Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, Prime Minister John Briceno is, in a sense, trying to dismantle the political atomic bomb called Oscar Mira, which means he's moving very carefully to deal with an explosive and expanding scandal of private businesses feeding at the public trough.
While many in his party - made anxious by the recent revelations - would have hoped for quick and decisive action to stanch the bleeding - when Jules Vasquez caught the PM today in the village of San Roman Rio Hondo - he proposed a more circumspect strategy - like an audit:
Jules Vasquez "You are apprised of the Oscar Mira situation: What do you plan to do? And what do you think of what has been exposed so far?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, the first thing is that, today I am speaking with the Financial Secretary, for him to to ask the Auditor General to, to go and to do an audit into that period in question and to to ensure that one, that there has value for money. Secondly, that, not the procurement process was, was followed, properly and then to, to get a report."
"I don't want to prejudice the report. So I'm hoping then that we could be able to get that report on based on the report then we can act."
Jules Vasquez "From a political perspective, though, the PUP is hemorrhaging because this is seen as a family enterprise eating off the government. That's the public perception. Will you will you attend to it from any political perspective? Do you think that maybe Mr Mira has to be moved from that ministry, or put on suspension."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, Mr Mira is not in that Ministry, Mr Mira is Minister of police."
Jules Vasquez "Yes, yes that's right. From the Ministry of Home Affairs."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "So, it is, this is before I can say mek we take a look at the report. And then I think I'd be in a better position to decide what would be the next step."
And while the PM seems to be buying time with Mira's tenure at the Ministry of Defence, he's not wasting any time at RECONDEV. That's the Reconstruction and Development Corporation, which is chaired by Oscar Mira's brother, Brian. It's responsible for land management, and infrastructure planning of the capital city, Belmopan. Channel 7 News has received credible reports alleging predatory land grabbing practices and insider trading at RECONDEV.
And it seems the PM has been hearing stuff too because he says, he's ordered the installation of a new Board of Directors:
Jules Vasquez "Are you concerned about the extent of the family enterprise and the signal this may send about well if he di do that and he da just wah second term, what are others doing? That it creates a public perception that, My God, PUP really di eat!"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "It's certainly not it's not good for us. And it certainly puts me in a very uncomfortable, position. But, without really get the into defending anybody on any issue. What what I've been informed is that the Mira's have been in this business and doing business with the BDF from as far back as 2005. So even during the UDP days, they were also selling to the BDF, maybe not to this extent, I don't know. But it certainly leaves a lot for you to be able to be able to question and to look at. "
Jules Vasquez "But there are other pressure points…"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "If you, if you were to… No, I'm just saying just allows for the process to. I don't want to prejudice anything and just just give it a break."
Jules Vasquez "But the entirety of the picture includes FAST construction. It includes Recondev, itincludes, FT Williams. I'm saying that there appears to be an entire network that is feeding at the trough of public funds."
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"But one of the things that I did mention to, to the cabinet secretary is that, I will also ask to appoint a new board at RECONDEV, so that we can, to remove any semblance of of any kind of issues of whether, you know, supposedly, as you, you allege that the Miras are, controlling there at RECONDEV."
Jules Vasquez "Well, his brother is the Chairman."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Yes. So we we will change. I said, I told the Cabinet Secretary that we will go through the process of appointing a new one."
A new board at RECONDEV but also - what they call a teachable moment for Oscar Mira. As we've often noted, he invited this avalanche of revelations when he brought a cyberbullying complaint against prominent UDP Alberto August.
The PM supported his use of the cyberbullying laws two weeks ago - but today he struck a very different tone: he said Mira has opened himself to a costly and painful experience:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I have spoken to the minister and to tell them that you know, he is a public figure like myself and many of us. And as such you can't expect everybody to love you all the time, you know? And there will be some people that they are looking forward to for you to stumble, for you to make a mistake, despite the fact, all the good work that you have done, you know? For instance, like me in Orange Walk Central, you know I think I've done a lot of work but I make one mistake and you will hear somebody will call me and say oh you didn't do so and so. And so, but we have to able to learn to accept public criticism and my advice to any aspiring politician is if you want to be able to be a public servant, if you want to serve the people, stay away from social media. If you listen to social media you will go crazy. So, I am on social media but I don't go on social media, that's a big difference."
