Edition 125 Vol.3 week 20 16th of January , 2011

BIAS TOWARDS NONE !!!BIAS TOWARDS NONE !!!BIAS TOWARDS NONE !!!

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NATIONALNATIONALNATIONALNATIONALNATIONALNATIONALPERSPECTIVEPERSPECTIVEPERSPECTIVEPERSPECTIVEPERSPECTIVEPERSPECTIVETHETHETHETHETHETHE

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CarCarCarCarCarCarninininininival val val val val val Barrow! Barrow! Barrow! Barrow! Barrow! Barrow!In his usual pretentious devious style, PM Minister Dean Barrow, this Monday attempted once again to hoodwink the Belizean people having them believe that his trip to Miami and subsequent meeting with the Carnival/Royale Carib-bean cruise conglomerates was a success and yielded its intended objective which to say benefi ts the Belize Tender operators, that is cer-tainly, not so!Barrow quickly met the press to boast and characterize his input in the negotiations as a success but from the look of things, it was much adieu about nothing, since his so-called ‘stay of execution’ is quickly evaporating into the wind with no true meaning. Barrow’s ‘Stay of Execution’ on the intended implementation of Carnival/Royal Caribbean/Norwegian new Cruise tendering policy is uncertain since

Carnival allowed to do as they please!

the length of stay or the necessary time for our tender operators to come on stream was never reassured and it was left to the Cruise Lines to determine, which therefore means that the fate of our operators are still hanging on ‘death –row’ and still bound to be displaced from their livelihood, which is their rightful

take of the cruise tourism pie. There is still so much apprehension today as to where Cruise Tourism in Belize is heading. It is believed that the least the Prime Minister could have demonstrated his clout to en-sure that the necessary time is grant-ed for Belizeans to come on stream with vessels that fi t the new criteria

but most importantly to keep the tendering operations in the hands of Belizean 100%. Certainly he should not have allowed the Cruise Lines to have the last wordFrom the words Prime Minister echoed, the results were dismal and the Cruise conglomerates were un-

Belize City, Wed. Jan. 12 The leading Caribbean publisher Ian Randle Publishers is set to an-nounce that it has reached an agree-ment to publish the authorized biography of Belize’s fi rst Prime Minister, the Right Honourable George Cadle Price, known as “The Father of The Nation.” Provisionally entitled “George Price: A Hidden Life Revealed,” the book is expected to be released

George Price: A Hidden Life Revealed!in September to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of Belizean independence. According to the au-thor, attorney Godfrey Smith, the 400 page book traces Mr. Price’s life from birth to the present, pro-viding details of the family’s his-tory over three generations and is to be copiously illustrated with rarely seen photographs covering the en-tire span of Price’s life. Mr. Price had dedicated most of his life to the cause of Belize’s in-dependence. This Saturday, January 15th, is George Price’s 92nd birthday. In 1950, Mr. Price was named Assis-tant Secretary of the Peoples Com-mittee, and was elected to the colo-ny’s Legislative Council in 1954 he also served as mayor of Belize City from 1956 to 1962. In 1956 he be-came also Party Leader of the PUP. As First Minister, a post he held since 1961, he led the team which began negotiations over indepen-dence with Great Britain. He main-

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‘Barrow disrespectsBTL Employee Trust’

Go to page 17 to read breaking story

Missing girl found dead! - pge. 17

16th of January , 2011Page 2

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVETHE

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25 Nanche Street, BELMOPAN Assistant Editor :Saida Silva

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BLUE KONCAS GOVERNMENTIt is uncanny how the govern-ment of the United Democratic Party continues to fail at pro-tecting every industry in Belize. The odor of incompetence has been emanating from the Cabi-net room from February 7, 2008 and today the Cabinet order of incompetence is now mush-roomed is the stench of a rotting carcass. At this publication, we believe that the commitments of the UDP government under Dean Barrow have failed miserable about improving the lives of any/all Belizeans, and the National Perspective is being extremely charitable. If a poll is taken from only UDPs we would bet our last dollar that they would give this Dean Barrow government a big “F”. The UDP has been a “blue koncas” government that de-stroyed a vibrant economy from the day they got into office in 2008. A review of the UDP gov-ernment performance is a grave yard of ill conceives promises and mismanagement. Every ma-jor industry is in turmoil. The Sugar Industry was taken to the brink of bankruptcy by the Dean Barrow administration, and if it was not for the vigilance of the cane farmers the Sugar Industry would have collapsed just before the Christmas holidays. This was the second time under the pres-ent UDP that the Sugar Industry reached a climax situation. The first time due to their meddling they ignited a resistance against improvement of the quality of the sugar cane and were forced to use guns to quell the upris-ing they caused with the shoot-ing death of Atanascio Gutierrez by the security forces. To date, no one has been arrested for that murder, and the Prime Minister has not offered any apology or assistance to the family of the slain cane farmer. In late 2010 Prime Min-ister Barrow allowed the Sugar Industry to run hot again by re-fusing to provide the commit-ted monies to be used as bailout funds to the Belize Sugar Indus-try (BSI) until the last minute. The delay in providing the funds increased the expense to the cane farmers since it was their final payment for the crop season that was due. Farmers who had loans at the bank had to pay additional interest. The same can be said

about the Citrus and Tourism In-dustry that is operating amidst controversy and chaos. These industries will be in trouble for a long while under the UDP be-cause every decision they make is flawed. In 2009 the UDP gov-ernment in hostile fashion, took over the single largest company in Belize, Belize Telemedia Lim-ited, under a false pretense. The Prime Minister stated that he had to take over BTL because the majority shareholder was filing too many legal cases against the UDP government and takeover of the company was expected to eliminate the litigations. In hind-sight the litigations against the UDP government by the major-ity shareholder have increased. Furthermore, the company of-fered shares to the public for sale, which has been dismal. To date, only BZ$4.0 million worth of shares has been sold. This is because there is no confidence in Net Vasquez and the group of cronies that the Prime Minister has placed on the Board to man-age BTL. In addition the takeover is being challenged, and strong feelings are being expressed that the government will lose the case and be ordered to pass the com-pany back to the “real” owner/s. The other strong reason is that “no money no deh”. The UDP has pauperized Belizeans as no jobs exist and the unem-ployment rate is escalating. The hostile takeover of BTL has also scared away investors from the shoreline. The investors’ view is that the UDP government is reckless and vindictive and any dispute with the UDP govern-ment in the future will have the government taking over their business. The lack of investors has also contributed to rise in un-employment since no new busi-nesses or money is reaching the Belizean shore. The Tourism sector and in particular, Cruise Tourism has been allowed to be populated by foreigners with businesses controlling all the lucrative seg-ment of the industry. First it was the Chukka outfit offering a few tours to Carnival, now they are the exclusive tour provider to Carnival and are in negotiations to be tour providers for Royale Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines. During these week tenders (boats) services will be provided

by a single foreigner. A report by the Prime Minister on a meeting held with Carnival reveal that he took a tongue lashing from Carnival. During Monday’s press confer-ence a haggard and defeated looking Prime Minister was seen covering his “bald head” in the hope that he can mask his lies to the Belizean people. In short the Cruise Lines has said to the Prime Minister, we have listened to you out of a little respect, and we will now implement our changes, whether you like or not. In the meantime, on a lighter note but to make the point, large billboards are being constructed to place the picture of the Leader of the Opposition, John Briceno, photo “as a miss-ing person”. All Points Bulletins (APB) are countrywide. Joining in the search for the Opposition Leader is 49,000 Belizean voters looking under every rock to see if they find the missing parlia-mentarian. While Dean Barrow and the UDP have been destroying Belize, the People’s United party

has been working on a huge plan to lead Belize out of economic suffering. They have volumes of documentation compiled which they will present to the Beliz-ean people immediately after the next General Election to kick off their second term as Opposition. The PUP has been as much to blame for the incompe-tence of the UDP, because they stood by collecting tax payer’s monies as salaries and has not challenged the UDP government. While this piece will be misinterpreted by the Opposi-tion, and they will miss the rea-son for mentioning their name in this piece. It is intended to wake them up. Presently, Dean Barrow has Belmopan locked up and his Cabinet is ready for five more years. Our poll shows that peo-ple are not ready for King Bar-row and his ban of forty thieves to continue their pillaging. You think? We say to the Opposition, wake up and come out and face the Belizean people. WAKE UP BELIZE THE PEOPLE ARE AWAKE!!!

APPLICATIONS FOR LIQUOR LICENSESNotice is hereby given that Manuel Viera is applying for a PUBLICAN SPECIAL LIQUOR LICENSE to be operated at NOA NOA BAR, DANGRIGA, Stann Creek District under the INTOXICATING LIQUOR LICENSING ORDINANCE, Re-vised Edition 1980.Notice is hereby given that Apolonio Martinez is applying for a SHOP LIQUOR LICENSE to be operated at MARTINEZ STORE, HOPKINS , Stann Creek District under the INTOXI-CATING LIQUOR LICENSING ORDINANCE, Revised Edi-tion 1980.

16th of January , 2011 Page 3

BY ORDER OF CHARGEE

NOTICE 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 those hereinafter named and the said Holy Redeemer Credit Union Limited. HRCU will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication 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 my be obtained.SCHEDULEALL THAT parcel of land being Block 16, Parcel 2618 situate in Caribbean Shores/Belize Registration Section, TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon, the freehold property of RUTH GLORIA and HECTOR GLORIA (JOINTLY).

January 12, 2011

Editor, AmandalaPartridge StreetBelize City

Dear Editor,In Tuesday’s edition of the Amandala Colin bH wrote very disrespectfully of the members of the PUP’s Order of Distinguished Service and of the Father of the Nation. For the family of Mr. Charlie Hyde, an honourable man, who has always promoted the virtue of respecting your elders, I find it disappointing and in poor taste that such an insult to all senior citizens is printed. Usually I would glance over Colin’s column and ignore, realizing that it is his pitiful attempt at humour. However, as Chairman of the Party I cannot let the latest slander go without a response.For the record, Colin Hyde is not a member of the People’s United Party. He does not and has never been a part of the National Executive of the Party or served in any capacity in the management of the PUP. He writes from a position of ignorance, which is often reflected in his error-ridden pieces. His is a tabloid column and should be treated as such.As to the ODS, it is a vibrant and active arm of the PUP. Mr. Belizario Carballo is the Chairman, and other distinguished citizens, such as Sam Waight, Eloisa Trujeque, Tony Soberanis, Sandra Wragg, Cassian Nunez, Ienna ‘Ms. Birdie’ Sealy, and Pedro ‘Ducho’ Thomas, among others, all serve as members. Mr. Hyde owes an apology to all these individuals. They have been and continue to be good servants of Belize and deserve our gratitude, not one mediocre writer’s derision.Finally, even though the Rt. Hon. George Price retired from public life years ago, the Hyde Brothers, Evan and Colin, can’t seem to get over the fact that while Mr. Price worked to build a better Belize, the most either of them could do, was to write about it. I can tell you that as Mr. Price approaches his 92nd birthday, he possesses today more intellectual capacity, compassion and clarity of thought than Colin bH will ever achieve.Sincerely,Henry C. UsherChairmanPeople’s United Partycc. Editors, Belize Times, Reporter, National Perspective

