Crime Minister Perdomo Must GO… By our unofficial count, there have been four murders and one questionable death in the past week. That includes three bloody homicides on city streets, one by a policeman’s gun, a savage chopping in the Orange Walk district and the death of a Customs Officer while in Police custody. Unofficially, there have been 12 separate shooting incidents in the last 9 days. In just one of those incidents, five persons were injured, one of them an eight year old boy. And these figures don’t include the daily robberies which also often end in bloodshed. A popular store in the center of downtown Belize was robbed yesterday in broad daylight, and a security guard and an employee were pistol-whipped. Just today, blood splattered the streets of the city as robbers attempted another brazen hold-up of Atlantic Bank. The streets of Belize City are running red, while residents are paralyzed by fear. Even the sanctity of homes has been breached by home invaders, who rob and rape and murder with abandon. Business owners now operate with full knowledge that any minute may be their last. Apparent fearless and coldblooded gangs rule our streets, and the death toll is rising steadily. Innocent blood has been shed by bullets which missed their targets. Belizeans are living in a city that is totally out of control, and there seems to be nowhere to turn. The Police Department which should provide sanctuary and stability in this storm of lawlessness has lost the trust of the Belizean people because of its evident inability to protect and apparent powerlessness in the face of relentless violent. As if that were not bad enough, members of the Police Department have recently been implicated as the shooters in a series of murders. The ‘rogue element’ of the Police Department has joined the criminal element as public enemy #1. The families of Teddy Murillo and Chris Galvez have continued their campaigns for justice amid allegations the police officers pulled the triggers which ended the lives of their loved ones. The Minister of National Security has been able to provide no comfort to the grieving families of those left behind or to Belizeans in general who are pleading for some sort of reprieve from the bloodshed. ...

While baldy’s away… Enquiring minds are just dying to know the subject of the private discussions held by certain select UDPs in San Pedro this past weekend. According to reports, the slightly intellectually challenged (oops, mi bally, I meant) DPM called a meeting on the island to deal with some ‘urgent matters’ while the man in charge was out of the country. Oh, to be a fly on the wall! But it wasn’t all about work for sure. The ministers and special ‘friends’ were also feted  at a cocktail party hosted by the barefoot minister at a prime restaurant on the island and to top it all off, sailed along the coast on Saturday on a private boat stocked with lavish ‘treats’ and drinks. This columnist is awfully glad that the UDP ministers and ‘special friends’ had such a fine time on the island, especially in the midst of the recession and the upcoming budget which promises to be extremely painful for most Belizeans. And as to that credible report that we taxpayers funded this ‘fiesta weekend on the island’ for the ministers and special friends…nah, they wouldn’t! Or would they? If Da Noh Soh! ………………………. Purple dread alert… The weekend in San Pedro may have been fun for the UDPs and friends, but for some islanders Sunday morning left them with a sour taste in their mouths. Several islanders experienced a nasty shock when they arrived on the beach with their kids for a nice swim. There parading up and down the beach in all his ‘glory’ (enter laughter here) was the Barbie dread himself, decked out in the very latest bright purple speedos. Definitely not a sight for the faint of heart! I tell you, the man might make a mockery out of his nickname ‘clear the land,’ but he sure as hell ‘cleared the beach’ that Sunday morning…If Da Noh Soh! ……………………….. Early campaigning… It’s kind of interesting that the photo taken that weekend surfaced when it did. See, reports have been surfacing of a serious rift within the UDP, and it all has to do with the UDP convention supposed to be coming up a little later this year. Word out of the UDP is that the little runt with plenty ambition ...

This week there was some thought given to acknowledging Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega as the premiere hypocrite of the week. He certainly was in the running, after a news appearance in which he was proudly presiding over two palapa huts and a bathroom on Goff’s Caye, and was patting himself on the back for that miniscule achievement in two years. Vega is certainly better known for all the land he has taken away from poor Belizeans, simply out of political malice. And he is certainly well known for all the land which has been acquired by connected UDPs under his tenure – to say nothing of the hustling in the ministry. But at the last minute the little runt minister from Collet beat out his northern colleague for the grand prize. See, Minister Faber was on the radio this week at the official inauguration of the ITVET facility at the Old Technical compound (coincidentally a project which was envisioned, formulated, negotiated and brought to fruition under the PUP). According to Faber, he and the rogue UDP bunch we call government will never stop a project just because it was brought to life under the PUP. According to Patsy, once it is a good thing, he and the UDP don’t care if a project was started under the PUP – they will continue on the same path. What a crock. Patrick should have been struck down by a righteous bolt of lightning. This is the very same Patrick Faber who stood up in the House of Representatives and proudly boasted that he and his UDP have fired single mothers and the elderly for no other reason but that they were supporters of the PUP. This is the very same Patrick Faber who without a thought fired a school warden who had consistently exhibited exemplary performance, simply because she was a supporter of the People’s United Party. The very same Patrick Faber shamed that dedicated school warden when she went to find out why she was fired, since she was the breadwinner of her home with four children going to college. The very same Patrick Faber refused to budge despite the pleas of the mother; despite the fight the mother and her husband put up to protect her job; a fight which eventually led to the death of Charles Good. In fact, Patrick Faber was ...

