolanda Lucy Tuyub and Douglas Stables

The Employees

This weekend promises to

be an exciting one with theGala Opening of the longawaited Paniscea Restaurantand Bar here in “Sugar City”Orange Walk.

The Paniscea is located belowthe Banquitas House ofCulture and is nestled in themost scenic natural, naturesurroundings.

There has been tremendouswork done to completelyrestore, refurbish and redesignthis location. A work thatbegan in early September andwas at its finishing stages whenthe Northern Star Newspapervisited earlier this week.

Beside the breath- takingscenery, we met a group ofsome seventeen employeeswho were more than excited,to put it mildly, about openingday.These employees weunderstand each received sixweeks training in PublicRelations and Services.There is a Master Chef and aMaster Bartender which makesup a part of the team ofemployees of the Paniscea.Catering for locals, visitorsand tourists with the highestin quality, delicious food; awide assortment ofrefreshing drinks and drink-mixes both hard and soft; animmaculate surrounding andservice fit for royalty; ThePaniscea is the Northern StarHottest Event of the week.

The Hottest Events & Entertainment





FOOD AND NUTRITIONFood Allergy and Intolerances

Food allergies or food intol-erances affect nearly every-one at some point. Peopleoften have an unpleasant re-action to something they ateand wonder if they have afood allergy. One out of threepeople either say that theyhave a food allergy or thatthey modify the family dietbecause a family member issuspected of having a foodallergy. But only about threepercent of children have clini-cally proven allergic reactionsto foods. In adults, theprevalence of food allergydrops to about one percentof the total population.

This difference between theclinically proven prevalenceof food allergy and the pub-lic perception of the problemis in part due to reactionscalled “food intolerances”

rather than food allergies. Afood allergy, or hypersensi-tivity, is an abnormal re-sponse to a food that is trig-gered by the immune system.The immune system is notresponsible for the symp-toms of a food intolerance,even though these symptomscan resemble those of a foodallergy.

It is extremely important forpeople who have true foodallergies to identify them andprevent allergic reactions tofood because these reactionscan cause devastating illnessand, in some cases, be fatal.

How Allergic ReactionsWorkAn allergic reaction involvestwo features of the humanimmune response. One is theproduction of immunoglobu-

lin E (lgE), a type of proteincalled an antibody that circu-lates through the blood. Theother is the mast cell, a spe-cific cell that occurs in allbody tissues but is especiallycommon in areas of the bodythat are typical sites of aller-gic reactions, including thenose and throat, lungs, skin,and gastrointestinal tract.

The ability of a given indi-vidual to form lgE againstsomething as benign as foodis an inherited predisposition.Generally, such people comefrom families in which aller-gies are common - not nec-essarily food allergies butperhaps hay fever, asthma, orhives. Someone with two al-lergic parents is more likelyto develop food allergies thansomeone with one allergic

FACES ANDOF

BELIZEPRIZE

RULES!Appearing on

page 16 of everyissue of the

Northern StarNewspaper willbe a photo of aperson or loca-tion of Belize.Below in every

issue will appeara coupon. Fillout the couponidentifying theperson or areafrom which thephoto was taken

and win twomonths free sub-scription of theNorthern Star

Newspaper deliv-ered to your

door! Couponmay be delivered

or mailed toNorthern Star

Newspaper Ltd.#80 Otro Benque

Road Orange Walk

Town Belize, C. A.

Name:Address:Phone Number:Date of Newspaper Issue:Location Photo was Taken:

Promotional Coupon

TAKEDA RECIPESNy’m Good Belizean Bittles

Continue on page 18

Creole Christmas Fruit CakeTotal Time: 1hr 52 minsYield: 6 servings

Ingredients:Simple Syrup1 cup granulated sugar1 cup water1 1/2 tbsps lemon zest, cutin strips2 tablespoons lemon juice