16th of January , 2011Page 4

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REID BETWEEN THE LINES

G. Michael ReidThe crisis in the Belize Tourism in-dustry seems to have gone from bad to worse and from somewhat confus-ing to downright complex. On Friday last, Prime Minister Dean Barrow led a delegation of henchpersons, (dubbed by Channel Seven News as the “Fantastic Four”) to a meeting in Miami that was supposed to resolve the situation and present Belize’s point of view to the cruise ship peo-ple. At least, that is what we were led to believe.Upon arriving back in the country on Monday, Mr. Barrow called a press conference and assured the Belizean stakeholders that his mission had been “a success.” Success however, as always, is a rather subjective mat-ter. According to Mister Barrow, his objective was never to stave off the aggressive assault of cruise operators and their attempt to manipulate and monopolize the industry in Belize but instead, to obtain a “stay of execu-tion.” Really!According to Mr. Barrow, while he was able to negotiate for such a stay, unfortunately “the length of the stay has not yet been determined”. Mr. Barrow went on to inform the nation that while “we are thinking in terms of a year” that Carnival was in fact, “thinking in terms of weeks.” Obvi-ously, Carnival was more like think-ing in terms of, hours. Less than 24 hours after Mr. Barrow’s announce-ment, representatives of Carnival met with cruise tenders in Belize and informed them that Mr. Barrow had gotten it all wrong. In his press briefi ng, Mr. Barrow in-formed Belizeans that Carnival had given him assurances that any ten-dering business would be under the control of Belizean operators. That very afternoon, principals of the ten-dering business got together, formed a company and met with represen-tatives from Carnival. To their sur-prise, high ranking representatives from the cruise line informed them that obviously Mr. Barrow had mis-understood or was misleading them. According to Carnival spokespeople, they were prepared to deal with one person and one person only, that be-ing their appointed agent who was one Rick O’Shea. The question is, did Mr. Barrow misunderstand or is it just another lie added to the long and growing list of those already told?To better understand what is going on here, we need to go back a week or so. Last week Monday on Vibe’s Radio Morning Buzz, Vaughan Gill

‘Stay of Execution’!broke the story of two giant cata-marans that had been brought into the Big Creek port via Mike Singh’s company BTALCO. Mike Singh is the former CEO of Tourism whose name has been at the center of a num-ber of shady projects involving that industry. To that point, no one even knew that any plan was in the making or that a deal had apparently already been struck. Later that same day, tender operators of Belize were surprised with an announcement that begin-ning the very next day, their services would no longer be required. Now, the question has to be asked; did these people really think that they could pull this one off so easily? Do these multi-national companies believe that Belizeans are that stupid? Maybe they are seeing what is happening in the oil industry and fi gure, what the heck, let’s try it!There is an old joke about a man who enters a bar and declares that he will tell a Polish joke. He is abruptly stopped by the bartender who in-forms him that he, the bartender, is himself Polish. The bartender points out two burly bouncers and informs the stranger that they were also Pol-ish. “Matter of fact”, the stranger is informed, “all of the other patrons are Polish.” “Now,” ask the ruffl ed barkeep, “do you still want to tell that joke?” “Why certainly”, responds the insipid malapert, “only now, I will speak v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.”Whenever one listens to Mr. Barrow addressing the Belizean public, we fi nd him speaking v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Could this be why? Could it be that Mr. Barrow and his multi-national friends think that Belizeans are so dumb that they will accept anything that is shoved upon them? In their defense, Carnival issued a release stating that they had long informed Belizean representatives about the intended change. Who did they inform and when? While Chan-nel Seven is suggesting to us that this is in the past, they are wrong! It is very much in the present and weighs heavily upon the current crisis facing the industry. Had the tender opera-tors been informed, they could have either made arrangements to comply or mount an organized protest before any contract was signed. What did Mike Singh know and how involved is he in the move to replace Belizean operators with foreign interest? This whole business, to borrow a quote from Shakespeare, leaves the “rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril.” It is a smell of greed, treason and betrayal. Many wondered why Mr. Barrow had to travel all the way to Miami when Carnival had representatives ready to talk right here in Belize. Why did Mr. Barrow not include in his delegation,

a representative from the Belizean tenders? Why are foreign interests always the ones dictating the terms? Are we not an independent nation and do we place their few pennies so much higher than our quality product and our pride? The fact of the matter is that these elected representatives must be made to understand that they are paid to represent and protect the interest of Belizeans. They cannot be negotiat-ing away our heritage and patrimony. Belize belongs to all Belizeans and not just a few select political hounds. We cannot allow any political party to believe that an election victory gives them all and every resource as “spoils

of war” to do with as they will. What is being proposed for cruise ten-ders of Belize is unfair and unaccept-able. They are being asked to carry the burden of existing mortgages and then take out new ones. According to the Prime Minister, they will have to fi nd a way to service existing loans for boats that can no longer be used and also new loans for some new, big-ger and very expensive ones. What if there is an incident that affects that industry? What if Carnival decides to stop coming anyway? Who will then service these loans? There are way too many questions unanswered here and way too much being asked of Be-lizeans. Cruise tourism is not that im-portant that we can afford to sacrifi ce our very dignity and statehood. We must also have a say in the way this game will be played.

The year’s fi rst suicide was a young man in South Stann Creek who had despaired over the end of a love affair. Depressed by the cir-cumstances he had turned to that other popular poison Gramaxone, rather than the much more popular alcohol, and despite medical in-tervention succumbed a few days later. As with nearly all such occur-rences these days, the suicide rate appears to be increasing. I say ap-pears because I no longer have ac-cess to any statistics and no one seems interested in producing same anymore. (Unlike many of my colleagues, I was appreciative of the effort by Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries to provide crime statis-tics on a regular basis, and I look back now in a kinda wonder at the former administration’s effort at improving statistical collection, collation, dissemination and use. They wanted to be able to mea-sure “progress” and development. Anyway, let me stop there, if only because I promised myself that this year I would be less “parti-san,” that is not as harshly critical of the Barrow administration.) Belize has a mental health prob-lem and it has already passed “crisis” proportion. The Director of Health Services Dr. Michael Pitts should declare the present state of our mental health an on-going health care emergency and demand that Cabinet give him the wherewithal to deal with it. The simple fact is that Belizean young men, in particular, are dying from the preventable disease of vio-lence, self-infl icted and otherwise-infl icted.

This is an epidemic and it is spreading, and like all such epi-demics stemming the tide requires short, medium and long term mea-sures. Once he declares that this is a public health emergency, the good doctor would then be in a position to commandeer the nec-essary resources and matériel to develop public policies and imple-ment plans to curb this scourge. In the short term, all the books I have read and the people I have listened to who seemed to have an informed opinion, have posited that recognizing and acknowledg-ing that there is a problem, and then identifying what is the prob-lem, is the fi rst necessary step. In this case we seemed to have de-veloped a psychopathic mental-ity, a depraved indifference to the sanctity of human life, in some cases even our own. Love stricken young men have been killing themselves (and oth-ers) for nearly the entire length of human existence, but human soci-eties have not only always accept-ed that this was preventable and treatable, but that we had a duty to try and prevent it. Can we at least debate the perspective that we no longer universally have the type of family structure that made suicide almost of unheard of back in the not too distant past? Who does an overwrought young man turn to for counseling, advice and support to help him through the crisis of losing his girl friend, his pride, his self-esteem, and his raison d’etre? Where does that angry young man with the gun in his hand turn to for help when he is now a crea-

Continued on page 9

16th of January , 2011

KREMANDALA $ELLOUT

“X” CAN’T CRITICIZE BARROW & THE UDP

Page 5

Wilfully ignores the Corrupt Practices of Barrow and the UDP

A PAID AD

Can’t be TRUSTED!!!

Bought and paid for...Silent on issues a� ecting black South-side Belizeans while pretending to be theirguardian

bending, uncaring and showed no compassion regarding Belizeans. From the look of things, Barrow carried no muscle, showed neither testicular courage nor back-bone to dictate the terms and conditions of hosting cruise-tourism in Belize which is the unimpeded access of our tender operators and all our lo-cal stake holders to the economic pie. It’s still just a matter of time of their choosing before they un-scrupulously roll out their policy and Belizean tender operators start dropping out one by one. Barrow announced that they agreed on forming a new entity giving Beliz-ean tender operators an opportuni-ty to organize and stressed it would be a Belizean company, but what he conveniently stayed silent about and did not mentioned was the fact that the Cruise lines were also in-jecting their point-men in the en-tity which will act as pac-man so to speak which will continuously keep dictating the rules. Barrow knows all about it but is not pre-pared to do something about it to stop them. The question in the minds of all Belizeans is: What is his purpose as head of government and who runs Belize? Does he represent the in-terest of the multi-nationals or the interest of Belizeans? What was his purpose of going to Miami, was it to try to delay an agreement his government already knew about?

Where is his defence for welfare and livelihood of Belizeans? Why he sits by and sheepishly allows Carnival and Royale Caribbean to do as they please and infl ict this type of abuse and exploitation on our resources most obviously on our tender operators. Since the meeting in Miami and the united show of solidarity of our tender op-erators, the Cruise people are mov-ing the goal -post regarding the new entity. How long the Cruise lines will de-lay before they go ahead with their plans, Barrow did not say but it is obvious that he is impotent and has no bargaining power to stop what is heading our way. The truth of the matter is that be-cause of his inability to act on be-half of Belizeans, the Prime Minis-ter is putting the tender operators in double jeopardy since it is obvious that the tender operators will have to pay a high price to hold on to what is rightfully theirs or drop out of the radar. Belizean tender opera-tors who want to stay in the circle will now have to fi nd additional fi nancing on their own to venture into this new entity while paying outstanding loans for the current investments on their now smaller vessels. This new investment could easily surge to $3M and $4M with interest over the years if they bor-row the required funds between $1.5 M and $2M needed to pur-chase the vessel that fi t the criteria for the new policy. The problem

here is that the two Catamarans that entered the Big Creek Port two weeks ago was declared for duty and accepted by Belize Customs on the orders of a certain government offi cial at a value of just barely $70,000 dollars US. While Prime Minister Barrow spoke of fi nding a line of funding, duty and other concessions, it is still his usual style of lying and we would still have to wait and see but we would still want to know why those two catamarans came in and declared at just a fraction of the price they are telling Belizeans it will cost. Since 1998, Belizeans have upgraded their services pro-vided and tender operators have constantly upgraded their vessels to carry more passengers on their own, and certainly did not wait for any of the cruise lines to call for it. Presently, Carnival through its Agent’s Diamond International re-ceives $8.00 head tax per the thou-sands of cruise passengers who call on Belize City and Belize City only receives a meagre $2.00 out of that sum, and now they are pressing to further exploit the Belizean land-scape. Cruise lines are 100% foreign cor-porations and like the underworld, exploits wherever they go. Carni-val was incorporated in Panama. Royal Caribbean was incorporat-ed in Liberia (yes, Africa). And all of these cruise lines fl y the fl ags of foreign countries like Panama, Liberia, Bermuda and the Baha-

mas. By registering their compa-nies and cruise ships overseas they avoid U.S. labor, wage and safety laws, the foreign cruise lines also avoid U.S. income taxes. The $35,000,000,000 (billion) cruise industry pays no U.S. Federal in-come taxes. If the cruise lines were required to pay U.S. taxes, they would pay over $10,000,000,000 a year. The cruise industry receives a $10 billion bailout each year, year after year. But that’s not all. All of the cruise ships are manufactured and con-structed in foreign shipyards, in It-aly, Norway or France. And 99.9% of the offi cers and crew members (except some of the U.S. dancers and singers) are from “overseas.” No U.S. workers are going to work 360 hours a month for around $545 like the incredibly hard working utility cleaners from India, Central America and the Caribbean islands.The cruise industry is the most outsourced, non-U.S. industry in America. The industry is built on the business model of tax-paying U.S. citizens paying their hard earned wages to the foreign corpo-ration cruise lines who pay no taxes to the U.S. and exploit their foreign employees by paying slave wages to the lower tier crew members.Therefore, PM Barrow was given a mandate in 2008 to defend the rights Belizeans from all levels of exploitation, especially foreign ex-ploitation and we expect no less from him!

