Minister Mark King tells the media U.D.P. first, Belizeans second and P.U.P. last
The Harvest Caye Tourism Development Project off the coast of Placencia, a multimillion dollar initiative by Norwegian Cruise Line, is mired in controversy although it already has the full support of Cabinet. Environmentalists, as well as other tourism stakeholders including the Belize Tourism Industry Association, have raised major concerns about its overall feasibility because it flies in the face of the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan and is taking the government to court of the Environmental Impact Assessment. Despite the impending legal battle, government representatives, including Minister of State Mark King, have been lobbying prospective contractors to do business with NCL. On Tuesday, a number of ministers headed south to garner support for the Harvest Caye project. King told the media today that as it relates to supporters of the U.D.P., they are head of the class.
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Mark King, Minister of State, Human Development
Mark King
“We as a government, we as a U.D.P. government we are a mass party, we have a lot of supporters, we look after all Belizeans in general. But, of course with any mass political party, you look after U.D.P. first, you look after Belizeans second and you look after P.U.P. last. I straight up like that, I noh got nothing fi hide from di media. So, at the end of the day if that is your concept that we went to do that, I didn’t say we went to do that. What I know I was particularly invited in the meeting for was to engage those partners from NCL in terms of alongside BELTRAIDE ministry and the Ministry of Local Government in terms of investment and other factors to see how we can engage them to see what it is their timeframe to roll out and how it is we can engage the representatives of the people down there, the elected representatives of the people down there to communicate with them. We were opening somewhat a communication barrier with them.”
Reporter
“Okay, but is there any process where it will be that you all have told Mr. Murphy of Norwegian Cruise Line that, “We eat first. We, or the government which is enabling Norwegian Cruise Line to, we are facilitating this investment and so our party must eat first.” Was that clearly communicated?”
Mark King
“I don’t think that was the idea of the meeting any at all. I think the idea was to open up the communication lines of the charter rollout timeframe for NCL and the people were having concerns, you know, what that timeframe will be and how they will go about applying for jobs and stuff like that. It wasn’t nothing to say go and put any kind of ultimatum on NCL, if we would do that to any investor that would be very wrong of us.”
Reporter
“Now, we know that Emilio Zabaneh has been very active, I’ve spoken to him about what all he wants to do. Is that a concern for you all that, because of how aggressive he’s courted Norwegian Cruise Line and where he has positioned himself and his people and he’s very active in the P.U.P. down there, that because of situations like that, your people or the U.D.P. people might end up being left out in the cold if they don’t be aggressive?”
Mark King
Emilio Zabaneh
“Well that is one thing to look at but I have no knowledge of Mr. Zabaneh and his actions down there. In terms of the people we represent, we try to open up communication lines for them so there is no barrier between them and the investor. And at the same time we understand that Mr. Zabaneh, I think, has contracts with NCL already. That’s none of our business, that’s between Mr. Zabaneh and NCL and to all Belizeans who want to gain from NCL I believe that is their right to go and see what they can accomplish.”
Damm big corrupt thief every single minister Ina this gov. Is a big thief and corrupt to the core I can bet anyone that king will get this contract because he has supported all the corruption of this gov. So they owe king this is the culture of this thieving pm and gov. .
How or who allowed this fool to get elected as minister of Government. From listening to this individual it is clear in my mind that we have elected a bunch of bufoons as our representatives.
Clearly, it is ok to think certain ways, but to verbalized these kinda dumb ideas is incredibly stupid. One does not need to verbalized their stupidity in the media. All this dumb drama about UDP first and PUP last sounds like a very crappy way of conducting the peoples’ business. The responsibility of a government is to govern and lead in the best interest of all its’ citizens.
Without the shadow of a doubt we are experiencing a real leadership crisis in the jewel. Let us suppose for a moment that people who did not vote or support the UDP should withhold their taxes from this government. How dumb and chaotic this would be. It appears that every time these big mouth fools open their mouths all you hear is the same old rhetoric. Where there is no vision and knowledge people perish. Wake up people, Belizeans first and foremost.
