belizetimes april 13, 2014

The Belize TimesThe Truth Shall Make You Free

Established 1957

13 APRIL 2014 | ISSUE NO: 4890 www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

SCAN HERE

Pg. 4

Pg. 8

Bad News for PeNNer

Pg. 3 No Escape for Penner!

Pg. 11

UDP IncomPetence caUses major economIc loss

In oW

Pg. 7

toP UP KIngs!

Saldivar’s get rich scheme exposed

Pg. 9 Pg. 9

PharmacIsts threaten

mInIster’s DaUghter

to protest over illegal appointment of

Mayor Bradley

slaMs UdP adMiNistratioN

Increasing Poverty in Lake I, Port Loyola

make him “sad”

Pg. 11

Pg. 11

Flanked by PUP Secretary General Mrs. Myrtle Palacio, PUP standard bearer Orlando Habet and

PUP officials, Senior Counsel Lisa Shoman shares the Supreme Court ruling which could lead to a Re-call of disgraced Elvin Penner in Cayo North East

THE BELIZE TIMES 13 APR2014 202

Ariel Rosado Foundation offers scholarships

serving Belize since 1957 as the longest continuous newspaper.

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

EDITOR

Alberto Vellos

LAYOUT/GRAPHIC ARTIST

Chris Williams

OFFICE ASSISTANT

Roberto Peyrefitte

Printed and Published ByThE BElIzE TImEs PREss lTD.

Tel: 671-8385#3 Queen StreetP.O. BOX 506

Belize City, BelizeEmail: [email protected]

[email protected]

The Belize TimesThe Truth Shall Make You Free

Established 1957

14 APR 2013 | ISSUE NO: 4840 www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

SCAN HERE

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6 Feb

LOCAL wEAthER26 Mar 27 Mar16 Apr15 Apr14 Apr13 Apr12 Apr11 Apr

Pharmacists Association position on contracting of a

Director of Drug Inspectorate

April 9th, 2014 On the matter of the contracting of a Di-

rector of Drug Inspectorate in the Ministry of Health, the Pharmacists Association of Belize maintains that:

- On March 4th 2014, an individual was contracted in a non-existent post

- The creation of the current “post” of Director of Drug Inspectorate has not gone through the proper processes expected in the Public Service and as such is not estab-lished

- While the person holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with content to meet the minimum requirements for education in Phar-macy practice, this person does not meet the requirements for the post of Drug Inspector (whom she would be expected to supervise), much less that of a director’s position.

- The person contracted: 1. Is not registered as a Chemist and

Druggist under the laws of Belize, and as is required to be a Drug Inspector, as stated in the Ministry of Health’s job description

2. Lacks the specialized training required to be a Drug Inspector, as is stated in the Ministry of Health’s job description o Lacks the 5 years’ experience required to be a Drug Inspector, as is stated in the Ministry of Health’s job description

3. Has no supervisory experience In comparison, within the Ministry of

Health, the requirements to be a Director of Laboratory Services includes a Bachelor De-gree in approved field and 5 years Superviso-ry Experience.

Subsequent to meeting with the Min-

ister of Health and the CEO in the Ministry of Health on Wednesday March 26th, the Execu-tive of the Pharmacists Association met with its members to discuss the outcome of the above mentioned meeting and present the two options made by the Ministry. The options being:

1. For a member of the Association to ac-company the “Director” when carrying out the inspections

2. For the executive of the Association to meet with the Minister of Health every two months.

It is the position of the Pharmacists Asso-ciation of Belize that the two options presented by the leadership of this Ministry are not genu-ine and tangible solutions to address the matter of appointment of the current Director of Drug Inspectorate. We maintain that the work of phar-macy is essential in its contribution to the health of this nation and as such we take the respon-sibility entrusted to us by the people we serve seriously. Hence as custodians of this noble profession, we call for processes that allow for proper regulation and disavow any attempt to bastardize our work and worth. We view the cre-ation of the post of Director of Drug Inspectorate Unit, in its current capacity, as a feeble attempt at addressing a serious issue and as such, not sustainable.

Therefore it is the position of the Pharma-cists Association of Belize that

- the current post of Director of Drug In-spectorate is not recognized in its current capac-ity

- and as such should not represent Belize in any official capacity, nationally or international-ly

As a result the PAB is demanding that: 1. any existing contract entered into to fill this

inaptly created post be rescinded 2. proper procedure be adhered in the cre-

ation and filling of any such post 3. an entire unit be created to realistically car-

ry of the important and necessary work 4. the unit be properly equipped with suitably

trained personnel 5. the laws necessary to give this unit author-

ity be in place The Pharmacists Association of Belize seeks

bona fide strengthening and improvement of Pharmacy Practice in Belize, therefore, we call on the Ministry of Health to support the passage of the proposed laws that have been submitted to the Solicitor General. This would be the first step in creating structures and systems at hat will al-low for the transparency that the CEO made ref-erence to in the meeting March 26th 2014.

The Pharmacists Association made its of-ficial position known to the Ministry of Health in a letter date April 3rd 2014. Our response which called for rescind-ing of the contract for the current Director of Drug Inspectorate by April 7th, 2014, has not been ac-knowledged. Therefore, the Pharmacists Associ-ation of Belize sees no other option but to take further action under the Settlement of Disputes in the Essential Services Act, Chapter 298 of the Laws of Belize.

President of Pharmacists As-sociation Hortence Humes

At a Press Conference held on Thursday, April 10, 2014, PUP Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca called for an investi-gation into the business dealings of Mytheon Solutions

and asked what sort of relationship, it had with UDP Minister John Saldivar

PUP LEADER PUTS MYTHEON SOLUTIONS

UNDER SCRUTINY

April 8, 2014The Ariel Rosado Foundation is now accepting scholar-

ship applications for Academic Year 2014-2015. Scholarships are available in the following categories:

1. Primary School Grants for students to learn to sail with the Belize Sailing Association

2. Secondary School scholarships covering the cost of Books, Tuition and Fees

3. Galen University Scholarship covering the cost of Tuition

For further information visit our website at [email protected] or call our office at 223-5674 or 600-6665. Closing date for applications is Friday 13th June 2014.

THE BELIZE TIMES13 APR 2014 3

Another broken promise!

03“Penner got to go” rally in

san Ignacio on sunday

Francis Fonseca

Sunrise – February 14th 1930Sunset – April 11th 2008

Without any warning or preparation a flower gets

plucked from the Garden of our life. We need not worry for our God has the entire

world in his control.

In sweet repose loving, cher-ishing, and never fading

memory of his beloved soul with the Lord. May he have

eternal peace. Vaya con Dios.

From your wife, children, grandchildren, great grand-children and God daughter

Ainsworth Karsten Morrison Grant

In Memoriam of

Belize City, April 9, 2014The Ministry of Sports’ incompetence

and failure to plan adequately has created a series of headaches for the planners of the annual Holy Saturday Cycling Classic.

Minister of Sports Herman Long-sworth had promised just 29 days ago that the Marion Sports facility would be ready for the traditional ending of the race. He said, “certainly we should be able by Eas-ter to be able to have the Cross Country finishing there and have it opened to the public”. However, just the contrary is taking place. The Marion Jones Sporting ground continues in its everlasting construction

finished nor ready, but the chaotic planning of the UDP City Council has further interrupt-ed the cycling organisers’ plans to have the race end at the facility. Over the past week, the Council began tearing up Princess Mar-garet Drive along the Marion Jones Sports Complex, making it impossible for cyclist to utilise the area.

The erratic street works have even add-ed greater traffic migraines and puts com-muters at serious risk of vehicular mishaps.

Longsworth’s promise that Marion Jones will be ready has turned out to be a huge LIE. Cycling enthusiasts are saying that it’s a shame that for another year the end of the cycling race will not be at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex. Herman Longsworth, we are told, has been hanging this head low as he can’t even keep the most basic of prom-ises to the sporting community.

phase and will NOT be ready for the end of the biggest cycling event of the year.

The only portion of the facili-ty that has been completed, or at least it seems so, is the fence that Longsworth’s private company built and for which he collected a cool two million dollars from the Govern-ment. If that money had been put to the cycling track instead, it would have been ready years ago.

Now, not only is the facility not


Kindly contact our office at 671-8385

during normal working hours

EASTER NOTICE

Officer Down!

04

PUP at 60% of threshold

Quiet Rage

on the

By Francis w. FonsecaIn every corner of

this beautiful land we call Belize, there is a “Quiet Rage” building up in the Belizean peo-ple.

From north to south, east to west there is a growing sense of frus-tration and despera-tion.

Scandal after Scan-

dal!Corruption after

Corruption uncov-ered!

UDP lies and propaganda!

UDP friends and family getting richer while the masses suffer!

This is the Beliz-ean reality in 2014!

Some ask in

frustration, why have the people not taken to the streets?

Well, the answer is simple. This is a petty, vindictive UDP Gov-ernment that governs thru fear and intimida-tion.

But the breaking point is near. The peo-

ple have had enough of scandals, lies and corrup-tion.

The PUP must now move to organize the people in a mass demon-stration.

The message must go out loud and clear, this UDP Government has lost the moral authority to continue governing Be-lize.

It is time for Change!It is time for Hope!It is time for Elections!A new dawn is ap-

proaching.The PUP is HERE!!

Notice to readers advertisers. The Eas-ter edition of the Belize Times will hit the

streets on Wednesday April 16th, 2014.

Advertisers are advised that the deadline for ads is Monday April 14th at 5PM.


…BEFORE WE LOSE IT

05

editorial

“For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. Luke 6:44-45

Despite the corruption of international influences Belize is still a village. Complete with the empathy, budget, natural resources and collective conscientiousness of a sleepy riverside community.

Our strength is the character of our people. Our common bond in the social contract is the respect and dignity amongst our people. Our pith is resilience and the survival culture of “making do with what ever we have”. In this aspect we, Belizeans, are consistent to a fault.

We are rather tolerant, optimistic and God fearing. Mr. Price, the visionary that he was, solidified the plurality of our country by insisting that we not be allowed to call ourselves, creoles, maya or mestizo but that we adapt the uniformity of being called Belizeans.

If you were to ask the average Belizean to describe Belize and our culture, the response would be balanced and accurate. That balance is the inheritance of the political deliberateness of pre-independence PUP leadership.

Any conceivable critique of the Price (1981-84, 89-93) or Musa, (1998-2008) prime ministerial tenures will be acceptably silent on racial tensions or cultural insensitivity and sexual discrimination. There is no need to go over the record of cultural institutions like NICHE, or the bench mark service of females in these PUP ad-ministrations. Rather in this commentary, we wish to soberly and regrettably look at the deterioration and bigoted attack by the UDP on women, Maya, Creoles, the Garifuna, immigrants, and Hispanics.

Our concern is not the extent of the insults which is being insti-tutionalized against these groups but rather the irreparable damage that the UDP is causing.

When the UDP loses the next general elections and leave office in the next year and half, Belize may not be the same and not “the worse for wear”. As a small country we cannot afford this.

The UDP are ignorant. They are insensitive. They are crass. They are incapable of intelligent thought and they subscribe to a Nean-derthal governance strategy. As a parody of a popular insurance commercial would describe: “The UDP’s actions are so backwards, not even a caveman would do it.”

Not to make light of a serious situation, but how culturally in-sensitive can the UDP be than to bulldoze a 2,000 year old Mayan temple and then take the man responsible and endorse him to run for national political office? We wonder how the Mayans feel about that.

Then there are the rude words of Michael Peyrefitte. This is a troubled UDP politician who is obviously still developmentally stuck in a recklessly obese pubescent stage. His public insults to the Belizean Mayans are inexcusable.

Painting them in his crude style as “money hungry” should have a more significant consequence. This arrogant attitude, lest we for-get, was displayed back in 2008 during Peyrefitte’s losing bid for the Freetown constituency when he insulted a female senior citizen who sought him claiming monies owed to her. His “facey” response at the time was “… I deal with bigger money than that”.

Imagine this “ram it” character in government? We just say thank God for Francis Fonseca and the people of Freetown.

The point must be completed that for saying such a nasty thing about our Mayan brothers and siters, Peyrefitte should resign as

Speaker of House?The UDP have told the Mayans that they are not Belizeans, they

fight them and try to cheat them in the oil industry. Hey, Mayans were the first Belizeans and the only non-immigrant class of Belizeans. They been here before Columbus, “memba that”.