Continued from page 1

16th of January , 2011Page 6

By: Nuri Muhammad Much is currently being said

about the marginalization of young black males in Belize City and what statistics we do have available from the criminal justice system, the educational system and the recently completed study by Dr. Herbert Gayle, all indicate that this sector has been in a state of crisis for the last two decades. The statistics, by extension, also show that men in Belize, par-ticularly black men, are in a peri-od of crisis where they register as the majority of cases of domestic abuse against their mate and sexu-al abuse against girl children. Men are accused and convicted of rape, incest and unnatural crimes more than women. In fact they are the majority of arrest and convictions for all other forms of crimes, es-pecially violence, including homi-cide. But among our young males these confl icts are magnifi ed. In the area of relationships with women both domestic and casual, men are seen as having dif-fi culties with intimate communi-cation and expression of feelings. They are outstanding during the romance period but quickly fall down when it comes to the long haul of responsibility that true manhood requires. With their children, especially their boys, they are seen as being unsupportive and noncommittal, and for this reason many boys lack the support from their fathers needed to transform from boy-hood to manhood. A lack of an accepted ‘rites of passage’ and the absence of proper role models, added to the onslaught of artifi cial macho im-ages in the media, gives our boys the wrong goals of life and set them up for more youth on youth violence in the streets. We could go on and on pointing out aspects of this dilem-ma that men fi nd themselves in at this juncture in Belize but suffi ce it to say that as men we have vit-riolic issues that needs ventilation. There is no question that we are dealing with a crisis situation that requires sustained actions directed at this sector if we are to make a real and sustained difference. By now I am sure we realize that what we are seeing played out on our nightly news and weekend papers is a refl ection of a poten-tially explosive situation in our social order and not just random acts of crime and violence. By now we should realize that this is not just one or two rude boys who “need a good assing”, but rather a culture that is growing with in-creasing self-justifi cation. This is not something that will simply go away with “stiffer police action” to root out the criminals. This is a much more ingrained social be-havior that needs a genuine effort to engage these youth in proactive

Rite of Passage ways of addressing not just ‘their’ problem, but “our” problem. ‘Rite of passage’ has become a buzz term used to describe the pro-cess that young men go through to manhood. African tribal tradition has been used as a model to drive home the point that there needs to be some kind of ritual process to bring boys into their manhood. This ceremony has gained popu-larity in many African American communities that have instituted rites of passage ceremonies for their young males. But while there is much pomp and ceremony given to these rituals the real pro-cess that makes a boy a man is or-ganic and dynamic, whether there are established rituals to guide it or not. A boy will naturally fi nd a model to imitate his way to man-hood if he has no “proper” model to emulate. The process from boyhood to manhood is a challenging one and there is no “one size fi ts all” mod-el, so the trial and error process is one fraught with frustration for young Belizean males. Growing up is not the same for all young men; the multiplicity of situation that now exist socially, economi-cally, and morally is far different than a generation ago. Those were tough days but at least there was a moral discipline that underpinned our social behavior, not like to-day where that code is blurred and there is no one accepted model by which social behavior is judged. A young man today has a wide range of models from which to evalu-ate his behavior even to the point where ‘anything goes’. There is no ‘one’ social moral standard that serves as the criterion for judging the right approach from the wrong approach. Naturally many get lost on this road. But when it comes to Belize in 2011 what can we say to these youth who are struggling to move from boyhood to manhood? As I continue to repeat in my articles many black youths today want to rely on the victim card. In other words, look what the system has done to me argument. But many are quickly fi nding out that there is no sympathy for those who are not active in trying to make a dif-ference in their lives. Today’s Be-lize is not concerned about your past; it is concerned about what you bring to the table by way of knowledge and skills. Belize to-day is fi lled with people who came from disadvantaged backgrounds; Central Americans who number in the tens of thousands, Africans, Asians, Americans, Europeans, Caribbean. Many came to Belize broke; looking for any opportu-nity to progress. Therefore, there is no sympathy for the black youth who relies on the “victim card” or hopes that somebody will feel sor-ry for him. In today’s Belize you

must prove yourself. So if we want to take our boys through realistic rite of passage we must start with a serious assess-ment of where our boys are today. First we must be realistic and not feed them any ‘dreams’. Too of-ten in our zeal to assist these boys through their ‘passage’ we some-times we get carried away with the unrealistic idea of a boy, who through his effort grows up to be a great man, but in reality, if he is

It is like karma - Prime Minister is forced to go, hat in hand to Miami to beg Carnival Cruise Line to ease the pressure and pain on local operators with their proposed new tourist ten-dering operation. We are once again witnessing as another saga plays out without any indication that reason will ever kick in and at the end of the day the Belizean people will be benefi ciaries of good governance. I have let go of the pipe dream and resigned to the fact that people who crave power will say anything to get it.A few weeks ago I chronicled the saga the cruise-ship docking facility that was supposed to be built in Port Loyola by Belizean leading devel-oper, Luke Espat. The project was launched in April of 2004. Since then a lot has happened, most im-portantly, the terminal/docking fa-cility never came to fruition. In my opinion, it is because of our myopic, vindictive and destructive politics. I’m not shedding any tears for Luke Espat - he has established himself as one of Belize’s foremost think-ers and doers - he would be super-human if he hadn’t failed at some things. Unlike his critics who seem to believe that they are infallible - “The Luke” as I favourably call him does not sit and mope but rises to the next challenge. My regret is over the opportunities that were lost, namely the cruise ship docking facility at Belize City’s Port and the demise of the Novelos’ National Transport Services Lim-ited and the number of laborers that would have been hired to construct the terminal and the thousands more who would have been employed once the cruise ship facility became operational. Where the National Transport was concerned - I regret that Belizeans never got to enjoy safe, reliable, comfortable and af-fordable transportation. The pos-sibilities of those two endeavours were not pipe dreams but real op-portunities that were squandered because of poisonous politics. This is now 2011 - seven years after the dream of the cruise ship dock-

ing facility was born - Belize has no cruise docking facility and un-employment is historically high, poverty is the highest it has ever been recorded - yet the best we can do is pinch our noses and hope that the promises that PM Barrow made in his New Year’s speech brings true comfort. Imagine - in 2011 the Prime Minister and his so-called dream team are scrambling to Mi-ami to meet with the Carnival Cruise Line to strike a deal (beg) after their cockeyed plans backfi red. Spitefully, the UDP went fully be-hind Royal Caribbean’s cruise fa-cility that is supposed to be built in Placencia Village of all places! But it seems that the people of Placencia have their fi nger on the button and are resolute on torpedoing this one right out their village. I don’t think I have to point out the obvious - but since it eludes our political pundits and social observers let me just say that the Port Area in Belize City is still the best candidate and govern-ment had better stop their nonsense and start talking to Luke and who-ever else to get the thing done. We also saw the dismantling of Na-tional Transport Services Limited - the collateral damage once again were 275 workers who were made to walk the plank just before Christ-mas. This saga, I also chronicled hoping that the real story would arrive home but alas - I can only wish...The Novelo brothers operated com-pany was dealt its fi rst blow when the UDP announced that the trans-portation system will be operat-ing by a zoning system. That im-mediately reduced the runs that the Novelos had, which cut down earnings which cost jobs, which made honoring obligations to their creditors even more onerous. The UDP did not stop there - they kept chipping away at the Novelos’ Road Service Permits right up to remov-ing an air conditioned bus that took workers to Belmopan from off their run. How sick! As if Belizeans are not deserving of a certainly caliber

Barrow goes to Carnival, hat in hand!

continued on page 17

minimally successful in his efforts to go through his ‘passage’ he will just be an ordinary man with no fan fare and no frills; that’s the real crooks of the matter. We have to redefi ne greatness to mean: liv-ing up to your responsibility. Not riches or stardom…..just life. The real rite of passage is a natural or-ganic process that takes place ev-ery second of that young male’s life whether there is a program to direct it or it fi nds its own self di-rection. (Comments welcomed at nuribze@gmail.com).

16th of January , 2011 Page 7

Education is the key to the future!

CARIBBEAN NEWS

The unions say they are committed to long term action

T & T Public Servants’ pay stand offThe trade union movement here says it’s intent on not backing away from confrontation with the government. Wages and con-ditions of work are at the core of the dispute between the govern-ment and the joint unions who are insisting that their 50,000 mem-bers are “living on starvation wag-es”.They are demanding a 15% wage hike; the government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is offering 5%. Finance Minister Winston Dookeran says the gov-ernment’s offer, when combined with a cost of living allowance and increased health benefi ts, amounts to “a just and fair offer and one in keeping with the state of the econ-omy.” DemonstrationsThose two positions have fuelled several large and militant demon-strations in the capital city, Port of Spain, by the country’s major trade unions. They are supporting the Public Services Association (PSA) which is at the forefront of the dispute. No fewer than fi ve days of resis-

tance during which many public servants have stayed away from work, points to a potentially ex-plosive industrial relations climate here. “You cannot have a situation in a country where infl ation has risen to more than 34% and a Gov-ernment is offering you 5%,” said

President of the National Trade Union Centre, Michael Annisette. He was at the time addressing thousands of workers out on the streets this week. And Ancil Ro-get, President General of the tradi-tionally militant Oilfi elds Workers Union (OWTU), has demanded

that the government borrow mon-ey to pay the public servants. The unions have joined with the PSA against the 5% to prevent it from becoming the benchmark fi g-ure for all industrial agreements. Man in the middle of the muddleAll this is happening against the background of perhaps the most militant trade union leader of the last 15 years, Errol McLeod, once president general of the OWTU, now sitting in the seat of Minister of Labour. But McLeod constantly reminds his colleagues when they attack him and his government’s “anti-labour” policies “that I becom-ing Minister does not in any way relieve union leaders of their re-sponsibility to represent their workers.” He is advocating a tri-partite approach to fi nding solu-tions. Finance Minister Dooker-an meanwhile has been pointing to the TT$7 billion defi cit of the 2011 budget after two years of de-cline in economic growth and con-servative projections for recovery in 2011.

Massive deportation of Haitians by Dom Rep

MAO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Immigration agents in the Domini-can Republic this week deported 163 illegal Haitian immigrants, the ma-jority of them women and children who lived in the streets of the north-western city of Mao, offi cials said.The sweeps were conducted after Valverde province Gov. Manuel Guichardo called on immigration offi cials to reduce the massive Haitian presence in the region.Many of the Haitians managed to evade immigration agents because they were tipped off by their coun-trymen via cell phone, police said.The Haitians were taken in two trucks to a border crossing in the northwestern province of Daja-bon, where they were handed over to Haitian immigration offi cials.Haitian offi cials initially refused to allow the deportees in, claim-

ing there was no proof that the people had been born in Haiti.The sweeps targeted illegal im-migrants in San Antonio, Los Ca-juiles, La Compuerta, Buenos Aires, Motocross and Los Restauradores, where residents had threatened to expel the Haitians themselves if offi cials did not take action.Residents accused the Haitians of com-mitting most of the crimes in the area.Earlier this month, immigration agents deported 43 illegal Haitian immigrants, including 25 wom-en who worked as prostitutes in the northern city of Santiago and six men serving prison sentences.The group of repatriated Haitians also included 12 children who wandered around the streets of Santiago, the General Migration Administration said. The women were detained during an operation

targeting Haitian prostitutes in the Dominican Republic’s second-larg-est city, immigration offi cials said.The children, who ranged in age from 8 to 13, were arrested by immigration inspectors for harassing pedestrians, tourists and customers at shopping centers, immigration offi cials said.Dominican offi cials estimate that around 1 million Haitians live in the country, most of them il-legal immigrants who work in agriculture and construction.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the Caribbean island of His-paniola, with Haiti in the western portion. Though both countries are poor, Haiti is destitute, and Hai-tians cross the border to do work that many Dominicans will not do, such as harvesting sugar cane.Haitians have been the target of mob violence numerous times in recent years, and the Dominican govern-ment has been widely criticized for its treatment of the migrants.

Caribbean news in brief Guyana Blaze affects Liat and others An early Monday morning fi re in Guyana has destroyed a building in which the local Liat offi ce and two other visitor-related businesses were housed. The blaze destroyed a colo-nial wooden building in the capital,

Georgetown, reducing to ashes the Liat offi ce and those of Frandec Trav-el and Dragon Tours. Fire Chief Mar-lon Gentle says the cause of the fi re is not yet known. He says however, that there was a report of a loud explosion.

Patterson: “Clear the rubble”Caricom Representative for Haiti, PJ Patterson, wants to see much more done to put the quake-hit country back on the track to recovery. Former Jamai-ca Prime Minister Patterson said he was disappointed with what appears to be the slow pace of removing the moun-tains of rubble left behind. He spoke ahead of Wednesday’s observance of

the anniversary of the 12 January earth-quake that killed more than 230,000 people. A Haiti/Caricom meeting held in Jamaica has agreed on a number of project proposals.They are intended to help focus on the priority areas of hous-ing and settlement development, physi-cal and environmental planning, and infrastructure development.

