Last week, we told you about Diani Chan the plant seller who had her importation issues sorted when the Prime Minister made a call directly to a Forestry officer on her behalf.
And while back then that was all just speculation tonight, by his own admission, we now know it to be fact.
Still, there are unanswered questions about why this perceived 'special treatment' was granted to Ms. Chan and whether her problems at the border are down to ignorance or defiance. Our next story takes a closer look at the Prime Minister's answer to the question of Diani Chan as we examine what the entrepreneur is really getting away with and the effect this special permission could have on the country of Belize.
It was a long and revealing response from Prime Minister John Briceno on Saturday as he explained direct ministerial level intervention on behalf of a plant importer.
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Minister Mai called the minister responsible, the people at the Customs Department to ask them to please process that permit, or that order, or else if it stays on the other side, it is going to spoil. They're going to die."
And at this moment the Prime Minister admits that he did call.
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"So again, I had to call and ask, and it was done, everything and nothing happened. This time around now, I was in the middle of a meeting, and Mr. Mai called me again, very frustrated. He said the same person is having the very same problem and said that now, BAHA had approved. And they have approved, and that everything was in place. I think he even said that Forestry has approved a permit for them to bring in these [plants]."
Our sources say no such permit from Forestry exists - which explains their enforcement action - but the PM personally interceded to set it aside - and was miffed by a rude reaction:
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"And now that there's a staff member from the forestry department that was attempting to take away these plants. I was in the middle of a meeting. I briefly called. I know the mother-in-law. So, I called her to see if I can speak to the officer in charge. The officer in charge was very rude in the way he behaved. He said only his boss can call him. And I said that I am asking you as Prime Minister to please allow them to come in, and then, we can deal with the facts afterwards since it was already here."
Allow them to come in and deal with the facts afterwards" - not exactly key words of good governance - especially when there are at least 4 species of plants listed by CITES as endangered.
But on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Jose Mai backed up his Prime Minister telling LOVE TV that CITES regulations are not quite on the books.
Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"When she got to the border there seemed to be some kind of controversy with BAHA and forestry. Forestry was saying that they needed to give a import permit and then my BAHA technical group was saying minister BAHA is the only competent authority that can authorize this. Forestry has said that we are signatories to CITES which are multi-lateral conventions for the protection of endangered species, animal and plant and so on. But these are CITES, but they are not yet laws as a matter a fact that CITES bill is still in at the committee stage."
"Those CITES then have to be converted into a law that authorizes the ministry to issue permits or to confiscate or to destroy. Now that is still in comittee and committee stage, so you cannot act before the law is passed. So that was where the technical people from BAHA and forestry were having a problem and you know how public servants operate. so we were trying to solve this problem, right, and public servants are there to serve man, but they just lock up the thing, lock up the plants, they had been in the sun for 2 days, its a 100 degrees out there."
And while he says BAHA is the only competent authority - there seems to be a bureaucratic turf war with forestry which claims it is the authority.
Chan and her colleagues in the industry attended the same familiarization meetings and was fully apprised of the fact that both BAHA and forestry have roles to play in legal plant importation.
Lili Sosa, Owner, My Tropical Blossom
"For you to get a permit you need to go through forestry, you need your list with the scientific name to facilitate them also the process and they go over your list and they will classify if this is CITES you cannot bring them in. If it is invasive, you cannot bring them in. So they are not telling you that you cannot bring plants they are just telling you which plants you cannot bring into our country."
"It is the forestry department that gives you the green light that has the final say when it comes to importing plants, in fact, you must go with them first and they take your list to BAHA office and your list has to coincide with what Forestry has and BAHA has both documents and then BAHA charges the fee for importing the plants and with those two papers then you can go to, to do your import."
But that's a set of regulations that Minister Mai doesn't seem to be apprised of. In fact both he and the PM seem to have brushed the CITES issue under the rug when discussing this issue.
Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"Well, I don't know what were the details, there were some plants that forestry thought needed a permit for CITES but again forestry yet does not have that law enacted so it caused a little conflict and if you want to confiscate these plants, and the person and you don't have a law, the person could take you to court and then you are exposed so we were just trying to balance this thing. The Prime Minister had to get involved to try to solve the problem."
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"In this instance, I simply got involved, because Mr Mai was trying to get it done, and could not reSolve [it]. And I called. Yes, I called."
And with the admission, the question that must be asked is whether or not Chan received special treatment?
Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"I think that more than one individual would have been treated the same way. It's not a special interest I mean the young lady is not even my constituent, I just know that she is an entrepreneur trying to make a little money and we have to support whoever is doing business but it has to be done the right way."
And while Mai says that the Prime Minister seemed to insinuate that things are far from right at the border. Here he caps of Saturday's interview response with allegations of insubordination
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"That person was very rude and set down the phone on me. I am certain he would not dare do that to Dean Barrow back then. But, he did it, and I'm going to speak with the Minister about that."
And he even makes a generalized statement and the inference is clearly there that public officers are in the business of accepting bribes.
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Members of our government drag their feet. And there are some instances - and I'm not suggesting that this is one of them, but there are instances that they drag their feet because they want to be compensated for the work that the Belizean citizens are already paying them. So, I will be speaking with the Minister. So, I will be speaking with the Minister. I'm not shying away from that. We keep it like that, no follow-up question."
But the PM did shy away from a follow up question - and there are many questions still lingering about this importation.
And oversights on importations where CITES species are concerned could be very serious indeed. That's because incurring the wrath of the other CITES signatories could leave Belize's precious exports blacklisted. That would mean that products like rosewood, conch and even lobster would be unable to be sold on the international market.