Then his UDP colleague, Mark King, stepped in, holding up the rear. He insulted immigrants. His “catch the line” sound bite was taken directly from the Gapi Vega “I am not a normal person” book.

On a serious note, what in the world does “this is not Cuba” mean? Really.

King insulted Cubans. Maybe all the Cuban doctors at KHMH should fold their scrubs and strike in protest until an apology is made. How can the UDP allow King to insult Belizeans. We at BELIZE TIMES note that the same people he condescendingly refers to as “those people” who “come to this country” are Belizean nationals. The spokesperson who appeared in the news cast actually ran for municipal office under an independent ticket. Amazing.

Belize was built on immigration. In fact, someone should tap the UDP on the shoulder and remind them that their current adminis-tration was stolen by them possibly because of pre-election Penner like “immigration”.

Dangriga keeps on being insulted. The UDP corruption in the market is the tip of iceberg. Grigalizeans noticed that for the Garifuna Settlement Day Barrow snobbed the ceremonies and grudgingly only one UDP rep was forced to go. Yet in the UDP convention to force Paw-pa Mena back into political caretaking, more than 7 UDP leaders went down to the culture capital and left as quickly as possible thereafter.

Dangriga does not forget what Mena said about them. They remem-ber because he was mayor. They say they remember that he ignored them; eventually abandoned them and moved to Belmopan. Then he popped back up talking about crumbs as “bacon” and admitted that the UDP have neglected the people of Griga to the point that they were emasculated. What an insult!

At one time the UDP’s leader in San Pedro, Manuel Herredia, want-ed black people to be screened and denied access to la isla bonita. The UDP in Belize City wanted to take the same blacks and racially profile them, lock them up with preventative detention and quarantine them off in “crime ridden areas”. Remember Barrow’s preventative detention?

Thanks to the UDP, Belize has been internationally recognized as featured twice in the ‘Top Ten Sexist and Heterosexist Moments in Caribbean Politics.’ UDP’s Michael Finnegan who once referred to the female Speaker of the house as a “she dog” and then recently made disgusting sexual suggestions to an honorable female in the House was a star.

So too was the UDP Guardian newspaper who are described in that international report as having “a sexualized and gendered shaming of women.” We note that for all the talking and insults, Belize is so bad that it was not even ranked in the social progress index of 2014. Belizeans are listening. We wish to remind the UDP that being racists, bigots, and sexist chauvinistic pigs will ultimately destroy the beauty that is Belize.

The UDP, to be fair to them, have always been a coalition of political groups unified by hate. This is why we have seen all this hate speech. But what can we expect of the UDP, as Matthew 12:34 reminds us: “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

For God’s sake, shut up.


a joKer for a mayorDoes Darrel Bradley take anything seriously?

LiQUoR LiCENSE NoTiCES

Notice is hereby given that JiNG HUiWU is applying for a Shop Liquor License to be operated at “Good Day Shop”, situate at #20 St. Joseph St., Belize City Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licens-ing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

Notice is hereby given that HUiNENY ZHANG is applying for a Beer Liquor License to be operated at “368 Salon”, situate at #148 A Newtown Barracks, Belize City, Belize District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance Revised Edition 1980.

carIbbean actIvIsts slam UDP for DIsresPectIng Women

Belize City, April 8, 2014There seems to be very little that Be-

lize City Mayor Darrel Bradley takes seri-ously these days. It appears that he treats most things with varying levels of signifi-cance, depending on how personally relat-ed they are to him.

He has consistently faced the risk of criminal proceedings for contempt of court for postponing and arguing his way out of settling a huge outstanding debt to the sanitation company, Belize Waste Control, which he had given an undertak-ing to pay off while he was the City Coun-cil’s legal advisor under former Mayor Ze-naida Moya four years ago.

He recently admitted to spending all his time at Court doing private legal work instead of being at City Hall, looking after the very important duties of his office. No wonder the City is under such neglect, di-saster and chaos.

At the official ceremony to open the new BTL family park, the Mayor seriously defended the Council’s consideration of a bar that serves alcoholic drinks on the park. He also strongly defended nepotism under his administration when he admit-ted that a fellow Councillor had been cho-sen over other Belizeans to operate a busi-ness booth. When the media dug deeper, it was discovered that even the Mayor’s mother in law had also been given similar preference. His defense of nepotism was then not so surprising.

In the middle of critical negotiations with firebrand Union Leader Audrey Ma-tura-Shepherd over the livelihoods of em-ployees fired by the City Council, the May-or acted immaturely when he walked out of a meeting, and cried the day after that he “was really tired [of] listening to Audrey Matura from 8am in the morning to 8:30 in the night”. The Mayor also said that he rushed out of the meeting because he had to relieve his babysitter at home.

Now, there’s news that the UDP has been begging Bradley to stand down in Caribbean Shores and run as Mayor for an-other term, even though Bradley punked

the Party by promising to run but missed the deadline set for City Council appli-cants.

Bradley’s resistance to bite his par-ty’s political bait is most interesting. It seems that Bradley, who won the 2012 city council elections riding on the backs of a general election campaign that was bought over by the UDP, is very doubtful that he can pull off a municipal elections win all alone. His suspicions are very ac-curate. Bradley is not leadership material. He has allowed his Councillors to neglect their duties, and he makes decisions without consulting city residents, which many times end up inconveniencing the city. He was even called a “haad ears”

Mayor by the Krem Wake Up Belize morning show host Mose Hyde.

Information to the BELIZE TIMES is that the Party has presented an attractive offer to him. But Bradley, who has indebted the city by $20 mil-lion, doesn’t want more headache it seems. “…being in City Hall is not an easy thing”, he admitted in a morning show interview this week.

It is clear that Bradley wants a way out. He certainly doesn’t take his job seriously, and his mistakes have been costly. City residents will soon have a $20 million nightmare, and from the looks of things, Bradley will be nowhere to pave a way out.

THE BELIZE TIMES13 APR 2014 7 07

Belize City, April 10, 2014Despite a heavy veil of pro-

tection placed by the Barrow Administration to defend corrupt UDP area representative Elvin Penner from facing justice no matter what, the People’s United Party has won yet another victo-ry for the people of Belize.

At 10:35 on Thursday morn-ing, Supreme Court Judge Cour-tenay Abel granted permission for judicial review of the Chief Elections Officer Josephine Ta-mai’s wrongheaded decision to invalidate 337 signatures that had been collected in a petition to trigger the highly-anticipated Recall of the disgraced UDP Cayo North East politician. The petition had attracted 2,000 signatures or 34.4% of the registered voters, exceeding the required thresh-old.

The permission for judicial review was brought forward by PUP Standard Bearer Orlando Habet and four other applicants: Ursulo Guerra, Carla Smith, Sier-ra Moro and George Manzanero. In Court this morning, their attor-neys, Senior Counsel Lisa Sho-man and Anthony Sylvestre Jr., argued confidently on their be-half, pressing that the applicants had been adversely affected by Tamai’s decision.

Shoman pointed out that such decision, based on the ev-idence, was deemed irrational, unlawful, arbitrary and unreason-able. This wrongful decision, she noted, resulted in the disenfran-chisement of electors who had a legitimate expectation that the recall process would have been fair and genuine.

Appearing on behalf of the Chief Elections Officer was Acting Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, the same man who the UDP Government instructed to defend the Commissioner of Po-lice Allen Whylie’s decision not to criminally investigate Elvin Penner in the Supreme Court. In that case, which was brought for-ward by Opposition Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin ruled that the Commissioner acted “irrational, illegal, and unlawful” when he chose not to investigate Penner. The Chief Justice issued an order known legally as a “Writ of Man-damus” which forced Whylie to commence with acceleration the investigations.

Back in court for another round of the UDP’s attempt to

Bad News for PeNNer

protect Elvin Penner, Hawke did not present any arguments as to why the Court should not allow the application. Instead, he sought to disqualify Habet, Guerra and Smith as applicants on the prem-ise that they did not have any di-rect interest in the decision of the Chief Elections Officer. However, after strong arguments by Senior Counsel Shoman, Judge Abel dis-counted Hawke’s arguments not-ing that all five applicants had suf-ficient interests in the decision.

In the interest of practicabili-ty; however, Justice Abel removed Guerra and Smith as applicants but kept Habet, who he indicated had a direct stake since he represents PUP supporters and voters in Cayo North East and would have ran in an election if the recall had been al-lowed.

The decision was ultimately an-other victory for the PUP and Belize. It was the third serious blow for the UDP who are protecting Elvin Pen-ner’s criminal actions and abuse of authority as the former Minister of State in the Ministry of Immigration.

The second blow to the UDP came when the brave citizens group, COLA, successfully filed a private prosecution before the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court and got Penner to appear for criminal arraignment. The charges were for

illegally issuing a Belizean nation-ality certificate and a passport. Penner was released on a $2,000 bail plus one surety in the same amount and the case was ad-journed to May 29th.

On the matter of today’s Court decision, attorneys Shoman and Sylvestre will now prepare for a few matters dealing with the ad-ministration of the case, prior to the actual judicial review hearing which has been set provisionally for July 2nd.

Shoman stated that the objec-tive of the judicial review is for the Court to declare the Chief Elec-tions Officer’s decision null and void and for an order to revisit the signatures, which once reviewed would be found valid and should allow the Recall of Elvin Penner to proceed.


PUP

– Freetown’s Mr. Quitar?

Continued on page 31

PUP NOTICEOrange Walk North Standard Bearer Convention

The People’s United Party Standard Bearer Convention for the Orange Walk North Division is scheduled for June 15, 2014.

Application are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee is to be submitted to the Sec-retariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application package.

Deadline for submission is Tuesday April 15, 2014.

PUP NOTICEMunicipal Elections – San Pedro Town

The People’s United Party is inviting interested applicants for the upcom-ing San Pedro Town Council Elections to submit their applications. A Convention is slated for Sunday, July 13th, 2014.

Applications are available from the Constituency Committee Chairper-son Nicholas “Nico” Varela or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

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

Deadline for submission is Friday April 11, 2014.

PUP NOTICEStandard Bearer Convention for MesopotamiaThe People’s United Party announces that it will hold a Convention for Mesopotamia Standard Bearer on Sunday, June 1, 2014.

PUP NOTICEMunicipal Elections – City of Belmopan

The People’s United Party is inviting interested applicants for the upcoming City of Belmopan municipal elections to submit their applications. A Convention is slated for Sunday, June 29th, 2014.

Applications are available from the Constituency Committee Chairperson Mr. Paul Wade or the PUP Secretariat, Independence Hall, #3 Queen Street, Belize City.

Completed applications must be filled and returned to the Chairperson and the Secretary General. The non-refundable fee must be submitted to the Secretariat along with the necessary documentation to complete the application.Deadline for submission is Tuesday April 15, 2014.

PharmacIsts threaten to Protest over Illegal

aPPoIntment of mInIster’s DaUghter

Belize City, April 10, 2014The Pharmacists Association

of Belize issued a fiery press re-lease on Wednesday April 9th 2014 in which it threatened to initiate protest actions if the con-troversial appointment of Minister Erwin Contreras’ daughter to the newly formed post of “Director of Drug Inspectorate” is not rescind-ed.

Danini Contreras, a recent graduate of a University in Guate-mala, was secretly pushed to the special post in total disrespect of well-trained and experience pro-fessionals in the pharmacy sector. When the news of the appoint-ment surfaced, it stirred up an ant’s nest that no treatment has been able to calm.

The Pharmacists Association demanded that the Minister of Health recall the appointment and that they are given greater respect through consultation before mov-ing ahead with such a decision. Those calls have been ignored by Pablo Marin however, and instead of respect, the Association was called into to a closed door meet-ing on March 26th in which they were told to keep hush and that the Ministry was not prepared to rescind Contreras’ appointment.

Marin and his CEO, Peter Al-

len, tried to appease them by of-fering a babysitting role where a member would always “accom-pany” the new Director, but they have also rejected that.

