The news that a Guatemalan company with Guatemalan employees was building a Coast Guard facility on Hunting Caye broke last week Thursday. One week later, the Government says it still has no clue about the status of the workers at that facility. Minister of Immigration and Labour Godwin Hulse today told News Five that he heard about it in the House. He has still been unable to find out when or how those Guatemalan workers entered the country. And since he doesn’t know how they got here, or even that they WERE here, Hulse also doesn’t know about their work status. We know that the wheels of government grind slowly, but you’d probably have thought that with so incendiary a concern, government would have some answers by now. Well, Hulse didn’t, but said that as soon as he know, we will.
Godwin Hulse, Minister of Immigration & Labour
Godwin Hulse
“When it came to my attention I immediately summoned our C.E.O. and Director of both Immigration and Labour to dispatch a team down there to give me a full-fledged report on what happened. Let me make it categorically clear – the contract is one thing, but who you employ is another. Nobody can work in Belize who is not a Belizean without a work permit. That is the law and we’re going to uphold it and nobody can enter Belize without a proper immigration status. That’s the law and we’re going to uphold it. It doesn’t matter who gave contract and from whom and who’s paying. That’s the position. But before we can make a final statement we have to know what their status is and what they’re doing here and how and that sort of thing.”
Reporter
“Are you disappointed that the information wasn’t brought to your attention prior to it being brought up in the House?”
Godwin Hulse
“Of course! We all should have known. It is one government so whatever happens we all should know. There’s no excuse for that and no reason why we didn’t know. But like I said as quickly as I found out we have dispatched a team to do our work, and we will report to the media as soon as we are completed with that. And I will repeat again. Nobody will work in this country that doesn’t have the proper legal documents to do so.”
Reporter
“Sir, might it not have been that because the US Government has been so generous with Belize this issue with the Guatemalan contractor hasn’t been brought up with the government because the US Embassy has been so generous that we gave them the forbearance that they would work in the best interests of the country?”
Godwin Hulse
“I can’t answer that but the US knows and should know that you respect the laws of every country. You see how many times I repeat it? The laws of the country must be respected. You cannot work here without the proper permits and you cannot enter this country without the proper immigration documents, no matter who it is. Even at the highest international level, when Ministers travel and visit we are not allowed to enter any country. We have to have visas and we have to have everything in order and we are checked. And so that applies to each and every person.”
Hulse says that he is prepared to immediately expel the workers from the forward operating base on Hunting Caye if they do not have proper documentation. He also told News Five today that at least when he was present, the matter has not been discussed in Cabinet.
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