The Real Rosewood Deal: DPM's Brother Is @ Top Of Food Chain
Last week when the Rosewood news broke - it had the air of a scandal - a private trucking company carting out thousands of board feet of confiscated rosewood from the forestry compound in Belmopan. Since then, Government has tried to get in front of the story - but mostly they've ended up getting run over by it. And that's because there hasn't been any coherent and orderly explanation of what's happening, why and when the decision was taken. But today, back from Istanbul and up to speed on all the latest developments, Minister of Forestry Lisel Alamilla addressed the media in an 8:30 press conference at the Fisheries building in Belize city. 7news had a front row seat:�
This morning, Minister of Forestry Fisheries and Sustainable Development Lisel Alamilla was calm and at ease as she met with the media.
She opened with a statement:
Hon. Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Forestry Fisheries and Sustainable Development
"The events of the past week have understandably given cause for concern. The decisions and actions were taken with full cognizance that the decision, while not being a popular one, was with the best interest to resolve an impasse in the local Rosewood trade. The rationale for Belize's decision - the Government's decision is based on several mutually supporting activities. To account for the entire volume of Rosewood currently available and to dispose of it and to concurrently be in compliance with a decision made by CITES on March 14th with respect with the trade in Rosewood. The CITES decision directly limits and affects the exportation of Rosewood in its raw form as logs or flitches, lumber, veneer and plywood sheets. With this in mind, the Ministry of Forestry Fisheries and Sustainable Development undertook to institute an amnesty period on all harvested Rosewood. The purpose of the amnesty is to allow all those persons in possession of Rosewood material to declare it to the Forest Department.
I see the amnesty period as essential to ensure that the Forest Department accounts for the remaining volumes of harvested Rosewood material and to permit the eventual sale and export."
The exports will be handled by a local company called GIV, that's German Vega's company.
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"The material that we have confiscated, we sold to GIV. They are buying it from us. We will then allow them to export it before they export it. They will have to pay government 50% of the revenues earned from that sale. Every exporter, because this material was illegally gotten, as a penalty they will have to pay us 50%."
Alamilla stressed that the 50% is a penalty - but the profit for the Rosewood dealers must still be substantial because Rosewood dealers are jumping through hoops to get their Rosewood together for export right now. And the lynchpin in the operation is the company called GIV.
Jules Vasquez
"The involvement of GIV, the G and the V being German Vega; is the involvement of that company being the brother of the Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Forestry - is that an indication that there is political collision and is being orchestrated to facilitate UDP insiders?"
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"It is a fact that GIV is one of the largest exporter of Rosewood. But anyone who gets material and wants to export it and has the connection and has the finances to pay the government before hand, before they export it, they will be allowed to export this material."
Jules Vasquez
"There's every appearance that the decision was made to facilitate and enrich this UDP insider - Mr. German Vega."
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"Well that is the perception that people have and I don't think I can do anything to erase that perception."
But Alamilla did want to dispel the perception that the Amnesty period is just a concoction after GOB was busted by the PLUS TV Footage.
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"I think it was, of course, a downfall on our side that we didn't come out and release this information and so it creates the suspicion that something fishy is going on. I will accept the responsibility of my Ministry that we didn't come out with this information prior and explained to the public why we were doing this. So I'm hoping that today we will be able to rectify that. I think it was discussed in Cabinet for three consecutive Cabinet meetings. It was discussed at length and debated at length and it was the decision of Cabinet that even though this was perhaps not going to be viewed as politically smart. It is necessary for the governance of our Forest resources."
And judicious management of those resources means clearing out the old stock before the CITES regime is effected.
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"There's material that comes that has to be declared pre-convention material. That is what we are trying to gather. What is pre-convention material? We know that there is material out there that we need to get it out. It's not a decision that we are excited about or happy about but we acknowledge that it's real."
And that reality is also why Alamilla says they have the dealers arranging the sale and export.
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"The trade of Rosewood is very tricky with China in that you send the material and you don't get paid. Sometimes people have to be hassled and it's risky because once the material is gone, you don't get paid. They don't pay you before. They pay you upon receipt of the material. So it was the decision of Cabinet that we were not willing to take the risk. So the revenue sharing that we're doing, which is 50-50; the exporters will have to pay Government before they are allowed to export the 50%."
And while government now has to protect its commercial position - it seems Alamilla had to vacate her principled one. After all, it's she who effected to Rosewood moratorium 13 months ago and she who burnt the Rosewood in January.
Jules Vasquez
"Isn't this facilitation of exportation of what you know is almost extinct - endangered hardwood. Isn't that a complete reversal of all the stances you have taken?"
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"Jules, it is the reality of this trade. It's a valuable commodity. It is a challenge that countries face when trading invaluable commodities and nobody likes to be placed in this situation."
No export has happened yet and Alamilla has invited the media, mayan leaders and NGO partners to be present when they are loading and measuring the Rosewood. All the exports will have to be CITES certified. For clarity, the local Rosewood will be sold to GIV Import/Export Company for five dollars per board foot and government has about twenty five thousand board feet, or slightly more.
