Email

Print

And the last two items on the news tonight are from today's senate meeting. The day opened with a statement from Immigration Minister Godwin Hulse. He was responding to the PUP's Toledo East Area Representative Mike Espat. Espat spoke at Friday's House Meeting about an immigration hustle where a dozen persons from Trio and Bella Vista villages in his division were tricked into paying a thousand dollars for bogus nationality documents. To hear Espat's version of the story, the same involved high level corruption with the Department and he used his parliamentary privilege to list the names of some very senior staffers – and allege that they were involved in the scam. Well today the Minister of Immigration set the record straight and said Espat needed to give an apology:..

Hon. Godwin Hulse - Minister of Immigration

"Mr. President the fact of the case is as follows. On Thursday October the 29th 2015 I was informed as the minister responsible for immigration by the chairman of Bella Vista village that some 12 person had paid for and received nationality certificates from an operative who claimed to be an immigration official. On Friday October the 30th 2015, the chairman brought a copy of one of the certificates to the offices of the department of immigration. I convened a meeting with the director and the CEO, who both like myself, immediately recognized this document to be a fake. Everything was wrong; the paper, the printing, no seal, a signature that bare no close resemblance to any immigration minister, present or past. No oath on the certificate."

"So Ms. Marin and I travelled to Bella Vista on Sunday the 31st of October to meet with these people for the purpose of 1.) Checking on their legal status. 2.) Finding out exactly what occurred and how it was done. 3.) To get an exact idea of the person or persons with whom they were involved. Present at that meeting was the chairman of the village, a police officer, the director of immigration, myself and the standard bearer for Toledo at the time and candidate Mr. Eden Martinez. One by one the director interviewed each of the 12 persons and checked on their legal status in the country and their preparedness to be witnesses in this case; while there we learnt that another 10 certificates were being prepared for additional persons to be delivered on the following Monday. The persons were to travel to Belize City on Tuesday morning for a rendezvous with the operatives on Tuesday at 8 o'clock and to meet a pre-arranged location. All the relevant personnel at the highest level of the security forces were informed and arrangements were made to nab these persons in the act. Mr. President this was done and at 8 A.M on Friday morning, 2 persons were arrested. They were subsequently charged and released on bail, since it is public knowledge both persons, their names are Mark Antonio Rosales and Marcos Basto, a former BDF officer."

"At no time was there any evidence, allegation or assertion that anyone at the immigration department was involved. Therefore any suggestion of wrong doing or impropriety on the part of the acting director Ms. Marin is not only wrong, false and malicious and deserves the unequivocal and stern denouncement of the statements made by the honourable gentleman; who abused his parliamentary privilege by calling the names of persons not present or capable of defending themselves in this forum. I call on him for an immediate and public apology to Mrs. Marin and Mrs. Alpuche, who was not involved at all and others whose name were called. It is the least he can do since he knows that these persons are defenceless against is utterances in these chambers. But his words cast a shadow over the reputation of these persons across this nation and indeed across the world and this is a terrible injustice to fice on any individual. I demand from him an apology on behalf of Mrs. Marin and Mrs. Alpuche, two of the hardest working and impeccable individuals at the immigration department."