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
Last night, you heard the Prime Minister accuse the teachers of holding their students hostage by staging a sickout and other industrial action. Today the media spoke with the president of the teachers union - who had an angry answer for the PM. Here's what she said:
Nadia Caliz, President BNTU "I must use this medium to respond to my PM. According to you, brother, and I said it with respect, Honorable Briceno, according to you, my teachers are holding the students hostage. Honorable Briceno, governments, both red and blue, have been holding us hostage."
"You have been sending us into poverty. When you look at our classrooms, we finance those classrooms. We take care of those classrooms. A teacher with an associate's degree cannot live a comfortable life here in Belize."
"I said this to you when we met on the 16th of May, 2024. And when you are telling me and this country that our teachers are holding the students hostage, you have been holding these students hostage."
"You have not provided what you needed to provide for them. While we applaud the fact that some of them can now get a meal, and my teachers no longer have to take out their pocket to give them that. My teachers are suffering because they have been doing a part of your responsibility as a government, providing those resources, repairing those schools, and all of those things."
"So we at the BNTU, we don't take that lightly. And I'll show you another thing. You are willing to give up millions with the Caye Chapel project, millions. But holding the students hostage or holding the children of the future hostage, that project is a part of the hostage movement that we see going on right now."
And, the union president also attacked what we called the PM's girl math. He told the media that the government is actually giving the teachers a 14.5% increase - Caliz expressed wrath for that math:
Nadia Caliz, President BNTU "And another thing, you all keep talking about a 14 percent and giving the impression that we are dishonest with our membership. What is it that your letter is saying? Three percent, a reinstatement of the frozen increment come first of April 26th."
"What else is it saying? We have to go in and discuss the five percent so there's no guarantee around the five percent. So please don't be talking about 14 percent when you're black and white is not even committing to 14 percent."
"So I spent an entire day just thinking about all what was said. But I think you all need to listen to Honorable Julius Espat a little bit more because people are suffering out here. PUP government, I will put that part out there for a reason because you applaud yourself about being a PUP."
"I'm a history student. I studied George Cadle Price and the work that he did and how the PUP came into existence. But right now you all are not living up to his legacy. It's about time you take a page out of his book and treat workers with the respect that they deserve."
And while Caliz inflicted body blows on the ruling party for betraying its trade union roots - as for her union - they have promised to launch a two day national shutdown. So when is that going to happen? She gave a guarded reposes this afternoon:
Nadia Caliz, President BNTU "We have to go back to the negotiation table because we have to counter the three percent, but we couldn't do that on our own. Our membership had to give us the mandate, which we know how. Both BNTU and PSU and the APSSM now have a mandate. And we're going to communicate that to the government today. Today they're going to get that response."
Reporter "So no date set yet?"
Nadia Caliz, President BNTU "No, but we're hoping that we can meet on Monday. We're hoping for a meeting on Monday. Let me tell you, this movement is about survival."
"It's about survival. And if it's about survival, every single day, every single second, every single moment is important and matters. So even if the schools are closed, we are not going to give up on what we are standing up for. And that is what they need to understand."
We met Caliz at the demonstration led by the KHMH Workers union as they launched phase one of their industrial action campaign.
That union is demanding the government pay pensions for workers who transitioned more than 20 years ago from the Ministry of Health to the KHMH authority - a statutory board.
Talks have stalled for an extended period and today the union's members went to the streets to get their message across. 7News was there.
This afternoon police were out in numbers at the KHMH as the workers union got ready to launch level one of their industrial action with a demonstration and media sensitization. They are asking the government for pensions for hospital employees who worked there between the years 2000 and 2017.
Andrew Baird, President - KHMHWU "If there is no pension, then all they take home is severance, which is pittance of what they actually value. There are people who have 20 years or so about to retire and they will go home with nothing."
"So for that, we are asking the government to come back to the table and continue the dialogue so that our employees of the KHMH can go home with peace of mind and that their well-being is well taken care of."
And they chanted their demands down Princess Margaret Drive and onto Central American Boulevard, joined along the way by the teachers union. And they are launching this industrial action against the caution of the Labour Commissioner.
