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FUEL PRICES CLOSE TO $9 A GALLON IN BELIZE, BUTANE CONVERSIONS WORKING WELL.

Truck with BUTANE FUEL TANK to run the engine.

GASOLINE FUEL PRICES GONE UP AGAIN, REACHING NEARLY $9 BZ A GALLON, OR $4.50 USA

The sudden quick rise in fuel prices for vehicles is playing havoc again with food cost inflation and I passed this truck with a BUTANE CONVERSION this afternoon outside of Western Hardware. With this big a tank, presumably he could go all the way to Chetumal and back on the Northern border? BUTANE as fuel for vehicles reduces costs about a 1/3. You can find a couple of articles we wrote a month or so ago, on this blog earlier down the list about Belizeans in Western Belize converting to BUTANE, versus gasoline.

BLISTERING ATTACK ON CARICOM, to get Caricom leaders to put up, or shut up!

BLISTERING ATTACK ON CARICOM ORGANIZATION BY EASTERN CARIBBEAN WRITERS

Caribbean countries are tired of the hoopla and propoganda from Caricom Leaders. It is all smoke and mirrors they write. Writers quoted on Caribbean Net News are calling for REAL ACTION to intergrate CARICOM, or break the system up after over 47 years of baloney.
One of the calls for action, is for internal airline transportation. CARICOM AIRLINES venture that was put on a, more or less permanent hold, by the AUXILLOU TOURIST GROUP of Belize earlier this year, after a feasability study costing $100,000 usa in private venture funds. Ray Auxillou, Chairman of the joint venture, said they lost interest for lack of interest by their own Belize Government, or any Caricom country government, for that matter.
"We were looking for $25 million USA of start up capital, for about a 20% share in the new companies", said Mr. Auxillou. "Failing that, we were not interested, because it is a risky start up and impossible to even consider otherwise, even though we got plenty of LOAN interest from banking organizations. Loans are not the way to go in some sort of private sector CARICOM AIRLINES internal transportation system, in our view. Would we try it again? Given the CARICOM countries, buying a combined stake with $25 usa million for 20% of the shares, we would reconsider. Otherwise forget it! We don't even know if the initial aircraft we planned to buy is even available anymore? I imagine it is in Denmark now, or someplace in Europe. We had it here for the AIRCRAFT FLY IN, back in the Spring, at Central Farm Airstrip in Belize. To show the First Secretary of Venezuela's Embassy, to do with an offer they requested for ALBA BANK. The guy never even showed up."

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM TV IN BELIZE

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE TV NEWS IN BELIZE


Another shootout, to do with contraband goods for a Northern border village. I think the customs and police and the CABINET are going about this all wrong. There is a road along the border river that is convenient for Belize border villages on the Mexican side. Anybody who has run the gauntlet of Mexican and Belize border crossings at the official Chetumal bridge would think the so-called contrabandistas are smart. They are doing things for their convenience. It is the duty of the Government of Belize and Customs and Immigration to establish a small outpost concrete building where these villagers are crossing over to Mexico to shop, if they want to collect taxes. People are not supposed to arrange their shopping trips to the convenience of the government by detouring to the main Northern highway Chetumal bridge crossing. The government are supposed to arrange tax collection points that are convenient for the citizens. If you have to have a border concrete post at the river in Douglas, or San Victor or down South in the remote Toledo District, up in those remote high mountain Toledo foothills, then it is our responsibility as a government to provide same, or leave these villagers alone to get on with their lives.

Bureaucrats and politicians all think the same. They think that we taxpayer citizens are there to satisfy their rules, but that is not so. We pay for them to provide government services to us in a convenient and pleasant manner. Obviously there are not enough border crossing immigration and customs posts for both Guatemala and Mexico border lines. Fix it you UDP CABINET, that is what you were elected to do.


Generally speaking overall, the UDP have failed so far as a government. There are some successes, but far outweighed by the mistakes, either in lack of departmental services, or incomprehension, or pure incompetent leadership. 44% report card score overall for this UDP government at the 18 month mark.


The Medical Department is getting a shakeup due to some deaths in Corozal and Punta Gorda, but things in our government bureaucracies and CABINET LEADERSHIP, or lack thereof, is more serious than that. There are too many poorly functioning government departments for this to be an accident. The UDP need to start shuffling CABINET POSTS, or getting rid of those Cabinet Ministers who are incompetent. The job of the CABINET members is to see the bureaucracy runs smoothly and gives service to the public. Too much is pure craziness and laziness and plain non – functioning. No wonder the UDP management score card is only 44% and going downward. Face it PM BARROW, the government problems have gotten away from you. A lot of your colleagues are incompetent. FIX IT MON, that’s what you get paid for! Government departments should give smooth, pleasant and prompt ( timely manner ) public service to us taxpayer voters. In the case of your elected party representatives, delegating authority like you have done and standing back while everything goes to hell in a hand basket is not working as a Prime Ministerial policy. Ultimately you are the Captain of the ship, or Pilot in command of the airplane, or in this case of the Government of Belize. The responsibility is yours and yours alone!