The Association has stated that Contreras is not qualified nor adequate for the post. “The per-son contracted is not registered as a Chemist and Druggist under the laws of Belize, and as is re-quired to be a Drug Inspector, as stated in the Ministry of Health’s job description, lacks the spe-cialized training required to be a Drug Inspector, as is stated in the Ministry of Health’s job descrip-tion, lacks the 5 years’ experience required to be a Drug Inspector, as is stated in the Ministry of Health’s job description and has no supervisory experience”, said their release.

As a result of the continued show of disrespect, the Associa-tion said it “sees no other option but to take further action under the Settlement of Disputes in the Essential Services Act”, which means it is prepared to take every form of protest action until their demands are met.

According to officials of the Association, they have the sup-port of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize.

THE BELIZE TIMES13 APR 2014 9 09

Continued from page 7

Hon. Manuel Herredia Jr.

Belize City, April 9, 2014Ever since the Opposition PUP called out the

company name “Mytheon Solutions” at last month’s Budget Debate, UDP Belmopan Area Representative John Saldivar has made a mighty run for cover.

Saldivar, it seems, does not want to face the Belizean people and answer questions about his in-volvement in the company that reportedly made two millions dollars from doing business with the Ministry of National Security. What’s wrong with that, you may ask? Well, Saldivar is the Minister of National Securi-ty! That’s a serious conflict of interest! Possibly, even criminal.

For many months Mytheon Solutions was a secret, but now it’s out. On November 2nd, 2009, Saldivar and his business partner Khalid Belisle regis-tered Mytheon Solutions as their company with the address “St. Vincent Street Extension”. On the regis-tration documents the Minister and his follower de-scribed the company’s business as “phone credit dis-tribution”. On June 4th 2010, the company’s ownership changed hands from Saldivar/Belisle to only Saldivar. Then on August 26th, 2010, the ownership changed once more from John Saldivar to Darlene Saldivar, who is the Minister Saldivar’s wife.

Sources have told the BELIZE TIMES that Mythe-on Solutions is the sole provider of phone credit to de-partments that fall under the Ministry of National Secu-rity. This includes the Police Department, Coast Guard and Belize Defence Force. A majority of the phone lines at these department offices were changed to pre-paid phones to make it necessary for the purchase of pre-paid credit.

According to reports, in its first year, Mytheon collected just under $2,000,000 from credit sold. Who made those profits? The answer lies somewhere be-tween interested parties John Saldivar and Khalid Be-lisle.

Mytheon Solutions also remains a ghost compa-ny only. Checks at the Belmopan City Council show that there is no St. Vincent Street extension in the mu-nicipality. St. Vincent Street does exist but there are no buildings on the street. When Belmopan’s local media house, Plus TV, attempted to find more information through the tax records at the Belmopan City Council, they were blocked. They later revealed that the City Ad-ministrator is Minister Saldivar’s sister, Angela Wade.

Coincidentally, Saldivar recently announced that his business partner Belisle is his chosen candidate for Mayoral Candidate in Belmopan City.

toP UP KIngs!

Saldivar’s get rich scheme exposed

These three registration documents show that this lucrative company has changed hands from Belisle/Saldivar to Saldivar’s wife, but it is still doing

business with the Ministry of National Security


by kELSEY Hemsley

VEGAS COME UP AGAIN!

Espats will join UDP ranks


Edmund Castro

Elvin Penner

Godwin Hulse

GOB’s Wasteful SpendingstraIght talK

By Gilroy Usher, SrThe government should stop

wasting thousands of dollars weekly on countless propaganda advertisements that are of no use to the Belizean people. Those ad-vertisements cost the hard work-ing taxpayers of this country close to a million dollars every year. The propaganda advertisements fea-ture cronies of the government telling us about the wonderful job the administration is doing while hard time, suffering and poverty abound throughout our communi-ties.

There are endless ways in which the huge sum of money can be used to truly benefit the Be-lizean people. The National Sport Council needs some of those funds to help promote sports in the country. Presently the council can’t help the youth of Belize with a simple ball much less a set of sporting gears. The public clinics in the urban and rural areas of the nation can also use some of those funds to have basic supplies like flu medication, syringes, cotton, aspirin, dehydration salts, and bed-ding supplies in stock. Some of the big bucks the government is wast-ing on weekly political propaganda advertisements can also be used to promote education in the coun-try. That can be done by assisting primary schools with textbooks for students, teaching aids, and suit-able furniture to enable the chil-dren to sit properly to learn their work instead of relying on teachers to bear more and more of such cost

out of their small salaries. Our people would also

like to see some of the thousands of dollars being wasted weekly on govern-ment propaganda advertise-ments be used to install a few street lights in areas of their communities that are dark and dangerous to trav-el at night. And the people of this nation would like to see some of the thousands of dollars being wasted on government propagan-da advertisements every week be used to fill some of those streets that are in such terrible conditions that taxi drivers refuse to take us home on them.

Flashy and costly gov-ernment propaganda does not make our lives better for even a single day. Our people is still jobless, broke, hungry, landless, poor, and frustrated because the ad-ministration is not address-ing the things that we need address to uplift our stan-dard of living and our com-munities.

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” - Abraham Lincoln

Straight talk.Comments are wel-

comed on Facebook/Gilroy Usher Sr.

Mayor Bradley slaMs UdP adMiNistratioN

Living conditions in Lake I, Port Loyola make him sad

Belize City, April 9, 2014Belize City Mayor Darrel Bradley

slammed the UDP Administration when he admitted that his Party has failed our country by neglecting the real needs of the people of Belize.

Bradley, who appeared on the Open Your Eyes morning show this week, was asked about the reason behind his refusal to submit an application to run once more as a UDP Mayoral Candidate.

Bradley was uncharacteristically hon-est and brutal when he explained that he isn’t too happy with the record of his Par-ty in Government

“When I drive in the Gungulung Area or certain areas in Port Loyola, it makes me really sad to see the condi-tions in which our people live and our people have to be asked to survive in, in terms of street conditions, housing conditions, long term policies…and it makes me feel that we are not doing what we should be doing or enough

to have an impact on those people…and that is why I have difficulty…”, he explained.

Unfortunately, the host failed to engage the Mayor into a deeper discussion. Many questions arise from his state-ment. Why he hasn’t made a difference since he is a UDP Mayor under a UDP Central Government? Why then, does he continue to support the UDP representatives such as Boots Martinez and Mark King?

Bradley should also explain what he has done to change those circumstances, especial-ly since he sat on the Board of the Central Bank which sets monetary and financial policies in the country that could have directly assisted the people of the Gungulung and Port Loyola areas.

UDP IncomPetence caUses major economIc loss In oW

April 8, 2014The Orange Walk Town Council ex-

presses its utter dismay and outrage at the Orange Walk Sports Council and the Min-istry of Sports. Because of incompetence, neglect and mismanagement of the Peo-ple’s Stadium by the Sports Council, the community has been negatively impacted.

The loss to Orange Walk is signifi-cant. Band Fest is an event which attracts thousands of Belizeans from every corner of the nation. On April 12th, they would all have been here in Orange Walk...buy-ing from our small businesses, staying in our hotels, enjoying all that Orange Walk Town has to offer. Twenty-three vendors who would have been out at the People’s Stadium have lost that opportunity. In ad-dition, participants and spectators must make other arrangements and pay more to go all the way to Corozal, with only a week’s notice.

The OWTC understands the decision by organizers to move Band Fest 2014 to the Santiago Ricalde Stadium in Corozal. In all such events, the welfare and safe-ty of participants and spectators must

be of primary concern. The fact is that the People’s Stadium was not adequate to host the event – not because of a lack of facil-ities, but because the Sports Council was negligent in preparation of the field. Despite months of notice and more than sufficient time, the Sports Council was unable to pro-vide even simple maintenance to make the field ready for Band Fest 2014. That is unac-ceptable and unforgivable.

The Orange Walk Town Council con-demns the Sports Council’s incompetence and demands an explanation for the deplor-able conditions of the facilities at the Peo-ple’s Stadium. That facility, one of Orange Walk’s primary event locations, should be in good condition at all times. That is solely the responsibility of the Sports Council. The OWTC also calls on the Ministry of Sports to immediately investigate the circumstanc-es which led to the organizers of Band Fest making the critical decision to move the event. The incompetence of the body en-trusted with the maintenance of the Peo-ple’s Stadium has cost the entire communi-ty dearly, and for that some answers must be provided.


BLAkBERRYnew music videos

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NEWSENTERTAINMENT

One of Belize’s most versatile reggae and dance-hall artists, BlakBerry, has taken things up a notch with new music videos released this week.

The new singles are titled “Boom Boom” and “Since you gaan”. The first is a kind of soundcry on be-half of the poor and down-trodden who are facing and struggling through a myriad of social issues including increasing crime and vio-lence. In the song, BlakBer-ry says that unless the “big-ger heads” stop sponsoring crime, Belize will continue being ravaged by crime.

The second song “Since you gaan” tells a story of love gone sour because of infidelity.

The videos were pro-duced by Linda Blease. BlakBerry said that he is particularly proud of the quality of music and video produced and he hopes to always set a new bar in in the music industry.


against San Ignacio United

14 SPORTS THE BELIZE TIMES 13 APRIL2014

FC Belize draws 2-2

byron Pope wins

Pre-cross country race

Byron Pope

Nayala Tun digs up a save

San Ignacio, April 6, 2014The FC Belize held San Ignacio

to a 2-2 draw in the Belikin Cup clos-ing season competition organized by the Premier league of Belize at the Norman Broaster Stadium on Sunday.

Jarret Davis scored first for FC Belize in the 42nd minute, but Tony Gonzalez equalized for San Ignacio in the 44th minute.

Tony Gonzalez scored San Igna-

cio’s 2nd goal in the 61st min-ute, but Jarret Davis convert-ed a late penalty to equalize 2-2 before the long whistle.

In Benque at the Mar-shalleck Stadium on Saturday night, Verdes upset the de-fending champs, the Belmo-pan Bandits: 2-1 with goals by Nahjib Guerra and Jamir Cano, while only Elroy Kuylen scored for the Bandits.

Belize City, March 30, 2014Benny’s Megabytes’ Byron

Pope won the Cycling Federa-tion’s 120-mile pre-Cross Coun-try race on the George Price Highway from Leslie’s Imports in Belize City to Mount Hope and back on Sunday. Pope clocked 5:10:04 to win the $300 1st prize and a trophy.

Belize City, April 5, 2014The Moen Stars girls and

the Jaguars men posted wins in the 2014 senior volleyball com-petition at the Belize Elemen-tary School auditorium over the weekend.

The Moen Stars’ Jahshema Saunders, Analisa Habet, Nelis-sa Ramirez, Shelmadine Cacho and Sherika Burton scored hits against the Belmopan Mystics to win 25-7, 25-12 and 25-15.

On Saturday, the Moen Stars dominated the Belmopan Warriors: 25-23, 25-9 and 25-10, even though Warriors’ Krystal Jones, Esther Middleton, Melis-sa Garnett and Kaylani Reid had scored in the 1st set.

On Friday, the Moen Junior Stars’ Kevanna Sebastian, Clara Sabal, Juel Lewis, Mya Musa and Gianna Brown had also stopped the Warriors in their tracks: 25-12, 25-16 and 25-18.

In the men’s competition in Friday’s nightcap, the AMS Jaguars’ Shane Gentle Karym Coleman, Bryton Codd, Joseph Enriquez and Denver Lino dom-inated Scorpions: Oscar, Arvid and Raul Arnold, Kleon Cole-man, Eian Galvez and Jamal Gal-vez, in 3 sets: 25-20, 25-17 and 25-16.

Moen Stars & Jaguars

Jarret Davis tackled by Felix Miranda

post wins in volleyball

games

On Saturday, the Jaguars had to go to 5 sets to put away the defending national champs, the Belmo-pan Blingz who won the first set: 25-22; the Jaguars took the 5th set and match 15-6.

The veteran Scor-pions also had to go to 5 set to win over the SQ Dragons: 12-25, 29-27, 20-25, 25-23 and 15-10.

Bryton Codd & karym Cole-man go up or a block

Richard Vasquez hits


SMART No Limits 15SPORTSTHE BELIZE TIMES13 APR

2014

City Boys, Hattieville

United U-17 & London Strikers

win football games

crushes Corozal heats 71-62Belize City, April 4, 2014

SMART No Limits bounced the Corozal Heats 71-62 to post their 5th win in when the National Elite Basketball League tournament at Birds’ Isle on Friday night.

