Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
A 30 year old woman from Independence village is being treated for second degree burns after her 24 year old common law husband doused her with gasoline and set her on fire.
Karima Logan told police that at around 11:40 last night she had what she calls a minor argument with her common law Travis Lopez that escalated into deadly violence. She says he led her outside where he poured gasoline on her and then lit her on fire - which police report she described as an accident. He then quickly took her under the shower to put out the flames.
Logan was rushed to Southern Regional Hospital where she was seen with second degree burns to her neck, hands and upper body.
Today Travis Lopez was formally arrested and charged for the crime of attempted murder upon Karima Logan.
As the mess in the UDP continues to spiral - two things are happening: on one hand, the UDP splinter group called the Alliance for Democracy continues to march towards their October 20th convention. And on the other hand, the root UDP led by Shyne Barrow is consolidating its position against its opponents.
Today, Leader Shyne Barrow spearheaded a National Party Council meeting to, among other things, confirm the expulsion of Tracy Panton, Patrick Faber, John Saldivar and Beverly Williams.
Now, you might want to forget that he claimed he had already had this NPC. But, moving right along, he did do it today - except, in true form, it was all by WhatsApp group chat.
The resolution was put into an NPC group at 8:;00 in the morning - and screenshots we saw had leader Shyne Barrow constantly adding people to the group, loyalists who would vote yes to the resolution.
Hours later, the party put out a statement saying, quote:
"The National Party Council fully supports the Central Executive decision of August 28, 2024 in relation to John Saldivar, Tracy Panton, Patrick Faber and Beverly Williams..."
In the end we saw 40 persons supporting this in the Whatsapp chat.
Today the Alliance for Democracy splinter group leader Tracy Panton sent out a message saying: "...the Party Leader has failed to garner majority support but has declared the motion passed. As of twelve noon, only 39 delegates to the NPC have voted in favor of the motion. The motion requires fifty percent plus one to be carried, which amounts to 59 votes out of the 116 delegates in the National Party Council. Yet at 12:03 pm the Party Chairman declared the motion passed without the requisite amount of votes, further proof that the Party is not being run constitutionally and that the expulsions were never validated."
And as the UDP's infighting continues, the PUP can only watch in something between bemusement and bewilderment as they wonder what will happen next.
Minister Kareem Musa today called it a "spiral" and said that Barrow is acting "unhinged." But he has his popcorn ready for the October 20th convention. Here's how he characterized the Opposition's problems:
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "It seems to be a real spiraling of the UDP and the leader, the current leader, seems to be a bit unhinged in terms of his actions. I think members of his party, or former members of his party, depending on how you look at them, are saying that he's been behaving very dictator-like. Himself and the chairman of the UDP. And I've think they have made the point, that they are a party governed by rules, governed by constitution and so it's going to be very interesting going forward to see what comes after October 20th because I think it was Jules who said whoever holds the keys to the headquarters is in charge of the party, I didn't know that's how it works. But if that's how it works, I don't see Shyne or Peyrefitte giving up the keys to this headquarters at Belchina so it's going to be interesting post October 20th."
But even though Barrow is running NPC meetings by chat group, he still finds time to criticize the Commissioner of Police, the Minister, and the department. On Wednesday, we told you that the UDP issued a press release stating that murders in September had increased by 167% when compared to last year.
The press release then went on to list seven incidents, in which eight people were killed. However, as the ComPol pointed out today, only five of those incidents were classified as murders.
So in reality, the number of recorded murders was only up by 2 when compared to September 2023.
Before he responded, the compol wanted to be clear on which faction of the party was making the claims:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Which of the UDP is that? There's the UDP and the UDP Alliance."
Courtney Menzies: "The one that Shyne runs."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "That one only has one member though. [laughs]. Again, I don't know how Shyne arrived at his numbers. We have a total of 71 murders so far this year. For the month of September, we had 5 murders compared to three last year. So we are two above last year, and of the five murders, two were domestic, the guy, Guzman who killed the two women in the house in Corozal, the family issue. And then we had the one with the two brothers in Bella Vista where they were drinking and one kill the next one. I don't understand how Shyne expect police to prevent those from happening. And the other murders, we had one in Cotton Tree where the two neighbors had an argument over loud music or something and the next one went and killed the other one. How could we prevent that? Again, at the end of the day, I don't know what to say about my friend but again it's a case where he is playing on the lives of people for his own political aggrandizement and I think that's wrong and he needs to be called out for it. You in the media know the figures. Call out the man, that's all I will say."