16th of January , 2011Page 8

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the Organiza-tion of American States of interfer-ing in Venezuela. Mr Chavez was responding to comments by OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel In-sulza, who criticised a law which gave the Venezuelan president the power to govern by decree. Mr In-sulza said on Friday that the law was “completely contrary” to the Inter-American Democratic Char-ter. But Mr Chavez has dismissed the remarks as “shameful”. The left-wing Venezuelan leader accused Mr Insulza of acting on behalf of “US imperialism”. “The poor secretary general of the OAS is a sad spokesman of the empire,” Mr Chavez said in his weekly ra-dio address. But he said the US would not succeed in damaging Venezuela’s international prestige.“Undemocratic” The enabling law was passed by Venezuela’s national assembly last month, shortly before a new

Chavez condemns OAS ‘interference

parliament took office with an op-position contingent large enough to block major legislation. It gives Mr Chavez the power to pass laws without needing the support of parliament for 18 months.Mr Chavez says he needs the pow-ers to deal with the consequences of devastating floods that left more than 140,000 people home-less. But Mr Insulza said the mea-sure was “not within the spirit or the letter” of the Inter-American

Democratic Charter, and said the OAS would probably discuss it. His comments echo remarks by US Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela, who called the law “undemocratic” and said it violated the charter of the OAS. Venezuelan opposition groups have also condemned the mea-sure, saying it has moved Venezu-ela closer to dictatorship. Land seizures Mr Chavez says he is drawing up

a law allowing his government to accelerate the seizure of privately-owned land and buildings to re-house people made homeless by the floods. He defended the occu-pation of some private buildings in Caracas last by people claiming to be flood victims. “They are old and mostly aban-doned buildings and when you ask for the owners, it turns out they are in Spain or France or Miami,” he said. The Venezuelan government says it has taken over more then 2m hectares (5m acres) of rural land in recent years, mostly from farms and ranches that were underused or where ownership was not prop-erly established. It says the aim is to boost food production and give land and livelihoods to the poor. But opponents of the land seizures have protested, saying they dam-age the economy and often target working farms.

Acapulco rocked, 27 deaths...14 decapitated

Survivors said the brakes on the bus failedA bus crash in Guatemala’s west-ern highlands has killed at least 14 people and injured at least 25 oth-ers. The victims were all ex-para-militaries who had been working for a government reforestation project. They were travelling to collect their pay in the town of Concepcion Tutuapa, 280km west of Guatemala City, when the bus left the road and plunged into a 50m (164ft) deep ravine. Traffic accidents are frequent on Guatemala’s mountain roads. “The driver was going very fast and when we got to the curve his brakes failed and we went into the

ravine,” one survivor of the acci-dent told local media. There were about 60 passengers on the bus, all of them former members of the paramilitary civil patrols set up by the military to combat left-wing rebels during Guatemala’s 1960-1996 internal conflict. Hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans from rural communities were forced to join the civil patrols, and veterans have since campaigned to receive payment for their service. The re-forestation project the victims of the accident were working on was part of a government programme to create employment for ex-para-militaries.

Guatemala bus accident kills 14 people

Immigration Police stand near the bodies of two men lying on the sidewalk after they were killed by gunmen in Acapulco …ACAPULCO, Mexico – The image of this beach mecca has taken a new hit from Mexico’s drug violence, with 27 people killed in less than a day, in-cluding 14 men whose bodies were found with their heads chopped off at a shopping center.Acapulco has seen fierce turf wars be-tween drug gangs, and the bloodshed is scaring some vacationers away even though little of the violence hap-pens in tourist areas.The decapitation slayings and most of the other killings that occurred in a stretch of just a few hours from Fri-day night into Saturday also occurred in non-tourism areas. But two police officers were shot to death on a ma-jor bayside avenue in front of visitors and locals.The 14 headless bodies, and a 15th in-tact corpse, were found by police on a street outside a shopping center ac-companied by written warnings from a drug cartel, authorities said.Handwritten signs left with the bod-

ies were signed by “El Chapo’s People,” a reference to the Sinaloa cartel, which is headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, said Fernando Monreal Leyva, director of investiga-tive police for Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.The narco-messages indicated the Sinaloa cartel killed the 15 men for trying to intrude on the gang’s turf and extort residents.Mexico’s drug cartels have increas-ingly taken to beheading their victims in a grisly show of force, but Satur-day’s discovery was the largest single group of decapitation victims found in recent years.In 2008, a group of 12 decapitated bodies were piled outside the Yucat-an state capital of Merida. The same year, nine headless men were discov-ered in the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo. Also killed Saturday in Acapulco were the two police of-ficers; six people who were shot dead and stuffed in a taxi, their hands and feet bound; and four others elsewhere in the city. Two police officers were wounded when armed men attacked a police post in the city’s Emiliano Za-pata district.“We are coordinating with federal forces and local police to reinforce security in Acapulco and investigat-ing to try to establish the motive and perpetrators of these incidents,” Mon-real said.The wave of violence in one of Mexico’s biggest resorts was con-demned by the federal government.

“Reprehensible acts of violence such as these underscore the need to fight

with determination against organized crime,” a statement from the Interior Ministry said.

16th of January , 2011 Page 9

China has conducted the first test-flight of its J-20 stealth fighter, Chinese President Hu Jintao has confirmed to US Defence Sec-retary Robert Gates. The confir-mation came after images of the 15-minute flight in Chengdu ap-peared on several Chinese web-sites. Mr Hu said that the flight had not been timed to coincide with Mr Gates’ visit, the US de-fence secretary said. The US is currently the only na-tion with a fully operational stealth plane. But both Russia and China are known to be working on proto-types of stealth fighters, which are invisible to radar. Mr Gates’ three-day visit to Bei-jing comes amid US concern over the speed at which China’s mili-tary is modernising and upgrading its technology. “I asked President Hu about it directly, and he said that the test had absolutely noth-ing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test. And that’s where we left it,” Mr Gates was

China test flight its stealth-fighter

quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. ‘Take some time’ Leaked images of what was said to be China’s J-20 fighter first appeared earlier this month during taxi tests at the Chengdu Aircraft Design In-stitute. On Tuesday, the plane took off and flew for about 15 minutes, accord-ing to eyewitness accounts pub-lished on unofficial Chinese web portals. A video clip of the flight was also posted on the web.

China says it expects the stealth plane to be operational sometime between 2017 and 2019. But earlier this month the Penta-gon played down concerns over the fighter. “Developing a stealth capability with a prototype and then integrating that into a combat environment is going to take some time,” said US director of naval intelligence Vice Admiral David Dorsett. China’s official military budget quadrupled between 1999

and 2009 as the country’s econo-my grew. In 2010 it stood at $78bn (£50bn). But the US has by far the largest defence budget in the world at just over $700bn.Before the official confirmation from the president, pictures re-portedly taken by fighter jet spot-ters had appeared on all major Chinese web portals, including the state-run Xinhua news agency.There is also a video clip showing the stealth fighter taxi-ing, taking off and landing, accompanied by a trainer jet, with fans chatting and shouting “magnificent”. The spotters have been camped out near the fighter jet design in-stitute in Chengdu, in south-west China. They have dubbed the pro-totype “Black Ribbon”, meaning black 4th generation fighter. They also say that Xi Jinping, China’s Vice-President and Vice-Chairman of the Military Com-mission, visited the airfield on Saturday, presumably to witness a test flight that was aborted due to bad weather.

Iran air-crash death-toll 77, 8 critical

TEHRAN – At least 77 people were killed in Sunday’s passenger plane crash in northwestern Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday. The Iran Air Boeing 727 crashed while at-tempting to land in bad weather with 106 on board, officials said. At least eight of the injured were in a critical condition.“So far, 52 out of 77 victims have been identified and among the fatalities there were 36 men and 16 women,” IRNA quoted depu-ty head of Azarbayjan-e Gharbi coroner’s office, Hamid Davoud-abadi, as saying. Ahmad Majidi, head of the crisis management of-

fice at the Transport Ministry, told ISNA news agency that the flight had taken off from Tehran in good visibility.By the time the plane arrived in the city of Urumiyeh, in a mountain-ous area near the border with Tur-key, about 1,000 km (600 miles) northwest of the capital, there was zero visibility due to snow and fog, state TV said.LIGHTS WENT OUTSurvivor Hossein Haqiqi said the pilot announced an emergen-cy landing. “Then, exactly like in the movies, the plane hit the ground and the lights went out. I fainted and was not conscious of

anything,” ISNA quoted him as saying. Another passenger, Nas-rin Fatahzadeh, said rescuers cut through the plane’s seats to pull her free. President Mahmoud Ah-madinejad ordered an accelerated investigation while IRNA report-ed the plane’s black box flight re-corder had been found.“The government has announced three days of mourning in the province,” IRNA said. State tele-vision showed the wreckage of the plane, which appeared to have broken into several sections on impact. Huge gaps were torn in the fuselage. Iran has suffered several

crashes in the past few decades. Tehran says U.S. sanctions have prevented it from buying new air-craft or spare parts from the West.The last major air crash in Iran was in July 2009, when a Caspian Airlines Tupolev aircraft bound for Armenia caught fire in mid-air and crashed into farmland near the city of Qazvin, killing all 168 people on board One of the coun-try’s worst air accidents was in February 2003 when an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard.

ture of his hormones, and death seems a small price to pay for a pride that’s lost in a life that has no future anyway? Where is that older brother or avuncular family figure to say let’s walk, not run, through this? And when the family structure no lon-ger provides it, can’t the system be tweaked to at least provide some of it? Shouldn’t it at least be con-sidered? As I write this the horrible news

has just about floored me – 12-year-old Janessa Jones who disappeared late Monday afternoon has been found dead. By now you know more than I do at this time but I fear the worst. The psychopaths among us has struck again and we will wring our hands and cry out to the skies but like sheeple we will just wait for the wolves to attack again and pray and hope it is not one of our lambs or even us. The time to ferret out, hunt down and destroy these people is now.

Continued from page 4

16th of January , 2011Page 10

The Behaviour of Banks Holdings Ltd (BHL) of Barbados Bad for Belizean Citrus Growers

1. CPBL’s resignation from CGA – The real reasonThe resignation in 2009 was not based on any direct consideration of benefits to be derived from CGA membership. CPBL documents as far back as 2007 show that a plan was hatched by Henry Canton, William Bowman, Mike Duncker and Ernest Raymond, now owners of Belize Citrus Mutual, a private company, along with BHL, to resign from the CGA and form a new company/association, at the time to be called Citrus Alliance Corporation. The sole aim of the new group was the destruction of the CGA and its 51% majority shareholding of CPBL so that they and BHL could enjoy full control of CPBL.After the decision of the rogue CPBL Board, controlled by BHL, to resign from the CGA, an undertaking was given to the Hon. Prime Minister of Belize that CPBL would rejoin CGA and would continue to pay its membership fees to the CGA. However, the CPBL Board went on to PASS a resolution not to rejoin CGA but to continue paying the fees. Notwithstanding, commencing the current crop year, Henry Canton, the then CEO of CPBL, supported by BHL, discontinued payment of the fees to the CGA, against the undertaking given to the Hon. Prime Minister and to the Supreme Court of Belize. This is also contrary to the resolution adopted by the Board for the payment of these fees.

2. CGA as Custodian/Guardian of the Belize citrus industryThe CGA in collaboration with the Government of Belize and ORISA, was able to attract $1,600,000 to jump start the control of Citrus Green-ing in Belize. The CGA also provides financing to growers in the millions per year for fertilization and upkeep of groves. Since the aftermath of Hurricane Richard the CGA was able to get a grant of $350,000 to fund the purchasing of fertilizer for small farmers whose groves were affected by the hurricane. Additionally, the CGA put a proposal to the Development Finance Corporation that resulted in a line of funding of $4.0 million be-ing made available to all growers in the industry at 9% with two year moratorium and the possibility for refinancing of up to 50%. This line of funding is available to nursery owners who now need to erect screened structures to meet the new guidelines set forth by the Belize Agriculture Health Authority for the certification of citrus nurseries. This is crucial to the continued growth of the industry. Even more, the CGA has lobbied with the Government of Belize for and got Citrus Greening to be declared a priority area for FAO funding and has provided the technical assistance in making the application for some $1,000,000 dollars to assist in the control of HLB, including starting diversification into other juice fruits such as passion fruit. This should set the stage for diversifying risk, broadening product lines and increasing the utilization of the processing plants. Additionally, the CGA has been working with a local grant agency to develop a project to attract funding to assist smaller scale citrus nursery operators by providing several community nurseries in different parts of the industry. Belizeans should note that BHL refused to assist growers post-Hurricane Richard.Sir Allan Fields and Mr. Richard Cozier, of BHL, have stated that CPBL should divest all its citrus groves and have shown little interest in the welfare of citrus growers, particularly the smaller citrus growers. This must be considered very unfortunate as the vast majority of citrus grow-ers are small to medium sized and form the back bone of the citrus industry, provide socio-economic stability for a large sector of the Belizean population.

