THE BELIZE TIMES 24 FEB 2013 4

Continued on page 31

Callate tu boca!

04

12 Gunshot Victims in Bloody Weekend …crime wave continues

Belize City, February 18, 2013In a matter of two days, crimi-

nal activity spiralled out of control in the old capital which resulted with twelve gunshot victims with two be-ing fatal.

The two fatal victims were 39 year old Lincoln “Kilo Boy” Allen and 23 year old Devon Saldano. Saldano is believed to be the man who shot Kilo Boy to the back of the head and in the mouth around 1:30am on Sat-urday through Muñoz Alley. Saldano was also targeted by an unknown shooter and killed. A third person, Derek Cervantes, was shot and had to be rushed to the Karl Heusner Memoral Hospital for treatment.

Kilo Boy’s mother, Joan Sankey, believes her son was targeted fol-lowing a scuffle with another man who was near the Bucket Bar located at the foot of the Swing Bridge.

Saldano’s family said they don’t know what could have led to their loved one’s untimely death. The last they heard of him was late Friday night when he left their home to buy food.

At the scene, Police found six 9mm expended shells and a licensed 9mm pistol licensed to Cervantes.

Lincoln “Kilo Boy” Allen Devon Saldano

Kilo Boy was the father of 11 chil-dren.

Before the double murder and near-fatal shooting on Saturday morning there had already been five other shoot-ings. The victims are Kenroy Tillett, Alton Roches, Donald Matura, Carmita Chan and Alchea Harris.

On Sunday there were four other shooting victims.

47 year old Mario Ramos was shot on Mayflower Street from what seemed to be a misguided bullet which tore through his wall and hit him while he was inside his bedroom checking on his

grandchild.Ramos has said that for a while

now he had been sleeping on the floor rather than the bed, where it is no lon-ger safe.

The three other men who fell vic-tim to what seems to be a wild crime spree are 19 year old Randy James Harris, 24 year old Deon Gibson and 39 year old Orlando Vasquez. The three men were standing in a yard on Kraal Road around 6:40 on Sunday night when a gun man ran in and let off a barrage of gunshots. Fortunately, the men survived the attack.

Belize City, February 20, 2013Ever since taking office as

the Attorney General and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs, Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington’s mouth has been Belize’s worst enemy. His raw, unbridled ineptitude has made the Government of Belize the laughing stock of the Carib-bean and Central America, with embarrassing spews like “the border is artificial”, and insen-

THE BELIZE TIMES24 FEB 2013 5

Knowing The Hour

There is a term in literature which is taken directly from the French word for “untying”, nouer, and in our primary schools, our children are taught to re-fer to the events immediately following the climax of a book or play as “denouement”. This literary

term is in essence the euphemistic way of identifying when a situation is going downhill.

In the technical sense it specifically refers to the outcome or result of a complex situation or sequence of events. It is the final outcome or unraveling of the main dramatic complications in a play, novel, or other work of literature. In drama, the term is usually applied to tragedies or to comedies with catastrophes in their plot.

Denouement is usually the final scene or chapter in which any necessary, and, as yet unmade, clarifications are made. In political terms, this literary term aptly characterizes where the UDP government finds itself in 2013.

There are certain realities that accompany this stage of a dying government’s life. Therefore, these are dangerous politi-cal times in Belize and all the socio-economic indicators, which could lend the Government some currency to muster hope for our people have been destroyed, misused or disengaged.

Our people need to be put on guard because as this Gov-ernment crashes into a fiery end, they are sure to take many Belizeans to their demise unless institutional safeguards are demanded. For this government, people are only seen as votes, their problems as economic opportunities for cronies and their sufferings are shrugged off as “collateral damage”.

With the UDP, Belizeans live a morbid reality where every pocket of our population is vulnerable despite the apathy, reck-lessness and intolerant indifference of UDP politicians. For a full term they have squandered public confidence and public funds with the confidence that they could hide behind hate speech and witch hunting.

It worked brilliantly for four years but clearly the Belizean public has looked around, weighed the Government in the bal-ance and found them wanting. None of the campaigns, which carried the UDP into government, have translated into any benefit for the common people.

