A Belize Coast Guard officer has been demoted following an incident involving prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, off the coast of that country.
Admiral John Borland, Commander of the Belize National Coast Guard, said the officer’s rank has been reduced to that of seaman for what he described as “poor judgement.”
He said the decision was made after a hearing or tribunal into the matter on Wednesday.
“I think that was poor judgment on his behalf knowing a person of such rank and status and position of authority was onboard (the boat)”, Borland said. “The best he could have done was to apologize at the moment for stopping the vessel and then carry on with his duties of escorting the vessel even though he was already late.”
Skerrit was in Belize last week as guest of honor for that country’s independence celebration.
It is reported that the Belize Coast Guard was to escort him and his delegation out to visit the Shark Ray Alley and the Hol Chan Reserve. The Coast Guard missed the time for the escort and instead intercepted Skerrit and his delegation on the way back to his hotel. The Coast Guard officers tied the boat transporting the Dominican prime minister to their own and boarded it.
“We are professionals,” Borland stressed. “We are taught to behave as such at all times, and whenever somebody errs in judgment, make a mistake, represents us poorly, or does something that is unbecoming of a Coast Guard officer, we hold them responsible to the highest standards of discipline, and that is what resulted in the disciplinary hearing yesterday.”
Meanwhile Belize’s minister of national security, John Salvidar, described the conduct of the officer as “unbecoming.”
“The matter has been dealt with and the Coast Gaurd officer has been reprimanded,” Saldivar said. “We apologize profusely…”
He said a communication will be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belize for onward transmission to PM Skerrit to convey deepest apologies for the “gross and inappropriate behavior, rude and obnoxious behavior by one member of the Coast Guard, which doesn’t at all reflect on the general membership of the Coast Guard.”
See Admiral Borland’s full statement on the matter below (courtesy of 7newsbelize.com):
“What actually happened is that the Coast guard was called to respond or to support a VIP escort and of course that VIP was the Prime Minister of Dominica and a delegation from [the Ministry of] Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Security and some people from Tourism.
The coastguard received that call very late, the boat was on patrol so we had to make way to the area of operations to try and link up with the VIP vessel. It did not link up at the proposed point because the time had gone by and it was late. So they proceeded to the area of Hol Chan Marine [Reserve] and they met a vessel returning from Hol Chan down back to San Pedro and that indeed was the vessel. So they approached the vessel, got the vessel to heave to which means to stop and tried to conduct, not an investigation but just an inquiry to find out if it is indeed the VIP vessel and to report themselves as the escort as they were late and tried to apologize for being late. I think what went wrong was perhaps the approach of the vessel commander who was the coxswain, in this case as was reported, Petty Officer Ogaldez.
And I think he erred in his judgment because when it got to the point of stopping the vessel and finding out whether or not this was the vessel with the prime minister onboard that was okay, but once that was verified then he should have had the courtesy and the respect to compliment the prime minister on being here, visiting us, being our guest in country, to pay respect and courtesy to him and just bid him the time of the day and let him go on his way. Instead, what he tried to do was get the particulars of the vessel, the particulars of those people onboard who stated that he did this because he wanted it to be in his patrol report, to report back to his commander.
So, I think that was poor judgment on his behalf knowing a person of such rank and status and position of authority was onboard, you know. The best he could have done was to apologize at the moment for stopping the vessel and then carry on with his duties of escorting the vessel even though he was already late. So, certainly some people were aggrieved by his behavior. The reports came into the office, we conducted an investigation and we held a hearing or what you might call a tribunal.
So the petty officer responsible, Petty Officer Ogaldez was placed on orders and came before the commandant on disciplinary trial and that trial resulted in him being demoted of his rank and reduced to the rank of seaman. So he no longer holds that authority to coxswain a vessel or to be in command of a patrol, or no longer has the authority to ever come in contact with such high ranking government officials again until he has learned a lesson that that is not the way that the coastguard operates. That is not the way we are trained to behave or conduct ourselves. We are professionals; we are taught to behave as such at all times, and whenever somebody errs in judgment, make a mistake, represents us poorly, or does something that is unbecoming of a Coast Guard officer, we hold them responsible to the highest standards of discipline, and that is what resulted in the disciplinary hearing yesterday.”
nonsense!!!! he should not be demoted for making a mistake for the frist time.. I went to P.M. office and he did not recordnize who I was. a Dominican, should he be demoted? for not knowing his own people?
