Former PUP Leader John Briceno is making news tonight after a thousand word letter he wrote to a US Newspaper was used as an advertisement by Fortis in New York Newspapers.
You'll recall that Fortis used to own BEL and still owns BECOL. Well, now Fortis is trying to purchase an electric company in the Central Hudson Valley in New York State and must appear before the New York Public Service Commission to prove their worthiness. Opponents of the FORTIS in the US have enlisted the support of conservationists in Belize – and Fortis, it seems has enlisted Briceno.
His letter is in response to a newspaper commentary published in the US by Robert Kennedy, Jr. in which he said that Fortis has a deceitful past and pointed to its track record in Belize when the Chalillo Dam was built in 2003 – when Briceno was Minister of Natural resources.
Briceno told us he felt the need to respond in writing to the newspaper – he adds that he didn't know it would be used as an ad. The letter is also used by Fortis's lawyers in their pleadings before the commission. They refer to him as quote, "a respected public servant in Belize who knows the facts and can speak authoritatively about the benefits that have resulted from Fortis's efforts in Belize."
In his letter Briceno writes, quote,
"We do not need the barriers raised by extremists who put their narrow interests ahead of our country's need to improve the quality of life for our people."
One of those he calls "extremist" is Candy Gonzalez and she questions whether Briceno wrote his letter pointing to the fact that in it he refers to the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, as a Council, not once, but twice. She argues that NEAC is an integral part of the Environmental approval process and Briceno was Minister of the Environment for 9 years should know its proper name.
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