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, BWS is issuing an urgent warning to homeowners following a sudden spike in overnight water meter thefts. That's right-BWS has reported that almost 30 meters have been stolen in the Belize and Corozal Districts. And not only is this costing the company thousands to replace, but it's also causing mental stress for the households who have to live without water until they can get another meter.
So why are they being stolen? And what can you do to protect yours? Courtney Menzies was at BWS' press conference today and has this story:
Over two dozen residents in the Belize and Corozal Districts were surprised to find this scene: a space where their water meters once were. Belize Water Services has reported that meters are being stolen. But for what reason? Here's what the Operations Manager in the Belize District told us:
Roberto Torres, Operations Manager, BWS, Belize District "We have been receiving a lot of reports lately of some of our customer meters that are being stolen here in Belize District and also in the Corozal District. Back in December, we had the same issue where we were getting our meters stolen. But it seems that it has started again. It started back in June of this year-it started here in Belize City, from June to September. So right now we have estimated a total of 18 meters that have been stolen, and in Corozal, just from yesterday to today, we have 11 meters."
Courtney Menzies: "Do you have any idea why it's being stolen? I can't imagine it's for some monetary..."
Roberto Torres: "Our meters are made out of copper, which is sold for scraps... can be sold for scraps. Not sure the total value they can get out of it, but it does cause an issue for us because the whole meter mechanism itself is expensive. Roughly one of them costs about $300, and whenever it is stolen, we have to go back and replace it for the customer, which causes an expense to the company."
BWS is urging customers to stay alert-because when a meter is stolen, that home is instantly left without water. And if it happens more than once, well, you'll be the one paying for that:
Courtney Menzies: "So then, while somebody's meter is stolen, and then you said it takes resources to put it back, what happens in the interim of when it's stolen to when you're able to replace it?"
Roberto Torres: "Well, the customer doesn't have water."
Reporter: "And does the customer face additional charge to replace the meter?"
Roberto Torres: "No, we don't charge the customer because at the first offense... in the repeated offense, if it's stolen again, we then charge... do a small fee replacement of the meters."
Courtney Menzies: "But if it's not my fault and my meter is being stolen by my neighbor or something?"
Roberto Torres: "A notice is given to the customer after the first offense.
"You could cage it or enclose it, but what mostly we ask is to be cautious or see if any suspicious activities are happening in the area-anybody circling or watching the meters in the neighborhood."
Paul Wade, Assistant Customer Services Manager, Belize District "When meters are stolen, it does affect the customer where they are out of water for a substantial amount of time, especially if it happens late at night, early in the morning. While we are a 24-hour company, it does take us resources to get out there and try to make those repairs, so that's why we need to make sure that these persons or the customers are alerted so they can be vigilant. Because not having water because of somebody stealing your meters, that's what we've come to. So we have to make sure we are on top of it and make sure we're able to support our customers as quickly as possible."
And while customers are asked to report suspicious behavior, the Chief Operations Officer emphasized the cost to the company when meters are stolen-which then becomes a cost to the public. He explained that it's everybody's duty to ensure the company keeps running properly:
Sanjay Keshwani, COO, BWS "BWS is one of the very few utilities in Caribbean providing 24/7 water, including Central America. Some part of the Caribbean, for example, if you look at St. Lucia, they are importing water from other countries. Some parts of the Caribbean, just two days in a week, some just two hours in a day. And like that. So we are lucky to have... and not because of me, because all of us, we work together to make this happen."
Turning now to Belize's foreign affairs-is there still no final decision on the way ahead for the Cuban medical brigade?
A final decision from the Belize government was expected at the end of September, and we learned today that the deadline for that decision has now been extended to the end of October:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture "Yeah, we're still working on it. We're still working on it. So, we've extended the deadline. But, you know, I'm very optimistic that we are approaching a resolution to the matter. But again, we are..."
Jaleeza Roberts: "Is there any timeframe for the extension?"
Francis Fonseca: "Yeah, I hope by the end of October. So, a few more weeks. But I'm very hopeful that we can have a very good resolution to that matter."
When it comes to the Safe Third Country Agreement that countries in this hemisphere have signed with the United States, Antigua and Barbuda stands out.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has insisted on strict numerical caps, full financial compensation, and guaranteed support arrangements before signing any third-country national agreement with the U.S.
Belize-on the other hand-signed and ratified its Safe Third Country Agreement one year ago with far fewer restrictions.
