Opposition Leader, Moses “Shyne” Barrow has responded to Nigel Petillo’s call. On Tuesday, he told us that he will join the protest in front of the Prime Minister’s office to add his voice to the cause.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“Nigel Petillo has reached out to me to get on board, as well as other civil society members. So, we will be having a protest at the prime minister’s office on Friday. So I invite everyone. No partisanship. The same way I can support the minister of tourism with the music festival and in welcoming superstars to Belize, we have to hold the government accountable when they are doing wrong. And this is absolutely outrageous. I call on the minister of finance to go back to the original plan. There is no way. Now, if, I don’t even see how they could explain the fact that this makes sense. You want to say if they could show how financially this saves them money, how did you save money by paying thirty-nine time the amount. Now if they paid two hundred thousand dollars, let us say the property was three hundred. If you pay six hundred thousand. They paid twice the amount for it. You could say it only cost six hundred thousand, we paid twice and maybe the entire presentation as to the justification might have passed the smell test.”
Indian Creek Village is a quiet Maya community situated along the Southern Highway in the Toledo District. The village has roughly one thousand five hundred villagers, comprising about two hundred households twelve miles out of Punta Gorda Town. But there is an unease in the village, brought on by different ideals. One is enforced by a Caribbean Court of Justice ruling in 2015 which stipulates that the traditional Maya system of governance remains in effect, and the other falls under the Village Council Act. Both systems have been around for centuries and while both have worked together seamlessly in the past, some residents of Indian Creek want to move away from the traditional way of life and towards the constitutional way that affords them to keep up with development. To move towards that goal, in November of last year, the villagers decided among themselves to vote out the alcalde, Jose Choc and his deputy, Felipe Sam, who they say were using the 2015 C.C.J. ruling to prohibit them from developing their village at the pace they want to go. They replaced Choc and Sam with Manuel Ack and Nicolas Choc, a decision that was approved by the Attorney-General’s Ministry. The Maya Leaders’ Alliance and the Toledo Alcalde’s Association, which adheres to the C.C.J. ruling, got an injunction in the High Court, however, and the villagers are now at a crossroads as to who are their village leaders. News Five’s Marion Ali was in Indian Creek for a meeting the village council called on Tuesday to discuss the matter with the residents. Here’s that report.
Augustine Sam
Augustine Sam, Resident, Indian Creek, Village
“Do you want the current alcalde to stay?” (Crowd cheer and clap)
Marion Ali, Reporting
The fifty or so residents of Indian Creek Village who cheered on their current alcalde, Manuel Ack and deputy alcalde Nicolas Choc on Tuesday, did so in defiance of a motion brought forward by the Maya Leaders’ Alliance and the Toledo Alcalde’s Association to seek the court’s intervention to restrain Ack and Choc from carrying out alcalde duties. It comes in the face of a dual system of governance that has existed for centuries. The villagers, however, are torn between tradition and development.
Anselmo Cholom
Anselmo Cholom, Member, Indian Creek Village Council
“What customary practice are we talking here? Are we talking in the 1200 BC when the ancient Mayas begin their civilization? Or are we talking when the Spaniards conquered the Maya people in the 17th, 17th and 19th, or 1502? So what tradition? I’m confused. So if we want to go back to tradition, are we going to build temples, Mayan civilization, like how we, like how we know about? Is that what we want now? Do we want our children to be slaves? We need to get an education. We need to get out of these things.”
Avelina Coc
Avelina Coc, Chairlady, Indian Creek Maya Arts Women’s Group
“We remove the past Alcalde, Jose Choc, and Felipe Sam, because they have done many things. They rejected our digital power. They even signed a letter without the consent of the village council and the villagers of Indian Creek. They wrote a letter to the CEO. That same letter bounced back to the village council and there the problem arises. And then we voiced our concern that we need a change of the Alcalde because he is not doing development. He’s just rejecting whatcomes to the village and because we need development in our community.”
Avelina Coc was emphatic about her wish to have their November vote for Manuel Ack and Nicolas Choc remain as is. Several others from the village shared her sentiment.
Miguel Ack
Miguel Ack, Elder, Indian Creek Village
“(Talking in Kek’chi Maya…translated) The past alcalde doesn’t agree with the chairman. How can they work together if they’re all divided?”
Avelina Coc
“Now with our present alcalde village councils are working together and then we see improvement streets being fixed. Things are happening in the village.”
The MLA and TAA want the previous alcalde leaders, Jose Choc and his deputy, Felipe Sam, to be reinstated. Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith told the media in June that they just want what the CCJ ruled upon to carry through.