No Limits’ Greg “Chippy” Ru-don’s had 15 points, 3 boards and

Ervin “Poty” Orosco added 14 points with Kevin Domingo’s 10 points.

Corozal’s Jason Grant scored 18 points, while Marcel Richards had 15 points.

At the Sacred Heart College auditorium last Friday night, the Western Ballaz ran over the Orange Walk Running Rebels: 100-50! Farron Louriano had 30 points, Travis Lennan added 19 points and Kurt “Chengo” Bur-gess scored 16 points.

At the San Pedro RC School court on Saturday, the Tiger-sharks drowned the Toledo Dip-lomats 86-52. Darwin “Puppy” Leslie and Winston “Air Jun” Pratt scored 15 points each, while Michael Adams had 11 points.

In Belmopan at the UB gym last Thursday night, the Belmo-pan Bandits tamed the Dangriga Warriors 66-54. Bandits’ Ste-phen “Muerte” Williams had 21 points, Jamal Harris added 13 points, and Dorian Jones 9 points.

Akeem Trapp scored 8 points Greg Rudon scored 15pts

Muslim Community School girls win Belize district softball champs

Crooked Tree boys advance to softball nationals

Belize City, April 5, 2014The Collet Strikers U-15, the

Brown Bombers U-15, London Strikers girls, the Hattieville Unit-ed Youth Sporting Club U-17 and the City Boys U-17 all posted big wins in the 2014 Belize District Football Association (BDFA) tour-nament at the MCC Garden on Saturday.

The Collet Strikers upset Hattieville U-15 boys 3-2 with Mario Rivera heading Hattieville’s 1st goal, but Collet’s Shadrick Lord and Wayne Ford scored to lead 2-1. Hattieville’s Jadon Mc-Gregor equalized 2-1, but Nelson Tablada scored Collet’s 3rd goal.

The Brown Bombers U-15 bombed the Ladyville Rising Stars: 6-1 with Sherwin Re-queña scoring a hat trick. Tyreek “Pippin” Muschamp added 2 more goals and Michael Desh-ield scored the Bombers’ 3rd goal.

The London Strikers schooled the Pallotti Academy

FC girls 3-0 with goals by Dennisha Thurton, Leyandra Henry, and Elisha Bernardez.

Hattieville United U-17 posted their 3rd win: 3-2 against the Collet Strikers U-17 with goals by Kenyon Lewis, Trevaugn “Monster” Rhaburn and Charles James. Collet recov-ered somewhat in the 2nd half when Tarique “Hammer” Ciego and Devon Davis scored.

The City Boys U-17 upset the Brown Bombers: 4-2 with Kermet Sutherland scor-ing their 1st goal and Keryron Patnett scoring a hat trick. Only Shemar Thompson and Ervin Longsworth scored for the Bombers.

Devon Davis scored Collet’s 2nd goal

Erica Milligan vs Pallotti FC


illegal Guatemalans caught panning for gold inside the Chiquibul forest


HABET AND HABET ad

La Vida De Mario Tzul (1974-2014)

Como regalo del día de las madres en el año 1974, el divino creador le envió al matrimonio de Fidencia y Cornelio Tzul su hijo menor Mario Antonio Tzul mejor conocido como “Bambi” o como la plebe también le llamaba “Bambola”.

Todos lo llamábamos Bambi pero quizás muy pocos sabíamos porque. Bambi contaba que fue el señor Arturo Gentle o “Don Ata” como muchos lo conocemos, que le decía que el corría rápido como un venadito y fue entonc-es cuando le pusieron de apodo “Bambi”. En 1998 Mario fue acolito junto con otros jovenci-tos sirviendo aquí en esta iglesia por varios años.

Bambi asistió al colegio Belize Adventist College y siempre compartia el dicho diciendo “El estudio no es para mí, a mí más me gusta el trabajo” y fue así como a su temprana edad Mario se convirtió en la mano derecha de su papa y empezó a conducir el camión de caña para el.

Después Mario trabajo como seguridad en la zona libre. Allí Bambi con su peculiar estilo de conversador se ganó muchas amistades be-liceños y mexicanos.

Sus últimos 6 años de vida Bambi se ded-icó al taxi. Se convirtió en el taxista favorito de muchas personas. Tenía a sus fieles clientes a los cuales él se esmeraba en servir puntual-mente y con buen servicio - llueva o tenga que almorzar más tarde, Bambi se aseguraba de servirlos fielmente.

Todos en la comunidad ya sabían cuál era el tema preferido del taxista: la política. Bambi fue un fuerte partidario del P.U.P. que aun en-fermo él se aseguraba de estar bien informado sobre los acontecimientos por medio de sus “contactos” como él decía.

Ya entonces Bambi presumía de su gran amor, Shar - como él le llamaba. Shar fue su gran conquista y él se dedicó a quererla, res-petarla pero sobre todo a consentirla. Era su pareja incondicional y Bambi decía “juntos para siempre”. Shar lo extrañara pero los buenos re-querdos de convivencia con él le darán fuerza para salir adelante.

Sus padres fidencia y Cornelio Tzul her-manas Oneida Gutiérrez y Florangeli Tzul se le adelantaron y de seguro Bambi ya se reunio con ellos.

Hoy le sobreviven su pareja Laila Sharai Burgos, sus hijas Jackelyn y Fidencia Tzul, un yerno Heiner Arjona y sus hermanos y herman-as: Cornelio Tzul Jr., Nelda Tzul, José Luis Tzul, Heriberto Tzul y Luz María Gamboa, sobrinos, sobrinas, parientes y amigos.

Hoy despedimos a un compañero, padre, hermano y amigo. Te extrañaremos mucho Bambi. Que descanses en paz y que Dios te tenga en su Gloria.

By Dr. Maria Isabel tunStudents of the Belize High School at-

tended the Harvard Association Cultivating In-ter-American Democracy (HACIA) Summit held this year in Panama City, Panama from March 13-16, 2014. According to a Brief History of HACIA Democracy, it was established twen-ty years ago on May, 1994, by two undergrad students and, Jason Price, a teacher at the In-ternational School of Panama, who envisioned a political simulation focused specifically on issues of the Americas. Now in 2014, twenty years later, the conference returned not only to the same country and city, but to the same hotel, Hotel El Panamá, to celebrate the Twen-tieth Summit of the Americas.

Organizers of the event noted that HACIA Democracy has become the “most diverse simulation of the Inter-American System in the world with more than 600 delegate attendees from over 30 schools from all over the hemi-sphere.”

This year, some 34 high schools from Pan-ama, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, the United States, Mexico, and Chile attended the XX HACIA Summit. Three of our Belize High School stu-dents, Caroline Fox, Aidan Rosado, and Renee Schakron, participated as delegates in the fol-lowing committees: PAHO, the Pan American Organization in which Fox and Rosado were co-delegates; and the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OAS (Or-ganization of American States), 2019, in which Schakron participated. This last mentioned sim-ulated a committee set in the future. Renee Schakron who participated in the Midnight Cri-sis—an event that takes place at the witching hour, and to which delegates hope that their committee would be selected to solve a ma-jor crisis—reflected of the Summit experience, “the HACIA Democracy debate is really and truly a great experience…you are challenged, and it is interactive. This experience definitely taught me to think about possible future cri-ses and how I can handle them.” For her part,

stUDents attenD XX hacIa Democracy

sUmmIt In PanamaCaroline Fox commented, “The experience was un-forgettable. I enjoyed the whole concept of getting to share with people you’ve never seen before and pres-ent on an idea that you came up with for the room to solve based on daily issues in our society. I realized that there is more to life than just sitting around and hanging out with friends.”

Although our delegation was small this time around, the impact of the other committees was not lost on us. These committees included the United Na-tions Security Council; Union of the South American Nations; Community of Latin American and Caribbe-an States; OAS Special Mission to Mexico, 1994; Co-lombian Peace Negotiations, 2012; Executive Cabinet of Omar Torrijos, 1974; and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. There were also complementary Spanish committees and student participants repre-senting the Press Corps and the NGOs.

The Keynote Speaker of the XX Summit of the Americas was no other than Nicolás Ardito Barletta, a former president of Panama whose tenure ran from 1984 to 1985. Barletta, an economist trained in the USA, has an impressive résumé that includes serv-ing as the vice-president of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, Minister of Economic Planning of Panama who was the trusted advisor to Gen. Omar Torrijos, co-founder of the Panamanian Banking Center, director of the Department of Eco-nomic Affairs of the American States, and CEO of the Interoceanic Region Authority.

For us faculty advisors, Mrs. Edmee Schakron (parent), Mrs. Carisa Williams, and myself, we were impressed by the energy of the young high school delegates who combined work with social events that included a talent show, Taste of HACIA (a cultur-al exchange), and a delegate dance. The Belize High School has had some 15 students attend this Harvard sponsored event, both in the Dominican Republic and Panama, and recognizes, as a fledging high school, that HACIA Democracy that is founded on an Organi-zation of American States parliamentary model, pre-pares our students not only for developing a political and consciousness of the region, but that it also is in-valuable in preparing students for college, community advocacy, and for developing democratic leadership and a citizen’s voice critical to nation building.


Happy Holidays!


PUBLIC AUCTION SALE

BY ORDER OF THE MORTGAGEE HOLY REDEEMER CRED-IT UNION LIMITED, a Licensed Public Auctioneer will sell the property described in the schedule below at the time as listed.

At the Parking Lot across the street from the office of Holy Redeemer Credit Union Limited, No. 1 Hyde’s Lane, Belize City on Friday 11th April 2014 at 9:00a.m.

SCHEDULEALL THAT piece or parcel or block of land being Block No. 65 con-sisting of 5.80 Acres situate along the George Price Highway near Mile 8.5, Belize District being such land comprised in MINISTER’S FIAT GRANT No. 524 of 2002 dated 5th July 2002 and more particularly shown and delineated on a Plan of Survey No. 524 of 2002 by G.E. Gill, Licensed Land Surveyor, recorded at the Office of the Commis-sioner of Lands and Surveys, Belmopan, Cayo District as Plan No. 1347B TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon, the freehold property of LUIS SOSA

DATED this 27th day of March 2014

All sales are strictly cash and deemed final. For more information contact:

HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED1 HYDE’S LANE, BELIZE CITY, BELIZE

Phone: (501) 224-5644Fax: (501) 223-0738

For SaleBy order of the

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edi-tion, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 18th day of March, 2011 between ADRiANNE SARAViA of Hope Creek Village, Stann Creek District, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 7 of 2011 at Folios 1517 – 1542, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto.

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

SCHEDULEALL THAT piece or parcel of land being Lot No. 109 comprising of 766.202 square metres situate in Hope Creek Village, Stann Creek District, bounded and described as shown by Plan No. 351 of 2010 attached to Minister’s Fiat Grant No. 351 of 2010 and also delineated on Plan No. 2080 Comp. No. 77 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DATED this 19th day of March, 2014.

MUSA & BALDERAMOS91 North Front Street

Belize CityAttorney-at-Law for

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.


Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Com-panies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 13th day of June, 2012 between GREGoRY CRiCHToN and PATRiCH GARBUTT both of No. 2 Piccini Site, Buttonwood Bay, Belize City, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 15 of 2012 at Folios 339 – 408, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto.All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

SCHEDULEALL THAT lot, piece or parcel of land being Lot No. 45 a portion of the land being known as “Dewdrop Farm” situate at Mile 11 ¾ on the Old Belize-Corozal Road in the Belize District of Belize as shown in Subdivision Plan registered at Entry No. 5325 Register No. 16 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DATED this 26th day of March, 2014.





Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edi-tion, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 5th day of March, 2012 between NAZARio iTZA JR. of San Jose Succotz Village, Cayo District, Belize of the one part, and SCoTiABANk (BELiZE) LTD., of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 5 of 2012 at Folios 1163– 1170, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto.All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

SCHEDULEALL THAT lot, piece or parcel of land being Lot Nos. 284 and 285 comprising of 609.718 Square Yards and 495.109 Square Yards respectively situate in Succotz Village, Cayo District, bounded and de-scribed as shown on Plan No. 1151 of 2003 attached to Minister’s Fiat Grant No. 1151 of 2003 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon.

DATED this 4th day of April, 2014.