Jules Vasquez "But, would he have been wise from the outset to follow the sage counsel of a veteran politician like you, because he brought this on himself by provoking the cyberbullying with Alberto August, that's really at the end of the day that's what tipped it."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We can't undo what has happened, it's for him to be able to learn from his very very very costly and painful experience."
But the toxic fallout is not confined to Oscar Mira - there's a cloud of suspicion around the entire PUP about their possible involvement in what is nicely called political enterprise - and what regular folks would call wholesale hustling.
In a rare admission of error, the PM said, quote, "we will have to fix this" - even if he didn't quite explain how:
Jules Vasquez "Are you in tuned with the public perception of your government and how this might have affected it?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well of course. I have been in politics since 1993 so I think you should know better. So it is something that we have to address and I believe that we will address. And at the end of the day, the people will see also the tremendous amount of work that we continue to do."
"At the end of the day people will say you know, we're not perfect; no one is perfect. You are not perfect, you make a lot of mistakes like myself. I think that at the end of the day people will SEE through that and that we will have to correct this, we will correct it and we will make sure that we try to remain as strict as possible to continue serving the people of Belize."
And when we met with the Minister of the Public Service today we asked him for some transparency on the government payouts to Mira family members for fruits and vegetables.
We have seen more than 500 of them - all under 10,000 dollars.
We asked Henry Usher what he knows about the public officer that helped to facilitate those Smart Stream payments.
Reporter- "Sir, back to the structuring question-the structuring of payments. The public wants accountability, and thus far, all the officials that we have spoken to are not giving us that, including you saying that you do not know who the public officer or the finance officer is. What can you tell the public will be done to get to the bottom of it, considering that there is a circular against such a thing which can constitute money laundering?"
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of the Public Service "Well, I think that you are drawing conclusions that are not fair by what you just said. Number one, I said I don't know who the finance officer is. I could find out who the finance officer is. This is the first time I've been asked who the finance officer is. Number two, it is a procedure that is allowable in the public service. There has to be a threshold. When you're spending funds. It can't be that if you are going to buy a pen that you need to go through a procurement procedure to purchase a pen. So I'm just saying that let the investigations be carried out by the necessary, departments that will carry out the investigations. If an audit needs to be done in that particular, ministry, then let the audit be carried out. But I can't make a prejudgment today standing when that has not been done yet."
And moving over to the other simmering scandal, we also asked the Prime Minister about Acting Chief Forest Officer John Pinelo. As you saw on 7News two nights ago - in an extraordinary interview - he accused a business owner in the forestry sector of offering him a bribe; and the businessman fired back, accusing Pinelo of extorting him for a bribe.
The PM says he was "floored" by the revelations:
Jules Vasquez "The allegations and counter allegations between the acting Chief Forest Officer and the businessman Cesar Gudinez."
"What do you make of what you've seen or heard?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I just saw somebody sent me your interview that you did. I was, like, floored. What again, what I've done is I've asked the Cabinet Secretary to speak with the CEO of Sustainable development to be able to….I'm told that, ham, she has spoken to the acting Chief Forest Officer, he has gone on holiday and the investigation will be done. Obviously, at the end of the day, the Public Service Commission will have to deal with that matter."
Jules Vasquez "From what you have heard or seen, who do you believe?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I really can't comment on that. I really again, it's best for me to do it for me to be able to get a true report a true representation of what has taken place."
Jules Vasquez "Do you believe, but, but, you know, Mister Pinelo had spoken plainly and said that he has been fraudulent, fraudulently listed as a shareholder in this company."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Okay."
Jules Vasquez "I mean, that that would be a very serious offense."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "It is a serious offense. So again, that's what I'm saying. I think I don't know. So I don't want to comment on what I don't know."
