The new UDP Government has arrested out going PUP Minister Jose Coye. The charges are Theft and Obtaining Property by Deception.

Change of governments will probably not be the same again after this. Some Ministers of the present UDP can look forward to being arrested when their government is voted out of office.

As Area Representative for Caribbean Shores there are not many visible projects he accomplished, other than a spectacular housing boom. This may be that Caribbean Shores is a relatively middle class area with little need for help from central government. As Minister he worked hard for his Ministries and achieved much in the Ministry of Health and for the hospitals and clinics.

His project was to reclaim swamp land, fill the area and put in full infrastructure of light, water and roads located in an upscale residential area off University Boulevard.

But it caused resentment as Belizeans with money gobbled up scarce quality properties close to the sea, leaving none for those who needed a residential lot.

Coye’s successful rival for the elections in 2008 was Carlos Perdomo. He vowed to lock-up Coye and other Ministers. Perdomo is the Minister of Police.

Glenn Tillett, a confidante of Coye, took to the airwaves last week to express some interesting observations and defend his friend.

Glenn claims Perdomo has been pressuring a businessman to sign a statement accusing Coye. Glenn further claims there is no investigation done by the Police and that the orders for arrest was allegedly Perdomo’s, based solely on a coerced statement from the businessman.

Glenn says that charges against Coye are based solely on unproven claims that the businessman says he gave large sums of money to Coye’s driver – not to Coye. After elections of February 08, Coye’s driver took back three hundred thousand dollars according to the businessman. In cash? No receipt? No witness?

This sounds like it is the businessman who should be arrested for admitting to cheating the government of tax, obtaining government property unlawfully, conspiracy to commit bribery and attempted bribery of a government Minister for claiming to give money to a driver to get the Minister to help him obtain a choice piece of land in front of Princess Hotel.

As we write this Wednesday, 7th May at 6:00 p.m. there is word out of legal circles that an application is to be made to the Supreme Court for an Order of Mandamus, ordering the Commissioner of Police to arrest the businessman for his self confessed involvement in the above mentioned.

BELIZE BANK ACCUSED OF CRIMES

The Belize Bank Limited, Belize’s biggest bank will this Monday, 12th May will be taken to Court and charged for seventy odd offences under the Money Laundering Law. This is unprecedented. This is a major body blow to the banking industry in tiny Belize. From overseas this news is bound to be extremely damaging. Indeed, there may be laws in the US and UK that none of their companies or banks can do business with the Belize Bank which will be treated as a money laundering offender.

These charges stretch way back for years and the question has to be what is the motive behind this incredible and unprecedented attack against a bank? And the other question is was the Solicitor General’s office – a political office – behind this move? And was the Director of Public Prosecutions consulted on this matter?

DOLLAR TAXI SHOWS THE WAY

There is no initiative out of the Department of Co-operatives. They may not understand their function to do what they do. The need to organize groups of villagers and citizens into productive units is not on their radar. Perhaps this is a result of a lack of leadership, perhaps need for new job descriptions.

The co-operative idea and movement is a beneficial one and can be made much more so. Organizing a group of women in Belize City to make small souvenir items is worthy of a try. Organizing a group of young men to do cabinet work, ie produce furniture, doors, door frame, TV stands, center tables etc is worthy of a try. Especially if Courts, Habet and those businesses would buy.

Organizing one dozen enterprising families to open small food shops to meet the growing demand for take out and take home food is worthy of a try. Anyone who stops at Lee Chee’s on Freetown Road or at the creole shop Fibbers by Roger’s Stadium, knows these things can work.

Look at the one dollar taxi service. It seems to be a success. It is different from regular taxi service. Citizens can save much needed dollars and still move from one area of Belize City to another, for one dollar.

The dollar taxi is the spirit of enterprise and initiative. Everybody benefits. It shows us a way. In these trying and difficult times we can solve a lot of our problems by using our brains and working together. Mek wi do it.

GOV’T TAKES TWO-FIFTY

Out of every gallon of petrol bought by motorists, which is now $10.59 cents per gallon, the government in Belmopan takes $2.50 cents.

Why can’t they take $1.00 and leave the consumer with a one dollar and fifty cents towards cost of living.

BREAD RISES

The price of bread now goes to $1.75 cents. Flour which sells by Belize Mills at special rates to bakers has gone from $61.00 a sack to $85.00 a sack.

STEEL TOO

Steel, so necessary in construction goes from $13.00 per ton to $23.00 per ton.