And while the ComPol's total figure is at 71, the UDP puts it at 78 - but we already know that number is incorrect. Minister Musa believes the opposition's numbers are fabricated to instill fear - especially since, based on the poll by Viking Solutions, crime is the number one concern of Belizeans. But that same poll put Musa in the top three most liked politicians, so maybe residents believe he's doing a good job - or maybe they just like his dancing. Here's what he said about the numbers.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "It is completely fabricated. If you look at the numbers for this last quarter, murders are actually down compared to the first and second quarter of this year. And so there is a drastic reduction in the number of murders for the last three months and I'm sure that your numbers would reflect the same but I just chalked it up to National Convention anxiety setting in for the leader and he wants to be seen to be doing something and of course as Mr Ashcroft's poll suggests, crime is always on the radar. People are concerned about crime and so of course the Leader of the Opposition will try to play on people's emotions but unfortunately it's all fabricated information."
Courtney Menzies: "Did you review what the poll said about you? What are your thoughts about it?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "I think it said I'm the third most favorable politician. I guess i have to continue dancing then."
But 71 murders in 9 months is cause for celebration - each one of those numbers represents a family left to grieve. And today at the National Compstat Meeting, the ComPol gave a special presentation. He explained that as we enter into the fourth quarter of the year, he's ramping up crime fighting strategies so that this year's murder count can be lower than last year's.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I put together a presentation, an overall presentation where I outlined to the officers where we are so far for this year, where we have been at the end of each quarter of the year, outlined to them how we got to where we are and also told them in my presentation what I want us to do collectively together for the rest of the year so that we will be able to defeat the numbers for last year. I am extremely passionate about what I do, saving lives of Belizeans is important to me and as I said to them, we finished the month of September with three murders above last year's figures around the same time. My objective is for us to work our butts off for the rest of this year to defeat the number for last year which was 87 so in other words, we are at 71 murders right now, that puts us at 16 below last year's figure. I'm pleading to my commanders for us to work together in order for us to defeat that 16 so that we can end up with either 87 or less murders. I also outlined to them strategies that I want us to do to be able to ensure that we will be able to defeat the numbers.So it's not like I am presenting the numbers because I want to come with my own figures, and the numbers that I presented were the same numbers that we get from JICC and Compstat. It's not like I came up with my own numbers out of my own head. And again, each commander will still do their regional presentation and their regional presentation is going to have the numbers per region as we normally have during Compstat. I simply did a presentation today because it is important for me at this stage to make sure that we work collectively as a team with the public so that we will be able to defeat the numbers for last year."
"We need to be more proactive in terms of our approach, we don't want to respond I even said to them that if it is they hear there is an issue brewing between two different gang groups, we must step in, do intervention, get LIU involved, get Mr Nuri involved, let's see how we can stem that before it reaches a stage where somebody gets killed because once somebody gets killed the problem becomes greater because the other side will want to retaliate, we must do what we can to avoid getting to that stage."
And the Minister added that while they've been fighting gang related crime, domestic murders have been on the rise. He explained that now they must come up with strategies to tackle that. However, he believes they'll be able to have lower murder numbers this year.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "It has beanery challenging but as I mentioned to the commanders this morning, we have seen a decline, a substantial decline since 2020 each year going lower and lower. And of course, we always want to do better than the previous year and so that is what we will aim for in the last quarter of the year. The police will definitely increase their proactive measures in terms of preventing crime and also like the commissioner said, work along with the LIU and other agencies actively trying to stem the gang violence. I know that a lot of the murders that took place in 2024 have been domestic in nature and so we have to find a way to work along with members of the public in terms of creating greater awareness of domestic situations because I think that is certainly what is inflating the numbers this year. But I'm very confident moving towards the last quarter that we'll be able to com every close to the exceptional year that we had last year."
And the SOE definitely helped in keeping gang related murders down. It ended last month and so far, things have been quiet. The ComPol had mentioned previously that he told the detainees to hand over their weapons if they were serious about changing their lives. We asked him today how many weapons they got.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We didn't get as much as we expected, we got a total of 19 weapons, different calibers and a number of ammunition so those were collected and have been submitted as found property and we sent to the National Forensic Unit firearm or ballistic unit for testing."
