Independent reformer

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The Village Council Act was adopted
by the Legislature on the 28th day of
January 2000. The purpose of the act
was to empower the Villages and give
them the autonomy to enable them to
conduct their own affairs.
The Prime Minister, the Hon. Said
Musa, presented the act to the villagers.
He held up a copy of the act and spoke
of the struggle that he had with the other
Ministers in having Village Council Act
passed to become law.
But the Villagers were to learn that
the struggle was just beginning.
There were Ministers that coveted the
powerthat belonged to them. Theywere
to learn that instead of gaining power,
the Villages would be stripped of
authority that had always been
recognized as theirs.
The act provided the Villages with the
right to draft and have approved
Legislation thatwas necessary to govern
them. Yet none of the Villages have been
able to take advantage of the act. There
were Ministers who, like piranhas,
devoured the Villagers' rights.


By: Judy Duplcy
Directac, B3 e Htel Asaociaticn

Why would 34 hotels throughout the
country ofBelize offer free rooms to guests
for 4 nights in December? Maybe
because, after a bad "off-season", they
wantedto prove that Belize is just as great
during this time as it is when it is busy? In
fact, some people like it better when it is
not crowded and they have Maya sites,
caves, rivers, trails and coastal activities
virtually to themselves.
From December 3-7, nearly 100
people enjoyed fme rooms and one of
them,Yvonne Rose, a US citizen, was the
winner ofa US$1,000.00 BankAccount
donated by Atlantic Bank. We didn't get
a photo ofYvonne, because she had gone
from Cayo's Crystal Paradise Resort to
Caye Caulkerwhen the drawing was held
on December 6, but Efren Perez from the
BTIA office tracked her down and her


Pursuant to the act, the Village of
Placencia proceeded to have their By-
Laws and the Legislation that was
necessary to carry out the functions of
the Village prepared. So that everything
would be proper in form they employed
an eminent attorney to assist them.
The completed legislation was
forwarded to the Human Development
Office for its approval. The office gave
its approval and forward the proposed
legislation to the Solicitor General's
Office, for him to place the Legislation
before the legislators for its final
approval.
The proposed legislation rested on
the Solicitor General's desk for two (2)
years,without further action. In the
meantime, there were many aspects of
the affairs of the Villages that were
causing problems. Among the problem
were, lack of building restrictions.
People were building up to property
lines without proper set backs for light
and air. There was the inability to raise
funds necessary to conduct Village
affairs, licenses were granted without the
Villages approval.
The Village's Legislation that had been
approved by the Human Development


prize will be awarded to her in New York
next week. He also did an outstanding
job of keeping the website up to date
and the information flow going.
The general consensus of the people
who were lucky enough to take advantage
of the free rooms is that Belize is a great
place to visit and they will tell their friends
about it. Some of them said that they
wouldn't have thought of coming here but
were very happy hey did. And we all know
what our best advertising is work of
mouth.
Belize'sAdvertisingAgency, RFCP did
a great ob of getting the word out on this
program and it received publicity from
several major US newspapers, radio
stations and websites.
Dani Pop from the BTIA office did a
great job of creating an instant website
where people could log on and make their
own reservations.
A lot of people were skeptical about


Office remained on the Solicitor
General's desk. It stayed there in spite
of the PUP's promise in their 1998
Manifesto that, provided: "a Village
Council Act will be passed taking into
full account the proposals of the
Villagers. Ministerial power over all
these bodies will be phased out".


our really offering free rooms and thought
it was some sort of scam. Ms. Rose and
a lot of other people can assure you that
itwasn't.
Our overnighttourism business is shaky
at the moment and our occupancy isthe
lowest in the Caribbean. A few of the
reasons could be:
The cruise industry is a deterrent to
eco-tourists who respect the environment
and culture, spend time learning about
places they visit and appreciate where
they are. These folks, along with alot of
people in the overnighttourism industry,
believe in truth in advertising and don't
think that we can court massive cruise
ships and present ourselves as an eco
destination at the same time.
Crime scares people away. People
who read before they come wonder why
the private sector had to provide reward
money and equipment for recently
(Please Turn To Page 13) *E


Nothing has been phased out.
The UDP had responded in their
1998 Manifesto that "The new UDP
Government Rape of a Village will
introduce Legislation for a Village
Council Act to provide autonomy to
Villages".
(Please Turn To Page 13) *E


Inside this Issue

Bend presented to
National Assembly
Pg. 3


TOD little, t late



Dcn't destcy the
bedrock
Pg. 5


Total Madness



Crime and the
Beizean Society
Pg. 8


(Photo courtesy Destination Belize)


I OR


By -c)ial CmYespaitnt







Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 2


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- aiIodEneprs









P0. Box 666
Belize C.A. 0


Hard to swallow

Madam Editor,
I had a little difficulty
swallowing Meb Cutlack's Shrimp
Scampi. He opened his piece by
cursing a proposed GOB decision
to ease the tax pressure on the
shrimp industry as "the most
extraordinary crony deal yet
devised." Yet, in the third paragraph
of his article he states that this tax
relief is coming "at a time when the
international shrimp market has
been hit by an unprecedented glut
of Asian shrimp which has lowered
the price of shrimp internationally
to less than the price of chicken in
many countries!"
In the fourth paragraph Mr.
Cutlack concluded that there is no
way Belize "can possibly compete
with the rising Asian shrimp
industry."
Indeed, Madam Editor, can we
compete with Asia with anything?
If we follow Cutlack's logic we
should have closed down the citrus
industry when Florida and Brazil
had us squeezed these last two
decades. And we should have
closed down the sugar industry a
long time ago too. Please, what is
to become of us?
I got the sense from the article
that the author has a strong bias for
tourism. I also got the sense that
he has a problem with mega
projects (which I share), and that
the scale of tax relief for shrimps
is the real bug. On the latter matter
he would have had to do more
research, punch in numbers to
justify condemnation of the
government's PROTECTION.
The reality is that our government
must do what it has to do to protect


FYES 1


Send me


Belizean agro-industries and
manufacturing. It did not do enough
for citrus during the hard times. It
is not doing enough for sugar in
these hard times. Maybe it is not
doing enough for banana, yes, and
tourism at this time. I will not
condemn it if it does enough for
shrimp to help us weather this
storm.
In respect to mega projects, Jim
Hyde, one of the pioneers of the
shrimp industry, was a firm
believer that Belizeans should
participate in the shrimp and fish
farm industries, not only as
workers, BUT AS OWNERS OF
SMALL FARMS. He felt that such
farms are not only financially
viable, but that they are important
for our social structure. I am
certain the farm models he
designed and advocated are on
files.
Finally, there is a certain irony
to the present shrimp situation. Mr.
Cutlack noted in paragraph four of
his article that the Asian glut "has
lowered the price of shrimp
internationally to less than the price
of chicken in many countries!" I
was told that Keith Jackson, who
brought his money from Texas (?)
to start the shrimp industry in
Belize, dreamed that shrimp would
one day compete with chicken for
Sunday dinner!
Respect,
Colin Hyde

Missed a good speech

Madam Editor,
Thanks for the tone and quality
of information in your newspaper.
I especially like your news stories
on what hoteliers are doing to fight


a crooked government, and,
government's complete tax
giveaways to the shrimp industry.
Those stories may well have played
in other papers. I don't think so. But
no one is reporting that essential
information.
You did not carry Dean Barrow's
speech to the Better Business
Bureau, probably because you
didn't receive it.
However the Guardian reprinted
a copy and I was impress with the
Opposition Leader's first call for
reform: The right of the people to
recall a minister or Government if
they determined they have been lied
to or they need to stop an ongoing
situation like these Pirates Using
Politics (PUP) to loot the Belizean
ship of state.
I have been screaming for that
reform from down in P.G (which
is out of the loop) because that
truly ensures that power stays in the
hands of the people.
The right of the people to recall
a minister or Government for
cause-either for promising what
can't be delivered just to win an
election, or, once in office, doing
what the politicians wants because
they rule by right for five years-
is an essential way we the people
can control the people we elect to
government. For that reason I urge
you to reprint Mr. Barrow's speech.
... .you will realize that the PUP
has built a masterful
misinformation system that the
UDP, for some reason, has not
really responded to. So you see the
INdependent is truly needed!

C. Eddie Edmondson
Punta Gorda
(Please Turn To Page 14) N --


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 3


Belize


App roval
The Government ofBelize announced Assembl
thatitwill seekthe approval oftheBelizean preceded
National Assembly forthefinancial teams of consultai
an offer to exchange most categories of advisers
Belize?s outstanding extemal commercial financial
indebtedness fornewU.S.DollarBonds (the sought a
?New Bonds?). If approved by theNational forecasts
Assembly, the exchange offerwill beformally Intematic
launchedlaterthismonth. Belize'sn
The decision to seek the National andtake;


Naticnal Assembly


fcr


ly's approval for these terms was
d by four months of intensive
tions by Belize and its financial
with the affected creditors. The
terms forwhich approval is being
re based on economic data and
that have been published by the
onal Monetary Fund as part of
mostrecentAticlelVConsultation,
account of the views expressed by


ExchangE
creditors during the period of consultations.
The creditor consultations were very
helpful to us in defining the terms forwhich
parliamentary approval is nowbeing sought,
said Mark Espat, Minister of National
Development ofBelize.Aconsensus seemed
to form around the maturity date oftheNew
Bond (twenty-two years), as well as on the
desirability of preserving principal at the
aggregate level. The most debatedissuewas


Of far


the proper coupon structure of the New
Bonds. Some creditors proposed total debt
service holiday in the early years, followed
by an immediate jump back to very high
fixed coupons. Others advised a more
gradual, step-up coupon structure, consistent
with Belize's proj ected capacity to pay.
We concluded that Belize can afford to
make some coupon payments, even in the
(Please Turn To Page 15) *M '


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 4


Too little, too late


Karla Heusner Vernon

Finally, there is somethingworth reading
intheBelize Times. WhetherornotGodfrey
Smith's column "Flashpoinf' is actually a
reflection ofPUP insider thinking orjust a
good gimmickto pull in readers is not yet
clear, but the first two installments have
certainly beenthoughtprovoking.
Frankly, many ofus could care less ifthere
is a wall atthe tourism village or not; most
Belizeansaremoreinterestedinttyingtokeep
thieves out of their own homes and shops,
not dividing up the money pie at the Fort.
But I have to admit I did enjoy Smith's
reference toPink Floyd's song "The Wall,"
even though it dates a great many ofus since
the youngerfolks aren't tuned in to the type
of music we enj oyed as teens.
It was a great metaphor forwhatthe inner
sanctum ofthis country's political partiestend
to do: erectbarriers,brickbybrick,toinsulate
themselves from the real world. I know, I
know, he didn'tmean itthatway, that'sjust
howIreadit. The beauty ofwritingisthatit's
often subjecttointerpretation.
I suppose the very last brick of that wall
was placedthisweekwhen Smithwrotethat
he believes Ralph Fonseca should not run
again forthe sake ofthe party. Hmmm, now


that is novel thought. We must have been
mistaken when we thought that was what
MarkEspatwas sayingwhenhecalledhim
"Chief Crony" inpublic. Andexcusemeif
I am wrong but wasn't that what the
cabinet revoltwas all about all those months
ago? Godfrey Smith would have
remembered that and referred to it,
wouldn't he? After all, wasn'the apart of


health care system run brokebytheFonseca/
Musa administration, MarkEspat is outthere
tryingtogetthe creditors offthe country'sback
aftertheFonseca/Musaadministrationmaxed
out the credit cards and gotus billions in debt,
Johnny Briceno istryingto cleanup the mess
theFonseca/Musa administration gotthe real
estate marketinto and sortoutthe duplications
of land grants and titles and leases listed to


thatlitdleparty?Atleast, inthebeginning. To
give him the benefit of the doubt, let's
suppose his is a strategy of reform, reform
from the inside. Why, he is so effective he
can now call forRalph's head right from
the pages of the party's own newspaper.
That's really something. Talkaboutfreedom
ofthe press!
Let's track downthe rest ofthe G-7 now,
shall we? Eamon Courtenay is now head
ofForeignAffairs and trying to repair the
damage to Belize'simage abroad done by
the Fonseca/Musa administration, Jose
Coye is trying to piece backtogether the


multiple owners. Cordel Hyde? Well, not sure
what he's up to these days, but we can't wait
to hear all about it. Unfortunately, Ican't quite
remember the name of the other member of
the 7-ohyes, Servulo Baeza! Hmm, is he
still ingovemment?
As interesting as all the speculation-and
gossip- is about whether or not Ralph
Fonsecawill run again, is running Ralph out
on a rail going to be enough to put the PUP
back on track with the voters, dig Belize out
of debt, smooth overthe scandals, or raise the
PrimeMinister'sratings?
Its not new forFonseca nottorun for office


but end up with choice ministries anyway.
Why shouldthistimebeany different? Why
shouldBelizeans have any reasontobelieve
hewill not simply sitoutthe election andthen
sit backin Cabinet once more?
Sofar, Belizeans aren'tbuyingit, anymore
than they believe pumping money into
Universal Health Services is going to
guarantee universal health coverage for all,
orthat THIS timetheNHIreally IS goingto
"Roll ouf' on the southside or northside or
Toledo side or any side at all. Next to the
Orange Walk By-pass, NHI roll outs are
probably among the longest standing
campaignpromises ever!
We did,fin&ay,gelby-laSSrbudfe ngforit
inaboutl0orl2buder.adin .isomybe...stranger
timgshavehapp~ned
But we're sorry, Mr. Smith, askingRalph
Fonseca not to run is way, way over due to
do the PUP any good. As for the nice little
wall you'vebuilt aroundyourselves, well, any
real engineer could tell you its got so many
cracks in it any little tremor, even offshore, is
likely to bring it down around your ears.
FormanyfBelizeans, the only actions that
could save the PUP isifboth party leaders
were to announce they would not contest
the next General Election, have the party
chose a new leader and give the country the
assurances neither Fonseca, nor Musa,
would be given seats in Cabinets, or any
portfolios at all.
Shortofsuchdrasticchange, anything else
istoolittle,toolate.


Manf! Vic izatlop ? AB e, izeedak'L 7/7doof th e CQodS....4 7/ ) v 4 7), ee
go speak Up M017 f/


.is n Raih at n a rail

gcirgto be erh to put the JP

back n tack wLth the wtrs..0*







Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 5



Don't destroy the bedrock


By Meb Cutlack


The bedrock, upon which the entire
tourism in Belize is built and based, is
the environment: the Barrier reef, the
country's rivers, beaches, streams, wild
life and the hundreds of varieties of flora
- ranging from the tiny black orchid to
the magnificent mahogany and giant
Guanacaste trees and, as important as
any of the above, Belize's extraordinary
Mayan past.
All of the above mentioned treasures
of Belize are now under some sort of
siege from recent government policies.
The bedrock upon which so much of
our tourism is based is being deliberately
chipped away by projects such as
Chalillo, the Ara Macao project and,
most dramatically, by the entire cruise
ship industry.
Ruined rivers (some of which now
carry lead and other poisons) don't
bring visitors. Vanished forests,
despoiled Mayan cave networks and
eroded beaches don't bring visitors.
Instead, cruise ship tourists, who gape
but don't buy chase away overnight
and long stay visitors.
The same long stay visitors, are the
true breadwinners for Belize and
Belizeans. Their money does not just
slip into a bottomless ar labled 'General
Revenue' for our prolific government to
waste as It sees fit. 'Long stay' money
spreads like a bountiful tide across the


country touching small lodges and
restaurants, guide services, taxi drivers
-in city and districts and yes, hair
braiders too.
Long stay visitors come in dignity and
often with a deep interest in Belize and
Belizeans. Cruise ship tourists, more


likely than not, see Belize asjust another
grubby port city where they are warned
not to eat or to drink the water.
One of the cruise ship companies
even displays a poster depicting a
person with bloody facial wounds and
carrying a warning about Belize.
One day our grandchildren and their
children will ask: "What happened to
Belize? Didn't it used to be a beautiful
unsploilt country with great forests,
mighty rivers, wildlife, precious coral
islands and beaches?


