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
Tonight, 7News continues its investigation into overpriced or substandard firearms supplied to the BDF. This time we're looking at the civilian-grade Taurus brand rifles which the BDF received while three former soldiers were at the top of the Ministry of Defence: Florencio Marin Jr. as Minister, Oscar Mira as Minister of State, and former Brigadier General Dario Tapia as CEO.
Combined, they had decades of military service under their belts-so why did the soldiers end up with civilian-grade assault rifles under their tenure? And did the Prime Minister know about it even before the sub-ten-thousand-dollar payment scandal was revealed at the Ministry of Defence in early June? Jules Vasquez has more:
120 Taurus M4 carbine rifles were acquired by the BDF in or around 2023.
According to the soldiers we spoke to, the Taurus rifles they received were civilian, not military-grade, and would get hot during firing-so much so that none of the soldiers wanted to use them.
But why were these subpar rifles purchased? And from whom?
Well, around the same time, these are a small fraction of the payments made to a gun dealer named Pew Pew.
We do know that the sub-ten-thousand-dollar payments caught the attention of the PM from before the 2025 elections-which is likely why Florencio Marin was not brought back as Minister of Defence.
Until the PM had no other choice 8 months later and he had to give him back the portfolio.
At the time, we didn't know about Kukulcan-which is co-owned by Marin's divisional secretary.
At that time, we did raise the concern of those sub-10k payments-and the Prime Minister struggled to answer:
November 18, 2025
Jules Vasquez: "I would like to ask about the Minister of Defence, the returning Minister of Defence. I have independently received information that there was the issuance of a plenitude, a plethora of sub-ten-thousand-dollar contracts when he was minister. I can't say under whose hand they were issued, it is certainly suspicious, it is something we have been looking into for some time, and it happened under his tenure. Why is he being returned to a ministry when there is that blight hanging over it?"
November 18, 2025
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister "Yes, there have been some instances that some contracts have been given under the ten thousand (dollar threshold), but we have pointed out to the minister to ensure that we refrain from that. Many instances, the soldiers need food and the only way they can get that done is to try to quickly give those small contracts so they can quickly get the food and the supplies to the BDF. But I can assure you that that is not something that will be continued, a practice that will be continued in the Ministry of Defence."
But it is a practice that continued long after that interview, and certainly up until 2026, we were still seeing such payments being made to all kinds of connected and favored companies.
We tried to reach out to the businessman known as the principal of Pew Pew for comment, but he did not respond to our text messages. The last time we did get through to him back in mid-June, he said the sub-ten-thousand-dollar payments we showed were not related to Pew Pew-which is the vendor name and the email address on the Smart Stream screenshots.
And in other investigative news, tonight, we can report that 7News has located the RECONDEV stone crusher that has been a topic of much recent social media speculation. But there's more to it than just a mystery machine, and finding it was just the first step. Jaleeza Roberts reports:
For weeks we've been hearing one trigger word on social media from several whistleblowers: "Stone Crusher"-and the mostly partisan fuss and furor about a stone crusher that was allegedly purchased by RECONDEV in 2023.
John Saldivar, Concerned Citizen "Well, I know that a few years ago, probably three years or so in sometime in 2023, there was an announcement by RECONDEV that they had acquired a stone crusher. Um, they stated that it was to work with, uh, you know, developing and building and maintaining and repairing streets in Belmopan. Um, but after that, we have not heard, uh, anything. We have not heard any, any progress report. We have not heard any report about, uh, you know, what is, what has been generated from that stone crusher, um, what work has been conducted, you know, we haven't heard anything. And so, um, you know, I decided to write to find out."
So far that letter has gone unanswered, and so has our text query to the Mayor of Belmopan and board member Pablo Kawich.
But we did some digging ourselves, and after moving around Belmopan like Scooby-Doo in the Mystery Machine, we came upon the real mystery machine-the mythical RECONDEV stone crusher. We found it behind the Innovabel area at the end of a one-way road beside a hill; it was mining aggregate from a hill. Heavy trucks were constantly on the move with material.
