{"id":3594,"date":"2017-11-07T14:32:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T19:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projectcalls.com\/?p=3594"},"modified":"2017-11-07T14:32:09","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T19:32:09","slug":"the-udps-obscene-8-million-hustle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/the-udps-obscene-8-million-hustle\/","title":{"rendered":"THE UDP\u2019S OBSCENE $8 MILLION HUSTLE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With municipal elections slated for next March, the nation is again heading into political season. It is known that during these times, political parties are \u201cscratching around\u201d for campaign finances for their campaign machineries.<\/p>\n<p>If you listen to the PUP, the VIP, and COLA, however, the party in power, the UDP, doesn\u2019t have to \u201cscratch\u201d around, because they have their hands in the public coffers, which is to say, taxpayers\u2019 pockets.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong>This is a \u201cclear attempt to enrich select UDP Ministers and cronies and pad [the party\u2019s] election coffers.\u201d \u2013the Opposition PUP<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Well, to mix our metaphors, the UDP just plucked out a PetroCaribe-sized gob of grease to get their election motors oiled and rolling. That\u2019s the view of these parties after Prime Minister Dean Barrow\u2019s administration issued an almost 8-million-dollar contract to a UDP crony for a project, which, according to a statement issued by the Government of Belize on Thursday, is for rehabilitation, and drainage infrastructure improvement of 1.9 km or about 1.1 miles of Fabers Road in Port Loyola constituency, of which Hon. Anthony \u201cBoots\u201d Martinez is the area representative.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of the contract, Imer Hernandez of Imer Hernandez Development Co. Ltd., is the nephew of disgraced former UDP Deputy Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Gaspar Vega.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued today, the Opposition PUP referred to the contract as a \u201cgrossly bloated\u201d one in which there is, \u201cno rational justification\u201d for such exorbitant costs. The release further states that the conventional rule of thumb for routine reconstruction roadways is one million dollars per mile.<\/p>\n<p>According to the PUP, with municipal elections just months away, this is a \u201cclear attempt to enrich select UDP Ministers and cronies and pad [the party\u2019s] election coffers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The PUP revealed that in 2016, Cisco Construction was awarded a contract for the rehabilitation of 3.5 miles of the Philip Goldson Highway, which included widening the entire road by 10 feet and the placements of lights and the construction of a heavy-duty retaining wall to stop the erosion of the riverbank. The money spent under this contract amounted to less than four million dollars per mile [for the 3.5 miles rehabilitation project], said the PUP, who went on to say that \u201cit is beyond comprehension that routine works on one mile of Fabers Road would be almost double that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The party took shots at Minister of Works Rene Montero, who, it says, has been scrutinized for bloated contracts before. The release pointed to a short stretch of road in Santa Elena, from the Loma Luz Boulevard to the Hawkesworth Bridge, which cost tax payers almost seven million dollars.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 <a href=\"http:\/\/amandala.com.bz\/news\/udps-obscene-8-million-hustle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Image:\u00a0 Pixabay (Pexels)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With municipal elections slated for next March, the nation is again heading into political season. It is known that during these times, political parties are \u201cscratching around\u201d for campaign finances&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[160,110,71,125],"class_list":["post-3594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-belize","tag-contracting","tag-procurement","tag-public-procurement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/USD-money-bills-with-envelope-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-VY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16501,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/contractor-general-takes-strong-stance-on-procurement-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":3594,"position":0},"title":"Contractor General takes Strong Stance on Procurement Practices","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Contractor General Omar Mitchell is taking a strong stance on procurement practices. Love News received an internal memo from the Office of the Contractor General which explains the rules to awarding of contracts and procurement practices. Hipolito Novelo reports. On page three of this memo, under \u201cConfidentiality\u201d it reads that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Contract-agreement-signature-Pixabay-Pexels.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18111,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/gob-switches-to-smart-for-licenses-of-microsoft-office-365\/","url_meta":{"origin":3594,"position":1},"title":"GOB Switches to Smart for Licenses of Microsoft Office 365","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Belize\u00a0 And with all the questions and concerns expressed by UDP Leader, Patrick Faber the government was quick to issue a press release. According to the release local and regional authorized resellers of Microsoft Office 365 Products were invited to submit quotes for the renewal of the Government\u2019s Office 365\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17347,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/straughn-new-procurement-bill-coming\/","url_meta":{"origin":3594,"position":2},"title":"Straughn: New procurement bill coming","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A new procurement bill is in the works, says Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn, while maintaining that the procurement and tendering for Government contracts is already equitable. He was responding to a question from moderator David Ellis on Voice Of Barbados\u2019 Brass Tacks Sunday radio call-in programme.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-thirdman-5060979-scaled-e1646951879770.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-thirdman-5060979-scaled-e1646951879770.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-thirdman-5060979-scaled-e1646951879770.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-thirdman-5060979-scaled-e1646951879770.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18108,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/us-says-efforts-to-tackle-corruption-are-not-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":3594,"position":3},"title":"US Says Efforts To Tackle Corruption Are Not Enough","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"August 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bahamas\u00a0 THE United States continues to highlight the inadequacy of local legislation and enforcement efforts to combat corruption and conflicts of interest in public office. In its latest Investment report, the US said the political system of The Bahamas remains \u201cplagued by reports of corruption, including allegations of widespread patronage,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-cottonbro-5909798-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-cottonbro-5909798-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-cottonbro-5909798-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-cottonbro-5909798-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20656,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/the-guardians-of-democracy-can-be-the-guardians-against-corruption\/","url_meta":{"origin":3594,"position":4},"title":"The guardians of democracy can be the guardians against corruption","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"February 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Guyana It is with great worry that, once again, the situation regarding Guy-ana\u2019s public procurement practices must once again be addressed and criticized. The entity in question is the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), whose members are in charge of all public procurement in the country. Since this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-cqfavocat-613508-scaled-e1644524566827.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-cqfavocat-613508-scaled-e1644524566827.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-cqfavocat-613508-scaled-e1644524566827.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-cqfavocat-613508-scaled-e1644524566827.jpg?fit=1025%2C684&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31536,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/dealing-with-corruption-must-not-be-compromised-as-we-address-procurement-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":3594,"position":5},"title":"Dealing with corruption must not be compromised as we address procurement issues","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"December 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamaica Various estimates suggest that Jamaica loses five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to corruption annually. As we understand it, that equates to approximately US$800 million. Shortcomings in health, education, security, et al, which such funds could address are aplenty. Corruption in high places has plagued Jamaica for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Corruption-money-fraudMarco-Verch-Professional-Photographer-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Corruption-money-fraudMarco-Verch-Professional-Photographer-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Corruption-money-fraudMarco-Verch-Professional-Photographer-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Corruption-money-fraudMarco-Verch-Professional-Photographer-flickr.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3647,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3594\/revisions\/3647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}