Reporter "What has the observation been in the wake of that extended SOE in terms of how the gangs interact with each other at this point?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Well we do have follow ups. Brother Nuri is tasked to ensure that he does follow up with them. We want to ensure that we have a system where they don't just come out of SOE and we leave them right there. We want to do programs with them so Brother Nuri and LIU are tasked in ensuring that we do follow ups and different programs with them. We have a system where they were told that if it is there is some issue brewing between them and other groups, for them to come forward and let us know and we'll step in and do interventions, mediations. I think some of them are very serious about trying to make a change and so we must do what we can to help them with that change. I know at time it is difficult because when you may want to change then others are not so willing to change and you become a target so there's a trust issue there still between them and we must work with them to see how best we can resolve that trust issue."
She's the former Belmopan City Administrator whose name came up on the Innovabel land grab. Her name was linked to 8 parcels for which she allegedly got a deep discount.
Well, 4 days after that document emerged, Shirlene Julien has issued a statement denying the allegations.
She says the land was, quote, "lawfully received as part of my employment contract during my tenure as City Administrator of the Belmopan City Council. The intentionally distorted "leaked" document, is riddled with errors and asserts falsehoods I cannot sit silently by and accept. For the record, I am a professional and not a politician and categorically deny this malicious misinformation. I also do not appreciate being caught in the crossfires of this political infighting."
Julien then notes that of the 8 parcels linked to her, four are for a company named "Almeya Consulting Limited" - which she has no association with.
She says she received only 4 parcels, quote, "as part of a legally negotiated employment contract. The value of these parcels was charged against what I was owed for my almost three (3) years of service to a cash-strapped city council."
She adds, quote, "These baseless accusations were an attempt to defame my character as a professional and unjustly call into question my leadership abilities and the work I accomplished for the City of Belmopan. Furthermore, these misguided attacks have caused undue distress and reputational harm to my son and family, which is deeply upsetting and unacceptable." end quote.
On Wednesday, a Belize City Call center sales agent was detained, after she reportedly stabbed her ex mother in law. She is 32 year old Vanessa Good, a mother of two. Good appeared in the magistrates court today where she was read three criminal charges for use of deadly means of harm; grievous harm and burglary with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to 57 year old Sharlene Cane Alvarez. Good claims that she had gone to collect money from Alvarez for her children when Alvarez approached her with a shiny object in her hand and attempted to attack her. The prosecutor expressed a heavy objection against bail for Good but the chief magistrate decided to grant bail to Good under the conditions that she must undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She was offered bail of $3000 dollars and was ordered to stay away from the complainant and other family members. Good also lost custody of her children who were placed into the care of Human Services. Her ex mother in law remains hospitalized in a stable condition.
Yesterday we told you about how BSI along with several other stakeholders in the sugar industry have joined forces to investigate the spread of a fungal disease among a number of sugar cane crops in the Corozal district. Although the name of the disease has not yet been identified nor has the number of affected crops been ascertained, SIRDI held an open forum today on "fusarium infection" in sugar to teach farmers on how to identify a spread in their fields. The Minister of Agriculture also attended the forum and here's what he shared on how they are dealing with the situation.
Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture "I think, as you all know, this is a new disease of sugarcane caused by a fungus, fusarium. We do not yet know the exact species, we know the genus, which is fusarium, but there are so many fusariums, and they exist naturally in the soil, in areas, like Belize, tropical conditions."
"What happened is the high temperatures that we experienced with climate change apparently triggered off the fusarium to start to be a pathogenic agent now. So it's a disease-causing organism. So fusarium lives naturally in the soil, but it was not causing any disease."
"But the experts believe that with the climate change, the high temperatures in the soil, high humidity conditions, it had the perfect condition created for this to become a pathogenic agent and now causing a disease in sugarcane."
"In Belize, it's the first time that this disease is being reported. So the farmers are taking it very seriously. If you look at the amount of people here at this training, you will see that people are interested in disease, are very concerned about the disease, and so is the Ministry of Agriculture."
"So it just shows us that climate change is very important to us. It is causing serious problems to us. And so we must address it the best way possible. So SIRDI today invited this expert from Mexico, Ahinero Larry Balam, and he is now presenting to the farmers what exactly the disease is, what it causes, and how we can possibly control it."
"There's no magic bullet to solving this problem, right? It has to be an integrated approach, resistant varieties, conditions in the field that you have to do cultural practices and so on. So it has to be looked at from that perspective, from an integrated approach. And so that's what they are emphasizing today."
The 2 day forum also included field visits to observe the affected fields in the Corozal area.