Godfrey Smith
Godfrey Smith, S.C., Attorney for T.A.A
“The government is saying, listen, you come here to court arguing about Alcaldes having customary rights. Practices and rights. No such thing exists in the laws of Belize. You won’t find anything about Alcalde’s customary practices in Village Councils Act and the Inferior Courts Act, and the state has the sovereign right to legislate, and it has, and this is the law of the land! And our response to that is, and will be developed, that in the same way that way back when the Maya first advocated for protection of customary land tenure, it wasn’t recognized in the laws of Belize, so too, we’re saying, that the right of their villages to exclusively determine who will be their alcaldes, and the right to remove them, vests in the village. Not by virtue of any. Written law of the land, but by a process of constitutional interpretation, utilizing international treaty obligations and international customary law.”
FILE: Jun 30, 2010
In 2007, the villages of Conejo and Santa Cruz in Toledo claimed their right of ownership over their communal lands in the Supreme Court of Belize. The Supreme Court agreed and decisively acknowledged that the two villages’ customary land rights are protected by international and Belizean law. In 2010, the Supreme Court of Belize extended the judgment to include the remaining thirty-six Maya communities in the Toledo District.
That same day, the Maya Leaders’ Alliance, led by Cristina Coc, celebrated the ruling in Indian Creek Village. Coc told the media then that the MLA supported progression, just in congruence with the Maya people’s standards. She said quote, we have never denied development, we have only asked for a development that is defined by our identity; a development that we define as a Maya people. Not a development that is imposed on us, not concepts and projects and programs that are imposed on us. We have seen many development projects come to Toledo and it has done more damage than good to our people so we are at a very important point where now we can define our development. Now the management of these lands are left in our hands and certainly we’re not moving backwards, we’re moving together with our country Belize, end quote.
Situated not far from the Nim Li Punit Maya Temple, an archaeological monument that whispers the Maya tradition of past centuries, the way of life and the system of governance for Indian Creek residents rests on another court judgement. When that is determined, the people will be governed by what the collective wanted back in 2010, or what they say they now want for their children’s future. Village Council Member, Anselmo Cholom told News 5 that development does not mean departing from tradition, but they feel their previous alcaldes were imposing that.
Anselmo Cholom
“We’re not saying that we want to give up our tradition or move from the communal land system. But the people, the people that are leading the Mayan people is dividing us in a way where they did not respect the decision of the community. I practice traditions. That doesn’t mean that I cannot do it. Get development. That doesn’t mean that I cannot get a concrete building. And if we have to get out of a communal system because of that, then we have to change.”
While the number of people that showed up at Tuesday’s meeting represented only a fraction of the village, Cholom said that they speak on behalf of the majority of the residents who want development. Whether the villagers’ wishes will mean they have to return to the courts in the future to fight for an adjustment of the 2015 C.C.J. ruling to have their wish materialize remains something to see. Marion Ali for News Five.
It is arguably the most sensational case in Belize’s judicial history – the murder trial and conviction of businessman, Danny Mason and four others. Mason, along with Ernest Castillo, Ashton Vanegas, and brothers Keiron and Terrence Fernandez were convicted in 2019 of the 2016 murder of Dangriga Pastor, Llewelyn Lucas. The high-profile case saw several witnesses take the stand for the prosecution in a trial presided over by Justice Antoinette Moore. Pastor Lucas’ burnt remains were discovered on Mason’s ranch, located off the George Price Highway a few miles from his Belmopan home. His head was found in a bucket in a vehicle that Mason and his co-defendants were occupying. At the end of the trial, the five men were handed down life sentences with the possibility for parole after they have each served thirty-five years behind bars, less the time they spent on remand. Mason appealed the conviction at the High Court, and it was turned down. Now, through his attorney, Senior Counsel Hubert Elrington, he is attempting to seek the intervention of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Late this evening, Elrington explained the process of that appeal.
Hubert Elrington
Hubert Elrington, Attorney for William “Danny” Mason
“On the 11th of July, the Court of Appeal turned down his appeal for murder conviction and so we are now going to make the final attempt to get the conviction set aside at the C.C.J.”
Reporter
“So what does this mean now?”
Hubert Elrington
“It means we have to apply to the C.C.J. for leave to appeal. That is the procedure. And then they will set the timetable.”
The Belize Sugar Industries Limited has announced a record second payment issued to sugarcane farmers for the 2024, 2025 crop. According to B.S.I., farmers received seventy-five dollars and twenty cents, five dollars more than the second payment in 2023. Shawn Chavarria, the Director of Finance at the mill spoke with reporters today. He explained that the increase in price is due to strategic industry investments, new market exploration and improved global prices. Just over one million tons of sugarcane was delivered to this mill this season. But, on the other hand, close to a hundred thousand tons of sugarcane remains standing in the fields. Chavarria says this outcome isbecause of a late start to the season and bad weather at the end of the crop.