For the Cake1/2 lb mixed dried fruits2 sticks unsalted butter atroom temperature1 cup plus 2tbsps granulatedsugar4 large eggs1/2 cup orange flavoredliqueur2 cups all-purpose flour1 tsp baking powder1/8 tsp salt1/8 tsp ground cinnamonpinch freshly grated nutmeg1/2 cup silvered almonds,toasted1/2 cup pecan pieces1/2 cup walnut pieces1/4 cup rum

Directions:Make a simple-syrup bycombining the sugar andwater in a medium-sizesaucepan over medium heat.Add the lemon zest and juiceand bring to boil, stirring todissolve the sugar. Boil for2 mins and remove from theheat.Combined the dried fruits ina large mixing bowl. Pour thesimple-syrup over them, tossto coat and let steep for 5mins. Strain and reserve thesyrup.Cream the butter and sugartogether in the bowl of anelectric mixer at low speed,occasionally scraping downthe sides of the bowl with arubber spatula. Beat until themixture is fluffy and smooth,about 2 mins.Add the eggs 1 at a time,mixing in between eachaddition on low speed andscraping down the sides of

the bowl as necessary. Add1/4 cup of the liqueur and mixto incorporate.Combine the flour, bakingpowder, salt, cinnamon andnutmeg in a mixing bowl andblend well. Add this mixture1/2 cup at a time to the buttermixture with the mixer on lowspeed, each time mixing untilsmooth, about 2 mins. Thebatter will be thick.Add the warm fruit and all ofthe nuts a little at a time,mixing well.Preheat the oven to 350degrees F.Lightly grease a cake pan with

Continued on page 18





Two Hundred and Twenty Five more House Lots!

TTtThe crowd were attentive during the ceremony eA joyfully hug for her Representative.

TTtPeople expressions of love for Hon.Gaspar VegaTT C.E.O Ministry N.R.E, Commissioner of Lands

in living colors at

www.belizenews.com/NorthernStar

neighborhood. Who do youcall...? Ghost Busters”!Here in Belize and in the worldfor that matter, we call thePOLICE!

Yes Police Men and Womenare as ordinary as the man onthe streets. Naturally there willalways be elements ofindividuals who join thedepartment for the wrong

reasons. Do we then throwaway the baby while throwingout the bath-water?

We in the media must play ourpart in helping to create theatmosphere of friendship andcooperation between thecommunity and the police bysometimes publiclyacknowledging andexpressing that we are gratefulthat we have people who areprepared to take up thetoughest job in town whichinvolves risking their own lifeand the livelihood and welfareof their families to protectingothers.

Many of my colleagues in themedia may see thingsdifferently and that’s simplybecause we are different.

Editorial


Here at the Northern Star under the name of our newspaperappear three words that define us. Information, Illuminationand Inspiration add those words unto the literal meaning ofour name and

Read

follow the light!



http://www.belizenews.com/NorthernStar



Advent of a new style of Public Meeting in the north! Corozal South East Public Luncheon Meeting

Chendo Urbina, Landy Burns, Raul Rosado, Deni Grijalva,Eddy Webster and Hugo Patt (Left -Right seated)

Mr. David Akierman Chaired the Public Luncheon Meeting

Hon. Gaspar Vega / Mr. Raul Rosado

Leader of the Northern Zone Hon. Pablo Marin

The Northern Star

Newspaper was treated towitness for the first time aunique style of Public Meetingthat has been implemented bythe Northern Zone of TheUnited Democratic Party.

On Friday we visited the SanJoaquin Village where theresidents of the village allgathered under a tent to hearand discuss plans andconcerns with their StandardBearer Raul Rosado who wasaccompanied at the head tableby Servando Samos, theformer U.D.P StandardBearer in the said CorozalSouth East Constituency wholost in the General Electionsby a mere sixteen votes.

This innovative style ofPublic meeting was chairedby Mr. David Akierman andsaw the integral participationof the Deputy Prime Minister,Hon. Gaspar Vega; theMinister of Health, Hon.Pablo Marin; Minister ofLabor and LocalGovernment, Hon. GabrielMartinez and Mr. EddieWebster along with all theUnited Democratic Party’sStandard Bearers of theNorth.