Andrew Baird, President - KHMHWU "While I have maximum respect for the Labour Commissioner, I believe that she misinterpret the law. It is clear in section 11 of the settlement of dispute act. First of all, section 11, one said that if you have a dispute, you may report it to the Minister of Labour."
"It didn't say shall, it said may. And as far as the other section that talks about strike, the meaning of strike as it is interpreted in the act stated cessation of work and the last time I checked cessation of work means to stop work."
"I don't see how a demonstration means to stop work. I don't see if we say we go slow means that you stop work completely. So I beg to defer with the LC. And of course, we are guided by our legal team as well."
Reporter "Is it to say then that there's nobody out here that's supposed to be on duty right now and they're out here protesting?"
Andrew Baird, President - KHMHWU "The services of Karl Heusner is not interrupted while we demonstrate and protest for what we really deserve."
And with public pressure they have made progress with the Ministry of Health agreeing to a meeting.
Andrew Baird, President - KHMHWU "We have already received a letter today from the Minister of Health, stating that they are willing to continue dialogue on the fifth of next month."
"So next week we go to the table."
So today the Union spirit was high. Let's see how it will be in a week after they meet with the Ministry.
Tonight we continue our investigation onto those security contracts awarded by the Belize Airports Authority to two private companies in December of 2024.
We note that three persons in high positions of authority have said they didn't have full knowledge of the contracts - and have kind of put it all on the Chairman Ricardo Martin.
But, we checked the law and at least one of those highly placed persons had a duty to know about those contracts. Jules Vasquez reports:
In 2024, the three most important political figures at the helm of the Belize Airports Authority were Minister of Civil Aviation, John Briceno, who appoints the board members and whom, ultimately the Board answers to; his CEO Narda Garcia, who is an ex officio Board member; and the General Manager, in this case, her daughter General Manager Thea Garcia.
Yet, when the Chairman of the BAA, Ricardo Martin signed 28.5 million dollars in security contracts with two non TSA certified companies owned by politically connected persons on December 23rd and 24th, 2024 - somehow none of them seemed to be fully in the loop.
CEO Garcia said she didn't know who got the contracts, GM Thea Garcia said she was out sick, and the PM said he didn't know about it at all:
(May 5, 2025)
Jules Vasquez "Are you able to say who got the contract for securing the various airfields and aerodromes throughout the country? We know that it went live very suddenly and I am told that a preferred person has received it. Are you able to say who has that contract?"
Narda Garcia, CEO, Ministry of Civil Aviation "No, I am not. Belize Airport Authority is the entity that gave that contract. At the time, the chairman was the one that executed that contract."
May 29, 2025)
Thea Garcia Ramirez, Former General Manager, BAA: "I remember getting an email. I was out on sick leave. It was the 23rd. I was of the opinion that maybe it was a bit, you know, maybe hasty. Yes. But, I was not there when the contracts were signed. I wasn't in office"
John Briceno, Prime Minister: "Was I involved in the process? No. Had I known, I would have probably given advice that we need to go a different route."
But, it was the PM's job to know, actually his legal obligation. The Belize Airports Authority Act says explicitly "The Authority shall appoint a Tenders Committee from amongst the Board of Directors and all contracts above forty thousand Belize Dollars awarded by the Authority shall require the prior approval of the Minister."
In this case, the Minister of Civil Aviation, PM Briceno. These contracts were way, way above that threshold.
And, as the Minister of Finance, the PM also had a duty of oversight, because the act says:
"(4) Except with the approval of the Minister of Finance after consultation with the Minister for Communications, no further sum shall be expended during any financial year other than is provided in the estimates relating to such financial year."
Notably, the BAA's FOIA letter to us makes no mention of a tender committee - in fact it says that Chairman Ricardo Martin decided to do selective tendering instead of open tendering.
We did try to reach the past Chairman Martin for a comment but up to news time got no reply..
And, in other related news, last night we told you about the Freedom of Information request we made to the Ministry Finance. It's about transfers from the Treasury Department to the Bella Vista Branch of the Toledo Teachers Credit Union. According to an audit investigation, the transfers did not have proper documentation for the source of funds. The over two hundred thousand dollars in public funds went to two companies whose owner is affiliated with the PUP in Toledo East.