They will only see giant projects
managed from abroad, huge tourism
enterprises locking thousands of "new
tourists" into stategic compounds safe
from local contamination except for a
very few local staff struggling to survive
against imported labour sanctioned by
some crooked minister or another.
These enterprises are like beached


cruise ships,which already exist in
Mexico. Without exception they are
owned from abroad or "offshore" and
that's where the profits flow- offshore.
A Belize Hotel Association board
member recently likened cruise ships
tourism to a Trojan horse -a trick the
ancient Greeks employed by hauling a
huge wooden horse into the forecourt
of the castle of the Trojans. It was
offered as a gift with barrels of wine and
other goodies.
The wise men among them suspected


Fbr an cnline version of the

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OR

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Visit The


Belize Zoo


We Belizeans Against the Dam


0ATLT.TO DEM is still a LIE


icr electricity bills hae skyckete
Ih fish are rEt safe to eat
The JMacal River locks and sells bad
W e dcn' t knew how safe the M Jcal River waterr B-
to cdrk cr to sAim in.
W e still don't k-rwhAt to cb if t-reis

a dam break emergency.


Fbrtis/BS L failed to keep their

prmises cn the Chalillo DIm.
On Vaca anm, estimated ccst of BI$50 million!!

they are rot mrakrg prmies (crly profits)


a trick and warned against accepting the
gift, but no one listened, and the horse
and gifts were duly hauled into their
fortress. The Trojans merrily drank the
wine in celebration as they considered
the horse, the wine and the whole affair,
a surrender by the Greeks.
It wasn't. When night fell, and all
were "in a drunken stupor", the Greek
soldiers hidden in the horse came out
and sacked the city of Troy.
Hence the expression, "Never trust
a GreekBearing gifts"! Well, translated
into modem terms, relating to Belize, that
means don't trust the lavish promises
made by huge foreign enterprises.
Check out what has happened with
BEL, with BTL and, what is still
happening, with our disputed water
company.
Conversely, labeling
environmentalists and "greens" as some
type of Enemies of the State is a
deliberate ploy by the friends of big
business to lull Belizeans into accepting
their Trojan horses labelled "Ara
Macao", "BEL", "BTL" and "cruise
ship tourism" through the gates of
unspoilt Belize.
A single terrorist attack on a
cruise ship could sink the whole
cruise ship industry and a huge
chunk Of Belizeans resources and
debt, which are sunk into it, along
with the industry.
Think about it!







Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 6


In


nitv


By Chet Schmidt

What helps to rally and unite people
in need? One thing is a plan to satisfy
their needs. Who are the people in
need? In the Toledo District everyone
except the very rich are in need. The
poor obviously need gainful
employment. The middle class need
security and income to maintain their
wealth. When the poor are desperate
they resort to stealing from those who
have.
The middle class often have
borrowed to develop their land and
businesses. If they can not make the
money they need to pay their loans
they can lose what they have. Both
the poor and wealthy can succumb to
the temptation to drugs and alcohol.
So the plan must be for everyone, the
rich and the poor. Aplan that everyone
can identify with. Aplan that they can
see will help them. Is that all that's
needed to rally the majority of the
people? Yes, but to get the support
of all the people no!
The fact is there is a small number
of very rich and powerful individuals
and groups who are not interested in
truly changing the situation. They are
battling to safeguard their power and
profits by opposing change. Right
now in Toledo and the rest of Belize
there seems to be a stand-off between
the concerns of 90% of the population
and the prerogatives of the
corporations, the heads of our
government, the wealthy elites who
benefit from things as they are. They
do not want positive change for the
people. Ironically, the "Peace" Corps
and other volunteers are supporting
them.
Some of our top political rulers
understand implicitly that their system
is established to suit the needs of the
few, not the many, and that the people
cannot therefore ever be permitted to
question and alter their rule. They will
propose and fund projects doomed
to failure, but not those that will
succeed.
Our government and those non
government organizations who work
so well with them, have worked
incessantly to see that important issues
like the Toledo People's Eco Park are
never publicly debated, or allowed a
chance. The poverty forums, the
many meetings and seminars, and the
most recent, Toledo.
Strategy and Action Plan 2006-
2009 clearly shows This- the
lawyers call it"proof by omission."
The Ministry of Economic
Development has been forced to
admit that the results of their previous
projects have been "disappointing"
and the level of disappointment has
reached a point where residents are
wary of development projects and
external aid, that come in the same


there is strength

states, "a conscious attempt was
made not to focus on the negative
packages. features of the prevailing environment
The obvious question is then, if our in the Toledo District". Why does
government truly believes this, why government not want to focus on the
did they not support the Memorandum negative reasons for the previous
of Understanding in support of The projects failures and for our growing
Toledo People's Eco Park Plan signed poverty? Because they don't want
by leaders from across the board in radical change in the fallacious theory
Toledo? It was designed by and for that guides their policies--that one can
the people of Toledo, using the reach the poor by expanding a
democratic participatory planning process controlled by the rich.
process. Belize's official aid diagnoses is the
The present Minister ofEconomic poor are poor because they
Development has stated in the lackcertain things, credit, good roads,
forward to the "new" strategy plan, better seeds, etcetera. But what the
that, "there is no better recipe for poor really lack is power, power to
success than a government that secure what they need. Our
coordinates and plans, then uses the government policies focus on the lack
plans to guide investments". The truth of materials. Their focus should be on
is the "best recipe" for a truly free and the lack of power. Therein lies the
participatory democratic government, fundamental difference. Some of our
is when the government listens to the government leaders have made a big
plans that the people design and name & money calling for "power to
develop, and then helps to coordinate the people". But today you have to
and find investment for them! When address them as "Your Excellency"
our present system begins to walk their while the "poorest of the poor" are
talk, when they abandon dishonestPR worse off then ever before.
and buying elections, permits a The Memorandum of
representative media and is Understanding in support of the
comfortable establishing a genuinely further development of theToledo
equalitarian participatory democracy People's Eco Park Plan was signed
because it no longer fears the power on September 12th 2003 by
ofthe many, then Belize will shine and representatives of all the
be truly free. democratically elected leaders of
Neo liberalism is the defining Toledo District. The major
political economic paradigm in Belize conservation and development
today. organizations, The Toledo Civil
It refers to the policies and Society andothergroupssigned. The
processes where by a relative handful USA Peace Corps, seeing this
of private interests are permitted to consensus, later signed.
control as much as possible of social Although two acting heads of the
life in orderto maximizetheirpersonal Ministry of Economic Development
profit. were personally presented with the
President Hugo Chavez of Toledo People's Eco Park Plan
Venezuela held up a book at the Memorandum of Understanding and
United Nations that tells more about project description and plans, they
this. refused to support the peoples
Our government leaders' speeches request for the further development of
sound as if they are doing poor the plan. When pressed,one PUP
people, the environment, and government representative said.
everybody else a tremendous service "Look if we allow you to try your pilot
as they enact policies on behalf of the proj ect in three or four villages and
wealthy few. The economic PG Town as you want, and it is
consequences of these policies have successful everyone will want to do it
been the same. A massive increase in and there will be no stopping them".
social and economic inequality, a huge The government has been very
public debt, a marked increase in successful in supporting projects
severe deprivation for the poorest of designed in London, Washington,
our people.
The 2002 poverty assessments
indicated that 79% of the people of
Toledo are poor and 56% are very Com i1
poor or indigent. Although well over
61 million dollars in foreign aid has Suggestiol
been allocated to the district since
1978. (note: this does not include to share yo
governments counter part funds.) the
people of Toledo are poorer now then Em ail
ever before.
In the foreword to the Strategy and
Action Plan for 2006-2009, the I pen. s
Minister of Economic Development


Belmopan or elsewhere which have
failed miserably.
Sometimes the same consultants
have been used-locally we call them
"consultants for failure". However
they will not support a program
designed by the people of Toledo.
Today they have another project
financed by European Union, The
Belize Rural Development Project, to
the tune of millions more. It is very
similar to the previous failed projects.
How can the government Ministers
and these funders be so blind? Who
doesn't know that it is unreasonable
to expect different results when
continually trying the same methods?
These Ministers, banks, and the
NGOs they fund, have made a lot of
money. If they truly wanted different
results, they would surely try different
approaches. Any good
businessperson knows they will
quickly go out of business if they
continue to waste their capital. The
people of Toledo are not as ignorant
as our government and the funders
want to believe.
The current Minister of Economic
Development for the rich, is correct
when he writes, "a spirit of
consultation fatigue prevails in Toledo
District".
The level of disappointment has
reached the point where residents of
the District are wary of development
projects and external aid. Why
then doesn't our government
give the peoples plan a chance?
Some who don't know about
what we Belizean's have
traditionally called
"victimization", may ask why
the leaders and respected civic
leaders who signed as
witnesses, the head of our
Justices of the Peace, and
another JP who was awarded
The Order of the British
Empire, and the many ordinary
citizens who appreciated their
standing up to the plate and
asking that the people's plan be
given a fair chance don't
protest?
The simple answer, is because of
our legitimate fear of those more
powerful in this little-changed, post
colonial, hierarchal, often quasi feudal
political and social structure.
But we can longer afford to be
afraid. "More power to the People of
Belize".



Lents?

is?or want

ur thoughts

I us at

maper. b2(L maiL com







Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 7


Total madness

By: Tr~~r Verncn


Last weekthis
newspaper ran a
cartoon (see
December 5,
2006 issue)
which I believe
captures the
essence of a
fundamental
of government we D/iiletm ay
sheep, we adopted it, never
contemplating the camel trading that
was to come, or the politicians that
would arrive on the scene, with egos
and complexes to rival that of
Napoleon with Jack Palance's face.
Something is fundamentally flawed
with our "Parliamentary Democracy
that is based on the Westminster
Model". We all learned about that
idealistic government model, some us
at StMary's Primary back in the early
1970's. It was the royal ideal for us
natives.
But, somewhere along the line, the
royal ideal was contaminated. We are
left now with a system totally out of
step with the optimistic perceptions
that have the Belizean people electing
and re-electing two political parties
that enrich not the country, but
themselves.
Where are the Englishmen who
taught us right from wrong? All we
get now is their snotty rich offspring
pillaging what their own fathers tried
to create, and leave as their legacy.
Many in Belize, particularly the
older generation still revere that
legacy. I was out distributing this
paper's first issue a couple weeks ago
and approached an "ageable" lady. At
first, she was reluctant to take a free
copy of the IN so I had to convince
her. In a flash of insight, I blurted out,
"We have a great picture of the Queen
with a local man presenting
credentials!' The lady melted: "Is she
still alive?" Oh, e luk good! Mek a
read it, man". How incredible, that
we have forgotten that there is still a
Queen and that she is still our titular
head of state.
Now I am not a constitutional law
expert, nor have I consulted one. This
is a layman's commentary on the sad
state of affairs that exists in this, our
country, today. It's a slightly different
take, so stay with me.
I believe that the judiciary needs
to be much more independent, in both
public perception and reality. Way,
way, way more so. Hire some
constitutional experts to amend the
constitution to give teeth to the
guarantees of the total independence
of this branch of government. But do
SOMETHING! I used to think that
busting up the old boys' club would
do it but these days I am not so sure.
I used to think that we should change


the system to admit anyone and
everyone with a degree and
experience in the courts should be
admitted. Some still think this would
make a huge difference.
Back in the upper Standards at St.
Mary's, I was blessed with great
teachers and they hammered this
parliamentary democracy thing in my
head. When the other branches can
run roughshod over the Judiciary like
they did during the recent BTLAGM
meeting, I get real nervous. I feel
altogether hopeless when the
constitutional opposition appears to be
on board with the bastardization of our
"parliamentary democracy based of
the Westiminster Model".
This malignant condition however is


CHUC


wwk 1


week


week 4


Uniclainri. JNo


not without remedy; but, the solution
must be multifaceted in its approach.
Additionally, I think the constitutional
reform must also provide for elections
within the judicial branch itself and
extended to include an elected police
chief, free from Minister's whims &
fancies; elected judges free from the
Legal Adviser's whims and fancies;
elected magistrates, free from theAG's
arrogance; elected DPP free from
overbearing influences, and an elected
Registrar General to give that office
total freedom from extra-judicial
pressures. Elect them all and provide
budgets for each office, each with
constitutional guarantees and
adequate comforts to provide real
protection to the rule of law.
In seeking to right what many
Belizeans are seeing as a betrayal by
those who are currently elected to
office, it seems reasonable that we
should focus on separation of powers
among the judiciary, the legislative,


and the executive branches of
government. Of the three branches, it
appears the Judiciary needs to be the
most separate from the other two. The
judiciary must be given even more
constitutional protection to be
able to isolate itself from the
other two highly politicized
sectors in this triad. And the
way to make the judiciary more
independent rests not only with
the charades and pretenses of
superficial change. Somehow, some
way, we must alter the facade of the
constitutional structure of this
inherited Westminster modeled
parliamentary democracy to ensure
that we are truly democratic and as
free as possible from egomaniac
influences, and unscrupulous
individuals, who continue to crucify
her with an expired mandate from the
people.
Wake up Belize and take the camel
by the hump.


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 8


CkIMIE ANID BELIZIEAN SOCIETYY


By Richard Hulse


This is not an article which has been
writtento examine the root cause of crime,
but a hint ofthat will be provided as well.
There is no doubt that a demographic
area, where a person resides, assists in
the shaping of his character, but again one
cannot underscore the fact too that while
schools serve to educate, there are
delinquent student mentors who are at
these institutions of learning assisting to
miseducate anyone who has an inclination
to do so. One of my friends was raising
his children in the inner city, but after he
moved away to a more appropriate
residential area, the change in his children
was so dramatic and so thorough, it is hard
to believe and would also take a lot of
time to explain. There is no secret to the
dramatic change, because living in certain
demographic areas is like living in a
vacuum. In certain of these areas some
youths are forced to become gang
members for their own protection,
otherwise they may be the targets of abuse
for their own neighbourhood. They may
not have more friends either, if they are
not attending school. In short they will be
like an outsider in their own
neighbourhood.
It seems too that many of the killings
hasto do with women, sinceBelizeanmen
are always controlling and seems to push
the boundaries of a relationship beyond
it's perimeter, long after it's over. They are
women too, one of whom I know
personally, who keeps gang boys and
have them perpetrate violence against the
previous one she left, and she tells women
clearly too that if they slip up with her, her
boyfriend is going to shoot them.


