belize times

2 THE BELIZE TIMES Sunday, February 6, 2011

THE BELIZE TIMESEDITOR

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Broken Promises3 Years of UDP LiesOne of the most popular criticisms that politicians and political

parties get is that “they are all the same”. For many, Belize’s two main political parties have been around longer than they have, so it is easy to forget the origins, philosophies and policies that separate the parties. But one only has to reflect on the last three years to realize and experi-ence the differences between the PUP and the UDP.

In 2008 Dean Barrow promised Belizeans a better way of life. In-stead life has never been this hard. The report card is dismal. The economy is failing. The cost of living is at an all time high, and now even the cost of dying has skyrocketed. Wages are down and unem-ployment has reached to crisis levels. Three years into his term Dean Barrow’s legacy is complete failure.

Let’s look at what he said back in 2008. It has been nothing but bro-ken promises and lies. In a statement at the inaugural ceremonies of the National Assembly on 14 March 2008 he declared:

“We will lower GST. We will reduce the cost of living. We will bring down the price of fuel. We will distribute land to the poor. We will ex-pand free education. We will create jobs”. ………..(All Lies)

“We will do this, while stamping out ministerial corruption and cre-ating an administration properly policed by the Contractor General, the Auditor General, the Ombudsman, and the Upper House”. ………… (Lies again)

“Pledge to provide openness, honesty and transparency in the op-eration of the administration”...……….(Lies, Lies and more lies).

Recently PUP Leader, Hon. John Briceno visited various districts and looked at a list of promises (21 pledges they called them) made to the people of Belize by the UDP:

No corruption ………………………………….. LieBring down the cost of utilities ………………… LieCreate 5000 new jobs …………………………. LieNo victimization ………………………………. LieNew text book program ………………………. Lie$300 for every high school student…………… LieBelizeans will get shares in the oil company ….. LieBring down the cost of living ………………........Lie

Apart from the list of lies above, the UDP have showed arrogance and disregard for the people of Belize in many ways. They lie to the people repeatedly, spin stories to try to cover up their incompetence, disregard the repeated requests of the people and social partners to en-gage in meaningful dialog in regard to oil, offshore drilling and drilling in protected areas as seen nightly in the news reports, and in general snub the efforts of experts to get proper policies in place for environ-mental compliance.

It is a cruel joke that the Prime Minister claims to have saved the sugar industry, the tourism industry, the citrus industry and others. The fact is that due to the incompetence of his ministers of government, those industries have collapsed and Belizeans have and will continue to pay the price.

The last 3 years have shown what greed and abuse can do to a coun-try. Barrow is rich. His family is rich. His cronies are living lives of luxury, while the majority of Belizeans are poor and suffering. With such blatant abuse of power, it is surprising that Belize is not headed in the direction of countries like Egypt, rocked by protests in the street. Unlike the UDP who advocated for civil unrest, the PUP has chosen to be a responsible opposition. Yes, there is so much to oppose, and the PUP is doing that, but the path of violence has not been used.

Experience the difference, Belizeans and realize that the PUP is ready – not to destroy, but to rebuild, to lead and to offer real solutions. The process to select standard bearers is well on the way and the people are ready. The UDP reign of terror is almost over. Hope is on the way.

PUP says Barrow Administration should revoke Oil

Exploration LicenceTuesday, 31st January 2010

The People’s United Party joins other concerned Belizeans in strongly condemning the Government’s granting of a petroleum license to special in-terests. This decision by the Barrow Administration to grant a petroleum exploration license in secret to the Prime Minister’s nephew is grossly hypo-critical, cynical and was done without the legally required competitive bid-ding process.

The People’s United Party particularly objects to the Government’s deci-sion to grant this largest onshore concession in a nationally protected area without consultation at a time when the entire question of petroleum explo-ration – both onshore and offshore – is under scrutiny. It is also concerned at the cynicism of a decision to grant a license to a recently formed com-pany without petroleum expertise in an area that geologists have repeatedly claimed to be not suitable for oil exploration.

The People’s United Party calls on the Prime Minister to immediately revoke this license in light of its obvious nepotism in relation to his nephew, Kimano Barrow and further express concern for the non-competitive basis on which it was awarded, and the absence of full disclosure of the terms and conditions included in the license.