When we asked the Minister if perhaps they should have negotiated stricter terms, he says they are comfortable with the agreement:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs "Yeah, yeah, Belize... I mean, we put out a release on that many, many months ago. We have finalized an agreement, but that agreement has very, very, very clear guidelines, guardrails, very strict procedures that have to be followed. Belize has to vet all of the applicants, all of the individuals we receive. So, you know, I think so far under the agreement we've... we've received, I think, about nine individuals. So, you know, we're very, very confident and very comfortable with the agreement we have in place. As I said, it has, you know, it's been vetted by the National Security Council. It's been vetted by our Attorney General's Ministry. And so, it has in place very clear procedures and guidelines that have to be followed, and Belize at all times maintains a right of refusal. So, we're very comfortable with the... with the agreement."
Reporter: "Should there be any reporting mechanism under that same agreement to say, 'Okay, we're going to have 15 transferees, 20 transferees?'"
Francis Fonseca: "Yeah, we do."
"We... every time we have... they come in, we put out a release. As I said, there... that's because the numbers have been very small. We put out one when we... I think, as I said, we're up to about nine people that have come in. And I think we put out two when first there was four, and then there was an additional five. So, yeah, we... there's no... we are committed to providing information on the... when we receive these transferees."
While Belize signed a binding agreement with no numerical transfer caps and no guaranteed U.S. funding, Antigua and Barbuda demands a strict limit of 10 individuals per year and fully secured U.S. compensation before starting transfers. Additionally, Belize considers criminal histories on a case-by-case discretionary basis, whereas Antigua demands an absolute exclusion of anyone with a criminal record.
We should note, though, that the U.S. currently caps visitor visas for Antiguan citizens at three-month single-entry limits with potential financial bonds of $15,000 to $20,000 U.S. dollars.
And from foreign affairs to culture, Minister Fonseca met with the National Garifuna Council and representatives from NICH today to discuss a broad range of issues.
The NGC has been engaged with the government in the past week-after some remarks made by the Prime Minister in September were found by the NGC to be insensitive.
Fonseca says they also discussed the upcoming 19th of November celebrations as well as the Battle of the Drums:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture "We've had a number of meetings. A few weeks ago, we met... the government, the Prime Minister, myself, Deputy Prime Minister, and others met with the National Garifuna Council in Belmopan. I have more recently had follow-up meetings with them, NICH, and myself. It's really been about how can we strengthen our relationship or partnership, and of course, we have been focusing recently, of course, on the November 19th celebrations, Garifuna Settlement Day. So how can we support their activities for that day? So those have been the meetings."
"We're also... I met yesterday with the Battle of the Drums Secretariat. We talked about collaboration in terms of the promotion and preservation of the Garifuna language, for example. Stronger support to the Gulisi Primary School in Dangriga. So, you know, I think there's a lot of opportunity for us to work more closely together to strengthen our partnership. The Garifuna community represents a very dynamic, strong community, cultural community in our country. They have contributed greatly to the development of Belize. So, you know, we see them as our partners in development, and we want to work more closely with them."
Prime Minister John Briceño is in Bangkok, Thailand, at the ancillary meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.
And in an interview conducted at those meetings with Taiwan's Central News Agency, Prime Minister Briceño pushed back sharply against the diplomatic pressure from Beijing, calling the sanctions completely unjustified, saying, quote, "The sanctions are uncalled for, unjustified, wrong, and illegal."
He said that Beijing's actions will only reinforce Belize's commitment to Taiwan.
Police are looking for two crossover SUVs in rural Belize: one stolen this morning in a Burrell Boom home invasion, and the other used in a Ladyville armed robbery.
Before 7:00 this morning, police sent out an internal bulletin with a picture of a burgundy 2017 Toyota Rush. It was reported stolen during an aggravated burglary at the Burrell Boom residence of a businessman.
And this afternoon, this black Nissan Rogue with silver door handles was used as the getaway vehicle in a robbery at the Fu Xiang store in Ladyville.
We have an update now on that horrific homicide in Orange Walk. Police have confirmed disturbing details surrounding the murder of 35-year-old community sports activist Wilson "Chato" Perez in Carmelita Village.
Investigators believe Perez was lured to his death by a text message late Monday night.
According to his common-law partner, Perez was at home around 10:30 p.m. on Monday when he received a message stating that small goal posts from the local football field had been misplaced. He dressed, hopped on his red-and-black Lifan scooter to check on them, and never returned.
Early the following morning, his 60-year-old father, Martin Perez, searched the village and spotted his son's scooter hidden in the brush opposite the CIB Beer Factory in Carmelita. A few feet away, he made the gruesome discovery of his son's lifeless body.
Perez had been decapitated and partially burnt, suffering severe chopping injuries to his arms and abdominal area. His severed head was located a short distance away in the bushes.
Police are now attempting to trace that late-night text message as their murder investigation continues.