The main source of the killings in
Belize, though, seems to be revenge
killings, where one shooting is inextricably
linked to the other. The pattern of revenge
just keeps going and going without
stopping. If one worked around the
courts, one would be able to see that there
is one set of people consistently coming
before the courts. What is even worse than
a person who has been convicted twice
orthrice, at least something is known about
him, but a person who has been charged
for nine counts of attempted murder and
convicted fornone:thishasadeepermeaning
than it appears on the surface. It means that
apart from perpetmlingviolence, this person
isknowledgeableofhowtogoaboutinstilling
fearin others. Theveiythingwhichweakens
the state's capacity to prosecute. And any
socdetywhichallowstoomanyviolentpeople
to run amok, will cause that society to
becomeviolent; because peoplewillhaveto
think in aviolentframe ofmindto deal with
them.
We are also living in a society where the
bad guys cany guns andthe good guys carry
none, in short the good citizens are
unarmed. When a good guy shoots abad
guy the police have no problems finding
witnesses. The case in point, is that the
good citizen is afraid of being a witness,
because he may suffer the same faith as
the person who was killed. In the case of
the bad guy, it is the other way around;
whenever a bad guy or a gang member is
shot, there is automatically a lot of witness,
with the exception of those who say we
will settle it in the streets: meaning they
will simply shoot the person when the
opportunity arrives. The essential pointthat


is being made here is that licences for
guns should be given out more liberally
i.e. a person who has been consistently
employed for ten years along with two
testimonials thatheisnot an uncontrollable
drunk, should be able to get a gun without
a problem. Again too, any person who
wants a gun, should get a replica firearm
and see how well they can safe guard it,
or whether there may be a possibility that
they will get shot with their own gun. And
most importantly, if they can figure, how
it disappeared or who went with it, all
these experiments I carried out to weigh
the pro's and con's of keeping a firearm.
Keeping a firearm is one thing, but to be
prepared to defend yourself at the spur of
themomentis anotherthing: things criminal
happens so quickly.
I think too, even the definition of
police protection, some people have
misled themselvestobelievethatthe police
should be like magicians, to appear out of
nowhere when some breach of the law is
occurring: that happens in the movies, not
in real life. No thief is going to make it
known he is going to burglarize a house,
to have the police waiting for him -that is
undermining the purpose. Thieves don't
like danger just like everybody else, so
they only burglarize places they have
knowledge of, or have been provided
information about.
I would like to emphasize here too
that the people who utilize the services of
the police the most, are some of these
same people who are criminally inclined,
and who spend their time criticizing the
police. Some of these people can't even
control their own children, in other cases
children are encouraged because they
come from crime families. When these
people appear at court, they don't come


there weeping or crying, they come well
prepared. They come with their lawyers,
they know howto acquire bail, they know
all the right procedures and most of all
they don't waste time getting emotional
and crying all over the place, their affairs
are well organized.
The main problem, which I think is
affecting the courts, which is the root cause
of cases falling apart, is the problem of
locating witnesses. This task falls on
policemen; and most people knows that
if the police goes looking for someone in
a crime riddled area: the only response
the policeman will get is "he doesn't live
here" or "I don't know who you are
looking for". Thisjob oflocating witnesses
should be considered of paramount
importance, because when you are in
court, if you have witness you may have
a case, if you don't have no witness you
don't have no case, it's as simple as that.
Apart from that it's who the jurors believe.
Once the system cannot procure these
witnesses, the system has been
undermined. A suggestion here which I
have spoken openly about, is the idea that
the courts should hire several process
servers, who knows their way around the
town, and who is not a policeman. It is
self evident that as some people see a
policeman, their jawbones become
locked, in a society like Belize, once you
have lived on the Southside of Belize City,
you notice that many people hide from the
policeman, the bill collector and the
landlord. It should also be noted that the
offices of the Director of Public
Prosecution's, is and has been for many
years, under several previous directors,
understaffed. I can recall many many years
ago, the entire criminal calendar for the
year was about three cases, but we are a
(Please Turn To Page 12) E0 m "


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 9


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 10









Law and Politics: Integrity in public office and preventing corruption


Tuesday, December 5, 2006, Caribbean News Network

by Lloyd Noel
"Corruption makes the poor poorer, because part of their already meager
earnings, and their non-existent disposable income, mustpay for basic services
which otherwise should be free."


Lloyd Noel is a former Attorney General
of Grenada, prominent attorney at law
and political commentator

Those were the words from the
chairperson of "Transparency
International," Huguette Labelle, at the
seventeenth conference of the OAS in
the lecture series of the Americas.
Transparency International is a civil
society organisation dedicated to the
fight against corruption worldwide.
It was created by the OAS
Permanent Council to promote
democratic principles and values in the
countries of the hemisphere, and when
the conferences are held recognized
speakers are invited to speak on such
key issues as stated in the above
headline.
The chairperson pointed out, that free
elections have produced a new
generation of leaders in the OAS region
and many of them were elected on "anti-
corruption" platforms.
But as we know only too well, in the
CARICOM region many of the states
are riddled with corruption and lack of
integrity in public office.
Readers will recall that, only very
recently, the same body produced a
report in which Barbados got very high
marks and praise for its transparency
and honest dealings; while Grenada was
lumped together with Trinidad and
Tobago and Guyana as the most
notorious trio for corruption dealings and
lack of transparency and integrity in
public office in the region. Avery black
mark indeed.
But, from the record of the dealings
by our politicians, at least some of them,
during the past ten years in office, who
can argue with the accusers or the critics
about our saddened state of affairs?
And the very few who do try to paint
a different picture in public forums end


up being ridiculed for their poor efforts
because, as it is said in another circle,
you cannot defend the indefensible.
The latest corruption charges,
surrounding the Deputy Prime Minister,
Gregory Bowen, have taken on such
widespread proportions at home and
abroad, that they are even impacting
negatively on what appears to be quite
genuine development investments now
coming on stream.
And, in addition thereto, the scandal
that seems to have put a serious damper
on the people's prospects of benefiting
from gas and oil dollars is now magnified
by the economic hell they are catching,
because of the very poor state of the
economy which was brought about by
"Ivan and Emily." The interest being
shown by all and sundry, young and old,
and quite ordinary folks, who normally
pay little or no heed to such matters, is
a clear indication that they view this
scandal in a quite different light from
those that went before.
And the long standing period of
secrecy, and the total absence of
transparency have made matters far
more alarming.
When questions were being asked by
MrReynoldfBenjamin in public articles,
and Mr Grynberg himself, in a letter to
the Prime Minister, dated February 28,
2003, told him .... "I have refrained
from getting involved in Grenadian
polities and have refused to respond to
MrReynold Benj amin's many inquiries,
in his preparation for the Grenada
elections between now and March of
2004. I have also refrained from going
to the press." Even after all that nothing
was said to the people, nor to
parliament.
The entrance of the Russians into the
billions of US dollars scandal and the
allegation that $10 million US dollars
had been paid into somebody or bodies
bank accounts, certainly not the
Treasury of Grenada, seemed to have
brought the scam to the boil, which
overflowed in the brave move to
terminate the agreement between RSM
and the Grenada government.
That move triggered the arbitration


action in London, since last year against
the government, but still nothing was said
to John Public nor the people's
representatives in parliament.
And it was only when Mr Grynberg
and his company brought the case in
New York on the 1 st November this
year, and named the Russians and
Gregory Bowen as the conspirators to
defraud them of the benefits under the
1996 agreement that Mr Bowen saw it
fit to make a public statement, and in so
doing put all Grenadians to shame.
Since that press conference and the
denials that amounted to naught, and the
ludicrous statement from the Prime
Minister that others in the society are
also corrupt, not just the ministers of
government words to that effect -
nothing else has been forthcoming from
government.
The hue and cry is for some form of
inquiry or investigation whether by a
parliamentary selected body, or the
police under the direction of the DPP,
but not another farce by the governor
general and his one-man commissioner
- and that Mini ster Bowen should step
down from the position in which he
brought shame and scandal to the
people and the government he
represents. But no response to date.
If any little public (civil) servant is
accused of any wrongdoing by his/her
Permanent Secretary, the first action, by
the Public Service Commission (PSC),
is to send that officer home while an
inquiry is carried out so why should
there be one brand of treatment for the
little fry, and a wholly different brand
for the big fish?
After all, they are both public servants
and must be subject to the same
standards of discipline and
accountability. And, as was forcefully
underscored, in that conference on the
evils of corruption at the OAS last
week, "Fighting corruption strengthens
democratic institutions and prevents
distortions in the economy, improprieties
in public administration, and damage to
a society's moral fiber." In this case of
a Cabinet Minister being accused of
wrongdoing, the PSC has no


jurisdiction, but the Prime Minister and
his cabinet have every such authority to
act in the public interest, and in the
preservation of the good name and
image of his government.
And it cannot be repeated too often,
when those at the highest level of the
society's structure-- entrusted with the
mantle of power and authority, to carry
out or to operate the people's business
for the benefit of the people in general
- behave in such reckless and
disgraceful manner, and everything is
just glossed over and excused as no big
thing, the message and example being
sent to those lower down the ladder of
authority, can only be, that it pays better
to be dishonest and untrustworthy.
And it goes without my saying so, that
what is being cultivated among those
whom we should be training, and
preparing to take over the leadership
of our people and country tomorrow -
is a recipe for cheating and a culture of
corruption.
And strangely as it may seem to many,
I am not hearing any comments, or
seeing any statement by the conference
of churches in Grenada, the TUC, nor
any of the stakeholders in our civil
society like the chambers of
commerce for example. These groups
are the so-called social partners that the
same government is always referring to,
or calling upon when it suits them to put
on a show of solidarity.
Is John Public to understand, that
none of them see this scandal as
deserving of any observation from their
memberships?
The same way the top brass of the
Catholic Church, were ready and willing
to visit the National Stadium, no doubt
at the invitation of government, and
shower praise on the Chinese workers
and the administration for achieving
almost the impossible, so too, in my
humble opinion, the same spiritual
leaders should be prepared and
forthcoming, in marshalling the
conference of churches to make
representation to government to clear
the dark and cloudy atmosphere and
to be seen openly to be so doing.
All over the global village nowadays,
we're hearing on the airwaves and
seeing on TV the people, the
stakeholders of their country's heritage,
the ones who are getting poorer and
poorer because of their leaders corrupt
(Please Turn To Page 11) l 1







Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 11


Vhe


Each December members of the
Belize Audubon Society and other
volunteers carry out the Christmas
bird count, all over Belize. They
count hundreds of species of local
and migratory birds, but beginning
this week, Independent Weekly will
give you some information on 11
birds described in a very useful, and
charming, field guide, "Jungle
Walk" by Katie Stevens.
We begin the series with a
trusting little fellow, the Booby Bird,
who appropriately enough, has on
his Christmas boots.
Webster defines booby as "an
awkward, foolish person, and
indeed, our beautiful red-footed
booby birds (Sula sula) are trusting
of man to this day, despite the fact that
seafarers used to walk right up to
them and bash them on the head, a
carnage which almost extinguished the
species. Today their persistent
stupidity allows us the wonderful
opportunity to see them up close: the
platform provided at Half Moon Caye
by the Belize Audubon Society rises
right into the middle of the colony, so
that you are literally within easy reach
of the nearest nesting boobies.
Luckily, they are now protected by
law!
There are two other species of
booby in Belize, the masked booby
(Sula dactylatra) and the brown
booby (Sula leucogaster) but neither
can compare with the red-foot for lack
of color-coordination. It has two adult
color phases, one a dull grayish brown
similar to any other booby, but in the
second phase its feathers are tinted
golden white, with black trim along its
wings tinged in blue and pink. But all
this refinement is more than undone
by its rather large, outlandishly red
webbed feet-like a guest at a formal
masquerade who forgot to remove his
galoshes at the door.
In flight, the booby tucks these feet
discreetly up under his feathers. In its
search for food, it heads out to sea
rather than along the coast. Flying fish
stirred up by early morning ships are
a favorite catch, as are squid glowing
phosphorescent in a moonlit night.
Like its relative the pelican, the booby
has air sacs beneath its skin to cushion
it when it dive bombs into the water,
often at a good 100 degree angle,
wings folded behind its back. So deep
does it plunge that propelled by both
feet and wings, it approaches its prey
from below, often gulping it down
whole while still beneath the surface.
Again like the pelican, it has a throat
pouch which enables it to swallow
larger fare than it looks at all likely.
Egglaying takes place as early as
November and as late as April,
January being the most popular


11


birds FhR knsmcs


month. Usually two eggs are laid, but
only one will hatch its shiny black-
skinned inhabitant with the black face
and the big black bill. Soon the baby
booby will sport tufts of white down,
more and more until it is thick with
fluff, a ridiculous sight. Agreed only-
chick, it tries to climb head first into
now one, and then the other, of its
parents' craws to get at whatever
partially digested repast might lie
there. And it grows disastrously fat.
Finally its parents refuse to feed the
little glutton any longer. It hangs
forlornly around the nest for a few
days, then resignedly plops into the
water, but still it may swim around for
another ten days before it has used
up enough of its fat reserve to be
light enough to fly, and so to fish for
itself.
It is thought that the Half Moon
Caye booby bird colony has survived
for over a hundred years, despite
heavy egg and chick predation by
frigatebirds (men o'war) and rats, and
until very recently, men. The only other
known red-footed booby colony is
off the coast of Trinidad.


Law and Politics: Integrity in public

office and preventing corruption


--i (Continued From Page
practices, they are rising up and
protesting in one form or another,
against the malpractices of those in
authority over them. We too, in little
Grenada, did likewise in the brave
old days when people had dey belly
- including priests, and
businessmen, and youths.
And protesting against
corruption and graft by our
leaders Yho are responsible far
the public purse has nothing to
do with which party you
afpoting, bt eeythg to dD
with the lo c yar cnrtry, ald
the caring caem far the legacy
to air childrE and dthse yet

So whether it is NNP, NDC,
GULP or PLM, or any other "PP",
our concerns and protestations
must be the same.


Why, therefore, is this deathly silence
from those groups which are expected
to lead their members and their flocks?
The few voices crying in the wilderness
are simply too few to make the required
difference.
And just by passing a law in parliament
about"Integrity inpublicofficewithpenalties
for corruption" will not make those who get
into the parliament buildings, twenty-first
century saints by any means.
We, the people, have to constantly
monitor their performances, and when
needed, tell them what they are doing,
or have done in our name is wrong, and
they must account and pay the price by
stepping down.
So long as we, the people, neglect to
demand accountability and transparency
and responsibility for wrongdoing, we
will never achieve the goal ofintegrity in
public office and the eradication of
corruption from our public trustees.


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 12


Airport discrimination



A young mother married to
a Belizean, but carrying a US
passport and travelling with
her three young children, was
not only pulled from the exit
line at the International
airport but then told that
she could only pay her exit
tax in US dollars. Her offer
to pay with Belize dollars
was refused. Her husband,
who was there was furious:
"How come they don't
charge cruise ship
passengers exit tax at all?
There is something crazy
happening in Belize. I
believe the government has
gone mad!"


Restaurant Tax


There is a strange unreality
about restaurant sales tax
collection in Belize. Many
local Belizean owned
restaurants are 'hit' each year
with a team of accountant types
who descend with their briefcases
and suspiciously go through every little
sales tax receipt for the past year. Their
mere presence suggests total lack of
trust and yet there are hundreds of
restaurants in the country-big and small
Chinese included which are never
bothered and for the most part
don't even appear to keep their
sales receipts.
I was told: "Oh Belmopan
looks after them!" Is this true are
there two sets of rules? "It's


because", the same person told
me, "they don't speak English!"


PUP in Belmopan

The defeat of Tony Chanona
in Belmpan PUP is, in a way,
a sad testimony of the fact that
talent, intelligence, and history
of extremely successful leadership
of Belmopan City, doesn't
necessarily win friends and
influence people. My own advise
to Mr. Chanona is to stand as an
Independent candidate in the
coming election. It's time that
some of the stalwart and less
contaminated PUP hierarchy
realized that its better to survive
and serve as independents than
godown with the sinking PUP ship.
They could form part of a new


Belizean democracy ruled from the
centre and by a middle group if
independents falling between the,
almost sure to be victorious, UDP
and the, sure to be defeated, PUP

Ard IntLeret cafes

41 r Much the same can be
said for internet cafes. Some are
taxed and some are not. It
appears to be that if you sell
coffee or food you are liable
to also be taxed for internet
usage but not for pure
internetting. It's time our
government really looked at
the manner in which they are
destroying all small
businesses in Belize for the
sake of their 'big' friends and
cronies with Belmopan
connections.


