And we also asked Barrow for his views on the contracts that have been awarded to GEL Quarry by the Belize City Council. As you recall, documents we have accessed show Councillor Edmund Kwan as a director at GEL Quarry Company Limited. While he claims that he sold off his shares last year, he gave no date, and any contract awarded between then and when Kwan was first elected in 2021 would be a related party contract - an indicator of some level of corruption.
You will also recall that 7News has requested, under the Freedom of Information Act, to view all contracts awarded to GEL Quarry since March 2021. While we have not been given access to it as yet, today Barrow gave his thoughts on the matter.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"I think it's a conflict of interest, it is a violation of the constitution, it is not something unfamiliar in regards to this Belize City Council because Mayor Wagner, we accused him of doing it with his lending institution in which notices were going around the City Council on City Council letterhead promoting the services of the mayor which again violates the constitution so any act of enrichment by City Council members should be rejected and I call on them to discontinue that practice and to be transparent, to let us see all of the contracts. I saw on the news when the mayor was asked by one of those esteemed journalist, I believe it was you Mr Vasquez, can you say that you will not participate in related party contracts."
"He said, no I can't. Again this is not what the Belizean people voted for. Corruption was one of the primary voting issues from that 2018 elections all the way through to 2020 and it is disturbing and disappointing to see the PUP just abandoning their anti corruption good governance platform which they passed a motion in the house, I believe it was one of their first motions. So what we need is an oversight body outside of the opposition where when we have these things, they can be examined and they can be rectified, people can be sanctioned, but we don't have that because we don't have an ombudsman office, not being financed, I believe the last one they fired him and OJ Elrington sued them. So again, if the government is serious about accountability, serious about making sure that we eliminate endemic corruption, we need to strengthen these oversight bodies that can go in there and get to the bottom of who is getting a million dollar contract."