So what is the mystery behind this machine? On whose behalf and for whose benefit is it extracting material? And under whose authority is it being used? Who's paying and who's collecting? And is the mining operation even licensed?
Saldivar has similar questions:
John Saldivar, Concerned Citizen "So who is using the aggregate? Who is using what is being produced by the, uh, the stone crusher?"
Answers for which-if they ever come-may lead down a winding road to even more questions. Jaleeza Roberts, 7News.
We reached out to RECONDEV on two occasions to speak with the new Chairlady, Myrna Waight, but we were told she was not in office.
Brad's Gaming Company and Brad's Gaming Group are required to pay $5 million in business tax after a High Court ruling yesterday.
High Court Justice Nadine Nabie has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Kim Wai Chee and Brad's Gaming Company against the Director General of Tax Administration. The claimants were challenging more than $4.3 million in retroactive "best judgment" tax assessments, arguing the process was unfair and unlawful. However, the court ruled the lawsuit was an abuse of process, stating the proper avenue to challenge tax assessments is through the statutory review process under the Tax Administration and Procedure Act.
Yesterday, Senior Counsel Magali Marin-Young, representing the Tax Administration and Attorney General, spoke on the High Court's decision to throw out the claim:
Magali Marin Young, Attorney "Basically, the former owners of the Boledo, Lottery, Brad's Gaming Company Limited and Brad's Gaming Group, as well as Mr. Kim Wai Chee, brought a claim saying that the Director General of the Belize Tax Service had breached their fundamental rights, equal protection of the law and protection of the law. The background story is that the Director General had since 2020 been requesting the financial records for these companies, and there were a myriad of excuses given for officers, including that the cloud hosting was in China and that Brad's could not afford to maintain the cloud hosting that had these financial records, you name it, they came up with all kinds of excuses, they gave limited access, and with the limited access, when the tax officers went back, they were told the cloud hosting was no longer in existence. So the Director General since 2020 has been trying to get financial records on these companies to do a tax assessment. Because these companies were not cooperative in providing the financial records, the Director General had to do what is called a best assessment."
"In 2023, she did assessments for both companies for the tax period 2010 to 2023, and when she did her assessments, she served it on Mr. Kim Wai Chee's place of operation, which everybody knows where Brad's operates in the Farmer's Market. The companies took issue and said, 'Oh no, you needed to have served us at our registered office,' and so the notices were incorrect, and they used every possible technical argument they could, and ultimately, the learned trial judge dismissed all their grounds outright and said, 'No, you guys didn't cooperate with the Director General and she had no choice but to do a best judgment assessment.'"
"It was for Brad's Gaming Company $1,199,211.94, and for Brad's Gaming Group, it was $3,130,637.69."
We note that the judgment says, "there is no liability for Mr. Chee to incur the tax liability of the corporate claimants," end quote-which means that enforcement of this assessment would have to be against the companies, not Kim Chee personally, which may prove to be a challenge.
Dean Barrow, who represented Brad's, says they will appeal the cost order.
Ten years after a high-profile hit-for-hire plot made national headlines, local mechanic Lisburn Anderson has been found guilty of abetment to commit murder.
The verdict was handed down by Supreme Court Justice Cumberbatch yesterday, bringing an end to a protracted trial. Anderson was indicted for promoting the commission of murder by allegedly paying the hitman hired to kill American investor and landowner Michael Modiri.
During the trial proceedings, the Director of Public Prosecutions appeared on behalf of the Crown, while Dr. Lynden Jones represented Anderson.
The roots of the case trace back to early 2016, stemming from a bitter land dispute between Modiri and his neighboring tour business operator.
Allegations surfaced that a murder conspiracy was hatched to eliminate Modiri, with Anderson acting as an intermediary who handled the financial transaction for the contract killing.
Following the conviction by Justice Cumberbatch, Anderson was remanded into custody. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced on September 8th.
So far, three persons who were implicated have been convicted: the now-deceased Jahan Abadi, former firearms analyst Orlando Vera, and now Lisburn Anderson. Only the alleged principal in the plot, Bradley Paumen, remains to be tried.