Reid

Caligula

Mr. Barrow feels that at this point, he can get away with anything. his son, Anwar, is a relatively unqualified and untested candi-

date and putting him as CEO of one of Belize’s biggest and most profitable companies is bordering insanity.

By G. Michael ReidGaius Caesar Augustus Ger-

manicus was an emperor who ruled the Roman Empire from 37 AD to 41 AD. As a boy, Gaius was given the nickname Caligula which means “little soldier’s boots”. The nickname came because he was fa-vored by his father and was always in his father’s side, even accompa-nying him to war. Upon becoming emperor, Caligula was described as a “noble and moderate ruler during the first six months of his rule”. Af-ter that however, his madness, cru-elty and brutality placed him among history’s most hated and insane tyrants. (I’m starting to see similar-ities already.)

Caligula had a horse which he called Incitatus, which means “swift” or “at full gallop”. History re-cords that Caligula loved that horse so much that he built him a marble stall, an ivory manger and even a house. Incitatus wore a jeweled collar and lived and ate better than most of Caligula’s subjects. He had servants around the clock who fed him a diet of oats mixed with gold flakes. When Caligula went over the edge was when he proposed to make his horse a senator and a chief counselor.

While many historians have labeled Caligula as just plain crazy, writer Aloys Winterling in his book “Caligula: A Biography” (2011) sug-gests that there might have been some method to the emperor’s madness. Winterling opines that “insanity was not the only logical explanation for Caligula’s behavior”. He makes the case that many of the emperor’s wackier stunts, including his plan to appoint his horse a Sen-ator, were done to make a point. Winterling believes that Caligula wanted to; first of all show his par-liamentarians that they were worth-less and that even an animal could do the work that they did. More im-portantly, it seems Caligula wanted to prove that he could do anything he wanted and get away with it. He was wrong, dead wrong! Caligula became the first Roman emperor

ever to be assassinated.A caller to a morning talk show

this week likened Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s decision to elevate his son to the top post at Belize Tele-com Limited (BTL) to that of Caligu-la’s stunt with his horse. Mr. Barrow feels that at this point, he can get away with anything. His son, Anwar, is a relatively unqualified and untest-ed candidate and putting him as CEO of one of Belize’s biggest and most profitable companies is bordering insanity. What is Mr. Barrow saying to staff members of BTL who have been there much, much longer than Anwar and who are undoubtedly in-

finitely more qualified for the post? The appointment of young Anwar is not only disrespectful to the workers of BTL but it is a case of outright and blatant nepotism.

Nepotism of course, is nothing new for Dean Barrow who appointed his own brother to a spot on Belize’s highest court. Denys Barrow subse-quently resigned that post but is now hired as lawyer for just about every major case involving government;

case that had already been won, netting her a cool million dollars. The number of other relatives and friends who have been appointed to lucrative posts is too long to list but if you google nepotism, you will find Belize and our Prime Min-ster listed as prime examples.

I remember many years ago, even before Independence, my aunt’s hus-band was a Permanent Secretary un-der Lindy Rogers. A vacancy became available in one of the departments in his portfolio and my brother applied. He was sure that he would get the job since he was very much qualified. My uncle called him into his office and explained that while he recognized his qualifica-tions, to give him the job would present a perception of nepotism. My brother was not happy and felt that despite the relationship, he should have been giv-en the job since he was qualified. Ac-cording my uncle, “justice doesn’t only have to be done but has to seem to be done”! There aren’t many people today who would do what old Alex Frankson did but then again, there aren’t many

people left with that type of integrity.In his editorial of Sunday April 6th,

the publisher of the Amandala described the Prime Minister’s behavior as “defi-ant” and “insolent”. Insolent because, “there were more qualified, more ex-perienced candidates for the lucrative board post” and defiant because “but for sixty or seventy votes, the PUP would have won four of the six seats in the west and would have formed the 2012 – 2017 Government of Belize”. As

it stands, at least three members of Dean Barrow’s government should be out of politics and maybe even in jail. As I write, there is yet anoth-er scandal bubbling involving the Minister of National Security John Saldivar.

This whole Mytheon affair stinks to high heaven. Evidence has surfaced that Saldivar and his wife have made millions over the past year alone. According to Channel Five news, “key government depart-ments and personnel are compelled to purchase credit from Mytheon” resulting n profits “to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in com-mission each month for Darlene Saldivar, wife of John Saldivar”. Real-ly folks, where does it end?

The bottom line here is that these government ministers make well over a hundred thousand dol-lars a year in salary alone. The figure runs much higher when you consid-er perks, allowances, free fuel, travel expense and bonuses. It is nothing

short of pure unadulterated greed that drives them to this type of hustling. How much money does a person need? What John Saldivar is involved in is nothing short of a conflict of inter-est and pure corruption! Where is the Prime Minis-ter who promised to “jump into action at the slightest whiff of corruption”? Does his silence suggest that he condones, encourages and might even be enjoying a

piece of this dirty pie? With Anwar now at the helm of BTL, which seems also involved in this hustle, one can only “imagine the possibili-ties”. It seems that every week a big-ger and a dirtier scandal is exposed about this government. Where is the Prime Minister? Where is the Integrity Commission? Where is the Financial Intelligence Unit? Inquiring minds want to know. Belizeans de-serve and demand to know!

and there are many. Denys Barrow once bragged that he was the “most expensive lawyer in Belize”. Be-fore Denys Barrow, all the cases were han-dled by the Prime Min-ister’s ex-wife. Finneg-an once remarked in Parliament in defense of the former Mrs. Barrow, “we paid her a measly 23 million” and that was for one case. The Prime Min-ister also appointed his eldest son Shyne to the post of Musical Ambassador to Belize, even though Shyne only returned to Belize after he was deported and has since left for a new life in Israel. The Prime Minister hired his daughter fresh out of law school to repre-sent our country in a


a father’s love in raising a Daughter

By Angela Banner-JosephWhen I was younger, at least

once a month, my younger sister and I would take the train into New York City by ourselves to meet our dad for lunch. We began these get-togethers around ages 13 and 11, respectively. It was during these luncheons that we learned the im-portance of developing relationships with men, because our father was our first date. During these one-hour luncheons, dad would allow us to choose a restaurant near his job. Sis and I would arrive at his job prompt-ly at noon. Because he frowned on us not being on time, we made sure that we were never late. We enjoyed spending time with him, and he en-joyed our funny personalities and all the stories we told him. We could talk about everything and anything. Our father had the traditional role of a parent who was present in our lives; he gave us “father love.”

After we arrived at his job, the security department called his office to introduce us. He told the person to send us up to the 15th floor and he introduced us to his co-workers. We were constantly reminded to call everyone by Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. He would brag to his colleagues about our latest achievements, and they would acknowledge how brave we were to take the one-hour train ride into the city by ourselves. They commented on how clean we looked and how mannerly we were, and they always wanted to know how well we were doing in school. One of our dad’s favorite co-workers was a lady by the name of Ms. Nan-cy. Ms. Nancy was a secretary who loved to chew gum and who always had a beehive hairstyle. She looked like she lived in the 50s, or maybe the 50s never left her. We always en-joyed our conversations with her un-til we left at 1p.m. for our luncheon date.

After lunch, we always visited the Coliseum Bookstore to purchase two books each. It was part of our monthly ritual. I fed my passion for reading at the bookstore. I became an eclectic reader and I wanted to buy every book I had in my hands, which is why he limited us to two books each. We chose our books and then took the hour-long ride back home. During these monthly introductions to his workplace, we learned he was the only person of color at his job, which he held for more than 25 years until

the company went out of business. At these early meetings, we learned about race relations and about how to treat people with respect. As we got older, Dad often discussed what it felt like to be the only Black person at his job and he talked about the relationships he had developed. He was always sharp with his answers, which prepared us how to handle difficult situations in the future and how to develop genuine relation-ships with people from different ethnic groups. We did not know until we were adults how rewarding these life lessons would be, nor how thankful we would be today for the experiences.

These luncheons taught us many other things. They taught us the impor-tance of family and they showed us how to build solid relationships. They gave us an opportunity to spend time with the first man we ever loved, our daddy. My father taught us to be independent, re-spectful, fearless, and adventurous. He was our original cheerleader and a great motivator. As we matured, we strength-ened our relationships and he gave us the best advice on how to prepare our-selves for our first dates. Daddy would never tell us what to do, but he would listen and say, “Do what is best for you.” He trusted our decisions and made sure that the young men in our lives respect-ed us. He instilled great values in us and strengthened our self-worth. We learned that we should not allow peo-ple to take advantage of us. We were taught early how to love ourselves; we were his diamond and his pearl.

I have shared this story to encour-age dads everywhere to spend quality time with your children, and especial-ly with your daughters. You can do so many wonderful activities together. Lunch was just one event with our daddy. We celebrated so many other activities, and each is now a cherished memory in our minds. Fathers you are your daughter’s first love. Father-daugh-ter relationships are important in a girl’s life. A young woman’s first experienc-es with the man who gave birth to her should be rich with history, memories, and parental love, because they serve as a model and road map for the pos-itive relationships she will have with a partner later in life. The experience with her father can either shatter or strength-en her self-esteem.

Fathers, it is important for you to spend time with your daughters to de-velop positive and healthy relationships. Without your love to support and guide her, she might end up in a toxic rela-tionship, running after a man who dis-respects her, or she might love a man who does not love her back. Your un-conditional love can show her that she does not need a man to validate her as a person. You will set the standard of how she chooses a partner by providing the voice in your little girl’s life to validate that she is worthy of love.

Dr. Angela Banner Joseph holds a doctorate degree in Educational Lead-ership and Change from the Fielding Graduate University

BY ORDER OF CHARGEENOTICE OF INTENTION TO SELL

HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED a statutory body formed and registered under the Credit Union Act, Chapter 314 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, and whose registered office is situated at No. 1 Hyde’s Lane, Belize City, Belize District hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Chargee under and by virtue of a Charge registered at the Land Registry between Ismay Adeline Swaso(Chargor) and Alden Courtney (Borrower) and the said Holy Redeemer Credit Union Limited.

HRCU will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first pub-lication of this notice sell the property described in the Schedule below.

ALL offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing to HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED from whom full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained.

SCHEDULE

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land comprising 501.722 square metres being Parcel 5237, Block 20 in the Belmopan Registration Section situate at No. 15 Mount Mossey Street, East Picinni, Belmopan, Cayo District, TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon, the freehold property of ISMAY ADELINE SWASO, surety for ALDEN COURTNEY.

DATED the 4th day of April 2014

HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED1 HYDE’S LANE, BELIZE CITY, BELIZE

Phone: (501) 224-5644Fax: (501) 223-0738

PUBLIC AUCTION SALE

BY ORDER OF THE CHARGEE HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED, a Licensed Public Auctioneer will sell the following property at the place and time listed.

At the Parking Lot across the street from the office of Holy Redeemer Credit Union Limited, No. 1 Hyde’s Lane, Belize City on Friday April 25, 2014 at 2:00p.m.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land containing 717.468 square yards being Block 16, Parcel 1024/1 Caribbean Shores/Belize Registration Section situate at No. 1024 Graduate Crescent, Belize City, Belize District, the leasehold property of TREV-OR JEFFRIES

DATED this 4th day of April 2014

All sales are strictly cash and deemed final. For more infor-mation contact:

HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED

1 HYDE’S LANE, BELIZE CITY, BELIZEPhone: (501) 224-5644

Fax: (501) 223-0738


How Big-H changed Belize’s Coconut Fortunes

Home Economics

By Richard harrisonBig H launched its fresh bottled

natural coconut water at the Agricul-tural Show in 1998.

Before this…coconut production in Belize was falling rapidly…espe-cially since a disease called “lethal yellowing” was rapidly disseminat-ing the coconut palms.

The sale of dried coconut was still vibrant, since housewives still used it to make home-made coconut milk for use in baking creole bread and preparing the popular “rice and beans”. A small amount was used in cottage industries to make coco-nut oil. However, even this was in decline, since importers started to bring coconut milk powder in con-venient sachets for a rather inexpen-sive price…and they also imported large amounts of coconut oil already packed for retail sale. Today, this im-ported milk powder has almost com-pletely displaced the grating of dried local coconuts.

If Big H had not successfully in-troduced and marketed its coconut water…coconut production in Belize would have continued its decline, and today production would probably be negligible.