Shawn Chavarria
Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance, B.S.I./A.S.R.
“I think all of this demonstrates the benefits of those investments we have made to improve the value of the sugar that we are producing and also to lower the logistics cost is also being complimented by an increase over the last year in global sugar prices. So, all these factors have contributed to a new record payment which we hope will translate to farmers utilizing these funds to do some of the best practices we have been advocating for, which is replanting fields which are some of the lowest yields in the world, taking advantage of new programs that are coming on stream, such as Agropro which the company launched late last year, the Climate Fund Grant being implemented through the 5Cs to implement new varieties. We hope that with this additional disposable income farmers will have some resources to put it to good use and help improve the long-term viability of the industry.”
Reporter
“I think the minister of agriculture has said there is some one hundred thousand tons of sugar cane still standing. Could you tell us why that is?”
Shawn Chavarria
“We believe there is a currently an estimate being done by the Sugarcane Production Committee to go out there and validate how much cane was left standing in the field. We believe it could be between sixty to that hundred thousand tons of cane. That is the exercise the committee is currently conducting. The reason why we have standing cane is due to a combination of factors. The media might recall that at the start of this crop we had this impasse with the BSCFA where there was road blockage and they held up delivery for twelve to fourteen days. Prior to that the company had wanted to start the crop from the sixteenth of December but the date of the crop was not gazzeted by the SICB that date was gazzetted until the twenty-eight of December.”
And, while the sugar industry is celebrating a record second payment, with an expected increase in the third payment scheduled for November, discussions over a price increase for sugar on the local market are still ongoing. Shawn Chavarria, the Director of Finance at B.S.I., says the price of brown sugar has not been adjusted for more than two decades. He contends that sugar associations must also add their voice to the call for government to approve a price adjustment.
Shawn Chavarria
Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance, B.S.I./A.S.R.
“For us it has been a bit disheartening that the increase for sugar has not occurred, particularly for brown sugar which has not been adjusted for roughly twenty-three years. We have provided economic arguments as to why we think it is needed. We presented a very rational argument to government and it was from February last year that we did so. I think the associations will have to speak up as well if they want this to happen. From the mill’s standpoint our voice is not loud enough to pound government into action. Perhaps the associations might have to take up that effort. At the end of the day we do feel that is unfair that you have a product that has not seen a price increase for over twenty years when inflation for all the inputs that we use in the production process has gone up as much as fifty percent. We do believe the price should be adjusted and even in the price structure going forward there should be something for regular review so we don’t wait for twenty plus years to be revisiting prices and making adjustments. We appreciate that politically it is always going to be a difficult and sensitive thing to do. But if you have a structure in place to ensure that the review is done regularly, it would be easier to manage.”
Earlier this year, the Government of Belize ordered a suspension of the dredging operations being conducted at Angelfish Caye by the company Angelfish Caye L.L.C. The island is also known as the Will Bauer Flats. Operations of the company are still at a standstill as it attempts to gain environmental clearance and permits to proceed. On Tuesday, Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai provided an update on the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the Department of the Environment. Here’s what he had to say.
Anthony Mai
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, D.O.E.
“There is none so far in my estimation, Angelfish has environmental clearance, and I could only speak to the D.O.E. I know that there might be some issues with regards to the dredge permit, et cetera. I won’t speak on that. That has to be input has to be given from the agencies that deal with that. But so far again the Department of Environment has granted clearance. This project went through, I think, a very rigorous process. We had three public consultations for this project, two NEAC meetings, and at the end of the day, the NEAC recommended that clearance be granted, and the D.O.E. accepted the recommendation. We developed a draft on the, I’m sorry, on a draft environmental compliance plan that was shared with the NEAC had input, and at the end of the day, it was finalized. And so the, from our standpoint, they have environmental clearance. The thing is that once environmental clearance is granted, It’s not a green light to proceed, right? Environmental clearance normally is just one aspect of the list of approvals, a project that will need to proceed.”
The National Environmental Appraisal Committee, (NEAC), and the Department of the Environment have rejected multiple proposals to expand the Port of Belize and construct a cruise terminal under its previous ownerships. However, in 2023, the port was purchased by the Government of Belize. Recently, the government has revealed that it plans to upgrade the port’s cargo facilities and is considering the construction of a cruise port. We spoke with Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai about whether the new ownership of the port would impact the previous decisions on the upgrades. Here’s what he had to say.
Anthony Mai
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, D.O.E.