Negotiations Continue At Oas C R I M E A WD

Towards Declaration On ]B EL I Z E AI

Rights Of Indigenous Peoples C O T V


The Organization of American
States (OAS) today opened the
eighth meeting of negotiations on
the draft American Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
seeking to make substantive
progress on issues related to self-
determination, individual rights,
fundamental freedoms and
collective rights for the native
peoples of the hemisphere.
The Chairman of the Permanent
Council Working Group on this
topic, Ambassador Juan Le6n, who
is Guatemala's Alternate
Representative to the OAS and a
member of the Pueblo Maya K'iche
indigenous community, said at the
opening of the meeting that the
approach to the concept of self-
determination will be a key focus of
this five-day round of negotiations.
He called on representatives of the
member states and of indigenous
peoples alike to bring creativity in
seeking outcomes that
"unconditionally reaffirm this right
and at the same time ensure unity,
confidence and balance among all
the players in each member state
and the OAS as a whole."
Ambassador Le6n said, "We
should spare no effort to imagine a
future in which indigenous peoples
can be totally free to determine and
decide on their own affairs, in terms
of what is best suited to their
economic, political, social, cultural,
educational and legal development,
among other rights."
He recalled that the indigenous
representatives have "on every
occasion" reaffirmed their view that


self-determination does not imply
the end nor the destruction of the
territorial integrity of current states,
an assurance that "instills
confidence that a satisfactory
conclusion can be reached on this
matter."
The Guatemalan diplomat said he
was optimistic that the Working
Group could make progress
cleaning up the text under
negotiation, saying he was confident
"the necessary consensus will be
achieved." He conceded that
consensus on certain aspects of the
Declaration is not easy, but will
depend on "all the delegations being
flexible and broad-minded."
Among others participating in the
inauguration was Natalia Sara-pura,
representative of Argentina's Kolla
indigenous community, who said that
"self-determination is an inherent right
for indigenous peoples." She urged the
OAS member countries to join the
United Nations Human Rights Council
"in recognizing that indigenous peoples,
like all other peoples under international
law, have a right to free self-
determination."
The last round of negotiations was
held in Brasilia, Brazil, last March.
At both the Fourth Summit of the
Americas, held in Argentina in
November 2005, and the last OAS
General Assembly, in June of this
year, the governments of the
Americas reiterated the importance
of a successful conclusion to this
process and the eventual adoption
of an American Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
(Press RPelease)


--' E (Continued From Page 8)
far cry from that piece of nostalgic history,
we are in the present day 2006. The
problem oftheD.PP's office understaffed
is neither a new one, or is it of any
directors making. The growth of the
D.P.P.'s staff was never commensurate
with the increase in crime; simply meaning
that while crime grew, the D.P.P's office
didn't, and the place was structured to
deal with a few cases. Again, locating
people for some of these long drawn out
cases may also be a problem, because I
notice that very few people live in a house
in these crime ridden areas longer than
since months and are paying rent. Some
just wait out their landlords, and rent out
space in their landlord's house as well. In
Belize people seems to move from one
place to the other consistently and it is
sometimes difficultto locate them. Without
a shadow of a doubt, I think the Crime
Commission should take into accountthat
the problem of sending policemento serve
summons should be fixed, with the
employment of Civilian Process Servers.
If they have any doubts, many defaulters
on their loans can attestto the effectiveness


of civilian process servers.
The matter of white collar crime is an
area, which is a grey areaboth for the law
enforcers andthe court, because many white
collarcrimehastogounchallenged, because
these are grey areas which require civil
prosecuion,whichmeansnoassistancefrom
the state or the police department and the
hiringoflawyersis out ofthequestionforthe
workingman who can hardly paytheirbills.
Soifthey don'tlefitherichmantotakewhat
he wants, theyjust simply simply settle the
matter by the gun. Amatter of paramount
importance for the working man is the fact
that civil lawwas developedby rich men for
the purpose ofextracting or extortingmoney
from other rich. It's a system that has been
developed over hundreds ofyears.
Thefinal problem isthe oneof a so called
witness protection program, which hasbeen
in the air for years, it is a problem for the
mostly military men at the establishment
department in Belmopan, who keep their
families and themselves out ofthese crime
ridden demographicareasliketheinnercities
ofBelizeandwhethertheyignorethe subject,
don't care, or are withholding funds on
purpose is a question only they and the
politicians can answer.


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Suggestions?or want

to share your thoughts

Email us at

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 13


Rapule
- E (Continued From Page 1)
In an attempt to have the matter
resolved. Placencia's Village Chairman
and Committee members traveled to
Belmopan on four (4) separate
occasions to keep appointments made
with the Solicitor General. On every
occasion, there was some excuse why
the Solicitor General could not meet with
them. On the fourth occasion, they were
told that the matter was being turned
over to the Minister for their District,
Stann Creek West, Minister Rodwell
Ferguson.
Turning the matter over to Minister
Ferguson did not worry the Villagers.
Afterall, in order to obtain his
nomination for his office at the PUP
convention Ferguson had supported the
Act. Soon enough, however, the
Villagers were to learn of Rodwell
Ferguson's treachery.
At the time there was a condominium
development named Chabet Mar being
constructed on a Placencia beach. The
developer had not gone through the time
honored procedure of first obtaining
approval from the Village Council, prior
to applying for Government permits.
Instead, the developer obtained them
with the approval and assistance of
Minister Rodwell Ferguson. The Village
Chairman approached Rodwell
Ferguson on the matter and he told them
flat out he was not going to have their
proposed Legislation approved.
They would receive no benefit under
the Village Council Act. That was the
one thing that Ferguson was truthful
about, the fact he was depriving the
Village ofbenefits.
Minister Ferguson, then proceeded
to disolve the Village's Lands
Committee and appoint a new one with
his own with an associate, Fred Cabral,
as Vice Chairman, and Ferguson's
supporter, Percival Neal, as Chairman.
Rodwell Ferguson's family and
associates then began what can only be
described as an all our land grab.
His wife, Ana May Ferguson,
received 10.011 acres along the
Placencia lagoon. There were seven (7)
other land grants made either to
Rodwell Ferguson, his wife or his son,
which totaled 280.61 acres. Fred
Cabral received 2 acres along the
lagoon. There was a conveyance to
HANDS Foundation, Rodwell
Ferguson and Fred Cabral of 450 acres
plus 14 acres on the Southern Long
Caye. There was 6 acres along
Placencia lagoon and 50 acres on Flour
Caye given to Percival Neal and his
wife.
Rodwell Ferguson's next machination
denied the poor. He had assumed
control of the HANDS Foundation that
was conveyed property. The HANDS
Foundation was the brainchild of a
husband and wife in Placencia that had,
before they came to Belize, successfully
operated a similar Foundation to
provide education for poor children.


a Village
The couple made one mistake. Fred
Cabral, who worked near the wife,
learned of the planned Foundation and
became involved. Soon Rodwell
Ferguson was also involved and in
control. Assertions were then made that
HANDS was Rodwell Ferguson's brain
child. However, the wife remained as
Treasurer. The Foundation did well in
soliciting money, particularly from those
who needed favors. Among the many
donations was $50,000 from the
developer of Chabet Mar and a latter
publicized $125,000 fromAraMacao.
When checks were requested for
expenditures that were not appropriate,
as Treasurer, she refuse to issue the
checks. Those who wanted to dip into
the funds were not going to be deterred.
As more money came in, accounts were
changed to where the treasurers


signature was not required. Money from
the account was used to purchase new
vehicles for the officers. Fred Cabral
received one of the new vehicles. The
new account had aspects of a slush fund.
Seeing the Foundation deviate from its
intended purpose, the Treasurer
resigned.
The Foundation did provide funds for
tuition, but not in the numbers and
manner claimed by Ferguson. The
principles of the schools requested that
the money be used to help the poor
with their education, HANDS
Foundation refused. The cost of
education involves fees for registration,
tuition, books and other charges, books
being the greater expense.
The Foundation did provide tuition
for students who lived in Rodwell
Ferguson'svoting District, Stann Creek
West. However, the exorbitant cost of
books was left for the parents. The
Foundation provided nothing for
students from Toledo who attended


school at Independence Village, that
was in Ferguson's voting District.
The poor from Stann Creek West
were without books, and the poor that
came from Toledo had neither books
or funds for tuition. Prior to HANDS,
the schools had a means of assisting
the poor. They had donors from whom
they could solicit funds. HANDS
solicited the same donors and doing so
obtained the funds that previously went
to the schools. HANDS dried up the
school's sources of funds. There was
no longer funds to buy books for
children of poor families in Stann Creek
West or help the students from Toledo
in any manner.
Rodwell Ferguson activities were
certainly not exemplary for one who
holds the position of "Minister of State
in Education". Is it greed? Or does he
thinkhe is better than them and doesn't
give a damn for the poor?
Placencia Peninsula is limited in area
(Please Turn To Page 15) i*W








Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 14


Free Stay Belize update


-- ME(Continued From Page 2)

FiasD cn top fiasLo=

Dear Madam,
If I had a newspaper, my headlines
would scream 'YOU OWE $XXXXX'
The article would give a breakdown of
the actual cost of the debt and the amount
owedby every single Belizean for the next
22 years. The point also needs to be made
that you are paying this for services and
resources that you have already received.
This is not to develop the country and its
infrastructure for the future.
The more I sit here an look at this the
more infuriated I become at the absolute
incompetence and spineless leadership
that has led to this scenario.
The hospital fiasco just adds more fuel
to the already blazing fiscal fiasco. These
are supposed to be educated and
intelligentprofessionals; one ofthembragging
that he had 165 people onhis payroll. Given
all thebreaks and tax credits, they can't even
run a small institution. Damn, I had close to
200 on my payroll with about a 5M annual
operating budget and never once ran in the
red.
I need to go sailing!

Kobuh
Tuh Gawd nuh, di monki
deh di run di zoo fitru

ing ny hair at!

Madam Editor,
I need to vent and nobody else is round
but you guys, so here goes.
GST. The government implemented
this monstrosity without thinking through
the consequences or properly training
businesses. As a travel agency based in
Belize, I have to pay GST on the
difference between what I pay to the
resorts and other tour operators on GST
applicable items, and what clients pay to
me. Basically, that means my commission
on tours, meals and transfers. The thing
is, most times I don't make a commission
on any of those things from hotels only
the hotel room, which is not subject to
GST. However, under the GST law, I
HAVE to have a GST compliant invoice
to show that I paid GST to the resort
even if the net gain to me is zero. So, if
the resort charges me $200 for meals and
transfers, they'll also charge me $20 for
GST, which of course I pass on to my
client. When I pay the hotel, I pay them
$220. However, if I don't have a GST
compliant invoice for the hotels showing
that they charged me $220, then the law
says that I have to again pay the $20 to


the GST folks.
Problem 1: Only travel agencies in
Belize have to have a GST invoice. There
are only maybe 20 of us in the country.
That means that resorts have to change
their entire procedure for a handful of
people maybe only 4 or 5, since not all
travel agents in the country represent a
full range of resorts and lodges. That
means we're a problem, and it's much
easier for them to deal with out of country
agencies and not have to deal with all that
paperworkAND get paid inUS dollars.
Problem 2: The government has
basically made the travel agencies
responsible for enforcing the law. If we
don't have the proper GST invoice, then
we're the ones who are penalized by not
being able to claim a credit for the GST
already paid to the hotel. The hotels and
resorts already find us a problem to deal
with (see problem no. 1) and ifwe make
too much trouble, they can just cancel
our reservations or refuse to accept
them, so we don't have a lot of leverage.
Problem 3: No matter how many times
I carefully make a list of what has to be
on the GST invoice, include a cite to the
Web site for the regulations, and even
the section number of the regulations, I
find it's almost impossible to get an
invoice that satisfies the regulations. (FYI,
if you're interested, the GST invoice
requirements are in Section 13 of the
regulations, which can be found at
www.gst.gov.bz. They're not difficult to
understand, believe me.)
Problem 4: Other travel agencies aren't
aware of the full requirements, or don't
seem to care. Two ofus actually went to
see the GST Commissioner to clarify
what is required, but we don't seem to be
able to convince any of our cohorts that
the law means what it says, and so does
the commissioner. Consequently, I'm told
by a few resorts that I'm the only one
asking for this kind of GST Invoice. Any
suggestions? I've begged, cajoled,
suggested, corrected, etc., etc., etc. Of
course, not everybody is a problem, but I
now have 6 files sitting on my desk from
last month, and 4 from this month for
which I don't have correct invoices. I
can't do my taxes for last month without
them, and the ones from this month
keep piling up. At this point, the only thing
I can think of to do is tattle, which will
make me highly popular- or move out
of the country so I don't have to deal
with all this.

Anybody want to buy a wholesale/retail
travel agency?
Mary Toy
Destination Belize, Placencia


~-- m(Continued From Page 1)
arrested bandits. They think that this
should be a priority of the government.
Could they be correct?
High cost. Our small towns used to be
full of back packing tourists. Now they
are empty. This means the whole
economy suffers. You can still get a basic
room and meal for not too much money,
but it is costly to get out to points of interest
and then when you have to pay $37.50
just to cross the border, you may want to


stay in Mexico or Guatemala instead. A
couple who has to pay $75.00 for the two
ofthemjust to get out of the country could
insteaduse the money to stay another night
in Belize, directly supporting the local
economy.
The Belize Tourist Board, in spite
of the fact that its maj or source of
income is the accommodations tax,
does not have a place on the board
for a representative of the hotel
industry. Should it?


SFr an cnmine version of the

INdependent Reformer

visit flzat

http: //www .belizanr th. cm/

I independentreformer. htm
* o
OR

Shttp: //belizras ccmV
S independentcnlie. pdf







Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 15


ARIES
(Mar. 21- April 20)
Don't get involved in joint ventures.
Help elders with their concerns.
Confronting a situation will only result
in indignation and misunderstandings.

TAURUS
(Apr. 21- nay 21)
Romance could develop through social
activities or short trips. Your home
environment may be hectic, which could
result in emotional upset if you aren't
well organized. The only thing you'll
accomplish is a bad reputation.

GEMINI
(May 22-June 21)
Take the time to help those less
fortunate. Don't overspend on friends
or children. Entertainment should
include sports events or physical
activities.

CANCER
(June 22-July 22)
Help elders in your family. You can
make a difference if you offer your help
at functions that involve children.
Limitation could set in if you've been
spending too much.

LEO
(July 23-A-g 22)
Problems with skin, bones, or teeth may
mess up your schedule. This will be a
very hectic day ifyou've made promises
to too many people. Social get-together
will bring you in contact with intelligent
new friends.

VIRGO
(Ag. 23 -Set. 23)
Pleasure trips will be favorable and
bring about possible romance. Be
cautious while traveling to foreign
countries. Keep your feet on the ground,
if you can.

LIBRA
(Set. 24 -Ct. 23)
You can deal with large institutions or
government agencies successfully today.
Travel will turn out to be far more
exciting than you imagined. You may find
that someone you live with may be
irritable; you're best to leave them
alone.

SCORPIO
(Oct. 24 -NTv. 22)
Romance can develop; however, it will
most probably be short-lived. You can


make some favorable changes to your
looks. You can enjoy your involvement
in organizations that make charitable
contributions.

SAGITTARIUS
(abr. 23 -D3. 21)
Your involvement in interest groups may
bring you popularity. Put your energy
into your work or moneymaking
ventures rather than into your emotional
life today. Don't be too quick to voice
your opinion. Listen to others carefully.

CAPRICORN
(Dc 22.- Jan. 20)
Some of your new friends may not be
that trustworthy. You won't impress
anyone by being overly generous.
Travel will also entice you.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)
You will be able to borrow money in
order to invest. Be cautious of making
any residential changes today. You
need adventure and excitement in
your life.

PISCES
(Feb. 20-Mar.23)
Be sure to sidestep those who are
eccentric or unpredictable. You may be
frustrated by the way situations are
being handled in your personal life.
People you live with will not be terribly
happy with you regardless of what you
do today.