The MONEY GRAM so called LAUNDERING OPERATION was interesting to read about it. I can’t see why anybody would operate a SPORTS BOOK IN COSTA RICA and then mail the money to Belize. What happens to the money? You cannot easily get foreign exchange in Belize and surely getting money transferred from Costa Rica to Belize is counter productive if it is in Belize funny money? Unless you plan to spend the money here, which would be productive and good business for Belize. The Sports Book in Costa Rica I can understand ,because it is the USA that has the laws against their own citizens, not wanting them to gamble in foreign countries, only inside the USA. Sort of like Cuba and Castro brothers not wanting their Cuban citizens to do private business as in capitalists. More power to COSTA RICA here, for providing the service to international customers. Up to that point I would think everything is legal? At least in the International Arena. If CUBA wants to cry about their citizens doing private business, or the USA want their citizens only to gamble within the USA, that has no business with other international countries. That’s legitimate business.


The new USA Ambassador to Belize is going to be an Indian / American. Now think about that for a bit. When I heard that, I kind of wondered if he was Sioux, or Cheyenne, Apache, Kiowa, or something? My wife is a CHIBCHA royalty from Bogota originally. Turns out this new USA Ambassador is a University friend of OBAMA and big donor ( $100,000 ) to the OBAMA campaign for president and Belize is his reward. Apparently he is a NATURALIZED US CITIZEN during the hippie era, from the mainland India country in Asia to the USA. Different kind of Indians over there. Remember the port of Belize City WEDDING when the Indian Merchant from mainland India down in the port had a wedding with white horse, and rose petals on the street, to ride over to the rented Government House for the wedding, and all that Maharaja stuff from the movies? His bride was an arranged marriage and all that cultural stuff at the wedding when she arrived. Great stuff! Local people loved the story. You think OBAMA could use a leetle bit of the TRILLIONS being given away to corrupt thieves on Wall Street, to rent a couple of Mexican circus elephants, make some costumes and have the USA Ambassador ride elephants to the Prime Minister’s official office in Belmopan , to present his USA credentials, while carrying the US flag? Good publicity and what a cultural scene and mix for tourism in Belize. Invite all the US TV networks to film it. Mon o’ mon, what an opportunity to get news coverage for poor little Belize. Belize Tourist Board are you listening? Get to work mon! Don’t miss an advertising publicity stunt like this. Cheap at any cost. Have the US Indian/American Ambassador wear a Turban and Maharaja costume, with attendants, ride an elephant, musical band, waving USA and Belize flags, etc. WOW!!! Get the local Indian community to provide the costumes and stuff. The USA TV networks will love it and worth MILLIONS OF ADVERTISING DOLLARS for Belize. This is USA foreign aid to Belize, without them spending a government penny. Invite OPRAH. Should be easy to phone the new Ambassador guy and get his cooperation, even OBAMA should go along with showing the cultural diversity of the USA, after his latest international big push on USA Muslims, supposedly outnumbering the Muslim population of Dubai. This is a WIN WIN situation for some good cultural pageantry organizers. Heck, if the Queen of England can do this stuff in the Commowealth countries, then OBAMA can do it for the USA. He can make his USA diverse population proud this way. Something new and unique.

BELIZE HAS NO NATION WIDE INTERNET SERVICE - 2009 -

BELIZE STILL HAS NO NATIONAL INTERNET SERVICE COUNTRY WIDE, SINCE THE LAST TIME THIS UDP GOVERNMENT WERE IN OFFICE!