The nationalization of the utility companies is a constant reminder that there is a huge disconnect between what the peo-ple want and the execution of those wishes by the Government. Despite the public ownership of the utilities, light bills have skyrocketed by more than 17%; entire communities in Mahog-any Heights, Toledo and Orange Walk still live without reliable water services; and save for two concerts with Jamaican dance-hall artists, no Belizean has seen a penny of benefit from BTL.

The vindictive smashing of NHI is another campaign of the UDP that has only resulted in scandals, increased infant mor-

05

tality and maimed mothers.After all the talk, nothing has gotten better. The average Belizean walking down Albert Street is no lon-

ger in the same emotional place they were in 2008 and Barrow realizes that to survive the full second term he has to put bigger lights and more expensive clowns in the circus in the hope of keeping the masses distracted.

Sadly, the duality of experiences in Belize City and Corozal this weekend is a bitter example of the two worlds that have become Belize over the past five years.

Within the window of forty-eight hours, and while the Gov-ernment was swearing to the Unions that there were no monies for salary adjustments, UDP officials were dishing out five hun-dred dollar bribes to voters at the political convention. Where did that money come from in the middle of a choking financial drought?

Also within that forty-eight hours as Barrow was in Corozal beating his chest on stage and boasting of the impeccable job that he has been doing, twelve people were either killed or al-most killed in his own political backyard in Belize City.

The Government has hit a huge wall in its administration of the nation and has begun a screaming plunge into an abyss. Most Belizeans believe they cannot fix anything and every sec-tor of our society is in irreparable crisis. The Justice system is broken. Crime is uncontrollable. The economy is just plain bad. Life is hard and getting harder while we finally accept that the Government is incapable of giving the public any relief.

The important realization must be that the UDP and their leeches have also come to the realization that the “jankrows” are circling. Full evidence of this is the reappearance of old fac-es and the accelerated pace, audacity and extravagance of gov-ernment spending.

At the furthest end of historical analysis, we will all accept that the cause of the unraveling of the UDP and their govern-ment began in 2007. Its natural end as ordained by the natural route of political conclusions is 2013.

As insiders of the PUP have the benefit of moving between each meeting of the internal machinery of the Party, there is another huge contrast. The morale, work plans and strategies are inspiring. There is a comforting feeling and a calming reas-surance from the leadership that the social justice compass of the Party is back in its rightful place. It may be that the PUP has come to grips with the fact that they must right the reef-bound ship that has become Belize and do so before the full five year term of this administration. Surely, the Party has taken on the character of its Leader and has grown under his faith, temper-ance and humble confidence.

So we at BELIZE TIMES echo his call to our people to “Have hope, the PUP will serve the People.”

THE BELIZE TIMES24 FEB 2013 7

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

07

the little integrity remaining in the UDP. But now it has come to pass, and the UDP is facing implosion.

The first victim could be Secretary General Phillipa Bailey who reports say has written a letter of resignation saying she calls it quits as of March 2013. Bailey is not a happy camper. The Gaspar Vega/Alberto August victory was a bitter pill to swallow. Since her own Party Leader Dean Barrow administered the prescrip-tion, she feels there is only one way to go, and that’s through the door.

Who’s next? Reports say Brian “Yel-lowman” Audinette who is the National Assembly Macebearer and UDP Secre-tariat staffer is not too curry. He is not fan of Alberto August either. Reports are he too could be packing up his bags.

Yellowman is UDP Minister Michael Finnegan’s “messenger” in the Meso-potamia area. Finnegan did not support Vega or August. Is this the beginning of a UDP revolt, one that stretches all the way to Cabinet?

Time will tell, but so far we gather than the upheaval is mainly because of one man: the former SIS Chief who has now assumed the post of the 3rd most influential man in the UDP.

Alberto August is unquestionably the most biased, partisan, and activist Chair-man of the Elections and Boundaries Commission in Belize’s short history as an Independent nation. August was given this important responsibility by Dean Bar-row specifically because Barrow knew he could count on August to put the interest of the UDP ahead of the integrity of the EBC. August interfered and intervened in every aspect of our electoral system and process. He was public and boastful in his support for the UDP and made every ef-fort to intimidate registering officers and other public officers who formed a part of the 2012 election day team.