In May 2024, car rental employee Lawrence Jamie McNab took his boss's vehicle without permission and also stole two other vehicles belonging to AQ Belize Auto Rental.
McNab was initially indicted in the High Court for the offenses of taking a conveyance without authority and two counts of theft. He had assisted the police in recovering two of the vehicles, but the third one was never recovered.
As part of a plea discussion entered with the DPP Crown, represented by Maria Santana-Nembhard, and his attorney Oscar Selgado, McNab was granted a plea bargain. He appeared this afternoon before Justice Nigel Pilgrim in the High Court, where he was informed that the recommended sentence of the Crown was accepted by the court, placing him on a one-year probationary sentence. But he must also pay compensation to his former boss in the sum of $30,000 in monthly installments of $500 to AQ Belize Auto Rental. McNab was also ordered to pay an additional fine of $5,000 to the court, which he must pay by December 31, 2027, or face 12 months imprisonment. As part of that probation order, he must submit to being supervised by a Community Rehabilitation Officer. McNab agreed and signed his probation order as part of the plea agreement.
The Firearms and Ammunition Control Board-known as the FACB-has received a sharp judicial reprimand from the High Court of Belize following a series of procedural missteps, unlawful refusals, and statutory breaches in its handling of gun dealer and instructor licenses.
In a judgment delivered by High Court Judge Rajiv Goonetilleke, the court ruled that the FACB violated the constitutional rights of well-known gun dealer, Lock N Loaded Guns and Ammunition, and its director, Abner Murillo. The court ordered the State to pay compensatory damages to the business and quashed key decisions made by the regulatory body.
The newly formed regulatory board declared in January 2024 that December 2023 licenses were null and void. However, the FACB wrongly applied this declaration to Lock N Loaded's Belmopan dealership license-which had been lawfully issued in August 2023 and was valid through December 2024. When issuing a replacement license in 2024, the FACB omitted authority for the business to sell .223-caliber rifles, leaving the owners in a kind of commercial limbo.
The judge declared that this administrative lapse infringed the claimants' constitutional right to protection of the law under Section 3(a) of the Belize Constitution.
The court also scolded the FACB for refusing Abner Murillo's Firearm Safety Instructor's License in 2024 without providing reasons for doing so.
Justice Goonetilleke issued an order of mandamus ordering the FACB to reconsider Murillo's application within 30 days and provide written reasons if it is refused again.
To mark the constitutional infringement, the High Court ordered the Attorney General to pay $5,000 BZD in compensatory damages to each of the two claimants for distress and inconvenience. Additionally, the court ordered the defendants to pay 50% of the claimants' legal costs.
Abner Murillo and Lock N Loaded were represented by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan alongside attorneys Estevan Perera and Jared Jagroo. Representing the Firearms and Ammunition Control Board and the Attorney General, Crown Counsel Jarvis Lou appeared alongside Ms. Stephanie Gillett.
A fight between two women that went viral on social media landed one of them in court. Britney Daly, who is known on Facebook as "Bad Freak," was involved in an altercation with Shala Smith, otherwise known as "Warrior," on Freedom Street yesterday.
Today, 22-year-old Daly pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. She was imposed a non-custodial sentence and a fine of $150. She has until September 30th to pay; in default, one month's imprisonment.
After the proceedings, Daly gave a brief interview:
Reporter "Why the fight, why the disorderly conduct?"
Britney Daly, Charged with Disorderly Conduct "We wanted to prove a point."
Ruben Stoll, the tourist who harassed the jaguar cub in mid-July, has been charged under the Wildlife Protection Act. Stoll reportedly voluntarily returned to Belize and surrendered himself to the Forestry Department. He was fined $1,000.
The act dictates that it is illegal to hunt jaguars, and "hunt" is defined as "to kill, take, or molest by any method."
Forestry and Coast Guard officers have joined forces to promote the Greening Belize initiative through a mangrove restoration activity at the Coast Guard headquarters this morning. They went down to the shoreline to plant some mangroves, and we stopped in to learn more about why they took an interest in guarding the coast in this most literal sense. Jomarie Lanza has this story:
As Coast Guardsmen, they are not solely protectors of the sea, but also protectors of the coast and the environment. Today, a handful of officers got their hands dirty and pitched in to assist in restoring the mangrove habitat here at their headquarters.
