And while the unions continue to dominate the news, today politics was making news that would have been a headline on any other day. Last week, the media broke the news about an ugly land scandal. It involved the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources, Gaspar Vega and his son Andre Vega. Andre Vega was given title for a piece of land near the Haulover Bridge - land which was already owned by someone else. The Ministry was warned about this - but the title was still issued to a Vega's right hand man, Hilmar Alamilla for a pittance, $2,500 dollars. He sold it to Andre Vega for fifteen thousand, who was then entitled to compensation at market value because the government had given him title to land which was already owned. That compensation was valued at four hundred thousand dollars, and though there is a very long queue of persons waiting for compensation - Vega got pushed right to the top, where he got one hundred grand up front and fifty thousand every month. He got his last payment at the end of March, meaning that he had made a profit of over two thousand percent, thanks to taxpayer dollars.
The enormity of the scandal couldn't be denied and after roughly brushing off the press last week Thursday, by Friday the Prime Minister had to dig into the depths of the ugly scandal. After discussions with Vega over the weekend - the PM held a press conference this afternoon to say Vega had resigned from Cabinet. It is the lowest point for the Barrow Administration, which is going through its second scandal induced cabinet shakeup in just a few months. And for the former Deputy Prime Minster to go out on such a low, the PM was clearly beleaguered.
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"I accepted the resignation of the Hon. Gaspar Vega from the cabinet of Belize - his resignation as a minister of government. I must make clear that Gaspar said to me that he would never knowingly have signed titles to land that didn't belong to government. He made clear that he recognizes that in all the circumstances, especially given that his son became the "owner" of one of the two parcels and was paid compensation after the facts were discovered in terms of the titles having issued in error. In all the circumstances his position naturally became untenable. He is certainly not prepared to put himself and his family through the ringer. As of now Gaspar is not resigning from the House of Representatives and will, it appears for the foreseeable future continue to represent his people in Orange Walk North."
"I am extremely saddened by what has happened. Gaspar Vega certainly was with me as my deputy from the time we first won in 2008 and before that he was one of the fieriest battlers and most effective leaders of the United Democratic Party."
"In addition to all that, he was and remains my personal friend. He is one of the most warm-hearted, caring, genuine individuals that I have had the good fortune to come across."
Email
Print