On Thursday, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner vented a serious complaint against the Government. Wagner said that the Ministry of Health was playing politics with a donation of exercise equipment that should have gone to the Belize City Council. Instead, they ended up at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex.
As we told you, the donation was supposed to be part of a collaboration between the Mayors Association and the Ministry to encourage healthy living in all the municipalities around the country.
But, to hear it told from Mayor Wagner, the Government passed him over for the donation, which they would have placed in public parks under the Council's control. He blamed the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Sports, Patrick Faber, for supposedly getting involved to get the equipment re-directed. The Deputy Prime Minister responded to explain that he had no hand in the decision, and that the Ministry of Health made the choice.
So, when we caught up with Health Minister Pablo Marin at another event, we asked him about the change in plans. Here's that conversation on the topic in which he was very critical of the Belize City Mayor:
Hon. Pablo Marin - Minister of Health
"First, give me the 3 PUP mayors who haven't received it."
Reporter
"Belize City, Orange Walk, and Corozal."
Hon. Pablo Marin
"No, no, Corozal have 2, so you cannot say that Corozal doesn't have. The Mayor, Kevin Bernard from Orange Walk, I spoke to him, and he's coming on Tuesday to get his one. The situation with Belize City was different, because I saw that Marion Jones, the majority of people go and do workouts there. So, I decided to give that to the Deputy as in charge of the Sports for the people. Now, I still am going to buy more of the equipment, but when I saw his interview, he really acted childish - sorry to say it - but he was like a kid that you show him a sweet, and you don't give the sweet. He said, what happened with the sweet? Why didn't he call me, as the Mayor of Belize, and say, you know what, Minister, what happen with my one? And he did not do - he just went to the media, and tried to do something political."
"Now, a question to the Mayor of Belize City, what has he done from that day to promote a healthy lifestyle? So, is he just waiting for me to deliver an equip that I can designate to who I give? And further more, I will deliver another one to Belize City, but I saw the need at Marion Jones, instead of giving to him."
Marin also brought up a supposed political fight that he says he's been having with the PUP Town Council from Corozal. He says that he wanted to renovate a basketball court in an area in that municipality known as "Skeleton Town". He alleges that instead of embracing that goodwill for the residents of that area, Mayor Rigo Vellos and his Council attempted to block him. Here's Marin's account of the incident.
Hon. Pablo Marin - Area Rep., Corozal Bay
"I was renovating a basketball court in Corozal. I gave a letter to the Mayor of Corozal stating that I have funds that will fix this basketball court to basketball standards. 2 weeks after, he sent me a letter that I cannot do that. So, I - at the end of the day, I said, you know what, the park belongs to the Government of Belize, and I am going to do it. And I am doing the basketball court. So, this is the childish behavior that they are playing around."
Reporter
"So, it's politics."
Hon. Pablo Marin
"It's politics. But, with me, once we sign something, once we agree on something, I will work on that. And the people of Corozal know that I don't play politics because I help PUP's, UDP's, NIP's when it comes to education, when it comes to health, because this is our mandate, to work for the people of Belize."
We've seen Marin's letter to the Council announcing his intentions for this basketball court, and the Corozal Town Council's response
In that response letter, Mayor Vellos said, quote, "...The... Council has identified and is already in the process of renovating the Brotherhood Park, which includes the basketball court you refer to…
You are hereby invited to suggest any other basketball court in the Corozal Town that you would like to renovate. The council stands ready to approve your project in any other area… since it is to the benefit of the Corozal Community. However, approval cannot be given for your project in Skeleton Town..." End quote.
We attempted to speak with Mayor Vellos via telephone, but he was on the road, and unable to comment in time for our newscast. We'll have his response tomorrow.
Email
Print