New Service Station in PG is being Built near Calvary Chapel Church
In the south, the construction of a gas station at a prime location in Punta Gorda is coming into fierce opposition with every passing day. Objection to building of the service station is fueled by the sentiments that local businessmen are being put out of the market by the more affluent Chinese entrepreneurs who are also easily able to acquire real estate. At a recent public meeting, a former two-term P.G. mayor recalled that while he resisted giving licenses to the Asian businessmen, he was taken to court and lost. Here is News Five’s Isani Cayetano with a report.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The construction of a service station at the entrance of Punta Gorda Town by a Chinese businessman, who quietly purchased a parcel of prime real estate where the famous Dollar Coin is situated, has raised the ire of many. The building of this facility in the immediate environs of a church goes against the Service Station guidelines which set out specific requirements for such an undertaking.
Anthony Westby
Anthony Westby, Former Mayor, Punta Gorda
“I tried to stop and hold down the amount of Chinese that came into this town. The first one came, the second one came and I was the mayor. When the first one came, I was not, when the second one came I was not. I told the prime minister that I would not give anymore license to anymore Chinese because they would run our local businessmen out of business in this town, for instance, like Supal and all these guys who had these grocery stores. I could see this, I mean this is just common sense, we can’t compete with these guys. So I said, look, we have two here already, let’s just leave it at that, noh moh. The third man came and they applied for a license and they came to me and I refuse to give them a license. So the prime minister called me about two months later and said you’ve got to give them man a license. I said, so why should I have to give them a license and I explained to him why I wouldn’t give them a license. They did take me to court and they did win the case because the same Belizean people who were working here, I don’t want to call their names, were taking bribes from these guys and all of them went against me in court, and even the prime minister himself at that time, Musa.”
Alistair King, proprietor of King’s Service Station, contends that it is more than just halting the construction of another Chinese business. With every Asian entrepreneur that comes to town, the playing field for other local businesspeople becomes more lopsided.
Alistair King
Alistair King, Proprietor, King’s Service Station
“It’s not just about gas stations, it’s not just about stores, the hotel like the other one up there. If they do succeed and they do get going then we have to get into the GST the taxes, all the rest of it. Just like all these other stores in town, it’s not a leveled playing field and how much PG people have stores left now?”
The land transaction during which the parcel in question was sold to a Chinese businessman from Dangriga involved the Mack family. They are considered among the first Asians to settle in Toledo. Notwithstanding the controversial purchase, stakeholders in the area are questioning everything, including the approval of an environmental compliance plan.
John Gotz
John Gotz, Proprietor, Sea Front Inn
“I want to see the reports, the compliance report from the environmental. I want to see the compliance report from the fire department because for the engineer to sign off, they have to have all those in place and then he merely, it’s not the engineer’s issue. The engineer’s issue, he just looks at the plans, if everything’s been approved and says it has to be built to this code then and yeah you have the plans to do it and signs off. It’s not his fault, he’s doing his job. It’s an issue of how did they get the letters so fast? How did they get it approved so fast and shoved through and no one in our community knew?”
Within a fairly short distance, should this development proceed, there will be two competing service stations, including King’s, within a one-mile distance.
Alistair King
“How many years of being in business, if I was in business, to repay for some of them stores, the size of them stores? Yoh noh wahn mek that money in PG. You think them gas stations will make back that investment, no man! So what is going on? This is more than just an investment; there is no bottom line for these people. We have to work with bottom line. You don’t make it, you go out of business, so it’s a much bigger thing than just stopping these people and it stinks, it stinks, it stinks because the mayor should have been here to answer these questions.”
As we mentioned, PG Mayor Ashton McKenzie was absent from Thursday’s public meeting. A letter to the mayor with the signatures of thirty residents, business owners and other stakeholders has been sent to the Punta Gorda Town Council. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
