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From UBAD supporter to head of government department: Part Two of the Clinton Gardiner story

FeaturesFrom UBAD supporter to head of government department: Part Two of the Clinton Gardiner story

(Conclusion from Fri. Dec. 8, 2017 Page 4, Issue No. 3138 of the Amandala)

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 14, 2017– Back in 1975 when Clinton Gardiner returned from studies in Canada, he was one of the first Land Inspectors to return to the department. Inevitably, his studies paid off with a new appointment as Lands Officer. Apart from his acquiring seniority in the department, the department itself was being restructured and prepared to face the challenges of the emerging nation-state of Belize.

Amandala asked Gardiner to explain the new realities that were being created in the Ministry of Natural Resources that would see a section created to deal with geology, under the leadership of the late James V. Hyde, who was still the Commissioner of Lands, before the Lands Department was merged with the Survey Department.

Gardiner said, “In 1980, under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a petroleum geologist came to Belize and the portfolio for oil and mineral exploration was placed in the Ministry of Natural Resources, under Jim Hyde. He asked me if I would like to liaise with this consultant. So I agreed.”

Gardiner was efficient in working with the UNDP consultant, who eventually recommended to James Hyde that the Government of Belize put in a request to the UNDP for a petroleum project that would bring in a petroleum geologist, petro-physicist, and other personnel. “That was successful and in came Dr. Pasada Rao from India,” Gardiner said. “He started organizing the technical data. Under the project he was named Technical Director, and I was made Project Director,” he said.

“I was there until 1986. By this time the UDP had won an election in 1984. Then I started getting vibes that they wanted me back at Lands. I said to myself, ‘You know what, you’re not a geologist; you have no interest in studying geology. So just agree with them, and get done with it.’ As an incentive, they offered me to become the Chief Valuer. It was a post that Jim Hyde had foreseen, but it was not really filled, because the Principal Lands Officer was overseeing valuation,” Gardiner said.

Gardiner recalled that he became Principal Lands Officer, after the holder of that office, Hallet Moody, was promoted to Permanent Secretary. “That same year, 1986, the Petroleum Office had planned a tour of Paris, London and Dallas, to promote investment in oil exploration in Belize. The only person they had who knew the administrative background, who could speak about the concession maps, legislation, etcetera, was I. So I was invited, along with Minister Charles Wagner and Dr. Rao. It was an interesting personal experience,” he said.

Amandala asked Gardiner what he did after he returned home from the three-city tour. “When I came back, I took over my job as the Principal Lands Officer. Dr. Rao was mainly concerned with petroleum exploration. He was not interested in hard rock geology. I had to remind him that this place started off as a geology office. There are people interested in exploring for limestone and other minerals,” he said.

Gardiner explained that a French geologist who was here at the time had a deep interest in exploring for gold. “He knew the gold was there, and he went and he found it. He did some panning and brought back some. Then we had Francis Gegg. He brought some samples to the office,” said Gardiner.

Gardiner told Amandala that they had found the vein for gold in the rocks, “But the problem with that is that it would release other minerals that would contaminate the waters, and would affect the good wild life out there. Everybody goes to the water source and it would poison the water.”

“We have to wonder right now if anybody is doing quality monitoring with what those Guatemalans are doing,” Gardiner said, “because those are the headwaters.”

Gardiner said that by 1987 the government had created a post named, Deputy Commissioner of Lands and Survey. “The department was in transition. David Aguilar was Commissioner of Lands, and then he was promoted to Permanent Secretary. Kenneth Gillett was promoted to Commissioner of Lands in 1989…1992 was the retrenchment year. The Commissioner of Lands opted for an early retirement. Many other surveyors also retired early, on the understanding that they would do surveys for the government,” he related.

“Lo and behold, came 1993, and Minister Dito Juan went to Cabinet and proposed that I be appointed as Commissioner of Lands. He came back and told me ‘You are the new Commissioner of Lands,’” Gardiner said. “I didn’t have any deputy.”

“Did they abolish the post?” Amandala asked Gardiner.

“No, they did not abolish it. They just didn’t give me a deputy. But I could handle the job because I used to give advice to the previous Commissioner of Lands, because he came from the survey side and I am from the administrative side,” said Gardiner.

