Barrow said that when he called the Governor-General’s office on Friday evening to follow-up on his communication over the substitution of Senators Michael Peyrefitte and Beverly Williams, the employee at the office acknowledged receipt of his notification but did not indicate at that point that there was an issue. The Governor-General, Froyla Tzalam, is not in office, and Stewart Leslie is acting in that position. Barrow said Leslie’s decision forced his only other senator to walk out of the proceedings.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“My senators walked out, but Antonio Herrera, who was going to act as Lead Senator today in place of Michael Peyrefitte, walked out in protest. I spoke to the President of the Senate, who was gracious to call me very early this morning, but obviously all she could do is follow up with the GG to see if there are any instruments she cannot dictate to the GG how to proceed. And those are some of the things that we do need to establish. And she did say she would like to sit with myself, the Leader of Government Business and the Leader of Opposition Business and other stakeholders so that we could come up with procedures. If there was a problem at three and there were clarifications that needed to be made, you just don’t say, Oh, I’m not doing this. You call the G-G. You call me if I need to send different instruments. There have been times where I may have quoted, they had an issue with the part of the Constitution. I quoted the GG’s office has been, gracious enough to say please correct. the section that you’ve quoted so that we can proceed. So I’m not laying this at the foot of the actual GG. I’m talking about the Cab Sec, the political hack Stuart Leslie. What I’m saying is that three o’clock he should have contacted the AG. How do we proceed? We need to get this done.”
Four days ago, the Ministry of Human Development announced that Gustavo Requena had been appointed as the Director of the Office of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. The ministry said that Requena was born and raised in a Maya community and brings firsthand experience and understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by indigenous populations. But the Toledo Alcaldes Association says otherwise. The association fired off a press release, saying the government failed to consult them on Requena’s appointment. Spokesperson Cristina Coc told News Five that Requena has made public statements against Maya land rights.
Cristina Coc
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, MLA/TAA
“We were not informed 1st of all that, that this appointment was already decided. In fact, we learned of this through a press release, a government press release. So we were never formally informed of this decision. And I think that this would have been a critical decision to have informed the Toledo Alcaldes Association in particular, given that we are appellants to the Maya land rights case. And it is a case that this office seeks to further advance and implement. Now, the Toledo Alcalde’s Association has taken the position to denounce the appointment of Mr. Requena primarily on the basis that he has made public statements against the Maya land rights. And, we have heard him on numerous occasions, making these public declarations against, customary land rights, against the claims of the Toledo Alcalde’s Association. And so then, we asked the question how can he be fit to implement in an objective way this very important case. So that’s our main and primary concern.”
Aside from the lack of consultation, Coc says that the association is also concerned about the familial relations that Gustava and Minister Oscar Requena share. They are brothers. Spokesperson Cristina Coc says that this might lead to a conflict of interest.
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, MLA/TAA
“Secondary concern is that, you know, in in the spirit of good governance principles and in the spirit of good faith consultations with indigenous peoples we remind the government that it would be their duty and obligation to really consult in good faith when decisions like these are made. And then a third, not to diminish this concern at all but it’s certainly a secondary concern is that he is known as the younger brother of the area representative, Mr. Oscar Requena. And, of course, Mr. Requena is one of the appointed committee members. We have reached out to the minister. We have asked him if he has anything to say about this appointment. In fact, he has told us blatantly that he doesn’t know about it, that all he knows is that his brother applied for the position.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Do you know whether or not that position was advertised?”
Cristina Coc
“I don’t know what the process was, Hipolito. Like I said, the appellants were never informed. In fact, we learned of this appointment through a government press release. I mean, that does not bode well for building trust and good faith relations with the indigenous peoples of Toledo.”
Senator for Government Business Eamon Courtenay opened today’s budget debate inside the National Assembly Building in Belmopan. Senator Courtenay expounded on a point made by Prime Minister John Briceño last week. The government is spending approximately seventy-three cents of every dollar to keep its operations running, including the payment of salary and pensions of public officers. With twenty-seven cents remaining for capital investments, Senator Courtenay noted the importance of access to concessionary financing.