Hon. Gaspar Vega answer concerns during the meeting

There were candiddiscussions about individualand community issues frommatters concerning land tomatters concerning health andbecause all of the Membersof Cabinet from the North

were present, thoseconcerns were address onthe spot by them.

Many villagers told us thatnever before have the peopleof San Joaquin have the

opportunity to sit down with somany officials of governmentand dialogue about mattersaffecting them in their village,while receiving concrete on thespot solutions where possible.

The advent of this new style ofPublic Meeting is far advancefrom the traditional PublicMeetings we have grown soaccustom to, which althoughwill always have a place inBelizean Politics is more of apep-rally.

We congratulate the organizersof this event, the San JoaquinCommittee along with Mr.David Akierman and all theparticipants who together madethe session productive andsuccessful.





CREOLE PROVERBS


Dah fool de talk but dah nofool de lissen.

English: It’s a fool that isspeaking, but it’s not a foolwho is listening.

Meaning: The smart personis the one who listens well.

Mek yu slef floclath an pipplewahn wipe dehn foot pahnyu.

English: Make yourself to bea floorcloth and people willwipe their foot on you.

Meaning: People will exploityour weakness.

Nuh heng yu hat higher danyu can reach.

English: Don’t hang your hathigher than you can reach.

Meaning: Don’t spend morethan you could afford.

Same knife weh kill sheep killgoat.

English: The same knife thatkills the sheep kills the sheep.

Meaning: What you do toothers can happen to you.

Protest against Hon. George Price and Guatemala at the Memorial Park

Horse Track now Marion Jones Stadium Plotting of the May Pole






The New Town Barracks Area now B.T.L Park beside Princess Casino

Cart Vendor selling fruitsCart Vendor selling ice-cream made with the original hand-tub





Your Weekly Horoscope

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius Taurus Leo

Pisces Gemini Virgo

Aries Cancer Libra

October 23 - November 21

November 22 - December 21

December 22 - January 19

January 20 - February 18

February 19 - March 20

March 21 - April 19

April 20 - May 20

May 21 - June 20

June 21 - July 22

July 23 - August 22

August 23 - September 22

September 23 - October 22

Jokes of the WeekFaces and Places of Belize

Find out all you can; secretenemies may lead you astray.It might be time to shake aleg and do a personalmakeover. You could makeextra cash through creativehobbies. You’re not yourusual self this week.

If you feel insecure aboutsomeone, this may be to dowith issues of power anddominance. You have to de-cide what you want, andwhat you don’t want.

You have to carefullyprioritize to avoid economicloss. Stay realistic. There isa new course to be set and itis good to prepare your strat-egies.

Relations with sisters,neighbors or a partner mayreach crisis point. You needto remain grounded andrefuse to be manipulated.

This is the time to take a ma-jor courageous step forward,which may mean that youhave to drop some relation-ships which cannot bear theload. You go stronger.

There is a lot to do and peo-ple demand your attention inaddition. Time is short andyou need to focus on thegoals at hand.

New roles and relationshipare in the process of reform-ing in a group. Some peoplecan be too much; some peo-ple disappear. You need tokeep things simple.

There is a sense that you areundergoing a transformationwhich means that you haveto cut through to what is es-sential. The result is a newand more whole sense of self.

There are intense feelings un-der the surface, and this canresult in power battles andnecessary discussions. Givelots of space and keep cool.

Female colleagues can berather challenging at work,but perhaps it is just aboutjealousy and uncertainty. Butit is healthy to state your po-sition and not get thrown.

There is a sense that thingsreally start moving and thatyour initiatives give results.At the same time you have thespace and freedom to dowhat you want.

Even though you have tocompromise quite a bit yourealize the wisdom of doingso. You get the chance to gothrough old material oncemore.

A Really Bad DayThere was this guy at a bar, just looking at his drink. He stayslike that for half of an hour.

Then, this big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him,takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down. Thepoor man starts crying. The truck driver says, “Come onman, I was just joking. Here, I’ll buy you another drink. I justcan’t stand to see a man cry”.