Well, PUP Area Rep for Toledo East Osmond Martinez today made a Facebook post saying, quote, "I spoke to Jules Vaquez last week about this situation and I extended an invitation for him to do a site visit of these projects. To date no site visit has been done.
This begs the question: what is behind these posts. As you all are aware, we have been hard at work to Transform Toledo East and the country of Belize. I have always been and will continue to be open to the media to address the projects in question and/or any other related issues." End quote. He also posted a video of the projects he has done.
Martinez also noted that we made a correction in the news from last night. The audit or special investigation into the Toledo Teachers Credit Union was not commissioned by the Central Bank as we stated, but by the Management of the Credit Union.
As for Martinez's invitation to visit projects - indeed he made such an offer, which we accepted and understood would happen after the response to the Freedom of Information request was received. They have asked to push that back to June 5th. We remain ready to visit the project sites at any time.
The Marshalleck Commission of Inquiry to investigate the sale of government assets in the final years of the Barrow Administration has cost the government a tidy sum in damages awarded to former Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Deputy PM Hugo Patt. The damages were awarded because the report made untrue findings about the politicians, and it did not give them a chance to answer the charges against them.
And tonight, those awards of 185 thousand for Barrow and 145 thousand for Patt have been upheld by the Court of Appeal. Government brought in senior counsel Douglas Mendes to challenge the quantum of the awards, but the court upheld both. Plus, government has to bear the costs for the appeal. Additionally, large parts of the report have had to be removed due to unproven claims.
Dean Barrow appeared as Hugo Patt's attorney and Naima Barrow appeared for Dean Barrow.
Along with the 105 thousand dollars in damages awarded to Godwin Hulse, and these affirmed awards, the Marshalleck Commission of Inquiry will end up being one of the most costly to taxpayers in memory - and with legal costs the bill could run close to a million dollars.
Commuters are one step closer to upgraded buses, electronic tickets, and a smoother way to travel. That's after a second meeting between the Ministry of Transport and the Belize Bus Association. The meeting included presentations as well as a nearly 2 hour Q&A session where the bus operators got to share their questions and concerns freely. In the end, the decision was made to slowly move forward towards the national bus company. But there are many more hurdles before that proposal can be fully accepted by the BBA. Courtney Menzies was at the meeting in Belmopan and has this story.
When the new Transport Minister first proposed a national bus company to solve the issues plaguing the public transportation system, he was met with a flat out rejection from the Belize Bus Association.
But today, the bus owners and the Transport Ministry held their second meeting where the operators were able to voice their concerns about the proposal. They tentatively agreed to take the next steps, which involved establishing a committee - which comprises 4 operators and 1 ministry rep - to select auditors. Dr Louis Zabaneh explained what the next two months will look like.
Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "I think at the heart of it, they want to have some assurances that if they agree to the proposal that they will continue to have an income as what they're making now or better than that. I think that's across the board one of their main concerns and of course at this point we're still at the conceptual stage so we couldn't give them details but what we agreed to today was to select 3 auditing firms that will go across the country to the 31 operators and determine their value and their cost structure and so that now will be closer to having more details on how we'll be able to transition."
Courtney Menzies: "When they had originally rejected the proposal, they said why can't you give the concessions to us, the concessions that this consolidated company would have. How were you able to convince them to think differently?"
Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "In fact, we investigated how many of the operators supported that letter and it was less than 50% of the market, a lot of smaller operators. And we understood their concern. What I said to them today is that it would be very difficult for us to support such a request because what we would in fact be doing, given the difficulties they're already facing, for example many of them say that they don't have trust, maybe even in their drivers or conductors because their fuel is being sold, their parts are being sold, they don't get the income back from the conductors that they should. All of that is of grave concern to them naturally as it should be. And from our end, we're saying, if they consolidate, that those things are much more properly managed and we're able to be in a better setting that in fact brings greater profitability to them."
And though the operators are still hesitant, Dr Zabaneh stated that trust needs to be built but that they must also keep the concerns of commuters at the forefront.
Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "No question about it, it's a matter of trust, or bridging that gap but we must remember that the other stakeholder, in fact the most important stakeholder is the commuter and it's been for too long now that our commuters have been suffering. That in fact the bus sector has not been improving but deteriorating so it is incumbent on all of us including the operators to make the best effort to collaborate. I think that we on the government side have done the best that we can to assure them that what we do will not in any way make it worse for them."
"I think that as we go about getting the details that more and more of these operators will come on board. You would have seen that the larger operators are pretty much on board and now, because we have a lot of smaller operators, we have to address their concerns and we have assured them today that we will do that on a one on one basis as necessary."
And while the next stages will take place over June and July, the ultimate deadline for a revamping of the public transportation system is January 2026. But there are also mixed feelings about that timeline.
Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "Some of them said it's too tight, others as you heard said that they want to try to meet the deadline because they have been experiencing deadline after deadline being passed so we are flexible, we set the deadlines and we're going to as best as we can to meet those deadlines and for whatever reason, we need to extend then we certainly will but we need to have some targets to try to meet. I believe the two months that we have will be tight to do the valuation all across the country, we will see how well that will work out and then the next phase from there goes into organizing the company itself, working on the legislation and all of that so I think we will just go as best as we can to try and meet the deadlines that we have."
For now, there are a lot more meetings to be had before anything concrete is established. But commuters are hoping this time - after numerous missed deadlines - the transformation will finally come to fruition.
Also in Belmopan today, the Senate met for the first time in its fifteenth session.
Following 3 days of the budget debate in the House of Representatives, the Senators weighed in on it today. Leader of Government Business, Eamon Courtenay praised the budget, and particularly the work done by his successor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He added that there may be financial challenges to look out for this year but that overall, the numbers show that the economy is booming.
Eamon Courtenay, Leader of Government Business "This year, Madam President, we expect, we don't know for certain, we expect sometime this year we will be notified of the date for the hearing of our cases at the ICJ, which will cause us to spend significant funds in order to ensure that we have and continue to have the best representation in order for us to have success in both cases."
"The case with Guatemala, the case with Honduras. But beyond that, Madam President, beyond that, the Ministry is engaged actively in pushing the trade agenda. We know, Madam President, that cooperation agreements and negotiations continue with El Salvador, with Mexico, Taiwan, and the European Union."
"Markets are being opened in El Salvador, Madam President, in order to generate more exports from Belize on better terms, guaranteed access at lower tariff rates. That discussion is well advanced, Madam President."
"But not only there, the PSA with Guatemala is also well advanced, and it is critical to us, as we look for export markets, to try to use those markets that are available to us next door. And therefore, a concentrated effort is being made to conclude those negotiations, and hopefully this year, to kick-start negotiations with Honduras for either a partial scope agreement or some other economic cooperation agreement."
"The fact of the matter is that not only has the agricultural sector been robust, the business processing outsourcing sector been robust, the tourism sector been robust, all around construction, energy generation, etc., have all been booming in the past year."
But the lead UDP Senator, Patrick Faber, wasn't satisfied. He explained that there was nothing in the budget that anticipated increased tariffs from the US and that the "boom" in the economy that the PUP takes credit for was bound to happen anyway.
Patrick Faber, UDP Senator "In particular, Madam Speaker, he spoke about the tariffs and he spoke about the declining grants. He spoke about the shifting trade relations. But Madam Speaker, I waited, I waited to hear what it is that he would have recommended."
"I waited to hear as well what the Prime Minister would have recommended last week or two weeks when he presented. I think it was on May 12th when he read the presentation. I waited to hear what is it that they would have done."
"What is it that they would have recommended? In fact, I waited to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which he just gave a heap of praise. I waited to hear what they would have done when Mr. Trump announced these tariffs to be heaped on Belize and the rest of the world."
"And I am still waiting. You boast about growth. But sir, if you are at the bottom of the barrel after COVID, if you are at the lowest of the low after COVID and I listen as you as you talk about how bad things were, my goodness, everything was bad during COVID."
"Of course, the economy was bad after COVID or during COVID, wasn't rocket science. So for you to come and talk about how bad things were in 2020, you are no genius. And then for you to proclaim that, wow, we really rebounded things."