Eamon Courtenay, Lead Senator, Government Business
“As the prime minister explained and this is important madam president, thirty percent of every dollar will go to wages for public officers. Seven cents of every dollar will go to pensions for public officers. Eighteen cents of every dollar for operational costs for the government such as utilities and transportation and seven cents for interest in loans. That leaves twenty-seven cents for capital and expenditure to build a better belize. Therefore seventy-three cents of every dollar keeps the government running and only twenty-seven cents available to build belize. It is in that context that we have to make efforts in accessing concessional financing in order to make the ambitious plans of plan belize possible.”
Church Senator Bishop Alvin Bengunche focused his contributions on poverty alleviation. Senator Benguche contended that poverty breeds crime and as such the government must place emphasis on providing more opportunities for the marginalized. He noted that improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable is a priority.
Alvin Benguche, Church Senator
“For poverty alleviation, if we share and deal with these specific areas it will help to build children, educate children, to focus on women who must be employed and given employment opportunities, especially in the rural areas. Mr. President, poverty breeds crime such as we are seeing, perhaps not so much so in Belize, but one of our neighboring countries and we have to take note of that, that we must never as a country reach that proportion of crime. So we must seek to build on our people and move them out of poverty. I look at the ministry of infrastructure development and housing and continue on the subject of alleviating poverty, this is a vital area that the church is concerned about, the living standard of people is very important for us.”
Today was the last time we’ll hear from Elena Smith as Senator for the Unions. As we have reported, Smith is vacating the seat. Glenfield Dennison of the P.S.U. was elected to replace Smith. During her budget presentation today, Smith noted that if the Briceño administration seeks to remain on track it must ensure that its financial policies are benefiting most Belizeans.
Elena Smith, NTUCB Senator
“As we go through and we look at the budget, the budget speech is titled staying track and so while it is that the government wishes to stay on its track, we only hope that the track we are going to be staying on is a track where we see the majority of ur people benefiting and the lives of the Belizean people will be better based on this track that the government wants to remain on. We must also look at accounting madam president of our finances. Coming here and going through the budget is one thing, but we must have proper accounting of how we spend the people’s money. Reconciliation and auditing will help to account for the monies we spend. If we continue on the track where we are getting an audit report every ten years, eight years then that is not giving us a true picture of where we are, how well we are spending our funds and accounting for those funds. So those are the kind of things we have to ensure are on track so that we as a people and government can say year after year we budget this amount, this was spend this amount, we have this remaining and we can now put this toward something years, and next year we can do better.”
On Monday, thirty-one-year-old Monique Escalante, a junior immigration officer, was arraigned on a charge of extortion. She is accused of extorting six thousand dollars from Jamaican national Janhoi Richards. Allegations are that Escalante demanded Richards pay the sum and claimed she was entitled to do so as an immigration officer. Escalante’s attorney, Audrey Matura, claims that these allegations have no truth to them and that her client is being used as a scapegoat to cover up the misdeeds of officers of higher rank. We asked Commissioner of Police Chester Willams about these claims.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I don’t expect the attorney to say otherwise. That’s her job to make her client appear to be innocent. I’m not the arbitrary of the facts. I can only present the facts as they are and the court at the end of the day is going to determine her guilt or innocence. But I know for a fact that there is surveillance footage showing the immigration officer going to an ATM with the complainant and the complainant sought to withdraw money from his credit card, but that did not materialize. We also have surveillance footage to show that the complainant was held at the airport for extended hours. At one point in time the airport actually closed and they were still there with him. And the video footage shows certain things that supports the information provided by the complainant. I’m not going to say the immigration officer is innocent or guilty. Like I said, I’m not the one who’s going to decide that, but from an police standpoint, we have sufficient to have lead the charges against her.”