3. The Performance of CPBLThe issue here is the performance of the Company from the time BHL decided to engage in preventing CGA from appointing its directors and then seeking to change the normal structure of the Board. In his report to BHL shareholders dated December 14th 2009, the Managing Director offered the following, “Pricing on citrus concentrates has improved significantly (almost double the low in 2009) and thus contracts and sales going forward will be significantly more profitable. Indeed our expectations are that once the pricing remains at current levels, this operation will be significantly more profitable in 2010”.Let’s examine the performance a little closer,

2007 - 2008 2008 - 2009 2009 - 2010 (unau-dited)

Sales volume pound solids 34.7 million 37.7 million 42.4 millionSales $97,125,000 $86,884,000 $112,224,000Gross Profit $24,841,000 $13,170,000 $ 17,350,000Net Income/(Loss) $ 5,235,000 ($11,232,000) $(10,854,000)

We must stress that sales could have been higher in 09/10 as this was the same period in which product was being sold at US$0.98 per pound solid when the market started at US$1.18 and peaked at $US1.63 per pound solid. BHL should note that the despite the low orange crop more solids were sold in 2009 -2010 fiscal, a period of historical robust market prices. Perhaps better scrutiny and governance as practice at home would have yielded a better performance.

To add, at the Annual General Meeting in 2009, William Bowman, co-owner of BCM with Henry Canton, got up and made the following com-ment regarding the CPBL grove performance of a loss of $1.6 million, “The average production was mediocre…. He hoped to see some im-provement next year as he is aware that this was discussed at the Board level. The Chairman (Mike Duncker) mentioned that the Board is well aware of this fact and has taken the necessary steps to correct the situation.” However, in 2009 the groves lost $3.8 m and BHL (with the individuals that CGA had removed from the Board but BHL attempted to block their removal) awarded Henry Canton’s private company a three-year renewal of its contract to manage CPBL’s groves. For the 2009-2010 fiscal period the groves lost another $3.52 m despite the improvement in fruit prices!BHL mentioned that the crop fell below 4,000,000 boxes. We take it you are referring to oranges because the crop for 2009/2010 was 5,241,182 boxes. As stewards of CPBL you should know that CPBL prepares the national fruit forecast and at the time of the fruit forecast in question BHL was denying the CGA from putting its directors on the CPBL. Furthermore you should know that CPBL 476,000 boxes shortfall in orange production represents approximately 56% of the 850,000 boxes shortfall between the forecasted 4.7 million boxes of orange and the actual 3.85 million boxes. BHL should get the facts straight. They presided over the shortfall!Under the Citrus Processing and Production Act, there is a Harvest Committee comprised of representatives of the CPBL, CGA and the chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Harvest Committee relies on the national fruit forecast as prepared by CPBL to make a master schedule. The law prescribes for the CGA to then communicate with all growers based on the schedule.BCM has issued a release telling its members that they do not require a license to deliver fruits and for them to get a schedule from the Fruit Logistics Office of CPBL. CPBL has been breaking the law to accommodate BCM’s effort to downplay the legal responsibilities of the CGA to ensure the smooth running of the industry as enshrined in law. Is this kind of illegal behaviour acceptable to BHL?In ClosingBHL seems to be trying hard to absolve its self from any participation in the negotiation of the Investment Agreement, which has been a disaster for citrus growers. This seems tantamount to a case of handling “stolen” goods. BHL says it is not a signatory to the agreement. This is not true. BHL is a signatory to the Investment Agreement. BHL has publicly stated that it has taken on board all the recommendation of the Committee of Five report. CGA is calling on BHL to honour this commitment.We again invite BHL to work with its partner, the CGA, in this venture. It is imperative that there be a sustainable arrangement, which will be beneficial to the all parties and all the stakeholders who depend on the Belizean citrus industry.

Securing the Future of ALL citrus growers not just a privileged FEW!

16th of January , 2011 Page 11

CGA – A Tradition of Proudly Serving Growers for Over a Half Century

16th of January , 2011Page 12

GOB says AGUSM move illegal!

Belize City, Thurs. Jan 13The Ministry of Education has

told the San Pedro Sun that it was never informed that the embattled offshore American Global Univer-sity School of Medicine (AGUSM) was truly moving offshore to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. In an article published in this week’s edition of the island’s newspaper, it is revealed:” But while the school is settling down

in their new campus on Ambergris Caye, the Ministry of Education is saying that AGUSM has violated their charter agreement. Accord-ing to the Public Relations Offi -cer in the Ministry of Education, Arlette Gomez, the Education De-partment was never informed that the medical school was relocating. Under the Charter agreement, Go-mez says, that one of the things clearly specifi ed is the school’s address which is important for the

Education Department to carry out their supervision and inspec-tions.” AGUSM has been under a cloud of allegations that it is a diploma mill that is willing to sell tran-scripts to “students” who never attended a single class, as well as allegations that it was a front for a human traffi cking ring. The article further notes that: “When questioned if the Ministry

of Education is aware of the al-legations made against AGUSM, the Ministry’s PR Offi cer Gomez stated that the Ministry is aware, and that the Charter Committee spearheaded by CEO Leacock is investigating the issue. Until the investigation is completed, the Ministry would not comment on the ongoing proceedings, however Gomez stated that up to the last in-spection and supervision conduct-ed in 2010, there are no reasons to suspect that the school is operating in violation of the Charter granted by the GOB.” There are many questions swirl-ing around AGUSM’s opera-tions in Belize, and this week the school sought to dismiss the Na-tional Perspective’s questioning of its principals and operations as a mercenary attack facilitated by its competition. In a letter circu-lated to prospective students, the school charged that the National Perspective is an “underground” or “slum” newspaper, for raising the allegations and calling for an investigation.

National Transport workers now “fi red”:

Labour CommissionerBelize City, Thurs. Jan. 13 Labour Commissioner Ivan Wil-liams last Friday told the now-former employees of the closed down National Transport Services Limited that he had been informed by the receivers that the company would not be resuming operations, and as a result their services were now effectively terminated. The announcement, besides caus-ing extreme consternation among the over 200 persons claiming to having been employed by the company, and the well over 100 who have not received any form of compensation even for work and services already rendered, raises the question: why is the receiver in the Supreme Court of Belize fi ghting for the restoration of the company’s road service permits if they have no intention of resum-ing operations? In a December 22nd, interview on Love FM’s Morning Show, Transport Minister Melvin “Flip-pin” Hulse, Jr., had declared cat-egorically that he had cancelled National Transport’s road service permits, and had already parceled

them out to their competition. He had sought to explain that he had done this at the request of the re-ceiver. But in a copy of an affi davit leaked to the National Perspec-tive, and which purports to have been given by Kevin Castillo, he says that he never asked or oth-erwise indicated that the permits be canceled, and that the Depart-ment, Minister or Board, or all three in concert, acted illegally or unconstitutionally to deprive the company of one of its most valu-able assets. The plight of the former work-ers worsens with each passing day that they are without income or employment. Many have not received a cent in income since the receiver moved in last month, seized the company’s assets and halted operations. The Labour Department is refus-ing to compel the receivers to pro-vide the records of the company’s payroll, but instead forcing the workers to prove that they were once employed, and were being paid by National Transport.

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Belize City, Thurs. Jan. 13 Raymond Oscar Gentle aka “Killa,” 35, and described as a laborer of #14 Doris Brooks Street or #23 Kraal Road was shot dead yesterday and today Belize police release a short list-ing of the incidents that brought him to their attention. The list reads as follows: “On October 3rd, 2003, Gen-tle was arrested and charged for

The short and violent death of Killa Gentle

drug trafficking, but charges were dismissed because no case file was submitted by police. “On Thursday, June 1st, 2006, Gentle was shot in his stomach in front of his home on Doris Brooks Street, Belize Cit,y along with one Aniver Palacio. Pala-cio died, but Gentle survived. It is believed that Gentle was the intended target. Gentle was the known leader of the Kraal Road Crips Gang and was a known

drug-trafficker, as he had been charged on several occasions for the offence of drug trafficking. “On August 2nd, 2008, per-sonnel from Operation Cycle Breaker received (1) Hand Frag-mentation grenade with marking “Grenade: Hand Frag Layk400 Comp B Lot Ec-89 05-083” from Raymond Gentle that he claimed he found. The grenade was labeled as found property and Gentle was never charged for it. “On June 28th, 2010, Ernesto Perez, Honduran National, an associate at the time of Raymond Gentle was gunned down at the corner of Rivero and Fairweath-er Streets. At the time of his death he was driving Raymond Gentle’s car and it is believed that Gentle was the intended tar-get. “Suspects for Gentle’s murder are believed to be members of the George Street Gang. There is an ongoing rivalry between members of the George Street Bloods/Gill Street Gang and members of the Kraal Road Crips and Southside gangsters

(SSG).” The police report does not make the connection but in the same report released today there was this item: “Police are inves-tigating two more shootings that have left two persons wounded. Last night Police responded to a report on King Street, Belize City, where CLIFFORD EA-GAN, of a Belize City address was seen lying face down in a pool of blood with two appar-ent gunshot wounds to the upper part of his body. Initial investi-gation revealed that at 10:35pm EAGAN was walking on King Street when he heard a single gunshot blast causing him to fall to the ground. EAGAN was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for medical treatment. “ Many street observers are speculating that Gentle’s murder may set off yet another spate of shootings on Southside Belize City, and that a new body count may have started. The short and violent life of Raymond “Killa” Gentle may

Did Parents Somehow Contribute to their Daughter’s Death?By Rhenae NunezBelize City; Wed. Jan. 12, 2011The body of twelve year old Jan-essa Jones, a student of Our Lady of The Way, Roman Catholic Primary School who was reported missing on Monday by her mother has been laid to rest at the Lord’s Bank Village Cemetery on Wednesday.Jones’ fully clad, little body was re-trieved by police from the mouth of the Belize River near Haulover after it was spotted there around 11:30am on Wednesday by a boater who was in the area and called police. A post mortem exam conducted by Dr. Hugh Sanchez concluded that Janessa Jones drowned after she was hit in the head and then thrown in the water some-where. Police are saying that she may have been tossed somewhere else other than where her remains were found. According to one news report the body bore large cut wounds to the wrist and “abrasions under her chin, as well as to both legs and thighs. There are now conflicting reports about the circumstances that may have led to Jones’s death. Accord-ing to police, Jones’ mother Arlene Bainton reported her as missing from Monday evening. She is reported to have said that Janessa was sent on an errands in Belize City but is also reported to have give a second story that Janessa went on a sleepover at a friend’s house. Aside from that, there are disturbing reports on the family’s business. Un-confirmed report to the National Per-spective is that the father may have gotten into problems with business associates and little Jones may have paid the ultimate price.Investigators seem to believe that Ja-nessa Jones was killed in the Vista Del Mar area and then tossed in the sea and her body floated to where it was discovered. So far a location of

where the crime may have occurred has not been established. This latest discovery has sent shock-waves through the community bring-ing back memories of the children that were killed and their remains tossed along the roadsides. Although in this case we agree with suggestions that Janessa Jones’ demise does not bare similarity to the others.As far as we know there is no proto-col in place when it comes to miss-ing and exploited children in Belize. There are agencies that advocate for and on behalf of children but their re-

sponses leave a lot to be desired with regards to the spate of violent attacks on children which have run the gam-ut - these attacks included shootings where children have been shot dead, one survived who is now paralyzed, others who have gone missing with-out a trace and those who have been sexually exploited. In this case however a search party did go out looking for Janessa. The search party was organized by the family’s neighbor, area representa-tive Michael Hutchinson. Hutchinson told the media that he and the family

searched in areas where they knew that Janessa knows in Belize City and in the Ladyville area. The search in-cluded the distribution of flyers and ironically a search of the very area where investigators speculate that she may have been killed but it did not turn up anything. Janessa was described by Hutchinson as an active child, and a tom-boy who used to hop on the back of his truck asking for a ride. Janessa was laid to rest in Lord’s Bank following the post mortem which was performed at a site on the Burrel Boom/Hattieville Road.