“Not necessarily. The environmental law is clear. The environmental law states that any private or public agency that wants to conduct any project that may significantly impact the environment, such an agency has to come to the Department of Environment. to determine whether a project of that nature requires an EIA. So what I’m saying basically is that the environmental law states that both private entity and public entity, in this case government, if they have a project that they want to do and it will have significant impact on the environment, they need to apply for environmental clearance. Case in point, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, most of the work that they do, they go through the EIA process. And several other government agencies, right now we are processing environmental clearance, we are evaluating the hospital or clinic in San Pedro, which is a government project, etc. So not because the project is government or public related, exempts them from coming through the EIA process.”
Fortis Belize is taking steps to bolster the solar plant industry in the country by constructing a thirty mega-watt facility at the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. The company submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment to the Department of the Environment for approval to proceed with the project. We spoke with Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai for an update on that report. Here’s that update.
Anthony Mai
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, D.O.E.
“So we just wrote to them yesterday with the recommendation from the NEAC and the decision that the D.O.E. has made. As you know, the NEAC is an advisory body. And so the NEAC advises and then the D.O.E. either could accept the recommendation from NEAC or they could not. If we choose to not accept it, we have that authority. But so we deliberated on it and I can speak on it now because we have a problem of what the position is. Basically, NEAC recommended to the D.O.E. that the EIA was incomplete. And so a critical component of the EIA that was not included was the outstanding universal values that the project would have on World Heritage Site. It’s a requirement for all EIA now in an amendment that was done in 2020. And so that information, we believe, or the NEAC felt, was a critical component. And so the dean recommended that the EIA report is incomplete. Fortis has been informed of that. And so the dean recommended that the EIA report is incomplete. Fortis has been informed of that. To improve the EIA report with that information and we gave them some guidance on some other issues that we found within the report. And then they have to resubmit an EIA report. We did advise them that they will need to conduct a second public consultation because that is a critical component of the EIA report. And then after that the NIAC would have to sit again and deliberate on the project.”
In 2023, Leader of the Opposition Moses “Shyne” Barrow strongly criticized Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler over the Belize International Music and Food Festival. At the time, he contended that the event was carried out with a lack of transparency. Barrow even questioned the value of the festival. He now has a fresh perspective on the festival. On Tuesday, he told us that he had plans to attend the festival this year to stand in solidarity with Minister Mahler. He offered more grace this time around, noting that the UDP will invest when it forms government.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“I have been in touch with the minister of tourism, because I was just like to say that I do believe there are certain areas of commonalities that we must embrace of by-partisanship. Actually, I was going to attend the Belize International Music Festival this year but I was dealing with so much, having come out of the by-election and getting back focused on the general elections. But I did speak to minister Mahler and wish him well for the music festival. I was supposed to go out there and stand in solidarity because that is about our musicians. That is about our tourism product. That is not a P.U.P. product. That is not a P.U.P. sector. That is for Belize. Tourism is for all Belizeans. The music industry and the orange sector are filled with people from all walks of life. While we have our criticisms, we still demand greater transparency. We still want to see the number. I told the minister not to attack him, but so that we can improve on this endeavor, let’s see how much was invested, what the return was and areas of improvement. But overall, I said it in the National Assembly I support building this festival and it could take many years. It is not something that will happen overnight. All those festivals in Jamaica didn’t just happen after a few years. It takes time. So, I encourage the investment, we will invest if we form government.”
Recently, there’s been a rise in COVID cases and respiratory illnesses in Belize. According to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the cases are not severe, and the increase is to be expected at this time of year. We spoke with Director of the Epidemiology Unit, Russell Manzanero, who told us that COVID is here to stay.
Russell Manzanero
Russell Manzanero, Director, Epidemiology Unit, M.O.H.W.
“We have covid. Definitely. Covid is here. Covid won’t go away. Covid is here to stay. As with all the other respiratory and influenza viruses, it is here. So definitely the measures that we need to do has to be the same. Cough etiquette, hand hygiene that has to continue. As for the severity of cases with covid, we’re not seeing that severe cases. We’re not seeing hospitalized patients. But yes, we have ongoing transmission of covid. We have seen an increase of cases in the past weeks, so definitely there is still a measure that we need to be doing.”
Britney Gordon
“What do you think contributes to the increase that we see at certain periods during the year and what can we do to minimize that?”
Russell Manzanero
“Influenza viruses or respiratory viruses tend to have their peaks. Yes We usually see it at the beginning or the ending of the year. It contributes somehow with the with how the conditions are with climate it’s also a factor of how we do with movement of people, the interaction we have between our networks. So definitely if you see right now it’s on the lower end, but the moment we start going back to school and everybody start going in, you’re going to see that rise in cases again. Definitely, that’s why we recommend that you get the vaccines for influenza pretty much in the last part of the year, early part of the years for the same reasons that you start seeing those increases.”