“No, it’s not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fallasleep, and I go late to my office. My boss, outrageous, firesme. When I leave the building, to my car, I found out it wasstolen. The polce said that they can do nothing. I get a cab toreturn home, and when I leave it, I remember I left my walletand credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away”.

“I go home, and when I get there, I find my wife in bed withthe gardener. I leave home, and come to this bar. And justwhen I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you showup and drink my poison.”






Barracks Road the view is from Queen Street

Street- side Vendors





parent.

Before an allergic reaction canoccur, a person who is pre-disposed to form lgE tofoods first has to be exposedto the food. As this food isdigested, it triggers certaincells to produce specificc lgEin large amounts. The lgE isthen released and attaches tothe surface of mast cells. Thenext time the person eats thatfood, it interacts with specificlgE on the surface of the mastcells and triggers the cells torelease chemicals such as his-tamine. Depending upon thetissue in which they are re-leased, these chemicals willcause a person to have vari-ous symptoms of food al-lergy. If the mast cells releasechemicals in the ears, nose,and throat, a person may feelan itching in the mouth andmay have trouble breathing orswallowing. If the affectedmast cells are in thegastrointestinal tract, the per-son may have abdominal painor diarrhea. The chemicalsreleased by skin mast cells,in contrast, can prompt hives.

Food allergens (the food frag-


FOOD AND NUTRITIONFood Allergy and Intolerances

ments responsible for an al-lergic reaction) are proteinswithin the food that usually arenot broken down by the heatof cooking or by stomachacids or enzymes that digestfood. As a result, they sur-vive to cross thegastrointestinal lining, enter thebloodstream, and go to tar-get organs, causing allergicreactions throughout thebody.

The complex process of di-gestion affects the timing andthe location of a reaction. Ifpeople are allergic to a par-ticular food, for example, theymay first experience itching inthe mouth as they start to eatthe food. After the food isdigested in the stomach, ab-dominal symptoms such asvomiting, diarrhea, or painmay start. When the food al-lergens enter and travelthrough the bloodstream, theycan cause a drop in bloodpressure. As the allergensreach the skin, they can in-duce hives or eczema, orwhen they reach the lungs,they may cause asthma. Allof this takes place within fewminutes to an hour.

butter or non-stick bakingspray. Pour the batter intothe pan and bake until goldenbrown and the top springsback when touched, about 45to 50 mins (turning the panto ensure even browning after30 mins.)Cool the cake for 20 mins inthe pan, then remove andcontinue to cool upside-down on wire racks.Make tiny holes with atoothpick randomly on therounded end of the cake.

TAKEDA RECIPESNy’m Good Belizean Bittles

Creole Christmas Fruit CakeContinued from page 11

Combine the remainingsimple syrup with theremaining 1/4 of liqueur andthe rum. Wrap the cake in alayer of cheesecloth and pour1/4 cup of the syrup over thetop of cake. Store in a plasticzip bag for 3 to 4 days untilthe cake is slightly stale.Sprinkle syrup over cakeonce every 2 to 3 days untilall of the syrup is used. Letthe cake age for up to 3weeks before eating.

ReadThe Northern Star Newspaper

forInformation,Illumination

andInspiration

Santino “Red Bull” runs wild inCaribbean Shores

On Sunday some onethousand six hundred andeighty voters of the CaribbeanShores Division went to thepolls to vote for a candidatewho will replace the Hon.Carlos Perdomo as the U.D.PStandard Bearer for theconstituency in the nextGeneral Election.

In what is unquestionable thelargest convention ever heldin the Caribbean ShoresDivision the UnitedDemocratic Party is poisedonce again to regain thatConstituency Seat in theHouse of Representative.

The fiercely contestedconvention ended withSantiago “Red Bull” CastilloJr. receiving nine hundred andseven votes. Chandra NisbetCansino received six hundredand sixteen votes and AnnMarie Williams received onehundred and thirty sevenvotes. There were twentyspoiled ballots.

Rosendo ‘Chendo’ Urbina Jr. and FamilyThreatened

Continued from front page

Head of CIBMiguel Segura

The team of five men madetheir escape in one ofUrbina’s vehicle which waslater recovered the followingday on one of the feederroads of that area.

