P.M. comments on Guatemala, Venezuela and liquor laws
On hand to open the expo was Prime Minister Said Musa. Only recently returned from an important trip to Venezuela, the P.M. was asked about the results of that journey as well as the latest developments in the Guatemalan claim.
Said Musa, Prime Minister
“The talks did not break down, the parties agreed for the facilitation process to continue, and even more importantly they agreed that we try and find the solution through the facilitation process. Since there was a break through because many people thought that in the end we would have been forced to perhaps go to the International Court of Justice in order to get our position and to get this claim behind us, but I’m hopeful now that both sides have agreed to work the facilitation process some more and to hopefully come up with a definitive solution by December of this year.”
Ann Marie Williams
“The talks will be suspended for a while, are you hoping that as long as we are talking then everything is okay?”
Said Musa
“Yes, the good thing about the process as you know is that it has served to lessen, in fact remove tensions that existed along the border. We have been able to remove all the illegal squatters who were in Belize, we’ve had the work of the Pan American Institute of History and Geography which defined exactly where the line is. So a lot of progress has been made and I think there is a much clearer understanding on both sides, in particular the Guatemalan side understanding our position in asserting our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Ann Marie Williams
“You’ve recently come back from Venezuela also where you were meeting with some leaders in the area dealing with petroleum, how did that fare?”
Said Musa
“Well, as you know energy is vital to development and the cost of energy is a vital matter that affects the lives of all Belizeans. So we are anxious to ensure that we bring down the cost of petroleum, of fuel as much as possible. It has already gone down significantly from where it was, it’s now back to five dollars and seventy-five cents or there about, but it’s certainly much less than the six dollars and twenty-five where it was just a few weeks ago. In order to take full advantage of an oil facility that Venezuela has offered to the region, countries in the region including Belize, we went to Caracas to speak to President Chavez , as well as his ministers. I was along with Minister Fonseca and Minister Max Samuels, the Minister of Energy, to see if we can improve on this facility and take advantage of it, and there are certain things that we have to work out in order to be able access this facility. If we do we’d be able to get the petroleum, the fuel at a much cheaper cost, and also access the credits from Venezuela for the amount of petroleum that we buy from them. A team will be coming down from Venezuela to look at the facilities in Belize because one of the things they need to examine is whether we have sufficient bulk storage capacity in order to take full advantage of this facility.”
Before opening the exposition, Prime Minister Musa held talks on some domestic matters that have been very much in the news.
Said Musa
“There’s need for greater co-ordination with the City Councils and with the Town Councils to ensure that we have a clear national strategy in restricting and controlling the proliferation of places that sell liquor, in particular the proliferation of places that have been open near to schools and churches. We need to shut down some of those, in fact all of those that are near schools and churches. We need to prevent people consuming liquor blatantly on the street, you know, this going into a shop, I won’t call names, but there are some many of them in Belize City in particular, standing right outside the shops or the street corner and drinking this can’t be healthy for a quality society that we are trying to build. If you want to drink, go into an establishment that serves liquor to be consumed on the premises or take it to your home.”
Ann Marie Williams
“You have those who ride on their bicycles drinking a bit.”
Said Musa
“Exactly, one can understand in a general parade, a celebration where people are in their festive mood, you know, we turn a blind eye to it, but this shouldn’t be an everyday occurrence, so we’re trying to tighten up on these abuses. We are also trying to ensure that liquor, that the law is enforced, that alcohol is not sold to persons under the age of eighteen years. And indeed the recommendation that came out of the meeting today, the general consensus was, that minors, namely all persons under the age of eighteen should not even be allowed into establishments that sell alcohol, not even in the premises. Which means hopefully we’ll see discos and other places of entertainment opening up for persons under eighteen without selling liquor.”
