“No justification for the intervention” – Shyne Barrow

Shyne Barrow

The saga of Forestry Officer Daniel Chi continues, despite the fact that he has been placed on administrative leave since an incident with Prime Minister John Briceño last weekend involving the importation of an endangered species of plants.  The Public Service Union has come forward to condemn the actions of government.  The labor organization has also pledged its support for the suspended public officer.  This morning, the United Democratic Party called a press conference to address a number of concerns, including the incident involving Chi.  According to Party Leader Shyne Barrow, there is no excuse for what happened between the P.M. and the public officer.

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“There is no justification for the intervention.  Plain and straight, no minister, no prime minister has any authority to intervene in the discharge of a public officer’s duties.  It is wrong, it contravenes the Public Service Commission’s statutes, it contravenes good governance and it is corruption.  It is a violation of the constitution that says you should not use your office for gain.  Now let me qualify that because I know they like to run to lawyers and want to suppress freedom of not just press, but freedom of speech.  The public should know that in this matter where the prime minister intervened to have the public officer, Mr. Daniel Chi, reverse his discharge where he was dispatched to confiscate illegal plants, according to the CITES convention that Belize is a signatory to.  Daniel Chi was instructed to confiscate those illegal species of plants and invasive species.  The prime minister had instructions given to Mr. Chi for the proprietor at hand to have those illegal species returned to her and when it was returned, they hurled all types of insults, this is according to the reports of Mr. Chi, that unu wahn sih, unu wahn get fired.”