16th of January , 2010Page 14

Belize City, January 12, 2011

Team Belize’s left the Jewel to travel to Panama on to compete in Central America’s Copa de Na-ciones football tournament to be held in Panama City from January 14 to 23. The Belize boys takes on the defending champs, Panama, in their fi rst game on Friday, January 14.They play their second game against El Salvador on Sunday Jan-uary 16, and take on Nicaragua in their third game on Tuesday January 18. They need to win at least two of their games to rank among the top two in their group to advance to the next round in which they would meet the top two from the other group which includes football pow-erhouses Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala.The Footbal Federation of Belize has release the list of play-ers for the National “A” Selection, who include goalkeepers, Shane Orio of Club Marathon, Woodrow West of the Belize Defence Force and Glenford Chimilio of Belize Rising Stars. The defenders are Dalton Eiley of Toledo Ambas-sadors, Ian Gaynair of FC Belize, Everald Trapp of Hopkin’s FC and Kareem Haylock of Griga United. The midfi elders are Victor Mo-rales of San Felipe Barcelona, Lis-bey Castillo of Griga United, Paul

Belize competes for Copa de Naciones

Nunez of the Belize Defence Force, Deon McCauley of Deportes Savio, Kent Gabourel Jr of San Pedro Sea Dogs, Luis Mendez of Hankook Verdes/U-21 National Team, Ty-rone Pandy of the Belize Defence Force, Amin August of Santa Elena FC, Elroy Smith of Club Marathon and Ryan Simpson of Benguche United. The forwards are Daniel Jimenez, Evan Mariano and Orlan-do Jimenez of the Belize Defence Force and Elroy Kuylen of Platense. Jose de la Paz Herrera “Chelato” Uccles is head coachDespite the re-sults of 3 practice matches played in Honduras, the FFB said it feels our team still stands a good chance. Team Belize lost 1-2 to Hispano

Futbol Club at the Carlos Miranda Stadium, in Comayagua, Comay-agua last Thursday. Hispano fi elded a squad that included two Brazilians and a Colombian, as well as three Honduran players recently returned from playing in Germany. The Be-lize boys kept Hispano to a 0-0 draw until the 86th minute when Hispano scored their fi rst goal. The Belize defense blundered into giving up a penalty, and Hispano converted to lead 2-0. The game was into injury time when Belizean midfi elder El-roy Smith scored a consolation goal in the 92nd minute.Team Belize lost again 2-1 to fi rst division team Ne-caxa at the Marcelo Tinoco Stadium in Siguatepeque on Saturday, Janu-

ary 8. Deon Macaulay and Danny Jimenez led the Belize attacks. With the help of midfi elders Victor Mo-rales, Elroy Kuylen, Kareem Hay-lock and Orlando “Lichy Jimenez, ande Elroy Smith, Ian Gaynair and Everald Trapp anchored the de-fenseNecaxa scored their fi rst goal in the 30th minute to lead 1-0 at the half. In the 2nd half, Necaxa scored again to lead 2-0 Deon Macaulay, who plays with Deportes Savio, scored a consolation goal in the 82nd minute.Team Belize lost 0-3 to Marathon at the Yankel Rosen-tahl Stadium in San Pedro Sula on Sunday afternoon, January 9. This time Deon Macaulay and Evan Mariano led the attacks with the help of midfi elders Elroy Kuylen, Ryan Simpson, Kent Gabourel Kr and Kareem Haylock. Dalton Ei-ley anchored the defense with the help of Tyrone Pandy, Luis Mendez and Everal Trapp. Woodrow West was the starting goalie, but Shane Moody replaced him at the half.Rony Flores converted a penalty to give Marathon for a 1-0 lead in the and he connected with a corner kick executed by Brazilian Edilson Per-reira to give Marathon a 2-0 lead at the half time break. In the 2nd half, the Belize defense gave up 2nd pen-alty and Luis Manuel Berrios con-verted for the 3-0 win.

Belize competes for Copa de Naciones

Belize City, January 12, 2011

The Queen Square Anglican Pri-mary School girls and Holy Re-deemer RC Schoolgirlsposted big wins when the Belize City primary schools basketball competition organized by the National Sports Council at the Belize City Center on Tuesday, January 12.The Queen Square girls won 15-11 over the St. Martin De Porres RC School girls. Kayla Bowen led the Queen Square girls with 15 points while Colleen Thompson scored 7pts for St. Mar-tin De Porres. The Holy Redeemer School girls won 8-0 over the Ephe-sus 7th Day Adventist School in Wednesday’s second game. Kayla Arnold scored all 8 points for Holy Redeemer School. On Tuesday, Jan-uary 12, the St John’s Anglican girls posted a 21-2 blowout win over the James Garbutt Primary School girls

Queen Square Anglican & Holy Redeemer girls win in primary schools basketballin the opening game of the tourna-ment. Ashley Bailey hit a long trey as she led the St John’s girls with 13pts, whole Jahneana M a r s -d e n a d d e d 4ps and Jene ive L e w i s and Icel-ma Wade were good for 2 pts each. Myra O r o s c o scored the James Garbutt girls’ only bas-ket.The Belize Elementary School girls out-scored the Central Christian Assembly School girls 8-4 in the second girls’ game. Mia Miles led the BES girls with 4pts,

Elementary School girls out-scored the Central Christian Assembly School girls 8-4 in the second girls’ game. Mia Miles led the BES girls with 4pts,

and Twinkle Bhojwani and Kiysten Zayden scored a bucket each for the 8-4 victory. Tricia Jefferies and Brittany Rivera each scored a buck-et for the Central Christian girls.

16th of January , 2010 Page 15

Belize City, January 9, 2011

Team Typhoon’s Luigi Urbina of Orange Walk won the Week-end Warriors’ New Year’s race on Sunday, clocking 2:26:03 on the 50 mile ride from the Tower Hill toll bridge to Belize City, once around the 2nd roundabout on the Northern Highway entering the City and sprinting to the fi nish line in front of M&M Engineer-ing to win the 1st place trophy.Team British Caribbean Bank/ F.T.Williams’ Barney Brown fi n-ished 2nd in the sprint, with Truck-ers Posse’s Michael Lewis taking 3rd place. Brown’s teammate Ray Cattouse Sr was 4th and Santino “Chief” Castillo placed 5th, all top 5 won trophies; Santino also won the trophy for best B-catego-ry rider.Team British Caribbean Bank/ F.T.Williams’ Mark Gentle was 6th, Team Typhoon’s Albert Conorquie fi nished 7th, Clean Masters’ Shawn Howard was 8th, Brown’s teammate George Abra-ham was 9th and M&M Engineer-ing’s Leam Stewart completed the top 10.Team Santino’s Raymond Hyde fi nished 11th, and M&M Engineering’s Preston Martinez clocked 2:26:24 in his 12th place fi nish.Team Typhoon’s Orlando

Team Typhoon’s Luigi Urbina wins Weekend Warriors New Year’s raceDe la Fuente clocked 2:26:30 in his 13th place fi nish also winning a trophy as the best C-category rider.Team Santino’s Ernest Meighan fi nished 3 seconds later to take 14th place, while Brown’s team-mate Wilbert Jones fi nished 15th.

Team Santino’s Juan Gonzalez was 16th, while Truckers Posse’s Amir Gonzalez clocked 2:32:36 in his 17th place fi nish, while Team Santino’s John Burns was hard on his wheel to take 18th place. Derek Smith fi nished 19th in 2:34:15 seconds and Team Typhoon’s Charlie Slush-er rounded out the top 20.Team Santino’s Ron-ald Sutherland was 21st, Brown’s team-mate Marlon Swift was 22nd , while Truckers Posse’s Zagreus Ford team was 23rd. Team Santino’s Er-nest “Tangalang” Thurton was 24th and Harry Flow-ers of the Truck-ers Posse was 25th.

14th place, while Brown’s team-mate Wilbert Jones fi nished 15th.

Team Santino’s Juan Gonzalez was 16th, while Truckers Posse’s Amir Gonzalez clocked 2:32:36 in his 17th place fi nish, while Team Santino’s John Burns was hard on his wheel to take 18th place. Derek Smith fi nished 19th in 2:34:15 seconds and Team Typhoon’s

ald Sutherland was 21st, Brown’s team-mate Marlon Swift was 22nd , while Truckers Posse’s

ers Posse was 25th.

Team Santino’s Juan Gonzalez was 16th, while Truckers Posse’s Amir Gonzalez clocked 2:32:36 in his 17th place fi nish, while Team Santino’s John Burns was hard on his wheel to take 18th place. Derek Smith fi nished 19th in

Belize City, January 12, 2011

The St John’s Anglican School boys enjoyed back to back wins when the Belize City primary schools basketball competition organized by the National Sports Council at the Belize City Center on Wednes-day, January 12.The St. Mar-tin De Porres School boys blew away the Queen Square Anglican School boys 39-15. Clency Lopez top scored for St. Martin De Porres School with 12 points while Devin Parham scored 7 points for Queen Square.The All Saints’ School boys outlasted Cen-tral Christian School 29-25. Keyvon Evans top scored for All Saints’ School with 19 points while Anfernee Brooks score 14 pts for Central Chris-tian School.The St. John’s An-glican boys enjoyed their 2nd win when they ran over the Stella Maris School boys 26-4. Devon Arnold led the St. Anglican boys with 14 points while Glen Bowen and Colive Casimiro scored 2 points each for Stella Maris School.The St. Ignatius RC School boys won 20-6 over the Holy Re-deemer School boys. Akeem Baptist led the Nashus boys with 10 points while Demetri Fabro scored 3 points for Holy

St John’s Anglican boys win 2 back-to-back in primary schools basketballRedeemer.On Tuesday, January 12, the St John’s Anglican boys posted a 23-13 blow-out of the James Garbutt Primary School boys in the opening game of the boy’s competition. Deveon Arnold led the St John’s boys with 12 pts as they led 14-8 at the half. Glenford Reneau added 5pts, and Deon Lewis 4pts more, while and Ernis Will added one more bucket for the 23-13 win. Shaquille Thurton led the James Garbutt boys with 5pts, while Christopher Zelaya added 3 pts and Christian Carillo added a bucket.The Holy Redeemer RC School boys drowned the Caye Caulker RC School boys 21-18. Carlos Jimenez led the Caye Caulker boys with 9pts as they led 10-8 at the half. Caye Caulk-er’s Larry Leslie added 7pts and Alex Rodriguez hit a jump shot, but Holy Redeemer’s Jover Lo-pez was hot, top-scoring the game with 15pts. Stephen Cabral scored an easy lay-up in the paint, and drew the foul to score from the charity stripe. Demitri Fabro scored 3pts for the 21-18 win.The Wesley Upper School boys won 24-14 over the Grace Primary School boys in the 3rd game of the day. Fredrick Williams and Delawn Abraham led with 7 pts each while Evan Grinage scored 5 pts for Grace Primary School.

