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PM Weighs in on Maya Land Tension in Toledo

Tensions have been high in Toledo District over G.O.B.’s draft Maya Land Tenure Policy. At the start of the week, we took you to Santa Elena Village and Punta Gorda Town where the Toledo Alcaldes Association, the Maya Leaders Alliance and the government’s consultation team were holding simultaneous public discussions. Several village leaders, from Maya communities across the south, have also released video statements rejecting the draft policy. One leader went as far as tearing up the document on camera. Today, reporters asked Prime Minister Briceño to weigh in on the tension in the Toledo.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I am very disappointed that that leader acted that way. It is so unbecoming of that leader and that leader was very shriddled and making all kinds of accusations that if he were to look at what the CCJ has done, the CCJ has praised our government for working forward. We already have the FPIC and we are going through the entire consultation from village to village extensively. Sometimes to the frustration of the Cabinet who may feel that this needs to come, you know there are so many issues to be addressed and that behavior will not bode well in building good will from both sides because you also have a lot of Belizeans, indigenous people that feels differently than what they believe. And so as a responsible government we have to find a compromise that works for everyone.”

Paul Lopez

“How do you interpret what they interpret as a restriction to the amount of lands that they would be able to apply for as customary lands?”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“We have to come up with something that is workable. We can’t just tell them we will give them a blank check and tek what you want. Obviously that will not work. They might decide they want not only the Toledo District, but the Stann Creek District, who knows. It is important to be able to set some sort of parameters and within those parameters you negotiate. Having set parameters doesn’t mean it cannot be changed; it cannot be made larger or smaller. But something has to be set to start the discussion and I think Minister Dolores, I must commend her for the work that she has been doing, went through great pains to explain to the national assembly that these are not etched in stone. Let us see where in certain areas we may need to extend and bring it a bit smaller but it is also important wherever these villages want to claim a certain amount of land they would have to prove that it has been under customary use with the indigenous people.”

PM Says MLA/TAA Spoke Out of Turn

PM Briceño was also asked for his thoughts on the Maya Leaders Alliance’s actions in the south. Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, is on record saying that the MLA is riling up villagers unnecessarily. So, does the prime minister believe that the MLA and TAA enjoy the confidence of the majority of villagers in the forty-one Maya communities in Toledo? Here is what he told us.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I don’t think that is necessarily true. It can be debated whether they represent the majority or not because there are a lot of indigenous people that say I want my land. SO as a government we have to make that delicate walk to walk with everybody. Minister Dolores has the full confidence of the Cabinet to be able to address these issues. She is doing a good job. I would have to step in if there was a crisis but there is not. There is constant dialogue and action being taken in good faith on both sides except this time when I think the leader really spoke out of turn.”

Reporter

“But in their press conference they said that they feel much disrespected that the minister didn’t go to meet them in Santa Elena. They said that they would find you guys in your office, go to you anywhere, even in Belmopan. Are you concerned that it might end up like caneros where they are blocking the highway?”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Well I can give them my address, it is number two Dunn Street, and they are welcome to Orange Walk to visit me anytime they want. But this is not how it works. Not because you say come to Santa Elena we have to come there, come on. We have been meeting regularly and why would you go into an area where you have a few hundred people that are not happy. You will go into a shouting match and that does not make sense. We need to be removed from that area where people will respond rationally.”

PM Briceño to U.D.P. Lead Senator, “Precedents Have Been Set”.

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, Senator Michael Peyrefitte criticized the Briceño administration over the absence of a government minister in Senate. Senator Peyreffitte argued that the Government of Belize is in contravention of the Senate’s Standing Orders, following the resignation of Senator Eamon Courtenay as a minister. He contended that certain motions and bills cannot be passed through the upper house without a minister in the Senate. Today, we asked the Prime Minister for a response to Senator Peyrefitte’s comments.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I could say a lot of things about the opposition’s chairman but I will answer straight. If he was to look back in history it was the United Democratic Party government that had Fred Martinez as the leader of government business in Senate and also had him attend Cabinet meetings for that same reason. In our instance it slightly different in that we maintained Senator Courtenay, maybe he is afraid to debate Senator Courtenay and wants to get him out of Senate, but Senator Courtenay has the confidence of our government and is prepared to serve our government as the leader of government business. So there is nothing more to it.”

Paul Lopez

“But the fact that he is no longer a minister, does that not pose a challenge to the standing orders.”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I don’t think you listened to what I said earlier, the first government to do that was the UDP government between 1993 and 1998 when they had the late Fred Martinez came in and he was the leader of government business and they give him Cabinet privileges so it is a precedents that has been set.”

Paul Lopez

“Sir, you are saying in colloquial terms, do suh nuh like do suh, but basically two wrongs don’t make one right.”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Who said it wrong. Just because he said that? Please man, like I always say if I need a lawyer that is certainly not the person I am going to use.”

