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Posted By: Marty William "Mike" Campbell Candidate BRS Area Rep - 02/03/12 09:17 PM

WILLIAM (MIKE) CAMPBELL
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE AREA REPRESENTATIVE BRS

William (Mike) Campbell, often known as Mr. Mike, is a dual national enjoying both Belizean and British citizenship. Mr. Campbell is 56 years old and has been a well-known public figure in San Pedro Town for over two decades. Mr. Campbell immigrated to Belize from Mexico in 1986 with $500 USD. By virtue of his Commonwealth Citizenship he has voted in every election since acquiring residency in1989. Mr. Campbell obtained Belize Citizenship in 1996 and has enjoyed the rights and privileges of Belize citizenship for over fifteen years and is very experienced in the politics of our country. Mr. Campbell is self-educated and constantly expands his knowledge through research and study.

Mr. Campbell is a well-known builder and contractor, having built many familiar landmarks including Lighthouse Reef Resort, Royal Palm, Coconuts and the Tennis Club in San Pedro as well as on Caye Caulker, St. George's Caye, Dangriga, Belize City, Ladyville and the Corozal District. He is best known for gaining acceptance of the Covintec Building System in the country of Belize and has employed as many as 200 full time workers and has trained hundreds of workers nationwide in the use of the Covintec systems. Having Belize born children and grand children Mr. Campbell is fully aware of all the community problems we face and has much in common with the working people that make up San Pedro as he is one of them. Mr. Campbell is also an experienced pilot and is a well-known member of the aviation community.

Mr. Campbell has lived in Corozal, Ladyville, Caye Caulker and permanently resides in the San Juan area of San Pedro. In 2006 Mr. and Mrs. Campbell sold their home on Seagrape Drive near Marina's after making 15 years of payments and invested the money to purchase what is now Xaman Ek Resort and Spa on North Ambergris Caye. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have divorced and the resort is for sale. Mr. Campbell has an intense dedication to his adopted country and has not left the country in more than 10 years.

Mr. Campbell was elected to two terms as one of four Private Sector Representatives on the Board of Directors of the Commercial Free Zone Management Agency. Mr. Campbell was elected and served under a UDP government and was reelected and served under a PUP government. Mr. Campbell participated in the formation of hundreds of jobs in the Free Zone and it was his proposal that led to the system of duty free fuel being available for cane

farmers in Orange Walk. Mr. Campbell wrote the development standards for the CFZ in Corozal and served on the CFZ 20 year Planning Committee. Mr. Campbell knows how to create jobs and attract foreign investment.

Mr. Campbell's list of community service projects in San Pedro includes the building of the old jail in Central Park free of charge, the donation of classrooms to the RC primary school, and serving on the Civic Center Committee. He is an environmental activist being totally opposed to offshore drilling. Mr. Campbell has a strong commitment to education. He was directly involved in the formation of The Island Academy and also operated a community Internet High School for two years. Currently he operates San Juan Internet that provides local children with Internet service at $1 for 15 minutes. He has a self confessed passion for the environment, and believes in sustainable development through the careful management of natural resources. His extensive experience in development nationwide gives him a unique perspective on development knowing from experience that development can be sustainable and environmentally friendly. Mr. Campbell currently writes a weekly political column for the Independent newspaper published in Belize City.

Mr. Campbell is well aware that our biggest national resource is our vast population of young people. This is our biggest strength and we have the responsibility to feed and educate and provide medical care to all our children as well as assure that they will have jobs to make their own futures.

CLICK HERE for his Experience

Well said!

Investing in a corrupt economy

By William (Mike) Campbell BRS

(Editor's note: Mike Campbell is a declared independent candidate seeking to become the area representative for the Belize Rural South constituency. His views, opinions, et cetera are his own and not necessarily those of The Independent. We will from time to time be inviting submissions from persons who are candidates in the upcoming municipal and general elections, but we expect that Mr. Campbell's column will become a regular feature in the newspaper's op-ed section.)

Foreign investment in Belize is at an all-time low. As foreign investment has been one of the factors that has driven our expansion over the last 30 years and is certainly needed to reignite our economy, we should look into some of the possible causes of this decline. Generally when someone has money to invest they look for, number one, a safe investment that is protected by law.

Foreign investors look closely at local politics and business customs as part of their due diligence exercise. They are specifically looking for factors that could affect the safety of their contemplated investments. Evidence of corruption in its various forms is a red flag to the investment community. Most businesses realize that when overt favoritism exists, as foreigners, they will certainly be disadvantaged. The recent posting of an opinion by Janus on the Amandala website will scare any investor and is a clear indication that we have truly lost the definition of corruption and expect it and condone it in our society.

Janus states that it is perfectly acceptable for a victorious politician to reward his friends and financial contributors with favors. The practice of giving favors to your friends is called cronyism and is a form of political corruption. The practice of politicians rewarding those who financially contribute to their campaigns with favors is the very definition of political corruption and in the US is punishable by stiff prison terms. Our political morals have fallen to where it is believed that these are perfectly acceptable practices. Publicly advocating corruption is obviously bad for the business climate and speaks volumes about our society.

How could any investor ever feel comfortable investing in a country that does not even know what corruption is and allows its politicians to flaunt the law with impunity? Until we address this problem we will not be able to attract the much needed foreign investment.

We have laws that require financial disclosures from elected officials. This would seem to work to the advantage of the elected official as he can clearly show he is not abusing his position to enrich himself. For some reason I cannot understand why the politicians, including the ones that passed the legislation, have failed to take advantage of this opportunity to clearly demonstrate their integrity even though there is a prescribed fine of $10,000 for not filing the annual disclosure.

To the best of my knowledge each and every sitting member of the House has failed to comply with this most basic integrity requirement and most all that were seated in the previous House are also guilty of this violation. Considering that many are attorneys and Senior Counsels they no doubt can explain to us why they and their friends are exempt from these requirements and, more importantly, why they should be returned to office when they blatantly ignore the law.

The other side of the coin is the lack of accountability by the parties themselves. Until candidates release campaign budgets and source of funds we are just playing a game. It is crucial to know who has contributed because, unlike Janus believes, it is not right to give favors to those who donated to your campaign. Sometimes contracts are issued or government property sold under circumstances that make us wonder why that happened. If we knew who had contributed to the various campaigns we could no doubt better understand many of the strange occurrences we have seen over the years.

We have no chance of attracting significant foreign investment until we deal with this problem. We can start right now in this election. Do not vote for anyone who is in violation of the financial disclosure laws and don't vote for anyone who will not say what they are spending on their campaign and where the money came from. That will be a start. It is time the people put an end to this moral deterioration and disregard for the law on the part of our elected officials that is ruining the credibility of our nation.

Just because I get this question too often, I'd like to clarify before another round of "Will you please ask Mike..".......
This is not my husband.

I endorse the new haircut!
Thank you Diane, Haircut by Jessie at Leslie's and Roy at Belicolor hooked me up with an excellent photo. Thanks guys.
CAMPBELL CARES! VOTE INDEPENDENT
VOTE WILLIAM (MIKE) CAMPBELL
FOR AREA REPRESENTATIVE


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