But this past Sunday, at the National UDP Convention, August got his reward. He was elected Chairman of the UDP by the delegates present. August’s celebra-tion will be short-lived. This is a step back-wards for the UDP. The new UDP Chair-man is a man who works best under the cover of darkness, a man who is a strang-er to accountability and transparency.

In 2013 Alberto August, like Gapi Vega, is a big problem for the UDP. The signs are already there. Time will tell.

August/Vega wins….UDP implodes

Joe Coye & Florencio Marin Sr. VindicatedCourt Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin dismissed the case of misfeasance that had been brought against former PUP Ministers Florencio Marin and Jose Coye.

According to one of the witness-es for the government, the claim was brought at the insistence of Depu-ty Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, who ironically, has openly confessed to his own misfeasance in giving prime lands

to his family and friends for chump change.

But the irony of all ironies was uncovered during the case, as while Gapi Vega was maliciously pursuing Mr. Marin and Mr. Coye, behind closed doors Gapi was in fact selling property in the same area of Caribbean Shores for less than what the PUP govern-ment sold the land for.

Documents from the Lands De-partment revealed that on the 14th of October, 2009 Gapi Vega transferred Parcel 4772 situated in the Caribbean Shores Registration Section to Sylvia Perdomo, the daughter of the then Minister of Defence, Carlos Perdomo, at a purchase price of $2,500. So while Gapi was claiming that the PUP gov-

ernment was selling land in Caribbean Shores at an undervalue of $4,000, he was actually doing worse, by selling land in the same area to UDP cronies at a purchase price of $2,500.

But aside from Gapi’s blatant acts of misfeasance in public office, who else in the UDP was benefiting from these crass political lawsuits? Readers may recall that this claim was originally dismissed by the former Chief Justice of Belize and thereafter appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice after which it was then sent back to the Supreme Court of Belize, only to be dismissed once again.

So who was the one prosecuting this case on behalf of the government for this extended length of time? Was

it the Solicitor General’s Office? While it should have been, it was not. One Lois Young Barrow, the ex wife of the Prime Minister has collected top (tax payer) dollar in furthering this case. But the trouble for the government does not end there, because in addition to paying Lois’ legal fees out of public funds, the government must now find more taxpayer dollars to pay the attor-neys of Mr. Marin and Mr. Coye who were awarded costs in the Supreme Court decision.

As with all other trumped up charges brought by the UDP against former PUP Ministers this one was no different – full of hot air, big bucks for Lois and bound to fail from the very outset.

THE BELIZE TIMES24 FEB 2013 9 09

First-of-its-kind Community Care Center inaugurated in Dangriga

First-of-its-kind Community Care Center inaugurated in DangrigaDangriga Town, February 15, 2013A well-furnished single-storey

concrete building was handed over by the United Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) to the residents of Dangriga. It was received by the May-or Major (Ret’d) H. Gilbert Swaso and Productive Organization of Women in Action (POWA) Dangriga chapter of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Transformation during an official ceremony held on Friday, 15 February, 2013 at the 2nd New Site in Dangriga.

The overall goal for the Community Care Center is to halt the spread of HIV with special emphasis on young people 15 – 24 years in Dangriga, in addition to the other objectives of the service that include to 1) reduce sexual transmis-sion of HIV among young people; 2) im-prove the quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS; 3) improve the cov-erage and quality of the continuum of care for HIV infected and affected popu-lation through enhanced Anti-Retroviral Treatment; and 4) enhance the skill sets of human resources at every in the na-tional response to HIV and AIDS.

The presenters at the ceremony were His Worship, Mayor H. Gilbert Swaso, Mr. Daniel Alemu, Assistant Representative of UNDP and Miss Michele Irving who presented an over-view of the building and the vote of

thanks.During his presentation, the Mayor remind-

ed the residents of Dangriga of the neglect this municipality endured over several years although there is the availability of land through Govern-ment reserved for public purposes. He cited the land on which the Community Care Center is built on as an example.

Mayor Swaso explained that “Together with the Productive Organization with Wom-en in Action (POWA), the United Nations De-velopment Programme (UNDP) and Dangriga Town Council the concept for a Community Care Center was sown, nurtured such that today we are gathered to transition to a new phase on this journey to care for our children”.

He reiterated that the primary function of the building is to serve the orphan and vulner-able children in Dangriga who are afflicted and

affected by the scourge of HIV and AIDS.