The PUP also calls on the Prime Minister to make public the conditions under which this license was negotiated and approved in order to make good on his personal commitment to full accountability, and to honour his sacred pledge “to provide openness, honesty and transparency in the operations of his administration.”

Continued on page 33

Looking at the jewel through the eyes of internet reviews

and blogsBy C.P. MathersIt saddens me to research our

country on the internet and have so many negative comments and re-views pop up. I remember when Be-lize wasn’t known, it was just a little undiscovered paradise on earth, with only a few outside visitors knowing what true beauty we had to offer. Tourism is a major part of economy, employing a vast number of our fel-low Belizeans and feeding many fam-ilies throughout the country. Belize was known for its safe streets, friend-ly people, beautiful places to visit and great food. Three of these still exist except safety! A key part of attracting more people to our little heaven on earth. The year 2010 will be known, hands down, as the most gruesome year in our nation’s history, with 130 murders and other heinous crimes. What is happening with our country? We are letting it flush its way down the drain!

I remember the days my father told me stories of how wonderful and safe Belize was. It is understood that in this day and age our popula-tion is greater and the demand for jobs is way higher than it was back in the 1940s but is it still a reason to push our country to where it is now? If the demand for jobs is higher, why


Dog attacks toddler

Investigators found syringe next to body

Suicide suspected in death of Minister Elvin Penner’s brother

Cayo District, February 1st, 201129 year old Irvin Penner, who is

the younger brother of Government Minister Elvin Penner, was to celebrate

his first wedding anniversary in April 2011, but it is believed a series of events led him to take his own life over the weekend.

On Saturday morning, Penner’s body was discovered at a farm near Ca-malote Village. Beside the body, inves-tigators say they found a syringe and a dark substance on his inner left elbow. Penner’s vehicle was also in the area.

Penner was a resident of Belmopan City. He had gotten married in April last year.

Penner lived with bi-polar disease,

which is a disorder that affects one’s mood at an irregular pace. Penner was under medication, so it is not clear whether that was factor in the tragedy.

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011A baby girl is receiving medical

treatment at the Karl Heusner Me-morial Hospital after a dog viciously attacked her and bit her on the head. The incident took place at the family’s home in the Jerusalem area of Collet, which is located in a swampy area ac-cessible only by London bridges on Antelope Street Extension.

The information is sketchy as we go to press because her parents had gone with her to the hospital and no one was at the house to furnish any kind of information. Hence, we could not establish how the little girl, identi-

fied to us as Lupita Padilla, got under the house where the dog was, but the pet was tied and neighbours who heard her mother screaming for help, dashed through the overgrown swamp to pull the child away just in time. They had to use a machete to chop the animal on the head before he let the child go.

An ambulance could not enter the yard because of the condition of the terrain so the neighbours had to carry Padilla over the makeshift walkway out to the waiting vehicle before it could take her for treatment. She suffered at least two bite punctures, one to the head and another to her throat.

Sunday, February 6, 2011 THE BELIZE TIMES 19


Rod says: February 2, 2011 at 7:10 am This will not end here it will go up again until the people of belize finally get fed up of the corruption going on in belize and march on this no good gov. they are upping the price of fuel only to keep their families and friends living like fat hogs of the backs of the poor belizeans who cant even buy food anymore because of the corruption going on in this gov. well revolt is in the air we no a take it no more enough is enough out with barrow out with this corrupt gov.

Belizeans 1 said: Friday, January 28, 2011, 14:58 Barrow’s nephew Kimano will make millions with the oil drilling. That’s why the PM is now in favour. Barrow doesn’t care for Belize only his family and cronies. This man is greedy and evil!

Hardworking Belizean says: February 2, 2011 at 9:25 am Ridiculous, most definitely! No wonder we are seen as the gateway for all the drug lords and terrorists around the world when even the security of our beloved nation is hanging from a thread because of the incompetence of our PM & the Nat’l Security Min.!!!! We are already on the watch and we continue to do nonsense! “Fool the talk but dah no fool di listen!”…are we as Belizeans gonna continue swallowing everything being shoved down our throats?!!!