We are a small country, but still after 20 years of trying, by both political party governments, we still have no national internet service in Belize our country. All the internet providers, still cater only to population density hotspots. Mostly district capitals. We did receive an international fiber optic cable but that belongs to only one internet provider and is restricted to use for population density hotspots, where DSL can be offered. There was an alleged upgrade from copper wire telephone lines, to cell type telephone radio service, some years ago, but that turned out to be a cheaper way of doing things, for less capital investment and much higher profits when the telephone system turned from copper wire, monthly fixed rates, to by the minute pre-paid type, radio transmission cell phone calls. Much more profitable for those telecommunications providers, who had less capital investment, less maintenance, smaller overheads and very much higher profits. It is not unusual for the main internet provider to suck out $30 to $60 million a year in clear profits. ( That is another political lack story of itself! ) In a population of 300,000 of which 80% are under 15 years of age. Most of which telecommunications profits are not even re-invested in the country for development, but taken offshore to invest in other countries. Most rural district people are using satellite systems, if they can afford and arrange it, but the USA satellite provider only allows those in the continental USA and the use of satellite systems within the country of Belize is more of a bootleg operation. If you are not an upper middle class person and do not have relatives in the USA and a USA credit card, then the use of satellite is not an option. Nowadays, software and business operations have become so bandwidth intensive, satellite users in Belize with serious business intentions cannot even use the satellite systems, because while the download speeds and bandwidth are good enough for emails and text messages, the upload bandwidth limitations eliminate any serious business requiring internet within Belize for the international arena. One photograph can bog down a satellite system for 5 or 10 minutes. Imagine those businesses in Belize trying to work with hundreds of photographs or data programs by the second ? Investment firms are stymied, due to the requirement of rapid contact via internet systems. Farmers and producers are also stymied in the rural areas, because they cannot expand their businesses, or even start new ones, as without good telecommunications trying to communicate and find information, or give it to international customers is such a dreary mind boggling fight, most just give up, or restrict themselves to business things that do not require fast telecommunications. The government itself cannot even provide reliable telephone service to the capital of Belmopan bureaucracies and citizens. It is faster to take a horse and wagon to the capital and deal with a government bureaucrat, over the counter, than trying to telephone. That kind of system is not development conducive. The country of Belize is suffering development growth, from lack of a decent telecommunications provider.
Since this problem has existed from since the last time the UDP ( our current government ) was in office, ( 15 years ago ) you would kind of think a political solution would have been found, or bids offered for a foreign investor to supply national internet DSL and telephone service here in Belize by now. Alas! Even though this is the second time around for the UDP government of the day, with a 10 year hiatus of the PUP government in between; they our current government leadership are no further along today in solving the problem of supplying telecommunications to the whole nation of Belize. In fact, it does not even seem to be on their UDP CABINET priority lists? No mention is mentioned of the development problem, and if you do not debate the issue in Cabinet, then you cannot either find a solution.
Sad to say, while there are difficulties, the biggest one is lack of political leadership by both mainstream political parties during their time in government. We seem to be plagued with elected officials who are driven by self enrichment schemes, rather than elected officials who want to develop our nation. As in any generalizations, there are the odd exception to the rule. In the meantime, Belizeans in the districts with a yen to be entrepreneurs and businessmen who wish to expand, are simply ground down by lack of telecommunications service. Politicians and bureaucrats get salaries, and work nine to five with perks of all kinds, what do they care about the private sector public, except when tax revenue receipts fall off endangering their bureaucratic fiefdoms. There is a reason for low GDP percentages, high national debt to GDP ratios and the factual resemblance to a sleepy tropical African style country. Most of the problem is pure political, or lack of political work. This is an opinion article piece.

BELIZENEWS.COM

BELIZENEWS.COM has a lot of links to the various news sources in Belize available online over the internet, from streaming video, newspapers, blogs, chat rooms, radio shows, most of it live and current.

Scattered Tuesday morning thoughts about Belize

Scarlet Macaw a famous nearly extinct bird of Belize


SCATTERED THOUGHTS THIS TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 17TH

