The standoff continues between the Belmopan City Council and the Public Service Union - with the council saying the Hilltop sale is final, and the Union saying "we shall not be moved."
Tonight's news is that there was no meeting between the Union President Doreth Obermayer and the Mayor Khalid Belisle. Belisle told us that a meeting had been scheduled for 10:00 this morning - but Obermayer says she didn't get anything in writing inviting her to a meeting and that she would not be attending.
A post on the Union's Facebook page says, quote, "The General Membership of PSU has never granted permission to meet with Mayor Belisle and no such meeting was ever arranged with him by our President." The PSU's Council of Management met today.
The PSU also used that Facebook page to reject the timeline with Minister of Natural Resources Hugo Patt spoke about on this newscast last night. He said that his Ministry had expeditiously facilitated two pieces of land for them in Corozal and Orange Walk. The Union says, quote, "The fact is the process took months and involved a meeting with the PM, contrary to the storyline of the Hilltop property….In addition, this discussion of the two lands…has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they SOLD our home and we don't want no compensation for our home. Reverse the sale and give us back our home." End quote.
One of the issues for the council is the inference that the 400,000 dollar sale to a newly formed company is suspicious. We asked the mayor if there squarely if there was any side-deal:..
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Regrettably we have a culture in Belize, and there is no nice way to put this, there are sales and then you have a side deal when things are trans-active in the public's sphere. Regrettably this is normalized. Is there to your knowledge any side deal and a side deal can be in the form of a campaign contribution?"
Khalid Belisle, Mayor - Belmopan City
"Absolutely not."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Are you able to speak to that level of certainty for all the persons who operated in the negotiation?"
Khalid Belisle, Mayor - Belmopan City
"Absolutely."
The PSU has three thousand members - of the 18,000 public officers countrywide.
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