Recently, we've been reporting on the king tides in Belize City, but it's been causing a major sewage issue in the Embarcadero area of San Pedro-near the artisan market.
The rising tides submerge the local BWS pump station, and when it does, dark water comes out of the manholes.
That area is well used by residents, students, and artisans, and they're concerned that the sewage water is contaminating the area, apart from causing an odor. On Saturday, Senator Gabriel Zetina told 7News that something needs to be done to address it:
Gabriel Zetina, Senator "First off, I wanted to bring you guys for you to see what's around this neighborhood. So here we have two restaurants, we have a deli, a grocery store, the preschool-very important-and of course the artisan market. This area, as you can see, it's a residential area where many of the fishermen come to offload their catch for the day. So this is called the Embarcadero area. Yesterday I was told about... apparently we see the overflow of the sewer going into the lagoon, which that could lead to potential health risks and, of course, to environmental contamination."
"As you can understand, even for us as locals, when we're driving up in this area, especially with the high tide we're experiencing right now, you can smell it-it's in the air. And so right now we want to highlight the issue, but of course it's not about pointing blame or passing blame from one to another. I think right now we should have the mayor, area rep, and of course BWS who work in collaboration to first do water testing to see to what extent that contamination, if it does exist, and secondly, at least for the time being, if we can have the town council send a truck to extract what currently exists in the sewer to take that all out."
Jorge Aldana, San Pedro Resident "We fish to the back, that's where... in the Embarcadero area is where we fish. And for some days now, we're having some level of poop from the pump station just seeping into... out on the street. There is a preschool to the back, there is the fishers that come and sell their product. A lot of tours leave from there, and you have tourists walking over poop and over septic water from the pump station-that is wrong. All the water into the street, draining from the street, into the sea. These are things that have not only an environmental concern, but from a public health concern."
And today BWS addressed the issue at a press conference. Although our news team was in the area and did detect a foul odor, the company insists that not only was there no odor, but that it wasn't sewage water coming up from the manhole. They explained the water on the street was just seawater:
Eric Rhaburn, Water and Wastewater Operations Manager, Cayes "We had a high tide. The manhole that's connected on Station 3 on Nurse Shark Street was submerged, so we had a hydraulic overload. It had nothing to do with the pump station-it's simply a high tide. And to verify that, we had the DOE personnel that went out there Saturday morning, and he commented that there were no solids, there was no odor associated with a sewer discharge. So simply put, it was a high tide, the system became overwhelmed, and whenever it receded back... if you go back, it has receded and it's not overflowing anymore."
"One of our mitigations that we did is that we got the septic trucks to come and pump down the manholes, and we have them on watch for us. And the other thing we're going to do-which is going to be a longer-term solution-is to try and raise the manhole so that this doesn't happen again whenever we get a high tide."
"One of the other mitigation that we did is that we disinfected the area also, so just in case anything happened, we disinfected so that we can protect the area."
Beyond the measures they'll implement on the island, BWS is also embarking on a project here in the city. The Chief Operations Officer explained that they're building two new water tanks at the headquarters:
Sanjay Keshwani, Chief Operations Officer, BWS "We are building the two tanks at Southside, by HQ Southside station. Each tank is about 250,000 gallons in terms of storage. Value of each tank is about 2.52 million Belize dollars. Over a period of time, Belize City and Belize District has really grown in population, and existing tank, which is 500,000-gallon tank, it barely provides 6 hours storage. Mainline comes from the Double Run plant, which is located in Sandhill. You're looking at 17 miles of pipeline, and if there is a breakage on that line, sometimes the repair takes up to 12 hours. So we will run out of water within six hours, specifically on Southside Belize City. So we increased the storage capacity in order for us not to run out of water for people while we are doing a repair. So basically, it's quick response time, protect the water security, and be available for customers 24/7 so nobody has that inconvenience while we are doing repairs and maintenance work."
"Expected time to complete these two tanks is March 15th, 2027. Both tanks should be finished by that time. Under the last 5 years business plan, we have reported that we completed about 150 million dollars investment in Belize countrywide, and we have similar plans in this business plan. In many locations, we are building storage capacity for similar reasons and more other projects."
The controversy surrounding Assad Shoman's new book cover has taken another turn. Just days after the College of Arms in London released correspondence authenticating the 1907 Royal Warrant image used on the cover of Shoman's A History of Belize in 13 Chapters, a Kriol cultural leader is now alleging that the College of Arms may have been shown a different image than what was actually published.
Detra Gillett, founder and president of the Belize Kriol Heritage Association, has written to the College of Arms, requesting an immediate appointment for a representative to visit the archives in London to inspect the original 1907 Royal Warrant in person.