This old man wakes up early and laying in my hammock before daylight comes, one has the chance to ponder different things. Being an old man and garrulous, here they are. I’m wondering how that road is, to Jalacte, Toledo and to Santa Cruz, Guatemala? My old maps do not show it and I’m wondering if a two wheel drive can get into Santa Cruz that way? We’d like to go back to the Rio Dulce in a few months. Swimming in a fresh water lake ( Lago Isabel ) was so nice, compared to swimming in salt water off Caye Caulker. The trip through Melchor on the border via Flores is about 5 or 6 hours. The two legs of the triangle in the Peten add a good few hours to the trip. If we could travel the Southern Highway and get to the Rio Dulce that way, it would save at least three hours of driving.
Saying that, if there is a new development idea that is worth pursuing for our government of Belize, priority wise for our government, it is completing the road to Guatemala that way. 18 wheeler freight trucks doing trade and commerce, between Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala with Belize would save a good three hours of driving if they could go this way. That is a lot of time and fuel. I would then put a weigh station on the Southern Highway and charge trucks for using the highway, in order to pay for the maintenance. That said, you could even make it a TOLL ROAD for private traffic too. Is there any kind of boat traffic to Livingston from Punta Gorda I wonder these days? A mini van collectivo I know runs from Livingston up to Rio Dulce. It only takes a little longer to get to the Rio Dulce than it does to get to Caye Caulker, from here in Santa Elena Town. Anybody driven to Santa Cruz on the Guatemalan side?
I read in the weekend newspapers that the BDF hijacked some local villager, from Jalacte, of 5 cases of Gallo beer and five cases of soft drinks. What a stupid thing to do? When the government is ready to put in an immigration and customs post on the frontier here, THEN you charge duty. In the meantime, let local border villages get their supplies from across the frontier, rather than the very long trip to Punta Gorda town. It seemed the local area representative used common sense, but the event was distorted in the weekend newspapers out of all proportion and practicalities. Local villagers have to shop where it is convenient. One has to doubt that putting in a customs officer here would pay his salary on those cases the BDF hijacked. The area representative showed common sense by chastising the BDF. The port town BLACK controlled newspapers, blew the thing way up, into some sort of criminal activity. What a bunch of nonsense.
It does seem that during the remaining years of the UDP this term, they could almost reach the goal of putting the nation of Belize on a self sustainable footing for development WITHOUT foreign loan borrowing for the future. The potential seems there, during their last two years of this five year term. One could presume that if they took much of the infra-structure projects planned for this year and spread them over NEXT year as well, the mid term year, that might ease any pain in the economy for what seems to be a difficult year in 2010-11. That said, with careful management, one could see the last two years of the UDP term ALMOST reaching the goal of financial self sufficiency. With a little bit of help from LADY LUCK, the UDP would then get a second term and continuing strict financial management and the normal growth in the economy, around 10%, that would put the country over the hump so to speak. We are teetering on the edge of SELF SUFFICIENCY financially, as a nation right now. It all depends on the political management. This current budget just presented, has so many possibilities and gives HOPE. That finally somebody is trying to do the right thing by Belize. It is possible even by the 2012 last year for this UDP term, that we may have passed the threshold of financial self sustainability as a nation. It all depends on good management by the politicians. If we hadn’t had that trickle down economics three years national debt by Musa/Fonseca and the PUP, we would be there already. I really look forward to seeing some legislation, ruling how we spend money in this country. Setting limits on incoming politicians. Even with the $100 million a year of interest on Fonseca’s/Musa Super Bond, we could and should be able to absorb that in the following 5 year term, if it was the UDP re-elected based on sound fiscal management principals, instead of all this off the cuff, emotional, knee jerk reaction stuff, we have experienced since Independence.
We had expected by rule of thumb, that government total revenue would be $760 million, but the new budget projections are for $717 million. A good $40 million less than expectations. I personally feel as a gut reasoning projection, that the economy in it’s current down phase cycle, will start up again during 2011. This means if we can cut government costs down to more tighter austere conservative projections for this year and next year, we should come out of any economic difficulties, smelling like roses for 2011 and 2012, the last two years of the UDP term. Barrow has been quoted as hoping for an oil price surge, to increase government oil revenues. That is a double edged sword, as that would also increase inflation and cost of living. His current estimates are based on an average $50 a barrel. Probably fair enough as a guess, but I would have based projections on $40 a barrel for oil. I like to underestimate incomes, not