P.M. says there is a hotbed of corruption at the Lands Department
Prime Minister Dean Barrow is in Los Angeles for fund-raising activities and meetings with Belizeans living in that area. While he is out, his deputy, Minister of Natural Resources Gaspar Vega is acting Prime Minister. But while many miles separate them, Vega is out of sight, but not out of mind. The Ministry of Immigration may be the P.M.’s current headache, but the Ministry of Natural Resources is right up there on the corruption register. In fact, there have always been reports of crooked land deals, but now there is confirmation. The Prime Minister once famously stated that he would not tolerate even a whiff of corruption in his administration. But he acknowledged that his deputy’s Ministry is a hotbed of corruption. He did so at a mixer with Belizean-Americans on his round of meetings.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“I believe that the lands department unfortunately is another hotbed of corruption. The administration has tried to do something about the officers who through dishonesty rather than incompetence—perhaps in some instances, it is a combination of both—end up in a situation where…and I was down in the village of Santa Familia over last week; the village is a part of the constituency that the minister that we’ve had to fire represents. And so I was out there doing some canvassing. And there is this huge problem of exactly the dimensions that the lady has described where one man has worked the land; has crop on it, but others were given papers to that land…papers signed by the minister. But based upon an assessment done by a lands officer who put in writing that the land was fair-clear when he visited the spot and it was obvious that there were crops on it. There is only one reason why he falsified the report. So ma’am, I don’t know of your particular circumstances and I certainly can’t tell you that the generalized problem has been solved.”
The Prime Minister returns to Belize on Friday, October twenty-fifth. His respite will be short-lived, since the passport scandal is alive and kicking. The breeze, far from blowing over, seems to have a high probability of strengthening.
cut to chase.
what part of your administration is not corrupt?
there has to be one.
I go with archeology and NICH.
There is little money in it to steal, so your crooks just have not got there yet.
although artifacts found by your criminals not reported probably are sold on the black market.
although bulldozing a pyramid for road rock is a new low.
how is that investigation going?
good thing the Mayans are not Muslims, and the pyramid was not in Jerusalem, would have had a bloody civil war to deal with.
and there was that 2012 xunantunich scam that contrerass cooked up.
the word is Gasper does what Contrerass tells him to do, let’s hear about contreass’ corruption stories, they are more interesting and more mney in play
so Deano, what is you cut, besides being PM of this sinking ship?
will Deano go to jail?
does Belize have what it takes to see political criminals go to trial and serve prison time?
will they get to keep their ill gotten goods, living in luxury off the backs of the working man?
the real question is he coming back to be prosecuted?
can he BS his way thru this?
or does Mello become PM and Deano gets a pardon, along with a big bonus retirement?
Could the PM be trying to cover the passport scandal with a new lesser scandal…hmmm……the UPD has been taking a serious credibility dive….even die hard UDP’s are in doubt…..
There is also corrution in the Transport department and I am a victim.
Sad to say but Belizeans are just natural weak pushovers, which is why these criminals don’t care if they doubletalk or lie outright. Tell me what repercussions these guys face ? they make the rules and the laws, they will always get away bc Belizeans don’t have the backbone to stand up to anyone other than standing up to relatives or neighbors. Belizeans are puny, they feel inferior to these thieves in dress-pants, wirebearer shirts, which their “big time” education and lingo. Who are we fooling, not only will these criminals not go to jail but they will be reelected again, if not next election, the in after next…the same way they cuss the criminal organization called the PUP out of office, they will soon beg them back in…Not only are Belizeans weak but they also have short temp memory.
who are we kidding
The PM is away and he left the rat to look after the cheese. Ya, I knew that there was corruption in that department for a hell of a long time. I have a piece of land that I have been waiting for the land f papers to be recorded for two years. Every time I go in to check, I am told that the computer system is down. How can a system that is so important to this department be down for two years. I just pray that my land is still there for me and not given away to Vega’s brother.
The Land stealing / grabbing started with
Briceno and Coye and PuP Founders
The stealing of the corozal border,
The stealing of the barracks
The stealing of land which is now tourist village
The stealing of our 2 acre islands
The stealing of all the marine parade lands
The caye caulker 20 acre property
The san pedro south end 20 acre property held for musa