On Wednesday, December7th the Minister of PoliceDoug Singh and Head of CIBMiguel Segura held a PressBriefing regarding theattempted extortion ofRosend ‘Chendo’ Urbina Jr.

Miguel Segura disclosed thedetails of what occurred onSunday night and announcedthat the C.I.B has launched afull investigation into thematter. He has also advicedthe family into not paying themoney demanded by thesemen. “...they were moreintimidating him, but therewas no bargaining chipneither here so we advisedhim; listen do not pay...”

The head of the C.I.B gavethe assurance that this actwould not go unpunish andthat they are doing everything to get to the bottom ofit all.Word around is that this mayhave something to do withthe cartels operating out ofMexico and the C.I.B Headis not leaving that possibilityout. “Yes the informationmay come out that lot ofpeople using the name toinstill fear. We are notruling it out. So we look atall of these angles”.

Minister of PoliceDoug Singh

Santiago Castillo Jr.





From The Ministry Of Sports

Ismael “Miley” GarciaNational Sports Coordinator

Ministry of Sports

Inter-Ministerial Championship & Firms ChampionshipTues. Dec. 6th 7:00pm 43 Ministerial Ministry of Defense & Immigration/Ministry of Police & Public Safety VS Min. of Education & Youth/Min. of Public Service, & Sports

8:00pm 44 Firms Social Security Board VS Builders’ Hardware/Courts (Belize) Ltd.

Thurs.Dec. 8th 7:00pm 45 Firms Builders’ Hardware/Courts (Belize) Ltd. VS Social Security Board

8:00pm 46 Ministerial Min. of Education & Youth/Min. of Public Service, & Sports VS Ministry of Defense & Immigration/Ministry of Police & Public Safety

Tues. Dec. 13th 7:00pm 47 Ministerial Ministry of Defense & Immigration/Ministry of Police & Public Safety VS Min. of Education & Youth/Min. of Public Service, & Sports

8:00pm 48 Firms Social Security Board VS Builders’ Hardware/Courts (Belize) Ltd.

COME ON OUT TO SUPPORT YOUR TEAM WITH THESE 2 EXCITING VOLLEYBALL GAMES STARTING AT 7:00 PM AT THE UB GYM IN BELMOPAN!

THIS IS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!

SPORTS NEWSDECEMBER 7, 2011

Elections for the members ofthe Football Federation ofBelize (FFB) continue in allthe football districts. OnSunday at the FFBheadquarters there was onesuch election for the newExecutive of the BelmopanFootball Association. Sincethe slate presented by Mr.Peter Alvarez was disallowedby the Electoral Commissionand, subsequently lost itsappeal to the ElectoralAppeals Commission of theFFB, the slate presented bythe incumbent Mr. MarlonTillett ran unopposed. Eightteams participated inSunday’s election. Mr.Marlon Tillett and his slate

were elected. Up to the timeof this report we have not seenan official release of Sunday’sresults.

In other FFB election newsthe upcoming elections for theToledo District will be heldon Thursday, December 8that 7:00p.m. So far two slateshave been nominated andaccepted for that electionaccording to a release of theFootball Federation of Belize.These are the slates of theincumbent, Mr. Cecil “Andy”Tillett and Mr. Allen Genus.

On Saturday, December 10that 1:00p.m. the election for theCayo District FootballAssociation executive willalso be held in Santa Elena,Cayo. Again we have learntthat two slates, one led by theincumbent, Mr. KentGabourel and the other byMr. Earl Trapp have beennominated and accepted bythe Electoral Commission. Inthe next edition we will updateyou on the results of theseelections.

Interdepartmental softball andvolleyball are also blazing inBelmopan. These

tournaments are sponsoredby the Ministry of the PublicService, under the patronageof the Honorable JohnSaldivar, as a way of fosteringinter ministerial exchangesand building camaraderieamong members ofBelmopan’s public officers.The softball tournament isbeing run with the kindassistance of the CayoSoftball Association andVolleyball with the generousassistance of the BelmopanCity Volleyball Association.The games are played onweekdays and offer anexciting opportunity for anevening outing and relaxationin the city of Belmopan.