CEMENT WILL RAISE

The price of cement has to go up. Why? Simple. If diesel goes up everything has to go up. The government has made a major mistake to sit back and allow these to reach almost $10.00 a gallon. There will be another round of increases on everything that is transported, and everything coming off farms and everything, period.

CHAVEZ AGAIN

Hugo Chavez, enemy of the USA, has done it again. This time he is assisting some of the poorest people in the world.

These people live in the Caribbean. They are called Haitians.

Chavez is sending three hundred and fifty metric tons of food to the people of Haiti. The US and UN promised Haiti would get $192m but poor thing they got only $24m.

INCEST

Incest, as it is explained to us, is a serious crime. It means having sex with close family members such as with a sister, mother, father, brother, daughter or son.

Recently two brothers were at the Supreme Court charged with having sex with their sister. This happened in 2004. The case only came up for trial last month, April 2008.

Why would a straight forward case take four years to reach trial? Either the brothers had sex or they didn’t. How can it take nearly four years to have a trial?

The case fell through because in 2008 the sister no longer wished to see her brothers go to jail. The media reports that the case fell through because the sister admitted she was the one who encouraged her two brothers at the time to have sex with her. They were all teenagers at the time.

But in law, no matter how much encouragement is given, a person cannot commit incest with his sister.

The attorney we spoke to says the real problem is that sex crimes take too long to reach court.

The attorney also tells us that in several instances Police arrests minors under the age of 18 years or 16 years for carnal knowledge. The real criminals are not these young people who need counseling, but adults, and stepfathers who are abusing young children.

UNION LEADERS

The Leaders of the Unions for teachers, public officers and other public sector employees would get low ratings for their leadership or lack thereof.

This is probably the first time in modern history that a general election event was not used as an opportunity to extract firm commitments from the two major political parties to grant salaries increases for union members. In the case of the PUP which promised increases, some union leaders rejected it, without consulting their members.

Now, three months after general elections three major matters affecting union members are current.

The first is there is no salaries increase or adjustment for inflation. There is no pressure from union leaders for any.

The second is, the cost of living has literally sky-rocketed since elections and Union Leaders appear to be numb and paralyzed in fighting for their members.

The third is, there is an ongoing victimization of workers in the public sector with not a single word coming from any of the Unions who so recently had everything to say on anything even on non union matters.

Bob Dylan in one of his songs described this as “strange indeed”.

There is a fourth union matter of equal importance as the other three, if not more so. It is the urgency of legislation to protect workers from indiscrimination and arbitrary dismissal.

Union Leaders are being accused of selling out their members in the hopes of political rewards from the present government. We trust there is no truth in such a terrible indictment and allegation.

HOMO-Sapiens

In Jamaica, Red Stripe beer is hugely successful. The company is large and is big into sponsoring many events including Sumfest and other music shows. Now Stripe has announced it will no longer sponsor Sumfest and other shows with artists who used violent and anti-social lyrics.

Many of Jamaica’s major artists now say they will deal with Red Stripe. If Red Stripe is promoting a show, they will organize a free show elsewhere.

These artists include Bennie Man, Mavado, Spice, Mutabaruka and Elephant Man.

The artists say Red Stripe is promoting rock music show in Europe and claim that the boycotting of Jamaican artists is really “about gay bashing lyrics and Red Stripe don’t want to come out and say this is the reason they pulling out.”

“GOD IS NOT GREAT”

The London Observer describes author Christopher Hicthens as “one of the most prolific as well as brilliant journalist of our times”.

Hitchens is the author of “The Trail of Henry Kissinger”, “No One Left to Lie To” and “Why Orwell Matters” among other books and journals.

God Is Not Great is a provocative title for a book. Thanks to western media we know the Muslims believe and say it all the time, that “God Is Great” “Allahu Ahkbar”. We Christians also believe our God Is Great.

So to write a book that God Is not Great had better got up something. It does. It is witty and thought-provoking. Can be read in four and half hours. It won’t shake your faith.

Hitchens says that God did not make us, we made God. Well sir, what a great God we made and he or she ain’t anything like us.

UNPROFESSIONAL POLICE

The police in Punta Gorda arrested a citizen on Saturday evening on traffic charges. Nobody died or was seriously injured. The police kept the person in their piss house all Saturday, Saturday night, all day Sunday and did not release him until after mid-night Sunday night. Just being mean and unprofessional.

Wait till they are given this crazy power to detain citizens for long period without any charge. No telling what you would do.