After BSI's warehouse tour and an introduction to their proposed commercial sugar packaged product to GOB, we also asked the minister what he thought about BSI's packaged product, more specifically what is keeping cabinet back from giving them the green light to sell it domestically. Here's what he had to say.
Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture "Pre-packaged sugar was a part of the proposal proposed to us by BSI some months ago, before the crop ended. They had requested an increase in price for packaged sugar. I took that to cabinet. We used their proposal, we developed our proposal, and we went to cabinet and said, this is what BSI is proposing, but we are recommending this."
"Cabinet decided it was the best interest for us, it was best for us to wait until the Commission of Inquiry is over for us to address that increase in price because packaged sugar does not come only as packaged sugar, it comes at a cost."
"So they were requesting to increase the price for packaged sugar. I have not since received a proposal since then on that one, or at least I haven't seen one on my desk. But we are prepared to look at it and to see what is the cost that it would incur to bagged sugar."
"We've asked them in the last proposal to give us the figures of bagging sugar. What is the cost? They haven't given it to us yet, but we're still asking them, give us what is their cost, what is their added cost for bagging sugar. And we will analyze it and I can take it to cabinet again, if cabinet approves, then we move ahead. That's a decision for cabinet to make."
Back in May 2023, former cop Cecil Martinez was locked up for 6 days on a frivolous charge. Back then, he told our newsroom that the arresting officer stated that he was wanted for obtaining property by deception but would not tell him what the item was.
Martinez retained a lawyer and decided to sue the police department for unlawful detention. But the trial never concluded since the government decided to settle, and Martinez was $17,000. Today we asked ComPol the reasoning behind the decision.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Again if it is that we see a case where we can't fight it and win, why fight knowing that you're going to lose? We got advice from the AG ministry, they are the legal advisors for the government, advising us to settle the suit based on what they saw on the file, that came to me, I agreed that applying legal principals, we would not be able to win the case and so we accepted liability and then we just look at the issue of quantum."
On Monday the ComPol explained that Minister Andre Perez would not be charged for the cocaine found on his boat since there was no evidence that it belonged to him. The vessel was moored at a boatyard for six months and the police could not tie him or the owners of the boatyard to it.
But many in the public criticized the ComPol for letting Perez off the hook so easily. The media asked him about the investigation again today.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The department is not one that would act based on what certain sectors of the public may want to see us act on. We act based on evidence and we must objective in terms of how we carry out our functions. If you have a vehicle and your vehicle experience mechanical problems. And you take your vehicle to a mechanic's garage, you park it there for six months, you don't go to that mechanic's garage and check your vehicle, your vehicle is left open, the mechanic have access to it. The garage is an open area, people have access to it. If police were to go and find drugs in your vehicle after six months, would it be fair to say that the drugs belong to you?"
Reporter: "The counterargument as far as I'm understanding is to say that, for instance, if the police conduct a raid or a search at a residence and they find illegal items in there then automatically it's ascribed that it's your property."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "But again you hear you said at the residence. The boat is not at Mr Perez's residence, Mr Perez lives miles away from the boatyard, the man does not live there. If there were anybody to be held to account for the drugs in the boat, it would've been the owner of the boatyard but even they cannot be held to account because the boatyard has so many ins and outs. People go in and as I said before, the police went there based on intelligence that was given to them by people who live in the area having seen these drug men going to the area. You expect me to charge the minister for something that there is no nexus between him and that object? I can't do that. Not because of his social or economical status but simply because there is absolutely no nexus between him and the drugs. everyday police find drugs in people's yards that are open, we don't charge them. Police find guns in people's yards that are open, we don't charge them because you to go to court you have to have a nexus, you either have to have actual possession or constructive possession."
And the Minister reiterated the ComPol's comments. He stated that the officers were operating based on a tip and commended the cops for searching the vessel, since the department believes that the reason it was stashed there was so that the police wouldn't look.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "It's a very unfortunate situation that can happen to any citizen of Belize regardless of the position that you hold. It could happen to members of the media and I'm certain that you would likewise hope that the police investigate the matter in the way that they did in the case of Minister Perez's boat. From all the circumstances, all the facts of the case, it is clear that police received a tip based on suspicious individuals who had been traversing the area, and so it wouldn't have been just a random search of Minister Perez's boat, it was based on information provided by a member of the public that the police were able to go on the boat and locate the drugs. And so it's a good thing in the sense that it was located prior to Minister Perez even using the vessel because from all the information, it had been months before he had actually used the vessel and so it's not a situation in which the police had pulled over Minister Perez in the course of using his vessel, like the Commissioner rightly pointed out, if you take your vessel to a mechanic and it has been months since you've actually had access to it, it is very difficult to create any sort of nexus and the likelihood of the drug peddlers actually using a Minister's vessel is very high because they figure that is a safe stash spot for them because police would never search a Minister's vessel and so I want to commend the officers acting on the tip that they had received to be able to locate and confiscate the drugs."