Jules Vasquez "But at the same time, we have seen money transfers from Mr. Godinez to Mr. Pinelo. Well, I did not take a hard look at it."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "So, you know, obviously that the Public Service Commission would have to be able to address that and if there are these, transfers, then Mr Pinelo would have to answer to the Public Service Commission."
And the Minister of Public Service also held off from making any quick judgement - and deferred to an internal investigation:
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service "It is concerning. I saw it in the media and I believe that an investigation is going to commence in the Ministry of Sustainable Development very soon and I am hoping that investigation can be done very quickly and that we get a report at the Ministry of Public Service going forward. So we wait to see what that investigation will reveal and if any other steps need to be taken then those steps will be taken."
JO- "But he is listed as a shareholder for a company with a forestry interest, what do you think of that?"
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service "Well I think that the fact that it is put out there is one of the areas that is being investigated. So, I think that all of that needs to be looked at, being a shareholder in a company is not on its face, something that is illegal or in any way creates any kind of issue but because it is a company that Is in the field he is involved in, yes we have to make sure that there is no conflict of interest and it think that Is the avenue and that is the focus that this investigation will undertake."
And while he skirts around the outside, there are very concrete allegations with documentation against Pinelo. We asked Usher about those:
Jo- "He has alleged that Cesar Godinez offered him a bribe, but says he never reported it. Cesar has said he did pay him bribes and showed us a transfer. As Minister of the Public Service, who do you believe, and what are you going to do to get to the bottom of it?"
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service "I think that we have to wait for the investigation n to be carried out."
"The bribe is an issue that he will have to explain or the attempt to bribe, I think that is something he will have to explain when that investigation is carried out by the Ministry of Sustainable Development."
JO- "Do you think Pinelo should be placed on Administrative leave?"
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service "That is a decision that the ministry will have to take. They will have to make that request to the Ministry of Public Service, and then the Public Service Commission would then have to approve that he be sent on administrative leave. But normally, in a normal course when an investigation is ongoing the officer in question is put on leave."
We also pressed the Prime Minister to defend his position, since we heard he was one of the supporters of the Woodmark logging license in the Western Hardwoods. Woodmark is owned by the same Cesar Godinez.
The Chief Forest Officer at the time Wilbur Sabido opposed that project and that may have been his death knell. Here's that exchange:
Jules Vasquez "But you stood up for for John Pinelo when you when the same Godinez and Woodmark had an application that you felt Mr. Sabido was intentionally undermining - for less than optimal reasons. So it's it's your government that removed Mr. Sabido you know, gave him early retirement, I guess, put Mr. Pinelo in his place. And now we see a substantial allegation of wrongdoing against the person that your government put there, and you were a part of it, because I remember you were involved in the Woodmark issue."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I don't think we removed Mister Sabido over this issue. I think the minister felt that it was time to be able to put a new direction into the department and felt that there could be more active engagement and management."
"And so, you know, how the public service is structured, that once that person is left, the next person then would take over. Mr Pinelo has been the acting Chief Forest Officer. He has not become, he has not taken over the substantive post. So he have been acting and, obviously, now with what the accusations that are are being made against him, we have to give Mr Pinelo an opportunity to defend himself."
"And I believe that, you know at the end of the day, the CEO would send that issue down to the Public Service Commission for them to deal with."
Jules Vasquez "Have you spoken with the Minister? Did he know anything about it?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, the Minister is out of the country. I, I don't think he knew anything about it. I don't know, but, I've not spoken to him."
Of course, the entire thing has raised concerns about the integrity of official conduct at the Forestry office.
Usher offered that an investigation may determine if other concerns within the forestry department also need to be addressed.
Jo- "The entire episode has put a questionable light on things that happen internally at the Forestry Department. Does there need to be a review of other actions carried out by that department?"
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Disaster Risk Management "I think that whatever actions need to be taken, the ministry responsible needs to look at those.Tthis investigation might reveal other areas where there is a lack of control, where new controls need to be put into place and certainly those are areas we would try to assist them with when that investigation is completed."
