Photo: Documents from RECONDEV showing 2018 sale of land to Kenny Zheng and Annie Zhu
Protest against GoB $6.9 million land purchase; NTUCB threatens court action
BELMOPAN, Thurs. Aug. 22, 2024
Even before the revelation that the former owners of land bought by GoB for the construction of a public university hospital, had paid only $610,000 to RECONDEV for the 14.7 acres that was purchased by the government only 6 years later at a whopping $6.9 million, Nigel Petillo had announced that a demonstration would be held this Friday in front of Prime Minister John Briceño’s Belmopan office.
The land purchase has now ballooned into a full-fledged scandal for the ruling People’s United Party (PUP), as people question the Government’s decision to not use the land on the University of Belize Belmopan campus that had been originally designated as the location of the new hospital. While Government officials have argued that the off-center UB land would require millions in investment and more than a year to be developed, many have argued that such development would have been worthwhile.
The ever-intensifying controversy is what sent Luis Luke Martinez, president of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), and NTUCB Senator Glenfield Dennison on a fact-finding mission at the Lands and Surveys Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Mining and Petroleum. It was Martinez who revealed that Asian duo, Kenny Zheng and Annie Zhu from San Andres, Corozal Town, had only paid the then UDP-administered RECONDEV (chaired by then Belmopan mayor Khalid Belisle) $610,000 for the land sale which was finalized on April 18, 2018 for parcel 11214 and July 31, 2018 for parcel 5624.
A pretty annoyed Martinez, who has often served as stand-in NTUCB senator himself, declared to the media that the Government is ‘b-s-ing’ all and sundry—the Belizean people, UB and the Senate included—in order to get its way. He described the entire fiasco of Government officials trying to explain away the decision to change the location of the university hospital as rigmarole – a long and rambling story. Speaking colloquially, Martinez declared on Wednesday that one politician even had the nerve, “worse than 10 bad teeth, to tell di people ‘the technocrat seh!’”
“We’re taking it to the court,” exclaimed Martinez, as he emphasized that the land has undergone no kind of development to be worth $6.9 million. “The Government will have to explain themselves to the justice system,” he said. Martinez questioned “which technocrat could argue to give up free access to land on the national university for a sh—t house land.” He then expressed great disappointment in Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Kevin Bernard, whom he says is spewing the “schupidniss that he’s telling the people with a very brave face.”
After visiting the Lands Department, the duo made their way to the Ministry of Finance to determine if the $6.9 million purchase price had already been paid to Zhu and Zheng as declared in the Government’s sole press release on this matter on August 14. That’s because at that point in the day, the land register still showed that the land was not yet transferred to Government, and Martinez’ ultimate goal is for the deal to be reversed. We are told, however, that the Government chalked up the lack of an update on the register to mere bureaucracy, and by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, the land register had been updated to reflect the finalized transactions. By then we had already confirmed that the entire sum of $6.9 million had already been paid to the Asians, who some say are well-connected to members of both mass political parties in Belize.
NTUCB urges UB to hold GoB accountable for hospital location change
Being proactive, the NTUCB president had already taken action on Monday, August 19, by writing to the Chairman of the University of Belize’s Board of Trustees, Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, to ask that the Board “take a proactive stance in holding the government accountable for this decision” (to change the site for the university hospital). Of note is that the NTUCB has a seat on the UB Board; however, in his letter to Smith, Martinez writes that the decision on the change in location was “made without meaningful consultation with key stakeholders, including our organization.” The letter adds, “We are deeply disappointed by this development, as it undermines the principles of good governance, and raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability in the management of public funds… The NTUCB strongly believes that the University of Belize’s Board of Trustees must take a proactive stance in holding the government accountable for this decision and the recently ratified Loan Motion.”
Martinez called on the Board to convene an urgent meeting to discuss the issue, and to call on the Government to reconsider its decision “and build the tertiary-level hospital on the University Campus, or alternatively, that [the] University be gifted the property on which the new hospital is to be built to facilitate the development of the Medical School.”