Your weekly


Rape oil
-nJi(Continued From Page 13)
for expansion. The Villagers have been
trying for years to procure land on the
Peninsula where their children can
live with their families when the
children grow up. Their desires are
simply a commendable means of
keeping family's together.
The Villagers' desires have not
been fulfilled. Hundreds of acres
have been given out to Ferguson's
family, friends and supporters. Land
is to be developed and sub-divided
much of what will be sold to
foreigners while the Villagers
families go without.
There are Government Ministers
who still use the Villages as feeding


Belize Seeks

Naticrmal Assembly-


--M (Continued From Page 3)
earlyyears, addedMinisterEspat, andthat
itwould be unfairto our creditors to ask for
a complete debt service holiday. We will
therefore be following a step-up coupon
approach. The level of these coupons,
however, has been set well above Belize's
indicative restructuring scenarios. They are,
in effect, at the outer edge of what forecasts
show as being affordable for the country.
The Government is seeking National
Assembly approval for theissuance ofNew
Bondsthatwillmaturein2029, withpincipal
payments commencing in 2019. The New
Bondswillbearinterestinthefirstthreeyears
after issuance at a fixed per annum rate of
4.25%. In years four to five, the rate will
increase to 6.00%, and thereafter through
the maturity of the New Bonds the interest
rate will level off at 8.50% per annum. All
coupons will be paid in cash on their
respective due dates.
The terms of the exchange offer are


expected to provide that all participating
creditors will receive a cash payment atthe
closing of the transaction equal to unpaid
interest on their tendered claims accrued
through the closing date. Consequently,
interim debt servicepayments onthe existing
debts eligibleforthis exchange offerwill cease
immediately.
This communication is not an offer of
securities for sale in the United States.
Securities may notbe offered or soldinthe
United States absent registration or an
exemption from registration under the
SecuritiesAct of 1933, as amended. Any
public offeringofsecuritiestobemadeinthe
United States will be made by means of a
prospectus that may be obtained from the
issuer or selling security holder and that will
contain detailed information about the
Government ofBelize. No public offering of
securities intheUnited States is contemplated
by the Government ofBelize atthistime.
(GOB Press Release)


troughs for their own gain, while
Villagers suffer. It becomes clear
that there are Politicians who have
no conscience. They will promise
anything to get elected. Is it a form
of Political prostitution? If so the
prostitutes should not be re-
elected.
The voters should learn a valuable
lesson. Do not believe Party
Manifestos, they are a form of hot
air that cools off and is forgotten
when the party gets into office.
The voters should take into
consideration all of the false or
broken promises previously made
and not re-elect any of those who
made the promises.


atmr


111 175 yards to Gu



























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PAGE 1

Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 1 INdependent Reform for the PeopleVol. 1 No. 3 Tuesday, December 12, 2006 $1.00 Inside this Issue TheThe Village Council Act was adopted by the Legislature on the 28th day of January 2000. The purpose of the act was to empower the Villages and give them the autonomy to enable them to conduct their own affairs. The Prime Minister, the Hon. Said Musa, presented the act to the villagers. He held up a copy of the act and spoke of the struggle that he had with the other Ministers in having Village Council Act passed to become law. But the Villagers were to learn that the struggle was just beginning. There were Ministers that coveted the power that belonged to them. They were to learn that instead of gaining power, the Villages would be stripped of authority that had always been recognized as theirs. The act provided the Villages with the right to draft and have approved Legislation that was necessary to govern them. Yet none of the Villages have been able to take advantage of the act. There were Ministers who, like piranhas, devoured the Villagers’ rights.Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a VillagePursuant to the act, the Village of Placencia proceeded to have their ByLaws and the Legislation that was necessary to carry out the functions of the Village prepared. So that everything would be proper in form they employed an eminent attorney to assist them. The completed legislation was forwarded to the Human Development Office for its approval. The office gave its approval and forward the proposed legislation to the Solicitor General’s Office, for him to place the Legislation before the legislators for its final approval. The proposed legislation rested on the Solicitor General’s desk for two (2) years,without further action. In the meantime, there were many aspects of the affairs of the Villages that were causing problems. Among the problem were, lack of building restrictions. People were building up to property lines without proper set backs for light and air. There was the inability to raise funds necessary to conduct Village affairs, licenses were granted without the Villages approval. The Village’s Legislation that had been approved by the Human Development Office remained on the Solicitor General’s desk. It stayed there in spite of the PUP’s promise in their 1998 Manifesto that, provided: “a Village Council Act will be passed taking into full account the proposals of the Villagers. Ministerial power over all these bodies will be phased out”. Nothing has been phased out. The UDP had responded in their 1998 Manifesto that “The new UDP Government Rape of a Village will introduce Legislation for a Village Council Act to provide autonomy to Villages”. (Please Turn To Page 13) Why would 34 hotels throughout the country of Belize offer free rooms to guests for 4 nights in December? Maybe because, after a bad “off-season”, they wanted to prove that Belize is just as great during this time as it is when it is busy? In fact, some people like it better when it is not crowded and they have Maya sites, caves, rivers, trails and coastal activities virtually to themselves. From December 3-7, nearly 100 people enjoyed f r e e rooms and one of them,Yvonne Rose, a US citizen, was the winner of a US$1,000.00 Bank Account donated by Atlantic Bank. We didn’t get a photo of Yvonne, because she had gone from Cayo’s Crystal Paradise Resort to Caye Caulker when the drawing was held on December 6, but Efren Perez from the BTIA office tracked her down and herFree Stay Belize updateprize will be awarded to her in New York next week. He also did an outstanding job of keeping the website up to date and the information flow going. The general consensus of the people who were lucky enough to take advantage of the free rooms is that Belize is a great place to visit and they will tell their friends about it. Some of them said that they wouldn’t have thought of coming here but were very happy hey did. And we all know what our best advertising is work of mouth. Belize’s Advertising Agency, RFCP did a great job of getting the word out on this program and it received publicity from several major US newspapers, radio stations and websites. Dani Pop from the BTIA office did a great job of creating an instant website where people could log on and make their own reservations. A lot of people were skeptical about our really offering free rooms and thought it was some sort of scam. Ms. Rose and a lot of other people can assure you that it wasn’t. Our overnight tourism business is shaky at the moment and our occupancy isthe lowest in the Caribbean. A few of the reasons could be: The cruise industry is a deterrent to eco-tourists who respect the environment and culture, spend time learning about places they visit and appreciate where they are. These folks, along with a lot of people in the overnight tourism industry, believe in truth in advertising and don’t think that we can court massive cruise ships and present ourselves as an eco destination at the same time. Crime scares people away. People who read before they come wonder why the private sector had to provide reward money and equipment for recently By: Judy Duplooy Dir ector , Belize Hotel Association (Please Turn To Page 13)Bond presented to National Assembly Pg. 3 To o l i t t l e , t o o l a t e Pg. 4 Don’t destroy the bedrock Pg. 5 Total Madness Pg. 7 Crime and the Belizean Society Pg. 8 By Special Correspondent(Photo courtesy Destination Belize)

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 2 Editorial Director Meb Cutlack Editor Karla Heusner Vernon Design/Layout Marigold Enterprise General Manager Trevor Vernon Published by: Independent Publishing P.O. Box 2666Telephones:(501) 225-3520 Email: independent.newspaper .bz@gmail.comPrinted by:National PrintersCompany Ltd.New Road Belize City, BelizeLetters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor“Quote of the Week” Send me 6 months of the INdependent Reformer for as little as BZ$30.00 (US$30.00 international) INdependentReformer The YES! Name (please print) Address Apt. City State Zip Email Address Payment Included Bill me later Prices for subscription and postage may vary for subscription outside Belize. independendent.newspaper.bz@gmail.com Hard to swallowMadam Editor, I had a little difficulty swallowing Meb Cutlack’s Shrimp Scampi . He opened his piece by cursing a proposed GOB decision to ease the tax pressure on the shrimp industry as “the most extraordinary crony deal yet devised.” Yet, in the third paragraph of his article he states that this tax relief is coming “at a time when the international shrimp market has been hit by an unprecedented glut of Asian shrimp which has lowered the price of shrimp internationally to less than the price of chicken in many countries!” In the fourth paragraph Mr. Cutlack concluded that there is no way Belize “can possibly compete with the rising Asian shrimp industry.” Indeed, Madam Editor, can we compete with Asia with anything? If we follow Cutlack’s logic we should have closed down the citrus industry when Florida and Brazil had us squeezed these last two decades. And we should have closed down the sugar industry a long time ago too. Please, what is to become of us? I got the sense from the article that the author has a strong bias for tourism. I also got the sense that he has a problem with mega projects (which I share), and that the scale of tax relief for shrimps is the real bug. On the latter matter he would have had to do more research, punch in numbers to justify condemnation of the government’s PROTECTION. The reality is that our government must do what it has to do to protect Belizean agro-industries and manufacturing. It did not do enough for citrus during the hard times. It is not doing enough for sugar in these hard times. Maybe it is not doing enough for banana, yes, and tourism at this time. I will not condemn it if it does enough for shrimp to help us weather this storm. In respect to mega projects, Jim Hyde, one of the pioneers of the shrimp industry, was a firm believer that Belizeans should participate in the shrimp and fish farm industries, not only as workers, BUT AS OWNERS OF SMALL FARMS. He felt that such farms are not only financially viable, but that they are important for our social structure. I am certain the farm models he designed and advocated are on files. Finally, there is a certain irony to the present shrimp situation. Mr. Cutlack noted in paragraph four of his article that the Asian glut “has lowered the price of shrimp internationally to less than the price of chicken in many countries!” I was told that Keith Jackson, who brought his money from Texas (?) to start the shrimp industry in Belize, dreamed that shrimp would one day compete with chicken for Sunday dinner! Respect, Colin HydeMissed a good speechMadam Editor, Thanks for the tone and quality of information in your newspaper. I especially like your news stories on what hoteliers are doing to fight a crooked government, and, government’s complete tax giveaways to the shrimp industry. Those stories may well have played in other papers. I don’t think so. But no one is reporting that essential information. You did not carry Dean Barrow’s speech to the Better Business Bureau, probably because you didn’t receive it. However the Guardian reprinted a copy and I was impress with the Opposition Leader’s first call for reform: The right of the people to recall a minister or Government if they determined they have been lied to or they need to stop an ongoing situation like these Pirates Using Politics (PUP) to loot the Belizean ship of state. I have been screaming for that reform from down in P.G. (which is out of the loop) because that truly ensures that power stays in the hands of the people. The right of the people to recall a minister or Government for cause—either for promising what can’t be delivered just to win an election, or, once in office, doing what the politicians wants because they rule by right for five years— is an essential way we the people can control the people we elect to government. For that reason I urge you to reprint Mr. Barrow’s speech. ….you will realize that the PUP has built a masterful misinformation system that the UDP, for some reason, has not really responded to. So you see the INdependent is truly needed! C. Eddie Edmondson Punta Gorda (Please Turn To Page 14) Belize C.A.For an online version of the INdependent Reformer v i s i t u s a t http://www .belizenor th.com/ independentr eformer .htm OR http://belizenews.com/ independentonline.pdf

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 3 The Government of Belize announced that it will seek the approval of the Belizean National Assembly for the financial terms of an offer to exchange most categories of Belize?s outstanding external commercial indebtedness for new U.S. Dollar Bonds (the ?New Bonds?). If approved by the National Assembly, the exchange offer will be formally launched later this month. The decision to seek the National Assembly’s approval for these terms was preceded by four months of intensive consultations by Belize and its financial advisers with the affected creditors. The financial terms for which approval is being sought are based on economic data and forecasts that have been published by the International Monetary Fund as part of Belize’s most recent Article IV Consultation, and take account of the views expressed byBelize Seeks National Assembly Appr oval for Exchange Off e rcreditors during the period of consultations. The creditor consultations were very helpful to us in defining the terms for which parliamentary approval is now being sought, said Mark Espat, Minister of National Development of Belize. A consensus seemed to form around the maturity date of the New Bond (twenty-two years), as well as on the desirability of preserving principal at the aggregate level. The most debated issue was Hon. Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition“There was an interest payment, there was a coupon due today and the government has not paid it and let the Prime Minister try to deny that. What is happening today is default and its not just me saying so, Standard and Poor’s also said that it revised to D its long term currency ratings. D is default and if anybody doesn’t accept that D is default then the only thing D can possibly stand for then is duncy. So we are jacking up our creditors. We are telling them we have stopped paying. We have until I think the end of March they are saying in the motion to try and persuade you to accept the new arrangements so that we can then resume paying so that our default doesn’t continue. And if you don’t do that, then you will not be paid at all. The nation needs to understand that we are leveraging the creditors in what in the end may prove to be at least partially a partially effective way but at the utter expense of our credibility and our good name by telling them we are stop paying now and you can hope that we will start to pay you by the end of March so you better accept our terms or the default will continue and you’ll get nothing. Don’t give the Belizean nation the impression that you have been able to work any wonders or that the path you are walking is not in fact attended by opprobrium on the part of the international community. .. We will be known as an economically failed state. We will be known as a hard pay, can’t pay vagabond nation. That is what this means.” -excerpt of the proceedings at the National Assembly, Friday December 8, 2006 --the proper coupon structure of the New Bonds. Some creditors proposed a total debt service holiday in the early years, followed by an immediate jump back to very high fixed coupons. Others advised a more gradual, step-up coupon structure, consistent with Belize’s projected capacity to pay. We concluded that Belize can afford to make some coupon payments, even in the (Please Turn To Page 15) “All along they have been predicting that this debt rearrangement, debt restructuring would fail, that we would default, that the whole world will collapse around us, and indeed they came today, despite the evidence staring at them in the face to the contrary, they came here today, in the words of the Leader of the Opposition, to speak about Belize being a failed state, a vagabond nation, that we are jacking up creditors. These are very serious words that have a serious indictment on the whole country coming from somebody who pretends and aspires to become the leader of our nation. It is a shame, it is disgusting, and in fact it proves one point: that he may be, I am not trying to go personal here, he may be a good lawyer but when he talks about politics, this is where we should really be using the D word indeed, because he is proving himself to be the political dunce in all this.” -excerpt of the proceedings at the National Assembly, Friday December 8, 2006 --PM Said Musa Email your digital photograph for the Social Page toindependent.newspaper.bz@gmail.com

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 4 Finally, there is something worth reading in the Belize Times. Whether or not Godfrey Smith’s column “Flashpoint” is actually a reflection of PUP insider thinking or just a good gimmick to pull in readers is not yet clear, but the first two installments have certainly been thought provoking. Frankly, many of us could care less if there is a wall at the tourism village or not; most Belizeans are more interested in trying to keep thieves out of their own homes and shops, not dividing up the money pie at the Fort. But I have to admit I did enjoy Smith’s reference to Pink Floyd’s song “The Wall,” even though it dates a great many of us since the younger folks aren’t tuned in to the type of music we enjoyed as teens. It was a great metaphor for what the inner sanctum of this country’s political parties tend to do: erect barriers, brick by brick, to insulate themselves from the real world. I know, I know, he didn’t mean it that way, that’s just how I read it. The beauty of writing is that it’s often subject to interpretation. I suppose the very last brick of that wall was placed this week when Smith wrote that he believes Ralph Fonseca should not run again for the sake of the party. Hmmm, nowToo little, too late Karla Heusner V ernon that is novel thought. We must have been mistaken when we thought that was what Mark Espat was saying when he called him “Chief Crony” in public. And excuse me if I am wrong, but wasn’t that what the cabinet revolt was all about all those months ago? Godfrey Smith would have remembered that and referred to it, wouldn’t he? After all, wasn’t he a part of health care system run broke by the Fonseca/ Musa administration, Mark Espat is out there trying to get the creditors off the country’s back after the Fonseca/Musa administration maxed out the credit cards and got us billions in debt, Johnny Briceno is trying to clean up the mess the Fonseca/Musa administration got the real estate market into and sort out the duplications of land grants and titles and leases listed to but end up with choice ministries anyway. Why should this time be any different? Why should Belizeans have any reason to believe he will not simply sit out the election and then sit back in Cabinet once more? So far, Belizeans aren’t buying it, anymore than they believe pumping money into Universal Health Services is going to guarantee universal health coverage for all, or that THIS time the NHI really IS going to “Roll out” on the southside or northside or Toledo side or any side at all. Next to the Orange Walk By-pass, NHI roll outs are probably among the longest standing campaign promises ever!We did, finally, get the by-pass, after budgeting for it in about 10 or 12 budget readings, so maybe…stranger things have happened.But we’re sorry, Mr. Smith, asking Ralph Fonseca not to run is way, way over due to do the PUP any good. As for the nice little wall you’ve built around yourselves, well, any real engineer could tell you its got so many cracks in it any little tremor, even offshore, is likely to bring it down around your ears. For many Belizeans, the only actions that could save the PUP is if both party leaders were to announce they would not contest the next General Election, have the party chose a new leader and give the country the assurances neither Fonseca, nor Musa, would be given seats in Cabinets, or any portfolios at all. Short of such drastic change, anything else is too little, too late. “...is running Ralph out on a rail going to be enough to put the PUP back on track with the voters...”that little party? At least, in the beginning. To give him the benefit of the doubt, let’s suppose his is a strategy of reform, reform from the inside. Why, he is so effective he can now call for Ralph’s head right from the pages of the party’s own newspaper. That’s really something. Talk about freedom of the press! Let’s track down the rest of the G-7 now, shall we? Eamon Courtenay is now head of Foreign Affairs and trying to repair the damage to Belize’s image abroad done by the Fonseca/Musa administration, Jose Coye is trying to piece back together the multiple owners. Cordel Hyde? Well, not sure what he’s up to these days, but we can’t wait to hear all about it. Unfortunately, I can’t quite remember the name of the other member of the 7—oh yes, Servulo Baeza! Hmm, is he still in government? As interesting as all the speculation—and gossip— is about whether or not Ralph Fonseca will run again, is running Ralph out on a rail going to be enough to put the PUP back on track with the voters, dig Belize out of debt, smooth over the scandals, or raise the Prime Minister’s ratings? Its not new for Fonseca not to run for office