And the police believe that the peddler that stashed the drugs headed north. In this month alone, there have been two big busts in Corozal. But now they're turning to the public for more information on drugs that may be circulating close to the border.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Our northern operation team has been doing well and they have been able to make two significant seizures, we have the 8kg and we have the 28kg of suspected cocaine. So that goes to show that they are doing as much as they can. We know that might just be pittance compared to what might be in the area. We have received information and we're acting on those information and I just urge the public if they know of anyone who have or are in possession of drugs to let us know and we'll go in and do what needs to be done. Our strong presence along the irregular border crossing area continues with the police and the BDF and to some extent even customs to make sure that we do not have these drugs going over into the Mexican side easily. We know that once it gets there then it goes north and that's a problem to our counterparts in the US so we continue to work along with them as well to see what we can do to be able to stem this issue."
And with domestic murders, cocaine busts, officers committing crimes, and the UDP constantly on his case, the ComPol retained the assistance of not one, not two, but six pastors at his last Commanders Meeting on Monday. He asked them to pray to fend off the evil that he said is working against him.
Today we asked him about it, and he said that he believes the department needs major spiritual guidance.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Like you have sources everywhere."
Courtney Menzies: "That's what it's like being in the news."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Everything I do people tell you. Who is your source in the high command? [laughs]. Again, we are a God fearing organization and with all that is happening across the country and all that the police have to deal with, it's a lot and so for us to be able to bring in the pastors to be a part of our Monday conference was a good thing. They prayed with us, they prayed for us and offered some spiritual guidance in terms of not just our professional well being but also our individual well being and so it is something that I've said to my commanders that we'll try to do at least once a month to be able to bring in these pastors and provide some spiritual guidance to us. I think we do need it with all that is happening, the job of police is very stressful and some people may not be able to take the stress but if we can put God in the midst of what we do to provide guidance and wisdom to us then certainly we'll be able to do what we can to keep our sanity while we perform our duties."
The General Legal Council has found two attorneys guilty of less than optimal professional conduct and one of them is a minister.
In February of 2020 - when Michel Chebat was still in private practice, two of his clients Rae English and Stanley D. Cook complained that Chebat and his associates failed to respond to them about their case. They allege, quote, "his negligence has caused us to lose a boat we had repossessed..."
They say Chebat's firm never made them aware of a hearing in 2019 and because of this a default judgment was made against them.
The council found that Chebat was not the attorney with direct responsibility for the Complainants' case - it was Nazira Uc Myles - who later left the firm.
Chebat entered an affidavit that he never met the clients and does not know them and that he did not receive an email in 2020 from the clients advising him of their total frustration.
In the end, the Council found that a duty of care was owed to the Complainants by Mr. Chebat. However, the Council could not find that there was a breach of this duty in relation to the hearing they missed. The decision says, quote, "The Council therefore finds that there is no evidence that Mr. Chebat breached Rule 69 of the Legal Profession (Code of Conduct) Rules.
The conclude, quote, "we are satisfied that the failure to respond to inquiries of the Complainants, and thereby failing to provide assistance when requested by the client, Mr. Chebat breached Rule 28(1) of the Legal Profession (Code of Conduct) Rules.
Although we have found that Mr. Chebat is not guilty of negligence, the Complainants' (situation)...stemmed from the lack of responsiveness of M. H. Chebat & Co.
Although Mr. Chebat is not actively engaged in his practice, he is liable for the actions of his staff." End quote...Not being physically present in the office does not exculpate him from liability.
He has until October 25th to make his case in writing to the council.
In the other case, Bruce Cho complained against Senior Counsel Hubert Elrington. Mr. Cho complains that Mr. Elrington, who was representing him in a suit before the then Supreme Court, failed to comply with case management orders, and refused to, despite Mr. Cho's instructions, put forward evidence before the then Supreme Court.
So, he lost the case because no evidence was presented
The judgement says, quote, "the Council is satisfied and is unanimous in finding that Mr. Elrington is guilty of professional misconduct in respect of his representation of Mr. Cho.