Exactly! This is how these dumb asses think when they get into power. Both parties think the same with the difference that one make it more obvious than the other. Clear example is this fool here that divides the people of Belize when he should know that whenever you are in power you should govern Belizeans as a whole
So u.d.p first BELIZEAN PEOPLE second and p.u.p last ,somebody please tell me who is this ignorant piece of $#!+***#$@%,how this guy was elected and apointed as a minister .oh I forget that in my BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY any $#!+%#$@^ could be a minister.
Hopefully when election time comes he thinks the same way.
I am now convinced that the UDP government think they are Gods. Mark King is now the God of stupidity.
Ghetto government!!! They take working people’s money, give it away to the unambitious, so that they can rake in the big bucks while the “poor” are pacified. Mark King needs to remember that he is but one man. He throws his light weight around like a bombastic ass. He needs to have a good chat with Rodwell Williams in case he needs a reminder. No one in the PUP is afraid of your big mouth and your insignificant self. And thanks again for reminding us what an ass you truly are. Keep losing votes for your party with your dumb utterances.
All belizeans need to sit up and pay attention to the very unpatriotic public comments of idiots in the govt. Next time you go to vote remember these words that you no come first and foremost for these people so why should you give them your vote? The PM needs to discipline this idiot for making belize look like a nation of corrupt idiots. His company should specifically be banned from providing any services to NCL because it is a conflict of interest. Furthermore he gets a big salary from taxpayers so his family no di starve and his company get paid by taxpayers for security pon all di govt buildings so non of dis employees no di starve either. This fool betta check fi he mouth.
He just moved up on the list of top 5 stupidest politicians in the country.
1. Edmond Castro
2. Mark King (moved from 3 to 2)
3. Philip Willoughby (moved from 2 to 3)
4. Arthur Saldivar
5. Julius Espat
We have lots of smart ministers who are so educated,, always talking politics although it’s not election time, if our laws/ constitution was enforce he would have spend some time behind bars for what he did at the casino/ border,, he would have learn a lesson or two..
@alleycat: you put Julius Espat ahead of Boots and his danimoes ? For what, demanding reform of the PAC? wow.
LOL. “Da gud fu unno dumb, greedy illiterate Creole” who thought that a few days of free food and alcohol leading up to elections, would have bettered your lives. Now, this idiot has publicly made it clear the pecking order of UDP. LOL. Not that I favour PUP over UDP because you have some elements that the Belizean public should make sure never resurfaces, like Godfrey Smith, Ralph Fonseca, Dickie Bradley, Arthur Saldivar, Jose Coye, to name a few, or you threaten them that you won’t vote them in. UDP never gave a damn about Creole. They showed that in 1984 when they won the first time after 30 years and they’re showing it again. They are a bunch of greedy, self-serving, arrogant folks who turn their backs on their supporters whenever they got into office. Now, Mark King has become a player in this multi-million hustle along with the two Singh brothers. It’s known that Mike & Doug Singh have had it to say the will become millionaires after this deal because they’re the ones in the middle brokering it. Imagine, dumb, dumb Mike Singh who scraped out of SJC. Someone needs to ask Doug why he ran left everything in Florida. Again, ask them why they had to give up FedEx. Uncle Sam isn’t ready for them as yet. It’s not only Zabaneh who’s in this NCL hustle. John Saldivar and Hulse are in the wings waiting. For quite a few years Zabaneh has been pushing for a port at Big Creek. Do we need to ask why? Uncle Sam will grab him soon like they did Briceno in the 1980’s. Some of you may be too young to remember that. The environmental impact from this project will be disastrous; garbage will be in the water and on the beachfront, pollution will cause the death of marine animals. Has anyone assessed the economic impact on our country and to see who will be getting the lion share of the profits? Will the locals be left to scramble for crumbs after NCL, Singh and these crooked ministers get their share? Will Belizeans be hired to work on these ships? Let me tell you “John Q” Belizean public,these jobs aren’t easy. Employees on these ships work 12-16 hours daily and don’t see their home cities anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months at a time. Many complain of bad neck and back, pain in their hands and feet. You’re paid “slavery- type” wages. No excuses for time off or you’re fired. I’m telling you from professional experience. Get some knowledgeable to do an INDEPENDENT STUDY on this project. Do a massive fund raiser and bring in environmentalists, biologists, public health folks, economic advisors. There are quite a few universities in the US who have students doing their masters and doctorate degrees who need these type of experiences as part of their curriculum to graduate and would gladly do it to complete their thesis and dissertation. Those last two words may be too big for the likes of Mark King, Boots, Finnegan and some of those illiterate UDP’s. Only then, after an extensive study, do you vote whether this project is beneficial. For the first form of entertainment, you have Joe Bradley, Alfonso Noble and Alberto August in their bikinis or naked (since they seem to like that type of party) so we can get a good laugh. What a sight to behold!!!!