Mayor Swaso did not hesitate to equate the Community Care Center with the Belize Cancer Cen-ter and of course, the Southern Re-gional Hospital which offer excellent primary care to the residents of the southern districts; Dangriga and To-ledo and by extension, the entire country and implored the residents and the care givers and receivers and beneficiaries to ensure that the building serves its purpose well.

In conclusion Mayor H. Gilbert Swaso said “This is one way that, together, we can ensure that our children be the future leaders, farmers, tour-guides, fishermen

and boat captains, contractors and builders etc. Together let us press the reset button and join the campaign to ‘Love Dangriga, Clean Dangriga, Beautify Dan-griga and Sell Dangriga”.

Mr. Daniel Alemu, the As-sistant Representative of UNDP in his presentation praised, fore-most, UNDP’s invaluable involve-ment and contribution to Dangriga through the project.

In her presentation, Michele Irving of POWA and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Transformation expressed grat-itude to UNDP, Dangriga Town Council, POWA and those present at the opening.

(L) Dangriga Mayor Major (Ret’d) Gilbert Swaso New Community Center

THE BELIZE TIMES 24 FEB 2013 10

BY ORDER OF MORGAGEE SCOTIABANK (BELIZE) LIMITED LICENSED AUCTIONEER NOEL J. CODD WILL SELL AT SCOTIABANK SAN PEDRO AMBERGRIS CAYE BRANCH ON 1st March 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

MEGA AUCTION SALE

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being 3610 Block 7 San Pedro Registration Section (Being timber building containing: Ground Floor – 3 bedrooms + 1 Entertainment Room + Bar + Bath + Living/Dining/ Kitchen + Porch: First Floor: 1 Bedroom + 1 Bath + Living Room and lot [410.90 S.Y] situate on Corner DFC and San Pedro Street, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, being the Freehold property of Mr. FITZ-GERALD BROWN and MS. RHONDA CRICHTON.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being Lot No. 57 situated in the Phase 3 Area, North side of Caye Caulker, Belize District. Vacant Lot measuring 50 ft x 90 ft (445.703 sq meters) the Freehold property of JOAQUIN AND EUPHEMIA BLANCO.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being Parcel 4900 Block 7 San Pedro Registration Section. Va-cant Lot measuring 631.24 S.Y. being the Freehold property of JOSEPHINE & RAMON NUNEZ

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 3737 San Pedro Registration Section Block 7 situ-ated in DFC Area. San Pedro Town, Belize District. Measuring 416.60 sq yds.the Freehold property of LUIS FERNANDO MONCADA WEJBE

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being Parcel 3740 and 3741 San Pedro Registration Section Block 7 located in the DFC Area, San Pedro Town, Belize District. Land only measuring 833.20 Sq yds being the Freehold properties of LUIS ALFONSO MONCADA WEJBE.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 464 Block 7 situated at Sea Star Street, San Pedro Reg-istration Section, measuring 405.48 sq. yds. Build-ing- 1440 sq. ft. 2 storey- 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, living, dining, kitchen and porch area being the Freehold property of NOEL BLANCO.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 1640 San Pedro Registration Section Block 7 sit-uated on Saltfish Street, San Pedro Town, Belize District. Measuring 336.9 sq yds. Containing two storey Concrete Structure. Main level is designed as two appartments - with 2 bedrooms, full bath, kitchen, living room, and a dining room each. Sec-ond Level: 3 bedrooms, 2 full bath, kitchen, din-ing and living room being the Freehold property of RAUL PAZ.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 4354 San Pedro Registration Section block 7 situat-ed 2 miles North of San Pedro, Belize District. Va-cant land containing 1.00 acre being the Freehold RAUL PAZ.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 5274 Block 7 San Pedro measuring 555.128 S. Y (50 x 75) containing elevated (2 ft) plycem/timber structure with a floor area of 720 sq feet. 2 bed-rooms, 1 kitchen, living, & dining room being the Freehold property of THOMAS ACK.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 212 Block 7 San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize District. Containing 500.2 sq. yds. Building- 7040 sq. ft.-Apartment building-Main floor- 5 bed-rooms, 5 full baths, 5 living room, 5 dining room & 5 kitchen. Second Floor- 5 bedrooms, 5 full baths, 5 living room, 5 dining room & 5 kitchen. Third Floor- 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, living, dining & kitchen being the Freehold property of THOMAS SANTOS.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 3938 Block 7 San Pedro Registration Section, con-taining a two storey residential structure with a gross square footage of 1,800 sq ft. 1st floor has one bedroom, one bathroom and an open living area, second floor is a three bedroom single family residence being the Freehold property of VENANCIO TILLETT.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land being parcel 3743 Block 7 DFC Area, San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize District. Measuring 416.45 sq. yds. The Proper-ty has four small residential structures on it Building 1 (storage room), Building 2, 3 & 4 (1 bedroom, 1 bath, living, dining & kitchen.) Second Lot being parcel 3744 Block 7 DFC Area, San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize District. Vacant land measuring 416.45 sq. Both properties will be sold together as one being the Free-hold property of THOMAS SANTOS.