Reporter
“And are you able to say whether or not the complainant had attempted to leave the country via the northern border?”
A very public dispute between U.D.P. Leader Moses Shyne Barrow and Brian “Yellowman” Audinette is intensifying. On Monday, Audinette responded to Barrow’s claims that he stole a refrigerator, television, and microwave from the party’s headquarters. Audinette then filed a counter police report in which he made several allegations against Barrow. Today, the media asked Police Commissioner Chester Williams about both reports. Williams says he doesn’t know of any against Audinette but says the police are investigating the allegations made against Barrow.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“CIB have that complaint. They are following it up to see if there is any credibility to the information. It’s one that we cannot ignore. And I’m going to give the investigators time to be able to do the investigation. I know that they are in the process of interviewing persons who Yellowman claims were around or including persons who may have brought certain things, information to him. And when we are through with that, if we see a need to bring in Shyne, or the leader of the opposition for an interview, then we are going to do so.”
Sometimes we’re all too caught up in the lyrics of some popular artist or their genre of music, that we don’t pay enough attention to the ones that have been singing the lyrics of those same artists and many others. An artist like Kenneth Gladden, or Kenny G, as he is known to his fans across Belize. He has been singing since the mid-eighties in Corozal, and then he became popular with the now-defunct Santino’s Messengers and the Lord Rhaburn Combo. And while he hasn’t written many hit songs of his own, Kenny G has been performing his own renditions of those of other local and international artists. But because music has transitioned over the years and live bands, made up of several members, have faced fierce competition with cheaper-priced DJ entertainment, musicians like Kenny G have had to turn to other means of livelihood to make ends meet. And News Five’s Marion Ali found him doing just that when she visited him at his clothing outlet on Mahogany Street today. She brings you Kenny G’s journey to popularity and off the stage in this week’s edition of Kolcha Tuesday.
Marion Ali, Reporting
If you’re over fifty, you know this man for his smooth vocals and his remarkable ability to interpret various musical artists hit songs in a way that you absolutely enjoy. Kenneth Gladden, otherwise known widely as Kenny G, has been in the music industry since his early days in Corozal. His initiation into music came in the strangest of ways. He was not discovered by anyone. He told us that he decided to try his voice at home in private and liked what he heard. And that was his starting point.
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden, Musician
“When school was out, I used to go do a part-time job da the U.S. Consul with a lee Maya man, Mr. Uk. I used to goh do part-Time job with him. And I get to buy a lee tape recorder right, weh record yoh voice. And, I used to put on the music, and I record, and I used to sing along with the music, right? And I record the voice, then play it back and listen to it, how ih sound and if ih eena tune. And I say yoh know something that’s sound good. I think I should take it up. And then when people start to hear me, other musicians start to hear me and say, why we don’t want to come sing with the band.”
That was back in Corozal when Gladden’s singing career started. Those early performances took him to Chetumal and surrounding areas in the mid-eighties. From there, he moved to Belize City, where the Santino’s Messengers Baby and the Lord Rhaburn Combo, at another point, were familiar weekend sounds with Kenny G.
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“That was the late eighties, cause that’s when we found Messengers Baby, Santino’s Messengers Baby. That was in the late eighties. I would have said about 88, 89.”
Marion Ali
“When you were the main vocalist.”
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“Yes, I was the main vocalist.”
Marion Ali
“When you had hair.”
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“When I had hair, black hair.”
Gladden says his first inspiration was his father.
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“I was inspired firstly, by my father. Because my father is a great leader. He used to call him Chuck because they say he take off a Chuck Fender. I have never seen my father performing full until later days of his life, when he came back to Belize from New York. But I was inspired by him because everybody tell me, “Boy, how great your father was,” right? Boy, your pa hard. Man like Evan X Hyde just say, “Bwai your pa da a bad man, Bismarck and all these guys who had known my father back then, they tell me how good he was right.”
And while you may have heard his mellow voice performing to one of your favourite artists’s songs, you probably didn’t know that Kenny G is the lyricist behind that popular Guana Tail.