overestimate them. Building in a safety factor and surplus surprise cash flow, if you get it. Barrow as Finance Minister is going to have to fight for nickels and dimes over the next two years if his party is going to be successful. I’ve just about wrung out the numbers on the budget. He is saying they took their time, got consultations and technical expertise and the figures confirm what he says. That is gratifying. To make it work during his term in office, he is going to have to keep the screw on austerity though. He will have to get good value for the dollar spent. He also needs more GRANT aided projects, not loans. They’ve done well in the GRANT field anyway this past year, and congratulations are probably in order, but we need to increase the GRANT aided projects for the next two years at a minimum. This is just my personal opinion of course. Politicians have other criteria to ponder.
The battle between the Robber Barons and the PUC controls goes on. We have been getting a lot of electric outages the past few days. My electricity bill, I finally got it down from $138 a month last month, to $103 a month yesterday. I fail to understand why I am paying more for electricity? My bill used to be $78 per month and nothing has changed. Indeed, we go around turning off lights and have eliminated the burglar light in the back yard. Still my electricity bill keeps climbing. I just do not understand it?
I wish the PUC would nationalize the building and fiber optic entry into Belize and make it easier for competitive telecommunications to flower in our country. How many years has it been that BTL in one form or another has been promising us good cell phone service and internet service and we still cannot get either in Santa Elena Town. At least a decade and a half of bull manure propaganda.
The local San Ignacio internet café we use has dropped his monthly fee from $100 to $50, as new competition in Santa Elena Town is effecting the downtown internet café business. The new Santa Elena Town cafe this past week were offering a month for $55. I had to laugh at that. The wonders of competition! I offered our regular internet café we use, $40 a month each and would pay for the three of us in advance. He hemmed and hawed about that and is going to sleep on it. The only way we can cut our internet costs is to shorten our time in the internet café. We pay by the hour.
I don’t understand the visitor statistics on this blog newsletter. One version gives us about 1,210,000 hits since inception 6 months ago. I can’t believe those numbers and haven’t really been able to install a COUNTER on this blog. I think I can stick advertising logos on the left hand side of my page. I may have to sell some monthly adds between $50 to $100 each depending on size. Haven’t got that far yet. We were trying to model after the San Pedro Daily as a format. Really haven’t been able to get a setup, or pre-planned format pattern I can use, that is off the shelf for it though. Notice that the Rocky Mountain Newspaper has gone bankrupt with a whole bunch of USA newspapers. Even the Miami Herald is up for sale. Printed newspapers are going out of style in the USA. Dozens of big city newspapers are going bankrupt. The media world is changing.
Have a married couple coming down next month to research Belize with the intent of moving out of the USA to Belize. They want to rent for two weeks to a month while they look around. The USA is managed worse than Belize it looks like? If the UDP manage to convert our nation, to one of self sufficiency financially, Belize is going to have to become more restrictive on who they let migrate here.
On the local political scene, the Belmopan town council elections show the VIP coming into position to jockey for replacement of the PUP into the OPPOSITION party. I didn’t get to read what the program was for the Belmopan election for the UDP who actually won that Town Board election, but I did read in the newspapers someplace, the VIP program for Belmopan and thought it was an impressive platform. They showed well in the election. If they can morph into a National Party, they would be a credible opposition. I think the Toledo PNP should merge with the VIP and became one of them for the next National Elections. The VIP would then become the replacement of the PUP. Which the PUP would then become an independent minority third party spoiler in the elections.
The PUP actually has cost the nation of Belize about a lost fifteen years of development. This may turn out to be twenty years in the end, lost from where we as a country could be development wise. It was that darned Fonseca / Musa trickle down BORROWING program that did it, accompanied by the FREE FOR ALL outright blatent theft, corruption, sweetheart deals and scandals. If the VIP can replace the PUP at the National Elections level, or compete with them, the VIP should sometime during the next four years, should there be a bunch of graft, theft and corruption scandals within the UDP now in power, they stand a good chance as the VIP, of becoming the next government nationally on the rebound effect. Even if they only got some Opposition seats, the VIP would be in good position to capitalize on that, the following national election. Should the UDP have financial scandals then the VIP would be a default party to elect, if they could get their national aspirations and party machinery in order. It remains to be seen how the UDP perform the balance of this term and whether the VIP can organize their party on a national level. They need to absorb the other competition.