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 5 WeBAD The bedrock, upon which the entire tourism in Belize is built and based, is the environment: the Barrier reef, the country´s rivers, beaches, streams, wild life and the hundreds of varieties of flora ranging from the tiny black orchid to the magnificent mahogany and giant Guanacaste trees and, as important as any of the above, Belize´s extraordinary Mayan past. All of the above mentioned treasures of Belize are now under some sort of siege from recent government policies. The bedrock upon which so much of our tourism is based is being deliberately chipped away by projects such as Chalillo, the Ara Macao project and, most dramatically, by the entire cruise ship industry. Ruined rivers (some of which now carry lead and other poisons) don’t bring visitors. Vanished forests, despoiled Mayan cave networks and eroded beaches don´t bring visitors. Instead, cruise ship tourists, who gape but don’t buy – chase away overnight and long stay visitors. The same long stay visitors, are the true breadwinners for Belize and Belizeans. Their money does not just slip into a bottomless jar labled ´General Revenue´ for our prolific government to waste as It sees fit. ‘Long stay’ money spreads like a bountiful tide across theDon Don Don Don Don ’t de ’t de ’t de ’t de ’t de str str str str str o o o o o y the bedr y the bedr y the bedr y the bedr y the bedr ock ock ock ock ock By Meb Cutlackcountry touching small lodges and restaurants, guide services, taxi drivers -in city and districts and yes, hair braiders too. Long stay visitors come in dignity and often with a deep interest in Belize and Belizeans. Cruise ship tourists, more They will only see giant projects managed from abroad, huge tourism enterprises locking thousands of “new tourists” into stategic compounds safe from local contamination except for a very few local staff struggling to survive against ímported labour sanctioned by some crooked minister or another. These enterprises are like beached a trick and warned against accepting the gift, but no one listened, and the horse and gifts were duly hauled into their fortress. The Trojans merrily drank the wine in celebration as they considered the horse, the wine and the whole affair, a surrender by the Greeks. It wasn’t. When night fell, and all were “in a drunken stupor”, the Greek soldiers hidden in the horse came out and sacked the city of Troy. Hence the expression, “Never trust a Greek Bearing gifts”! Well, translated into modern terms, relating to Belize, that means don’t trust the lavish promises made by huge foreign enterprises. Check out what has happened with BEL, with BTL and, what is still happening, with our disputed water company. Conversely, labeling environmentalists and “greens” as some type of Enemies of the State is a deliberate ploy by the friends of big business to lull Belizeans into accepting their Trojan horses labelled “Ara Macao”, “BEL”, “BTL” and “cruise ship tourism” through the gates of unspoilt Belize. A single terrorist attack on a cruise ship could sink the whole cruise ship industry and a huge chunk Of Belizeans resources and debt, which are sunk into it, along with the industry. Think about it! likely than not, see Belize as just another grubby port city where they are warned not to eat or to drink the water. One of the cruise ship companies even displays a poster depicting a person with bloody facial wounds and carrying a warning about Belize. One day our grandchildren and their children will ask: “What happened to Belize? Didn´t it used to be a beautiful unsploilt country with great forests, mighty rivers, wildlife, precious coral islands and beaches? cruise ships,which already exist in Mexico. Without exception they are owned from abroad or “offshore” and that´s where the profits flow— offshore. A Belize Hotel Association board member recently likened cruise ships tourism to a Trojan horse -a trick the ancient Greeks employed by hauling a huge wooden horse into the forecourt of the castle of the Trojans. It was offered as a gift with barrels of wine and other goodies. The wise men among them suspectedCHALLILO DAM is still a LIE Our electricity bills have skyrocketed The fish are not safe to eat The Macal River looks and smells bad We don’t know how safe the Macal River water i s to drink or to swim in. We still don’t know what to do if there i s a dam break emergency.Fortis/BECOL failed to keep their promises on the Chalillo Dam. On Vaca Dam, estimated cost of US$50 million!! they are not making promises (only profits)We Belizeans Against the Dam Visit The Belize ZooThe Best Little Zoo In The W orld For an online version of the INdependent Reformer v i s i t u s a t http://www .belizenor th.com/ independentr eformer .htm OR http://belizenews.com/ independentonline.pdf “One day our grandchildren and their children will ask: “What happened to Belize? Didn´t it used to be a beautiful unsploilt country with gr eat fore s t s , mighty rivers, wildlife, precious coral islands and beaches?”

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 6 “Quote of the Week”What helps to rally and unite people in need? One thing is a plan to satisfy their needs. Who are the people in need? In the Toledo District everyone except the very rich are in need. The poor obviously need gainful employment. The middle class need security and income to maintain their wealth. When the poor are desperate they resort to stealing from those who have. The middle class often have borrowed to develop their land and businesses. If they can not make the money they need to pay their loans they can lose what they have. Both the poor and wealthy can succumb to the temptation to drugs and alcohol. So the plan must be for everyone, the rich and the poor. A plan that everyone can identify with. A plan that they can see will help them. Is that all that’s needed to rally the majority of the people? Yes, but to get the support of all the people no! The fact is there is a small number of very rich and powerful individuals and groups who are not interested in truly changing the situation. They are battling to safeguard their power and profits by opposing change. Right now in Toledo and the rest of Belize there seems to be a stand-off between the concerns of 90% of the population and the prerogatives of the corporations, the heads of our government, the wealthy elites who benefit from things as they are. They do not want positive change for the people. Ironically, the “Peace” Corps and other volunteers are supporting them. Some of our top political rulers understand implicitly that their system is established to suit the needs of the few, not the many, and that the people cannot therefore ever be permitted to question and alter their rule. They will propose and fund projects doomed to failure, but not those that will succeed. Our government and those non government organizations who work so well with them, have worked incessantly to see that important issues like the Toledo People’s Eco Park are never publicly debated, or allowed a chance. The poverty forums, the many meetings and seminars, and the most recent, Toledo. Strategy and Action Plan 20062009 clearly shows This— the lawyers call it“proof by omission.” The Ministry of Economic Development has been forced to admit that the results of their previous projects have been “disappointing” and the level of disappointment has reached a point where residents are wary of development projects and external aid, that come in the same packages. The obvious question is then, if our government truly believes this, why did they not support the Memorandum of Understanding in support of The Toledo People’s Eco Park Plan signed by leaders from across the board in Toledo? It was designed by and for the people of Toledo, using the democratic participatory planning process. The present Minister of Economic Development has stated in the forward to the “new” strategy plan, that, “there is no better recipe for success than a government that coordinates and plans, then uses the plans to guide investments”. The truth is the “best recipe” for a truly free and participatory democratic government, is when the government listens to the plans that the people design and develop, and then helps to coordinate and find investment for them! When our present system begins to walk their talk, when they abandon dishonest PR and buying elections, permits a representative media and is comfortable establishing a genuinely equalitarian participatory democracy because it no longer fears the power of the many, then Belize will shine and be truly free. Neo liberalism is the defining political economic paradigm in Belize today. It refers to the policies and processes where by a relative handful of private interests are permitted to control as much as possible of social life in order to maximize their personal profit. President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela held up a book at the United Nations that tells more about this. Our government leaders’ speeches sound as if they are doing poor people, the environment, and everybody else a tremendous service as they enact policies on behalf of the wealthy few. The economic consequences of these policies have been the same. A massive increase in social and economic inequality, a huge public debt, a marked increase in severe deprivation for the poorest of our people. The 2002 poverty assessments indicated that 79% of the people of Toledo are poor and 56% are very poor or indigent. Although well over 61 million dollars in foreign aid has been allocated to the district since 1978. (note: this does not include governments counter part funds.) thepeople of Toledo are poorer now then ever before. In the foreword to the Strategy and Action Plan for 2006-2009, the Minister of Economic Development states, “a conscious attempt was made not to focus on the negative features of the prevailing environment in the Toledo District”. Why does government not want to focus on the negative reasons for the previous projects failures and for our growing poverty? Because they don’t want radical change in the fallacious theory that guides their policies--that one can reach the poor by expanding a process controlled by the rich. Belize’s official aid diagnoses is the poor are poor because they lackcertain things, credit, good roads, better seeds, etcetera. But what the poor really lack is power, power to secure what they need. Our government policies focus on the lack of materials. Their focus should be on the lack of power. Therein lies the fundamental difference. Some of our government leaders have made a big name & money calling for “power to the people”. But today you have to address them as “Your Excellency” while the “poorest of the poor” are worse off then ever before. The Memorandum of Understanding in support of the further development of theToledo People’s Eco Park Plan was signed on September 12th 2003 by representatives of all the democratically elected leaders of Toledo District. The major conservation and development organizations, The Toledo Civil Society and other groups signed. The USA Peace Corps, seeing this consensus, later signed. Although two acting heads of the Ministry of Economic Development were personally presented with the Toledo People’s Eco Park Plan Memorandum of Understanding and project description and plans, they refused to support the peoples request for the further development of the plan. When pressed,one PUP government representative said. “Look if we allow you to try your pilot project in three or four villages and PG Town as you want, and it is successful everyone will want to do it and there will be no stopping them”. The government has been very successful in supporting projects designed in London, Washington, Belmopan or elsewhere which have failed miserably. Sometimes the same consultants have been used—locally we call them “consultants for failure”. However they will not support a program designed by the people of Toledo. Today they have another project financed by European Union, The Belize Rural Development Project, to the tune of millions more. It is very similar to the previous failed projects. How can the government Ministers and these funders be so blind? Who doesn’t know that it is unreasonable to expect different results when continually trying the same methods? These Ministers, banks, and the NGOs they fund, have made a lot of money. If they truly wanted different results, they would surely try different approaches. Any good businessperson knows they will quickly go out of business if they continue to waste their capital. The people of Toledo are not as ignorant as our government and the funders want to believe. The current Minister of Economic Development for the rich, is correct when he writes, “a spirit of consultation fatigue prevails in Toledo District”. The level of disappointment has reached the point where residents of the District are wary of development projects and external aid. Why then doesn’t our government give the peoples plan a chance? Some who don’t know about what we Belizean’s have traditionally called “victimization”, may ask why the leaders and respected civic leaders who signed as witnesses, the head of our Justices of the Peace, and another JP who was awarded The Order of the British Empire, and the many ordinary citizens who appreciated their standing up to the plate and asking that the people’s plan be given a fair chance don’t protest?The simple answer, is because of our legitimate fear of those more powerful in this little-changed, post colonial, hierarchal, often quasi feudal political and social structure. But we can longer afford to be afraid. “More power to the People of Belize”.In unit In unit In unit In unit In unit y there is strength y there is strength y there is strength y there is strength y there is strength By Chet Schmidt Comments? Suggestions?or want to share your thoughtsEmail us at Independent.newspaper.bz@gmail.com

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 7 CHUC SER VICE STATIONSWeekly $500 raff l e continues this monthGet one ticket with every $25 purchase November W innersWeek 1 Glenis Smith week 2 Jorgeb Munoz week 3 Unclaimed No 975894 week 4 Unclaimed No 576516OUR BUSINESS IS FUEL AND TYRES B y : T r evor V ernon Total madness Total madness Total madness Total madness Total madness Last week this newspaper ran a cartoon (see December 5, 2006 issue) which I believe captures the essence of a fundamental flaw in the type of government we inherited. Like sheep, we adopted it, never contemplating the camel trading that was to come, or the politicians that would arrive on the scene, with egos and complexes to rival that of Napoleon with Jack Palance’s face. Something is fundamentally flawed with our “Parliamentary Democracy that is based on the Westminster Model”. We all learned about that idealistic government model, some us at St Mary’s Primary back in the early 1970’s. It was the royal ideal for us natives. But, somewhere along the line, the royal ideal was contaminated. We are left now with a system totally out of step wisth the optimistic perceptions that have the Belizean people electing and re-electing two political parties that enrich not the country, but themselves. Where are the Englishmen who taught us right from wrong? All we get now is their snotty rich offspring pillaging what their own fathers tried to create, and leave as their legacy. Many in Belize, particularly the older generation still revere that legacy. I was out distributing this paper’s first issue a couple weeks ago and approached an “ageable” lady. At first, she was reluctant to take a free copy of the IN so I had to convince her. In a flash of insight, I blurted out, “We have a great picture of the Queen with a local man presenting credentials!’ The lady melted: “Is she still alive?” Oh, e luk good! Mek a read it, man”. How incredible, that we have forgotten that there is still a Queen and that she is still our titular head of state. Now I am not a constitutional law expert, nor have I consulted one. This is a layman’s commentary on the sad state of affairs that exists in this, our country, today. It’s a slightly different take, so stay with me. I believe that the judiciary needs to be much more independent, in both public perception and reality. Way, way, way more so. Hire some constitutional experts to amend the constitution to give teeth to the guarantees of the total independence of this branch of government. But do SOMETHING! I used to think that busting up the old boys’ club would do it but these days I am not so sure. I used to think that we should change the system to admit anyone and everyone with a degree and experience in the courts should be admitted. Some still think this would make a huge difference. Back in the upper Standards at St. Mary’s, I was blessed with great teachers and they hammered this parliamentary democracy thing in my head. When the other branches can run roughshod over the Judiciary like they did during the recent BTL AGM meeting, I get real nervous. I feel altogether hopeless when the constitutional opposition appears to be on board with the bastardization of our “parliamentary democracy based of the Westiminster Model”. This malignant condition however is not without remedy; but, the solution must be multifaceted in its approach. Additionally, I think the constitutional reform must also provide for elections within the judicial branch itself and extended to include an elected police chief, free from Minister’s whims & fancies; elected judges free from the Legal Adviser’s whims and fancies; elected magistrates, free from the AG’s arrogance; elected DPP free from overbearing influences, and an elected Registrar General to give that office total freedom from extra-judicial pressures. Elect them all and provide budgets for each office, each with constitutional guarantees and adequate comforts to provide real protection to the rule of law. In seeking to right what many Belizeans are seeing as a betrayal by those who are currently elected to office, it seems reasonable that we should focus on separation of powers among the judiciary, the legislative, and the executive branches of government. Of the three branches, it appears the Judiciary needs to be the most separate from the other two. The judiciary must be given even more constitutional protection to be able to isolate itself from the other two highly politicized sectors in this triad. And the way to make the judiciary more independent rests not only with the charades and pretenses of superficial change. Somehow, some way, we must alter the façade of the constitutional structure of this inherited Westminster modeled parliamentary democracy to ensure that we are truly democratic and as free as possible from egomaniac influences, and unscrupulous individuals, who continue to crucify her with an expired mandate from the people. Wake up Belize and take the camel by the hump.

