Opposition Leader Calls Out ComPol Williams Over Sugar Shortage

Last week we reported on allegations of ministerial interference at the northern border where law enforcement officers sought to apprehend sugar smugglers. In the face of an ongoing sugar shortage in Belize, such allegations are alarming. Well, the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, said elsewhere in the media that the assertions are simply not true. The Leader of the Oppositions accused the Commissioner of Police of being a Briceño operative.

 

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“But, when we say that there are reports, there are allegations that the people that are purchasing, the wholesalers, purchased from B.S.I. and because they make more money taking it across the border, that is what they are doing. That is a fact. That is a fact. Now there are allegations that when the B.D.F., it was the B.D.F. I believe that my colleague in the house mentioned, I don’t believe he mentioned the police department. But let’s say it was the police department, the B.D.F., we are talking about ministerial intervention, ministerial abuse. These are things that are being reported to us by the security forces. They are telling us that, yeah, leader, you know, we, we try but we hold people and then they let them go. So at the end of the day, it is another example of the tone-deaf disconnected state of the Briceno regime. And while the commissioner of police should be an autonomous body, even though he’s appointed by the prime minister, he’s a part of the Briceno regime. He might as well be C.E.O. in or the officer, the office of the prime minister for security, because he is all in on the Briceno regime. You look at him, and, and, you know, I haven’t had time, but the more he opens his mouth, I feel I am obligated to report him to the Public Service Commission and the Bureau of Standards. His behavior is unethical and the hubris with which he presents himself, that he could say what he wants, and he could do what he wants, and he could mix politics with his office, is lawless. And imagine the top lawman is lawless. But this is the state of Belize, and this is why we have a sugar shortage.”

 

In other news coming out of the sugar industry, Belize Sugar Industries Limited says it is concerned about the commission of inquiry’s change of focus. Via press release, B.S.I. notes that it welcomes the role of a commission of inquiry focused on providing advice on modernizing and improving the long-term viability of the sugar industry. The company noted that it cannot share proprietary and confidential information because it operates in a commodity business that is very competitive. B.S.I. says it has also communicated to the government that it will not cooperate with an inquiry that is focused on using process as an avenue to negotiate a new commercial agreement which is a private commercial matter.