TWIN TOWNS ELECTIONS - 2009, Belize

Town Councillor of the TWIN TOWNS, Western Belize town board


CAMPAIGNING FOR TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TWIN TOWNS OUT WEST IS HOT AND HEAVY.

Latest gossip I got from a Santa Cruz resident, was that we are being cheated over in our side of the Macal River of the twin towns. I was told and I don’t know if this is true, or not? But I was told that the San Ignacio Town side of the river has 11 weed eater machine workers cleaning street sides and 4 trucks to pick up trash and garbage. While on the Santa Elena Town side of the Macal River only 3 weed eater machine workers are assigned and 1 trash truck. I do know that we go a month sometimes and even longer before our garbage is picked up quite often. I had put that down to insufficient funds. They tell me in the suburbs of Santa Cruz nobody is doing anything from the Town Council, because they have no voice on the Town Board. I’m not sure about this, but it is my information that a Santa Cruz resident is running as an Independent, Alfonso Cruz Jr. for the Twin Towns board.
That we get some attention in Hillview, is due to my articles about Hillview. Hillview and Santa Cruz are like two suburbs that are growing rapidly and probably have more houses than the center of old San Ignacio Town of by gone days, some 30 years ago. They are up in the hills from the Western Highway and all these houses out here are not observable when a person normally drives past on the Western Highway through Santa Elena Town. The other day I was over in the KON TIKI area. There are a lot of bad streets and many, many houses out there as well. Hundreds of them! Totally neglected by the TOWN BOARD. I hope the KON TIKI people have a resident running for the Town Board as well. The party doesn’t matter.
Interesting story about the current TOWN BOARD UDP Council, that are running. The word I got, and have to admit I don’t really know the truth. But the current slate of candidates running for re-election as incumbents in the UDP Council, never got appointed by a UDP Convention out here in the West. I’m told there was no UDP CONVENTION and no DEMOCRACY in the process, just an acceptance and appointment by the UDP party leader DEAN BARROW.
Today, the PUP campaigners came by, and actually gave me an expensive flyer in color, for their slate of PUP candidates. In the news somewhere, the PUP make an allegation asking the existing incumbent UDP Town Council where $5 million dollars they received for something or other disappeared too? They claim there is no UDP TOWN BOARD accountability and transparency. What I did get from the PUP campaign flyer was the probability that the PUP will raise PROPERTY TAXES.
There is a move afoot by the UDP to install the new Building Permit ACT laws created by the PUP in the previous National Administration and generally speaking I am against that, as it means a monopoly by Belize City architects on the whole darned country, as the rules get expanded, requiring people to shell a couple thousand dollars out for useless plans. It is just a money making gimmick and racket for those in the process to squeeze people for more money in various ways. After seeing this work in the USA, I don’t think our country of Belize is going to be better for this Building Permit system.
I understand there is a method of social welfare used by previous Town Boards and this TOWN BOARD we now have; to help the aged and others who want $20 for food and other reasons. I’m against that system of political patronage and paternalism. If we want something like a social welfare system for citizens, then it should be formalized in an accountable process and put through some INDEPENDENT CHARITY like the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army are professionals and could and should disburse vouchers and stuff for social assistance. They do in Canada and the USA. You need to take the social welfare out of the hands of the Town Council members. What is missing in this social welfare business, of hand outs for the needy, is that if you have an INDEPENDENT NGO doing it, a Charitable Organization, you can by soliciting abroad, get the whole shebang of funds COVERED by FOREIGN AID in the form of GRANTS. What is hurting Town Boards practicing paternalism political hand outs, is that it eats into Council funds longer term and eats up the SUBVENTION money. While the TOWN BOARD could establish a slush fund for social requests administered by say the SALVATION ARMY, this money would eventually be recovered by FOREIGN GRANTS if done right.
When the campaigning started I was pretty much satisfied with the UDP Council we now have, but since then, I’m going to VOTE for YOLA FLORES a Hillview neighbor running for the TOWN BOARD on the PUP ticket. Not interested really in the party affiliation, just that HILLVIEW my community, has a voice on the next TOWN BOARD, if possible. We don’t have one now and get slighted a lot on our side of the river. If Alfonso Cruz Jr., is running as an INDEPENDENT and is going to speak for SANTA CRUZ, then probably I would vote for him? We need some muscle in TOWN BOARD meetings. That leaves two of the UDP candidates that will lose votes from this side of the river. Which ones I don’t know yet?
Far as I understand from UDP party people, the current UDP TOWN BOARD slate are illegal by UDP rules, as they never went through a PARTY picking CONVENTION. Other UDP would be contenders are really angry about this meddling, by the National UDP party and Mr. Barrow. They felt, if you are going to be DEMOCRATIC, then a CONVENTION should have picked the slate of candidates. There should have been some competition. I hope I’m not being misinformed here?
Everybody running, is in it for the money apparently? Think the Mayor gets around $4000 a month, don’t know what councilors get? This is before a stick of work is done on cleaning, or repairing streets. Past councilors on the TWIN TOWN BOARDS claim there is a lot of opportunity for SKIMMING and nepotism. Kind of an interesting campaign though. First time I and my wife are really going to vote in this one, in this geographical location.

