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2 of the 20 were arrested at the entrance to San Antonio Village while bathing in a river. They are 36-year-old Moises Novelo from San Roman and 27-year-old Philemon Friesen from Belmopan. They were intercepted in a taxi, according to reports. Both men were charged with the State of the emergency offense of being unable to provide a reasonable explanation for movement outside of Curfew.

Sandbar Stragglers Arrested

And the waterway violations didn't stop there because on Sunday afternoon the Coast Guard made its own state of emergency arrests. They brought in 5 people guilty of recreating at the Sandbar near St. George's Caye. And the evidence for that recreation, a cooler stocked with ice, a bottle of coke, and an Elephant foot.

What About The Students Out There?

Going back now to today's interview with the Prime Minister, we asked him about the status of Belizean students in many corners of the world, who may be finished their studies, or may have an expired visa for the country they are studying in, or may be in a country with a dangerous number of COVID 19 cases. They can't come home because the borders are closed and look to remain that way for a while. He says consideration will be given to them:

Reporter
"These people are in a situation where some of them may be running out of VISA or finishing their program of study, but they can't come home. IS there any contemplation for them while also maintaining the strict regimen of the border closures?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister
"Well, there has to be contemplation and I believe that part of the opening up must look at the plight of Belizean students and other Belizeans that may be stuck. One of the police officers as part of the contingent that provides security at my house, he is stuck in the States. He was over there on holiday when we close the borders even to returning Belizeans. So, with the opening up I am hoping that we can take a second look at that, but there is no way again you can be allowed back in expect you go into quarantine."

PM Still Supports Tourism

An while those students may be able to come home - nobody's talking about tourists coming back into the country anytime soon. That gives rise to the question of whether tourism will be a viable industry at all for Belize in the future. The Prime Minister today said that he is confident it will re-emerge:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister
"But those who say to me 'you need to encourage people to get out of tourism,' I don't agree with that at all. We've had a real bull run in terms of tourism for like what the last 15 or so years, where every year it increases, so this calamity has overtaken us, but it affects all sectors. It affects manufacturing, if affects agriculture and once you are dealing with commodities, commodities are always subject to volatility, so sure as an aspirational thing diversification is good, the devil will be in the details, but I'm just saying this broad-brush approach of saying oh people need to be encourage to get out of tourism which is now the number one sector in our economy. I don't accept that at all."

PM Supports Media In House

And, as we told you at the top of the news, the press was not allowed into the House of Representatives today. After we made some noise, arrangements were made to have us go into he house and sit in socially distant areas - which was no problem at all.

But, who gave the order to keep the media out of the house in the first place?

The speaker of the house put out a press release a short while ago saying, it surely is not her:

It says, quote, "the Speaker of the House of Representatives did not issue any instruction to disallow the media from entering the building or Chamber of the Assembly and cover the proceedings of this morning's Special Sitting of the House. As provided by the Standing Orders of the House, no one has the authority to disallow the public, including the media, who are required to attend and cover these proceedings, to enter the precincts of the Assembly, except the Speaker of the House, who would give such instruction to the Clerk so that this instruction can be carried out by the police officers.

Furthermore, the Honourable Speaker was not aware that some media personnel who were attending the meeting to cover the House proceedings this morning were being prevented by the police to enter the building. It was until she departed the building, after the meeting, that she was made aware of this unfortunate incident.

The Office of the Clerk would like to apologize to the public and the media for any inconveniences that this incident may have caused and would like to reiterate the commitment of the Speaker to continue working together with the media for good governance, open and transparent parliament."

The Prime Minister also said the media should be in the house:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister
"We don't want to exclude the media, but it might be that not every media house can come in. The galleries are not exactly overflowing with space, but there must be a way to work on it. Just as how we had agreed with the Opposition only seven of us will come out together for tomorrow at the Senate, it is two U.D.P.s, one P.U.P. and one social partner, so the other social partners have as well given up representation so that we can maintain social distancing. I don't see any reason why the media couldn't do something like that. But to have the media blocked out completely, I don't agree with that."

At newstime, we still couldn't figure out who gave the order, but we're confident it won't be given again.

