Letters
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Letter from Cayo WeBAD – We Belizeans Against Deceit and Discrimination
Editor AMANDALA
Sir,
There are many people who come to Belize to volunteer their time and their knowledge in worthwhile and productive activities that help the people and the country. But many of those people come with a lot of prejudicial and racial hang-ups; they think they are somehow superior to people here because they come from an industrial country.
Dr. Meggs to P.M. Musa
Dr. Carl M. Meggs, B.Sc. DDS
Chairman ? Belize Medical Council
C/O Northern Regional Hospital
July 16, 2004
Hon. Said Musa
Prime Minister of Belize
Belmopan
Dear Sir:
In reference to your memorandum GMD/8/01 dated June 10, 2004 ? I apologize for the delay, but I was out of the country for two weeks.
I have checked the records from the files of the Belize Medical Council and provide you with the following information: Dr. Reynaldo Castaneda Manzini, Age 55, 4 Miles, Northern Highway, Phone 609-2343, Place of Birth: Havana, Cuba, resident Belize.
Please dim the Ladyville LOVE light
Editor AMANDALA
Sir,
I would ask if it is possible to find space in your newspaper to publicize the following issue which affects thousands of Ladyville residents.
Some months ago, Love FM installed a ?new? strobe light on top of its transmission tower in Ladyville. This light replaced another, unobtrusive one. The new one, however, is very bright and flashes incessantly into thousands of Ladyville homes all night long. What compounds the problem is that while the previous light flashed eastward (away from the homes) and maybe affected some shrimp making love at Nova, the new one shines in a different direction and can be seen from at least St. George?s Caye.
My father, Javier Berbey Garcia
Dear Editor,
?What has he ever done that is good for Belize?? asks a letter in THE REPORTER. Well, Mr. Javier Berbey Garcia ? my father ? has done a lot more for Belize than you think.
In the book, ?An Oral History of Land, Property and Real Estate Development in Belize City,? written by Joe Iyo, Ph.D., he states: ?The achievement of Garcia saw Belize City expanding in the North with Belama Phase I and II, Bella Vista, and Vista del Mar, in the West with West Landivar, in the South with Port Loyola and in the East with St. Martin de Porres?. This book also gives a brief history of my father?s coming to Belize and how through his vision and pioneering skills, these said developed areas came to be.
Where do you fit, Mr. Smokey?
From: maxine strand? <[email protected]>
Subject: Smokey Joe - Sept.12/04
Date: Mon. 13 Sep. 2004 14:07:03 -0600
Dear Editor,
I thought it was important for me to clear up a few things that were implied in the above-mentioned Smokey Joe article. First of all, I was not angry when I wrote the letter; I was amazed, and now that I have read more of his articles, I am less amazed. I have no doubt that many people, not only the highly educated, have no idea what Mr. Smokey is talking about most of the time, yet believe it to be Gospel just because it comes from someone who has the attention of many. It is unfortunate that a man who has so much influence uses it to keep racism and hatred alive in the minds of those who have not had the advantages that Mr. Smokey has.
Enemy of cannabis
General Delivery
San Ignacio P.O.
Cayo, Belize
Dear Editor:
Regarding Rowland Parks? story in the September 1 Amandala, Mr. Marlon Garnett asked the court for sympathy to ?take care? of his grandmother after he was caught with 390.6 grams of cannabis ? and the charges were reduced from drug trafficking to possession.
Wants Belizean soldiers in Iraq
Sgt. Stephen K. Augustine
BLT ? A. Co. 2nd PLT
Unit 73035
FPOAE 09509 ? 3035
July ?04
Dear AMANDALA,
My name is Stephen Augustine, known to my friends back home as ?KHROY-T?. I?m an Infantry Marine Sergeant serving in Iraq for the second time as part of ?Operation Iraqi Freedom?. I?m one of many Belizeans who serve proudly in the U.S. Armed Forces.
We are not ?Indians?
Attn: Mr. Gregorio Choc
Christopher Columbus in 1492 was halfway to India when he landed in the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo and Hispanola. The native people he discovered there, he called ?Indians?, because he thought he had reached India. What had happened then was that Columbus had discovered the Americas without knowing it. He was lost and confused momentarily, but he was still on the right track to India, but it was still thousands of miles away or was still one half the earth?s voyage to arrive to India.
Belmopan Mayor replies to Greg Choc
ADM/42/04A/04
August 31, 2004
Mr. Gregorio Choc
President ? Q?eqchi? Council of Belize
Jose Maria Nunez Street
Punta Gorda Town
Mr. Choc,
I thank you for your letter of August 25th2004, containing several remarks which beg a response.
I have since spoken publicly of my reference to indigenous Belizean Maya as ?Indians?. Please be reassured that I meant no disrespect or malice, and I stand corrected. It is my hope that this unfortunate experience has served to educate other Belizeans to be more culturally sensitive when communicating with or about people of different ethnic origins.
Maya leader writes Belmopan Mayor
Q?EQCHI? COUNCIL OF BELIZE
Jose Maria Nunez Street,
Punta Gorda Town,
Toledo District
Anthony Chanona
Mayor of Belmopan City
Mayor Chanona,
We have in our possession a letter written by you addressed to the Prime Minister requesting him to provide you with the Dragon Unit or police, Human Development and Immigration agencies to conduct a ?clean sweep? operation to document the illegal activity and dismantle bush huts constructed by people you called ?Indians? from the Toledo District who are settling around the periphery of Belmopan and to relocate these people back to where they came from.
