The Guatemalan company and Guatemalan workers building our Coast Guard facility. Man, there must be some national security risk in that taking place. Somebody has to be awake man, we can’t all be sleeping over there in the Government. Who is looking after these matters?” – Francis Fonseca, Leader of the People’s United Party.
Since it was discovered that a Guatemalan company, BINARQ, had built the Belize Coast Guard’s San Pedro Operating Base and is building the Hunting Caye Operating Base, a lot of criticism has been directed towards Hon. John Saldivar, Minister of National Security, and the UDP Government. “Why would they allow this?” “They are selling out Belize?” The usual suspects, members of ROC, have expressed their disbelief and disappointment and those in COLA have even charged this administration with treason.
What difference a day makes!
Admiral John Borland, Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, held a briefing with the press on Tuesday, October 14, to give an update on the Hunting Caye project. Borland confirmed that a stop order had been issued to BINARQ from the US Southern Command Army Corp of Engineers which will remain in effect until a way forward is agreed upon. That way forward, as requested by the Belize Coast Guard, is for the remainder of the project to be subcontracted to a Belizean company. Admiral Borland says BINARQ has agreed to this request but they are waiting for approval from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The project is about 75 percent complete and the Army Corps of Engineers will likely base its decision on the amount of funding available for subcontracting.
At the briefing, Louis Wade of Plus TV, one of the usual suspects, scolded Admiral Borland for allowing Belize’s national security to be threatened. Borland explained that the Coast Guard is of the opinion that a properly vetted civilian company from Guatemala that operates internationally is not a security threat to Belize. He explained that there are four elements that constitute a security threat: espionage, sabotage, subversion and terrorism. Borland said BINARQ has been vetted thoroughly by the U.S. Southern Command and there is no way they can pose a threat by building a structure out of materials that is public information.
Wade continued to press; quoting comments from Minister Saldivar and asking who it is that sits at the table when such decisions are made to grant contracts to “Guatemala”. Borland, who tried his best to leave civilian leaders out of the discussion, then revealed that it was the PUP administration that signed the agreement with the U.S. Government allowing them to use any contractor from any country. Borland said, “At the time the contract was awarded under the Status of Forces Agreement of 2007… All parties including Belize did not object to this policy.” Borland revealed that the agreement was signed with the thought in mind that Guatemalan companies would qualify for contracts from the U.S. since this was at a time when Belize was entering into the second round of Confidence Building Measures with Guatemala. Borland said it was with the objectives of economic cooperation and integration in mind that there was no objection to contracts being offered to a Guatemalan civilian company that has operated internationally. However, considering the sensitivity of the issue, the Coast Guard has met with their counterparts from the U.S. Southern Command to discuss future contracts.
Borland revealed the terms of a new agreement which states:
– No future contracts will be awarded to Guatemalan companies or contractors.
– No foreign Labourer would be able to work on Government of Belize projects without the requisite security clearances and work permits.
– All foreign workers will enter Belize legally and are documented for accountability and immigration purpose.
– Our contracts will employ Belizean workers in accordance with the labour laws and directives of the labour commissioner, The Ministry of National Security will receive all contracts.
– The Ministry of National Security will maintain oversight of all project and workers to ensure compliance with security and accountability arrangements.
– All projects will continue to be in accordance with the Ministry of Works, central Building Authority and the department of Environment regulations.
Since it was revealed that it was the PUP that signed agreements allowing the U.S. to contract Guatemalan companies to construct military bases in Belize, the crusaders have been awfully quiet; especially now that the UDP Government has fixed the problem.