LPG Injunction Fail

2 weeks ago, we told you about how the 3 Central American LPG companies, Gas Tomza, Southern Choice Butane, and Belize Western Energy Limited, ended up in a confrontation with the Government because they tried to drop the price of their butane as a relief to Belizeans.

The Supplies Control Unit of the Belize Bureau of Standards sent them warning letters threatening to take action against them for attempting to arbitrarily change what is essentially a regulated price. The Central American companies then went on a public offensive, defending their actions as benevolent. And, after highlighting that the fall in world market prices for butane was not being passed to on to you, the consumer, the Bureau of Standards announced, that cooking gas would be dropped to a price even lower than what the butane companies were offering.

It was a minor victory in a bigger fight that the Government and these Central American companies are preparing to engage in. The Government has passed the Liquified Petroleum Gas law, which is supposed to break the dominance that these companies currently hold on the local market. They are among the importers of LPG in the country, but once that new law is enforced, the public-private company, known as National Gas, will have exclusivity over importation for 15 years.

The Central American companies say that this regime change is unjust, and they have gone to the Supreme Court to challenge it. They are also challenging 2 Statutory Instruments that the Government has passed. They also filed for an injunction against the government to prevent GOB from refusing to issue them with importation licenses.

The case came up last week Friday before Acting Chief Justice Michelle Arana, and via video conference, and she denied the injunction for the Central American companies.

This evening, one of their attorneys, Audrey Matura, released a recorded interview discussing the outcome of the case, and here's what she had to say about the decision to appeal this setback:

A press release from the Central American companies says, quote, "While Justice Arana indicated with the attorneys for the LPG importers that there is a serious issue to be resolved by the Court in their Constitutional Claim, that issue would be tried in the hearing of the substantive matter..



New Rules For Bus Riders

The Government has relaxed the strict restrictions on movement, which were implemented to prevent the local spread of the coronavirus. But, commuters countrywide are being expected to take certain precautions for public health purposes.

The Department of Transport is asking Belizeans to plan ahead and consider traveling outside of rush hours, if possible, to continue observing social distancing. As per the recommendations of the World Health Organization, passengers are being expected to keep 3 to 6 feet apart from each other, to reduce the possibility of person-to-person transmission of the virus.

The Department notes that they have increased their monitoring efforts, and they have mandated bus companies to increase their cleansing efforts, in response to the COVID-19 threat.

Commuters are also being expected to take extra personal precautions. If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, or a sudden high temperature or fever, you are strongly encouraged to stay home and avoid travel.

Also, try to catch buses outside of the rush hours of 5:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. With immediate effect, commuters are being required to board and exit buses in an orderly fashion. Each passenger is expected to wash their hands with soap or sanitize before boarding. Every person traveling on public transportation must wear a face mask or some other covering over the nose and mouth for the duration of the travel. No one will be allowed to board the bus if they do not have face masks.

The bus drivers and conductors are also being obliged to wear face masks, and they are required to clean and sanitize their buses, vans, boats, and other public transportation vehicles before and after each run. Upon arrival at the bus terminal, all passengers are to disembark, and the bus driver or conductor must sanitize the interior of the bus prior to allowing passengers to board. Public transportation is limited to seated passengers only. Bus operators/drivers are not allowed to transport excess passengers. Standees will be taken off the bus, and the driver will be ticketed for the traffic violation.

Bus operators are being required to provide additional buses during rush hour. Passengers are also encouraged to report overcrowding on any public transportation to the telephone number 610-8163.

These rules also apply to water taxis.

More Out of Season Conch

On Sunday fishermen were allowed to resume fishing for subsistence but that didn't mean breaking seasonal rules for what they're currently allowed to catch. Four San Pedro fishermen found that out the hard way when they were nabbed by the staff of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve for their illegal catch of the day.

Edwin Flores, Cesar Lima & Andy Cobb were arraigned today, April 27th, 2020, on the charge of possession of undersized and out of season lobster and conch, fishing without a valid fishing license, and obstruction.

All three men pleaded guilty at the San Pedro Magistrate's Court and received a total fine of $4,405.00.

In a separate incident another man, Elvis Hercules, was apprehended and similarly charged with possession of undersized and closed season lobster and conch, Fishing without a valid license, and obstruction. Hercules was fined $4,405.00

The total fines for all four men stand at $5,255.00.