Lonely Planet Forum on Belize and TROTTERS GUIDEBOOK in Dutch

entry for LONELY PLANET FORUM


WESTERN BELIZE RECREATIONAL AREA tourism OPENED with a BANG! ( October 7th, 2008 )
We got a phone call from 3 Flemish Tourists, doing a reverse direction GRINGO TRAIL tour yesterday and picked them up downtown for an overnight at our FALCONVIEW BACKPACKERS ADVENTURE HOSTEL. They were enroute to Placentia and via Punta Gorda, and soon this week back to Guatemala; where they were working in a remote Mountain village Hospital. We sort of get the odd tourist backpacker in our off season at our HOSTEL for travelers. They found us through TROTTERS GUIDEBOOK in DUTCH. They were Veerle, a 26 year old nurse, Steven the 31 year old boyfriend working at the remote mountainous hospital in the village of Yalanhuitz, and his sister Kristel age 35 years, visiting for a month from Belgium. Normally September, October and November, are our dead off season for tourists, though in November we do pick up the odd one passing through. Our FALCONVIEW BACKPACKERS ADVENTURE HOSTEL, is usually going through re-painting and repairs at this time. I had just told my wife yesterday morning, that I expected we would start to get a trickle of GRINGO TRAIL travelers this month. Lo and behold, a few hours later we got three. Their story is interesting. They come from Antwerp and hooked up with a long term volunteer organization www.vivirenamor.be running a village hospital serving many remote high Guatemalan villages. Apparently they had just finished an 8 month stint of volunteering and were seeing the surrounding Central American countries. The job paid their air flights from Belgium and they lived in a small wooden shack in the village, with a bedroom big enough for the bed, but no toilet available. Steven worked as the hospital administrator and Veerle worked as the nurse. The villages in the mountainous area are mostly Lan Chuj Maya indians and Q'anjobal Mayan indians. The Maya have 22 distinct different languages through the old Mayan Empire. The oldest Mayan temple can be found in San Salvador around 7000 years old. A lot older than any Egyptian pyramids. In Belize, our temple pyramids go back about 4000 years.
On my trip to our twin town market this morning, I noticed a string of tourist backpackers on the street in the central bus and restaurant area of our twin towns of Santa Elena Town and San Ignacio Town, and in the local TOUR OPERATORS offices, saw them fairly full of tourists, going out on daily local tours and site trips. I stopped by my friend BOB the Englishman, at PACZ TOURS and asked him about the off season and mentioned the tourists around, in what should still be our OFF DEAD season. He said, it picked up a day ago and they are coming in like crazy from all over. I sort of wasn't expecting this to happen for another month. Nice though for business! Guess I will have to miss my own vacation? The OCTOBER flood we experienced from a torrential TROPICAL STORM # 16, has now gone down, in the Macal and Mopan Rivers around Western Belize Cayo District. Cold weather has been around for two weeks and maybe it is a lot colder in North America and in Europe?
We have a news blog, maintained this year, a few times weekly, with photographs and news of the "Western Belize Recreational Area" of the CAYO DISTRICT of Belize. If you are interested try: http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com

Ray Auxillou
Hillviewhacienda

Cheap airfares to Belize from the USA FALL off season

USA - BELIZE ROUND TRIP AIRFARES FROM AND TO DESTINATIONS IN THE USA FOR OFF SEASON - OCT 30TH, 2008

Cincinnati, OH $234 RT Includes all taxes (American)
Seattle, WA $380 RT Includes all taxes (Continental)
Dallas, TX $246 RT Includes all taxes (Delta)
Houston IAH, TX $306 RT Includes all taxes (Delta)
Newark, NJ $351 RT Nonstop flights, Includes all taxes (Continental)
Chicago O'Hare, IL $458 RT Includes all taxes (Delta, US Airways)
Atlanta, GA $223 RT Includes all taxes (Delta)
Boston, MA $380 RT Includes all taxes (Delta, US Airways)
Orlando, FL $366 RT Includes all taxes (Delta, US Airways)
Washington National, DC $340 RT Includes all taxes (Continental)
Washington Dulles, DC $346 RT Includes all taxes (Continental, Delta, US Airways)
Philadelphia, PA $326 RT Includes all taxes (Delta, US Airways)
Charlotte, NC $338 RT Includes all taxes (Delta)
Detroit, MI $349 RT Includes all taxes (Continental)
Denver, CO $360 RT Includes all taxes (Continental)
Tampa, FL $366 RT Includes all taxes (Delta, US Airways)
Salt Lake City, UT $245 RT Includes all taxes (American)
St Louis, MO $249 RT Includes all taxes (Delta)
Cleveland, OH $355 RT Includes all taxes (US Airways)

Hillview resident, young Terrance!

This is Terrance re-painting the inside of our hostel/hotel. This being the FALL off season, we are renovating for next Xmas tourist season. Terrance was 17 years old when he came to first work with us about six months ago. He only works off and on when he feels like it, or we find work for him. He has turned 18 years now and is an honest and handsome young bachelor. I've been teaching him to use power tools, general carpentry and he even taught himself to carve Mayan wooden plaques. Like any teenager, he is exploring life, his world and trying different things. He quit school a long time ago, so he has to learn to do vocational work to make his life. Terrance lives about two blocks away from our hostel/hotel on the slope of Green Parrot Valley, in Hillview suburb of Santa Elena Town in the Western Belize Recreational Area. He has even learned how to plant vegetables.

http://folkmusicfl.tripod.com/adventuresinbelize/
http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com
Falconview Hostel NEWS SERVICE

Falconview Hostel NEWS SERVICE on Western Belize

PM BARROW OF BELIZE SUBMITS TO EUROPEAN INTIMIDATION!

BELIZE, SUGAR AND BANANA INDUSTRY HELD HOSTAGE BY EUROPEANS!

