February, 2024 - Channel 5 Belize

CCJ Dismisses Appeal in Wilfred Elrington Vs Progresso Heights Limited

Today, the Caribbean Court of Justice handed down a ruling upholding the Court of Appeal’s decision in the matter between former Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington and Progresso Heights Limited. Just over a decade ago, Elrington as a shareholder in Progresso Heights Limited, visited the Lands Department and filed cautions on one hundred parcels of land that the directors were attempting to sell. This is after Elrington and the directors had a falling out. Progresso Heights Limited then brought a lawsuit against Elrington to have the cautions lifted. In 2019, the High Court ruled in favor of Progresso Heights Limited and awarded them over three hundred thousand dollars in damages. Elrington then appealed the matter at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was dismissed and the order of the trial judge was affirmed. Elrington then took the matter to the Caribbean Court of Justice to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision. The CCJ came to the conclusion that there was no need to interfere with the decision of the Court of Appeal. Here is that decision.

Justice Maureen Rajnauth- Lee, Caribbean Court of Justice

“The court held that there was no reason to interfere with the view expressed by the Court of Appeal, that the question of whether the claim was legitimately brought by the company did not arise on the pleadings and was therefore not an issue. It has not been disputed that that issue was never raised in the appellant’s defense. In addition, the appellant did not seek to strike out the claim brought by the company. Further, the appellant did not seek to appeal the trial judge’s ruling, granting the company application to permit Mr. L Schneider’s evidence to be given at the trial by video link, even though the trial judge had accepted by that ruling Mr. L Schneider had the requisite authority to make that witness statement. The court also observed that the appellant made no application to amend his defense to ledge that the company’s claim had been brought without the requisite authority despite the strong objections by counsel for the company during the cross examination of Mr. L Schneider on that issue. Following these judgments, the appeal was dismissed, the orders of the Court of Appeal was affirmed and it was ordered that the appellant pay to the respondent cost of this appeal as agreed to by the parties.”

Belize High School Lawyers Up Amidst Jamie Usher Termination

It has been six days since the Board of Governors at Belize High School took a decision to terminate former Principal Jamie Usher. But, is the school prepared to settle with Usher for alleged damages as a result of her termination? News Five is in possession of a leaked letter that was furnished to all board members on February sixteenth. The letter was written by Barrow and Williams LLP and signed by Dean Barrow, acting on behalf of Jamie Usher, their client. In the leaked letter, Barrow suggests that his client is entitled to a substantial damages award and would prefer not to litigate. News Five understands that Belize High School has scheduled a meeting with parents for Wednesday to discuss these developments. And today, the school issued a press release denying suggestions made by the United Women’s Group that the termination was based on issues of gender. In its release, the school state, “Neither is the issue about women being supported in leadership positions, and, as testament to this, the interim principal is another female leader at the school. It regrets that UWG, a political organization, would take a stance on an internal private matter without knowing the facts”. The school has also sought the services of attorney Audrey Matura. When we spoke with her today, she was not at liberty to share any details in relation to a legal challenge. She noted that the school is preparing to meet with parents and that the matter will first be discussed with them. She did however expound on the school’s latest press release.

Audrey Matura, Attorney

“It is only the United Women’s Group from the PUP that has said it is a gender issue, absolutely not. As a matter of fact, BES and BHS would not survive if it was not for all the women who are leaders there in the classroom, even the principal, administration, the women outnumber the men. Definitely it is not a gender issue. I can tell you it is a deeper issue than that. It is a pity that is a red herring and it has taken a political slant but like I say it is a private company and we would have preferred the matter stay in house. But I can categorically say that it is not a gender issue.”

Paul Lopez

“Are you able to speak whether from a legal or parent perspective what those deeper issues might be?”

Audrey Matura

“Now you wanted to know what are the deeper issues, again speaking legally, under the Labor Act, if you terminate someone with reasons and if that reason amounts to gross misconduct and like matters it simply means you are telling the person they have to leave now, you get no severance, especially if you work for more than five or ten years there is something for you to get. You get your notice pay only and your salary and your vacation pay. Your severance is usually your package. So I think the best way to put that is what is the lawful and legal position, that the high school acted in the law and whatever internal matters as juicy as it may be and people dying to hear, the board has taken a very professional stand saying the interest of the children comes first and putting their dirty laundry out there will help.”

Belize High School Regrets Political Spin Termination Took On

Matura further noted that Belize High School regrets that Jamie Usher’s termination has become an issue in the public domain. She says it is also regrettable that the matter has taken on a political spin, when asked if the board considered the fact that Usher is the wife of a prominent P.U.P. Minister. Here is what she told us.

Audrey Matura, Attorney

“Isn’t that minister the Minister of Public Service; it is so ironic how life can be. As the school it is very regrettable that this even made news. And you notice, it took us a week later to response and our response is as best as possible and reasonable and rational one to allay the concerns of any parents who don’t know the details, two to assure the teachers that their job is secure, the reputation of the school we are doing everything to protect it and to assure the students that their academic program will continue. So it is very regrettable. However you mentioned that it took a political spin. Of all people, the minister responsible for public service knows very well about hiring and firing. The government is well known for that. And, if anyone could look at the situation and would know the details they would know that to operate under the law as the board did and to terminate under section 37 was the best option at the time.”