NOEL J. CODDCarmelita Village, Orange Walk District

Telephone: 624-5184 or 677-5184 Email: noelcodd@yahoo.com

THE BELIZE TIMES24 FEB 2013 11

Belmopan Area Rep threatens Plus TV’s

Patrick Andrews

Faber eats Humble Pie

Continued from page 3

More BWS firingsNeither Westby nor any Union Ex-

ecutive was present when McKoy was fired on Valentine’s Day.

McKoy said he was shocked that after he was handed his letter, Haynes told him that when the investigation is completed, he could get back his job if he is found to be innocent.

He was also told that even though he was no longer employed at BWS, the Police would go after him if nec-essary and that his phone “could be accessed” any time because “BTL is working with us”.

“They cannot say anything bad about me. I come to work early, I do my work, I give in my report every day. I am respected by all employees

and managers. What they have done to me is very wrong,” he concluded.

McKoy said that he has sought le-gal advice and intends to take the water company to Court for wrongful termina-tion.

The company has launched a messy investigation into the circulation of let-ters that make scandalous allegations against managers and employees of BWS. The letter alleges unethical office romances and accuses senior company officials of practising political cronyism and the abuse and waste of company resources.

In addition to being shared with all BWS employees through electron-ic mail, the letters were printed and mailed to the Prime Minister.

Belize City, February 18, 2013The little man with the big ego

was humbled, if but for a few days, on Sunday in Corozal following his decisive loss to the bumbling, fum-bling Gapi Vega, for UDP Deputy Leader.

Belizeans had little interest in the UDP convention but there were many particularly in the education community, who could not help but offer up a brief smile at the news that the pompous and egotistic little Minister of Education had to

swallow some humble pie on Sun-day. He who had predicted a great victory and had run some of the most “breggin” tv ads Belizeans had ever seen, was brought to his knees by a man largely regarded as a lightweight.

On Sunday, the UDP faithful gathered in Corozal put the brakes on little Faber’s ambitious roller-coaster.

Loud mouth, dutty mouth, sharp tongue……..dah weh yu think yu di go lee bwoy!!

City of Belmopan, February 18, 2013

UDP Belmopan Area Rep-resentative and National Se-curity Minister John Saldivar has threatened to sue Plus TV’s Rise and Shine morning co-host Patrick Andrews for certain remarks made during the February 10th, 2013 morn-ing show.

Saldivar claims that An-drews committed libel against him, and instructed a high powered law firm to write An-

drews, demanding a retraction and apology as well as indem-nification and compensation of an unknown amount.

In a letter sent to Andrews, Saldivar’s attorney has request-ed an answer by Friday, 22nd.

Andrews has built a repu-tation on the Plus TV morning show as a firebrand and outspo-ken Belmopan resident. He is the son of Joseph Andrews, a Belizean who served the coun-try well and whose standing in the UDP history is unlike any.

THE BELIZE TIMES24 FEB 2013 21

Reid

By G. Michael Reid“If it were probable that ev-

ery man would give his vote free-ly, and without influence of any kind, then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, every member of the communi-ty, however poor, should have a vote… But since that can hardly be expected… all popular states have been obliged to establish certain qualifications, where-by, some who are suspected to have no will of their own, are excluded from voting; in order to set other individuals, whose wills may be supposed inde-pendent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other.”

From Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Harold C. Syrett (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961-79), 1:106

I’m still not certain if the old man was being facetious or if he was serious, but an elderly uncle of mine once remarked that he did not think that universal suffrage was such a good idea. At the time, I accused him of being a royal Kri-ol, an elitist and an aristocrat. He did not engage me in argument. As time has gone by however, and as I consider more our current sit-uation here in Belize, I no longer view the old man’s comments in the same light. Now this has nothing to do with class, ethnicity or financial status but maybe, just maybe, everyone should not be allowed to vote.

“One man, one vote” (or more appropriately “one person, one vote”) was the slogan used where campaigns for universal suffrage raged for the better part of the first half of the last century. It be-came particularly prevalent in less developed countries like Belize during the period of decoloniza-

tion and the struggles for na-tional sovereignty. In 1954 Be-lize joined the rest of the world in gaining universal suffrage and moved on to define itself as a demo-cratic state. That univer-sal suffrage and democ-racy thing might have worked back then but it is certainly not working now.

The whole process of voting has changed considerably from what it used to be. No longer do people vote for whom they think is better for the country but rather, who can pay them the most. Finnegan has not won so many elections because he is a good representative or because he has done so well for his constituency but be-cause he pays a few light bills and hands out a few dollars ev-ery Wednesday. Sedi Elrington did not win because he was a better candidate than Francis Smith but because he had more money to spend. This is the re-ality of the situation and in all fairness it is the state of politics in Belize.

In the last elections held in 2012, the United Democratic Party won by a very slim mar-gin. The difference was Belize City. Interestingly enough, the hardest workers and the great-er contributors to the welfare of our nation live in the outer districts and in the rural areas of Belize. This means then that the ones who decided the gov-ernment were the least fruitful and constructive of our lot. The few seats that were won out-side of Belize City were won by slim margins and primarily in the areas where new immi-grants were hurried through the naturalization process and given tidy incentives to vote for the incumbent government. The UDP did not win the elections, they bought the elections.

The idea of voting to elect leaders was proposed centuries ago by the philosopher Plato in his historical treatises named

Republic. Plato never suggest-ed or intended that everyone should be allowed to vote. He had specific requirements and those requirements usually in-volved education more so than elitism or any other criteria.

The idea of a Democracy

Wrong voting right?

I have heard rumors of prisoners secur-ing early release from prison in order

to make it to the polls. There are many who sell their votes for mon-ey, a load of sand and sometimes just a tee shirt.

has come under much scrutiny as many a famous scholar has questioned its true merit. In a 1947 speech, Winston Churchill evidently quoting someone else stated that “It is said that De-

mocracy is worse than all other forms of government”. He went on to qualify with “except every other that we have tried”. Thom-as Jefferson had this to say: “a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%.” It is difficult for me to find a state-ment that more succinctly de-scribes our current situation here in Belize. Benjamin Frank-lin put it this way, “Democracy is like a sheep and 3 wolves voting on what to have for din-ner”. Considering what we have and the way it works, it is not difficult to determine who are sheep and who are the wolves.

The fact of the matter is that we will have to revisit the status quo and devise a better system for selecting our leaders. I am suggesting that maybe there should be criteria as to who can and cannot vote; more than just

simply age and place of birth. The problem with our system is that the vote of the crack head carries the same weight as the vote of an economics professor or a successful businessman. To rein in bad leaders, we might need to first rein in the irre-sponsible voters that put them in office.

In many countries, there are restrictions as to who can vote. The United States for in-stance, does not allow anyone

with a criminal record to vote. That is not the case in Belize. I have heard rumors of pris-oners securing early release from prison in order to make it to the polls. There are many who sell

their votes for money, a load of sand and sometimes just a tee shirt.

I am not suggesting that we return to a time when voting was restricted based on rac-ism and elitism but just may-be, we should require citizens to be contributing to society in some way before being eligi-ble to vote. It might in fact work as an incentive. Have a career, have a business or even just be a student working toward being a contributor. Maybe this way, they would be less inclined or in need of the handouts that now deter-mine our elections. Folks who have nothing will too readily ac-cept anything to vote for anyone. Our kind of democracy is simply not working!

Editor’s Note: The strong views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.

THE BELIZE TIMES 24 FEB 2013 22

New Olympic & Commonwealth

Games Association members elected

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE

Sebring Ltd.(“the Company”)

Notice is hereby given that Sebring Ltd.

