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Dear BTL – Belize Telemedia Ltd.

August 7, 2010 By admin 1 Comment

The following is an appeal from Nial Gillet – Belize-American Internet Security Consultant – to the Belize government owned and controlled telecommunications monopoly to bring its price on Internet access in line with current best practices. Mr. Gillet worked for IBM in the U.S.A. before coming to Belize to open his own company.

Dear BTL.

I need more.

It has been a while since I have written an article about BTL. A while back I was griping about not having any decent internet, as it was taking too long to reach my house here in beautiful Burrell Boom in the Belize River Valley. I was pleasantly surprised that coincidentally, that service was practically just about to be unveiled in my neck of the woods, and just like that, after years of no service, it became reality. I was connected! But here I am, months later, and once again I am not happy.

Before I start my new gripe, let me say that for all the time that I have had this DSL service, it has been working practically flawlessly. I am one to check my speeds very often, and I have, for the most part, been getting what I have been paying for, and the system has been up without a glitch for months. It is always good to be able to pay for a basic service and get the basic results expected. But therein lays the rub.

I need more. Yes, just like some Hollywood movie star wife, good enough is never enough. I really expected that by now, there would be more options available to me as a consumer, especially with the massive changes in that company. I want cheaper costs, faster speeds and additional services like an affordable static IP address, among other technical things.

Is that too much to ask for? I certainly do not expect with our current customer base that we can have internet for free, but it is high time we move away from continuing to promote a 128K connection as “High Speed Internet.” Come on man, 128k has not been high speed since the days of dialup, and the prices for a decent connection (1-2mb) in Belize can pay for a mortgage. Really.

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Filed Under: News

Au revoir Dr. Abdulai Conteh Chief Justice of Belize

July 4, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The forced departure of the Chief Justice of Belize Dr. Abdulai Conteh has set off a modest tempest on the Belize judicial and populist landscape. A usually fragmented-on-political-lines Bar Association was sufficiently concerned to come together and condemn the manner in which the Chief Justice was being sent off. So much so that it issued an uncharacteristic admonition against the government of United Democratic Party leader prime minister Barrow.

One of the more colorful commentaries on the issue has come from former attorney general Godfrey Smith who participated in the selection process of the Dr, Conteh when Smith was in office:

Judicial balls.  That is his most important attribute.  Chief Justice Conteh fearlessly slaps down abusive government decisions, sometimes with Solomonic sensitivity to the damaged political egos.

They’re more important on a judge than erudition because errors can be corrected on appeal. But if a Chief Justice is afraid to rebuff governmental abuse, the Executive will emasculate the entire Judiciary.

It was upon the political “UDP headquarters case” that Dr. Conteh cut his judicial teeth. The freshly elected PUP Government alleged that the defeated UDP Government illegally gave to its party, gratis, land upon which it built its headquarters.

Though it was his first political case – a big one at that – he ruled against the government, ordering the UDP to pay the stamp duty on the land and incensing the PUP.

Though he was later reversed on appeal, he had established straightaway his credentials as a judge not afraid of the Executive.

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Filed Under: Law

Belize City Mayor To Appeal Expulsion from United Democratic Party

June 1, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The mayor of  Belize Zenaida Moya will reportedly appeal her expulsion from the ruling Democratic Party according to media reports monitored here.

Minister of Housing Hon. Michael Finnegan who is a close ally or Ms. Moya told reporters:

“I saw an interview, I think it was Wednesday, between you and the Prime Minister and it was a crafty and good interview by the Prime Minister. He did a beautiful thing, he left the doors open. The ballgame is now in the Mayor’s court. Mr. Barrow says if you are not serious then something can happen, but let show us that you are serious. On the other hand I believe that you must temper justice with mercy. I believe that the decision was cruel and tough. In my view it was not necessary. In my view she has publicly regretted what she said and in life all of us say things that we wish we never said. As I have said listening to the interview on Channel 7 the Party Leader was magnanimous. He left the door open. “

More on the Mayor Moya Appeal

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Commentary: Oh Belize

May 14, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

While the news in Belize on any given day is normally drab and depressing, this past Monday’s newscast by any measure was downright petrifying.  Two persons beheaded in Cayo, a mother gunned down with young infant strapped on her back, a Police Officer walks into a prison cell and executes a detained man and heavily armed gunmen open fire upon a permanent Police Checkpoint.  My GOD, is this really the Belize that we grew up in?

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Guest Editorial: Belize City Council Shenanigans

May 7, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The latest scandal emanating from the Belize City Council has left city residents wondering just what else can go wrong with this council.  Since assuming office in 2006, Mayor Moya’s UDP council has been fraught with scandals and accusations of wrongdoing.  Who can forget an emotional Mark King in August of 2008, tearfully pleading with Zenaida Moya to desist from her corrupt practices?  King had called a press conference to present concrete evidence of Moya’s mismanagement of city funds.  Mark King pulled no punches, accusing the mayor of being a “liar and a thief” and had documented proof to support his charges.  Many believed it was the end of Moya’s political career, and indeed anywhere else in the world, it would have been.  Moya received overwhelming support from the media however and in particular Kremandala, who spared no ink or words in exalting her to the skies.

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Commentary: Village Council Elections in Belize

April 18, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The climate of terror besetting our jewel shows no sign of letting up as day after day we hear increasingly alarming news of young men being killed, homes being burglarized and business places being robbed.  What is even more alarming is that these incidents are now happening in broad daylight and in the full view of many witnesses.  There was a time when there was safety in numbers and when folks could feel secure at least in the confines of their homes; but not anymore.  These brazen criminals invade even the sanctuary of the best fortified residences and as the Prime Minister of Belize recently related, it is a “problem that so far is defeating us.”