Today the conservative domestic market demand for coconut prod-ucts in Belize is valued at: (1) coco-nut oil $5 million (2) coconut water $4 million (3) coconut milk powder $3 million (4) other $1 million.

The domestic market-share con-tribution to this demand is estimated at: (1) coconut oil 15% (2) coconut water 80% (3) coconut milk powder 0% (4) other 30%.

The coconut industry now pro-vides direct work and income to an estimated 500 persons through-out Belize, in land preparation and maintenance, planting, harvesting, delivery, processing, distribution and sales. Many of these are now self-employed persons selling out of a pick-up truck on the side of the road or at tourist stops.

To fully meet this domestic de-mand for coconut products…Belize would need 120,000 fully productive coconut trees…which at 80 trees per acre would need 1,500 acres of coconuts. Just coconut water alone would need 30,000 trees or 375 acres. Belize already has this popu-lation of trees, but scattered across large distances, including offshore islands, that makes the majority of the current production a challenge for commercial profit making.

A proper structuring of the co-conut industry production chain for optimal productivity…and design of a fertile investment environment…would double the domestic de-mand within five years…increasing the number of direct workers and income earners in this industry to around 1,300.

A fully productive coconut tree should not be harvested for more than 8 coconuts per month on av-erage. This way it will provide that average consistently every month for many years…and income is con-tinuous and predictable. If a tree is raped of all its nuts at once, it gets ‘shocked’ and production and in-come becomes erratic and unpre-dictable. A tree harvested sustain-ably will yield a much more bountiful harvest over its life time.

The current breakeven for co-conut production destined for co-conut water is seven (7) acres. This assumes the investor already owns the land, and that the investment includes financing, land preparation, planting, maintenance, harvesting and delivery within one hour radi-us from factory. Cluster production within a defined radius from the fac-tory is essential to efficient and ef-fective profit making from coconut investment.

Big H was able to do this suc-cessfully because it had invested previously in building a credible brand that was highly recognized and valued by a wide range of con-sumers, it had invested in the pro-cessing facilities, in trained pro-duction, administration and sales/marketing staff, the distribution channel capacity and capability, the large network of repeat customers and many thousands of loyal con-sumers. This is what allowed them to ask consumers to pay $2/500ml product….and this is the principal reason why the industry has been growing sustainably….because profitability was built into the price from the get go, for every level of the production chain. Had this prod-uct-market strategy not been suc-cessfully implemented, the industry would have remained in decline. Only Big H was in the position to be capable of being successful at this. There is even room for asking con-sumers for more, because a much larger volume of Gatorade is sold for $3/500ml….and that is not nearly as healthy and natural as coconut wa-ter.

Big H has done well for Belize….the creativity of the man’s mind has proven more effective than the many millions government has spent on “diversification” projects….be-cause it has achieved much more that can be seen, touched and val-ued. It can do much more than cit-rus and coconut water….for passion fruit, mango, pineapple, seaweed, lemon grass, dairy milk, among oth-ers. No doubt Big H has made its fair share of mistakes….but to cru-cify a man for his mistakes is pre-venting the next generation from benefiting from the learning from those mistakes….and is the ulti-mate example of a society unable

to forgive and too ready to destroy. Without the creative mind of Big H at work, there would be no La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge. Belize Government and relevant financial institutions should make good by Big H….a serious and earnest sit-down should take place to resolve the challenges and create the condi-tions for a robust forward press. Set free the creative mind of Big H, so that it can do more of its magic for Belize. The amount of value it cre-ates is way far over and above the size of the challenge at hand.

The following recommendations can also help to grow the coconut industry rapidly:

1. Raise the import duty on Ga-torade-type drinks that compete di-rectly with coconut water to 100%, and give it the same acknowledge-ment that is given to soft drinks, beer, rum and cigarettes. The de-mand for coconut water would more than double, especially if marketing, distribution and sales is ramped up.

2. Impose a Revenue Replace-ment Duty of 50% on imported coconut water, with the objective of significantly reducing its mar-ket-share potential for 15 years, while strengthening the potential for domestic investments for that capital-investment period. Investors would never invest what is required to make a shelf-stable product for export under current conditions, es-sentially because our government has a lot of precedence where it has altered its fiscal positions rendering domestic production of many prod-ucts unviable. A typical example is the changes it made in the Customs Tariff Law that destroyed value-add-ing in packaging of oils and manufac-turing of tomato ketchup, BBQ and other tomato-based sauces in Be-lize. Our governments have to make a clearly articulated break with the past, in order to create the kind of investment climate that will encour-age investors to take these kinds of risks in production.

3. Grace Kennedy coconut oil, which dominates the local market, is mostly refined coconut oil imported from Asia and should no longer be accepted as a CARICOM origin prod-uct. It should be required to pay 45% import duty, a rate increase which has successful precedence in the development of the pepper sauce industry. Belize spends $500,000 per year on a Directorate of Foreign Trade, which has never presented nor defended a case on Belize’s be-half at Caricom’s Council of Trade and Economic Development (COTED). They should get their feet wet with this one….because there are many more trade treaty battles that Belize will need to fight….to make up for irresponsible persons who went to sign lop-sided treaties that are now working against our best interest.

4. The manufacturer of coconut oil in Belize should be facilitated with all that is required to manufacture coconut milk powder in sachets….with a view to dominating the CAR-ICOM market for this product, which currently comes from Asia!!

5. All efforts should be made to

commercialize the coconut husk and shell…..the husk as a renew-able source of soil improver and charcoal production….and the shell as a sustainable supply of material for arts and crafts indus-try and for heating kilns. Special efforts and product-development grants should be offered over a five year period to rapidly commer-cialize these bi-products…..so that nothing from the coconut industry goes to waste….and so that the resulting high level of productivity through value-adding allows us to compete effectively with countries that have much larger scale of co-conut production.

Of long-term importance to the industry is the development of cul-tivars that are strong and can resist threats of disease, weather, soils and other natural factors….that produce the highest yields….and that produce the best raw material for the destined finished product. Coconut varieties that are ideal for producing coconut water are not the same as those destined for production of coconut oil. We need to develop our genetics and agro-nomics for coconut production as the basis for our competitiveness and productivity in this crop and the final products that we choose to exploit commercially.

Richard Harrison is a local busi-nessman and investor in the man-ufacturing and service industries. Mr. Harrison holds a Masters in Business Administration degree from Lancaster University, United Kingdom. Send comments to [email protected]


Recipe of the week

Ingredients 1 pkg. (4 oz.) unsweetened

Chocolate¾ cup butter2 cups sugar3 eggs1 tsp. vanilla1 cup flour1 cup chopped walnutsDecorating gels and candies

Easter Egg Brownies

DirectionsHEAT oven to 350°F.LINE 13x9-inch pan with

foil, with ends extending over sides. Grease foil; set aside.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melt-ed.

OR

Want to do something out of the ordinary for an Easter Gift Basket? Try this recipe…

USE YOUR StOVEPlace chocolate and butter

in medium saucepan; cook on very low heat until chocolate and butter are melted, stirring constantly. Re-move from heat.

ADD sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts until well blended; spread into prepared pan.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool completely.

USE foil handles to lift brownies from pan. Cut into egg shapes with 3-inch oval cookie cut-ter. Decorate with decorating gels and candies to resemble Easter eggs.

in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes.


How

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CONNECT THE DOTS!


BRAIN TEASER

See answers NEXT WEEk

SUDOKU PUZZLE

SUDokU PUZZLE SoLUTioNAnswers for last week’s puzzleAnswers for last week’s puzzle

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PUBLIC AUCTION SALE

BY ORDER OF THE CHARGEE HOLY REDEEM-ER CREDIT UNION LIMITED, a Licensed Public Auctioneer will sell the following property at the place and time listed.

At the Parking Lot across the street from the office of Holy Redeemer Credit Union Limited, No. 1 Hyde’s Lane, Be-lize City on Friday April 25, 2014 at 10:00a.m.

ALL THAT piece or parcel of land containing 4.999 acres being Block 20, Parcel 3163 Belmopan Registration Sec-tion situate in Rivera Area, Belmopan West, Cayo District, the freehold property of NICHOLAS OLMEDO, surety for CYNTHIA OLMEDO

DATED this 4th day of April 2014

All sales are strictly cash and deemed final. For more information contact:

HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION LIMITED

1 HYDE’S LANE, BELIZE CITY, BELIZEPhone: (501) 224-5644

Fax: (501) 223-0738

THE BELIZE TIMES13 APR 2014 27 barrow’s gsU vs.

barrow-sponsored gsg

SCIENCE & TECHBELIZE TIMES WEEKLY

R E V I E W

Pioneering implant revives legs of paralysed men

8 April 2014 by Andy CoghlanThey can’t quite walk. Yet.

But four wheelchair-bound men who until recently were com-pletely paralysed below the waist can now move their legs and toes and even lift up to 100 kilograms with their legs. Their spinal cords have been reawak-ened by electrical implants that revive the flow of information between limbs and brain. Such feats would previously have been unthinkable in people with spinal cord injuries.

“We think it’s a very large milestone,” says Claudia Angeli of the Kentucky Spinal Cord In-jury Research Center at the Uni-versity of Louisville. “There’s not been anything like this, and no hope previously for the most severely injured patients, so this is a very important step forward for them.”

The device – an array of electrodes – is implanted not at the point of injury, but in the still intact lumbosacral region of the spinal cord, which is the main information hub linking the brain to the lower limbs. Despite being crushed, Angeli says, the spinal cord and its as-sociated nerve connections re-tain huge capacity to continue sending messages.

Since New Scientist report-ed the breakthrough in 2012, the four men have continued to improve their strength, pre-cision and range of movement. “We haven’t seen a plateau in their performance yet,” says Angeli. One of the men, Drew Meas, says he can stand with-out his stimulator. “I’m going for full walking again, that’s my motto,” he says.

Souped-up implantAngeli is now planning to

test the device in a further eight people. She says that it might be possible to refine the implant so it allows for better coordination, possibly leading

to walking. With this in mind, she is starting experiments in animals with an implant that has 27 electrodes instead of 16.

Angeli says the implant re-stores what in healthy people would be the resting potential of the spinal cord – the base-

line electrical activity that keeps the cord alert, but which wanes through lack of use in people who are paralysed.

Once this b a c k g r o u n d electrical impe-tus is restored artificially, the cord reawakens and can register the brain’s “in-tent” to move

But the existing device has limitations, says Angeli. For example, the algorithms tend to be different for right and left legs or toes, so only one side can be moved at a time. The hope is that a more sophisticated device will be able to deliver algo-rithms simultaneously, and so coordinate movement in both legs to enable walking. Simple as it sounds, this re-mains a challenge.

Another boost for the men is that to varying de-grees they have all recov-ered bladder, bowel and sexual function. “That re-ally restores dignity,” says Roderic Pettigrew, director of the US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in Bethesda, Maryland.

Push-button orgasm isn’t worth $6 million

to medicine

and convert this into fine move-ment at the motor neuron level. And by modulating the voltage for each individual and for each task, algorithms that optimise delivery of electrical activity for specific movements can be worked out and applied at will by the patients.

Big step: movement is possible (image: Jianwei Yang/Getty images)

4 April 2014 by Frank SwainThe doctor who discov-

ered in 2001 that a pain-re-lief implant could also trigger orgasms is still struggling to raise interest in studying it fur-ther.

Stuart Meloy, a surgeon at Piedmont Anesthesia and Pain Consultants in Winston-Sa-lem, North Carolina, was in-vestigating how the device could be used to treat woman who have difficulty achieving orgasm, but we reported in 2003 that volunteers for ear-ly tests were proving hard to find.

As of 2014, the massive me-dia interest in the device has not translated into the $6 million that Meloy estimates would be need-ed to run a full trial.

A real turn-onHealth insurers do not cover

the cost of experimental treat-ments, and approval from reg-ulators is needed to license the devices for treating a specific condition, such as sexual dysfunc-tion. “Staging an FDA pivotal trial is a fairly expensive undertaking, and that takes money I don’t have right now,” Meloy says. “Though it would be nice to bring [the device] to fruition.”