In 2020, Belize signed an agreement with the United Nations Climate Change Committee to plant mangroves to mitigate climate change, and the Coast Guard has decided to do its part in collaboration with the Forestry Department.
Mercedes Valdez, Forest Officer, Forestry Department "So we came and we presented it to them, we informed them about the regulations, they did have a lot of questions, it was a very interesting learning experience for both of us, actually the Forestry Department and Coast Guard. What transpired from that is that given they had cut some of their mangroves some time ago, they actually said, 'You know, we are noticing we do need mangroves for our coastal protection,' so they said, 'Okay, why don't we partner and do some mangrove planting in these areas?' So we actually identified 3 areas in the Coast Guard base and that is what we are tackling today. So we are actually doing direct planting of red mangroves, so basically what it entails is basically getting the propagules and then just putting it there in the sand, so this morning we have gone through this process with the Coast Guard and we will be planting over 200 propagules today in these areas."
This initiative is being led by a consultant for mangrove restoration who has spent the last 12 years planting them in Belize. He says that the process requires continuous planting in order to achieve success in certain areas. We asked him why the Coast Guard's involvement is crucial to saving the mangroves near their coastline:
David Hilmy, Conservation Biologist "They protect the coast, and it is not just a military setup, it can also be a little bit of conservation, and I understand that they just got a new marine science division here as part of the Coast Guard, so this is perfectly within their remit to start doing some mangrove restoration."
"But it is a long term thing and with projects like this, they are going to have to come in and keep monitoring. We are going to lose some of these propagules that we planted, there will be a storm or some kind of problem, someone will tread on them or something, so it is a continuous cycle of coming back, planting more, planting more, and then in a few years, you've built up this population that starts doing the job that we do here."
Lieutenant Commander David Ayala, who got his officers involved in the initiative, says that they decided to get involved after observing World Mangrove Day, which was celebrated on July 26th:
David Ayala, Lieutenant Commander, Belize Coast Guard "We have seen that some of our areas here at the Belize Coast Guard headquarters had, you know, lost some of the mangroves, and an assessment was done, and so they determined that there is a way that we can collaborate to restore those mangroves."
"You know, some of the times manpower is always an issue, and some government agencies don't have enough manpower, and so it also helps with educating within the Coast Guard members that they become aware of the importance of these ecosystems, and so having them do it on themselves helps to bring awareness, education, so we can spread that across the organization."
With the PUP City Council convention on August 30th, the political buzz within the ruling party is audible.
Over 700 delegates will choose a slate, and the campaigning will be intense.
Today, Area Representative for Collet Devin Daly said his divisional committee is already on the road to convention:
Devin Daly, Collet Area Representative "I think on the ground the sentiment has been the same, everyone is excited for this convention because we have two really good candidates and I know the following question will be who will Collett support and likeI said I'm maintaining that the person for mayoral candidate on the slate who we will be supporting is. The one that I believe is best for my constituency and what I believe is best for my constituency is a city council that I have a very close relationship with, where I can call up councillors and the mayor to get certain things done in our community like garbage, street work, generation of parks and safe spaces within our community and collaboration for more youth development."
Reporter: "So is there any specific name that you will be putting out there for who you guys are are supporting?"
Devin Daly: "You know you won't get that."
Reporter: "Have you finalized your list of delegates?"
Devin Daly: "I am not restricting, this is a democratic process, I am not restricting my delegates or anyone and I have my delegates list already prepared, I can show you a copy if you'd like."
FIFA today announced plans to create a US $20 billion commercial subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The plan is to sell up to 20% equity in the World Cup to private investors.
