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This year the Mesopotamia area representative gave away seventeen hundred presents -showing that he has maintained the volume he had before he became a minister. He told us why in its eleventh year it is still important to have this party.

Hon. Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"We sent out 1700 invitations, so we have 1700 plates of food, 1700 gifts and the soft drinks in correspondence with the food. We try to give back to the community when this time comes around. I go around and give them put myself to make sure that they are given to the children."

Monica Bodden
"You personally take them."

Hon. Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"I personally take them to every home. It takes a bit of energy but it is satisfying to me. Maybe this will be the gift that only one of them will get for the Christmas season."

Notable at today's event was understudy to Minister Finnegan - Mayor Zenaida Moya. Even though she's been kicked out of the UDP- she still appears interested in succeeding Finnegan as the Messop representative in that garrison seat. That is, of course, in the event that Finnegan retires and there is currently no indication that he intends to do so.




Salvation Army's Annual Christmas Luncheon

And while the Finnegan party is un-apologetically political - the Salvation Army's annual event is pure philanthropy. That organization held its Annual Children's Christmas Luncheon. The smiling, eager faces of the children were sight to behold, as they got to experience Christmas a little early with food, entertainment, toys and good company, as Governor General, Sir Colville Young and Ombudsman Cynthia Pitts shared in the festive mood. Major Brenda Greenidge of the Salvation Army told us more about the activities:

Major Brenda Greenidge, Commander - Bze Salvation Army
"16 different schools that benefit from this luncheon every year, about 700 children assemble for a toy."

Andrea Polanco
"Major, tell me how are these children selected to be a part of this annual Christmas luncheon?"

Major Brenda Greenidge, Commander - Bze Salvation Army
"The Salvation feels that the teachers would be the be the better persons to make the selection and so we send the tickets to the schools and ask the teachers or the principal to select 40 from among them that they think would really need to have this kind of cheer to them."

Andrea Polanco
"Is it something that they anticipate?"

Major Brenda Greenidge, Commander - Bze Salvation Army
"I believe they look forward to it. Amazingly this year I saw a lot more smiling faces, they seem to be very pleased with the toys they got and I believe it is one thing that they really anticipate happening at this Christmas time."

Andrea Polanco
"So tell me did you enjoy this program today?"

Student
"Yes I enjoyed it very much. I especially like the shows, kids from all different schools and their beautiful talents. I enjoy the food, it was very delicious and I thank all the sponsors and everyone that came out to sponsor us."

Andrea Polanco
"So tell me, I know you got a gift, do you want to show me and tell me what you will do with it?"

Student
"I got a football. When I go home I will pump it and play football with my friends. "

The Salvation Army would like to thank sponsors: CBC, Grace Kennedy Belize Limited, The Belize City Council, The Belize Police Force, Holy Redeemer Parish, Rotary Club of Belize and Ministry of Human Services.






Novelo's, For Old Time's Sake
National Transport Limited was taken over by receivers Kevin Castillo and Bob Garcia one week ago. At that time we commented that it was - as the old phrase goes - "déjà vu all over again." That's because the same crew took over National in 2004 - at that time on behalf of the Atlantic Bank and DFC.

And while this time it's the Belize Bank - the trappings are pretty much the same: on one side is the receiver's operations man, the straight-talking, hard-nosed former General, Bob Garcia, and on the other are the Novelo's, David and Tony, relentless and voluble complainers.

They clashed in an epic war of words in 2006 - on the Lik Road show hosted at the time by Michael Finnegan and Mike Peyrefitte.

For a remembrance of things past - and how they can come back again - we looked back in our archive to January of 2006:… And while the cross-talk is still amusing, this time around, it's no joke for the 275 employees who were left jobless in this receivership - slash - liquidation. Former operations manager Phillip Jones says their attorney has met with the Labour Department - which gave the very vague assurance it will do all it can. Which means that for now, those workers are still jobless and without a paycheck for Christmas…




This newscast and more can be seen at this link: http://vimeo.com/search/videos/search:7News%20Belize/6154aa23/sort:newest/format:thumbnail