He has until October 25th to set out in writing why sanctions should not be laid against him.
NICH in partnership with UNESCO has secured a grant to launch its "Empowering Communities for the Safeguarding of Belize's Foodways," project which is set to take place over a 2 year period. Their Director, Rolando Cocom gave us more details on this unique study.
It is known to be the source of energy and nutrition - but good food also feeds the spirit, and in a melting pot of cultures the menu spans far and wide when it comes to traditional Belizean dishes. Good food never goes out of style, but the recipes and old fashioned ways of preparing even the easiest delicacies becomes a challenge to preserve as the OG cooks retire and leave us, taking their special secrets of the kitchen with them. But with a UNESCO grant, the Institute of Social and cultural Research has stepped up to provide a solution to this, how we can safeguard our heritage and the food that fuels us. Their Director told us more.
Rolando Cocom, Director of NICH-ISCR "So the institute for Social and cultural research works in collaboration with communities to identify our cultural heritage and to identify ways on how we can safeguard that for the next generation. So over the years we have been involved with different projects with UNESCO, in particular we have documented quite a number of our major national celebrations including the finados that's coming up or the recent San Joaquin and Yellow Ginger festival which took place last month and so we have been doing that work at the celebrations level and the festivities but we have been receiving conversations with our cultural workers about this need to discuss food. Food in maybe three dimensions one in terms of survival we all need to eat to survive, but what are we eating? Are we eating more food that contributes to our well-being or are we being more and more globalized? Also facing the threats of climate change, meaning that some traditional food is not so often easily available. And then perhaps as well, thinking about food in a context of cultural exchange. I have recounted an instance in my life where I did not get to taste the Hudut until I got to study at the university of Belize."
"So there is a lot of food and I feel that if we were to open up ourselves to our cultural relatives we would be enriched, be enriched in terms of nourishing of well being and enriched in terms of our connection that we can then have with other people of this country."
The objective of the project is not only to document the cultural connection to food, but also create a deeper appreciation for complexities of cooking and presentations across a wide range of cultures.
Rolando Cocom, Director of NICH-ISCR "And so food involves sharing it involves community building and so that is what we are hoping for that out of this we have more intercultural understanding with each other and then we also appreciate the other elements of food in thinking about the agricultural aspects of food, are we planting what we are used to eat in the past and that it is traditionally beneficial as communities of this region. So let us eat less of foreign processed goods which has become more and more common since independence and so that is the work we are trying to do as well. And I think the other aspect is the rituals so there are certain foods that accompany, traditional festivities, I mentioned the finados for instance which is food firstly offered as an offering to the departed loved ones and then eaten afterwards, so these are also aspects of the tradition that perhaps do not come off at the top of our mind, but perhaps through this project, we will hope that more and more Belizeans appreciate these other intricacies of food."
So if you are wondering whether there is a wrong or right way to make tamales, or enjoy your garnaches with or without ketchup, Cocom says that there can be no wrong done in playing around with the different flavors and methods of preparation.
Rolando Cocom, Director of NICH-ISCR "We will do our best to document as much food practices as we can, and for this, from this US$98,600 that we are receiving about 25,000 will go into equipment, equipment that is accessible to our houses of Culture to our town councils where we do not have a house of Culture presently with NICH."
"To be able to then train around 20 to 25 persons at the district level to provide transportation for them to go out to Rural communities or wherever they feel is important to document those food practices. One of the things that we believe in at NICH and at the UNESCO level is that we cannot determine what is cultural heritage, and that is only being determined by the communities so if a Creole community or Creole residence for that matter tell us that the ketchup on the Garnaches is essential and that is part of their heritage and their cultural food. Then we agree we say that is it for these individuals for these communities. And we believe in diversity of cultural food."