The move surprised CONCACAF, which issued a release criticizing the lack of due process. Today, CONCACAF Vice President for Central America, Belize's Sergio Chuc, explained that he is suspicious of the move and the lack of communication:
Sergio Chuc, VP, CONCACAF "CONCACAF was surprised just like I was, I got the memo yesterday late in the evening and when I read it, I was like, where is this coming from? I made a call to some people in CONCACAF and they got the memo the same time I got it so CONCACAF has not taken a position, all we're saying right now is that we don't know what is actually happening, we need to get more information. The membership is going to meet tomorrow, a virtual meeting tomorrow meeting and CONCACAF will be putting out their official position if it's something we will support or something we cannot support."
"My personal opinion is that they definitely acted wrongly, it did not go through the proper channels. You know here in CONCACAF we are one family, we have values that we've developed the last decade. After what happened in 2015, we don't want to go back to that dark past and so we have certain standards in place and our council would never push something out like that before deliberating on it and then informing the member association then getting it out for their support or not."
Jules Vasquez: "It looks like, I'll just say it plainly, it looks like Infantino is taking you lightly, the CONCACAF block."
Sergio Chuc: "Well I believe because we have 35 votes and they're mostly small islands and small countries like Belize that depends in some instances up to 95 or a 100% on the funding FIFA delivers to us that it would have been a foregone conclusion if they offered up that money for development purposes that we would go for it. I am not saying that they won't go for it, tomorrow there will be a healthy debate and I'm sure that from what I'm gathering from some people right here in Belize, this seems good."
Member associations, such as CONCACAF, have been offered US $20 million in immediate funding as an incentive.
Our next story is about a filthy-looking latrine-but it's news because it's what police assigned to the Operations Team in San Pedro have to use. Yesterday, various officers reached out raising concerns over deteriorating conditions at their barracks in the DFC area and saying months-old promises to repair the facilities have yet to materialize.
Officers allege that the abysmal state of the living quarters has gone unaddressed even after a visit in April by Commissioner of Police Rosado, Deputy Commissioner Jones, then-Minister Oscar Mira, and CEO Bennett. During that visit, officers say they were assured that repairs would be carried out. However, three months later, no meaningful work has been done.
Responding to the concerns, Minister of Home Affairs and MIDH Julius Espat told us in Cabinet yesterday that his ministry is currently conducting a nationwide assessment of police stations and sub-stations to determine the true state of police infrastructure. He said he will present this report to the PM shortly, in the hope that it is looked at as a priority.
Belize's highly touted under-20 men's national basketball team played the host country, the Dominican Republic, last night at the Central American and Caribbean Games. They lost narrowly with a score of 75-78.
It was a crushing loss in a game they led most of the way. To the average basketball commentator or spectator, that game was winnable for Belize, but Minister of Sports Devin Daly says he believes they can bounce back despite that loss:
Devin Daly, Minister of State for Youth and Sports "Those young men they were representing Belize, kudos to them and I'm looking forward to them to rebound and actually get a gold."
Reporter: "How do you feel that they're performing so far?"
Devin Daly: "I think they're performing well, I think we need to give the young team some grace. The first game they did extremely well, ofcourse they had some lessons learned from then, they were leading by 10 points in the fourth quarter that's what I was told and they fell short from it because of the full court pressure. However I'm confident in what the president of the federation has been doing, what the coaching staff has been doing and I think as a country we just need to rally behind them and give them that support."
And while he hopes the basketball boys bounce back, what about the male volleyballers who already proved their Central American dominance earlier this month in Costa Rica?
Many long-time fans voiced disappointment with how the history-making team was received when they returned. One former player, Bryton Codd, went as far as saying that these athletes who represent Belize deserve more. We asked Daly if he believes what is being done is enough:
Devin Daly, Minister of State for Youth and Sports "I don't believe they were disrespected, I think the parade was well received, we had dinner with them. Myself, the minister Anthony Mahler and our CEO, we had dinner with them at Grand Resort. We also gave them a small contribution, a small token for their hard work and I, first time I'm hearing that one."
Reporter: "One of the posts from former player Bryton Codd was that these athletes need more. When they come back to Belize you know, they need land, some of them are still paying student loans."
"What's your comments to the suggestions that he made?"