Audrey Matura the Parent On Former B.H.S. Principal

Not only is Matura now the attorney representing Belize High School, she is also a parent at the private institution. As a parent, Matura spoke a bit more candidly about her experience with the former principal. Here is what she told us.

Audrey Matura, B.H.S. Parent

“Whatever miss Usher did as a leader, whatever passion she had, whatever work she did, that is the work she did. Nobody can take that away. So my personal objective and the objective o the board and members and staff is not discredit anyone as a professional. As a parent, my ultimate concern was that on the fourteenth of February Ms Usher sent out an email to all of us parents, she had been communicating to us parents before, parents of students going away on these trips that represent the school and my only regret was that on that on that morning when I woke up she had sent an email to me and all the other parents and unfortunately she made a decision to copy my child and all the other children in that email. I am speaking here as a parent now. I thought that was most inappropriate. There are certain things in that email I believe was confidential and certain things my child should have never read. I don’t believe that when adults have differences you bring in the child. I do a lot of family matters and as a parent I can tell you that I think it is most inappropriate to drag children through the battles of adults. For me, that could not fly.”

What’s the Delay with Port Loyola Recall Petitions?

Former Port Loyola Area Representative Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez called another press conference today, a little over a month after delivering a sheaf of signed petitions to the Governor General back in January to trigger a recall referendum. Martinez is seeking to have the voters of Port Loyola recall Gilroy Usher’s seat in the House of Representatives via a referendum. But he is disheartened that several weeks have gone by and he is yet to get a formal response from the Governor General, despite what he believes are legitimate signatures that satisfy the requirement to trigger the recall mechanism.

Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Former Area Rep, Port Loyola

“I am very disappointed in terms of what has transpired. The petition was delivered on the sixteenth of January, 2024, and as the law allows the governor general to pass it to the Chief Elections Officer forthwith. Upon checking on Friday, well from Thursday, I called the Office of the Governor General and said to the secretary that I believe by law that the answer should be forthcoming by tomorrow which was the sixteenth, Friday, the sixteenth. Friday morning, I called and the secretary’s response was that let her check. After waiting on the phone for like two minutes, she came back and said no response. I called again about minutes to three that afternoon and it was the same thing, no response. So I tend to mean say, the month should expire, in my view, checking with attorneys and so, with attorney, Mr. Dean Barrow. Dean Barrow said, probably, it could mean the sixteenth is up to twelve o’clock Friday night. Fair. I called yesterday morning, no response back from Elections and Boundaries. That is the answer I get. Called this morning again and no response back.”

Boots Asks, “What’s the Hold Up With Referendum Petitions?”

According to Martinez, he attempted to get an update on the status of the petitions through the vice chairman of the United Democratic Party who sits on the Elections and Boundaries Commission.

Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez, Former Area Rep, Port Loyola

“Through the representative of the UDP on the commission, Mr. Alberto August, he tried to intervene and being on the commission, to ask the commission and the Chief Elections Officer about the petition. And, rightfully so, she said she had no comment on the petition but referred the answers about the petition back to the governor general which, in my view, by law the governor general, now I don‘t know why or what is causing the stalling. I don‘t know if the Chief Elections Officer has gotten the petition. I don‘t know what is the situation but I noh di get no answer and at least you should get answers from the head of the stream, as the law allows for the timeframe. And so, I don‘t know the interpretation or the meaning of the word, in terms of the governor general, forthwith and I don‘t know what it means when you say you could be less than a month but not more than a month fi verify the signature. I don‘t know where the bottleneck is and it raises concerns, especially to the people of Port Loyola. We have checked around and spoke with Senior Counsel Dean Barrow to see the challenge that exists. One thing I want to make clear, you know, is that I, in dealing with this petition, I was very wary and careful of all the steps I was following in the law because like what I said to the governor general when I delivered the petition on the sixteenth of January. There is an old saying that was said to me by my old boss, Mr. Barrow, ’Have trust in God, but still tie your camel.” And that is what, to me, that old phrase comes to roost today.”

BMDC Refutes Price Gouging Claims Made in Political Ads

Is the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC) unduly marking up prices on agricultural produce they supply to wholesalers? A recently released political ad claims that the statutory body is placing a sixty to three hundred percent price markup on imported produce such as potatoes, lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli. The ad alleges that a group of P.U.P. cronies are collecting up to two hundred thousand dollars weekly as a result of these markups. BMDC was established under the Ministry of Agriculture with a mandate to ensure food security and affordable prices among other objectives. So, we reached out to the administrator at the BMDC, Valentin Carillo, to find out if there is any truth to the claims being made in the ad. Here is what he had to say.