Josie says: January 29, 2011 at 7:28 am See what I mean, the Prime Minister and his family is raping the county. This guy has no knowledge of oil drilling and environmental impacts which can be involved. Because he is public utilities chairman does not make him qualified, he got that position because of his relationship to the Prime Minister. WE NEED EARLY ELECTIONS IN BELIZE OR START WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN EGYPT

Rod says: January 29, 2011 at 9:26 am Another case of blatant corruption all the barrow family getting all the consessions in belize they are all eating steak while the rest of the belizeans fight over the bone and in some cases the shadow of the bone ,wake up belizeans you think the pup was bad well think again this gov. is way worse this pm is doing it openly appointing and giving every job every position every consession to his family and friends while the poor belizeans are struggling and being killed raped and mamed on the streets well wake up belizeans wake up smell the napom its coming from the pm office.

Shy says: January 29, 2011 at 11:44 pm The most disgusting part is that we the Belizean people are not even asked if we agree to people drilling here or not. We have no say in any dam thing. This needs to change people need fi stand up for there rights. In big matters like this the Belizean people should be consulted!


The country of Belize is a very unique one! There are so few people yet such vast resources. Reminds me of this saying, “You don’t miss the water until the well runs dry”! In the country of Taiwan there are millions of people; so many that all the land has been used up and the only way to build is on top of an exist-ing structure.

There was one young man living in Taiwan who told me that to park your car, you would have to buy a space which would cost you somewhere around eighty thousand Belize dollars. On the contrary, in Belize, we have land to throw away and therefore we do not see it as a limited resource that will eventually run out. Look at the math, eighty thousand gets you a parking space in one county, while eight thousand gets you acres in another! No wonder Belize is like gold to everyone except its native inhabitants!

It is very easy to do business in Belize. But our schools teach us to work for someone else many times rather than encouraging and training us to have our own business! Because many of us living here do not see the opportunities to make a very prosperous life in the country, it takes citizens of other countries to migrate here and take advantage of the various business opportunities.

It is easy to do business in Belize because we compete in only small, popular and obvious areas while leaving many other business opportunities open. We do not try to specialize in anything…ok maybe we do specialize in working for someone else! I am trying hard in my own personal life to change this attitude.

Before I get too carried away lets look at that topic at hand for today. Last week I promised for us to look at each servant from the scripture “Matthew 25” in greater detail. I begin with the servant who received only one talent. He had the attitude of the mentally poor. Remember, we are looking at the difference in thinking between the poor, the rich, and the middle class. We are coming from the biblical truth that these conditions are not based on what you have or don’t have, but rather usually a direct result of how you think!

Last week we discovered that the poor servant was firstly afraid; secondly, slothful; and thirdly, wicked. He misused the money planting it in the ground rather than investing it.

Translating this to our modern reality of 2011 this is how we, the poor, think! The poor will hang out around those who are going no where and have no plans or aims in life. They love habits that are counterproductive. For example if you are into gambling you are taking on a very deadly habit!

People have lost their homes, jobs, families, and more importantly their peace of mind, hoping to make a quick buck and not going through the more important process of planning, working and learning how to both spend and save! It is not how much money you win. It is rather your values, standards and foundational principles, which determine your success in life.

As we see with the servant, the poor never thought of how a possession could generate finance. This guy had money in his hand but preferred to bury it than to simply put it in the bank allowing it to gain interest! The poor does not save but are big spenders with very little sense of priority! They will invest in a three hundred dollar tennis shoe but there is no food on the table, buy a twenty seven inch Plasma television, while there is a large hole on the side of their ply-wood house.

The poor buys things without a specific, well-thought out purpose. They prefer to beg and borrow, sometimes even to steal, rather than to practice dili-gence and investment in personal upgrading. The poor is satisfied with ‘what is’, therefore lacking vision and foresight, while being more comfortable laboring for those who are considered “rich”!

As with the servant, the poor is normally characterized as slothful, meaning late and lazy, barely able to do the minimum task that is assigned to them. They are complacent preferring to do enjoyable things that are gratifying but fatally drain their resources and potential for success. Sitting and watching soaps, or playing X box 360 all day, hanging out on the street corner, claiming a ‘block’, ‘set’ or ‘street’ while not owning a piece of land may seem to be fun, but can become very counter productive!

