Leading the news going into May of this year was the disclosure of yet another secret deal granted by the former administration of Said Musa, this time to Belize Telecommunications Limited (now Belize Telemedia Limited). Prime Minister Dean Barrow disclosed what was termed an “accommodation agreement” at a meeting of the House of Representatives, under which BTL was allowed to withhold taxes if the company did not earn guaranteed profits. In the ensuing months, BTL and the Government were engaged in a series of legal skirmishes over tax payments, with the Supreme Court upholding the Government’s position on the matter. The agreement continues to be a subject of dispute between the parties.
Another leading story at the start of May was a statement by Senator Godwin Hulse, citing information obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Annual Report indicating that 40.9% of the people naturalized in 2007 were Guatemalans – a total of 550 Guatemalans. Senator Hulse said that the nationalizations were in violation of the Constitution of Belize, section 29, subsection 3, which he cited as saying that “…no persons should be entitled to get citizenship, if they show any allegiance to or are a citizen of a country that does not recognize the Independence, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Belize.” (The law does give the Minister, at the time Ralph Fonseca, “discretion” to grant such citizenships, but no official has satisfactorily explained why the number of Guatemalans becoming Belizeans is so disproportionately high relative to people of other nationalities.)
In June our newspaper documented this continuing trend, as 179 new Belizeans were sworn in under the Barrow administration, 64 of them Guatemalans. They got their citizenship, reportedly, either because they married a Belizean or registered for citizenship after living in Belize for five years. (A Government official informed us that the Guatemalans have to renounce their original citizenship.)
At the first real business session of the House of Representatives since the general elections, the Belize Constitution Sixth Amendment Bill – which would later become the subject of fierce public debate and courtroom challenges – was introduced. Included in the original bill were reforms to the structure and role of the Senate, a three-term limit on the office of the Prime Minister, as well as preventative detention provisions which would have permitted a seven-day detention in the first instance, with a maximum detention period of 30 days. The Government also introduced amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, to outlaw secrecy in Government contracts, as well as amendments to the Referendum Act. It later rescinded preventative detention provisions. Furthermore, the Chief Justice later ruled that a referendum is required before the amendments become law – a decision that has since been appealed.
On May 6, Belize City police raided the mansion of affluent businessman Jose Shoman on the Northern Highway, and reportedly found a stash of guns and ammunition. Police said they found an unlicensed 12-gauge Winchester pump action shotgun, one hundred and ninety-one 12-gauge cartridges and one hundred and twenty-eight .38 rounds of ammunition. In a late evening session before Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie, Shoman and his wife were offered (and met) bail of $5,000 to $10,000 on each charge.
In July, the Magistrate’s Court dismissed the charges. The case fell apart because a package of 5 12-gauge cartridges, and 28 of the .38 rounds went missing, and the ammunition was not tendered as evidence. By the end of the month, police prosecutor, Sergeant Ludwig Castillo, had been interdicted and sent before a police tribunal, charged with Prejudice to Good Order and Discipline. Police Commissioner Gerald Westby had told local media that allegations were being made that Sgt. Castillo removed the exhibits from the exhibit room at Eastern Division Headquarters on Queen Street, Belize City.
Customs officials reported that in early May, two apparently “phantom” containers arrived in country but soon after disappeared. The containers reportedly came in the name of non-existent companies. One container, said to be foodstuff, was earmarked for re-exportation to Lebanon via Chetumal, thereby being exempt from duties. The second container, said to be vitamins, destined for Belize, originated in China and came via Jamaica. The trucker claimed that the container had been hijacked and robbed of all of the contents, and so Customs reportedly never got to see what was inside.
The illegal trafficking of substances to make the controlled drug, methamphetamine – a destructively addictive substance, through Belize City’s commercial port was a major story that developed on the law enforcement scene in 2008, with several containers “disappearing” or being intercepted by Customs authorities in Belize City. Around mid-August, Bruce Virgo, 49 and Lennox Bowman, 46, were charged with importing prohibited goods for one carton containing 10,240 tablets of Sudolor – a laboratory made product which contains pseudo-ephedrine, which was this year made a prohibited substance under the Supplies Control Act. Documents for clearing the package from DHL claimed that Bowman was an agent for a dialysis fluid that was in the carton and it was for his kidney ailment. At the end of July, Customs reported the third jacking of 146 boxes of Noxpirin brand cough suppressants, containing pseudo-ephedrine, used to make the severely addictive drug methamphetamine. The truck was later recovered empty. In May, there were two “jackings” on the Western Highway. Of interest is that one container, headed for Cancun, was labeled “spices.”