Opposition Leader Questions PM on Crown Counsel Salary Adjustment

At the start of today’s Sitting of the House of Representatives, Leader of the Opposition Moses “Shyne” Barrow asked Prime Minister John Briceño for an update on the approved salary adjustment for Crown Counsels. His question was, when will the Crown Counsel get paid the salary adjustment approved by the Barrow government many years ago, which was finally passed in the supplementary bill in December. The questions led to a back and forth between both party leaders. Here is how that played out.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“You know the heart of hypocrisy, when they say you have the face of brass. This leader of the opposition comes and asks when we are going to make a payment in 2012.”

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“Madam speaker on a point of order madam speaker, the standing order clear talks about irrelevance. We don’t need a history lesson. The question is, when will they be paid. That is a simple question. You cannot allow him to abuse this authority.”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I am answering the question. It is important to give the entire history of how this came about and he don’t want to hear the truth cause the promises of 2012 and to now this PUP government is making the payment. He have the face of brass to ask when we will make the payment and he came here and voted against us paying these people.”

Shyne Barrow

“That is a lie, how can he say I voted against it.”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“You voted against it, you voted against the supplementary. You voted against it. You show me where you voted yes.”

When Will Stevedores Receive Sugar Redundancy Funds from Tribunal Ruling?

The Leader of the Opposition’s also asked Oscar Requena, the Minister of Labor, to say when the Essential Services Arbitration Tribunal’s ruling on sugar redundancy payments for stevedores will take effect. The ruling was handed down in 2022, in favor of the Christian Workers Union. But, those stevedores are yet to be compensated in accordance with the tribunal’s ruling. So, what has been the hold up? Minister Requena sought to explain.

Oscar Requena, Minister of Labor

“My grandmother use to tell me and I appreciated and heeded her advice, that humility takes you a long way. Humility is the quality of a good leader as well. What we see the leader of opposition displaying shows that he has a great deficiency in humility. I stand before you to address the question raised by the leader of the opposition regarding the enforcement of the essential services tribunal award on the matter of the stevedores of the Port of Belize Limited regarding sugar redundancy payment. Allow me to provide a comprehensive overview of the events that have transpired leading up to the current circumstance. In July 2021 the CWU brought forth a trade dispute to the Ministry of Labor encompassing concerns of the redundancy package to stevedores. It was referred to the tribunal and the tribunal issued its oral award on January twenty-seventh 2022, followed a written award on March thirtieth 2022 directing both the CWU and Port of Belize to engage in negotiations to determine terms of payment for the redundancy package. Despite the tribunal’s directive the award was not adhered to prompting the ministry’s intervention in facilitating negotiations.”

Is Collin Francis Fit to Stand Trial for Murder?

A competency hearing to determine whether Collin Francis Junior is eligible to stand trial for the murder of Nestor Vasquez Junior continued today before Justice Nigel Pilgrim. The High Court judge called on Virgilio Murillo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kolbe Foundation, to testify on the conditions of the Belize Central Prison should Francis be deemed unfit to stand trial. Assurances must be given that Francis will be kept in a safe environment and that the C.E.O. must be able to determine where that safe space is. On November twenty-fifth, 2019, Collin Francis Junior was arraigned for the murder of sixty-year-old Nestor Vasquez Junior who was beaten to death inside a holding cell at the Queen Street Police Station. That incident happened on June sixth, 2019 when Vasquez and Francis, both diagnosed with mental illness, were placed inside a cell while in police custody. Vasquez was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital but succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Net Vasquez Estate Says Vasquez’s BTL Debt is Repaid in Full

In November of 2020, the Belize Communications Workers Union called for former Belize Telemedia Chairman, Net Vasquez to repay every cent that he misused while he held that post at the company. Today, the statement was circulated by the Estate of Nestor Vasquez which informed that they have reached a full and final settlement with Belize Telemedia Limited for the debt owed to the company. Vasquez passed away in April of 2021, but before then, he was accused of mismanaging BTL funds and thereafter resigned as chairman of the company. He also took an undertaking to repay the over eight hundred thousand dollars and had begun to repay the monies before he died. Marion Ali has the update on the final settlement in this report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

He came under fire back in the latter part of 2020 when it was discovered that former Belize Telemedia Chairman, Nestor Vasquez, Senior, had misused over eight hundred thousand dollars of the company’s funds. Vasquez had agreed to repay the monies which he racked up as chairman of B.T.L. The money included more than six hundred thousand dollars in credit card expenses, mostly for his personal use, and a bill for over a hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Prior to his death, Vasquez had repaid over a hundred and sixty thousand dollars and made arrangements to repay the balance. But despite that, B.T.L. employees were enraged at the news and the President of the Belize Communications Workers Union, Garry Yearwood told the media back then that its members demanded that Vasquez repay every cent.

Garry Yearwood, Belize Communications Workers Union

“Of course members are indeed upset. We are aware of the audit have been initiated by the past board. I am not too certain if the audit has been completed but membership would definitely want to see a copy of this audit in order for us to have some type of recommendation to put in place. It’s some damning information. Membership quite upset at this point. We did enter into a negotiation the other day for some cost cutting measures where we agreed to give up certain benefits so whatever monies that can be recovered that would be good for our member so that they can get back something that they have given up.”