As you can see, there is not much good to say about the mentality of the poor. This mentality can be achieved without effort, and attained by simply not pushing yourself and doing that which comes easily!

Finally this servant knew what his boss wanted yet knowing this, made no effort to work at accomplishing what was required. The mind of the poor lacks effort and toiling. Even if they hear what is good and what works, because of the necessary effort needed to accomplish success, they prefer to remain in their cur-rent realities even if that results in discipline from the employer.

Let this mind not be in you! The way to get out of this prison of poverty is to not do all these things which are characteristic of the poor. Of course poverty is thrust upon some but you by God’s formula, grace and guidance shall overcome poverty if you obey his commandments. So toss the mentality of poverty as far as the east is from the west! I invite you to join me next week as I look at into the mind of the middle class drawing out both the good and the bad in it!

Until then God bless!

You Are What You Think, Part 2


Barrow is bogusStrictly Personal

By [email protected]“Please, for the sake of continued

order in this country, call it off by four this afternoon and let us meet first thing tomorrow morning. If that appeal falls on deaf ears, I say again the security forces of this country will do what they have to do.” – Hon. Dean Barrow, February 2nd, 2009

I am hoping that this won’t be-come an annual column, that is that at some point the spirit of compas-sion will manifest to Prime Minis-ter Hon. Dean Barrow, the way the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future visited Scrooge, and with the same result.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of the slaying of cane farmer Anastacio Felix Guitterez, and I feel a bit better that Opposition Leader Hon. John Briceno led a delegation of party of-ficials that included past prime min-ister Right Honourable Said Musa, and Corozal Southeast area repre-

Her 15 year old son had to drop out of high school because they simply can’t afford to pay their way. Her youngest child was only 3 when her father was killed so she will in effect grow up with only vague memories of him.

She has not gotten anything at all from the Government of Belize.

I personally thank Johnny, Said, Flo and the delegation for making the pilgrimage to San Victor, and for their expressions of condolences, of sympathies, of shared grief and for the assistance. I continue to feel ap-palled by the callousness with which we have all treated this matter, all of us.

The Prime Minister of all of Be-lize, the honourable Dean Barrow has yet to offer any public expres-sion of regret or condolences for this senseless tragedy. I do not expect Mr. Barrow to ever accept even a smid-gen of responsibility even though he cannot deny that government has a duty to its citizens – all of them.

I believe that this incident was the start of our descent into these anarchical times, when our society seems to be bordering on chaos. It exposed a sharp and deep fissuring, an open wound that has not healed. It was a seismic shock and the fault line from the big money interests whose fixation is on profits at the ex-pense of the livelihood of the smaller man flat-lined Anastasio Guitterez and collapsed his family’s future.

Mr. Barrow would like to consign him to the rubble of history but the hurt to our society is a living, painful thing that simply will not go away.

We remain a house divided. Ours is a division that has not healed. It is one of the reasons we appear to be drowning in our own blood.

Our leader has to respect the sanctity of human life if we as a so-ciety are to collectively respect the sanctity of human life.

On that day Anastacio Guitterez believed that he was fighting for his life and he was right. He did noth-ing that warranted him being shot to death.

The lack of compassion, of a proper investigation, of even a pub-lic inquiry into the circumstances of his slaying by Belize’s security forces signaled that the Barrow administra-tion cares little for human life, and so an unimaginable tragedy has been magnified in a record death toll.

You are our leader Dean Barrow, to point us back along the path of righteousness and justice you must change direction.

Barrow is bogus.

The honourable Dean Barrow has

yet to offer any pub-lic expression of re-gret or condolences

for this senseless tragedy. I do not

expect Mr. Barrow to ever accept even

a smidgen of re-sponsibility even though he cannot deny that govern-ment has a duty to its citizens – all of

them.”

sentative Hon. Florencio Marin, Jr., to his home village of San Victor, to express our condolences and sympa-thies to his widow and six children, and to offer them some needed as-sistance.