By Ray Auxillou, Sept, 3^rd, 2008

It is now official ! Channel 7 News television contacted the Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Barrow and on questioning about the Economic Partnership Agreement, being forced down the throats of the small CARICOM countries, the Prime Minister was quoted to say by Channel 7 TV News; that he will be signing the EPA required by the European Union and mailing in the signature of Belize to the agreement contract, on September 10^th in Barbados. He will not be personally embarrassed to our equivalent of the Versailles Treaty of World War 1.

There has been considerable uproar around the Caribbean, because of the extortionist intimidation tactics used by the European Union against small Caribbean CARICOM countries. The small countries don’t export much to Europe, but in the case of Belize; sugar and bananas are the chief bulk agriculture export commodities. In our case in Belize, there is interest in Asia for both our products, but in the case of the bananas, the shipping lines that are geared up to do this once or twice a month, as cooled reefer cargo, for an otherwise fast ripening product, only run to European ports. There is no alternative transportation system and buyer, to currently export bananas to ASIA, particularly Japan, or say Canada. Sugar is a different story and there is probably shipping and buyers for sugar in ASIA, as sugar is not a perishable product, but current contracts are between British buyers, re-processors and packaging companies for re-export in the UK and the Commonwealth by the UK. Nobody local has tried to seek a market in ASIA. Our entrepreneur base is still too small for our population size. The shareholders also are not so inclined either of our sugar factory. Belizeans have been backward and lazy in this regard of seeking wider marketing and value added products, so we get taken advantage of, by Europeans. We have nobody but ourselves to blame. Small is no excuse!

These two major export earners for Belize left the UDP government in a bind. On the one hand, it is a bullying extortionist tactic done by the EU, as the debate so far in the Eastern Caribbean claims that the desired EU effect is to open wide our local markets for duty free EU exports of hundreds of thousands of value added products to our local market. The government will lose tax revenues which is going to hurt badly. Competition from other sources, such as Brazil, Mexico, our neighbors like Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala for similar exports to Belize, will now be undercut in the pricing of EU value added, manufactured products coming in duty free.

The situation was one of a damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation, the European Union put the small countries of CARICOM into. Preferably there should be no EPA at all between friends. This is an act of economic war between a slave master and slaves. The whip, or threat was that the European Union in the case of Belize would ruin our banana business and sugar exporting business, as explained by our Prime Minister, if we do not OPEN our local markets to DUTY FREE EU exports of all kinds. We will not forget this, nor forgive, for the EU is now our enemy by their own actions. We did not need the EPA, their casual big brother friendship and goodwill mattered to us more. The EU bureaucrats that designed this EPA have done a disservice to the EU relationship with the Caribbean.

With the recent loss of the Papaya industry to Hurricane damage, the loss of Williamson Industries a big employer of sewing factory jobs for re-export of manufactured goods and the collapse of the world shrimp prices due to world overproduction and our local investments in the shrimp pond export industry, we are fast losing our traditional revenue tax base in Belize. This UDP policy decision enslaves Belizeans for about ten years in the first instance if I have read the arguments debated over in the Eastern Caribbean correctly? Much of what we import today, comes from the USA, and our four immediate neighbors. Things were looking up for wider imports and exports in recent years to other countries, particularly ASIAN countries. I don’t think we Belizeans should forget, or forgive, the European Union and as soon as - tit for tat - can be done, I think we should hurt them back. Can’t stand a bully, or extortionist criminals. Most of the so-called EU preferential trade is pure lies anyway, as the European Union favors their local growers in Europe with SUBSIDIES to assist them against our exports. Either way, the UDP government decided on making this policy decision, we were going to take a whipping and further enslavement. The thing now is; to figure a way around the situation and continue increasing our own light manufacturing value added products and exports to make us stronger in Belize, DESPITE the EU slave master economic colonial relationship now formed. The only choice is to find alternate buyers for our agriculture exports. We have gone from being an associated colony of the UK to an economic slave colony of the EU. Where is our vaunted desire for Independence?

Western Belize Happenings ( the Jaguar photo )

The Jaguar photo is of a jaguar that can jump over an eight foot fence and eat your chickens on a jungle farm. I know from experience. This particular jaguar is in the tiny Belize Zoo, made up of animals that have been orphaned or injured and nursed back to health. Usually when I pick up people at the International Airport from an incoming flight, coming out to the Western Belize Recreational Area and staying at Falconview Adventure Hostel on the slope of Green Parrot Valley, a suburb of Santa Elena Town; I always stop on the way home out West at the Belize Zoo which is on the way and worth the lost travel time, to see native Belizean animals. This Small BELIZE ZOO has been featured in many magazines and television documentaries. Well worth a visit.