Meloy stumbled on the idea while performing a routine pain-re-lief operation. “We implant elec-trodes into the spine and use elec-trical pulses to modify the pain signals passing along the nerves,” he told New Scientist in 2001. The patient remains conscious during the operation to help the surgeon find the best position for the elec-trodes. Meloy’s breakthrough came one day when he failed to hit the right spot. “I was placing the elec-trodes and suddenly the woman started exclaiming emphatically,” he says. “I asked her what was up and she said, `You’re going to have to teach my husband to do that’.”

Despite the limp reception for his orgasmatron, Meloy’s work con-tinues to bring relief in other ways: he co-founded the Advanced Inter-ventional Pain Management clinic, also in Winston-Salem, where he has fitted hundreds of spinal im-plants to treat chronic pain.


If you see your Brother standing

by the road

I like to observe things. Those who recognize my habit of reading past the actions and words of a person to the heart, often call my talent of observ-ing: discernment. Those who become uncomfort-able at my perceptions call me ‘interfering’. Either way, I enjoy getting lost in my environment; notic-ing how people interact when they feel no one is

watching. One common occurrence I see is the common man or woman’s reaction to homeless people. I once saw a man sneer at the dirty, homeless man as he sat in his wheelchair begging outside a popular stationary providing establishment. The aver-age person barely gives homeless people a thought or a prayer, but thankfully God is not so cold in His regard.

There are several arguments why the homeless people are given such cool and often cruel receptions by passersby. Often times, homeless people can trace their current troubles back to some kind of addiction, whether it be gambling or drugs. No child grows up thinking, “yeah, I wanna be homeless and poor”. No youth expects their prospective job opportunities to include begging on the streets. Circumstances, however, can drive a person to cross boundaries that they would normally not have toed. Despite knowing that every poor soul on the street has a story, homeless people are more often than not seen as less than. Their worth as human beings are written off based on their seemingly lack of contribution to society.

This causes them to be ridiculed, abhorred, and ignored by almost everyone that sees them. If a homeless person approach-es an average Joe on the street, immediately his eyes will fill with wary indifference towards the homeless person, jumping to the conclusion that he’s come to bother him and beg for mon-ey. Even most ‘church folk’ don’t extend the courtesy of human decency toward those down on their luck. If a homeless person enters the church, all the upright, pious old ladies will instantly vacate the bench he or she is sitting on, driven by the smell or the sight of the person. For, when it comes to singing hymns about ‘showing a little kindness’, the verb behind the word ‘show’ does not count.

Thankfully, God does not hold this same belief about home-less people or anyone in general. There are many stories in the Bible where God looks at the heart and not the outward appear-ance. The story of Lazarus and the rich man, found in Luke 16, is one such popular tale. The story is about a rich man who was stingy and barely threw the scraps of his luxurious food to the poor beggar named Lazarus, who was full of sores. One day, they both died and Lazarus went to heaven and the rich man went to hell. That’s not my point here, though. I want to focus on something so minute, that many people miss it. The rich man was not important enough to identify with a name, while the gospel writer immortalized Lazarus by giving his name.

Names are so important to people and those who have big names, many times have big bank accounts. God doesn’t worry about the bank accounts, however. The rich man in the story had a name amongst his people, but the most important place that his name should have been in was the book of Life, and it was not there. Remember the next time you see a homeless person, that what they need is the Kingdom of God and all are invited to become citizens. All are urged to come home.

Transient Ischemic

AttackA TIA is a kind of

“mini stroke” that is a warning for an incom-ing stroke. It should be taken seriously. In a TIA a clot blocks an artery in the brain, but only temporarily. The blockage usual-ly resolves within 5 minutes and most TIA’s last less than a minute.

Having a TIA is an emergency and should be treated as if one is having a stroke. Therefore it is best for the person with symptoms to see a doctor immediately. About a third of persons having a TIA will have a stroke within the year. If symptoms last more than 24 hours the person has had a stroke.

F.A.S.T. is an easy way to remember the signs and symptoms of a stroke.

F- face droopingA- arm weaknessS- speech slurred or difficultT- time to call ambulance or 911Other signs include double vision, dizziness, lack of coordina-

tion or balance, sudden weakness on one half of the body, and sudden severe headache.

DiagnosisHaving a TIA gives opportunity to the patient and doctor to in-

vestigate and treat any problems causing the TIA. It is important to take steps to prevent a stroke occurring in the future. Often the cause of a TIA is build up of a fatty plaque (atherosclerosis) in an artery due to high cholesterol. It can also be due to a clot coming from the heart or other artery into an artery in the brain.

Risk factors include male gender, age more than 55, family his-tory and race. For example black people have a higher incidence of hypertension and diabetes. Therefore, risk factors that can be con-trolled include hypertension and diabetes, diseases of the heart, diseases of peripheral blood vessels, carotid artery disease, cig-arette smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, heavy drinking, over-weight and obesity, use of birth control pills, physical inactivity and drug abuse.

Anyone presenting a TIA should have a complete physical check-up by the doctor. Basic tests such as an ECG and a CXR should be done. Tests that should also be done include carotid doppler ultrasonography, CT scan of the head, CT angiography to visualize the blood vessels of neck and head, ECHO (echocradiography), and blood tests, including specialized ones, to check for clotting disor-ders and sickle cell disease.

treatmentThe goal of treatment is to correct any abnormality found. Med-

ications include aspirin and anticoagulants. Surgery, including an-gioplasty, can be done for any vascular or heart problem.

As always, prevention is better than cure. It is important that to reduce risk factors, such as stopping smoking and not drink-ing heavily. Limiting cholesterol and saturated fats, cutting back on salts, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight, and controlling any illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension should be lifelong goals.

Dr. John Sosa, Neurologist

THE BELIZE TIMES13 APR 2014 2929REGIONAL &

INTERNATIONAL NEWSTHE BELIZE TIMES13 APR 2014

Fatal shooting at US army base

Marine kills colleague at Camp Lejeune army base in North Car-olina less than week after fatal

Ford Hood rampage

Normal life disrupted with schools and pharmacies shut as labour unions strike against austerity policies

9 Apr 2014A US Marine posted

at the main gate of a North Carolina base shot and killed a colleague inside a guard

shack, a military spokesman says.Camp Lejeune spokesman Nat Fahy

said the shooting occurred early on Tues-day evening.

Police and emergency personnel at-tempted to revive the shooting victim at the scene, but Fahy said the person was later pronounced dead at a base hospital.

Fahy said the Marine who fired the shot from his M4 rifle was in custody and awaiting questioning by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

The name of the shooter, who Fahy said was a male, has not been released. The victim’s name was being withheld until relatives were notified.

There were other guards at the gate, but no one else was hurt.

The shooting comes less than a week after a fatal rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, where a soldier is accused of firing 35 shots over an eight-minute span, killing three and wounding 16 others before killing himself.

9 Apr 2014Greek labour

unions are stag-ing a nationwide strike to protest

against austerity policies im-posed on the country by its foreign creditors, including Ger-many, whose chancellor, Ange-la Merkel, will visit Athens this week.

Schools and pharmacies were shut, ships remained docked at ports, hospitals op-erated on emergency staff and

7 Apr 2014Robert Vadra,

the son-in-law of one of India’s most powerful

politician, Sonia Gandhi, had once scoffed at anti-corruption activists in the country calling them “mango people in a ba-nana republic.” This was be-fore the Common Man Party was formed.

“Mango people”, trans-lated into Hindi, means Aam Aadmi (alternatively translated as common man). Anti-corrup-tion crusader-turned politician Arvind Kejriwal had warned Vadra that “mango men” would one day prove to be the nemesis of the powerful elite

of India.Nemesis or not, he suc-

ceeded in ending the 15-year rule of the Congress Party in Delhi and now is up against the might of “Brand Modi”, the right-wing Bharatiya Ja-nata Party (BJP)’s prime min-isterial candidate Narendra Modi.

India’s official mango men or the Common Man Party on Thursday released their election manifesto in New Delhi, a plank made up of their campaign base - an-ti-corruption, social justice, education and transparency.

From pressing for police reforms, media regulation legislature, judicial reforms,

the AAP manifesto also calls for lowering of eligi-bility age for contesting the Indian upper house polls from 25 years to 21 years.

“Our government will put CCTV in police sta-tions. We will put camer-as in interrogation rooms. Anybody can ask for that footage using Right to In-formation,” Kejriwal said.

The police have been under attack for their treat-ment and handling of var-ious cases while Kejriwal was chief minister.

There are messianic expectations placed on Kejriwal and his team.

Greeks go on strike ahead of Merkel visit

8 Apr 2014A former top official in Mexico’s western

state of Michoacan has been arrested ac-cused of holding meetings with top bosses from the Knights Templar drug cartel.

Jesus Murillo Karam, the attorney general, said on Monday that an investigation confirmed that Jesus Rey-na, a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Par-ty, met the notorious cartel.

“We can be certain that meetings between this per-son with [cartel] leaders, I would even say with the most important leader of the organisations that operate there,” Karam said.

Reyna was sacked as Michoacan’s secretary of the interior after authorities placed him under arrest on Sat-urday.

Leaders of vigilante militias, that rose up against the cartel in Michoacan last year, have repeatedly accused Reyna of having links to the Knights Templar cartel.

The country’s attorney general says Michoacan’s secretary of the interior met senior Knights Tem-

plar cartel leaders.

Mexico arrests top official over cartel links

transport in Athens was disrupt-ed on Wednesday due to the walkout called by private sector union, the General Confedera-tion of Greek Workers (GSEE), and its public sector counterpart, the Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY).

Thousands of striking work-ers, pensioners and the unem-ployed were expected to march to parliament around noon.

“This is our answer to the dead-end policies that have squeezed workers and made

Greek people miserable,” GSEE said in a statement. “We are striking and fighting to put an end to austerity”.

Unions said their anti-austerity mes-sage was also aimed at Merkel, who is due to meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens on Friday. Germany has insisted on painful spending cuts and tax hikes in return for international loans.

GSEE and ADEDY have staged dozens of strikes since Greece’s first bailout in 2010, saying the measures prescribed by the Eu-ropean Union and the International Mone-tary Fund have hit the poor and worsened its six-year recession.

The ‘mango people’ of IndiaAam Aadmi party seems to be living up to promise to be the

formidable challenger of the powerful elite of india


THINK ABOUT ITMURDER IN hAttIEVILLE

Hattieville is a village 16 miles from Belize City. It gets its name from hurricane Hattie which devastated Belize in 1961. The many residents from Belize City who lost their homes to ferocious winds and a rise in the sea which saw ten feet of wa-ter cover Belize City, were temporarily re-located to bungalow wooden huts hastily constructed 16 miles from the then capital.

Over the years a village grew up.Over the years a new generation in-

herited the Village. Since the arrival of the UDP to government in 2008, so called gang members were given, literally given, house and lots at Hattieville for free. Their unchecked behavior and influence has tak-en hold on quite a number of youngsters in Hattieville.

The results has been a growing mem-ber of young thugs and lawless elements in the village. Bus drivers regularly report the unruly and disrespectful behavior of many youths from Hattieville.

There is a Police Station with about eight Police who do two twelve-hour shifts of four officers per shift.

On Saturday evening 5th April at the basketball court, a mob of young men went on a minor rampage. The Hattieville Police could not control them. They picked fights and would listen to no one.

While attacking a youth, an elderly who sought to intervene was himself bad-ly beaten. A young man standing on the outskirt of the basketball court was set upon by the mob. He got his hand on a knife and in self defense stabbed at his at-tackers, two got stabbed, one fatally.

It is a tragedy. Tragedy that a youth lost his life. Tragedy that another is remanded to jail. The police, despite the many wit-nesses still charged for murder.

This latest senseless killing gives the lie to government’s bogus programs such as Youth Department Services, Conscious Youth Development Program (CYDP), Re-store Belize; Youth Empowerment; Poverty Alleviation and so on and so forth. These are party political gimmicks to use tax pay-ers’ money to give jobs to handpicked cho-sen few UDP cronies.

The needy young people of Belize are untouched by these failed programs. In Hattieville the young people are aban-doned by government and it Human Ser-vices Ministry and crony programs.

Where sports, culture, music, dancing and community activities should be a reg-ular part of happy village life, no such thing exists after six years of UDP hard-times and dog eat dog politics and neglect.

For eight years not a single job has been created in Hattieville.