Mrs. Benita Guitterez is strug-gling to take care of her 6 children.


Reid

By G. Mike ReidIn one of those rare years when

Belize sees no election of any kind, the political landscape is still quite abuzz with activity. Both political parties are busy putting in place standard bearers to contest the upcoming 2013 general elec-tions and the games are being played at a high level.

Interestingly enough, while both political parties are having conventions almost weekly, the media attention seems far more focused on the People’s United Party. With allegations of seri-ous election fraud being put forth by members of the UDP themselves up north, the media chose instead to focus

enth hour. With the incumbent Castro publicly-disgraced and back-benched by his government, that division appears a practically safe seat for the PUP. It is only one of thirty one however, and an early inning in a rather long game. Why then the extensive media interest?

In his editorial of last Tuesday, Evan Hyde went to great pains to paint the UDP’s process as democratic and the PUP’s as autocratic; nothing could be further from the truth. The situation in Belize Rural North has been blown fully out of proportion and warrants a little analysis and retrospection. Being some-what privy to what transpired, I would think that I might be able to offer a little insight.

Most folks who follow politics and pay attention to the connecting propa-ganda effectuated via spin, counter-spin and insinuations will look past the hype and understand what is happening. Channel Seven is owned and operated by the UDP and Hyde has made it clear, that he will not criticize the Dean Bar-row Government. He has also informed us that he makes special “arrangements” with these politicians. The UDP have a formidable propaganda team in Hyde, Jules Vasquez and a less effective Del-roy Cutkelvin. They quite often have the PUP back on their heels, defensive and doing damage control. In this re-gard, Mr. Hyde is correct in suggesting that “the pattern is opposite of the way it usually is”. The PUP’s were once the masters and certainly the much better at propaganda.

What the UDP Goebbels have been trying to do is to convince the electorate that the PUP process is high handed and undemocratic. By putting out one side of the picture, the average reader or viewer might understandably believe this to be the case. Again, it is far away from the truth. In the instance of Jerome Wade and the Belize Rural North situation, ev-ery democratic guideline was followed. The constitution of the PUP clearly calls for closed conventions to be decided by “financial members”; those being known party supporters or card carry-ing members. A list is prepared and ap-proved by the local executive committee of any respective area and presented to prospective candidates. In an interview, Jerome Wade told Jules Vasquez that his objection was to that particular list since it had only 962 persons out of five thou-sand voters registered in the area. Well, let us look at that.

It is generally accepted by politi-cal pundits that the numbers of avid party supporters have dwindled over the years. Whereas it was once believed that as many as 35 percent of all voters were loyal to the blue, 35 to the red and the remaining 30 percent undecided, current data suggest that those numbers have changed drastically. Recent polls and surveys suggest that as many as sixty percent of voters can now be con-sidered “swing” while each party splits

it was once be-lieved that as many as 35 percent of all voters were loyal to the blue, 35 to the

red and the remain-ing 30 percent un-decided, current data suggest that

those numbers have changed

drastically. Recent polls and surveys suggest that as

many as sixty per-cent of voters can

now be considered “swing” while each party splits the re-

maining 40 percent among themselves”

on petty technicalities within a relative-ly insignificant PUP convention. Last week’s Amandala headlines forsook all current concerns and paid meticulous attention, including a blaring head-line, to an endorsement in Belize Rural North. Channel Seven did an extensive interview with a would-be candidate from the same convention that chose to withdraw his submission at the elev-

the remaining 40 percent among them-selves. There are those who suggest that the staunch and dyed in the wool fanat-ics might be even less than twenty per-cent in this day and age but let us use those figures for argument sake.

962 then would represent a full 19.5 percent of the registered voters and well within the scope of accepted param-eters. What the spinmeisters are not pointing out is that in the case of Belize Rural North, both Jerome Wade and Ar-thur Saldivar had agreed to a convention and had in fact, signed a contract outlin-ing the terms and conditions. For Hyde, then, to suggest in referring to this situ-ation, that “Decisions are being made at the top and around private tables” is simply not true and deliberately mis-leading.