Conventional wisdom says the next general election will be held in the first quarter of 2025. Today the media asked Minister Musa about his constituency, especially since the UDP standard bearer has already started the groundwork. Dr Nelma Mortis will be going up against second term representative Kareem Musa, but what does he think of his opponent? Here's what he said.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "Me and my team, and I always want to acknowledge the efforts because it's not a singular effort on my part, I have a very supportive cast behind me as well as the community. I think that we have done a lot in a very short period of time especially when it comes to the safety and security of our neighborhoods, working along with neighborhood watch groups, putting up cameras in the area, police booths in the area and fixing all of the parks, that has been something that I have been very proud of. We have, I believe the most parks per capita in the entire country and we're now in our sixth park, the Noel Ferguson park that we're actually refurbishing. Hopefully that will be done within the next three weeks or so and so it's just a lot of work, continuing to work, delivering services to our people of Caribbean Shores, groceries to our elderly, land distribution to our constituents who have been land less for so long, especially our young people. I find that that has had a great impact and especially housing. I think we have done a magnificent job as a government distributing houses to our people, and very good concrete cement houses that they're so proud to have a roof over their heads and I look forward to the next five years of just continuing the work we've been doing. I know that I personally have a big project in mind and that is repairing the MCC grounds, the historic, legendary MCC grounds which sit in my constituency. I have already been given the assurances from the prime minister that that will be on the table moving forward so in terms of big projects, that's something that we have to look forward to."
Reporter: "How do you size up your opponent nonetheless?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs "You know, I've never looked at my opponents as opponents really, just trying to work along with them if they're interested in working along with me. I know that Ms Nelma Mortis has a history of working in mediation and certainly I've met with her even in other forums prior to her announcing her candidacy but I never size up my opponents, I don't take any of them lightly, I certainly give them equal weight, but at the end of the day, the people will decide based on my track record, my performance, and my team's performance."
FSC Encourages Engagement With Investor Week
In recognition of World Investor Week The Financial Services Commission of Belize, sat down with the media today to discuss how they are raising awareness about the importance of investor education and investor protection through various initiatives of security regulators. World Investor week will take place between October 7th to the 13th and here's what FSC has planned.
Nilda Sosa, Director of Operations & Corporate Services, FSC "So the world investor week is a week-long global campaign that's promoted and coordinated by IOSCO. It will start on October 7th that's next week and it will conclude on October 13th 2024. Like the director general mentioned, it is the first time that FSC and Belize is participating in this global initiative but 2024 marks the 8th edition or the 8th year that IOSCO is doing this global initiative. We are joining over 100 other security regulators and supporters and together we will collectively embark on this global campaign to elevate investor education you have heard that being mentioned throughout the press conference. Investor education we want to strengthen investor protection and of course enhance financial literacy. The DG mentioned three thematic areas, the world investor week is focusing on technology and digital finance, crypto assets and sustainable finance. These three main thematic areas are being complimented by three other areas which are fraud and scam prevention Investor resilience and basics of investing. So in essence all ISCO members and supporters such as IDB the world bank group the OECD who are partnering with IOSCO to promote this global initiative will be launching investor focused activities and services there will be competitions that will focus on the importance of investor education and of course there will be webinars and workshops with the objective of educating the public in different areas that were mentioned."
Do Businesses Support FSC Regulations?
And while the financial Services Commission tries to engage the general public and the business community in its discussion of securities - we had to ask how good the relations are with that community. That's because since the FSC came into being, many complain that there's been a lot less ease in doing business.
Haylock rejected that:
Jules Vasquez "The FSC has produced regimes that drive up the cost of doing business. Do you think that you all still have the good will of the business sector?"
Claude Haylock, Director General, FSC "Well let me say two things that I disagree with your portrayal of the cost of business a matter of fact we believe that for example the cost of incorporating a company and the facts will bare this out that those costs have actually been reduced."
"So the perception of that may be driven. It's something new for them. I mean when you've never had to comply with something before I mean you have to start complying. It's a very different perspective."
"I would push back, I push back very forcefully on this perception that we have driven up the cost of doing business. As a matter of fact I think to the country you know we have made it easier I mean incorporating a company today. How long did it take you before? Weeks? 24 hours, in 24 hours you can incorporate a company in Belize now and we did that very quickly and efficiently. Belizeans can now go online and manage their own companies themselves. They do not have to pay these exorbitant fees by people who say they are helping them to form their companies."
Email
Print
A 30 year old woman from Independence village is being treated for second degree burns after her 24 year old common law husband doused her with gasoline and set her on fire.
As the mess in the UDP continues to spiral - two things are happening: on one hand, the UDP splinter group called the Alliance for Democracy continues to march towards their October 20th convention. And on the other hand, the root UDP led by Shyne Barrow is consolidating its position against its opponents.
And as the UDP's infighting continues, the PUP can only watch in something between bemusement and bewilderment as they wonder what will happen next.
