The General Council of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) yesterday evening removed its own president, Horris Patten, from the board of directors of the Belize Social Security Board, because of Patten?s having voted for a motion for the SSB to give an unsecured, concessionary loan of $10 million to Sunshine Holdings Trust, a Michael Ashcroft affiliate.
Amandala has learned that prior to Patten?s removal, the NTUCB?s other representative on the board, Antonio Gonzalez, said that he would voluntarily resign.
The Belize Ex-Services League (BEL), an organization founded to take care of the needs of World War I and World War II veterans, is embroiled in a drawn-out, bitter war between its Executive Council and the Belize City branch, the only branch that has been actively generating revenue.
Police continue to investigate Belize?s biggest cocaine bust ever, which occurred around midday on Monday, September 12, near the Tobacco Caye Range area south of Dangriga Town.
Around 8:00 a.m. on Monday, Dangriga police received reliable information and communicated with the police department in Belize City. A joint operation was conducted by members of the (United States) Drug Enforcement Agency, Belize Defence Force, the Anti-Drug Unit (ADU) and the police, who were dispatched in boats to the area.
On Tuesday, September 13, three suspects - Randy Petillo, 29, a laborer of #54 Pen Road, Dangriga Town; Errol Ferguson, 27, a laborer of #8416 Electric Avenue, Belize City; and Orin Saragosa, 23, a laborer of #8425 Electric Avenue - appeared in the Dangriga Magistrate?s Court, where they were jointly charged with the rape of a 17-year-old girl.
This Sunday, September 18, brings up exciting horseracing at the Castleton Race Track in beautiful Burrell Boom, starting at 1:00 p.m. The day will feature a seven-race card, which promises to be a scorcher with the grand entrance of our two-year-old Local Upgrades and Thoroughbreds. These are the horses that we are hoping will improve and bring much needed competition to the horseracing industry. Folks don?t want to see two horses in a race with one way in the front and the other way back. I would say that there are about ten or more Local Upgrades and about six Thoroughbreds that will integrate the various classes.
In this, the time of the year when Belizeans both at home and abroad are usually caught up in the fervor of displaying nationalism, patriotism and love for country, residents living in the Belize City area will have an opportunity this weekend to exhibit their unconditional love for country by coming out to support our female national basketball team as they take to the court to defend ?The Jewel? against teams hailing from both Cancun and Merida in a triangular format tournament.
This morning, Amandala felt privileged to talk to two of Belize?s famous football players from the early 60?s, Lionel ?Pops? Hamilton, 61, and Albert Cattouse, 60 (not Pappy Cat). Both men spoke about the game with great love, and the sparkle could be seen in their eyes as they reminisced on their teenage years, when they played on the famous ?Brodies? football team that dominated many of the competitions.
One of the issues that is not discussed much in Belize is that of casinos. The PUP Government introduced casinos into Belize, a Christian and God-fearing nation, by lying to the people of Belize. The Cabinet told us that the casinos would be only for the foreign tourists, and that the only way Belize could be a regional class destination was if we had casinos as part of our package. In fact, it is only Belizeans who are patronizing the Princess Casino, and the machines are rigged. Belize has been proven to be an ecotourism destination, not a casino destination.
The man we call Smokey Joe was christened ?Selvin Wade? in British Honduras in 1926. In 1944, at the age of 18, he travelled to Florida on a boat that almost sank, along with a lot of other young British Hondurans, including my father-in-law, the late Maclovio ?Max? Scott.
Most people know I was not born in Belize, but after 14 years of living and working here, calling it home and being involved with so many aspects of the Belizean life and culture, I cannot but feel pessimistic when I see and hear what is happening in the country. Yes, we hear about many of our students gaining scholarships to foreign universities, but what will they come back to? Will they come back? The reports of shootings, choppings, drug deals and such far outweigh these positive happenings ? perhaps that is the fault of the media or the populace, who pay more attention to the gory details than the successes.
Senseless, violent crime which strikes with worrisome frequency these days, today struck a humble meat pie vendor.
Olive?s Kitchen at the corner of Bocotora and Iguana Streets is today closed during their normal business hours after a wounded, bleeding Honduran, Efrain Erazo, 52, sought refuge inside the shop to save his life after he was shot in the right side of his jaw. The bullet exited the other side of his face. Erazo was shot on the opposite side of the street from Olive?s kitchen, near Ombudsman Paul Rodriguez?s home, which, incidentally, is just around the block from the Racoon Street Police Station.
In the last season of the BPFL many of us wondered out loud if we were indeed going to be seeing another season of football because of all the rumblings and the ?he say you say? stuff that has been the norm in the relations between the semi-pro league and the FIFA connected Football Federation of Belize. Well, it appears that this may all be a thing of the past since the first whistle went off over the weekend to kick off the 2005/2006 campaign of the RFG Insurance Cup Tournament of the BPFL.
Gaspar Aguilar, former CEO of the Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL), was thrown out of office by the Government of Belize and Michael Ashcroft after 25 years with the company. This Tuesday, Aguilar was terminated, according to a company bulletin, ?for good and sufficient reason.?
BTL?s chairman, former Central Bank governor, Keith Arnold, confirmed Aguilar?s termination today. He declined to elaborate on the reasons for his termination, saying that it was a private matter between Aguilar and BTL, which is run by a coalition board comprised of the GOB and Ashcroft representatives.
The Director of Immigration, Mr. Jose Zetina, has made statements to the media to the effect that 90% of staff at the Immigration Department are corrupt. He has also stated his belief that the stolen passports were an orchestrated attempt by staff members to embarrass and depose him from his position as Director of the Department.
The Public Service Union finds these statements by a Head of Department utterly baseless, irresponsible and indicative of an administrator who has lost control of his department and who has now resorted to rule by intimidation, fear and paranoia.