Delsey White, a two-year-old child, died, after being brutally beaten by her mother, Shiann White, 21, who was charged for manslaughter. Her 4-month-old baby brother was also brutally beaten, and both their skulls were fractured. Six days later in Ladyville, another two-year-old, Vernice Rodriguez, suffered a similar fate, allegedly at the hands of her babysitter, Danna Banner. Vernice had bruises on her back and abdomen, and burns on the left foot, and the autopsy concluded she died after being hit in the head with a blunt object.
The residents of the Mayflower Street area were shaken by the sudden grenade attack on May 19 on a group of 12 young people. A teen on a bicycle reportedly threw a hand grenade of Eastern European make, but it did not explode until a young man from the group kicked it away, thinking it was a rock. Darren Trapp, 16, died the following morning while still in surgery. At least 11 others, ages 15 to 29, were injured.
On Friday, May 23, Kareem Smith, 20, and his brother, Akeem, 16, were arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, jointly charged for conspiracy to commit murder. Akeem, fingered as the person to have thrown the grenade, also faced a murder charge for the death of Trapp, and eleven counts of attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm and dangerous harm.
Unprecedented flash-flooding wreaked havoc and destruction in southern Belize at the start of the hurricane season, causing $77 million in damages and taking at least five lives, with two more people having been reported missing and presumed dead. Tropical Storm Arthur, as the system was called, was said to have mushroomed over northern Belize, but dumped excessive rains over the southern part of the country. The raging waters washed away Kendal Bridge, an impressive steel bridge that is now being replaced by GOB’s Works crew. The Mullins River Bridge was also washed away, and several communities – including Gales Point, Mullins River, Sarawee, Hope Creek, Sittee River, and Middlesex in Stann Creek – were devastated, many people losing everything they owned on account of the unforeseen natural disaster.
In what has proven to be the most murderous year on record for Belize, a double murder shattered the quiet of Bermudian Landing Village at the end of May, when Karen Crawford, 19, and Maurice Banner, 44, were executed in cold blood at the residence of Crawford’s boyfriend, Emerson Wade, police say possibly because of a dispute over drugs. Police charged John Chessman Jr., 18, who had recently been acquitted of a murder charge, for the double homicide.
Cost of living pressures were as much of a concern as crime during most of 2008, and supply shortages of rice and flour created much disquiet among consumers. Some of the shortages were, in fact, engineered to nudge the government into implementing new controlled prices for basic commodities. New controlled prices for rice and flour took effect, even though across the country, merchants have continued to set their own prices for many commodities, including beans, which have also seen prices escalated to record highs this year. In June, following an increase in the price of flour, the Government approved an increase on the loaf of bread, starting with 25 cents for the standard loaf, which became $1.75 a pack. (The Belize Bakers Association had been lobbying for $2.00.) The Government also permitted the bakers to import flour, and granted a permit to the Belize Marketing Board to import 1.5 million pounds of rice. At the same time, the Government set up a new consumer protection hotline: 0-800-2-TELL-US (or 0-800-283-5587).
The continued raping of Belize’s forestry resources by illegal Guatemalan xatéros and loggers came into sharp focus in June when the Ya’axche’ Conservation Trust, a community-oriented NGO in southern Belize, reported on activities in the Columbia River Forest Reserve – a reserve of major national importance. Police had reportedly nabbed three Guatemalans and charged them with unlawful possession of forest produce, for which they were arraigned in Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court. They were each fined $500, but because they could not meet the fine they were sentenced to 6 months at the Hattieville Prison.
The Maya of Golden Stream, Toledo, and later of the 38 villages in Toledo, took the Government of Belize to court over customary land rights claims, they said the Government had not been respecting. Caught in the middle is Belizean-born rice and citrus farmer of Golden Stream, Francis Johnston, who had to discontinue works on property acquired from his Maya brother-in-law, pending the outcome of the court case. The Maya contend that they have rights to customary land tenure, based on historic occupation of the lands. However, the Government – and Johnston as an interested party – strongly rebuffs their claims, saying that the Maya should not claim rights not held by the rest of Belizeans.
Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action (COLA – formerly the Committee to Oust Lord Ashcroft) staged a high-noon march upon Market Square in Belize City on Wednesday, June 18, calling on the Belize Bank to return the US$10 million grant from Venezuela which the previous administration had diverted to the bank towards the payment of the debt of Universal Health Services. Among the faces in the crowd were COLA’s founding members; Housing Minister Michael Finnegan, who marched beside Amandala publisher, Evan X Hyde; Attorney General, Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, marching alongside ex-PUP Senator, Dickie Bradley; trade unionists such as Ray Davis, George Frazer, Christine Perriott, and Hubert Enriquez; and People’s National Party (PNP) leader, Wil Maheia. COLA’s second initiative was a “no cell phone” weekend from July 11 to 13.
In late June, police found 2 pieces of PE4, a major demolition explosive, as well as a sawed-off shotgun and 2 12-guage cartridges, a smoke grenade, and detonators in a city home at the corner of Berkeley and Plues Streets. (On December 18, Nikki Pinkard, 23, Genevieve Milligan, 31, and Leslie Gillett, 22, who had been charged for possession of explosives, unlicensed gun and ammunition, as well as possession of controlled drugs, were freed, reportedly because the prosecution was not ready to proceed to trial when it was due to start.
An American couple were shot dead at their home in Cristo Rey, Cayo. Michael Hill, 59, and his wife Donna, 55, naturalized Belizeans, were murdered, apparently for money. The bodies were found on the banks of the Macal River about 100 yards from the home. Michael had been shot once behind his left ear, and Donna once under her left eye. Our sources indicated that a gold Toyota Hilux pickup and a shotgun were missing and presumed stolen by the killer or killers. The Hills were said to have run the San Ignacio arm of Century 21, a real estate company.
On Friday, July 4, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh ruled that the Supreme Court of Belize had to yield to the arbitration proceedings in London, to resolve the dispute over the Universal Health Services debt guaranteed by the Government. The Chief Justice said that jurisdiction had fallen with London arbitration because of the arbitration clause included in documents ex-Prime Minister Musa signed with the Belize Bank. He said that in addition to the Government (under Musa) agreeing to arbitration, it agreed to make London the seat, making the English Court the “supervisory court.”
Meanwhile, the courtroom battles launched by the Government of Belize for the recovery of the Venezuelan money used to pay the UHS debt came to an end in August, when Belize Bank’s chairman made the reimbursement of the US$10 million personally to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General, Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington. This was days following a ruling in favor of the Government by the Banks and Financial Institutions Appeals Board – a process that the Belize Bank initially resisted, challenging the constitutionality of the process and its likelihood of getting a fair hearing.
In finance news, Prime Minister Barrow presented his first budget of $825 million in spending in July. The budget was almost four months late, but came after the new administration held extensive consultations with stakeholders, led by former financial secretary, Dr. Carla Barnett. Barrow outlined a number of measures to be effected during the fiscal year, including removing General Sales Tax (GST) from some basic food items such as powdered milk, cooking oil, chicken Vienna sausages, corned beef, coffee and tea; and the removal of GST from doctor bills, as well as some over-the-counter medicines, including anti-retroviral medication for HIV patients.
Controversy surrounded the detention of four Belizeans in Mexico after two Mexicans, uncle and nephew – Edwin and Luis Navarro, reportedly came across this side of the border, and threatened them with violence. A shootout ensured on the Belize side of the border and the casino officials, purportedly in an attempt to alert Mexican officials at the border, were themselves detained, and later charged and remanded to prison in Mexico. The Belizeans – Martin Miller, David Gomez, Curlin Thompson, and their American employer, George Hardie, Jr., all of Las Vegas Casino, could face up to 20 years in prison.
In late July, Attorney General Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington reported that he had just met with Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, a very prominent United Kingdom attorney who has been dealing with the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute on the Government of Belize’s behalf, to discuss Government’s plans to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), if a national referendum endorses the idea. Elrington told us that it would cost Belize 5 million pounds (almost 20 million dollars) in legal fees and other expenses to go to the ICJ, and it could take 3 to 4 years to be completed. The referendum, he said, may be held in the first quarter of 2009.
The following month, August, Jose Miguel Insulza, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), visited Belize. Insulza told the local press that, “The next thing to do is… decide exactly what are the terms of our decision to go to court, and write them down in a kind of a treaty, or an agreement.” That agreement or treaty is today known as the compromis.
July saw Belize being plagued with a string of major crimes, with 4 murders, 2 remains found, 4 attempted murders, 3 home invasions—all happening in a span of 5 days, beginning July 24. They included Abel Thomas, 22, who was shot in the back of his head for his own beach cruiser bicycle; and Leon Sutherland, 24, who had gone to buy bun for his family. A relative said that the suspected killers of Sutherland, presumed to be from the Mayflower area, were really after his younger brother, supposedly to send a message to “the Lake I boys.”
