This afternoon into early evening, chaos erupted at the corner of St. Thomas Street and Freetown Road. That's where the PUP have erected a billboard which says "PUP hire - UDP fire." But the City Council says that the sign is on municipal property and the PUP never got permission to do it. So the UDP City Council today went to take down the sign. But the PUP called the police to stop the city council workers. Sr. Superintendent Chester Williams stopped them and at about 4:00 - a very calm PUP Secretary General Henry Usher said he was right to do so.
Henry Usher, PUP Secretary General
"Their position is that they have to give permission to put up a sign anywhere in the city and they must be paid for that sign but I've asked
Mark King over and over where is the law to say that, where is the authority to say? There is no section under the City Council Act which says we have to pay them to put up a political sign on public property."
Jules Vasquez,
So now you all had a confrontation with Mark King's workers. You all came here and they were already taking down the sign, which is tethering as we speak.
Henry Usher,
"It wasn't really a confrontation. We came to explain our position. Mark King was out of control as usual and he was out here saying that he was going to take down the sign no matter what. The police came out here to inform him he had no authority to take the down sign and he left."
Jules Vasquez,
And he will return...
Henry Usher,
"Well in his words Jules, he says he is going to get his boys and come back here."
And as predicted, about 40 minutes after that the City Council was back -and this time led by Mayor Zenaida Moya along with councilors Mark King and Dean Samuels were with them. What followed was a rugged and heated showdown - between the police, the UDP and the PUP - all going on at the height and heat of the city's evening traffic in one of the busiest intersections. It was defused only 30 minutes ago - so we have for you mostly unedited images of that chaos. Here it is and, bear with us, we haven't had a chance to properly edit it all together.
[Footage of Confrontation]
Zenaida Moya, Mayor of Belize City
"Due to the total disrespect of the People's United Party. The City Council Act states in chapter 26 that there can be absolutely no obstruction, no kind of permanent or temporary placement of any any thing on public property
on reserved land. Here it specifically states any person who is not authorized by the council or by law, erects anything on Belize City Council property, here is our reserved land, they are guilty of an offense and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 and to a further some equal to the cost incurred for removing that encroachment.
Now the People's United Party, and I believe it has to be them, went ahead and placed this sign on our reserved City Council property. They got no permission, they didn't give us any request, they didn't send us any request, so we within our legal jurisdiction, we are out here to ensure that it goes down. 13,000 people elected myself and my councilors to run this city. They elected me as head to ensure that I head whatever happens in this city and have the assistance of ten councilors. We were elected March 1st 2006 and they have totally gone ahead and disrespected us by going against the duly legislated Belize City Council Act.
Was there any elegant way when they totally went there and disrespected the Act, the Act you know. We are talking about something legal here, disrespected
the Act where people took time to write. Is there any elegant way that they did that? No, they just went ahead and they just did what they felt they had to do."
Jules Vasquez,
Now the second in charge of the Police Department is here and is saying that you all cannot take down the sign.
Zenaida Moya,
"Well listen to me, we have seen what they have done recently with that case when it comes to...what's his name...now we will not get into that one right not but we have seen how they do not respect the law. Now if the law is good for any man or woman on the street, it is darn well good for the People's United Party and Mr. Williams, needs to respect the law. He has that post because he is to ensure that the laws are enforced and that includes the Belize City Council Act."
[Footage of Chainsaw Being Turned On In Front of Sign]
Sr. Supt. Chester Williams, Deputy Commander - Eastern Division
"I am not here to protect the government establishment, I am not here to ignore the Mayor's authority. I am here to ensure that law and order is uphold. If the Mayor is saying the sign was erected illegally, then two wrongs do not make a right. I had explained to the UDP and the Mayor that the proper procedure to do, since they are saying the sign was erected illegally, is to take the PUP to court and let the court issue an order to have the sign legally removed from where it is. And it is something it seems they don't want to adhere to.
Earlier on they said that the PUP owes
for spot. From the mere fact that they owe, it is simply saying that authority has been given. So then if authority was given and they are not paying, then the proper thing to do is take them to court and let the court issue an order to have the sign removed. Once the court issues an order, we will be more than happy to have our officers accompany them to have the sign removed from the location.
But if they want to charge at the police officers with a chain saw, then the police officers will know what is the next thing to do. The person saw the gun with the police and still made an attempt at the police with the chainsaw. The police pointed the gun at him, which is quite in order."
Jules Vasquez,
How do you diffuse this situation without having an escalation?
Sr. Supt. Chester Williams,
"We're trying to see how best it can be diffused without any sort of arguments over a sign. I don't know why there is such a big issue over a sign because at the end of the day a sign doesn't vote. Mr. Peyrefitte and Mr. Henry Usher were discussing earlier, trying to see how they could diffuse the matter, but apparently the UDP are so aggressive. I must say that earlier I was insulted by Mark King and he will be arrested and charged for insulting me because I will not be out here to allow anyone to insult me in anyway shape, form, or fashion."
[Confrontation Between Maya Zenaida Moya & Vaughn Gill]
Zenaida Moya,
"The same way they will disrespect any and everybody, you understand. That is what is happening in this and I hope the human rights people are seeing. I will ensure that all the international people know what is happening, that this duly elected local government, this Mayor, this Council, is being obstructed from doing their job and as a matter of fact, the police just beat up one of our City Council workers, Easy Glenn, for doing his job. And the Act duly states that anybody who obstructs a City Council worker from doing his or her job commits an offense. So that in the Act and we will make sure that the whole world sees it."
Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney
"Where this particular sign is erected, clearly it has to be erected with the permission of the City Council. The City Council gave no such permission for it to be erected on the property which the City Council has jurisdiction
over. And the City Council has asked the erecters of the sign to remove the sign and the erecters of the sign refused to remove the sign and that is what is causing it."
Jules Vasquez,
You've been in a dialogue with the erecters of the sign throughout, have we reached a compromise?
Michael Peyrefitte,
"Well Jules when it got to the point where it clearly became volatile, I didn't think it was a good idea for it to continue in that vein. I've been trying to talk to Secretary General of the PUP and we're not getting anywhere in the discussion because he insists that there was some tacit agreement between the parties to not interfere with each other's signage. My party is denying there was ever such agreement, whether tacit or explicit so we are at an impasse and we're trying to just not let it get violence and out of control but in the meantime hopefully we can come to some peaceful resolution before the evening is out because they are saying leave the sign up and they'll apply to the court. We know that once we do that, then its not going to be solved tomorrow, that's for sure, through that particular process. We are trying to reach an agreement so it doesn't get violent."
Jules Vasquez,
However it is difficult to diffuse all the tension and animosity out here. Are you all being baited into a situation where the PUP has been saying the UDP is the party of violence, PUP is the party of peace?
Michael Peyrefitte,
"I think so and I realize that and that is why I stopped to try and bring some calm to the situation of all the people. I stopped to try and give some calm to the situation. I think it is totally unnecessary but I do believe though that if the PUP did not get permission to erect the sign, then they should not have erected the sign and having acknowledged that they are wrong to erect the sign, then they should remove the sign."
Jules Vasquez,
But Mike you're a lawyer, there is procedure; you write a letter, you record it, and you move along incrementally. You don't just come and rip down a sign.
Michael Peyrefitte,
"There is also procedure; you apply, you wait for permission to put up the sign, and then you put up the sign. You don't just put up the sign."
And the last scene unfolded this evening after 6:00 pm as the UDP's Mike Peyrefitte tells us that the PUP agreed to take down the sign. You can see the video here of them carting it off.
