This morning’s press encounter with Dean Samuels also gave us the opportunity to ask him about the bulldozer, the bobcat, and the gooseneck trailer that was supposed to be in the possession of the Belize City Council when he was in elected office, but which were missing for years.
These pieces of equipment were the subject of a recent audit by the Bernard Wagner Administration, which said that the equipment were purchases, but it ended up elsewhere, and not at City Hall, for which they were intended. They were a part of a grant of $173,000 that was given by Central Government to the former administration back in 2015. That’s when the Council was creating a sanitation department to absorb over 150 employees from the private sanitation company, Belize Maintenance Limited.
The PUP Administration and Former Mayor Darrell Bradley say that Minister Anthony “Boots” Martinez didn’t turn over the equipment. He has flatly denied even being in possession of it in the first place. So this morning, we asked Samuels what he knows about these expensive items. He was part of the council administration that was supposed to receive it, and he asserted strongly today that they were intended for another department which he wasn’t in charge of. So, from his perspective, he doesn’t know what happened to them, and it wasn’t his business to know. Here’s how he explained why:
Dean Samuels - Former Belize City Councillor
"City Council got their equipment, if you guys check the whatsoever was sent out to the media. Dean Samuels name never did get mention in that not even one time right? Make we clear this part here up, Dean Samuels is the councillor for works, those machines that came in were for sanitation right. Proper protocol is followed bredda, city council never buy no equipment - make we be real right. Protocol was followed where they sent letters to find out who owned the equipment and who would get the equipment. I personally am not the mayor, that is nothing something that I would do personally. The bottom line about it is like what I say, for me as far as I'm concerned with the situation, that more political than anything, people grand stand and the end of the day da politics they bally the show at the end of the day, they no di do no work make we get kind of hype about finding equipment, a bulldozer, a skitter and a trailer like it’s something out this world. Listen to me, when we gone to city council we never even had a works department, you gone to works department; you see what di up deh? When we gone there we noh even have a pound yard, they find millions of dollars of equipment up there - man and the go on deh kind of way. Yo at the end of the day like I say, I personally was never in charge and I personally wasn't the mayor and I will not at the end of the day get involved or have anything to say concerning that. Protocol was followed if you follow the paper trail and that was that."
Daniel Ortiz
"So that equipment was never supposed to be something you were - your portfolio was works."
Dean Samuels
"I am works department, I am not sanitation department."
Reporter
"As an elected politician, a public servant; did you not share or express concern because I believe that it was discussed during the meetings - tacos meetings about these unaccounted equipment. Did you express concern over those? It cost tens of thousands of dollars."
Dean Samuels
"Of course like what I said, city council did not purchase these equipment, of course they were gifted to us but I will be honest with you, protocol was followed by the proper person in charge to do such so at the end of the day that wasn't my job to do that."
As we mentioned, the bulldozer suddenly appeared after the public’s attention was called to the fact that it was missing, and not where it needed to be. The other 2 pieces of equipment are still unaccounted for.
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