Since Friday of last week, Denny Grijalva has gone from a relatively obscure northern politician to a household name. He's the owner of De-Mar's Stone Company – and after a long and, (can we say?), "stony" silence, he issued a statement today. Grijalva says he was out of the country – and addressed the matter as he returned today. His statement says, quote.
"as the Managing Director of De' Mar's Stone Company - it is my duty and indeed my obligation to inform the public…of the sequence of events leading to this unfortunate incident."
The statement explains that quote,
"De' Mar's was recently contracted to undertake the construction and rehabilitation of roads in Douglas Village also in the Orange Walk district. My understanding is that a first site for the excavation of material was identified by the company Foreman. The Chairman of Douglas Village was reportedly not satisfied with the quality of the material and as such he obtained permission from a landowner to extract material from his property from which material has been excavated for well over a decade."
The statement the goes unto say, quote:
"De' Mar's excavation on the site began at around 8:00 am on Thursday, May 9 and continued up to 5:00 pm that day. Operations resumed the following day when at around 10:30 am persons identifying themselves as officials from NICH…appeared on the site…(and) instructed the company Foreman to halt operations."
We can vouch that the last part never happened; 7news and CTV-3 were the only ones there on Friday was there and after receiving threats a machete wielding truck driver, the trucks left the area, unfilled.
The release continues:
"I was contacted by the Foreman seeking further orders, I instructed the Foreman to immediately cease all operations and to shut down all the equipment…Recognizing that the buck stops at my desk, I share the public's concern and indeed condemnation at the unfolding of this very unfortunate incident….I am committed to fully cooperate with the authorities in their investigation into this regrettable incident."
So, there it is an acceptance of blame by Grijalva and his company. It is notable because it says only that he was contracted to do road works in Douglas Village also in the Orange Walk district – but does not disclose who gave him the contract. It is apparently a public contract – since Government is the agency that fixes roads and Douglas is in the constituency of Deputy Prime Minister, Gaspar Vega. Vega issued a statement yesterday, though, saying that he quote
"emphatically repudiates the allegation and or perception that he was involved in any way with the destruction of the Noh Mul."
So that's one very grey area, and another is that the landowner is alleged to have given permission for the excavation. Additionally the statement says that De-Mar's only excavated for a single day – but that the site had been under excavation for, quote, "over a decade."
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