Evan Hyde was also unfair in com-paring a few endorsements by the PUP with a few rigged conventions by the UDP. In each of the four UDP conven-tions that Hyde refers to, the ruling par-ty threw tremendous resources behind whichever candidate they preferred and the one which in every instance, subse-quently won. It is also and again, very early in a long race and we shall yet see who will contest the likes of Patrick Fa-ber, Michael Finnegan, John Saldivar or Gapi Vega. Meanwhile, the PUP has no less than twenty constituencies that will be contested in upcoming conventions.

The PUP must be careful that they do not fall into a trap of trying to please the media. The so-called mainstream, independent media has proven to be anything but. Any party has to ensure

that they have the best possible candi-dates in place. Not only in order to win the election but in order to ably govern once they win and assume office. It cer-tainly would not be in the best interest of anyone to have a repeat of the current situation where we have one arrogant dictator-like leader and a team of in-competent yes-men.

In a follow-up press release on the issue, the PUP promised a few amend-ments to its constitution in order to “facilitate the ‘broad tent’ approach for more openness and transparency, and greater participation and engagement of the electorate and the local constituency committee in deciding the candidates to represent the Party in the next gen-eral elections”. The PUP must be careful not to bend too far backwards in their attempt to please mischief makers. The UDPs would like nothing better than to see weak candidates contesting the election and will do everything to influ-ence such a happening. When it comes to general governance and the people’s business, we deserve and demand much scrutiny. Internal party politics how-ever, should not take precedence over national issues and there exist no pau-city of such to occupy the media’s time. It is a disservice to the people and the integrity of the profession when media houses allow themselves to be used in such a shameful manner. Leave that to the party organs or desist from the hyp-ocritical claim of being objective and for the people. May GOD bless Belize. Send comments to [email protected].


No hay pension para el Jurista Barrow, declara el Gobierno de Sta. Lucia

días, una declaración fue lanzada por la ad-ministración de Stephenson King en Santa Lucía, en la que se enfrentó a la decisión de Justicia Barrow, declarando que si hay alguien a demandar, desde luego, no es su adminis-tración ya que el jurista beliceño no era un empleado del Gobierno. El Gobierno de St. Lucia señaló en la declaración (que se reim-primió en página 33) que el “jurista Barrow no era un empleado del Gobierno…, sino más bien de la judicial y la Comisión de servi-cios jurídicos de la OECO”.

Por otra parte, el Gobierno de St. Lucia también reveló que basado en asesoramiento jurídico, siempre por la Judicial y Legal Ser-vices Commission, creen que el jurista Bar-row de se le debe pension alguna porque no había servido su tiempo completo y requiere de un juez en el Tribunal de apelación de la OECO.

“La JLSC es de la opinión de que la jus-ticia Barrow no tenía derecho a recibir una

Continua de pagina 30



pensión porque él dimitio antes de cumplir los criterios mínimos para la concesión de una pensión,” dijo la declaración.

La conclusión fue apoyada por una sen-tencia del Tribunal de OECO de tres de los jueces de apelación que se sentó para con-sidera la solicitud de Justice Barrow para el pago de pensiones en septiembre del 2010.

“El Gobierno consideró prudente abordar al Eastern Caribbean Court of Ap-peal para su opinión consultiva. El Tribu-nal de apelación de la OECO comparten la misma opinión como la del OECO Judicial y Legal Services Commission. Sus señoríos opinan que Justice Denys Barrow no cali-ficó para prestaciones de pensión porque él no cumplío con los requisitos de punto de referencia bajo la Ley de pensiones de Santa Lucía y Rates of Pension Judges Act, No: 12 de 1989. Cabe señalar que el jurista Denys Barrow tenía el beneficio de representación legal durante la sesión en cuestión,” reveló la declaración.

El UDP convierte a la comunidad de Harmonyville en chaos

dispuestos a dejarlas. Dicen que Ramon Witz del UDP, que es el representante de la zona de Cayo Sur, fue el que les dijo que ellos podian ocupar las tierras.