Both tournaments have nowentered the playoff stage andin the case of volleyball it isnow a best of three series thatbegun this week. TheImmigration/Police team andMinistry of Education arebattling for the title of 2011Inter Ministerial Champions.In game one of this seriesplayed on Monday nightImmigration/Police team gotthe better of their rivalsMinistry of Education team.This means that another

victory for Immigration/Police would seal the deal onMonday night but we expectthat the Ministry of Educationwill do their preparatoryhomework before Monday’smatchup.

In Softball the playoffs arenow ready to begin with fourteams having qualified to thissecond round. Leading thefour from the results of thefirst round was the Policeteam. Of course the playoffsare a whole new series andnone of the teams will allowthemselves to be handcuffedby the Police team. Weexpect this round to beexplosive and all softball fansare encourage to come outand have a good time as weenjoy the healthy rivalryamong the various Ministries.

Coach Tarr, who is the newProgram DevelopmentOfficer for Basketball at theNational Sports Council, hasbeen making his rounds of thecountry, promoting basketballat all the junior levels. Seethe next issue of the NorthernNewspaper for a report onthis program.





It is with great sadness that the Minister, Chief Executive Officer and Staff ofthe Ministry of Transport, Communication and NEMO along with familyannounce the death of Engineer, Wayne Andy Williams of Belmopan, proprietorof Williams Engineering Services and Director of the Central Building Authority.His “unexpected death” occurred on December 6th, 2011. He is survived byhis beloved wife Guadalupe Terry Williams.

Sons: Karsten Tariq and Skyler WilliamsParents: Reverend Richard Williams and Lunette ParksGrand Mother: Idorine OrtizSisters: Delia Gentle Sharon Baird Debocali Williams Allison Williams Lisa Williams Denise Williams Shanda Williams Dr. Randa Williams

Brothers: Max Williams Steven Williams Roger WilliamsHe is also survived by nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, friends at the Ministry ofTransport, Communication and NEMO, Central Building Authority, otherrelatives and friends.Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.The attention of all relatives and friends is called to this announcement.

WAYNE ANDY WILLIAMS Sunrise: Sept. 17th. 1966 - Sunset: Dec. 6th. 2011

May his Soul REST IN PEACE.

Department of TransportAnnouncement





INTERNATIONAL NEWSBrazil: 33 Dead in Truck-Bus Crash

Sao Paulo (AP) - Brazilianauthorities say a tractor-trailor has slammed into a buscarrying sugarcane cutters,killing at least 33 people andinjuring 13 others.

A police spokesman says thetruck driver lost control as hewas rounding a corner andheading down a hill early Sat-urday December 3, 2011 neara town called Miracles in the

northeastern state of Bahia.The truck was carrying a loadof contruction materials,which also slammed into thebus.

The driver of the truck sur-vived and is in a local hospi-tal. Some of the others in-jured are in grave condition.

The police official spoke oncondition of anonymity, say-ing he was not authorized toprovide details.

He says an investigation isongoing.

Workers checking the rubble of the bus after accident

Facebook Settleswith FTC over

Deception Charges

By Barbara OrtutayNew YorkFacebook is settling with theFederal Trade Commissionover charges it deceived con-sumers with its privacy set-tings to get people to sharemore personal informationthat they originally agreed to.

The FTC had charged thatthe social network told peo-ple they could keep the infor-mation they share private,then allowed it to be makepublic.

The charges go back to atleast 2009, when Facebookchanged its privacy settingsso that information users mayhave deemed private, such astheir list of friends, suddenlybecame viewable to everyone.

“They didn’t warn users thatthis change was coming, orget their approval in ad-vance”, the FTC said.

The FTC said the settlementrequires Facebook to getpeople’s approval beforechanging how it shares theirdata.

In a blog post, FacebookCEO Mark Zucherberg saidthe company has made a “abunch of mistakes”, But headds that this has often over-shadowed the good workFacebook has done. He saysFacebook has addressedmany of the FTC’s concernsalready.