"Of course, when you are at the bottom of the barrel, there is only one way to go. So when you now proclaim that there is wonderful, tremendous growth, there is only one way to go. Things would have eventually rebounded after COVID."
But earlier in the meeting, the senate discussed the Subscription to Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American
Development Bank.
Opposition Senators Faber and Pitts were skeptical, while PUP Senator Chris Coye said that it would open opportunities for foreign investments.
Patrick Faber, UDP Senator "So in effect, madam president, they are asking us to subscribe 13.4 million US dollars in order to gamble that we will be able to later on have investments made in our long term development, there is no guarantee. That's why I say gamble but before I go there madam speaker because you will understand that this is in effect borrowing, setting ourselves up to borrow right so all that I have said about borrowing I am not going to repeat it but I am going to make the case."
"So madam President we need to better use the resources we have and we need to cut the borrowing out, this is setting the stage in my opinion for further borrowing and we need to really put a clamp on the borrowing."
Sheena Pitts, UDP Senator "For this one I have to say upfront that I don't support it, the reason why I don't support it is because, not now, not now, honourable senator Faber pointed out that this is a buying into setting ourselves up to borrow later and so we are making money available, we are asking the people of Belize to make money available to put into a fund that there is no guarantee even though putting into it we will have voting rights one way or another to put into a fund that we have no guarantee that will immediately access to use for the people of Belize."
Christopher Coye, PUP Senator "This is actually to enable financing of private sector investors in Belize. So this is actually to enable better access to finance for Belizean investors in our economy so I think we needed to make that quick clarification on what this resolution or motion is about, a subscription motion for investment in or further investment in IDB invest by the country of Belize just like all the other countries that you see in that table in accordance with the ratio of our interest in that entity."
"And yes there is a timeline involved, the letter you are looking at is from April of 2024 but there is a commitment that by June of this year Belize would subscribe but the payments would not be made until a period of over 7 years roughly 390k per year."
What was once a striking portrait of former commissioner of Police Chester Williams, is now nothing but a white wall. You heard that right, the painting has been erased from the Police training academy grounds, after it was meant to be a tribute to Williams. And as it turns out even the artists who painted it had no clue that it had been painted over. Here's what Jomarie Lanza found out today.
When Commissioner Chester Williams left office as the longest serving Commissioner Of Police he was honored with a mural of his portrait on the parade square. The only other image there is of the namesake of the parade square, another former Compol Samuel Adolphus.
But when we checked back today, 4 weeks after the change of command - the artist's rendering was gone. It's been erased and painted over white.
Raquel Rodriguez learned that it was gone from us:
Voice of: Raquel Rodriguez, Raquel Rodriguez Art "The thing is that again we give those things as gifts so for us as artists if you want or cannot use it any longer that's fine that's your call I. will choose not to be upset about it put it that way because you know we are artists we just go around and try to do our best, we do murals all over like I told you, we have never seen a mural defaced and we have not seen a mural painted over before, so it's a new one for me. It's a new one. But again it's a new one but I mean again we did the beautification and I guess they can do what they feel with it right."
The new commissioner Richard Rosado says the wall was donated in 2015 by a family of a fallen police officer who was killed in the line of duty as a place to honor those officers killed in the line of duty, he says the family that donated the wall got offended when the academy staff repurposed it for a portrait.
But there is a longer story to that too because Raquel Rodriguez also restored those walls from years of dilapidation when she spearheaded a beautification project to improve the academy grounds.
Raquel Rodriguez, Raquel Rodriguez Art "In 2021 we saw the need for some beautification in the academy and we had reached out to the academy and offered our services to help them they are not the only school we have helped we helped many schools across belmopan and we realised when we got in there how much of a help they needed so the compol at the time Mr Chester and the dean and so forth we went around the compound and we saw the need for a beautification project."
"We did the free standing walls like so those walls were on the parade and yes the middle wall does have names of fallen soldiers we assumed that they would have used it to put the other names that never happened that is 2021 to now it never happened so I don't know that's not my call. When we saw the walls they were falling apart I think I can find a picture but it was so embracing because it was in real bad shape."