Today, the Nestor Vasquez Estate announced that following Vasquez’s passing, both parties entered into mediation and agreed on a settlement figure. And while the estate says that the remaining balance of this debt has now been fully paid, it stopped short of revealing how much money was paid. It added that the last payment was made on January twenty-ninth in compliance with a Supreme Court Order of 2021. The Net Vasquez Estate was represented by attorneys Estevan Perera and Godfrey Smith. News Five reached out to Smith following the release of the statement but he declined comment. We also tried to get a comment from the BTL Chairman, Mark Lizarraga, but he was out of the country.

Vasquez tendered his resignation as Chairman of BTL in September of 2020 and in December of that same year, resigned from his family business, Tropical Vision Limited, Channel Seven amid the allegations. Marion Ali for News Five.

PM Speaks on Brewing Immigration Scandal

A scandal is brewing at the Immigration Department where an investigation has been launched into the creation of fake receipts for the purchase of new passports. News Five understands that several public officers are suspected for their participation in the scheme. It is not clear how much money the employees were able to siphon from government’s coffers when they carried out this fraudulent processing. Earlier today, Prime Minister John Briceño, whose official responsibilities were recently expanded to include immigration, spoke with reporters regarding the developing situation.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“The point is that as soon as the ministry was aware of it they acted. Now I can’t go into any details because it is still under investigation. But I could assure you that any wrong doing that has been done and if they get any evidence they are going to act on it immediately. What I can add to it is that this individual has been removed from this post for thirty days while the investigation is going on.”

Paul Lopez

“Does it come as a shock to you and this somewhat of a black-eye for a ministry that you have been trying to get under tight control?”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I think I would want to look at it slightly different than being a black eye. The ministry is not going to tolerate that kind of behavior from our officers and that whenever it comes to our attention we are going to act. Remember it is human nature we are dealing with here. As much as we put the proper processes in place, people that want to do something wrong they are going to try to be as creative as possible as they can to be, in this instance I believe to defraud the government in this case at the Ministry of Immigration.”

PM Explains Recent C.E.O. Shifts

PM Briceño was also asked about the reason for a recent C.E.O. shuffle that included the Immigration Department. As we have reported, Chief Executive Officer, Adele Catzim-Sanchez was moved over to the Ministry of Human Development, while C.E.O. Tanya Santos was shifted to the Immigration Department. PM Briceño explained that like government ministers, CEOs are also moveable. He further noted that these government officials are a better fit for the posts they have been relocated to.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Ms Catzim, probably you are too young to remember, Ms Catzim between the 1998 and 2008 government, she worked closely with the Minister Dolores in that administration. We wanted to do some changes and it just worked well for her to come to work with Minister Dolores and to move Tanya over to immigration and then Mr. Middleton to move over to the Ministry of Sports and Transport. So it worked well for the change we want to do, but we need to make the point that CEOs just like ministers are changeable. While they may be working in a ministry if we feel they will make a better fit to another ministry we will make those changes.”

Reporter

“I believe this will be Minister Ferguson’s third CEO; does the rest of Cabinet intervene at any point to address why he has made so many changes in CEOs?”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I don’t think we need to look at it as being the third CEO. In the first instance he was with CEO Leal and when they were not getting along so the best thing at that time was to make a change. And now that we wanted to bring Adele where she is most effective, at Human Development, then we had to make some additional changes.”

HOR Addresses Outstanding Salary Adjustments for B.D.F.

The Leader of the Opposition says that a group of retired Belize Defense Force soldiers are claiming that they are being denied a salary adjustment that was approved under the U.D.P. According to the opposition leader, those retirees have been waiting for up to fourteen months for compensation in accordance with the salary adjustment, to no avail. This morning, Opposition Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow asked Prime Minister Briceño when his administration will recognize the salary adjustment. Here is how the prime minister responded.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Again I would have hoped that the leader of the opposition would have withdrawn the question because I don’t want to embarrass him. But what I will do, since he could not comprehend what a standard six child would comprehended if I explained it, I will send you the answers so that you could study it maybe ten time and understand it. In 2019, under UDP, the government agreed to regularize the rate of annual increments of enlisted soldiers, 2019. They also agreed to extend the salary scale for officers. When the Ministry of Finance sent out the circular on this matter, they stated that this revision was not a salary increase nor was it intended to be a salary increase. 2019, mind you. What it was then, it was a salary adjustment and standardization exercise. The memo went even further to explain that any increase in the rate of pay that arise from this was a part of the regularization exercise. In implementing this some mistakes were made. Some officers at the rank of private were placed way up on the pay scale. Follow me so far? For example, they were supposed to be placed at the beginning of the pay scale, but instead were moved several places up the pay scale. When the ministry realized the error they informed those and adjusted the pay scale. If the leader of the opposition was a competent leader we would have never brought this question. He should have asked his party chairman who was then the Minister of the BDF. Remember they had shortage of camouflage cloth. I hope he could have explained it to him. He could have also asked the former prime minister who was the Minister of Finance and they would have told him that no increments was withheld from BDF, simple.”