The Settlement is similar toone Google agreed to earlierthis year over its Buzz socialnetworking service. LikeGoogle, Facebook hasagreed to obtain assessmentsof its privacy pratices by in-dependent, third party audi-tors for the next 20 years.

Facebook isn’t paying any-thing to settle the case,though future violations couldlead to civil fines.

Zuckerberg said Facebookhas created two new execu-tive positions - a chief privacyofficer of products and achief privacy officer ofpolicy as part of its responseto the settlement.

iPhone 4 ExplodesMidflight on

Australian AirlineBy Lauren EffronGood Morning America

Apple’s iPhones are alwaysamong the hottest gadgets ofany holiday shopping season,but for one passenger on anAustralian flight, the phonewas too hot to handle - liter-ally.

While on Australian flight Re-gional Express ZL319, a pas-senger’s iPhone 4 (not theiPhone 4S, which is Apple’slatest model) suddenly started“emitting a significant amountof dense smoke, accompa-nied by a red glow,” accord-ing to a Regional Expressstatement.

The plane, which was flyingfrom Lismore to Sydney, wasin the midst of landing whenthe incident occured. “In ac-cordance with companystandard safety procedures,the flight attendant carried outrecovery actions immedi-ately, and the red glow wasextinguished successfully,”according to Regional Ex-press’ statement.

After landing, the iPhone washanded over to officials at theAustralian Transport SafetyBureau. There’s no officialword yet on what caused thephone to combust.

Exploding Apple products

are rare, but explosions havehappened in the past, mostlyrelated to the devices’lithiumion batteries overheat-ing.

The European Union lauchedan investigation in 2009 aftermultiple instances of iPhonesand iPod Touches explodingor catching fire midflight werereported in the U. K., Hol-land, France and Sweden.

Apple also recalled its firstgeneration of iPod nanos soldbetween September 2005 andDecember 2006 because thebattery would overheat and“pose a safety risk,” accord-ing to the company’s website.

Elderly ManReturns Cash Stolenfrom Sears in ‘40s

Associated Press

Seattle (AP) - The managerof the Sears store in down-town Seattle says an elderlyman has repaid - with inter-est - cash the man says hestole in the late 1940s.

KING-TV reports that theman hand-delivered anenvelope addressed to“Sears manager”. Insidewere a note and a $100 bill.

The Note said the man stole$20 to $30 from a cashregister decades ago andwanted to pay back $100.

Manager Gary Lorentsonsays he thinks the man’sconscience “has been both-ering him for the past 60years”.

Store security camerasrecorded the man, but Searsofficials said they don’tknow who he is and theywon’t release the video.

The Store plans to put themoney toward helpingneedy families in the holidayseason.





INTERNATIONAL NEWSEgyptian Election Results deepen Israeli Fears

By Dan Perry, JosefFererman

Jerusalem - For Israelis, theIslamist election surge inEgypt is depressing confir-mation of a deeply primalfear: An inhospitable regionis becoming more hostile still.This sentiment has been ac-companied by a bittersweetsense that Israel was dis-missed as alarmist when itwarned months ago that theArab Spring - widely per-ceived as the doing of liber-als yearning to be free - couldlead to Islamist governments.

Speaking for most peoplehere, Israeli Defense Minis-ter Ehud Barak called theemerging result of the firstround of parliamentary vot-ing in Egypt “very, very dis-turbing” and expressed con-cern about the fate of the land-mark 1979 Egyptian Israelipeace treaty.

Experts here, as elsewhere,point out that political Islamcomes in varying shades ofgreen: The Muslim Brother-hood in Egypt has about a10 percent lead over the moreradical Salafists and appearsfar less eager to impose a de-vout lifestyle or seek conflict.

But most Israelis appear tohave little patience for suchdistinctions. There is a sensethat moderate Islamists arepulling off something of acon, lulling opponents intocomplacency, projecting aseemingly benign piety to ex-ploit a naive public’s hungerfor clean government afteryears of corrupt, despoticrule. And there is a longmemory of Iran, oncefriendly to Israel, wheresecular forces including themilitary helped depose theShah in 1979 only to swiftlybe streamrolled by funda-mentalists.