Alberto August is still facing cyberbullying charges relating to a Facebook post he made mocking Oscar Mira.
And while the PM calls it a costly and painful lesson for Mira - police are not relating in their prosecution of a cybercrime investigation.
Today the police department went to court with an application for a search warrant of August's premises and permission to search his phone, which August has to unlock.
It was an ex-parte hearing - meaning the August was not even supposed to know about it.
In the end police asked for an adjournment but it has raised alarm bells not just for him but for the former chairman Micheal Peyrefitte as well.
Peyrefitte told us via Zoom that he believes the police are looking for more than just information relating to the cybercrime.
Michael Peyrefitte, Former Chairman, UDP "It is the most bizarre thing to do that because first of all the post was made by Alberto that hurt Mira's feelings but Alberto has never said he was not the man or the person who made the post. He said he is the person that made the post. What he is maintaining is that the post was not criminal. But so then there is no need to go and search into somebody's phone or computer or any electronic system to determine if they made the post because they're telling you that they did. So the question is why is the police department so determined to get into Alberto August's phone? We have to believe it's because they want to get into the man's business, they want to see who he's been communicating with, that has nothing to do with the case."
"The police department went to court this morning but when they got wind that persons would be there to represent Mr August and they would not be able to do it behind his back then they hurriedly asked for an adjournment to next week for the search warrant to be ordered by the court, the magistrate's court and then for permission to get into his phone. What we're saying is two things, Alberto lives in San Ignacio, why did they make the application in Belize City? Why not San Ignacio, that's extremely strange. And so that's one of the main things we want to find out and most importantly we want to find out what you want with his phone?"
"Why do they need to physically go to his house tomorrow? And that's because the police currently has 2 of his phones. There is no need for police to have his phones any at all."
"I believe that they're just trying to benefit from the fact that they have his phone, they did not notify anybody that they were making this application, they were doing it ex parte because I believe they wanted to get the permission to search the phone, search the phone, find materials that has nothing to do with this case but benefit the PUP in their minds and then just simply return it with nobody being none the wiser that they found anything in it."
And going back to our interview with the PM, we asked him about the status with 14 Customs officers at the northern and western border that the Ministry of Finance is pushing to get through.
Some of those officers have lawyered up - while others have said they are fine with being transferred.
But, it looks like government is in for a legal tangle - since their attorney is asking for a court injunction blocking the transfers. On May 29th the PM told us the transfers are going to go through. Today he didn't seem so sure:
Jules Vasquez "We know that a number of the the the customs officers at the borders, we heard they've sent government a lawyer letter saying that, you know, you haven't given us enough notice. We thought the transfers were off. We had a legitimate explain. What's your response to the fact that now they're going legal."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I've not seen the letter, so I've not seen the letter. So I can't really comment on a letter I've not seen. But it is their right if they feel that they've have been aggrieved, it is their right. But at the same time, we do believe that the finance department working directly with the Comptroller of Customs, where and, for us to be able to have a better management of, of that department that she should be allowed to make strategic changes. And that's what she was being told, she was doing. And she had informed these people way back, yes, I know that the Public Services Ministry jumped the gun and took out a circular trying to say well we need to save money, not making changes for the entire government, not only for, for customs. But from our perspective, from from the perspective of the of the Comptroller and the Deputy Controller, they felt very strongly and appealed to me that listen we really need to make changes to try to improve the work of the of the department."
"And so I spoke with the minister responsible, and he agreed. And then afterwards, the minister, the financial secretary then spoke with the CEO, with CEO Zetina from the public service ministry to say that it is urgent for us to continue that process. And then that's that's what happened."
Jules Vasquez "But you are the Prime Minister and the minister of finance is the Minister of Public Service. Did he not undermine you under court? You kneecap the Minister of Finance in its will, in its prerogative to choose the transfer customs officers?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Maybe you should ask him that question but I don't think so."
Jules Vasquez "But. So now, you know, you all really want these transfers to go through, but they are imperiled and you might end up in court."