And now with all that has happened and the image of Commissioner Williams erased, we asked Rodriguez if she would be willing to paint it back, and she said No.
Raquel Rodriguez, Raquel Rodriguez Art "I don't know, I think I would try to stay away now."
Jo- "I think that is fair okay."
Raquel Rodriguez, Raquel Rodriguez Art "Yeah that's all you know I mean."
Commissioner Rosado says the mural with the names of the officers killed in line of duty will go up in a few days. For context we should note that Dr. Rosado's brother, Fernando Rosado Jr., was shot and killed in the line of duty as a police officer.
In Celebration of 44 years of service, the Social Security Board's 9 branches country wide today held open days to invite customers and fund contributors to open and use their own "My Social Security Portal". We stopped by their Belize City branch today and found out more about it.
Vanessa Vellos, Communications & PR Manager, SSB "So the theme for this year is Digital Transformation and we have like a Triple C philosophy where you connect with SSB you create your account and you get the convenience of creating that account, because then you have access to your portal account, and there is this dashboard of services that you get. One you can check your contribution history- and that is very important because you need to know what your contribution figures are so that you can access benefits - and of course It plays a role when you want to find out if you are eligible for a pension or not many years down the road. And also the next service that you get with your portal account is that you can file a sickness benefit claim. That process was manual before but now it is online, so you can go into the portal and you can file your sickness benefit claim there. The next thing you can do is update your profile information, banking information and your address you can also set appointments for card renewal there are lots of people who their cards get messed up over a period of time or it needs to be renewed you can set appointments there if you don't have a social security card any at all you can also set an appointment there so those are the enhancements that we offer at this time as it relates to getting your portal account and being able to do some of those services online."
The day was held under the theme: Digital Transformation - Connect, Create, Convenience.
Today in the Senate, the Leader of Government business who has responsibility for International Legal Affairs and Diplomacy discussed the state of negotiations to get a Schengen visa waiver for Belize. That would mean visa free entry to most European countries - which is enjoyed by many nations in the Caribbean and Central America. So why not Belize? Courtenay gave an update:
Eamon Courtenay, Leader of Government Business "The campaign continues for the Schengen visa waiver for all passports for the entire Schengen area. It is not easy, as you are aware, the current climate in the developed world is very much anti-migration and the whole notion that you will be allowing another country, right of access, the citizens of another country, right of access into the European Union, perhaps now is not the time to actually put that to a vote."
"That being said, what we have been told, and this has been confirmed to Minister Fonseca and to the Prime Minister, is that insofar as the criteria exists for qualification for the Schengen visa waiver, Belize ticks all the boxes."
"So it's a question of timing, when is the appropriate time, having regard to the politics in the European Union, in the Schengen area, that we will advance that process. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues on a very clear path and a very intense campaign with friendly countries in the European Union seeking to arrive at their point which would be propitious for us to ask the Parliament, to ask the Commission and individual member states to grant the visa or consider the visa waiver."
In other news, tracking the measles outbreak in Belize, the Ministry of Health and Wellness today announced that "to date, from the start of the outbreak, a total of nine laboratory-confirmed cases and 13 epidemiologically linked cases have been diagnosed with measles."
And, as a result of heightened ongoing surveillance efforts, samples have been collected from 69 individuals experiencing fever and rash. From that total, 66 (95%) have been processed.
The Ministry urges the public to get the MMR vaccine, and notes that children under five and young people are at a higher risk of developing complications from measles.
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Last night, you heard the Prime Minister accuse the teachers of holding their students hostage by staging a sickout and other industrial action. Today the media spoke with the president of the teachers union - who had an angry answer for the PM. Here's what she said:
"I must use this medium to respond to my PM. According to you, brother, and I said it with respect, Honorable Briceno, according to you, my teachers are holding the students hostage. Honorable Briceno, governments, both red and blue, have been holding us hostage."
We met Caliz at the demonstration led by the KHMH Workers union as they launched phase one of their industrial action campaign.
Andrew Baird, President - KHMHWU
Tonight we continue our investigation onto those security contracts awarded by the Belize Airports Authority to two private companies in December of 2024.
"No, I am not. Belize Airport Authority is the entity that gave that contract. At the time, the chairman was the one that executed that contract."