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Belize Commentary: Mr. Speaker, I rise….

April 3, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Mr. Speaker, I rise to make my contribution to the Belize General Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2010/2011. I speak Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the regular citizen on the street, the ones who apparently have no voice in this honorable house. The intention is also mine, Mr. Speaker, to set myself to the task of attempting to ensure that throughout this presentation we do not lose sight of the central message.  Before I turn to the formal stuff therefore Mr. Speaker, I wish to set out in straightforward terms what I see as the main pillar of this so-called
“recovery effort”.

Allow me first Mr. Speaker, to address this misnomer of “recover” for make no mistake, those on the government side of this House, have no need for recovery. Look at them Mr. Speaker, they have grown fat and opulent on the backs of those
very “les miserables” that they purport to represent and now relegate to even
harsher living conditions.

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Widow Slain Cane Farmer Calls on Belize P.M. Dean Barrow for help

March 21, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Renewal of petition for the establishment of a Commission of inquiry to hold public hearings in Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District, Belize on what transpired on February 2, 2009 during the Cane Farmers Protest against the Core Sampler at the Belize Sugar Industries’ Sugar Factory.

San Victor Village
Corozal District
Belize

Renewal of petition for the establishment of a Commission of inquiry
to hold public hearings in Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District on
what transpired on February 2, 2009 during the Cane Farmers Protest
against the Core Sampler at the Belize Sugar Industries’ Sugar
Factory.

March 10, 2010

The Prime Minister’s Office
Hon. Dean O. Barrow
Belmopan, Belize, C. A.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I hereby apply to your office once again to conduct an impartial and
fair investigation into the circumstances of how my husband Atanacio
Gutierrez of San Victor Village lost his life on February 2, 2009, at
the hands of the police security forces on the road leading to the
Belize Sugar Industries’ Sugar Factory.

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U.S. Company Harvesting Xate Palm Leaves in Belize

February 25, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Local media reports say a U.S. company based in Miami is harvesting Xate leaves from Belize’s rain forests. Xate (pronounce: shatay) are the leaves from 3 Chamaedorea  species of palm tree (Chamaedorea elegans, Chamaedorea belize-xate.jpgoblongata and Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii). The leaves are used in the floral industry because of their popularity for flower arrangements. The harvesting of Xate has been a controversial issue in Belize. Belize’s Channel 7 reported on 24 February that:

“Whenever it comes up the issue of Xate is always a troubling one. That’s because most times, the stories are about illegal harvesting of the ornamental leaf in Belize’s jungles by Guatemalans. Recently, the Government of Belize had agreed to issue a number of licenses but those also proved problematic because they provided Guatemalan harvesters to extract Xate with a license, and in so doing muddied the waters for authorities who could no longer make an easy differentiation between legitimate and illegitimate operators.

“According to Belize’s Ambassador to Guatemala Fred Martinez, it was frowned upon by the OAS and he told us that the Government of Belize had put a stop on all Xate concessions. And that’s why today we were taken off guard when the Government Press Office sent video of a fully outfitted Xate operation in western Belize. It’s called Eco-Green a subsidiary of a Miami based company that specializes in this. The processing factory is just outside Cayo and they had an official opening today – except that we weren’t invited to ask the tough questions – like who’s going to be harvesting the Xate? Specifically, are Guatemalans going to be harvesting it in Belize’s jungles?

That’s a worrying prospect – but a question for which we have no answers – as the Minister and the investor soft shoed through their interview with the Government Press Office.”

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Belize Guest Editorial: Shaft of Brilliance?

February 20, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

g-michael-reid-belize.jpgBy G. Michael Reid - The Prime Minister took the podium this past week to
apprise Belizeans of the current state or our nation and as could have
been expected, the prognosis was grim.  Not even the
normally glib and gifted orator could find the words to make the landing
of his message soft.  Things are dread and gonna get
dreader!

Anyone living in this country at this time will tell you
that things are…well in a word, terrible.  Cost of living
is astronomical and climbing higher each day, unemployment is bad and
getting worse, crime is ridiculously out of control, our security forces
make us more ashamed than secure and corruption seems the normal and
acceptable modus operandi among public officials.  Hustling
is the order of the day.

Mr. Barrow let
loose sighs and phrases like: “huge deficit”"the worst is yet to come”
and “The upcoming fiscal year will be the hardest.”   In a
rare and unusual display of humility, Mr. Barrow
asked Belizeans for their “support and understanding”.   Well
for sure, that request could be more readily considered if Belizeans
would see the same inclination to austerity from Mr. Barrow
and his band of bungling bandits. For Mr. Barrow
to shake his Rolex in our faces and asking us to keep our Timex
ticking, is unreasonable. We are basically being asked to patch our
bikes and keep peddling while we watch his clueless ministers and hand
pick hustlers high roll past us in their Infiniti’s and custom fitted
SUV’s.

Belize folk are not known to be unreasonable and have
in fact, been often criticized for being too complacent and lenient
with politicians.  This current administration in
particular, has been given a long rope when we consider the number of
misappropriations and blatant misuse of public trust; from the halls of
Capital Hill to the corridors of local government.  Yet,
shielded by a shamelessly partisan media (probably embarrassed by their
obvious misdirecting of the people), this government has been allowed to
function, or malfunction as the case may be, free and san souci.

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