Devin Daly: "I think we are open to coming to the table but remember for the Ministry of Sports we don't even give sporting federation subventions so I think the contributions for federations to actually develop them, to actually providing some financing is something that we're possibly exploring before we even talk about personal contributions or personal compensations for athletes who represented us well. So I think there's levels to this but before all of that I think we need we need to continue developing the Ministry, developing the different disciplines and supporting the federations in ways that we can."
The Rotary Club of Belize sold 1,200 tickets as part of their Father's Day truck raffle. But there could only be one lucky winner of the hundred-thousand-dollar truck, and today he collected his prize. Courtney Menzies was there and has this story:
The next truck raffle will be held in late November.
If you are trying to get your little one into the habit of reading, "Tek Time Fi Read" is hosting its annual festival in Belmopan on Saturday, and the books are all free. We spoke with one of the members of the organization today and she explained that students and teachers are welcome to take advantage of all the books that will be on display. She says attendees are encouraged to donate and exchange their books for a new read:
Naiyah Shal, Tek Time Fi Read "So it is our fifth annual book festival, our first one was in 2018. Today we have distributed about almost 60,000, our goal this year is to distribute another 10,000 books, so hopefully we hit 70,000 by this book festival. It is going to be at the Belmopan Civic Center."
"On August 8th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and after 3:00 p.m., we are inviting teachers to come in and do a teacher sweep, which is basically that they are able to take any book that they want."
"We want to foster the love of reading, it is our mission to make it as fun as possible for children to enjoy reading and not see it as a chore. We want all Belizean children to be able to-we believe they are all readers, they just have not found their favorite book yet. And we really want to improve our literacy rate, so we want to make books as accessible as possible so that every child is given the opportunity to, maybe, you know, maybe they find out they enjoy reading and we want them to step into that. When you start reading a book and you step into a whole different world, and we would love for them to all experience that."
Twenty-three new Peace Corps Volunteers were officially sworn in today in Belmopan after completing intensive community training.
Jaleeza Roberts attended the ceremony and files this report:
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Tonight, 7News continues its investigation into overpriced or substandard firearms supplied to the BDF. This time we're looking at the civilian-grade Taurus brand rifles which the BDF received while three former soldiers were at the top of the Ministry of Defence: Florencio Marin Jr. as Minister, Oscar Mira as Minister of State, and former Brigadier General Dario Tapia as CEO.
"Yes, there have been some instances that some contracts have been given under the ten thousand (dollar threshold), but we have pointed out to the minister to ensure that we refrain from that. Many instances, the soldiers need food and the only way they can get that done is to try to quickly give those small contracts so they can quickly get the food and the supplies to the BDF. But I can assure you that that is not something that will be continued, a practice that will be continued in the Ministry of Defence."
And in other investigative news, tonight, we can report that 7News has located the RECONDEV stone crusher that has been a topic of much recent social media speculation. But there's more to it than just a mystery machine, and finding it was just the first step. Jaleeza Roberts reports:
"Well, I know that a few years ago, probably three years or so in sometime in 2023, there was an announcement by RECONDEV that they had acquired a stone crusher. Um, they stated that it was to work with, uh, you know, developing and building and maintaining and repairing streets in Belmopan. Um, but after that, we have not heard, uh, anything. We have not heard any, any progress report. We have not heard any report about, uh, you know, what is, what has been generated from that stone crusher, um, what work has been conducted, you know, we haven't heard anything. And so, um, you know, I decided to write to find out."
Brad's Gaming Company and Brad's Gaming Group are required to pay $5 million in business tax after a High Court ruling yesterday.
"Basically, the former owners of the Boledo, Lottery, Brad's Gaming Company Limited and Brad's Gaming Group, as well as Mr. Kim Wai Chee, brought a claim saying that the Director General of the Belize Tax Service had breached their fundamental rights, equal protection of the law and protection of the law. The background story is that the Director General had since 2020 been requesting the financial records for these companies, and there were a myriad of excuses given for officers, including that the cloud hosting was in China and that Brad's could not afford to maintain the cloud hosting that had these financial records, you name it, they came up with all kinds of excuses, they gave limited access, and with the limited access, when the tax officers went back, they were told the cloud hosting was no longer in existence. So the Director General since 2020 has been trying to get financial records on these companies to do a tax assessment. Because these companies were not cooperative in providing the financial records, the Director General had to do what is called a best assessment."