In a bizarre string of events that month, Terrence Herbert, 43, shot and killed Richard Arnold, 47, over Herbert’s estranged common-law wife, Eladia Che, known also as “Tina,” at a location off the Old Northern Highway. But rather than facing the legal consequences for the crime, Herbert went back to his home village, Lucky Strike, and borrowed a gun on the pretense that he was going to hunt peccary. He instead used the gun to end his own life.
In another first for 2008, a new Miss Belize was crowned inside the living room of pageant organizer, Margaret Johnson, on Racoon Street, Belize City. Charmaine Chinapen, 21, a Curacao-born St. John’s University (New York) chemistry major, was selected as Miss Belize 2008-09. The coronation was performed by last year’s first runner-up, Iris Medina of Orange Walk Town, and the former Miss Belize protested, saying that she was not even aware that her reign had been brought to an end. Johnson defended the event as totally legitimate.
The savage rape and murder of a King’s Park mother and the assault of one of her daughters was perhaps the most vicious case of home invasion reported this year. Sandra Ruiz, 39, an Esso engineer of #5664 Meighan Avenue, was struck with a hammer in the presence of her two young daughters, one 8 and the other 13. The attacker also hit the younger child in her head, and left both girls traumatized. (The elder of the two hid in the bathroom at the time of the invasion.)
Ex-police constable Jose Maria Zetina was sentenced at the age of 45 to life behind bars after he was convicted of fatally stabbing Rosa Isabel Mejia, his ex-common-law wife, age 18 and a month pregnant, at their home in Santa Elena four years ago. Zetina was said to have an otherwise clean record, and according to legal sources, may probably be eligible for parole in 10-15 years.
Mennonite contractor, Wilhelm Braun, 42, of Ranchito Village, Corozal, was shot dead on August 21 at SP Plaza inside the Commercial Free Zone, Santa Elena, Corozal border, allegedly by Mexicans, one of whom attacked with a high-powered, sub-machine gun. Two men reportedly fled the scene, running through a patch of grass and jumping a fence, leaving Braun in a pool of his own blood.
The Government of Belize announced in late August that money laundering charges would be withdrawn against First Caribbean International Bank and the Belize Bank; it turned out that the charges were dismissed in the Magistrate’s Court – which meant that the court itself was the one that made the determination that the case would not be heard, the problem being that evidence had still not been disclosed to the court, months after charges had been filed. The FIU director, Geraldine Davis-Young, told us that the banks agreed to fund the implementation of an electronic reporting system for suspicious transactions, as well as the rehabilitation of Battlefield and Memorial Parks. The Government claimed that the Bank of America had made appeals to the Central Bank, and there were threats that correspondent bank relations would have been severed. The anti-money laundering charges were in connection to hundreds of millions reported to have been traded on the parallel market by Belize Telecommunications Limited.
Turmoil erupted at City Hall, Belize City, five weeks to the Belize City convention to elect a United Democratic Party slate for the 2009 municipal elections. The controversy was originally over a break down in waste disposal arrangements, and the continued cash crisis at City Hall that caused Belize Waste Control to drastically scale back operations. Mayor Zenaida Moya came under fire from members of her own party, including Councilor Mark King and Senator Juliet Thimbriel. Her deputy, Anthony Michael, came out on national television along with a majority of councilors – challenging the incumbent mayor on national TV as a dramatic start to their pre-convention campaign.
The realization of plans to make local diesel and gasoline, even though initially on a small scale, was reported by Central Products Limited (CPL), a Mennonite father and son partnership (Jacob and Peter Teichroeb), which began producing a type 2 diesel from a Belizean-made mini refinery for local sale. Concurrent reports indicated that a company named Blue Sky Corporation, a partnership between BNE and an investor out of Houston, was also producing diesel for the Belizean market, and was planning to add more products for local sale—a historic development for Belize.
And finally, Kremandala this year mourned the loss of three dearly loved men: Denton “Mr. D” Garbutt, Kremandala custodian and facilitator, passed away at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital on August 12, from a heart attack. On July 30, 21-year-old Travis Westby, was mercilessly gunned down – shot with at least 10 bullets – at his girlfriend’s home in the Lake I area. On Sunday, July 20, Selvin “Smokey Joe” Wade passed away at the age of 88. He succumbed to a heart attack.