Denzil Jenkins, chairman of the Belize Citrus Growers Association Investment Limited and Citrus Research & Education Institute (CREI), as well as director of the Citrus Growers Association of Belize, told Amandala this week that he received a threatening note, delivered to him at his gate on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2010.
Jenkins told us that the note was discovered by his son, Gordon, who said that he had heard the dogs barking that night and then saw a man riding off on a bicycle.
What his son found, stuck in the gate as if it were mail, was a note (written in spiral letters) that said, “Watch yourself; only that crazy son you have saving you.”
Jenkins told Amandala on Thursday that he takes the note to be a direct threat to him, as it was found on his property, located at Mile 7 on the Stann Creek Valley Road.
The following morning, said Jenkins, they also found a pay slip on the pathway between the highway and his gate, a few feet away from where the note had been left, which traces to a Guatemalan national, 19, who works for a citrus company owned by one of Jenkins’ rivals.
Jenkins said that there was no pay slip there the day before, when the entire area had been cleaned by a workman he had hired.
Minister of Police and Public Safety, Doug Singh, told Amandala that he has taken a personal interest in the matter after CGA officials met with him about a week ago, with security concerns, amid an ongoing dispute between adversarial factions in the citrus industry.
According to Singh, Dr. Henry Canton, who belongs to a rival camp of citrus growers who formed a breakaway association, Belize Citrus Mutual, has also claimed that he has received threats some months ago, and as a result had to license guns for his son and himself.
No one from the rivaling camps has pinpointed who is making threats, said Singh, adding that there is at the moment very limited action that the police can take.
He said that he has advised all parties to take adequate precautions and stay vigilant, and to ensure that they document as much evidence as they can, including capturing photos or videos with their cell phone, to assist police with their investigations.
According to Minister Singh, the information is sketchy at this time—not enough for the police to go on.
In February 2010, Jenkins had told us that an attempt was made to run his wife off the road, while she was driving on the Hummingbird Highway. Recently, there were allegations of a second attempt against Elite security officers hired by CGA.
Jenkins said that he believes that the police are investigating the matter.
Jenkins also told us that while he has had previous verbal warnings of possible attacks against him, from persons he said are associated with CPBL, this is the first time he has received a written threat and he takes the matter very seriously.
“Why would it be left at my gate?” Jenkins said, when asked if he believes the threat is intended directly for him.
Singh said that to the extent lives are threatened, police will react.
Dr. Canton had told our newspaper recently that following the murder of Herman Morris, the financial controller of CGA, he had heard that there was heavy speculation that he was in some way responsible for the death of Morris, who had handed him his termination letter, signed by Jenkins, the prior Friday.
Canton, who has been resisting his termination, had told us categorically that he was not responsible for the Morris death. At the time when Amandala spoke with Canton, he did not mention to us that he had received threats as well.
Key players in the citrus industry have been embroiled in a drawn-out war for control over the industry, but the skirmishes have been confined to the courtroom and the protest line. Singh said that he wants to ensure that steps are taken to keep the peace in the Valley.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been called to intervene in a related dispute between CPBL shareholders, the CGA and Banks Holdings Limited, the latter of which supports Canton. Barrow has pledged to meet with some of the key parties to try and broker talks this month, in the hope that growing tensions would be diffused.