We need to also make mention that the absence of former three times area representative Ralph Fonseca is import-ant. Many families and young people were gainfully employed under Ralph. Whether it was at the prison or on various public works outside the village. With Ralph no longer on the scene it has been an ex-tremely cruel period of six years under a cold hearted regime.

If you do the maths, many of these teenagers now hardening into gang-like elements were tiny tots eight years ago.

The situation is not just confined to Hattieville. Many villages and former peaceful communities are now reaping eight brutal years of neglect of young peo-ple and social structures.

Like the roads and streets which saw

no repairs and maintenance for the past six years; likewise the institutions and the young people of Belize are now paying the price.

AN AGENDA

A homosexual, dressed as a female, was walking through a Southside of Be-lize City neighborhood when he/she was attacked by a group of persons. He was roughed up and hit a couple of times and thankfully escaped without serious inju-ries. This was Wednesday 9 April, 2014.

The timing of the attack is odd. Only days ago, news reached Belize that the gay rights organization UNIBAM had appeared before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights and Organization of Amer-ica States to make formal complaints on the treatment of gay persons. Belize came out badly in those hearings.

The government of Belize had kept citizens in the dark and were it not for the media Belizeans would never know what was going on.

UNIBAM has been complaining hither, tither and you about discrimination against gay people, hate language and hate crimes, although they have been short or proof of such.

Gays have been functioning and living in Belize undisturbed for decades. They are not received with open arms but neither are they hounded or persecuted or singled out for hatred. As the world turns they have increasingly been treated with more tolerance.

Gays are no different from other hu-man beings, except for their sexual pref-erence.

Having linked up with foreign gay net-works, UNIBAM has been emboldened to go public and has been making disrespect-ful remarks about certain religious leaders and groups which do not accept them or share their views.

UNIBAM with financial assistance and legal support from abroad has applied to the Supreme Court to strike down the sod-omy laws of Belize. The Chief Justice has wisely reserved his decision. This is a major ground shifting issue.

The behavior of UNIBAM and the Na-tional Women’s Commission leaves no doubt they are promoting a foreign agenda in Belize. Their agenda bubbled to the sur-face in 2013 when Pastor Scott Stirm and Pastor Louis Wade revealed via Plus TV a document accepted and approved by the Education Ministry. This document for use in schools was to teach about health and reproductive matters. Among the teach-ings was that the anus was a sex organ. It took many months of public condemnation before the Ministry relented. It is widely considered that the Education Minister is a supporter of UNIBAM.

In 2013/2014 the Women’s Commis-sion dropped a bomb on Belize with a wide ranging “Gender Equality” policy docu-ment. This had the full support of the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the full government. It led to the first ever nation-wide district by district protest march by most churches. The Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church personally took to the streets of Belize City in one of the protest marches. He public-ly called on the Prime Minister not to be hard-headed and to listen to the concerns of the churches.

The Prime Minister had said no force on earth would make him withdraw the offen-sive documents. He did invite the churches

to submit suggestions. The churches did and six months after, nothing has come of the suggestions.

Both the government and government special projects received large financial gifts from questionable sources. The University of Belize was penetrated by a huge foreign foundation giving large money grants.

The appearance of the young homo-sexual/cross dresser on the streets of Be-lize City, complete with a female hairstyle on Wednesday this week cannot be just coincidence. Was someone behind this? At the Organization of American States, UNI-BAM had made serious allegations against the name and reputation of Belize, but was short on facts of hate language and hate crime.

There is an international network and movement by individual organizations and governments to promote the gay lifestyle and offer protection to gay people facing discrimination, persecution and prosecu-tion in breach of their basic human rights. The United States of America under Pres-ident Obama has joined that fight. Ameri-ca’s approach to any issue is to force other countries to do what the USA wants them to do. The U.S. Ambassador designate to Belize is a proclaimed pro homosexual.

In Africa, India, China, Russia and Muslim countries the gay issue cannot be forced on those governments. In tiny and weak countries like Belize, always broke and always begging for money and whose leadership and governments are weak and have no morals, the gay agenda will be im-plemented.

For Belizeans, with a long tradition of tolerance, the aggressive, up in your face arrival of this gay issue is a little too much, too quick. It is a debate that has arrived. NO O.A.S., VSA or other groupings can change attitudes by legislation or force. When reli-gious beliefs are added to the mix we need calm, mature and responsible dialogue.

Polarization is coming to Belize.

A NEw ANIMAL

You know of sheep and you know of goat.

But you don’t know of Geep or Shoat?Recently, a farmer in Britain saw a goat

“crossing” one of his sheep. Didn’t pay much attention. Later the sheep gave birth.

Out came – not one of Mary’s little lamb, or the Big Billy Goat gruf. Instead a strange new animal which was neither sheep nor goat. Scientists are checking it out.

NOthING FOR JUDICIARY

Despite the billion dollars budget and access to millions upon millions the third branch of government for the country has received no increase in this year’s allocation of funds.

The all important Judiciary, which com-prises our entire court and justice system with judges and Magistrates have received no increase in resources.

The politicians gave themselves an ex-tra ninety thousand dollars each at Christ-mas to bribe voters but to provide for better court rooms, proper seating for jurors, pho-tocopy equipment and access to Internet and so on; Nothing.

Nada.

MAGIStRAtE hAMILtON

Mr. Leslie Hamilton is a Magistrate in Belize City. He is a qualified attorney at Law and a career public officer. He is a former Prosecutor and a former lay Magistrate.

Mr. Hamilton started in the legal field years ago when he signed up for a two years Para-legal course done by the Uni-

versity. He fell in love with the law and did other legal courses. He was accepted at the University of Guyana and did his law degree. He returned home and continued working as a Magistrate and later obtained a loan and did the two years course at Nor-man Manley Law School in Jamaica.

Mr. Hamilton is one of the strictest Magistrates but he is considered to be fair. If there was a different government Mr. Hamilton would have been promoted to a Senior Magistrate, instead foreigners are given these positions which means they are paid more money than Belizean who have the same qualifications but have longer and better experience.

Mr. Hamilton is being disrespected by the present government. He has a huge loan to struggle with and he is being told he is to retire later this year rather than making use of his dedication to his profession and years of experience. To us he looks young and fit and strong.

If Belize had a different Prime Minister and a different Attorney General, compe-tent and qualified Belizean professionals like Magistrate Hamilton wouldn’t be subjected to such treatment.

Mr. Leslie Hamilton hails from a village in Corozal and is considered a role model for young aspiring Belizeans.

EDD P. UShER

Former Magistrate Edd Usher was pushed out of his job to make way for a for-eigner. Fortunately for him the British came to his rescue and he is a special legal of-ficer at the tax office where he is likely to become the next Head of Department.

Mr. Usher has an illustrious back-ground. He is a former military rank. He received the Baton of Honor from the pres-tigious Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in Britain. He worked as Magistrate at the Family Court and the main court and he ob-tained his law degree from the University of Guyana.

With such a background you can’t keep a good man down. Mr. Usher is help-ing out as a lecturer at his Alma Mater – Wesley College where the 6th Form is of-fering legal course. Usher teaches the Law of Association and Criminal law to a large class of students including Prosecutors.

GAS tOO hIGh

The price of Patrol is too high in Belize, way, way too high.

XSCAPE

Michael Jackson, the undisputed King off Pop music is having his latest album re-leased next month on 13 May. One of the tracks – “Slave To the Rhythm” has already been leaked. It is awesome and vintage Michael. The late, great singer has an ex-tensive library of unreleased songs.

PALM SUNDAY

For Christians all over the world, all two billion, two hundred million of them, this Sunday 13 April is a special day. It marks when Jesus reached Jerusalem. He rode in on a donkey, not a white horse or stallion.

On his arrival he was greeted with palm branches and linen spread on the ground as he rode along. By the following Friday a rent-a-crowd would be shouting for Pontius Pilot to crucify him.

Thus it had to be for scriptures to be fulfilled. For on the third day after he was murdered, he walked out of the grave and the world became a better place for his message – Love God, and Love Your Neighbor the way you love yourself.


Reckless driver!!!


Family of Slain Cop Questions Investigation

CartooN

Maya Leaders Correct US Capital’s Attorney

A stranger in Finny’s home

Belize City, April 8, 2014Mesopotamia’s disgraceful Area

Representative is well known for his crass behavior and lack of respect for women, but it now seems that his disrespect is coming home to roost.

The Finny one is not only suffering from his back, but also from some se-rious blues and bad macobi. He even had to complain to his Papa Dean, who told him to do something dras-tic about his problem. Papa Dean told Finny that they can’t afford anymore scandals from none a unuh. Penner, Jon Jon Saldivar, Castro and Faber are enough embarrassments for the UDP.

To try and quiet the noise the bu-kut Minister is said to have offered to pay a well known gang leader $54,000 to please stay away from his house. But the word is that there is still a stranger in Finny’s home.

Belize City, April 10, 2014Numerous complaints have

been received by the BELIZE TIMES about the sudden removal of seats from inside the Phillip S. W. Goldson International Airport public waiting area.

There has been no explana-tion for the decision, but it has terribly inconvenienced passen-gers and visitors to the airport. In particular, senior citizens who must now sit outside the terminal or make their way upstairs to the waving gallery for a seat to rest their feet.

The decision has been de-scribed as insensitive and irratio-nal by many.

Citizens irate over removal of airport seats

March 28, 2014On March 27th, 2014, US Capital

through its attorney Michael Peyre-fitte gave an interview to the various media houses where he boldly stated with certainty that, ‘The only time this matter [US Capital oil activities] was brought to court was when there was an issue as to what cut the Mayan leadership would get from this.’ He went further, ‘The Mayas should be just as honest [as the teachers] with the people of Belize and say their only issue with this case is their cut of the pie.’

In the corporate world everything is about money. This is what, as a Peo-ple, we need to understand about oil companies and perhaps that accounts for the attorney’s uninformed and of-fensive statement. When the Maya people say land rights, they hear mon-ey. When the Maya people demand for consultation, they hear money. Howev-er, when we talk about our culture, the environment, right relations, they hear nothing. For a corporation, it is always about money, so of course negotiations with them include discussions about money. This perhaps is the only part of the relationship that the company (and the government) is able to understand. This exemplifies the reasons behind why it is essential for the court’s sup-port to assist the Mayas in protecting everything that is important to us – our culture, environment, AND economic interests that are protected by the con-stitution and the Petroleum Act. In ad-dition, Article 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also affords us these rights.

The Maya People have fought and in some instance died for their lands and rights for many years. As Maya peo-ple, we want to work hard and do our part to develop our Belize. We dream of doing this as Maya people with the dignity and freedom endowed by our creator and enshrined in our Belize Con-stitution. However when the security of our homes, our lands, our resourc-es is threatened by our government’s (and companies’) failure to recognize our inherent right as a people we find the need to stand firm to demand jus-

tice for not only does it threaten our well being and our capacity to contribute to the development of Belize but threatens the very foundation of our country. The Maya people are committed to building a more inclusive, democratic, just and free Belize as promised by the constitution. Time and time again, our leaders and communities have had to make the dif-ficult and burdensome decision to take the government and companies to court in the name of justice.

While US Capital is working within the Sarstoon Themas National Park we recall that even, the Honorable Prime Minister Dean Barrow, is well aware that the non-recognition of Maya people’s land rights could be an obstacle to petro-leum extraction.

Since the Sarstoon and Temash Na-tional Park is made up of lands used and occupied by Maya villages, it is illegal for the government to allow drilling to go ahead in the park, at least until those lands have been demarcated and titled.

The same is true for Maya village lands throughout the Toledo Dis-trict. The MLA and TAA have been following the oil development closely and will be making its de-cision for recourse on oil after the pending SATIIM decision.

The Maya people of Toledo re-iterate that our lands are not simply an investment or an asset. They are a sacred trust handed down from our ancestors to be held for our grandchildren and their grand-children. They “play a central role in [our] physical, cultural and spir-itual existence and vitality.” We look forward to the day when such development activities can be car-ried out in a manner that does not destroy our natural heritage and our human rights. Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived.

Finally, the attorney did not get it right about the teachers. The teachers have repeatedly said that their fight is not only for money but for the overall improvement of our nation Belize. This is the honest truth and the great people of Belize know this!

belizetimes april 13, 2014

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