16th of January , 2011Page 16

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When news broke last week re-garding the Tender Operators controversy with the Carnival Cruise Line, I knew it would be fi rst of a series of politi cal scan-dals for 2011. This situati on is unfolding with uncertainty and it is sure to give a major black eye to P M Barrow’s U.D.P. gov-ernment. There are several is-sues regarding this situati on that make Belizeans wonder and begs the questi on: Who is running government Barrow or the Cruise Lines? Obviously, it is prett y obvious that there is a lot of under the table dealings that is going on surrounding this par-ti cular issue that Prime Minister Barrow prefers to leave cov-ered up but Belizeans are wide awake. The fi rst ti me Prime Minister Barrow spoke regarding ‘Tender Operators’ and Carnival, it ap-pears that he was with the deal but soon changed positi on as the media broke out more infor-mati on regarding the displace-ment of local tender operators to favor Carnival point man Rick O’ Shea and a special contract awarded to him. The local stake holders in cruise tourism real-ized that it was almost a done deal especially aft er the two foreign catamarans were intro-duced through the Big Creek Port two weeks ago consigned to BTALCO which is owned by Michael Singh who was the CEO for Tourism Ministry up to the end of the year 2010. Certainly investments of this sort in this industry is substan-ti al and to realized suddenly that there are eff orts to squeeze you out of the industry and will aff ect your livelihood and pend-ing loans makes any to wonder where is the government pro-tecti on for Belizeans and their right to the fair share of the Tourism pie. Anyway, the Prime Minister somehow pretended he did not know what was go-ing on and wanted Belizeans to believe that a Belizean investor was behind the ulti mate mo-nopolizati on of the Tender op-erati ons when it was far from the truth. The local tender Operators soon smell the rat and quickly united their eff orts to get to the bot-tom just to discover that it was a foreign investor behind this monopolizati on. To save face, aft er seeing the determinati on of local tender operators to block the mouth of the Belize River last Thursday, PM Barrow

Carnival is in controlannounced that he was prepare to fl y out to Miami last week-end to address the ongoing situati on with the representati ves of the Cruise lines. Before he left , he promised that he need to fi nd answer to the questi on of who knew about the policy changes with Carnival and why, it was not communicated to the operators in advance. Anyway, we all know aft er the self proclaimed fantasti c four returns from Miami, the Prime Minister painted a brighter pic-ture than what the reality is. Dur-ing a press conference on Mon-day, the Prime Minister boasted about his success and his ‘stay of executi on’ which meant that he had bought ti me for the tender operators. He explained that the local tender operators will need to form an amalgamated company and that the company will be given the tendering con-tract. But just 24 hours later, the people from carnival cruise line opposed the PM’s statement saying that if a new enti ty is to be formed to conduct tendering operati ons, their point man has to be involved at the top. The point is that this politi cal issue sti ll has legs and will conti nue to make the news. We have another situa-ti on where the same U.D.P. aspi-rants are accusing incumbents of using government resources for politi cal conventi ons. Last week-end the U.D.P. held standard bearer conventi on for the Coro-zal Bay consti tuency. It was re-vealed by U.D.P. operati ves that the electi on offi ce in Corozal was being abused to manipulate vot-ers list used in the conventi ons. The report is that the offi ce was opened late in the night to fa-cilitate the registrati on of voters (some that lives out of the area) so they can parti cipate in the Sunday’s conventi on. The ulti mate questi on is why it that an electoral offi ce was opened aft er hours is. This amount to voter fraud just at the fi rst glance but if we refl ect closer on it, there can be other criminal acti viti es. Therefore, as a nati on we defi nitely have to criti cize such an acti on. If people within the U.D.P. itself feel that this single acti vity may have had an impact on the outcome of that inter-party division Con-venti on, how can the rest of us believe that future electi ons, municipal and general electi ons, will be done in a free and fair

way? The Electi ons and Bound-aries are guardians to the repre-sentati on of the people’s act and that has to show that there is honesty and integrity in that de-partment. Shame on the Heads of Electi ons & Boundaries who allow the integrity of that de-partment to come under ques-ti on, shame…. U all needs to do the honorable thing and resign or else Mr. Prime Minister makes sure you move these people. You know it is disturb-ing when in certain secti ons of the media, certain people fi nd it necessary to ignore every-thing wrong that this U.D.P. gov-ernment. Their own personal games and lack of compassion for people are causing all this suff ering on the Belizean people. These people conti nue to look in the rear view and blame the P.U.P. and conti nue to point out the short comings or the failures of the past P.U.P. administrati on instead of seeing the reality of

what is happening before their very eyes. Maybe these peo-ple are sti ll in amnesia or may-be they are too embarrassed to concede that their choice of government was wrong or may-be they are just totally hypo-criti cal. Everybody knows that if you are to move something, be it a nati on, an insti tuti on, an organizati on or even a car, that you have to put it in “D” for it to drive. So why are some people sitti ng at the staring wheel look-ing through the windshield with the car in “R”? If you all don’t realize with that kind of men-tality you won’t go forward and if your stuck in “R” while your looking forward it’s only going to be a matt er of ti me unti l your going to crash. So you all can conti nue misguiding your vehi-cle. Do you ever really sit back and refl ect on why this country is deteriorati ng in almost every sector? Do you remember how quickly Belize City deteriorated when the U.D.P. City Council was so divided? Remember that the Belize City Council was supposed to be a model of government. Well the City Council is really a model; the country is deteriorat-ing fast because the U.D.P. gov-ernment is divided. Watch out Barrow, Vega wants to be your Party Leader!! Just my Imparti al View….

Visit our new website www.nationalperspectivebz.org e-mail: osilva_56@yahoo.com

16th of January , 2011 Page 17

George Price: A Hidden Life Revealed!tained that post as Premier in 1964. After Belize gained its indepen-dence in 1981, he became the coun-try’s fi rst prime minister and foreign minister until 1984. In 1982, Mr. Price became a member of the United Kingdom’s Privy Council. In September 2000, George Price became the fi rst per-son to receive Belize’s highest hon-our, the Order of National Hero. He has received similar honours in oth-er Caribbean and Central American countries. A former Cabinet minister and PUP Secretary General, Smith conduct-ed many hours of interviews with Mr. Price over a year and a half, and according to Randle, “has put to-gether a well-written, balanced and authentic account of the life and ca-reer of Belize’s most enigmatic but much love public fi gure. As a long time political ally Smith might have been expected to show some bias in presenting th facts surrounding the issues and challenges that were a feature of Price’s long political ca-reer. However, the story has been presented with an even-handedness that is commendable for a writer who was both an observer and a participant and no attempt is made to paint a picture of George Price as a saint or to denigrate his rivals or detractors. “Readers will see Price for who he was – a n ardent nationalist for whom Belize and its people were

his fi rst and only love, forsaking all others throughout his long life. He was also a man of contradictions, living the ascetic life of a priest but at the same time in touch with the pulse of the people from the day he entered representational politics to his eventual retirement. “As a political personality, George Price is unique among Caribbean political leaders; he will therefore make an interesting study for po-litical science students at the under-graduate and graduate levels. This full-length biography of George Price is long overdue: it will make an important addition to the study of Caribbean leaders, few of whom have been the subject of full-length biographies. The book will also shed new light on Price’s adversari-al relationship with local governors and offi cials of the Colonial Offi ce in London and the central role that the Guatemalan claim on Belize played in both the negotiation and timing of Belizean independence. “At age 92, George Price has the distinction of being the oldest sur-viving head of government within this region whose experience spans both the colonial and post-indepen-dence period and the information and insights he has provided to his biographer will make an invaluable contribution to the study of the po-litical personality, the development of political parties in the Caribbean, the anti-colonial struggle and the modern political development of Belize.”

Continued from page 1

Belize City, Thurs. Jan. 13, 2011The Barrow administration has told the BTL Employees Trust that “no compensation is payable” to them for their 11,092,844 shares in Belize Telemedia Limited, that the Government of Belize acquired on August 25th, 2009.The BTL Employees Trust share-holding in Belize Telemedia Lim-ited is held by Sunshine Holdings, which the Trust owns its only two shares.Accordingly in a letter by signed by Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, and dated December 10th, 2010, the Government of Belize states that having “carefully con-sidered the Rules for the assess-ment of compensation set out in section 67 of the Acquisition Act, and all other relevant factors, we have determined that reasonable compensation for the acquisition of shares in Telemedia would be BZ$1.46 per share.”Furthermore the Barrow admin-istration goes on to swear that: “Based on this fi gure, the value of Sunshine’s Holding in Telemedia at the time of acquisition amount-ed to BZ$16,195,552.24.”And even furthermore the Finan-cial Secretary states that when this fi gure is “set against the as-sets of Sunshine, its known li-abilities at the time of acquisi-tion” which it purports were three loans to the Social Security Board (BZ$13,355,753.42), the Govern-ment of Belize ($13,355,753.42) and the British Caribbean Bank (BZ$7,092,754.22) for a total of BZ$33,804,261.06, “As the liabil-ities of Sunshine far exceeded its assets and Sunshine had no other business, the shares of Sunshine had a negative value at the time of acquisition on 25 August 2009.”“It follows” stated the letter, “That no compensation is payable ... for

Barrow disrespects BTL Employee Trustthe acquisition of” the “... shares in Sunshine or for Sunshine’s shares in Telemedia.”Not surprisingly the Trust has re-buked the Barrow administration in a blistering letter from their at-torney to Mr. Waight. The letter dated January 10, 2011 points out the obvious, the not so obvious, and the motive for the Fi-nancial Secretary conclusions.It notes that the Government of Belize “had no intention of ever compensating” the Trust for its shares “since the Prime Minister, in a number of different public ut-terances, had made this more than abundantly clear.”And while the letter notes that the Trust had submitted its claim for compensation, it states the obvi-ous: the Barrow administration has not only offered BTL shares at $5.00 per share for sale to the public, but on October 15th, 2010, “... which, on the Prime Minister’s own admission, was at lest a dollar below the market price as a prefer-ential price for Belizeans.”Not only does the Trust call the BZ$1.46 “such a ludicrously low fi gure that it could only have been arrived at as a deliberate ploy to maliciously deprive” them of their “constitutionally guaranteed right to compensation within a reason-able time”, but that they had pro-vided the Government of Belize “... with a copy of an indepen-dent expert report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the purposes of arbitral proceedings commenced by another previous shareholder in Telemedia. This report values shares in Telemedia, as at 25 August 2009, when the shares were acquired by GOB, at BZ$10.23 per share.”To date the Barrow administration has failed to provide any basis for any of their valuations to anyone.

Continued from page 6 es, the unease caused by the divul-gence of information from the Be-lize Bank and companies indebted to it and the fi ght over the construc-tion of a cruise ship docking facility could have easily been averted had the UDP been more responsible in their leadership. A wise friend of mine once said that “government should be the enabler not the dis-abler”. How true - but in the case of this bunch who are sucking out the life blood of the Nation and gnaw-ing at our fl esh like maggots - they have consistently disabled and re-duced our economy to shambles. I have to think that this was the UDP mission - to seek out and destroy.

of respect for their buck!They didn’t just stop there - they published information on the Be-lize Bank’s fi nancial status and that of other companies that were ex-periencing diffi culties which sent shock-waves throughout the general economy. The motive for this was only to attack their “enemies”. Like the former UDP government that fi red over 800 government workers just before Christmas some years ago - this has to be the most uncar-ing and malicious government that I have ever seen. The three saga: the demise of the Novelos’ National Transport Servic-

no compensation is payable ... for

Barrow goes to Carnival, hat in hand!

Did Janessa Jones drown?

Belize City, Thurs. Jan. 13

Police sources say that the autopsy on Janessa Jones has concluded that she died from a head injury and broncho aspiration, meaning that she was hit in the head and then drowned.A boat captain spotted the 12 year old’s body fl oating near the mouth of the Haulover River, suggesting that she had jumped, fallen or was thrown into the Belize Old River. The authorities also seems to have concluded, based on the advanced state of decomposition that she had been dead, and had been in the water from Monday night.

Janessa Jones was reported as missing after her mother said she had left home around 4:30 p.m. Monday evening to go catch a bus in Ladyville for Belize City. She has not elaborated on what errand Janessa had been sent.There have been reports that she may have had an altercation with her mother before she was alleg-edly sent to Belize City.There have also been reports that her mother Arlene Bainton, had also told the police that Janessa had gone to a sleepover. Police spokesman Sergeant Fitzroy Year-wood told the media that they were investigating both versions to ascertain their veracity.The body was retrieved from the water and taken to an area on the Boom-Hattieville Road where postmortems are done on badly decomposed bodies. The exami-nation was carried out by KHKM pathologist Dr. Hugh Snachez. She was buried immediately after at the Ladyville cemetery.