@Retired CEO
Leadership crisis, yes, but more so, an ETHICS crisis.
Mark King is unaware that he has a conflict of interest in his proceedings with NCL. He is most likely unaware of the concept of recusing oneself to avoid a conflict of interest (I don’t think he can think that high. He came off as Philistine and morally depraved on yesterday’s newscast). I think, though, even if we give him the benefit of the doubt, he is still most certainly taking advantage of the rapidly closing Window of Corruptunity of the UDP.
We have had a string of conflict of interest events recently, too numerous to mention, let alone remember:
–Santi running government funds through Bottom Dollar (he defended that with the same Mark King logic).
–Castro using the airports bank account as his personal piggy bank (he defended that with the same Mark King logic).
–Dean Barrow……. where does one start ?? Okay, the Cheer Programs (he defended those with the same Mark King logic).
–Contreras, Elrington, Perdomo, Barrow, Flippin (can’t even remember his name) directly hiring daughters and sons for government positions (they defended those with the same Mark King logic).
I do not even know what to say or where to start after reading a quote like this!
“It is always better for people to think that you are stupid than to open your mouth and confirm it”: dude opened his mouth we have confirmed it!
His only interest should be Belizeans; period! Which flag they wave is their right and they should not be penalized for their choice! By the way does the dodo bird realize that PUP and UDP supporters are Belizeans alike?
Sad! Really sad!
Why am I not surprised by this. Mark King is simply spelling out politics, Belize-style. We’re finally hearing it from the horse’s a**, I mean, mouth.
HE IS SUCH AN IDIOT!!!!
Wow, the gross incompetence of these UDP ministers is glaring.
“UDP first, belizeans second, pup last.” So UDPs and PUPs aren’t belizeans?
What an arrogant imbisile.
@ All of the people Pay our Salary, you are most definitely correct, however, I am not sure if these people in the GOB have any idea or a clue as to what an ethics crisis is. They apparently see all of this as business as usual. Conflict of interest is the norm of the day for the UDP and the PUP.
@alley cat: where do you place your dear Finnigan, Melvin Hulse and Gaspar Vega?
Well, the beast/UDP-mark king,dean barrow must be taken down. Where are the civil society organizations in this country? Where are the feminist/womanist organizations that ought to be outraged by this injustice? If we are to move forward, there must be a serious interrogation and dismantling of the “common-sense” logic and divisive practice of party politics in Belize. This is political.WELL I believe mark king doesn’t remember God or thinks about God,he is only intrested in making money and tiefing the poor marginalized Belizeans $$$.Furthermore he gets a big salary from taxpayers so his family no di starve and his company get paid by taxpayers for security pon all di govt buildings so non of dis employees no di starve either. This fool betta check fi he mouth.who thought that a few days of free food and alcohol leading up to elections, would have bettered your lives. Now, this idiot has publicly made it clear the pecking order of UDP. LOL. WE ARE ALL BELIZEANS AND WE DESERVE BETTER!