7 News Belize

Public Officers A No-Show, Senate Inquiry Gets Late Start
posted (February 1, 2017)

Last week, in our coverage of the Senate Hearings on Immigration, we told you that the Senate was to call Immigration Officers Gordon Wade, Ady Pacheco and Edgar Cano to testify today. Well, they did try, but Ady Pacheco and Edgar Cano were no-show’s.

Cano was the officer in charge of the Belize Western Border Station for the Immigration Department during the audit period. Gordon Wade, according to Directors Maria Marin and Ruth Meighan, was in charge of the Nationality and Permanent Residency Sections.

Ady Pacheco’s name also kept showing up in the Citizen Kim Scandal, alongside Gordon Wade, and both are named dozens of times in the Auditor General’s Report.

So, they both have a lot to explain, but today Pacheco did not show up due to what was explained as “health reasonsâ€￾. Cano was unable to present himself, because his attorney, Richard “Dickieâ€￾ Bradley, was unavailable for today. It caused the Senators to wait for 2 hours and 15 minutes, with uncertainty that any of the witnesses would show up at all today.

The Chairman had to explain to the press what was causing the delay:

Hon. Aldo Salazar, Chairman - Senate Select Committee
"We will have a delay of about an hour because of the witnesses, well two of the witnesses are unable to attend today's hearing and the third one is on his way, so we should start a little after 11. He was scheduled for 1 PM and that's why he's not here, so we have asked him to come as soon as possible and he's expecting to be here a little after 11. We had asked Ms. Ady Pacheco to attend, she's unable to attend for health reasons and we had asked as well Mr. Edgar Cano to attend. He's represented by council who is unable to attend today's hearing but will be here on the next hearing on the 8th. To Mr. Wade's attorney earlier today, they said they were going to be here a little after 11, they were not here, I tried to communicate with him but I never got through to him until just now he's returned my call and he'll be here in 3 minutes according to him, so we'll start then."

Daniel Ortiz
"What would be going through the Senator's minds for any witness to consecutively decline or offer some reason as to why they can't be at the senate inquiry or can't present themselves before you all and that you are sufficiently satisfied that they are obfuscating?"

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"In terms of Ms. Pacheco we do have a medical certificate and we take that for its value, she is incapable of coming from medical reason. I think that what would operate in our mind would be if there's a continuous refusal or a reason that is not satisfactory to us. If there is a habitual non-attendance for reasons which we find unsatisfactory then we would feel that the person is refusing or doesn't want to come before us for whatever reason; At that point I don't want to speak for the entire committee, for that point we would then consider what our powers are in order to compel that person to attend."

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