"I remember getting an email. I was out on sick leave. It was the 23rd. I was of the opinion that maybe it was a bit, you know, maybe hasty. Yes. But, I was not there when the contracts were signed. I wasn't in office"
And, in other related news, last night we told you about the Freedom of Information request we made to the Ministry Finance. It's about transfers from the Treasury Department to the Bella Vista Branch of the Toledo Teachers Credit Union. According to an audit investigation, the transfers did not have proper documentation for the source of funds. The over two hundred thousand dollars in public funds went to two companies whose owner is affiliated with the PUP in Toledo East.
The Marshalleck Commission of Inquiry to investigate the sale of government assets in the final years of the Barrow Administration has cost the government a tidy sum in damages awarded to former Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Deputy PM Hugo Patt. The damages were awarded because the report made untrue findings about the politicians, and it did not give them a chance to answer the charges against them.
Commuters are one step closer to upgraded buses, electronic tickets, and a smoother way to travel. That's after a second meeting between the Ministry of Transport and the Belize Bus Association. The meeting included presentations as well as a nearly 2 hour Q&A session where the bus operators got to share their questions and concerns freely. In the end, the decision was made to slowly move forward towards the national bus company. But there are many more hurdles before that proposal can be fully accepted by the BBA. Courtney Menzies was at the meeting in Belmopan and has this story.
"I think at the heart of it, they want to have some assurances that if they agree to the proposal that they will continue to have an income as what they're making now or better than that. I think that's across the board one of their main concerns and of course at this point we're still at the conceptual stage so we couldn't give them details but what we agreed to today was to select 3 auditing firms that will go across the country to the 31 operators and determine their value and their cost structure and so that now will be closer to having more details on how we'll be able to transition."
"This year, Madam President, we expect, we don't know for certain, we expect sometime this year we will be notified of the date for the hearing of our cases at the ICJ, which will cause us to spend significant funds in order to ensure that we have and continue to have the best representation in order for us to have success in both cases."
"In particular, Madam Speaker, he spoke about the tariffs and he spoke about the declining grants. He spoke about the shifting trade relations. But Madam Speaker, I waited, I waited to hear what it is that he would have recommended."
Sheena Pitts, UDP Senator 
"This is actually to enable financing of private sector investors in Belize. So this is actually to enable better access to finance for Belizean investors in our economy so I think we needed to make that quick clarification on what this resolution or motion is about, a subscription motion for investment in or further investment in IDB invest by the country of Belize just like all the other countries that you see in that table in accordance with the ratio of our interest in that entity."
What was once a striking portrait of former commissioner of Police Chester Williams, is now nothing but a white wall. You heard that right, the painting has been erased from the Police training academy grounds, after it was meant to be a tribute to Williams. And as it turns out even the artists who painted it had no clue that it had been painted over. Here's what Jomarie Lanza found out today.
In Celebration of 44 years of service, the Social Security Board's 9 branches country wide today held open days to invite customers and fund contributors to open and use their own "My Social Security Portal". We stopped by their Belize City branch today and found out more about it.
"So the theme for this year is Digital Transformation and we have like a Triple C philosophy where you connect with SSB you create your account and you get the convenience of creating that account, because then you have access to your portal account, and there is this dashboard of services that you get. One you can check your contribution history- and that is very important because you need to know what your contribution figures are so that you can access benefits - and of course It plays a role when you want to find out if you are eligible for a pension or not many years down the road. And also the next service that you get with your portal account is that you can file a sickness benefit claim. That process was manual before but now it is online, so you can go into the portal and you can file your sickness benefit claim there. The next thing you can do is update your profile information, banking information and your address you can also set appointments for card renewal there are lots of people who their cards get messed up over a period of time or it needs to be renewed you can set appointments there if you don't have a social security card any at all you can also set an appointment there so those are the enhancements that we offer at this time as it relates to getting your portal account and being able to do some of those services online."
In other news, tracking the measles outbreak in Belize, the Ministry of Health and Wellness today announced that "to date, from the start of the outbreak, a total of nine laboratory-confirmed cases and 13 epidemiologically linked cases have been diagnosed with measles."