"It seems to be a real spiraling of the UDP and the leader, the current leader, seems to be a bit unhinged in terms of his actions. I think members of his party, or former members of his party, depending on how you look at them, are saying that he's been behaving very dictator-like. Himself and the chairman of the UDP. And I've think they have made the point, that they are a party governed by rules, governed by constitution and so it's going to be very interesting going forward to see what comes after October 20th because I think it was Jules who said whoever holds the keys to the headquarters is in charge of the party, I didn't know that's how it works. But if that's how it works, I don't see Shyne or Peyrefitte giving up the keys to this headquarters at Belchina so it's going to be interesting post October 20th."
But even though Barrow is running NPC meetings by chat group, he still finds time to criticize the Commissioner of Police, the Minister, and the department. On Wednesday, we told you that the UDP issued a press release stating that murders in September had increased by 167% when compared to last year.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
And the SOE definitely helped in keeping gang related murders down. It ended last month and so far, things have been quiet. The ComPol had mentioned previously that he told the detainees to hand over their weapons if they were serious about changing their lives. We asked him today how many weapons they got.
She's the former Belmopan City Administrator whose name came up on the Innovabel land grab. Her name was linked to 8 parcels for which she allegedly got a deep discount.
On Wednesday, a Belize City Call center sales agent was detained, after she reportedly stabbed her ex mother in law. She is 32 year old Vanessa Good, a mother of two. Good appeared in the magistrates court today where she was read three criminal charges for use of deadly means of harm; grievous harm and burglary with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to 57 year old Sharlene Cane Alvarez. Good claims that she had gone to collect money from Alvarez for her children when Alvarez approached her with a shiny object in her hand and attempted to attack her. The prosecutor expressed a heavy objection against bail for Good but the chief magistrate decided to grant bail to Good under the conditions that she must undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She was offered bail of $3000 dollars and was ordered to stay away from the complainant and other family members. Good also lost custody of her children who were placed into the care of Human Services. Her ex mother in law remains hospitalized in a stable condition.
Yesterday we told you about how BSI along with several other stakeholders in the sugar industry have joined forces to investigate the spread of a fungal disease among a number of sugar cane crops in the Corozal district. Although the name of the disease has not yet been identified nor has the number of affected crops been ascertained, SIRDI held an open forum today on "fusarium infection" in sugar to teach farmers on how to identify a spread in their fields. The Minister of Agriculture also attended the forum and here's what he shared on how they are dealing with the situation.
"I think, as you all know, this is a new disease of sugarcane caused by a fungus, fusarium. We do not yet know the exact species, we know the genus, which is fusarium, but there are so many fusariums, and they exist naturally in the soil, in areas, like Belize, tropical conditions."
After BSI's warehouse tour and an introduction to their proposed commercial sugar packaged product to GOB, we also asked the minister what he thought about BSI's packaged product, more specifically what is keeping cabinet back from giving them the green light to sell it domestically. Here's what he had to say.
Back in May 2023, former cop Cecil Martinez was locked up for 6 days on a frivolous charge. Back then, he told our newsroom that the arresting officer stated that he was wanted for obtaining property by deception but would not tell him what the item was.
On Monday the ComPol explained that Minister Andre Perez would not be charged for the cocaine found on his boat since there was no evidence that it belonged to him. The vessel was moored at a boatyard for six months and the police could not tie him or the owners of the boatyard to it.
And the police believe that the peddler that stashed the drugs headed north. In this month alone, there have been two big busts in Corozal. But now they're turning to the public for more information on drugs that may be circulating close to the border.
The General Legal Council has found two attorneys guilty of less than optimal professional conduct and one of them is a minister.
NICH in partnership with UNESCO has secured a grant to launch its "Empowering Communities for the Safeguarding of Belize's Foodways," project which is set to take place over a 2 year period. Their Director, Rolando Cocom gave us more details on this unique study.
"So there is a lot of food and I feel that if we were to open up ourselves to our cultural relatives we would be enriched, be enriched in terms of nourishing of well being and enriched in terms of our connection that we can then have with other people of this country."
Conventional wisdom says the next general election will be held in the first quarter of 2025. Today the media asked Minister Musa about his constituency, especially since the UDP standard bearer has already started the groundwork. Dr Nelma Mortis will be going up against second term representative Kareem Musa, but what does he think of his opponent? Here's what he said.
In recognition of World Investor Week The Financial Services Commission of Belize, sat down with the media today to discuss how they are raising awareness about the importance of investor education and investor protection through various initiatives of security regulators. World Investor week will take place between October 7th to the 13th and here's what FSC has planned.
Nilda Sosa, Director of Operations & Corporate Services, FSC
Claude Haylock, Director General, FSC