On Friday you heard the owner of the Belmopan Market Plaza, David Zabaneh crying foul. He says the Belmopan City Council was moving the goalposts on him when it said that his MOU signed with the previous mayor was unlawful and invalid.
Zabaneh was careful to frame it as an issue where he was paying one blanket trade license, and in so doing giving a service to the vendors - whose business model is not aligned with acquiring such a license.
Well, today the Mayor spoke to the press via zoom and he said it's not about getting after the vendors, it's about the law:
Pablo Cawich, Mayor of Belmopan
"The Belmopan City Council is not attacking or going after any vendor in the market area. That is a narrative which I believe was intentionally spinned in that method to try and gain sympathy, but we are not after these vendors."
"We are trying to properly secure, when it comes to these small vendors, we're trying to properly secure their business by regularizing these vendors to ensure that they have valid trade license. Presently, these operators are operating under an MOU which contradicts the trade license act."
"When we started the formal or written communication with Mr Zabaneh, we got a response in writing as well with a second MOU attached. We did not have knowledge or any record of this second MOU. This second MOU changes two portions. It changes the term of the MOU which is now based on the second MOU 30 years."
Jules Vasquez
"Under that agreement, it talks about a blanket trade license fee that he pays annually $30,000. What do you think of that?"
Pablo Cawich, Mayor of Belmopan
"The Trade License Act does not allow for any type of blanket coverage. It is stated that every person needs its own business license, its own trade license per business. The reason we started looking at this issue was because we were approached by the Belize tax service last year, requesting information as to the details or the authority which the council has granted to the Belmopan Market Plaza."
"At that point, we presented the MOU that we had, the 2021 MOU and after they had reviewed it, they pointed out some of the major issues that as a specialist in taxes, they pointed out that there is no such thing as a blanket coverage."
Jules Vasquez
"What do you say to the investor who says, well, this is my business model. You all gave me your council, duly authorized, the mayor of the council, signed an MOU that gave this to me. I made an investment based on this, have a legitimate expectation, and if you take that away, you are then liable."
Pablo Cawich, Mayor of Belmopan
"We have an obligation to ensure that things operate legally, and happen legally, so the legality of the operation has to be rectified."
Jules Vasquez
"Would you say that your predecessor acted unlawfully and in an ill-advised manner when she signed that MOU?"
Pablo Cawich, Mayor of Belmopan
"If you realize I don't try to speak on the actions of the previous mayors, it's not something I would do, and I would leave it at that."
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