Minister of the public service Henry Usher - whose ministry sent out the memorandum that is at the middle of this dispute -claimed - that like the PM - he hasn't seen the lawyer letter:
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service "I haven't read the letter as yet and certainly I would be able to better answer once I read that letter. But from what I saw in the media I know it has been reported that they are challenging the transfers so I could give a better answer once I see what grounds they are challenging the transfers on. As we had explained some weeks ago that the Ministry of Public sSrvice did send out that circular requesting that tours of duty be extended for one year. It was for cost saving measures but also to look at and do an analysis of the transfer system on a whole. We found that there were a number of transfers that certainly did not seem to be necessary. Transfers are supposed to be done in the best interests of both the public officers and the public servicem so there had to be justification for the transfers. A normal tour is 2 years; it can be extended one year. We were asking for an extension of one more year so that we can do that analysis. In the weeks that have transpired after that circular went out, we have been doing that analysis at the Ministry of Public Service in a number of cases we reduced the numbers and based on the justifications made by the different departments. So there will be some transfers but not as many as we had anticipated and not as many as was sent to us before and that is because the analysis had been done. And that is ongoing going forward. We want to make sure that we are able to be as effective as possible with these transfers and make sure it is done in a way as I said is in accordance with the regulations, when it comes to these particular officers challenging it, I cant answer, or have a better answer for you once I see what the grounds are."
We also asked Usher to put on his hat as party chairman and discuss the heated contest to see who will be the PUP's mayoral candidate in the city.
We asked the party chairman about whether Allan Pollard's seniority should Trump Eluide Miller's ambition:
Reporter- "In terms of politics, do you consider that Miller should be asked to step aside in the same manner that you had Pollard step aside?"
"And I know that it's the vetting committee that directed that in terms of Port Loyola but there was also something that occurred in terms of challenging the then mayor."
Henry Charles Usher, PUP Party Chairman "I think that you are trying to ask or get involved in a party and first of all we make sure that whoever wants to challenge does have an opportunity to challenge, every person who is elected, either at the national level or the municipal level can be challenged. And I'm sure, as Mr. Pollard and Mr. Miller have both said, that they are ready for this convention. So let us go to the convention. And I don't know where this question is particularly coming from, but certainly I think that the National Executive and National Campaign Committee are the ones that will set the procedures for the convention as we go forward from there."
Reporter- "So the party was not being Democratic when it asked Pollard not to challenge, who was it? Usher, Gilroy Usher?"
Henry Charles Usher, PUP Party Chairman "At that particular time Mr Pollard met with the vetting committee, and a decision was made."
And we also asked the PM about political seniority in Corozal where the three term mayor Rigo Vellos is being challenged by a political newcomer Shajari Rogers.
Briceno said they graded the municipalities - and Corozal's grade was not great:
Jules Vasquez "Speak about the role of seniority, though, because we see Rigo Vellos a senior three term mayor should he have to face a, convention challenge?"
John Briceno, Party Leader "But it is important to note is that this decision was made, it was not pressed on what we had, we had a committee, a team. And we went and we graded every municipality and based on the grades, they have a number of points that they have to get and there we felt that Rigo has been fairly successful.but we believe that it would be good to be able to have an opportunity to put some energy, some excitement into Corozal Town and we are hoping that by having this convention that we can achieve that and we have 2 very good, Rigo and Shajarie are 2 excellent choices for mayor and let the best person win. Once that is finished then it is important that we unite as a party to be able to do what is in the best interest of the people of Corozal Town."
And so while today we interviewed the Prime Minister and the Public Service Minister for a respectable 30 minutes each - yesterday - we got only 12 minutes from the embattled Oscar Mira about 3 minutes from ComPol Rosado.
And while we had many more questions for them, we were stopped by staff officer ASP Stacy Smith. She usually handles the briefings but yesterday, after receiving her medal, she stood at Mira and Rosado's side like a security guard, cutting us off with Mira and stepping in for the ComPol. Here's how that went.
