BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Apr. 28, 2022 — The Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, and Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Jose Mai, who by their own admission took steps to facilitate the entry of some imported plants that are reportedly invasive and/or endangered species, on behalf of a local plant seller, are being accused by the president of the Public Service Union (PSU) of a breach of their office and outright disrespect to the professionals within the public service. Some of the flowers that were brought into the country as a result of the intervention of both Cabinet Ministers, who made calls to public officers within the Customs and Forestry department to facilitate the clearance of the plants at the border and to abort an attempt to inspect and possibly confiscate them, are reportedly listed as endangered and invasive species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which Belize became a signatory.

While concerns about the potential impact of the possible presence of such species in the country and the lack of compliance with the CITES treaty remain front and center, the PSU president has been particularly focused on the brazen admission by the PM that he used his political office to issue a directive to public officers—something that Flowers finds stunning.

“If there is any intervention to be made, where any matter is concerned, that intervention ought to come through the proper authorities, which in my view would be a supervisor or a head of department!” Flowers said.

In regard to the derailment of the processes for inspecting and possibly confiscating certain plant species, the PM admitted to using his office to facilitate the importation of the questionable plants at two separate points in the process. “Again, Minister Mai called me, the Minister responsible — the people at the Customs Department to ask them to please process that permits, or that order, or else if it stays on the other side, it is going to spoil,” Hon. Briceño said in reference to the first call he made.

That call was made to the Customs Department so that the plants could enter the country. After what Flowers described as an overnight operation (at the end of the working day on April 11) to release the plants and hand them to the plant seller, Diani Chan, there was an attempt by Forestry Department personnel to inspect and confiscate some of the plants at Chan’s private premises. It was at that point that a second call was made by the PM—a call that he again admits to making.

“I said that I am asking you as Prime Minister to please allow them to come in, and then, we can deal with the facts afterward.” This is what the Prime Minister said he told the Forestry officer during that second call after the Forestry officers reportedly sought police assistance to confiscate the flowers.

During this telephone exchange, the Forestry officer reportedly told the Prime Minister that the only person who could call him with a directive was his supervisor, then the officer, according to PM Briceño, hung up the phone. The Prime Minister said the person was very rude, and according to Flowers, they received reports that the PM was forceful in his request to the officer—an undertone he personally classifies as intimidation.

“So, I will be speaking with the Minister. I’m not shying away from that,” Prime Minister Briceño said when telling local reporters how he would address the rude response of the Forestry officer. Although he was not explicit about what would be done to address the purported insubordination of the officer, it is anticipated that some disciplinary action might be forthcoming for the public servant, although Flowers fails to see any grounds for such a course of action.

“Essentially that is what this has come down to—a public officer who simply was carrying out the instruction of his superiors. He was carrying out the legal instructions of his superiors to look at what was being imported and to confiscate and destroy what was not authorized or legal to be in the country,” Flowers stated.

In regard to the issue of the importation of the plants themselves, and the potential harm that could be caused to our local flora, the Prime Minister had told the Forestry officer that those facts could be addressed later.

“I said that I am asking you as Prime Minister to please allow them to come in, and then, we can deal with the facts afterward!” PM Briceño said he told the officer.

Flowers said he was not surprised. “I’m not surprised that the Prime Minister pretty much threw good governance out the window when he said “deal with it afterward—mek they come in’. Clearly, he was not concerned as to whether or not these species were invasive, whether or not they were harmful, would be harmful to the local flora of the country. He wasn’t concerned with that, he was more concerned in doing a political favor and throwing the public officer under the bus,” Flowers remarked.

We reached out to Diani Chan, who said she has sought legal advice on the matter and would say nothing more at this time. Late this evening, a leaked correspondence from the Ministry of Sustainable Development; Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management confirmed that the public servant in question has been placed on a 5-day administrative leave effective tomorrow April 28, 2022, to May 5, 2022.

The letter signed and sealed by the CEO of the Ministry, Dr. Kenrick Williams, states, “The purpose of this Administrative Leave is as a result of your failure to act in a professional manner in accordance with the Belize Constitution (Public Service) Regulation, 2014, Part 7, Code of Conduct, 4(1)(2)(a) and (b).”