The companies registry records shows that the company is owned by Ignacio German Vega and Amir Awe in trust for Arlo Vega. It is headquartered in the Commercial Free Zone.
Channel 7
Rosewood sold to brother of Minister Gaspar Vega
Forestry Minister Lisel Alamilla took the hot seat this morning to explain the recent rosewood scandal. It includes a decision by Cabinet to declare an amnesty for those in possession of the precious hardwood, and to approve the sale and export of rosewood with government splitting the profits from sales. We'll have that explanation in a few, but first the shocking news which probably came as no surprise to anyone in the political peanut gallery�Remember that confiscated rosewood which was caught on video last week as it was moved from lockdown at the Forestry Compound in Belmopan? Well the company doing the moving was no other than GIV Enterprises. GIV is the acronym for German Ignacio Vega, who is the brother of the very powerful U.D.P. Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Forestry Gaspar Vega. Today, Alamilla spoke about GIV and the government owned rosewood, more than twenty-five thousand board feet. Freelance reporter Mike Rudon has the story.
Mike Rudon, Reporting
The rosewood caught on video last week as it was loaded onto trucks, and a lot more illegally harvested rosewood which has been confiscated by the Forestry Department, now belongs to GIV, or German Ignacio Vega Enterprises. But don't despair or panic just yet�according to Minister Alamilla, all revenues derived from the sale and export of that confiscated rosewood will go into public coffers.
Lisel Alamilla
Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Forestry
"Those belong to the government of Belize, they are the property of the government of Belize and they are being sold for exportation."
Reporter
"And who will get the revenue and how much of it?"
Lisel Alamilla
"The government will get all the revenues from the sale of that rosewood, the twenty-five thousand board foot. That is the property of Belize, that has already been put into the system of government property�that and other material that we have at the Machaca Forest Station and at Savannah. All that material is logged and accounted for in Forest Department and we are selling that material for them to export."
Reporter
"Selling to whom?"
Lisel Alamilla
"We're selling that right now to GIV."
So how did the company owned by the brother of the Deputy Prime Minister come onto the scene? Well Alamilla explained that, and also changed her story of government getting all the revenues from the sale of that confiscated rosewood.
Lisel Alamilla
"We thought about it and discussed it and what we learned about it is that the trade of rosewood is very tricky with China in that you send the material and then you don't get paid. Sometimes people have to be hassled and its risky, because once the material is gone you don't get paid, they don't pay you before, they pay you upon receipt of the material. And so it was the decision of Cabinet that we were not willing to take the risk, and so the revenue sharing that we were doing which is fifty-fifty, the exporters will have to pay government before they are allowed to export, the fifty percent�in addition to what we are going to get from the twenty-five thousand board foot and probably even more when we have added everything else that we have in Machaca, so twenty-five thousand board foot, say at five dollars per board foot, that clearly government's property. Then we are going to do a revenue sharing agreement where fifty percent of the revenues will come to Belize, to the government of Belize, and fifty percent to the exporter."
And how much exactly does fifty percent of the profit work out to? According to Alamilla, at this point the Ministry has absolutely no clue.
Lisel Alamilla
"The fifty percent will be gotten once it's sold on the international market. I can't declare to you what that percentage will be per board foot because we're getting different information about what it's worth on the global market, so we're really trying to figure out what is the real cost once this material is landed in China or Taiwan where it's most likely to be shipped. That is why we're doing the research to find out what it costs, because we're not going to be taking the exporters word that this is what they'll be making�because like I said up to now we have not been able to really ascertain what it is they are getting. They are telling us that they're not making a whole lot of money, etc, but the truth is I don't believe them and so we have our sources and we're sending out to find out what they would earn once the material is landed in China."
And anyone could be forgiven for looking twice, or even three times at GIV, since this is certainly not the first time the name of the Deputy Prime Minister or his close affiliates, in this case brother, has come up in the movement of illegal rosewood.
Lisel Alamilla
"If you really follow the rosewood trail you will find out that this is not about P.U.P., that it is not only U.D.P.s who are involved in this�that really GIV is the exporter of the product. The people who they are buying it from, and if I list the names, they are all PUPs. So who is benefitting are both P.U.P.s, U.D.P.s and no Ps�just Joe Public. It is a fact that GIV is one of the largest exporters of rosewood but anyone who gets material and wants to export it and has the connection and has the finances to pay government beforehand, before they export it, they will be allowed to export the material. So it is not only limited to GIV. Other people who have been exporting and who can source the material on the ground, they can come in, declare their product and we will give them permission to export it."
Reporter
"But how can we in the media be sure that the decision�there's every appearance that the decision was made to facilitate and enrich this U.D.P. insider, Mr. German Vega."
Lisel Alamilla
"Well that is the perception that people have and I don't think I can do anything to erase that perception."
Mike Rudon for News Five.
Channel 5