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer "I think that is a good part to conclude. Remember we are here today for the medal ceremony. We are waiting the officers who received their awards are waiting for the reception and the longer you take, some of them have to travel back to..."
Courtney Menzies: "But ComPol will you grace us with your presence in an interview? I understand you promised one of reporters yesterday that you would speak to us today."
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer "You guys were long winded, maybe two questions."
Reporter: "That was literally ten minutes."
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer "That is ten long minutes, remember we have officers coming all the way from Punta Gorda that need to go back. So two questions."
Courtney Menzies: "Two questions plus a question about the event and can you talk to us about the missing persons currently..."
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer "That's two questions."
Reporter: "I defer my questions to her."
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer "No, two questions overall so one two. So questions in relation to the medal ceremony because as I said, this is a day for officers, the least amount of time someone spent in the police department out here is 18 years. I was the youngest on the parade square by the way."
Reporter: "And you looked good."
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer "But just one more question because officers are waiting for the commissioner, in relation to the ceremony."
Climate experts, and key stakeholders gathered today at the Biltmore to discuss Belize's seasonal climate outlook and emerging weather and climate trends as we move forward into hurricane season. Jomarie Lanza was at the climate outlook forum and here's her report.
It's a sweet product, but these are sour times for Belize's sugarcane industry. They limped through this year's cane crop and it draws to a close on on Sunday.
All parties agreed to this date after assessing the availability of remaining cane, current factory delivery rates, and weather forecasts for the coming week.
We asked the PM - who is also the Minister of the Sugar Industry to look back on the season:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We have just been speaking to Olivia from BSI and she was giving a quick update, just gave me a quick update. Yes. We were very optimistic at the start, but then we had some some serious issues, certainly with the burner at BSI that was giving a lot of problems. And, I think that the, that's the estimate that they made for cane I think was a bit too optimistic. But the good news is that we're closing the crop at the end of the week on Sunday because we're running out cane, we don't have enough cane to be able to keep the factory, for instance, as it is, as we speak, the factory's not working. We hope that later this afternoon work when we get more cane. But we have been producing more sugar for pretty much the same amount of cane that we had last year, which is, that means that the the quality of the sugarcane has has improved. And I'm sure the BSI will also say their sugar production has also improved for us to be able to have more sugar from more or less the same amount of cane that we had last year."
And we also asked the PM - once again - when will fuel prices go down? After all the war in Iran is over - for now at least - and world oil prices have been tumbling this week. So when will we see it at the pump? Briceno says ask Trump:
Jules Vasquez: "When can motorists expect to get some relief at the pump?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "You're asking me that. we need to ask Mr. Trump. Maybe you need to ask the refineries that are producing the fuel when they're going to bring down the price, because we could only be on the price that we get and what we've been doing, reducing the taxes considerably over time, that's the only remedy that we have, or only tool that we have to be able to try to have some measure of control of the prices at the pump."
And in other news, while many on the Southside may have thought another SOE was being activated this morning, it was actually - as the ComPol refers to it - strategic operational searches.
Several complaints came into our newsroom today about police using excessive force and abusive tactics. One man says police have been harassing him almost everyday, even locking him up during the SOE. He came to our studio today.
Robert McDonald, Harassed by Police "Every other day they come, I'm a fisherman and they just come, I'm wanted, they want to detain me so I can't move how I want, I want to go to sea to deal with my traps, can't move, can't go to sea. I'm not making any money and this is throwing me off. they said they're looking for criminals doing crime. For sure I'm not doing any crime right now so I don't know how they say they're looking for criminals. The other day they sent me to jail for the SOE, when they sent me to jail for SOE, I went to jail two weeks and change."
"This morning they ran up to the house like usual every time they come, 3, 4 truck a lot of police come, when they came in the yard, people are talking to them, they disrespect people, like oh they don't come to hurt people, you are police, you're public officers. We're supposed to watch you as people that will help us not people who will bring us down to the ground if we're not doing anything."
"I lost 5 brothers and my father"
Reporter "To gang violence?"
Robert McDonald, Harassed by Police "Yes gang violence, that's why I gave up the street life and we're at sea."