The Officer acted within his rights; but when the Foreign Affairs Officers identified that the Prime Minister was on board, he should apologise and escort the boat back. But we also need to understand that the PM was at risk in that water going without the escort. People are kidnapped and in those areas; these are high risk zones; he needed to be escorted. That situation need not taken lightly, the officer should have exercise better judgement but whoever was responsible for allowing the PM to go without escort should have been sur-charged as well.
Brigadier General CPR.
Sorry “People are kidnapped and killed in those areas.
skerrit is just another man no sense in demoting the officer
If it was President Bush or Obama he’d be demoted.
The Coast Guard officer really did not exercise his duty in a professional manner. He should have been fired. His superior(s) probably had pity on him because he may have a wife and family to support which is why he was demoted and not dismissed.
He will soon be reinstated, and who will know it?
les ban sot ki zor yae.
i read, and i aggree with what was done, though i feel sorry 4 the person involved. but i believe these people get proper training before they are accepted in their position so i think he should take it as a lesson to b professional not just on the jobs..even regualr places u may go to and u are not being treated right, at stores restaurants etc. it is time desciplin b on the top list. I admire the belize comrad let people see and know how serious they must take their work. treat people right no matter who.((( that is if that is what really happened ok?))
Hey ppl read between the lines.dats a make up story for cover up.reality check according to watch I read it says data the pm was on an official visit umm question before I continue, how did the pm get there in Belize? Then why wasn’t the professionals been informed about the visiting of the pm? Also the petty officer was only doing his duty as he was not aware the pm went out at risk with his team to visit sharks, am sure by now the petty officer is in his same rank as before he would not be demoted like data by his actions, he most likely would be relief from duty or imprisoned for such actions.
Some ppl listen to news and some do not. Coast Guard does not have to know about every VIP that enters a country way in advance. All they have to do is what they are commanded to do. It could be now for now. Going to the places without an escort was not a crime either.. I’m sure everyone agreed to it…else they’d not have gone along.
A great lesson to someone who has no respect for Dominicans & Dominica.
You want respect? you have to give it, to get it.
If only the Belizeans knew about “go to hell,” “no law and no constitution,” “bastards” etc…
How you make your bed is how you’ll sleep!
When these things happen, I not quick to malparlay. I always say a prayer for the affected. Some of us so political we wish we could add more to the story to make the pm look like a pirate. And if he was, more money for the campaign and I want my share.
I am a Belizean and I strongly agree with the discipline.everyone should be responsible for their actions. discipline starts at home if every child was discipline and thought manners and respect we would be living in a better world today.
Well said. The same goes for some who comment on this Website.
military personnel normally stupid everywhere: bunch of guys which cannot go to pee without command and extreme situation are trigger-happy. Probably higher ranks engaged into strategy,planning etc are intellectual but boots on the ground are hopeless…so no surprises here…good that they didn’t start to shoot the PM
What do you know about the military? Have you ever been a Soldier to put out such strong accusation?
I hear they say that just to make skewo feel good.de officer was not demoted
Always negative and thinking lowly.
stupes know what you talking about. becasue you doh like the pm you have to make sure stupid comment. grow up
you must be part of the Belize Coast Guard
You mean to tell me that we are even divided about the people’s business in their country? How they discipline their people is none of our damn business I guess some of you the usual protesters should take to the streets of Belize and protest.
We are professionals,” Borland stressed. “We are taught to behave as such at all times, and whenever somebody errs in judgment, make a mistake, represents us poorly, or does something that is unbecoming of a Coast Guard officer, we hold them responsible to the highest standards of discipline, and that is what resulted in the disciplinary hearing yesterday.”
Dominicans should learn alot from this incident and learn to be responsible and stop blaming the DEVIL when they mess up.
It commences with you. “The devil made me do it.”
From an admiral to a seaman?
Wow,did not know that was possible in history.
DID YOU READ AND UNDERSTAND?
read carefully,he’s a petty officer,the admiral was jus sayin the statement
I think that you are mistaken my friend. The person who was demoted was not the Admiral! The Admiral was speaking about the incident and the punishment issued to the sailor involved. The Admiral was not involved in the actual incident…..it is just his responsibility to deal with this person under his command. I think that it was justified taking the action which they did as the PM and his companions were treated in a most inappropriate manner by the sounds of it. In such a case, we must put aside political caps and we must throw our support behind our PM. I am just thankful that no weapons were drawn as that could quite easily have happened. God bless our country……..