Smith responded to Martinez today and pointed him to the minutes of the Board’s meeting of March 26th which outline that he, Smith, notified the board members that the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) “wanted to build the hospital at a location other than UB’s lands.” He added that the MOHW, at a meeting, had provided several reasons as to “why it felt UB’s land was not suitable, and informed the Board that discussions were underway with the Ministry of Natural resources to find land that would provide the access and routes desired by the MOHW.” Smith proceeds thus, “As you may recall, an impassioned discussion ensued in which several trustees of the Board, including you, marshalled what, in my view, were formidable, informed arguments as to why the university hospital should be built on UB’s land.” Nonetheless, Smith tells Martinez that the decision ultimately rested with the MOHW, and “As strongly as we may feel about that decision, it is not ours to make.” As to Martinez’ call that the Board holds the Government accountable for the decision and examine its implications, Smith tells Martinez, “That is for the media, civil society organizations and the people of Belize.”
Smith then tells Martinez that the Board can reiterate its commitment to have the university hospital built on UB land, and also ask the Government to seriously consider his (Martinez’) proposal that, if the hospital’s construction proceeds on the other land, that the Government should gift that land to the University. Smith closes his letter indicating that the matter will be on the agenda for the upcoming Board meeting set for September 11.
Protest against $6.9M land purchase spearheaded by Nigel Petillo
In leading disenchanted members of the public to a demonstration on Friday, land activist Nigel Petillo, who is now attached to real estate company Ceiba Realty, zoomed in on whether the Government is getting value for money. Insistent that there is cheaper land in the vicinity of the purchased property, Petillo provided an example of a private piece of land along the road beside El Rancho which he says is being sold for $150,000 per acre. “The distance is not even quarter mile [from the GoB land],” noted Petillo.
In urging members of the public to participate in the demonstration, Petillo commented that he “has started to blame us as a people rather than blaming the politician, because the politicians already know that we will just ‘tek it.’ It will ‘blow over like a lee breeze.’ We will go home and quarrel and complain about it among our spouses, and our neighbours and friends about ‘di govament dis and di govament dat,’ but we never take action!”
Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow has indicated that the United Democratic Party will participate in Friday’s demonstration. During an interview on Tuesday at a press briefing, he said they will join members of civil society to express their outrage. He added in response to the explanations by Government officials, “Not because you are a technocrat or you have some Master’s or PhD means that you can take people for fool.” He declared that to avert the original plan of action of putting the university hospital on the UB campus, “… could only be corrupt… could only be the most abhorrent decision that those that are charged with protecting the public purse could commit.”
For its part, the NTUCB today via a press release invited members of its ten member unions to participate in the demonstration. The NTUCB wrote, “We will be joining forces with Nigel Petillo and various civil society organizations to advocate for a better future for Belize—one free from corruption, misfeasance and kleptocracy…. Together, we can make a difference. Let us march with one voice, echoing the sentiment: “ONLY THE PEOPLE CAN SAVE THE PEOPLE.” We believe in unity and collective action as powerful tools in our pursuit of progress and reform.” The NTUCB also invited all citizens, the Network of NGOs, churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the business community to participate as well.
Apart from the demonstration, Petillo, along with members of the Belizean Diaspora, organized for this evening at 6:00 a Zoom meeting for those interested to discuss issues of national concern, including this controversial land purchase. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook.
Aria Lightfoot, a Belizean living in the United States, who is a licensed realtor with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a specialty in real estate, is among those partnering with Petillo for the discussion this evening. She highlighted the importance of appraisals, and affirmed that the argument that the Asian landowners planned a subdivision for the land would only work if the Government had acquired their land for a public purpose and were compensating the landowners for that compulsory acquisition. She stated that in their purchase of the land, the Government ought to have displayed an ethical and fiduciary duty to ensure that “they are purchasing at a good value, one, and purchasing at the best value, and we know that is not necessarily the case.” The important point for Lightfoot in this case is whether the Government had alternative options available. She also questioned whether it was put out to tender. Lightfoot remarked that any private landowner will submit a sky-high value; but a good negotiator would have said, “‘Hey! You have a $9 million value, but I can show you properties that are nearby that are selling for significantly less, therefore, I’m not going to buy it unless you come down in your value.”
Lightfoot says that with many Belizeans abroad having land in Belize, they have a vested interest in what happens back home, especially given that inflated appraisals can impact land values and taxes.