Some of the fears - for ex-ample, that an Islamist - ledgovernment in Egypt wouldmold itself in Iran’s image -may be overblown. Iran’sclerical rule is unique in theMiddle East, and the MuslimBrotherhood stresses theidea of a theocracy has noplace in its ideology. Instead,it says it’s committed to anEgypt that is civil, demo-cratic, modern and constitu-tional.

Israel concerns about politi-cal Islam can be traced to itslongstanding battle againstHezbollah guerrillas in Leba-non and more recently to2006, when the IslamistHamas group swept Palestin-ian legislative elections.

The Hamas victory triggereda process that ultimately leftthe militant group, considereda terrorist organization bymuch of the world for its sui-

cide bombing campaigns andother violent acts, in controlof the Gaza Strip. Since then,Hamas and other militantshave used the territory as alaunching pad for firing rock-ets into southern Israel.

The stakes in Egypt are muchhigher. Egypt is the largestand most influential Arab na-tion, with a U. S. - backedarmy that has staunchlyhonored a 1979 peace agree-ment with Israel.

The peace agreement hasbeen a cornerstone of Israelisecurity policy for three dec-ades, allowing the military todivert resources to fight foesin Lebanon, Gaza and theWest Bank. The treaty hasalso been a boon for Egypt,bringing in billions in U. S.military assistance.

Digging for gold, children work in harsh conditions, paid with bags of dirtBy Jessica HopperRock Center

Samba Diarra, 15, journeyed200 miles to live in a plastichut alone and work in anartisanal gold mine in Mali.The teen came to the mine tohelp support his five youngerbrothers and sisters.

Diarra’s parents can’t affordto send him to schoolbecause he has to support hisyounger siblings. He is oneof at least 20,000 childrenworking in Mali’s artisanalmines.

Mali is Africa’s third largestgold producer. Artisanalmines rely on heavy humanlabor and little mechanization.People throughout WestAfrica are flocking to workin the primitive pits.

“Globally, we’ve seen anincrease with the number of

artisanal gold miners becauseof the rise of gold prices, butthat doesn’t necessarilytranslate to better livingconditions,” said JulianeKippenberg who helpedauthor a Human RightsWatch Report on Mali’smines.

The skyrocketing price ofgold has led to a rush on theprecious metal in the UnitedStates and throughout theworld, but some of the miningthat’s helping feed the world’scraving involves child laborand a dangerous processinvolving mercury.

Approximately 100,000 to200,000 people in Mali areworking in artisanal mines,according to the HumanRights Watch report.Kippenberg told NBC NewsChief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel that 20 to 30percent of the workforce in

African artisanal mines ischild labor. The reportentitled, “A Poisonous Mix:Child Labor, Mercury andArtisanal Gold Mining inMali,” details abysmalworking conditions.

The children working in themines some as young as sixyears old, help dig shafts withpickaxes, lift and carry heavybags of ore and pan the goldwith an amalgamationprocess involving mercury.

Diarra spent his first daypulling up gold ore that wasmined by men working deepunderground. At the end ofhis first day, he was paid witha bag of dirt. Gold iscurrently trading at around$1742 an ounce.

Some children working in themines never get paid. Thosewho do, get just a few dollarsa week.

Diarra still has dreams of alife away from the mines.Kippenberg said that it will behard for Diarra to leave themines.

Malian law actually bans childlabor in artisanal mines, butthe law is not heavilyenforced.

One miner told Rock Centerthat he simply can’t afford thefees to send his children toschool so instead they workwith him.

Approximately 12 percent ofthe world’s gold is born fromthe grueling process ofartisanal mining. The gold issold to middlemen andeventually ends up in placeslike Dubai and Switzerlandwhere it is melted and mixedwith gold from large scalemines before it’s turned intojewelry worn throughout theworld.




no. 01 tuesday november15, 2011 price: $1.00 ... - belize...

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