16th of January , 2011Page 18

Aries -You’re full-steam ahead at the beginning of the week, and it’s definitely a mode that suits you. Act on a spontaneous notion, take the initiative and watch your infectious enthusiasm catch on. From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, your challenge is to put on the brakes and give your world some mea-sured consideration. Think twice before acting now. Friday evening through the weekend, your charisma’s seriously amped up.Taurus-You may feel pushed at the beginning of the week, wheth-er from external forces or your own amped-up drive, passion or ambition. It might be unsettling, but it can also be a very produc-tive mode. Then from around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, you’re likely feeling just plain good -- the stars are sending some intensely enjoyable energy your way, and if romance is a priority now, that can go your way too! More com-munication is required from Friday evening through the weekend.Gemini-Take a proactive approach to whatever you do at the be-ginning of the week; it’s no time to waffle, and boldness will be rewarded. From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, though, you’ll want to downshift and go slow. Your personal path may have some twists and turns now, and concentration is key. Then, coming up with a revolutionary concept is a distinct possibility from Friday evening through the weekend.Cancer-Your memory plays a key role at the beginning of the week. Understanding what’s gone before and making the connec-tions to what’s happening now gives you a much clearer vision for your life’s path. From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, you can charm anyone and everyone; it’s an ideal time to present your latest, greatest ideas. Projects this weekend demand a patient, step-by-step approach.

Leo-If someone challenges your methods at the beginning of the week, don’t simply try to justify them; take advantage of this person’s expertise and incorporate her or his input. Be especially scrupulous about playing by the rules from Wednesday afternoon through the end of the day on Friday. Cutting procedural or reg-ulatory corners may have unforeseen consequences that’ll cost you a lot of time and energy later. A work social event or some impromptu networking can be very fruitful this weekend. Virgo-Hold off on the romantic side of life as the week begins if you’re single; if you’re coupled up, conflict may be in store. Your perfectionism, while admirable, doesn’t really mesh with love’s messy realities now. You and matters of the heart are much more in step starting later on Wednesday and lasting through the end of the workweek. Compatibility’s highlighted, whether you’re strengthening or meeting new prospects. Libra-Relationships may go either spectacularly well at the be-ginning of the week, or one or more may seem to implode. Be ready for extremes, and be ready to say how you really feel in a diplomatic way. From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, harmony returns, though when it comes to work, you might want to reexamine the motives of key parties. Your income’s also in the stars.Scorpio-It’s best to set your own ambitions and any kind of ag-gressive approach aside at the beginning of the week. Nip con-flict in the bud with charm and compromise, and cultivate some good karma. You’ll likely be involved in some intense stuff from around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, whether on a personal level, an occupational level or both. Be courageous but don’t bluff -- you’ve got more than enough real-deal skills to handle this with aplomb. Sagittarius-It’s child’s play for you at the beginning of the week, whether it’s easily excelling at work or gracefully making your relationships greater than ever. Enjoy yourself and improve your life! From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, you may be saddled with some unwanted chores or responsibilities, but what are you gonna do? Plow through and get some help if you can (you do have to ask, you know). There’s a lot going on from Friday evening through the weekend.Capricorn-Feeling secure is extra important at the beginning of the week. Let loved ones know you need some support -- that’s what they’re there for, after all -- and make yourself indispensable at work (you’ll get bonus points for it). From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, though, the stars are sending all sorts of bright, happy stuff your way, including the possibility of some hot romance! Enjoy the world’s embrace. Aquarius-You’ve got some serious mental pizzazz at the beginning of the week; you make breakthroughs look easy, and you look great making them. Forge forth and discover all sorts of things -- personally, career-wise and more. From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, life may be a bit of a yawn by comparison. Spice it up by feed-ing your brain with a lecture, a book, the arts or whatever psychs you up. Then you’re simply hot stuff from Friday evening through the weekend. Pisces-What glitters on the surface at the beginning of the week may not be so shiny underneath. Scratch the surface, get to the nitty-gritty and exercise some pru-dent caution. From around Wednesday afternoon through the end of the workweek, you’re a master of communication, and you’re not too shabby when it comes to romantic matters, either. Consider letting your heart’s desire be known. Settle down from Friday evening through the weekend; staying home may be a better idea.

Everyone hopes to have a perfect body but unfortunately no mat-ter what we do, problems of body and skin seem to be never-ending so that it just never looks perfect. It is partly due to the fact that human beings are never satisfied - uncon-sciously, keeping wanting more and aiming higher. In fact, being perfect is utterly impossible actually, but at least you can get better if you mas-ter some of those body tips which provide an overall guideline to build up your body as well as beau-tify your skin.It is a crazy world; because every woman is eager to lose weight no matter her aim is to lose five pounds or forty. Losing weight is an issue that most women consider despite the fact that 99% of dieters regain what they lost and gain even more weight. It is definitely not easy since it needs a strong will and ef-fective plan. Of course not all are successful; as a result most give up after a while. The professionals suggest that to keep fit, the best way to make sure you do not fail is to get your weight loss strategy right in the beginning. You should start with developing the right attitude and taking further steps to implement it. Only in this way can you achieve your goal weight. It is always the little bites and the urge to finish the extras that get you into trouble. For instance buying a non-stick pan can prevent you from using too much oil, and just chewing sugar-free gum can be better than munching while you cook. You should pay at-tention those trivial things in your daily life which can decide to some

Beautiful body tips

extent the final result of your pro-gram. In addition, remember not to completely stay away from your fa-vorite food items since the craving will make the situation even worse when you stumble on your diet. It is better to indulge your cravings in smaller portions and in modera-tion. Weight loss apart, there is still the skin you have to take care of. The skin I mentioned here dose not mean just your face and hands but your whole body. You have to admit that we rarely find time to moistur-ize our whole bodies. As a result, the only moisturizing of the whole body is when you bathe. Make sure you use a mild soap that will not damage your skin. However, you have to know bathing too many times is also not recommended. It will only make your skin dry and ir-ritable. Cleanliness is important but at the same time you should learn to enjoy your bath as a means for de-stressing. You can pamper yourself with bath oils and moisturizers. In order to have a clean skin, another enemy you have to fight with is the sun’s harmful rays. To prevent the damage from the sun, it is wise to wear sunscreen with a sun pro-tection factor (SPF) of at least 15, even if you don’t plan on spend-ing a lot of time outdoors. Choose a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. Make sure you reap-ply sunscreen frequently and take a rest indoors between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM during which the sun’s rays are strongest. Here is an easy way to make the judgment. If your shadow is longer than you are tall, then it’s a safer time to be in the sun.

16th of January , 2011 Page 19

HEAlTHY LIVING

Hypertension or High Blood Pressure What is high blood pressure? Blood pressure is a measure of how hard the blood pushes against the walls of your arteries as it moves through your body. It’s normal for blood pressure to go up and down throughout the day, but if it stays up, you have high blood pressure. Another name for high blood pres-sure is hypertension. When blood pressure is high, it starts to damage the blood vessels, heart, and kid-neys. This can lead to heart attack, stroke, and other problems. High blood pressure is called a “silent killer,’’ because it doesn’t usually cause symptoms while it is causing this damage. Your blood pressure consists of two numbers: systolic and diastolic. Someone with a sys-tolic pressure of 120 and a diastolic pressure of 80 has a blood pressure of 120/80, or “120 over 80.” The systolic number shows how hard the blood pushes when the heart is pumping. The diastolic number shows how hard the blood pushes between heartbeats, when the heart is relaxed and fi lling with blood. Adults should have a blood pres-sure of less than 120/80. High blood pressure is 140/90 or higher. Many people fall into the category in be-tween, called prehypertension. Peo-ple with prehypertension need to make lifestyle changes to bring the blood pressure down and help pre-vent or delay high blood pressure. What causes high blood pressure?In most cases, doctors can’t point to the exact cause. But several things are known to raise blood pressure, including being very overweight, drinking too much alcohol, having a family history of high blood pres-sure, eating too much salt, and get-ting older. Your blood pressure may also rise if you are not very active, you don’t eat enough potassium and calcium, or you have a condi-tion called insulin resistance. What are the symptoms?High blood pressure doesn’t usu-ally cause symptoms. Most people don’t know they have it until they go to the doctor for some other rea-son.Without treatment, high blood pressure can damage the heart, brain, kidneys, or eyes. This dam-age causes problems like coronary artery disease, stroke, and kidney failure.Very high blood pressure can cause headaches, vision problems, nau-sea, and vomiting. These symptoms can also be caused by dangerously

high blood pressure called malig-nant high blood pressure. It may also be called a hypertensive crisis or hypertensive emergency. Malig-nant high blood pressure is a medi-cal emergency. How is high blood pressure diag-nosed?Most people fi nd out they have high blood pressure during a routine doc-tor visit. For your doctor to confi rm that you have high blood pressure, your blood pressure must be at least 140/90 on three or more separate occasions. It is usually measured 1 to 2 weeks apart. You may have to check your blood pressure at home if there is reason to think the readings in the doctor’s offi ce aren’t accurate. You may have what is called white-coat hy-pertension, which is blood pressure that goes up just because you’re at the doctor’s offi ce. Even routine ac-tivities, such as attending a meeting, can raise your blood pressure. So can commuting to work or smok-ing a cigarette. How is it treated? Treatment depends on how high your blood pressure is, whether you have other health problems such as diabetes, and whether any or-gans have already been damaged.

Your doctor will also consider how likely you are to develop other dis-eases, especially heart disease. You can help lower your blood pres-sure by making healthy changes in your lifestyle. If those lifestyle changes don’t work, you may also need to take pills. Either way, you will need to control your high blood pressure throughout your life. If you have prehypertension, your doctor will likely recommend life-style changes. These may include losing extra weight, exercising, lim-iting alcohol, cutting back on salt, quitting smoking, and eating a low-fat diet that includes more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods. If you have high blood pressure without any organ damage or other risk factors for heart disease, your doctor may recom-mend that you take medicine in ad-dition to making lifestyle changes. If you have high blood pressure and have some organ damage or other risk factors for heart disease, you may need to try various combina-tions of medicines in addition to making big lifestyle changes.Most people take more than one pill for high blood pressure. Work with your doctor to fi nd the right pill or

combination of pills that will cause the fewest side effects. It can be hard to remember to take pills when you have no symp-toms. But your blood pressure will go back up if you don’t take your medicine. Make your pill schedule as simple as you can. Plan times to take them when you are doing other things, like eating a meal or getting ready for bed.What can you do to prevent high blood pressure?Making lifestyle changes can help you to prevent high blood pres-sure. You can: Stay at a healthy weight or lose extra weight., Eat less salt and salty foods., Exercise regularly., Drink alcohol moder-ately. Limit alcohol to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. , Follow the DASH eat-ing plan (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). This diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and is low in fat. High blood pressure: Should I take medicine? Your options: Start taking medicine for high blood pres-sure., Try lifestyle changes fi rst.If your high blood pressure is very high—higher than 160/100, or when either number is high-er—you do not have a decision to make. You defi nitely need medi-cine to lower your blood pressure. Key points to remember: If your blood pressure is lower than 160/100 and your overall risk for heart disease is low, you may be able to lower your blood pressure without taking pills. Your overall risk for heart disease is low if all of the following are true: No one in your immediate family (parent, sister, or brother) has had heart dis-ease., You do not have diabetes., You are not overweight., You don’t smoke., You haven’t had heart or blood vessel problems., Your cho-lesterol levels are normal., Lifestyle changes are as important as medi-cine in lowering blood pressure and lowering the risk for heart attack and stroke. For some people, quit-ting smoking, lowering cholesterol, losing weight, and getting more ex-ercise can work as well as or better than taking pills. , If healthy habits aren’t enough to bring your blood pressure down, you will need to take pills., Most people who take pills for high blood pressure need to take two or more kinds of pills that work together. And even with pills, you will need healthy habits for the rest of your life to lower your risk for heart attack and stroke.

16th of January , 2011Page 20

START SAVING AGAIN!

INAVINGN!

STARINN!AGGAIAG I

Easier to play Easier to WIN!

START SAVING AGAIN!

(Saturday, January 15th, 2010)