Leader of the Opposition Accuses Government of Corruption in Definitive Agreement

On the heels of talking on the motion of no-confidence, LOO Barrow spoke on corruption, and claimed that the Definitive Agreement is a classic example of corruption.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition: “It’s important to understand what corruption means. Corruption is a multi-trillion dollar business. Nations lose trillions of dollars when public officials, elected officials, engage in corruption. So it leads to poverty and it leads to a lower quality of life for the citizens of a country in which corruption is rampant because the resources that should be going to the people, they don’t. And in the case of Portico, had that agreement gone through, the Belizean taxpayers, the Belizean citizens would have lost massively at the gain of corporate special interests which is the epitome of corruption. When you look at you see that there’s a pattern in the Briceno administration of corruption, immigration. None other than the Minister of Immigration himself admitted to all of you, to the nation, that they had immigration corruption crisis with, I think he said, thousands of Haitians coming to Belize, Haitian nationals, and trying to make their way to North America and they cannot do that without the facilitation of his ministry and that means corruption. We all know for a fact that his Minister of State was moved. No one wants to say why. They said that he was moved because they needed his expertise and his capacity in another ministry while the Ministry of Immigration as we know from the minister himself is suffering from an immigration crisis. And it continued, continued with us having to breach the Treaty of Chaguaramas, our CARICOM obligations. We saw the other day there was a gentleman that is wanted, a fugitive wanted in the United States and he came here and he says that he was extorted by immigration officials.”

Barrow went even further by using the in-fights at the Punta Gorda Town Council as an example of how corruption is being tolerated and carried out under the Briceno administration.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition: “On the municipal level where the PUP councilors in Punta Gorda have accused their mayor of misappropriation at worst and financial mismanagement at best. Well these are accusations that came forth. The prime minister and the minister of local government dismissed the allegations from the PUP councilors, the sitting PUP councilors and said, oh you know  that’s politics and when the bugle blows all will be well. But the councilors persisted and wrote another letter and shared it with the public to say that our concerns have still not been addressed.”

As it relates to the PG Town Council, Love News has been reliably informed that none of the current elected members will be allowed to run in the next municipal election.