“In 1998, PUP won the general elections and I went for one year and two months under Johnny Briceño. I didn’t like the vibes I was getting. I used to leave my office door open. When it closed was when people came and wanted it closed. And as they were leaving, I would tell them to leave the door open. As soon as I was out as Commissioner of Lands, the next Commissioner got two deputies. They filled the vacant post and created another one. Incidentally, I had started to put together a history of the department from when it was Survey Department to the point when Jim Hyde became Commissioner of Lands, to when the two departments, Lands and Surveys, were amalgamated with Hyde as the head,” Gardiner disclosed.

“What year did you retire from the public service?” we asked.

“In 1999 I retired early. I was 50 years old. We had this practice, even before the PUP came back in government. When we have a senior staff meeting, all heads of department, all heads of section, were invited to the meeting, so we were coordinated. So, when Johnny came, the same thing happened. For some reason he chose to bring in Dr. Marcelo Avila, who was a permanent secretary for agriculture, as his advisor. He came and sat in our meetings. Now all he did in there was try to pick our brains. And I started to express myself outrightly. At some point in time I put pen on paper and told Mr. Aguilar that I was asking to be retired early, and I want you and the Minister’s support. They both agreed to do it. Mr. Aguilar, because we are friends, and the Minister because it was politically expedient for him to do it,” Gardiner said.

Gardiner said since he retired he has been practicing what he knows best — valuation. “Like any other land administrator, I hired myself as a consultant,” he said. “I have done sufficient valuation jobs with opposing attorneys at the Supreme Court, and for the Attorney General’s Ministry, and for private citizens,” Gardiner stated.

Gardiner said that in 2008 he put together a paper that he called “Contract with Belizean Youth.” He explained that the paper outlined all the problems confronting Belizean youth — teenage pregnancies, gang memberships, lack of employment, and so on. Gardiner said that a feature of the paper was the use of the Burdon Canal Nature Reserve, which is under the stewardship of the Belize Audubon Society.

“I stood by the Belize City Swing Bridge one day and observed a lot of plastic bottles and other debris coming in. I am sure some of that ends up at the Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. I would like to see students study these waterbeds. Apart from that, cultural exchange, take some of the Mennonites to urban areas, and let business people fund these ventures,” he commented.

“Coming back to the oil now, Jean Cornec, the French geologist, was the one to put together a geological map of Belize that everyone now uses, including BNE in their Spanish Lookout oil field. People like Exxon, Phillips, Shell, who drilled for oil in Belize, some of those wells were never tested. They had oil shoals but they were never tested. I have to wonder why,” Gardiner offered.

“What is the significance of this?” Amandala asked Gardiner

“It has to do with the Monroe Doctrine. This is America’s backyard and they are not ready to have any oil taken out until they are ready for it,” he said.

“So, you are of the view that these oil wells contain sufficient oil in commercial quantities?” we asked.

“Especially when you hear people from Dangriga tell you what they saw before they capped the wells. These are offshore wells. Some of them are within the reef, and some of them are outside the reef, in some serious water depths,” he replied.

“How many of these wells are out there, more or less?” Amandala probed.

“I could do a guesstimate, but I could get that information,” Gardiner informed. “While studying the geology and the geo-physics out there, they came up with their own interpretations about where the oil is. The way how oil operates is it is caught in the rock. That is why they call it petroleum. When the oil gets trapped in the rock, it has to be a non-porous material. If anything around is porous, that oil will come out,” he explained.

He further stated, “As a matter of fact, many times you go to the cayes, you can see tar-balls on the beach, because of the seeps out there. We do have seismic activities under the sea and things come to the surface. The way how they could profile Spanish Lookout is because they have done a wide study in the neighborhoods where they have dug wells for water and oil came up, because oil is lighter than water. While it is under the ground, there are some pin holes in some of the rocks.

“Sometimes it’s caught between two fault lines. What Dr. Rao put together shows you that in some of those wells is not any pin hole. There are caverns in those wells, so if you get oil in there it will be a huge find. They are always comparing us to Mexico, and some of them compare us to Kuwait. It’s because of some of those features. You have to find where the cap rock is; that is where the oil will be. The potential is tremendous. But we are now bangled by the moratorium on offshore drilling. Who is to say that there will not be a seismic event that would bring the oil to the top?

“On the other hand, if Guatemala succeeds at the ICJ and is given some area offshore, who is to stop them from drilling?

“If you look at Land Law, the British were administering the whole thing. By granting us independence, they transferred the whole thing to us. I have spoken with one of the ambassadors and he was explaining to me that the place where Guatemala, Mexico and Belize meet, there is a fault with the line. And if Guatemala was to get anything at all, it would be up there,” Gardiner said.

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