By: Joe Coye I am extremely disappointed in the dismissal of the malicious prosecution case against Alfred Shackron and I have been strongly advised by my lawyer to appeal. But this case must not be taken in isolation. It must be placed in the proper context of what I strongly believe to be a concerted and sustained smear campaign driven at first by a vindictive hatred and then by an insatiable greed to destroy me and consequently my family not just politically and financially  but certainly character-wise.  This debased and vile campaign has its origin in the pre-election campaign by my political opponent who then described me on radio as his enemy. The facts and circumstances underlie my firm conviction. First it was the FIRE BOMBING of the ministerial vehicle immediately in front of my home in the wee hours of the morning while my family and I were asleep. The lives of my entire family were at great risk. That was a cowardly act and the product of a vile mind that was prepared to win at any cost. Next it was a flyer with a picture of my son’s home suggesting his house was financed by corrupt funds. Then it was a memo purportedly coming out of the lands department attached to a flyer saying that fifty-seven lots were sold to me for a total of $4,000. How absurd. And then in the euphoria of their post-election victory rally the now Minister of National Security, apparently inebriated by more than the exuberance of the victory, shouted words to the effect that he would jail me. This was followed by the post-elections attacks. First, it was the placing of cautions in February 2008 on the fifty-seven lots in the University Heights project for unknown reasons. The title holders were penalized clearly with the intent to smear me. After ten months of frustrating attempts the cautions were lifted. Then just two weeks later the cautions were placed again repeating the same frustrations until the cautions were finally lifted in January 2009. But that was not to be the end of that. On January 14th, 2009 a civil suit was filed against me and Mr. Florencio Marin alleging that we colluded to sell government lots measuring 90ft.x 60ft. for $4,000 that should have been sold for $20,572.44. Again, how absurd.  These were undeveloped swamp lots with no electricity, no piped water, no roads or streets, not even ...

The Zip Rider canoe paddled by Jerry Rhaburn, Efrain Cruz and Felix Cruz and sponsored by Cruise Solutions won the 2010 annual Ruta Maya River Challenge race, outsprinting 6x Ruta Maya champs the Belize Bank team of Daniel Cruz, Erwin Cruz and Amado Lopez, clocking 18:41:07 to win first prize overall in the grueling 4- day race, also capturing the coveted Kinich Ahau (jade head) trophy. The Belize Bank team clocked 18:42:34 to finish in 2nd place. The Caribbean Pride canoe paddled by Chris Guydis of Burrell Boom and Jermaine Sanchez and Justin Sanchez from Flowers Bank and sponsored by Citrus Products of Belize Limited clocked 18:54:454 to finish in 3rd place. The Reagan International canoe paddled by Nolberto Seguro, Jeremy Sanchez and Sheldon Seguro clocked 19:04:15 for 4th place. The N.I.C.H. team: Oscar Cardona, Jimmy Valdez and Manuel Rodriguez paddled their canoe into 5th place 19:30:07. The Coast Guard Redemption team placed 6th, Cool Step was 7th, “Is it worth it” was 8th; “Just Do It’ was 9th and the Belize Coast Guard Cutter was 10th. The Cobb’s Arm Happy Cow Cheese canoe finished 11th, just ahead of the “No Limit Soldiers” who won the Mixed division in 12th place overall, clocking 20:33:00. The “Lost & Found” team: Janise Leslie, Eldon and Derwin Sanchez won 2nd in the Mixed division as they paddled their canoe into 13th place overall, in 20:34:59. The Print Belize Canoe paddled by Evelio Flores, Javier Guardado and Rudolph Gentle returned as champions of the Pleasure division, clocking 20:43:49 to finish 15th overall. The Police “Crimefighters” canoe paddled by Neri Waight, Alfonso Guerra and Jerome Ingram won 2nd in the Pleasure division, clocking 21:01:23 to place 16th overall. The “Born to Rule” team clocked 21:55:18 to win 3rd prize in the Mixed division, finishing 26th overall. Mike and Johnny Searle and new teammate Robert Quilter from Manatee paddled their “Junkunu” canoe to win the Master’s Division, clocking 21:08:59 to finish 19th overall. Their perennial rivals, the “Grumpy Old Men”: Jerry Wilken, Francis Codd and Stanley Bailey placed 2nd in the Masters’ Division, clocking 22:21:27 to finish 30th overall. The St Francis Xavier canoe paddled by 13-year-old Alfred Lopez, Sergio Lopez and Byron Cruz won by a nose against the 1st all-girl canoe “Peacemakers” clocking 21:16:44 to finish in 21st position and win 1st in ...

Would the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance please say what new taxes will be announced in his budget presentation on Monday, and would he also say if he considers it fair to impose new taxes on poor Belizeans when times are already the hardest they have ever been? Would the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance please say if he will fire his ex-wife’s law firm and allow the Solicitor-General’s office to do its job, since he acknowledged that the Government is broke? Would the Minister of National Security please say just what the hell is going on in the streets, and if people should just stop looking to him for answers since he obviously does not have a clue on how to fight crime?  Would the Minister of National Security care to comment on the situation down south, where six heavily armed police officers harassed a villager because he dared to disagree with UDP area representative Juan Coy? Would the Minister be willing to say if Coy has been granted special powers to order police to do his bidding? Would the Minister of Agriculture confirm or deny reports that he and his son are part owners of Eco-Green, the xate harvesting company which was granted a lucrative contract by government? And would the Minister further confirm or deny reports that a company he owns is providing construction materials under the Venezuela grant project?