7 News Belize

BRN Resident Calling Castro To Court
posted (February 26, 2014)

At the top of the newscast we told you about the writ of mandamus that the PUP has gotten a hearing for. That one is against Cayo Northeast Representative Elvin Penner.  But now there is another action filed, and this one is against Minister of State Edmund Castro. Trevor Vernon, who lives in Belize Rural North today filed an application for declaratory relief, asking the court to rule that Castro violated his oath of office.  

He explained it to us today:

Trevor Vernon - Applied For Declaratory Relief Against Hon. Edmond Castro
"This action is to seeking to get the court to confirm and to issue a declaration on whether Mr. Castro - Minister Castro - as the Minister in charge of the Belize Airport Authority, abused his office for personal gain. If we just sit back and let this fly, it's going to create a dangerous precedent. We would want the judge to acknowledge, and in his declaratory relief statement, acknowledge that the Minister did violate his oath of office. I think that the time has come that we need to - I as a voter out here in Belize Rural North - I am very offended by the fact that Ministers can just use Airport Authority, or whichever of these statutory boards, as their personal slush funds, paying his political workers. And we intend to also share this with the OAS when they bring in their team in April and have them take a look at it because they're going to be bringing in a team base on the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption that we signed. We're going to have them take a look at this to see if it violates the spirit and the word of that convention."

Jules Vasquez
"I saw Arthur Saldivar signed on your - I will inevitably ask."

Trevor Vernon
"I am on his committee. Are you being instrumentalized by him? Are you being used by him to run political interference against his opponent? I offered; I wanted to do this. I sat on a committee, it was called a style committee that drafted the Inter-American Convention against Corruption. So, I was submersed in this whole subject matter."

The application was filed by Bradley and Company – but no date on any hearing has been announced as it has to go through the registry.

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