Ten years after a high-profile hit-for-hire plot made national headlines, local mechanic Lisburn Anderson has been found guilty of abetment to commit murder.
In May 2024, car rental employee Lawrence Jamie McNab took his boss's vehicle without permission and also stole two other vehicles belonging to AQ Belize Auto Rental.
The Firearms and Ammunition Control Board-known as the FACB-has received a sharp judicial reprimand from the High Court of Belize following a series of procedural missteps, unlawful refusals, and statutory breaches in its handling of gun dealer and instructor licenses.
A fight between two women that went viral on social media landed one of them in court. Britney Daly, who is known on Facebook as "Bad Freak," was involved in an altercation with Shala Smith, otherwise known as "Warrior," on Freedom Street yesterday.
Britney Daly
Ruben Stoll, the tourist who harassed the jaguar cub in mid-July, has been charged under the Wildlife Protection Act. Stoll reportedly voluntarily returned to Belize and surrendered himself to the Forestry Department. He was fined $1,000.
Forestry and Coast Guard officers have joined forces to promote the Greening Belize initiative through a mangrove restoration activity at the Coast Guard headquarters this morning. They went down to the shoreline to plant some mangroves, and we stopped in to learn more about why they took an interest in guarding the coast in this most literal sense. Jomarie Lanza has this story:
"So we came and we presented it to them, we informed them about the regulations, they did have a lot of questions, it was a very interesting learning experience for both of us, actually the Forestry Department and Coast Guard. What transpired from that is that given they had cut some of their mangroves some time ago, they actually said, 'You know, we are noticing we do need mangroves for our coastal protection,' so they said, 'Okay, why don't we partner and do some mangrove planting in these areas?' So we actually identified 3 areas in the Coast Guard base and that is what we are tackling today. So we are actually doing direct planting of red mangroves, so basically what it entails is basically getting the propagules and then just putting it there in the sand, so this morning we have gone through this process with the Coast Guard and we will be planting over 200 propagules today in these areas."
David Hilmy, Conservation Biologist
"We have seen that some of our areas here at the Belize Coast Guard headquarters had, you know, lost some of the mangroves, and an assessment was done, and so they determined that there is a way that we can collaborate to restore those mangroves."
With the PUP City Council convention on August 30th, the political buzz within the ruling party is audible.
Devin Daly: 
FIFA today announced plans to create a US $20 billion commercial subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The plan is to sell up to 20% equity in the World Cup to private investors.
Sergio Chuc: 
Our next story is about a filthy-looking latrine-but it's news because it's what police assigned to the Operations Team in San Pedro have to use. Yesterday, various officers reached out raising concerns over deteriorating conditions at their barracks in the DFC area and saying months-old promises to repair the facilities have yet to materialize.
Belize's highly touted under-20 men's national basketball team played the host country, the Dominican Republic, last night at the Central American and Caribbean Games. They lost narrowly with a score of 75-78.
And while he hopes the basketball boys bounce back, what about the male volleyballers who already proved their Central American dominance earlier this month in Costa Rica?
If you are trying to get your little one into the habit of reading, "Tek Time Fi Read" is hosting its annual festival in Belmopan on Saturday, and the books are all free. We spoke with one of the members of the organization today and she explained that students and teachers are welcome to take advantage of all the books that will be on display. She says attendees are encouraged to donate and exchange their books for a new read:
"We want to foster the love of reading, it is our mission to make it as fun as possible for children to enjoy reading and not see it as a chore. We want all Belizean children to be able to-we believe they are all readers, they just have not found their favorite book yet. And we really want to improve our literacy rate, so we want to make books as accessible as possible so that every child is given the opportunity to, maybe, you know, maybe they find out they enjoy reading and we want them to step into that. When you start reading a book and you step into a whole different world, and we would love for them to all experience that."