El problema es que muchos de ellos han marcado decenas de hectáreas tierras para sí mismos. La tierra, unos 1.300 acres, se con-virtió en el tema de investigación y recuper-ación desde hace un año cuando BGYEA descubrió que su dueño original había aban-donado las tierras que fue adquirida y lla-mada Capital Garden. El propietario original tenía diseñado como plan una plaza comer-cial para el área, pero que nunca se materi-alizó. Años de abandono de los impuestos de propiedad dio lugar a la reclamación del Gobierno de la zona en lugar de esas deudas pendientes.

Pero ahora el Gobierno, después de haber hecho dinero de la tierra, tiene la in-tención de revenderla a los beliceños que necesitan tierras para construir o para con-vertirla en una pequeña agricultura o em-presa de jardinería.

Pero en medio de las travesuras de al-gunos políticos UDP, mientras que BGYEA dice que el Ministerio de recursos naturales les ha dado el visto bueno para realizar estu-dios en el área, por el contrario, los precaris-tas decir que obtuvieron el “si” del Honor-able Ramon Witz para permanecer allí. Lo que ha sucedido es que la encuesta ha empu-

jado a algunos de las plantaciones agrícolas que han establecido los precaristas y ahora piden indemnización por las pérdidas que han sufrido como resultado.

Junto con que, habrá más pérdidas cuando, en virtud del nuevo programa de BGYEA, una zona de amortiguación que requerirá 200-pies desde la carretera, re-querirá que todos los que ya han construido sus casas desmantelarlas y reubicarse. La mayoría de los precaristas es reacia a ceder a ese decreto, ya que han estado residiendo en la zona durante casi 10 años en algunos casos.

Incluso han llamado su porción de tier-ras de los 1.300 acres “Valle Nuevo”. Cuando Petillo y su grupo visitaron “Valle Nuevo” invitaron a los precaristas para asistir a su reunión el domingo, muchos de ellos no fueron, pero en su lugar enviaron a algunos de entre su grupo a escuchar a Petillo y luego informarse de lo que se está diciendo. Todo el plan para unir a ocupantes ilegales con los recién llegado parece ser difuminado en té-rminos de posibilidad, porque mientras que BGYEA está en marcha, en el reverso los precaristas se está instando a mantenerse en las tierras.

Parece que las reñidas llevándose a cabo en manos del Gobierno es de nunca acabar. ¿Si ninguna de las partes puede mostrar un espíritu de fraternidad, a continuación, quién sabe qué pasará al lugar llamado “Har-monyville”?

ha tenido un resultado instantáneo, el logro es mínimo en comparación con su pliego de peticiones. Una de ellas es una llamada al primer ministro a retractarse de su apoyo abierto a perforación en Sar-stoon-Temash National Park en Toledo, esta protesta se hizo eco de todos los miembros de la coalición de Belice. Otro llamado de atención concierne a la renu-encia del Gobierno para suspender todas las licencias de exploración de petrolera costa afuera, así como los de las zonas

Barrow se inclina a la presión

protegidas. La renuencia del primer ministro a

ceder a las demandas puede que tenga que ver con revelaciones que tiene intere-ses personales en la industria petrolera [vease la historia de “The web we weave” en la página 4]. Su sobrino, Kimano Bar-row, posee 50% en la empresa Paradise Energy, una empresa que la adminis-tración de Barrow concedió la licencia para explorar los 1,274,443 acres que se extienden a través de los Maya Moun-tains el pasado año en el mes de Octubre.


St. Lucia Government Clarifies the Denys Barrow Legal Issue Continued from page 2

Looking at the jewel through the eyes of internet reviews and blogs

not create more jobs? Even if it’s small jobs, people will still be grateful for the help. Our youth need to be better educated, and we can even achieve this through community service, teaching trades and showing them that there are other ways to help themselves. Criminal activity has increased drastically in the past years as the times got harder, and espe-cially last year! We keep waiting for the minister of National Security to come up with remedies, but we too as a country must come together and also help.

I remember in 2008 when this government’s slogan was “imagine

the possibilities”. May I ask now what possibilities they were? If the possibili-ties are what we are experiencing now then I certainly think we could have done without these possibilities! Why not fulfill what was in your imagination back then PM Barrow? Why do we have to keep on Imagining your little dreams? Why can’t we see them actually being fullfilled and helping the nation grow and not crum-ble? If back then it was Imagining what is it going to be in the next elections? Is it going to be like Alice in Wonderland, where in your head there is a little land of your wildest dreams, where you and your band wagon of hooligans are the only ones benefiting? Unfortunately, this is the reality of our country!