Valentin Carrillo, Administrator, BMDC

“I saw the ad and I saw that they have a price quotation in the ad and certain Mexican commodity has a certain price. First of all I would like to explain that it is not as easy as the people might think that we just go buy, bring it over and sell it. If they see and article or a product in Chetumal for let’s say twenty-two pesos, we come bring it twenty-two pesos is about three dollars, we come and we sell it for three-twenties for instance. That is not how it works. Let me explain a little, for example let us say for onion which is one of our strong commodities, we have been offered onions for twenty-two pesos a kilo. We cannot buy those onions. The onions we bought are almost double the price. For various reasons, because twenty-two pesos is the one they contraband and move cross the border, but the one we buy has to meet certain standards if not BAHA won’t allow us to bring it in. The one at twenty-two pesos, the conditions and the quality is inferior and as soon as it reaches here our wholesaler will complained which has happened with certain commodities. So these are things we need to be careful if you notice right now, I got a price quotation from Cheduarea. The price of a kilo of onion, similar to what we import is up to fifty-nine pesos. And if you go in the market at Chetumal, the regular market where the inferior quality is, you can find it for twenty-two pesos, even twenty-five. Those we need to be mindful. We cannot bring those commodities. Similarly, the broccoli which was in scrutiny also, the ones we import is especially placed in garbage, the black bag, filled with shaved ice so that they can be transported across the border and meet certain standards.”

BMDC Explains Its Pricing Structure on Imported Produce

Carrillo further noted that the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation does not receive subventions from the Government of Belize. He says the corporation’s finances are managed autonomously. And, because of this, there are certain overhead costs that they must meet from the profits they obtain. Carrillo sought to ensure Belizeans that they only mark up their prices by twelve to fifteen percent.

Valentin Carrillo, Administrator, BMDC

“Each head of lettuce is labeled with one of our labels and that is extra cost in the Mexican side. They have to open each case and a case brings twenty-four. If we bring, imagine, fifty cases, seventy-five, each case has to be opened and labeled individually for us only. And we are not a big wholesale. In Mexico when they export those people are exporting by containers and we import only cases. So it brings a heavy cost to us, but to meet certain standards we have to do it.”

Paul Lopez

“Is that to say that the prices quoted in the ad are accurate or close to correct?”

Valentin Carrillo

“They are not accurate. Some of those things, I saw in the ad it says in bulco and in Mexico a bulco is a bag and it comes different for Mexican than for us and in Mexico we buy in case and that is specific for us to meet some of our standard. A part from that let us say the price is similar. We have duties to pay which we cannot avoid. We have freight to pay. We have Mexican fees to pay and we have Belize fees also a part from the duty. For example on the Mexican side we have loading fees, phytosanitary fees that is on the Mexican side. The loading and unloading is very heavy over there. On the Belize side we have local fees, landing permit, border management fees, BAHA permit fees, freight also. All of these things it comes to a good amount when you add it up. This is the best price. We mark up at twelve percent, fifteen percent. Remember these are perishable goods that they would not last. We import Mondays and Thursdays. These things, if you just leave them, the broccoli we bring in Mondays the wholesalers don’t want to buy those Thursdays and you can interview anyone and you can see we have left with certain commodities. We try to play and make a balance between one and the next, but not to increase the price so much, but it is not more than fifteen percent.”

Assad Shoman Addresses ICJ on Israel/Palestine Conflict

Ambassador Assad Shoman, Belize’s former foreign minister, appeared before the International Court of Justice earlier today where he presented on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine and the atrocities being committed by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza. Here’s an excerpt from his presentation at The Hague.

Assad Shoman, Former Foreign Minister

“President, members of the court. The Palestinian people have an inalienable right to self-determination and complete independence which has always been systematically denied to them. The League of Nations Mandate to territories had a right to independence which was realized to all of them, except for Palestine. The UN Charter enshrined the right to self-determination for protection of all peoples, except in practice for the Palestinians. More than half of whom were massacred or driven off their land in the 1948 Nakba. The land was partitioned and half of it allocated to a new state that promptly extended it to seventy-eight percent by brute force. In 1967, just seven years after Resolution 1415, Israel commenced its still continuing occupation of the entirety of the remaining Palestinian territory. Since then, Israel has through systematic manipulation of negotiations to undermine the presumed objectives to ensure that the Palestinian people are prevented from ever exercising that right. Israel cannot be permitted to continue flouting one of the most fundamental principles of international law with impunity. Impunity breeds inhumanity. The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is violated in many ways, I will focus on three. First, the exclusion of Palestinians from any part of Palestinian territory denies their right to territorial integrity which is an essential part of the right to self-determination.”

Minority Rights Groups Condemns Draft Maya Land Policy

The government’s recent Draft Maya Customary Land Policy has come under fire by a human rights organization known as the Minority Rights Group which claims to work with ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide. In a recent post, the organization urged the Belizean government to, “respect the human and property rights of the Maya People of southern Belize and demands the immediate suspension of alarming terms contained in a recent draft policy related to Maya Customary lands that, if enacted, would severely limit Maya lands to a few kilometers at most”. The statement further goes on to stress the importance of land to the Mayan community, as they are connected through various means such as farming, hunting, gathering, as well spiritual connections. The organization claims that hostile reactions from government officials are fuelling anti-Maya sentiments in the dominant society and that the policy is a breach of international conventions.