The area rep for Queen Square then delved into the issue of Raul Rocha, the Mexican investor and co-owner of Miss Universe, who was recently charged with drug, gun, and fuel trafficking offences.
He highlighted what he calls a lack of oversight that allowed Rocha to claim a leading role in the development of what his Legacy Group called the "Port of Dangriga."
That led Haylock to conclude that GOB is running Belize like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
Godwin Haylock, Area Rep., Queen Square
"Mr Raul Rocha has been able to enter Belize's eco-system as a strategic investor and position himself at the major port in Dangriga, dubbed the Dangriga Deep Water Port project. Belizeans, ask yourselves this, why would any responsible government knowingly engage with an individual who is being sought by the Mexican authorities? Why would a government, being aware of the investigation, the allegations, the arrest warrant, still proceed to welcome this man in our ecosystem? The answer is simple. The government is so hungry for new foreign investment that no due diligence is being done. Nothing turned up from the FIU, nothing turned up from Special Branch, nothing suspicious turned up from anywhere. And that's because this government does not care who you are, they only care how tall your pocket is."
"We now have our PM last year taking pictures with no other than Mr Raul Rocha. This is a national embarrassment. This government reminds me a lot of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a movie of choice where once you possess the golden ticket, that is in this case the financial capital to invest in Belize? Nothing else matters. Then all Belizeans are left singing, oompah loompah doompa-dee-do."
"The government needs to come clean on Mr Raul Rocha's involvement in the Belize Dangriga Deep Water Port."
We reiterate that Southern Deep Port has stated that they have no current business or investment partnership with Rocha's Legacy Holding Group. But they did concede that Southern Deep Port Development quote, "had discussions with Legacy Holdings based on their stated interest in investment opportunities in Belize."
And Legacy must have been encouraged by this road - a remarkable 5 miles of paved concrete that runs from Dangriga to the Port - and reports say it cost a million a mile. We'll be digging for answers on that in the days to come.
