Government Responds After Viral Video Shows Burning of Official Documents

A video showing government workers burning boxes of documents near Camalote Village has sparked public concern and gone viral on social media. The footage, shared by community activist Nigel Petillo, shows the papers being destroyed on private land using a vehicle linked to the Resilient Rural Belize (RRB) project. Petillo said he stumbled upon the scene while touring properties for his real estate work. At first, he was worried about the environmental impact of the burning, but his concern quickly shifted to what kind of documents were being destroyed—and why. The public reaction was swift, prompting a response from the Ministry of Finance. In a statement, the Ministry explained that the documents were old files that had already been cleared for disposal by auditors. They said the files had nothing to do with the RRB project, and the vehicle was just being used for transport. However, the Ministry admitted that the way the documents were destroyed—burned on private property—was not approved by senior officials. “There was no instruction given by the Minister of State nor the CEO authorizing the method or location of disposal,” the statement read. We spoke with Nigel Petillo earlier today to get more insight into what he saw.

 

On the Phone: Nigel Petillo, Community Activist

“Upon reaching the site, I saw some activities in the area and decided to take a closer look. Keep in mind, I had these clients with me. They just flew in from the states, respectable  folks. And I was trying my best not to make a scene, but as I got closer, I realized that, hey, these people ya. The first thing I noticed that government vehicle, government plates, then we passed fire on the way in which I never paid much mind to. I would’ve wanted to think it was, would’ve been a forest  fire or something. Then I put two together. I said, but this da wa next fire. The contents ney that look the same, paper burning. So I went out and I asked individuals yo, like why are they doing this?  What give them the right the authority to come into our community that we are building for grassroots people to dispose of their garbage. And not only that, but fi just light wa fire in the area. And I right away they were like, calm down Petillo. Hold it down. I don’t see how I could calm down with that, first of all, you guys are the government. You should have act up in a more appropriate manner. You have dump sites when me, you and every other regular citizen have to go utilize when it comes to dumping debris, et cetera. So I definitely wasn’t pleased with what I saw. “Trying not to speculate right there and then. I never really said to myself you know what? Why is it that they came here to burn this stuff? And what stuff are they burning? Right away I started thinking to myself, after I left because tell ney move fa ya now mein. My thing was to go and finish my tour with my clients. And hopefully on the way back they would’ve been gone. So when I left the trailer, I still had some documents in there. When I got there, they’re still there burning. And then I tell myself, you know what? I wa post this thing up for real you now because had they had left when I had asked them to leave, I neva mi wa  probably go off like that.”

 

The Ministry of Finance, Investment, Economic Transformation, Civil Aviation an E-Governance acknowledges that procedural methods were not followed for the disposal and confirmed that an internal review is underway.