The Government of Saint Lucia is aware of the recent news item regarding legal action by Justice Denys Barrow former Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. Government desires to inform the public of the history and facts related to the case in question.

It should be noted that. Justice De-nys Barrow submitted a claim for pen-sion benefits sometime in 2010 after his resignation from the post as judge within the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. Justice Barrow’s submission was made three (3) years after sitting on the bench of the Court of Appeal. It should be noted that Justice Barrow was not an employee of the Govern-ment of Saint Lucia but rather the Ju-dicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) of the OECS. Saint Lucia serves as a jurisdiction only for the purpose of assessing pension due to judges. The criteria for such assessments are based on the Pensions Act of Saint Lucia and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Rates of Pension) Judges Act, No: 12 of 1989.

The Government of Saint Lucia mindful of the facts above requested opinions from the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC). The JLSC was of the opinion that Justice Barrow was not entitled to pension as he had resigned before fulfilling the minimum criteria for the grant of a pension.

In light of the varying opinions on the question of Justice Barrow’s pen-sion, the Government thought it pru-dent to approach the Eastern Carib-bean Court of Appeal for its advisory opinion. The Court of Appeal’s adviso-ry opinion was sought to achieve clari-fication both on the question of Justice

Barrow’s pension specifically and to clarify the law on pension for judges sitting on the courts in Saint Lucia and the OECS generally. The Court of Ap-peal met in Antigua from September 20th to 22nd, 2010 at which time they considered the matter of Justice Bar-row’s submission for pension benefits. This sitting was presided over by three (3) English legal luminaries in the per-sons of Justice of Appeal (ag) The Rt Hon Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury Justice of Appeal (ag) The Rt Hon Sir Martin Moore-Bick and Justice of Ap-peal (ag) and The Honourable Edward Bannister.

The OECS Court of Appeal shared the same opinion as the OECS Judicial and Legal Services Commission. Their Lordships opined that Justice Denys Barrow did not qualify for pension benefits as he did not meet the bench-mark requirements under the Pensions Act of Saint Lucia and Rates of Pension Judges Act, No: 12 of 1989. It should be noted that Justice Denys Barrow had the benefit of legal representation dur-ing the sitting in question.

Justice Barrow subsequently wrote to the Government of Saint Lucia seek-ing the payment of gratuity. Mr. Bar-row’s request was not directed to his employer, which is the Judicial and Le-gal Services Commission. The Govern-ment of Saint Lucia is therefore guided by the opinion of the OECS Supreme Court on this matter. However, the Gov-ernment wishes to reiterate its position that it is not our intention to withhold any benefits due to Justice Denys Bar-row. The Government stands prepared to pay any benefits it is required to pay in accordance with the law.

Mexican photography exhibition opens

Belmopan, 1ST February 2011The photography exhibition

“Mexico: Black & White, Images of Yucatan (1906-1923)” will open on February 2nd, 2011, at the Institute of Mexico in Belize City.

The collection includes 29 pho-tographs of Yucatan from 1906 to 1923.

Along with the photography ex-hibition, the film “La Historia en la Mirada: Film records of the Mexi-can Revolution” will also be pre-sented. This is a documentary fea-ture film produced by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) as part of the 100th An-niversary of the Mexican Revolu-tion. The 78 minutes long film was released worldwide on November 18th, 2010, in colleges, schools and institutes, in various Mexican states and in the United States.

The film includes material that

has been preserved in the vaults of UNAM’s film library and was digi-talized for restoration and editing with the support from the Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

In addition to rescuing the im-ages for their historical value, the main objective of this film is to share with the public in general, but espe-cially young people, one of the most important periods in the history of Mexico: the years ranging from the end of the regime of Porfirio Diaz to the 1916-1917 Constitutional Con-gress sessions.

The opening ceremony will be held on Wednesday, February 2nd, at 6:30 pm, at the Institute of Mex-ico in Belize. Entrance will be free and open to the general public. The exhibition will remain open until February 24th, 2011, Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

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