Chamber of Commerce Says Land Hustle Must Be Investigated

Back to the issue of fraudulent land transactions….The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a strong release today condemning the corruption at the Ministry of Natural Resources. It says inaction by G.O.B. on the abuse of our natural and fiscal resources is no longer accepted. According to the Chamber, despite evidence of blatant abuse of office for personal gain, the Prime Minister is on record saying that he doubts there is any actionable illegality. Chamber President Nikita Usher spoke to News Five today saying that it should be investigated as any ordinary Belizean.

On the Phone: Nikita Usher, President, BCCI

“We underscore the point that there is a real need for the rule of law. We didn’t want to come at any one specific topic, but you brought up one—one that has been in the media for some few weeks now, the issue of the land transactions, schemes, whatever you wish to call it that was happening over the last few years. That in itself requires serious investigation. We’ve heard the Prime Minister when he was questioned by you all that it is not legally actionable. And we are trying to make it very clear that we don’t know that that is the place for that. It has to be investigated and like any ordinary Belizean, if we would have been accused of some irregularity, you would have been taken to court and then the judge would decide what’s next. The Chamber feels that that is the action that needs to be taken.”