- is in dissolution- commenced dissolution on January 2nd, 2013; and- Vittorio Alfieri, of Crespellani, 51 P PT, 41100 Modena MO, Italy is the Liquidator of the company

Vittorio AlfieriLiquidator

Alarcon Inc.(“the Company”)

Notice is hereby given that Alarcon Inc.

- is in dissolution- commenced dissolution on September 30th, 2012; and- ECONOMICA XXI, of Geroev Panfilovtsev Str. 10/1 Office 525 Moscow 123363 Russian Federation is the Liquidator of the company

ECONOMICA XXI Liquidator

Top Soil Systems Inc.(“the Company”)

Notice is hereby given that Top Soil Systems Inc.

- is in dissolution- commenced dissolution on January 5th, 2013; and- ECONOMICA XXI, of Geroev Panfilovtsev Str. 10/1 Office 525 Moscow 123363 Russian Federation is the Liquidator of the company

ECONOMICA XXILiquidator

Sagicor Capital Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Glenn Longsworth of #6 St. Joseph Street, Belize City, Belize has made sworn deposition that Policy No P#F01136827 issued by Sagi-cor Capital Life Insurance Company Ltd has been declared lost.

Dated February 13 2013

By Order

Sandra OsborneCorporate Secretary

Referendum Process Contaminated

that same bubble are convinced that Belize will be able to maintain its ter-ritorial integrity. But thousands of Be-lizeans are more and more losing con-fidence in such utterances. More and more his bleatings would suggest that he is carrying a brief for Guatemala. Mr. Minister, please draw from the Colom-bia experience, or please speak to your friend, the Ambassador for Taiwan in Belize. There are other references that can be provided.

This is what our Foreign Minister said in a recent interview: “I think what worries both the Guatemalans and us really is that fact that their people are moving eastward. There is a lot of poverty, there is a lot of hunger, there is a lot of violence…because of the hardship (that exists In Guatemala) people are migrating towards Belize because the grass is greener”.

OK Father Teresa, this suits Guate-mala well. Talk with the UNHCR if you want to be helpful to Guatemalan ref-ugees, if that is what you are leading up to. Don’t just drag on your beard and suck your toes. We want you to lodge a protest with the OAS and the UN, about the persistent incursions by Gua-temalans into Belize, aided and abetted by their government who recently de-manded and received compensation af-

Continued from page 6 ter a Guatemalan citizen was allegedly assaulted by the Belize Defence Force for defending Belize’s territory against this intruder. These incursions continue to pose a threat to our national integri-ty and your job is to deal with related issues, not to have a bleeding heart for Guatemalans entering Belize illegally “because the grass is greener”.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has implied that he has no problem with ceding some of Belize’s southern sea to Guatemala “as they are not firmly de-marcated and defined”. You have been sleeping on your watch or wining and dining too much with the Guatemalans?

Our Foreign Minister seems not to understand that our Maritime Areas Act provides that definition which is in ac-cordance with the International Law of the Sea Convention. Are you betraying your National Hero, Mr. Philip Goldson? Shame on you, Sedi.

Neither the Prime Minister nor his Minister of Foreign Affairs has argued convincingly why the people of Belize should vote yes to go to the ICJ. Gua-temala’s propaganda on the other hand, which we have not challenged except at the OAS where they remain defiant and where they always get a pass, con-tinues to be insulting to the people of Belize.

Be careful what you wish for!

Belize City, February 19, 2013On Saturday, 16th February, 2013,

the Belize Olympic & Commonwealth Games Association held its elections. The 17 member Associations were represented by 2 members each.

The Elections was presided over by an Election Commission, appoint-ed in coordination with NOC/PASO and Mr. Charles B. Hyde Sr, President of Belize NOC/OA Fair Play Commis-sion, which comprised of Mr. Ray-mond Lashley, Rt. Pharmacist; Ms. Sharon Frazer, Senior Magistrate &

Ms. Hadie Gomez, Rt. Princi-pal.

The meeting was called to order and the National Anthem was sung by Mr. Sean Saldano and the prayer of St. Francis Assisi was recited by all.

Sir Colville Young, Governor General of Belize, was unani-mously elected & appointed as Patron of the Belize Olympic & Commonwealth Games Asso-ciation.