The question should be if the Belize Coast Guard was late how did Skerrit and who took him to Shark Ray Alley and the Ho Chan Reserve, also was that vehicle was one that the coast guard had an eye on for any reason so you see we cannot rejoyce that the employee was demoted just like that . What was our PM thinking If we are late for appointments we would wait for the other person in this case from what we are reading and hearing that didnt happen so why did the PM leave off without the coast guard and that’s what we should be asking him so dont be blind sided.
A more confident person would not of let that worry him , he had to make a big fuss and also staged a mini protest my not attending a function really unbecoming.
linton protesting 4 anything wee
Are you kidding? After what occurred to him? It put a damper on his enthusiasm to attend. I would do the same. Do not tell me if you experienced what he did, you would still attend. I doubt you would. There would be no happiness in attending the celebrations.
wonder if it was you what would be your reaction. You would behave like and animal
Bluevex I am not the person involved in this article, I am not a public figure ,and sometimes animals behave far better than some humans. You have a good day.
“Leh barb camawad ou pwi defay pwen glo wosay sayo”. Let’s not be too quick to rejoice at the fact that this officer was demoted. We all make mistakes. I am sure we do not have all the details of the whole situation. Sometimes we make the best decision we can with the information that is available to us at the time. This officer might have made a decision on the fly. It is easy for us to read the article and decide what course of action should he should have taken, however, this officer did not have this opportunity. So give him a break! We do not know how hard this officer worked to get to this point in his career. If it was his first incident he could have been given a written warning not demoted. I am sure that the PM was treated with dignity other that this light affliction. Ease up people. GRACE!!!!!!
Did you read the article? Members of the Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism were on the boat with the Dominica delegation. One would expect that they would have identified themselves and their guests to the Officer. In the face of that, the Officer’s conduct was unbecoming. Lucky for him that all he got was a demotion.
Poor sob suffering the misfortune of doing his work…it is the high ranking officer who did not inform the rank and file of the whereabouts of Mr. pm who should be fired.
They do damn right! Laugh now Dominicans. Sakway sot
Both parties broke protocol and acted with “gross and inappropriate behavior
1. The boat should have stay in the port until the escort by the coast guard arrived. That is protocol.
2. The coast guard upon learning that the Prime Minister was on board should not have used such judgment in the matter.
that is such nonsense, laws are laws and the officer acted responsibly. if something had gone wrong it would have been a different story.
you cannot read? guess not because if you had read the first story your mouth would be shut
We should disciplene our people in the same way too! Learn from that!
Dominican Coast Guard be like…….
PM we taking out share inno
WHAT
This is a great move by the Belizeans. I wonder if the same can be said of our people in authority in DA. Hope we take a page from their book.
There is only one god judgement is his stop the criticizen
“whenever somebody errs in judgment, make a mistake, represents us poorly, or does something that is unbecoming (like selecting Charlo for President), we hold them responsible to the highest standards”
As such the government will be held to the highest standards in the bastardizing of our constitution and mockery of the nation’s presidency. A landslide victory for the workers party will be their punishment…..
We shall send dem fallas packing and keep dem as far away from active politics as possible for treating this country and it’s citizenry mischievously.
Could Charles Savarin be appointed president anywhere in the civilized world?
I’m reading this report and this report sounds like a bunch of garbage and just a cover up to make PM Skerrit feel better. In my opinion that approach is a bigger disrespect to Dominica as a whole and a total lack of respect for the Prime Minister of Dominica. Dude will be back in his post next week. Joke’s on us..
Since you are so certain, maybe you should go and check to see if he will be back on the job and in the same position as previously.
I hope the PM and his security took a page from this incident…So Mr. PM I don’t expect you will send your security to intimidate people for asking questions again or finding out your whereabouts in quick time eh. That’s how they should have reprimanded the high ranking police officer that abuse the young man because his wife was pissed about the mans statement about the PM/DLP
The authorities in Belize displayed democracy not dictatorship.
respect our pm,he represents us and as such once he overseas he needs to be treated with respect!
This was the intention of the Belize government but that fool of an officer spoiled it for him and now for himself.
Just thinking…. does everything in this country has to be the prime minister’s fault… some of these comments totally missed the point.. its like some of you read but dont understand… I really dont see how the prime minister of your country is to be blamed for this…
He should have been dismissed!!! The arrogant toad!!! He was not fit to hold that post. Having been told that a VIP was on board should have sufficed – let alone A PRIME MINISTER. How dare he insult and humiliate our PM like this? There should be a review and he should be dismissed forthwith. I also hope that there ave been grovelling apologies to our PM Shame on Belize!.
