Returning rosewood to dealers engaged in illegal activity
Rosewood is once again in the media spotlight; that is, confiscated or harvested rosewood. The much sought after timber first got all this attention because millions of dollars worth of its flitches were seized from illegal loggers even when a moratorium was in place. Now, ironically, it is getting all this attention because government is allegedly giving it back to the dealers who were engaged in the illegal activity. Well tonight, the biggest update on the rosewood drama co-starring government players and the corrupt dealers is that there is absolutely no word coming out of the Ministry of Forestry or from the Forest Department. That’s because Minister Lisel Alamilla is out of the country…and so is C.E.O. in the Ministry, Wendell Parham, as well as Chief Forest Officer, Wilber Sabido. Deputy Chief Forest Officer, Marcelo Windsor, has also been consistently unavailable. 
On Monday our colleagues from Plus Television broke the news that rosewood confiscated from illegal logging operations and stored at the Forestry Compound in Belmopan was being loaded into privately owned trucks. On Tuesday afternoon, the Forest Department issued a release declaring an amnesty for illegal logs harvested before March fourteenth, but by Tuesday evening an official government release announced the approval for the sale or export of those logs. There is no official word on who will sell or export the logs and reap the huge benefits from the very lucrative rosewood mostly sold to China, but since government has said nothing to the contrary, there is rampant speculation that all confiscated rosewood will be handed over to the dealers for them to do with it what they will. On Tuesday, News Five did manage to get a very brief response from Minister Lisel Alamilla by email from Turkey, referring us to the official press release and has not answered subsequent emails.
How about organizing a giant protest/strike at the airport when the Hon. Alamilla returns from her junket? Let the crook face the people and return if she dares — I would prefer she never comes back here, one less roach to eliminate when the people rise and take power in their own hands.
I hold the trucker accountable, too — every patriotic Belizean should have refused to move the contraband, stolen by the government from government control! If that action doesn’t justify disobedience and overthrow, I don’t know what more is necessary.
Recommendations for Media contribution to Transparency:
1.) First of all, all news reporters should share and promote their contact numbers so that patriotic Belizeans can called them and inform them of corruption taking place. This will allow Belizeans to report of what is happening and reporters can capture it on tape.
Some public officers cannot openly talk because they will be fired.
2.) All media houses should team up to create a central database that will keep track of all political scandals or alleged corruption taking place and what was government measure to correct the loophole or if the issue was simply ignore.
Many by the end of this week will have already forgotten about the chinese release by order of Compol…will media still follow the process? i don’t believe so. hence, the need for a database which can be online so that eveyone can view it…it can be simple, for instance, in excel:
Date Alegation/Scandal/Corruption Government Reaction Measure to correct
April 1, 13
April 2, 13
.
.
.
April 10, 13 Returning Rosewood to dealers.. press release/jail/nothing New policies?
The above simple format can help us keep track of what transpired during the whole year and thus help us see the corruption that takes place. the PUP will not do it because the UDP will then do the same when they are in opposition….
I don’t have the money to set up the website but i can build the website….UB IT Student can take up the challenge? the medias? opposition party? Patriotic Groups?
COMING TO THE ROSEWOOD ISSUE:
Observations:
Monday- Rosewood returen to corrupted dealers; no Government reaction YET
Monday- Media house start reporting
Tuesday-afernoon, Government reacts by now making it legal through amnesty! why??? only because media house started to report on it or else nobody would say anything….
Conculsion:
Government are in damage control mode…fool di talk but no fool di listen….
Opinion:
The rosewood belongs to same hilmer alamilla…he is the front face for Minister Vega family….many concessions were issued in his name but the real owner is Vega brother…that is no secret….this move was only possible because vega is the DPM and a sponsor to the UDP…hence, PM will not do anything….
eg.1
what the PM do when Vega grabbed so many land for him and his family all over belize? nothing….Vega said they are NOT ORDINARY PEOPLE…in your face Belizeans….
eg 2
Vega gave land to his friend Gillett then GOB reclaim the land and paid thousands of dollars in market value in the land when they only paid almost nothing for it and they already knew that GOB would claim back that land…
Visualize this, Gillett paid $10 but GOB has to buy back the land for $100…who lost? Government? nope…we Belizeans because it is our money…
Eg.3
Land in Placencia given to Vega daughter-in-law…what happened? GOB had to buy back the land in the real market value when she paid almost nothing….remember that CEO Bev said she didn’t know if maket value or real value was used…by now, she suppose to have an answer, the media house should go and ask her
The 3 above examples can be included in the database….it can be compiled using all the news outlets….
Long Live Belize!!! this will blow like a li’ breeze like Thief Musa said….
STOP THE PUDP…and be BELIZEANS…..my fellow Belizeans anonymously report corruption to the news media….it is not bad to be a whistle blower…it is bad to know what is happening and keeping silence, thus, you contributing to corruption indirectly….
I smell the stench of putrefying rotting decay as this government has proven many times over to be degrading from the highest branches to the very depths of its roots. The picture in my mind goes like this, it starts out as a gathering of maggots feasting on decaying flesh and in a hue of materialization evolves to represent all the political scumbags sitting in a room taking orders from their Chinese owners to release the shipment all while talking amongst themselves and reassuring each other that they have the Belizean people so deluded and docile that they can literally walk into our homes and sit at the head of the table gorge themselves and impregnate our daughters before leaving and we all as Belizeans will just sit idly by and accept it; such is the power base that they have created. I think for half of us Belizeans we must be more outraged at a facebook status than the future of our country right now and this my people is how deluded and docile we are. Many will say “oh instead of writing a comment why don’t you go out and march and protest?” Well my response to you is… you first. Be my guest and then when your masters in government finds out that you bit the hand that feeds you and tosses you flat out on you’re a$$ by not giving you free “hush money” or having you fired from your job then come and tell me how it worked out for you alone the brave one all by yourself. You don’t go out and protest because you are all afraid of being crushed by the monster that you have created. They are in charge of us and they know it just as much as the Chinese that has bought and paid for their loyalty and they know they control the strings that make them dance. My people this is colonialism all over again!!! This is the British arrogance that hewed our jungles bare of logwood and left us a broken ex-colony at the mercy of the low lives and thieves that govern us. I think we will need to change the Latin motto “sub umbra floreo”(“under the shade we flourish”) on our coat of arms to “under the sun we perish” because by the time these crooks disguised as politicians are done cutting down the rosewood there will be no tree to shade or flourish under. They can call amnesty for a short period and they can feed us that bull about CITES protection making it harder to export rosewood in the future but I can bet my last dollar that it won’t stop as the Chinese business men are not daft enough as not to hear about black market trade. Yes people the black market; if you can buy a child whole or chopped up on the black market… need I say more? The lucrative nature of this hustle will not stop until the last rosewood tree has been harvested.
“biggest update on the rosewood drama co-starring government players and the corrupt dealers is”
That is the update?
Like there is a difference?
One and the same.
Damn thieves. That’s all I am going to say.
That settles it; I’m going out and cutting down some rosewood!!
This government continues to rub their corruption into our faces, it is time for Belizeans to stand up and unite to stop this arrogance and the rapeing our resources.
@Belize Belize, I like your idea about an independent website for patriots who want to track misconduct and make suggestions to improve the Jewel. It would be a real public service. How to organize to make it happen?