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“Ah hungry, weh yoh want, ah hungry, weh yoh want. Da rice and beans, me nuh want that, Da rice and beans, me nuh want that. Da cowfoot soup, me nuh want that, da cowfoot soup, me nuh want that. Weh yoh want, gimme the guana tail, guana tail guana tail, guana tail. Gimme the guana tail.”
Marion Ali
“You wrote that?”
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“Yes. I make that song. When we gone da Bermudian Landing. I see this gial just di dance fronta we right and she just di fling like she di fling wa tail, right? I said, this place known fi guana and the tail di wap wap round and this gial behind just di goh like guana tail. I say, alright, good.”
But live music entertainment has transitioned since the eighties. Now live bands face challenges getting jobs because people oftentimes opt for the cheaper-priced D-J entertainment. But Gladden, who has his own New Creation Band now, says he will keep the band going, and he is doing what he can through his own music to keep the Belizean music industry alive. And he has the support of the Director of the Institute of Creative Arts, Kim Vasquez.
Kim Vasquez
Kim Vasquez, Director, Institute of Creative Arts
“We really have to look at musicians like Kenny Gladden who are musicians that buck a lot of what we call the living legends or the well-known musicians. And so we tend to not remember them as often as we should. He does in fact have his own band, the New Creation Band, and he does a really good job of promoting Belizean music, of covering the music of, other musicians and keeping Belizean culture alive in his own way. And again, as well he was known for the Santino’s Baby, a very popular band making the circuit Bellevue, all of these different venues. And so it’s really, when you think of Kenny Gladden, you think of a good party, musician. One of these persons that if you’re having a wedding or a christening, a birthday party, you associate that type of Belizean music, that party music, really festive with his music.”
Kenneth “Kenny G” Gladden
“By keeping our legends alive it paves the way for youth in a sense that the youth will say okay We never know da Ben McCoy may do that song deh. We hear it but we don’t know da Ben McCoy do it. Or we never know da Lord Rayburn do da song. So by keeping these legends in the forefront, ih pave the way for the youths and they say okay, so we could take one page out of Lord Rhaburn book and we could do a we thing just like Lord Rhaburn.”
If you would like Kenny G and the New Creations Band to play at your special event, you can contact him at 625 -0064. Marion Ali for News Five.
The Belize Social Investment Fund Contractors’ Forum concluded today in Belize City. The first day of the forum took place in Corozal Town, where contractors met. The event moved to Belize City, where small, medium, and large-scale contractors engaged in discussion surrounding the requirements and processes to bid for contracts. SIF’s Finance Unit Coordinator, Nellie Trench, told us more.
Nellie Trench
Nellie Trench, Finance Unit Coordinator, SIF
“The purpose of the workshop is to walk the contractors through the process in terms of when they’re filling out the bidding documents. What SIF has experienced with contractors is that when they’re filling out these documents, there’s a lot of errors that are made, and these errors allows them to become nonresponsive. And so some of the key areas, the senior procurement officer, the finance and the technical unit coordinator is walking them through are the forms and the errors that they have made. And another highlight of the workshop is to provide to them so we’re going to send in some of the projects that are in the pipeline for safe in terms of small, medium and large scale project, and then that will give them an opportunity to send in a bid for those.”
Carlos Tun
Carlos Tun, Executive Director, SIF
“For some time now, the Board of Directors, the managers at SIF, and the staff have seen the need to increase the pool of contractors. We have seen throughout the projects at SIF that it’s the same contractors bidding every time. So we want to ensure that we have a space like the one today. In which we can invite contractors so that we can answer some of the questions, some of the concerns they have so that they can start to bid for those projects at SIF. We want to assure contractors that the process is transparent. There are three layers of transparency at SIF. One would be our internal supervision to our engineers. We also have the supervision by the consultant and the third supervision will be from the financial institution such CDP or any other institution that is working with us.”