No need for name calling here.
what a prime minister sow’s that shall he also reap! Eluid Williams knows too well what vilification, insult, ridicule and disrespect means and the prime minister himself dished it out to him on a silver platter so I say comrade skerrit pou saa.
Please, give me a cotton picking break! Suppose his action had led to the safety of the PM, if per say the boat the PM was in was held up? The coast guard job is a very important one. Do not degrade the man for doing his job. Your PM needs to lose some of his ego. You are to await the ccoast guard for escort, WAIT! If he had done so and not allow his bigger than self attitude to prevail, this would not have occurred. He should be thankful that it went down that way. Can you image if he was accosted at sea what an issue he would have caused for the visiting country? We need to put blame where due despite our political afflictions. A visiting diplomat has to adhere to all rules and regulations set out by the country he or she is visiting. But, then…our PM never follows rules, regulations or even the “damn constitution” to paraphrase our PM.
Skerrit was the one at the helm it seems?Note he was a passenger on the boat along with members of the ministry of foreign affairs.So i’m sure he was not the one making the decision whether to wait for coast guard or go.I doh like de man but unecessary bashing aint cool.
Oh please,remember how small dominica is.
I hope you are Mr or Mrs Perfect….if you made an error in a job would you like to be dismissed or demoted….demoting someone is taking away their original rank and down grading them, but you don’t reap their bread from their mouth. Skerrit self disappoint me by staying in his hotel room.
I hope this situation has made Skerrit realized that their are other countries in the world who believe that the disrespecting of people especially those in high position must be disciplined or made to apologise. Skerrit, during the DLP delegate conference in the presence of foreign invitees, found it necessary to call Mr. Edison James former Prime Minister of Dominica and Mr. Lennox Linton political leader of the UWP BASTARDS. To this day, he has never extended an apology for the wrongful statement. Great job Admiral John Boland for teaching the Prime Minister of Dominica an education as regards the manner to deal with people who are disrespectful.
WOW…I think Belize was a little to harsh on that office. Skerrit don’t deserve all that.
Where are your brains and your head including your intelligence? You have none?”
We are not talking about Skerrit. We are talking about The Prime Minister of DOMINICA!!! If you don’t respect the man respect his position!!! Stop the tunnel vision thinking and see the wider picture.
Are you really comparing this situation with our politics heading to election? Expect more name-calling from all the politicians. They aren’t different from the other, so don’t make our political bias let us believe otherwise.
And of course we know this will NEVER reach Q fm
You ain’t never lie,they will turn and twist the report.
from comments online the world would think we are having political war here. that is not the case, we are so happy with bad/negative news about the pm or people in general that living here is becoming uncomfortable. Is it that we are ideal? or just malicious? The fact that we have allowed ourselves to become so hateful and full of venom speaks more about us than about Mr. Linton, Q Fm, Kairi Fm, Mr. astaphans etc, those on the talk shows. We in Dominica love it when people names become scandalized
I salute the government and people of Belize for taking the necessary action in this embarassing matter. Im glad the man didnt get fired but his behaviour warranted disciplinary action. Right now I dont want our heads of state to go to Belize because i dont know how they will be treated. If the officer did not know correct protocol for such occasions then he ought not to have been in that position. Such arrogance!
I’m sorry about the man loosing his daily bread over this. I’m sure Skerrit is too. After all the officer must have a family to see about and feed. If I were a PM “who cares” I would plead with the Belize Authorities not to punish the man so harshly over such an incident. A warning letter could be given to the officer instead.
we must always look at the story and read between the lines, this is not a story about Mr Skerrit,this story is about the Belize goverment showing its top ranking coast guard that when they say dont touch a boat,that means DO NOT TOUCH IT,and because this probably law abiding,dedicated ADMIRAL,which as far as i know is the highest rank someone can hold,decided to do what he thought was right,he is demoted to seaman,which again,as far as i know is one of the lowest rankings,removing him from executing his duties when it comes to controling the drug flow through the country,and i bet they give a goverment puppet his job,,,,,,birds of a feather flock together,you scratch my back,ill scratch yours,,,,our prime minister as managed to rid the Belize goverment of a thorn in its side so now belize owes skerrit a favour,,,politics at work my friend,,,,,,but maybe im totally wrong,
No where in the story it is said that the Admiral was demoted. Obviously you reading comprehension is poor. Kindly, read the story again sentence by sentence to find out what was the original rank of the demoted officer and please present your answer by saturday.