Elected to office are: Mr. Hilberto (Hilly) Martinez (Presi-

dent); Mr. Owen (Sonny) Meighan (Vice President); Mrs. Yolanda Fonseca (Sec-retary General); Ms. Josephine Flowers (Assistant Secretary); Mr. Giovanni Ala-milla (Treasurer); Mr. Herman Pastor Jr. (Member); Mr. Allan Sharp (Member); Mr. Arturo Vasquez (Member).

The meeting culminated with a Resolution presented by Mr. Billy Musa, President of the Belize Tennis Associa-tion under the written approval of all 17 Association, to name the outgoing President, Mr. Edward Pitts, as Presi-dent Emeritus.

New President Mr. Hilly Martinez

THE BELIZE TIMES24 FEB 2013 27

SCIENCE & TECHBELIZE TIMES WEEKLY

R E V I E W

Selected By Chris Williams

New retinal implant gives sight to nine blind people

Apple Hack Similar to Facebook Attack

20 February 2013A man walks out of a restaurant

into the night and sees street lights and brightly lit shop windows. He’s so thrilled by the spectacle that he stands there for 10 minutes, just looking. The reason for his joy at such a mundane sight is the fact that he is normally totally blind.

The man is one of nine patients to have been fitted with an Alpha IMS device, the latest retinal pros-thesis that can restore sight to blind people.

The image above is an X-ray of one of the patients, showing the im-planted chip with wires running to it from the retina, with a dial behind the ear that can be used to adjust brightness. It is powered wirelessly via a battery in the pocket.

Such devices work only in patients who have lost their vi-sion through diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa that destroy the light-detecting cells in the eye but leave the vision-processing

by the US Food and Drug Admin-istration only last week and has also been adapted to allow blind people to read Braille by sight rather than touch.

But the two devices work very differently. The Argus II converts video from a camera on a pair of glasses into electronic signals “displayed” on a grid of 60 elec-trodes implanted over a person’s retina.

The Alpha IMS, on the other hand, detects light entering the eye instead of using an external camera, which means that a patient can look around by mov-ing their eyes rather than always having to move their head.

It uses a grid of 1500 elec-trodes implanted underneath, rather than over, the retina: this offers higher resolution. It also makes use of the natural pro-cessing power of the neurons in the middle layer of the retina that process motion and contrast.

neurons intact. The devices send signals directly to the brain.

The Alpha IMS joins the Argus

II - the only other visual prosthesis to have so far undergone clinical trials. The Argus II was approved

Tue, Feb 19, 2013Apple was targeted by the

same hackers who went after Facebook last month, Reuters reported this afternoon and Apple confirmed to ABC News.

“Apple has identified mal-ware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers,” Apple said in a statement. “The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers.”

No data was stolen, Apple said. As in the Facebook case, the

of that vulnerability, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement last month urging computer users to disable the software in browsers.

Apple said that its operating sys-tems do not ship with Java installed. If a user installs Java, Apple’s software will automatically disable it if it has been unused for 35 days. Apple will also be releasing a new update that will help against Java threats.

“To protect Mac users who have installed Java, today we are releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that will check Mac systems and remove this malware if found,” Apple said today.

Apple and Facebook’s announce-

company said hackers were only able to access a small number of Apple employ-ees’ Macintosh computers. Apple then isolated them from its network.

“There was no evidence that any data left Apple,” the company said.

Facebook reported on Friday that it was “targeted in a sophisticated attack.” Like Apple today, it said that there was no evidence that Facebook user data was compromised. Security experts told ABC News that it is likely that the only information compromised was what was on the personal computers of those em-ployees whose machines were infected.

Both attacks used a vulnerability in Java, the software used to show much of the content on Web browsers. Because

ments comes after Twitter’s announcement on Feb. 1 that 250,000 accounts were compro-mised in an attack. Twitter told affected users to reset their pass-words. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal said their computer systems were infiltrated by Chinese hackers in late January.

With so many securi ty breaches, this is a good time to make sure you are following basic online safety tips -- reset your passwords regularly, keep your anti-virus software up to date, and stay away from web-sites that seem questionable.

THE BELIZE TIMES 24 FEB 2013 30

THE BELIZE TIMES 24 FEB 2013 32