We should note that McDonald has lost 5 siblings and his father to gang violence.
Police Department Hosts Open Day for Schoolchildren
And while there were many complaints coming to our newsroom today about police excesses, there are still positive community engagements.
Today the Belize Police Department hosted an Open Day for schoolchildren to learn about the intricacies and the outreach of police work. Jaleeza Roberts attended and found out more about police work beyond the uniform and arrests:
Coast Guard Fathers Honored at Annual Luncheon
There are 150 fathers in the Coast Guard ranks, and today they were celebrated for their duality: serving and protecting on the seas, while also providing, protecting, and leading their families. The Coast Guard held its annual Father's Day luncheon today and their commander discussed its importance.
PM Went to World Cup Opener
The World Cup is on its second week and the PM is just as excited as football fans all around the world are. Having attended the opening match in Mexico City, the PM shared what it was like at Azteca stadium:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "My team has always been Brazil, second um Argentina, but um it's quite unlikely that they are going to get to the finals, so probably Spain."
Jules Vasquez "You saw a match or will you see a match? What is, what is your status? With the World Cup, you- I mean, will you be going? Many Belizeans, it's in Mexico."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Yeah. Well, I, I bought my own tickets. So FIFA did not give any tickets, so, um, I bought my own tickets.I, I went to the opening and hopefully I'll be able to see at least one more, at least one more game."
Jules Vasquez "How is the, how was the experience?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "It's exciting. Mexico is exciting to be there and, um, we managed to get good seats. Well, it helped that, that each country has, um, amount of seats allotted to sell."
"So we managed to get tickets through here, or we paid for it. They're not free. And, um, so we managed to get decent seats and, um, it was an exciting game. Um, Mexico played very well. It was their home, their home field."
"Uh, but the whole presentation, the show that they did, the renovation of Azteca with, um, I think Banda Norte, uh, name, but it will always be Azteca, um, has been amazing."
Mexico will be taking on South Korea in tonight's match.
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Tonight, Prime Minister John Briceno is, in a sense, trying to dismantle the political atomic bomb called Oscar Mira, which means he's moving very carefully to deal with an explosive and expanding scandal of private businesses feeding at the public trough.
"Well, the first thing is that, today I am speaking with the Financial Secretary, for him to to ask the Auditor General to, to go and to do an audit into that period in question and to to ensure that one, that there has value for money. Secondly, that, not the procurement process was, was followed, properly and then to, to get a report."
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of the Public Service 
And moving over to the other simmering scandal, we also asked the Prime Minister about Acting Chief Forest Officer John Pinelo. As you saw on 7News two nights ago - in an extraordinary interview - he accused a business owner in the forestry sector of offering him a bribe; and the businessman fired back, accusing Pinelo of extorting him for a bribe.
Alberto August is still facing cyberbullying charges relating to a Facebook post he made mocking Oscar Mira.
"It is the most bizarre thing to do that because first of all the post was made by Alberto that hurt Mira's feelings but Alberto has never said he was not the man or the person who made the post. He said he is the person that made the post. What he is maintaining is that the post was not criminal. But so then there is no need to go and search into somebody's phone or computer or any electronic system to determine if they made the post because they're telling you that they did. So the question is why is the police department so determined to get into Alberto August's phone? We have to believe it's because they want to get into the man's business, they want to see who he's been communicating with, that has nothing to do with the case."
And going back to our interview with the PM, we asked him about the status with 14 Customs officers at the northern and western border that the Ministry of Finance is pushing to get through.
We also asked Usher to put on his hat as party chairman and discuss the heated contest to see who will be the PUP's mayoral candidate in the city.
And we also asked the PM about political seniority in Corozal where the three term mayor Rigo Vellos is being challenged by a political newcomer Shajari Rogers.
"I think that is a good part to conclude. Remember we are here today for the medal ceremony. We are waiting the officers who received their awards are waiting for the reception and the longer you take, some of them have to travel back to..."
Robert McDonald, Harassed by Police 