That will be your homework for this lesson.
Demoted but getting the same salary, get a grip.
How you know what salary he getting. You not easy…
Well boss sometimes its not about salary its about ranks!!!!!
Who said? Do you know? Was it stated? Have you ever been employed?
Learn this. A demotion entails a decrease in salary with other decrease in benefits. Otherwise, it would not be a demotion. It would be a restructure or transfer, occasionally with the same salary, position and benefits.
Of course it’s a true story. I read it on Belize online news. Go read for yourselves and stop saying it’s fabricated. Don’t look stupid…
Don’t believe everything you hear and read…Jack.
Wish LIAT board was so bold
Demotion for what i would not have demote him.Taking food from a poor man kid.Skerro hope your smiling now.
say it loud September 26, 2013
Demoted but getting the same salary, get a grip.
My brother, Skerro did not demote the man.ok.
The man embarrass his country in front of his own high ranking officials(National Security, Tourism)and a VIP Guest. so he was disciplined by his own. simple.
You sir are an idiot! Any Ciart guard petty officer or officer has to adhere to customs and courtesies. One such is rendering respect to all they come in contact with, especially foreign dignitaries
The result is exactly as I predicted in my post on the incident. Reprimand and demotion!
Well done Admiral!
Coast guard*
Double kudos!!!!
lord it have more stupic people like you? you know the meaning of demoted? lol the man still have his job and lets just say he had lost his job how that is skerrit fault? being stupid like you should be a crime
Its a shame Skerrit did not tell the nation his side of the story and just leave us to speculate
That’s the kind of pm he is. Haven’t you heard of the saying “on the need to know basis “.
Like you would believe him?
cha – stop talking nonsense
He did not have to say anything. Had he been the one to come and give that story, all you blue mealy bugs would say he is lying. I am happy he just let you all belch all your empty bubbles and not respond. That’s all you all are worth.
so what doesthat have to do with the development of dominica or its institution? If he hhad spoken about it you all would say He thinks he’s too high and mighty. So I agree with the PM.what happen in belize shold stay in Belize.
Correction: So what does that have to do with the development of Dominica or its constitution?If he had spoken about it, you all would say that he thinks he’s high and mighty. So I agree. What happened in Belize should stay in Belize.
maybe if we adopted there disciplinary measures and make it applicable when necessary here in Dominica we would find less persons abusing there post?
Good job Belize…Lessons learned.
HMMM so the demote the guy fi doing what is to be considered his job….cause twas PM Skerrit.. so why havent the officer(s) who charged and jailed that innocent dude fi murder here in dominica haven’t been demoted or released from their jobs.? No humiliation greater than that experience. Standards my ……There,s never one side to a story. Seek the truth Dominicans…We’re being blinded.
HMMMMM?????….Well according to the article i just read, he erred, he used poor judgement. There was a report, investigation and a Tribunal. He did not adhere to the High standard expected of him by virtue of his Post ( vessel commander,coxswain )in such a situation. He actually caused his country Embarrassment for what he did and did not do, so he was disciplined. So tell me, how did you come up with your conclusions??? SMH. Enlighten me please. thank you
Dominicans really need to grow up lets try to build our country and stop that he say she say the world is listening got that
doh believe lennox linton will not follow up to make sure this is true.you know how he lovvvvvves his pm and wants to make sure he gets justice.
what is there to investigate again? lennox is just like a CID in UWP
He has a family kids to school he has worked hard to reach his rank .the Father will guide him .People of Dominica search for th truth in the matter and you will really see what happen.Santa maria
why don,t you just tell us.you seem to know what happened.
Bonita,
DO you know the truth? If so, then please share because it seem like there is more to the story than is out there. We dominicans would like to have all the fact to evealuate the situation for ourselves. Thanks
How many people did skerrit bring along…and who paid f it
Don’t believe that. That’s just a fabrication.
Well if you believe that what actually happened is something totally different from what we had read in these articles so far, then provide us with your evidence for peace sake.. You READING the facts of the reported and investigated incident, and yet you want to come up with your own darned conclusion. Why? I don’t get you. Must be Gossip all you like…
You must be really “TWISTED” indeed. Believing everything you read on paper. I wonder if you believe the Bible.
LANG ZOR…Indeed i BELIEVE the Bible, and we don’t want to go there. But i wonder what you believe, and on what you base your reason for believing. Let logic,reason be your guide to determine the ‘truths’ you believe. Peace bro
Know that you are dealing with a bias Media. So keep on believing.