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 8 The Coopers run this great little restaurant across from Home Protector Insurance in University Heights. While we must say the are better places in town to have rice and beans, their’ s is above average However, the ambience, secure location, cleanliness and friendly service more than make up the deficit. And the free pie is well worth the trip. We sampled their fish balls and the cow foot soup. The portions were ample and the delivery time to our table was brisk. We were told that we had missed an excellent (and evidently crowded) Thanksgiving lunch...so I have made a date for next year. By the way, don’t forget to try the golden plum juice. Daily Specials, Lunch only $7 & up This is not an article which has been written to examine the root cause of crime, but a hint of that will be provided as well. There is no doubt that a demographic area, where a person resides , assists in the shaping of his character, but again one cannot underscore the fact too that while schools serve to educate, there are delinquent student mentors who are at these institutions of learning assisting to miseducate anyone who has an inclination to do so. One of my friends was raising his children in the inner city, but after he moved away to a more appropriate residential area, the change in his children was so dramatic and so thorough, it is hard to believe and would also take a lot of time to explain. There is no secret to the dramatic change, because living in certain demographic areas is like living in a vacuum. In certain of these areas some youths are forced to become gang members , for their own protection, otherwise they may be the targets of abuse for their own neighbourhood. They may not have more friends either, if they are not attending school. In short they will be like an outsider in their own neighbourhood. It seems too that many of the killings has to do with women, since Belizean men are always controlling and seems to push the boundaries of a relationship beyond it’s perimeter, long after it’s over. They are women too, one of whom I know personally, who keeps gang boys and have them perpetrate violence against the previous one she left, and she tells women clearly too that if they slip up with her, her boyfriend is going to shoot them. The main source of the killings in Belize, though, seems to be revenge killings, where one shooting is inextricably linked to the other. The pattern of revenge just keeps going and going , without stopping. If one worked around the courts, one would be able to see that there is one set of people consistently coming before the courts. What is even worse than a person who has been convicted twice or thrice, at least something is known about him, but a person who has been charged for nine counts of attempted murder and convicted for none: this has a deeper meaning than it appears on the surface. It means that apart from perpetrating violence, this person is knowledgeable of how to go about instilling fear in others. The very thing which weakens the state’s capacity to prosecute. And any society which allows too many violent people to run amok, will cause that society to become violent; because people will have to think in a violent frame of mind to deal with them. We are also living in a society where the bad guys carry guns and the good g uys carry none, in short the good citizens are unarmed. When a good guy shoots a bad guy the police have no problems finding witnesses. The case in point, is that the good citizen is afraid of being a witness, because he may suffer the same faith as the person who was killed. In the case of the bad guy, it is the other way around; whenever a bad guy or a gang member is shot, there is automatically a lot of witness, with the exception of those who say we will settle it in the streets: meaning they will simply shoot the person when the opportunity arrives. The essential point that is being made here is that licences for guns should be given out more liberally i.e. a person who has been consistently employed for ten years along with two testimonials that he is not an uncontrollable drunk, should be able to get a gun without a problem. Again too, any person who wants a gun, should get a replica firearm and see how well they can safe guard it, or whether there may be a possibility that they will get shot with their own gun. And most importantly , if they can figure, how it disappeared or who went with it, all these experiments I carried out to weigh the pro’s and con’s of keeping a firearm. Keeping a firearm is one thing, but to be prepared to defend yourself at the spur of the moment is another thing: things criminal happens so quickly. I think too, even the definition of police protection, some people have misled themselves to believe that the police should be like magicians, to appear out of nowhere when some breach of the law is occurring: that happens in the movies, not in real life. No thief is going to make it known he is going to burglarize a house, to have the police waiting for him – that is undermining the purpose. Thieves don’t like danger just like everybody else, so they only burglarize places they have knowledge of, or have been provided information about. I would like to emphasize here too that the people who utilize the services of the police the most, are some of these same people who are criminally inclined, and who spend their time criticizing the police. Some of these people can’t even control their own children, in other cases children are encouraged because they come from crime families. When these people appear at court, they don’t come there weeping or crying, they come well prepared. They come with their lawyers, they know how to acquire bail, they know all the right procedures and most of all they don’t waste time getting emotional and crying all over the place, their affairs are well organized. The main problem, which I think is affecting the courts, which is the root cause of cases falling apart, is the problem of locating witnesses. This task falls on policemen; and most people knows that if the police goes looking for someone in a crime riddled area: the only response the policeman will get is “he doesn’t live here” or “I don’t know who you arelooking for”. This job of locating witnesses should be considered of paramount importance, because when you are in court, if you have a witness you may have a case, if you don’t have no witness you don’t have no case, it’s as simple as that. Apart from that it’s who the jurors believe. Once the system cannot procure these witnesses, the system has been undermined. A suggestion here which I have spoken openly about, is the idea that the courts should hire several process servers, who knows their way around the town, and who is not a policeman. It is self evident that as some people see a policeman, their jawbones become locked, in a society like Belize, once you have lived on the Southside of Belize City, you notice that many people hide from the policeman, the bill collector and the landlord. It should also be noted that the offices of the Director of Public Prosecution’s, is and has been for many years, under several previous directors, understaffed. I can recall many many years ago, the entire criminal calendar for the year was about three cases, but we are aCrime and Belizean Society Crime and Belizean Society Crime and Belizean Society Crime and Belizean Society Crime and Belizean Society By Richard HulseHunt for good foodWi t h Anthony HuntD&R Creole & American Cuisine University Blvd. HHH (Please Turn To Page 12)

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 9

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 10 “Quote of the Week”Those were the words from the chairperson of “Transparency International,” Huguette Labelle, at the seventeenth conference of the OAS in the lecture series of the Americas . Transparency International is a civil society organisation dedicated to the fight against corruption worldwide. It was created by the OAS Permanent Council to promote democratic principles and values in the countries of the hemisphere, and when the conferences are held recognised speakers are invited to speak on such key issues as stated in the above headline. The chairperson pointed out, that free elections have produced a new generation of leaders in the OAS region and many of them were elected on “anticorruption” platforms. But as we know only too well, in the CARICOM region many of the states are riddled with corruption and lack of integrity in public office. Readers will recall that, only very recently, the same body produced a report in which Barbados got very high marks and praise for its transparency and honest dealings; while Grenada was lumped together with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana , as the most notorious trio for corruption dealings and lack of transparency and integrity in public office in the region. A very black mark indeed. But, from the record of the dealings by our politicians, at least some of them, during the past ten years in office, who can argue with the accusers or the critics about our saddened state of affairs? And the very few who do try to paint a different picture in public forums end COMMENTARY Law and Politics: Integrity in public office and preventing corruption up being ridiculed for their poor efforts because, as it is said in another circle, you cannot defend the indefensible. The latest corruption charges, surrounding the Deputy Prime Minister, Gregory Bowen, have taken on such widespread proportions at home and abroad, that they are even impacting negatively on what appears to be quite genuine development investments now coming on stream. And, in addition thereto, the scandal that seems to have put a serious damper on the people’s prospects of benefiting from gas and oil dollars is now magnified by the economic hell they are catching, because of the very poor state of the economy which was brought about by “Ivan and Emily.” The interest being shown by all and sundry, young and old, and quite ordinary folks, who normally pay little or no heed to such matters, is a clear indication that they view this scandal in a quite different light from those that went before. And the long standing period of secrecy, and the total absence of transparency have made matters far more alarming. When questions were being asked by Mr Reynold Benjamin in public articles, and Mr Grynberg himself, in a letter to the Prime Minister, dated February 28, 2003, told him .... “I have refrained from getting involved in Grenadian polities and have refused to respond to Mr Reynold Benjamin’s many inquiries, in his preparation for the Grenada elections between now and March of 2004. I have also refrained from going to the press.” Even after all that nothing was said to the people, nor to parliament. The entrance of the Russians into the billions of US dollars scandal and the allegation that $10 million US dollars had been paid into somebody or bodies bank accounts, certainly not the Treasury of Grenada, seemed to have brought the scam to the boil, which overflowed in the brave move to terminate the agreement between RSM and the Grenada government. That move triggered the arbitration action in London , since last year against the government, but still nothing was said to John Public nor the people’s representatives in parliament. And it was only when Mr Grynberg and his company brought the case in New York on the 1st November this year, and named the Russians and Gregory Bowen as the conspirators to defraud them of the benefits under the 1996 agreement that Mr Bowen saw it fit to make a public statement, and in so doing put all Grenadians to shame. Since that press conference and the denials that amounted to naught, and the ludicrous statement from the Prime Minister that others in the society are also corrupt, not just the ministers of government words to that effect nothing else has been forthcoming from government. The hue and cry is for some form of inquiry or investigation — whether by a parliamentary selected body, or the police under the direction of the DPP, but not another farce by the governor general and his one-man commissioner — and that Minister Bowen should step down from the position in which he brought shame and scandal to the people and the government he represents. But no response to date. If any little public (civil) servant is accused of any wrongdoing by his/her Permanent Secretary, the first action, by the Public Service Commission (PSC), is to send that officer home while an inquiry is carried out — so why should there be one brand of treatment for the little fry, and a wholly different brand for the big fish? After all, they are both public servants and must be subject to the same standards of discipline and accountability. And, as was forcefully underscored, in that conference on the evils of corruption at the OAS last week, “Fighting corruption strengthens democratic institutions and prevents distortions in the economy, improprieties in public administration, and damage to a society’s moral fiber.” In this case of a Cabinet Minister being accused of wrongdoing, the PSC has no jurisdiction, but the Prime Minister and his cabinet have every such authority to act in the public interest, and in the preservation of the good name and image of his government. And it cannot be repeated too often, when those at the highest level of the society’s structure — entrusted with the mantle of power and authority, to carry out or to operate the people’s business for the benefit of the people in general — behave in such reckless and disgraceful manner, and everything is just glossed over and excused as no big thing, the message and example being sent to those lower down the ladder of authority, can only be, that it pays better to be dishonest and untrustworthy. And it goes without my saying so, that what is being cultivated — among those whom we should be training, and preparing to take over the leadership of our people and country tomorrow — is a recipe for cheating and a culture of corruption. And strangely as it may seem to many, I am not hearing any comments, orseeing any statement by the conference of churches in Grenada , the TUC, nor any of the stakeholders in our civil society — like the chambers of commerce for example. These groups are the so-called social partners that the same government is always referring to, or calling upon when it suits them to put on a show of solidarity. Is John Public to understand, that none of them see this scandal as deserving of any observation from their memberships? The same way the top brass of the Catholic Church, were ready and willing to visit the National Stadium, no doubt at the invitation of government, and shower praise on the Chinese workers and the administration for achieving almost the impossible, so too, in my humble opinion, the same spiritual leaders should be prepared and forthcoming, in marshalling the conference of churches to make representation to government to clear the dark and cloudy atmosphere — and to be seen openly to be so doing. All over the global village nowadays, we’re hearing on the airwaves and seeing on TV the people, the stakeholders of their country’s heritage, the ones who are getting poorer and poorer because of their leaders corrupt Tuesday, December 5, 2006, Caribbean News Network by Lloyd Noel “Corruption makes the poor poorer, because part of their already meager earnings, and their non-existent disposable income, must pay for basic services which otherwise should be free.” Lloyd Noel is a former Attorney General of Grenada, prominent attorney at law and political commentator (Please Turn To Page 11) “The Airline Of Belize” Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 11 Opening Hours Monday Saturday 6 a.m. 8:30 p.m. Sunday & Holidays 7 a.m. 7:30 pm. Breakfast Lunch and Dinerpractices, they are rising up and protesting in one form or another, against the malpractices of those in authority over them. We too, in little Grenada , did likewise in the brave old days when people had dey belly — including priests, and businessmen, and youths. And protesting against corruption and graft by our leaders who are responsible for the public purse has nothing to do with which party you supporting, but everything to do with the love of your country, a n d the caring concern for the legacy to our children and those yet unborn. So whether it is NNP, NDC, GULP or PLM, or any other “PP”, our concerns and protestations must be the same. Why, therefore, is this deathly silence from those groups which are expected to lead their members and their flocks? The few voices crying in the wilderness are simply too few to make the required difference. And just by passing a law in parliament about “Integrity in public office with penalties for corruption “ will not make those who get into the parliament buildings, twenty-first century saints by any means. We, the people, have to constantly monitor their performances, and when needed, tell them what they are doing, or have done in our name is wrong, and they must account and pay the price by stepping down. So long as we, the people, neglect to demand accountability and transparency and responsibility for wrongdoing, we will never achieve the goal of integrity in public office and the eradication of corruption from our public trustees. (Continued From PageLaw and Politics: Integrity in public office and preventing corruption Each December members of the Belize Audubon Society and other volunteers carry out the Christmas bird count, all over Belize. They count hundreds of species of local and migratory birds, but beginning this week, Independent Weekly will give you some information on 11 birds described in a very useful, and charming, field guide, “Jungle Walk” by Katie Stevens. We begin the series with a trusting little fellow, the Booby Bird, who appropriately enough, has on his Christmas boots. Webster defines booby as “an awkward, foolish person, and indeed, our beautiful red-footed booby birds ( Sula sula) are trusting of man to this day, despite the fact that seafarers used to walk right up to them and bash them on the head, a carnage which almost extinguished the species. Today their persistent stupidity allows us the wonderful opportunity to see them up close: the platform provided at Half Moon Caye by the Belize Audubon Society rises right into the middle of the colony, so that you are literally within easy reach of the nearest nesting boobies. Luckily, they are now protected by law! There are two other species of booby in Belize, the masked booby ( Sula dactylatra ) and the brown booby (Sula leucogaster) but neither can compare with the red-foot for lack of color-coordination. It has two adult color phases, one a dull grayish brown similar to any other booby, but in the second phase its feathers are tinted golden white, with black trim along its wings tinged in blue and pink. But all this refinement is more than undone by its rather large, outlandishly red webbed feet—like a guest at a formal masquerade who forgot to remove his galoshes at the door. In flight, the booby tucks these feet discreetly up under his feathers. In its search for food, it heads out to sea rather than along the coast. Flying fish stirred up by early morning ships are a favorite catch, as are squid glowing phosphorescent in a moonlit night. Like its relative the pelican, the booby has air sacs beneath its skin to cushion it when it dive bombs into the water, often at a good 100 degree angle, wings folded behind its back. So deep does it plunge that propelled by both feet and wings, it approaches its prey from below, often gulping it down whole while still beneath the surface. Again like the pelican, it has a throat pouch which enables it to swallow larger fare than it looks at all likely. Egglaying takes place as early as November and as late as April, January being the most popularThe 11 birds of Christmas The 11 birds of Christmas The 11 birds of Christmas The 11 birds of Christmas The 11 birds of Christmasmonth. Usually two eggs are laid, but only one will hatch its shiny blackskinned inhabitant with the black face and the big black bill. Soon the baby booby will sport tufts of white down, more and more until it is thick with fluff, a ridiculous sight. A greedy onlychick, it tries to climb head first into now one, and then the other, of its parents’ craws to get at whatever partially digested repast might lie there. And it grows disastrously fat. Finally its parents refuse to feed the little glutton any longer. It hangs forlornly around the nest for a few days, then resignedly plops into the water, but still it may swim around for another ten days before it has used up enough of its fat reserve to be light enough to fly, and so to fish for itself. It is thought that the Half Moon Caye booby bird colony has survived for over a hundred years, despite heavy egg and chick predation by frigatebirds (men o’war) and rats, and until very recently, men. The only other known red-footed booby colony is off the coast of Trinidad.

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 12 TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITSAirport discriminationA young mother married to a Belizean, but carrying a US passport and travelling with her three young children, was not only pulled from the exit line at the International airpoprt but then told that she could only pay her exit tax in US dollars. Her offer to pay with Belize dollars was refused. Her husband, who was there was furious: “How come they don’t charge cruise ship passengers exit tax at all? There is something crazy happening in Belize. I believe the government has gone mad!”far cry from that piece of nostalgic history, we are in the present day 2006. The problem of the D.P.P.’s office understaffed is neither a new one, or is it of any directors making. The growth of the D.P.P.’s staff was never commensurate with the increase in crime; simply meaning that while crime grew, the D.P.P’s office didn’t, and the place was structured to deal with a few cases. Again , locating people for some of these long drawn out cases may also be a problem, because I notice that very few people live in a house in these crime ridden areas longer than since months and are paying rent. Some just wait out their landlords, and rent out space in their landlord’s house as well. In Belize people seems to move from one place to the other consistently and it is sometimes difficult to locate them. Without a shadow of a doubt, I think the Crime Commission should take into account that the problem of sending policemen to serve summons should be fixed, with the employment of Civilian Process Servers. If they have any doubts, many defaulters on their loans can attest to the effectivenessRestaurant TaxThere is a strange unreality about restaurant sales tax collection in Belize. Many local Belizean owned restaurants are ´hit´ each year with a team of accountant types who descend with their b riefcases and suspiciously go through every little sales tax receipt for the past year. Their mere presence suggests total lack of trust and yet there are hundreds of restaurants in the country – big and small Chinese included which are never bothered and for the most part don´t even appear to keep their sales receipts. I was told: “Oh , Belmopan looks after them!” Is this true are there two sets of rules? “It´s because”, the same person told me, “they don´t speak English!”PUP in BelmopanThe defeat of Tony Chanona in Belmpan PUP is, in a way, a sad testimony of the fact that talent, intellig ence, and a history of extremely successful leadership of Belmopan City, doesn´t necessarily win friends and influence people. My own advise to Mr. Chanona is to stand as an Independent candidate in the coming election. It´s time that some of the stalwart and less contaminated PUP hierarchy realized that its better to survive and serve as independents than godown with the sinking PUP ship. They could form part of a new Belizean democracy ruled from the centre and by a middle group if independents falling between the, almost sure to be victorious, UDP and the, sure to be defeated, PUP.And Internet cafes Much the same can be said for internet cafes. Some are taxed and some are not. It appears to be that if you sell coffee or food you are liable to also be taxed for internet usage but not for pure internetting. It´s time our government really looked at the manner in which they are destroying all small businesses in Belize for the sake of their ´big´ friends and cronies with Belmopan connections. US$ only (Continued From Page 8) Crime and Crime and Crime and Crime and Crime and Belizean Belizean Belizean Belizean Belizean Society Society Society Society Society Negotiations Continue At Oas Towards Declaration On Rights Of Indigenous Peoples The Organization of American States (OAS) today opened the eighth meeting of negotiations on the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, seeking to make substantive progress on issues related to selfdetermination, individual rights, fundamental freedoms and collective rights for the native peoples of the hemisphere. The Chairman of the Permanent Council Working Group on this topic, Ambassador Juan León, who is Guatemala’s Alternate Representative to the OAS and a member of the Pueblo Maya K’iche indigenous community, said at the opening of the meeting that the approach to the concept of selfdetermination will be a key focus of this five-day round of negotiations. He called on representatives of the member states and of indigenous peoples alike to bring creativity in seeking outcomes that “unconditionally reaffirm this right and at the same time ensure unity, confidence and balance among all the players in each member state and the OAS as a whole.” Ambassador León said, “We should spare no effort to imagine a future in which indigenous peoples can be totally free to determine and decide on their own affairs, in terms of what is best suited to their economic, political, social, cultural, educational and legal development, among other rights.” He recalled that the indigenous representatives have “on every occasion” reaffirmed their view that self-determination does not imply the end nor the destruction of the territorial integrity of current states, an assurance that “instills confidence that a satisfactory conclusion can be reached on this matter.” The Guatemalan diplomat said he was optimistic that the Working Group could make progress cleaning up the text under negotiation, saying he was confident “the necessary consensus will be achieved.” He conceded that consensus on certain aspects of the Declaration is not easy, but will depend on “all the delegations being flexible and broad-minded.” Among others participating in the inaug uration was Natalia Sara-pura, representative of Argentina’s Kolla indigenous community, who said that “self-determination is an inherent right for indigenous peoples.” She urged the OAS member countries to join the United Nations Human Rights Council “in recognizing that indigenous peoples, like all other peoples under international law, have a right to free selfdetermination.” The last round of negotiations was held in Brasilia, Brazil, last March. At both the Fourth Summit of the Americas, held in Argentina in November 2005, and the last OAS General Assembly, in June of this year, the governments of the Americas reiterated the importance of a successful conclusion to this process and the eventual adoption of an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. (Press Release) Comments? Suggestions?or want to share your thoughtsEmail us at Independent.newspaper.bz@gmail.com of civilian process servers. The matter of white collar crime is an area, which is a grey area both for the law enforcers and the court, because many white collar crime has to go unchallenged, because these are grey areas which require civil prosecution, which means no assistance from the state or the police department and the hiring of lawyers is out of the question for the working man who can hardly pay their bills. So if they don’t left the rich man to take what he wants, they just simply simply settle the matter by the gun. A matter of paramount importance for the working man is the fact that civil law was developed by rich men for the purpose of extracting or extorting money from other rich. It’s a system that has been developed over hundreds of years. The final problem is the one of a so called witness protection program, which has been in the air for years, it is a problem for the mostly military men at the establishment department in Belmopan, who keep their families and themselves out of these crime ridden demographic areas like the inner cities of Belize and whether they ignore the subject, don’t care, or are withholding funds on purpose is a question only they and the politicians can answer.

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 13 In an attempt to have the matter resolved. Placencia’s Village Chairman and Committee members traveled to Belmopan on four (4) separate occasions to keep appointments made with the Solicitor General. On every occasion, there was some excuse why the Solicitor General could not meet with them. On the fourth occasion, they were told that the matter was being turned over to the Minister for their District, Stann Creek West, Minister Rodwell Ferguson. Turning the matter over to Minister Ferguson did not worry the Villagers. Afterall, in order to obtain his nomination for his office at the PUP conventionl Ferguson had supported the Act. Soon enough, however, the Villagers were to learn of Rodwell Ferguson’s treachery. At the time there was a condominium development named Chabet Mar being constructed on a Placencia beach. The developer had not gone through the time honored procedure of first obtaining approval from the Village Council, prior to applying for Government permits. Instead, the developer obtained them with the approval and assistance of Minister Rodwell Ferguson. The Village Chairman approached Rodwell Ferguson on the matter and he told them flat out he was not going to have their proposed Legislation approved. They would receive no benefit under the Village Council Act. That was the one thing that Ferguson was truthful about, the fact he was depriving the Village of benefits. Minister Ferguson, then proceeded to disolve the Village’s Lands Committee and appoint a new one with his own with an associate, Fred Cabral, as Vice Chairman, and Ferguson’s supporter, Percival Neal, as Chairman. Rodwell Ferguson’s family and associates then began what can only be described as an all our land grab. His wife, Ana May Ferguson, received 10.011 acres along the Placencia lagoon. There were seven (7) other land grants made either to Rodwell Ferguson, his wife or his son, which totaled 280.61 acres. Fred Cabral received 2 acres along the lagoon. There was a conveyance to HANDS Foundation, Rodwell Ferguson and Fred Cabral of 450 acres plus 14 acres on the Southern Long Caye. There was 6 acres along Placencia lagoon and 50 acres on Flour Caye given to Percival Neal and his wife. Rodwell Ferguson’s next machination denied the poor. He had assumed control of the HANDS Foundation that was conveyed property. The HANDS Foundation was the brainchild of a husband and wife in Placencia that had, before they came to Belize, successfully operated a similar Foundation to provide education for poor children. The couple made one mistake. Fred Cabral, who worked near the wife, learned of the planned Foundation and became involved. Soon Rodwell Ferguson was also involved and in control. Assertions were then made that HANDS was Rodwell Ferguson’s brain child. However, the wife remained as Treasurer. The Foundation did well in soliciting money, particularly from those who needed favors. Among the many donations was $50,000 from the developer of Chabet Mar and a latter publicized $125,000 from Ara Macao. When checks were requested for expenditures that were not appropriate, as Treasurer, she refuse to issue the checks. Those who wanted to dip into the funds were not going to be deterred. As more money came in, accounts were changed to where the treasurers signature was not required. Money from the account was used to purchase new vehicles for the officers. Fred Cabral received one of the new vehicles. The new account had aspects of a slush fund. Seeing the Foundation deviate from its intended purpose, the Treasurer resigned. The Foundation did provide funds for tuition, but not in the numbers and manner claimed by Ferguson. The principles of the schools requested that the money be used to help the poor with their education, HANDS Foundation refused. The cost of education involves fees for registration, tuition, books and other charges, books being the greater expense. The Foundation did provide tuition for students who lived in Rodwell Ferguson’s voting District, Stann Creek West. However, the exorbitant cost of books was left for the parents. The Foundation provided nothing for students from Toledo who attended school at Independence Village, that was in Ferguson’s voting District. The poor from Stann Creek West were without books, and the poor that came from Toledo had neither books or funds for tuition. Prior to HANDS, the schools had a means of assisting the poor. They had donors from whom they could solicit funds. HANDS solicited the same donors and doing so obtained the funds that previously went to the schools. HANDS dried up the school’s sources of funds. There was no longer funds to buy books for children of poor families in Stann Creek West or help the students from Toledo in any manner. Rodwell Ferguson activities werecertainly not exemplary for one who holds the position of “Minister of State in Education”. Is it greed? Or does he think he is better than them and doesn’t give a damn for the poor? Placencia Peninsula is limited in area (Continued From Page 1) Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village (Please Turn To Page 15)

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 14 arrested bandits. They think that this should be a priority of the government. Could they be correct? High cost. Our small towns used to be full of back packing tourists. Now they are empty. This means the whole economy suffers. You can still get a basic room and meal for not too much money, but it is costly to get out to points of interest and then when you have to pay $37.50 just to cross the border, you may want to stay in Mexico or Guatemala instead. A couple who has to pay $75.00 for the two of them just to get out of the country could instead use the money to stay another night in Belize, directly supporting the local economy. The Belize Tourist Board, in spite of the fact that its major source of income is the accommodations tax, does not have a place on the board for a representative of the hotel industry. Should it?Free Stay Belize update (Continued From Page 1) Fiasco on top of fiascoDear Madam, If I had a newspaper, my headlines would scream ‘YOU OWE $XXXXX’ The article would give a breakdown of the actual cost of the debt and the amount owed by every single Belizean for the next 22 years. The point also needs to be made that you are paying this for services and resources that you have already received. This is not to develop the country and its infrastructure for the future. The more I sit here an look at this the more infuriated I become at the absolute incompetence and spineless leadership that has led to this scenario. The hospital fiasco just adds more fuel to the already blazing fiscal fiasco. These are supposed to be educated and intellig ent professionals; one of them bragging that he had 165 people on his payroll. Given all the breaks and tax credits, they can’t even run a small institution. Damn, I had close to 200 on my payroll with about a 5M annual operating budget and never once ran in the red. I need to go sailing! Kobuh Tuh Gawd nuh, di monki deh di run di zoo fitruPulling my hair out!Madam Editor, I need to vent and nobody else is round but you guys, so h ere goes. GST. The government implemented this monstrosity with out thinking through the consequences or properly training businesses. As a travel agency based in Belize, I have to pay GST on the difference between what I pay to the resorts and other tour operators on GST applicable items, and what clients pay to me. Basically, that means my commission on tours, meals and transfers. The thing is, most times I don’t make a commission on any of those things from hotels only the hotel room, which is not subject to GST. However, under the GST law, I HAVE to have a GST compliant invoice to show that I paid GST to the resort even if the net gain to me is zero. So, if the resort charges me $200 for meals and transfers, they’ll also charge me $20 for GST, which of course I pass on to my client. When I pay the hotel, I pay them $220. However, if I don’t have a GST compliant invoice for the hotels showing that they charged me $220, then the law says that I have to again pay the $20 to “The Airline Of Belize” Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editorthe GST folks. Problem 1: Only travel agencies in Belize have to have a GST invoice. There are only maybe 20 of us in the country. That means that resorts have to change their entire procedure for a handful of people maybe only 4 or 5, since not all travel agents in the country represent a full range of resorts and lodges. That means we’re a problem, and it’s much easier for them to deal with out of country agencies and not have to deal with all that paperwork AND get paid in US dollars. Problem 2: The government has basically made the travel agencies responsible for enforcing the law. If we don’t have the proper GST invoice, then we’re the ones who are penalized by not being able to claim a credit for the GST already paid to the hotel. The hotels and resorts already find us a problem to deal with (see problem no. 1) and if we make too much trouble, they can just cancel our reservations or refuse to accept them, so we don’t have a lot of leverage. Problem 3: No matter how many times I carefully make a list of what has to be on the GST invoice, include a cite to the Website for the regulations, and even the section number of the regulations, I find it’s almost impossible to get an invoice that satisfies the regulations. (FYI, if you’re interested, the GST invoice requirements are in Section 13 of the regulations, which can be found at www.gst.gov.bz. They’re not difficult to understand, believe me.) Problem 4: Other travel agencies aren’t aware of the full requirements, or don’t seem to care. Two of us actually went to see the GST Commissioner to clarify what is required, but we don’t seem to be able to convince any of our cohorts that the law means what it says, and so does the commissioner. Consequently, I’m told by a few resorts that I’m the only one asking for this kind of GST Invoice. Any suggestions? I’ve begged, cajoled, suggested, corrected, etc., etc., etc. Of course, not everybody is a problem, but I now have 6 files sitting on my desk from last month, and 4 from this month for which I don’t have correct invoices. I can’t do my taxes for last month without them, and the ones from this month keep piling up. At this point, the only thing I can think of to do is tattle, which will make me highly popular — or move out of the country so I don’t have to deal with all this. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anybody want to buy a wholesale/retail travel agency? Mary Toy Destination Belize, Placencia (Continued From Page 2) For an online version of the INdependent Reformer v i s i t u s a t http://www .belizenor th.com/ independentr eformer .htm OR http://belizenews.com/ independentonline.pdf

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 15 early years, added Minister Espat, and that it would be unfair to our creditors to ask for a complete debt service holiday. We will therefore be following a step-up coupon approach. The level of these coupons, however, has been set well above BelizeÂ’s indicative restructuring scenarios. They are, in effect, at the outer edge of what forecasts show as being affordable for the country. The Government is seeking National Assembly approval for the issuance of New Bonds that will mature in 2029, with principal payments commencing in 2019. The New Bonds will bear interest in the first three years after issuance at a fixed per annum rate of 4.25%. In years four to five, the rate will increase to 6.00%, and thereafter through the maturity of the New Bonds the interest rate will level off at 8.50% per annum. All coupons will be paid in cash on their respective due dates. The terms of the exchange offer areBelize Seeks National Assembly. . .expected to provide that all participating creditors will receive a cash payment at the closing of the transaction equal to unpaid interest on their tendered claims accrued through the closing date. Consequently, interim debt service payments on the existing debts eligible for this exchange offer will cease immediately. This communication is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer or selling security holder and that will contain detailed information about the Government of Belize. No public offering of securities in the United States is contemplated by the Government of Belize at this time. (GOB Press Release) (Continued From Page 3) ARIES (Mar. 21April 20) DonÂ’t get involved in joint ventures. Help elders with their concerns. Confronting a situation will only result in indignation and misunderstandings. T AURUS (Apr. 21may 21) Romance could develop through social activities or short trips. Your home environment may be hectic, which could result in emotional upset if you arenÂ’t well organized. The only thing youÂ’ll accomplish is a bad reputation. GEMINI (May 22-June 21) Take the time to help those less fortunate. DonÂ’t overspend on friends or children. Entertainment should include sports events or physical activities. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Help elders in your family. You can make a difference if you offer your help at functions that involve children. Limitation could set in if youÂ’ve been spending too much. LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Problems with skin, bones, or teeth may mess up your schedule. This will be a very hectic day if youÂ’ve made promises to too many people. Social get-together will bring you in contact with intelligent new friends. VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Pleasure trips will be favorable and bring about possible romance. Be cautious while traveling to foreign countries. Keep your feet on the ground, if you can. LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) You can deal with large institutions or government agencies successfully today. Travel will turn out to be far more exciting than you imagined. You may find that someone you live with may be irritable; youÂ’re best to leave them alone. SCORPIO (Oct. 24 Nov. 2 2 ) Romance can develop; however, it will most probably be short-lived. You can make some favorable changes to your looks. You can enjoy your involvement in organizations that make charitable contributions. SAGITT ARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Your involvement in interest groups may bring you popularity. Put your energy into your work or moneymaking ventures rather than into your emotional life today. DonÂ’t be too quick to voice your opinion. Listen to others carefully. CAPRICORN (Dec 22.Jan. 20) Some of your new friends may not be that trustworthy. You wonÂ’t impress anyone by being overly generous. Travel will also entice you. AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) You will be able to borrow money in order to invest. Be cautious of making any residential changes today. You need adventure and excitement in your life. PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 2 0 ) Be sure to sidestep those who are eccentric or unpredictable. You may be frustrated by the way situations are being handled in your personal life. People you live with will not be terribly happy with you regardless of what you do today. for expansion. The Villagers have been trying for years to procure land on the Penin sula where their children can live with their families when the children grow up. Their desires are simply a commendable means of keeping familyÂ’s together. The VillagersÂ’ desires have not been fulfilled. Hundreds of acres have been given out to FergusonÂ’s family, friends and supporters. Land is to be developed and sub-divided much of what will be sold to foreigners while the Villagers families go without. There are Government Ministers who still use the Villages as feeding troughs for their own gain, while Villagers suffer. It becomes clear that there are Politicians who have no conscience. They will promise anything to get elected. Is it a form of Political prostitution? If so the prostitutes should not be reelected. The voters should learn a valuable lesson. Do not believe Party Manifestos, they are a form of hot air that cools off and is forgotten when the party gets into office. The voters should take into consideration all of the false or broken promises previously made and not re-elect any of those who made the promises. (Continued From Page 13) Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village Rape of a Village

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The INdependent Reformer Page 16