Gillett's request centers on information shared by Dr. Tessa Robinson, alleging a discrepancy between the image Shoman submitted to London for verification and the artwork printed on the final book cover.
According to Gillett's letter, Robinson claims that the image Shoman submitted to the College of Arms did not feature the exaggerated facial characteristics criticized as "minstrel blackface." Despite this, Shoman has presented the College's authentication publicly to defend the published cover.
Copied on the correspondence is the National Kriol Council, which previously condemned the cover image as dehumanizing racial imagery.
Gillett states that a direct, primary examination of the College's records is necessary to resolve the matter and uphold the dignity and historical representation of Belizean Kriol ancestors.
In a major legal victory for equity over legal paperwork, the Caribbean Court of Justice has ruled that decades of reliance on a verbal promise outranks a formal registered land deed.
The family feud began over a home on Chancellor Avenue in Belize City. In the early 1990s, Anita Robateau promised her son, Ewart, that if he built a family home on her government-leased lot to prevent it from being forfeited, he could live there for the rest of his life. Ewart spent his own money to construct the house and lived there openly for 34 years.
However, in 2017, his mother transferred the registered deed to his brother, Allen, who immediately took Ewart to court to evict him. Lower courts originally ordered Ewart's eviction because he could not produce 30-year-old construction receipts-even though he had lived there for decades.
Last week, the CCJ overturned those decisions, ruling that strict land registration law cannot be used to commit an unconscionable injustice. Justice Denys Barrow delivered the court's landmark decision:
Justice Denys Barrow, Judge, Caribbean Court of Justice "The CCJ held that the absence of receipts, invoices, or other financial documentation did not undermine the uncontradicted fact that the appellant had built and paid for the house. His decades-long open occupation, coupled with the circumstances in which the house was constructed, provided substantial objective evidence supporting his account of the arrangement with the mother."
The court ruled that Ewart's long-standing occupation forms an overriding interest that legally binds any registered owner. The Registrar of Lands has been ordered to officially record Ewart's life interest on the land register, securing his right to remain in his home for life.
High Court Judge Martha Alexander has thrown out a judicial review claim challenging the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
The claim, filed by Jeremy Enriquez's attorney Anand Ramlogan, sought to overturn the Commission's refusal to investigate a misconduct complaint against Senior Courts Justice Tawanda Hondora.
The legal fight stems from a February 2025 electoral boundaries hearing. A member of Enriquez's legal team alleged he overheard Justice Hondora over an unmuted microphone say he had made up his mind and was continuing the hearing only to "teach them a lesson".
Justice Hondora denied the allegation, explaining he was merely consulting another judge regarding a legal precedent.
The JLSC dismissed Enriquez's complaint last October, ruling it failed to meet the threshold required to trigger a formal investigation.
In upholding that dismissal, Justice Alexander ruled that the JLSC acted fully within its authority. She clarified that while an accused judge must be given a chance to respond to unfounded allegations, complainants have no legal right to see that response or file a counter-reply at the preliminary screening stage.
The High Court dismissed the claim in its entirety and ordered Enriquez to pay the JLSC's legal costs.
The National Bus Company had its biennial press conference last week, where it updated the stakeholders and the public on how the company is coming along.
With all its bumps in the road, Dr. Louis Zabaneh explained that they're exceeding some financial targets.
But while the company is still dealing with broken-down buses, standees, and the chaos of public transportation, he says by the end of next year, the electric fleet should be completed. Dr. Zabaneh was on Sunup on 7 this morning, where he told us more about it:
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "We saw very clearly that electric buses could function well in Belize, that the cost of operations in terms of energy would be only about 22%-imagine, compared to diesel-so the overall operating costs of the whole company drops because fuel is one of the largest cost items for our bus company. So in essence, then, government's assets will be buses, and we need to wait for those buses to get here. So what we have is still the old fleet, and that is why we had said back then that it would take about two years, towards the end of 2027, before we really start to see a fully transformed sector, because in the meantime we have to be struggling with these old buses, which we still do."
"One of the things on the positive end that we shared at the press conference was that NBC is ahead of target in terms of its financial performance, because now we've been able to put better financial systems in place. And I'll give you some basic things-people were not paying Social Security for their workers, not paying income tax, don't have a payslip... basic things. Now there's a system in place where workers feel more comfortable. Some bus lines had the wages for their conductors really low; we put everything standardized, and then we have better monitoring of the income. We're starting back at the terminals now to issue tickets-something that had disappeared. Back in the '70s and '80s, the five bus lines at the time-James, Z Line, Belizean Queen, Batty's, and Venus-used to issue tickets. You have a seat number and all of that; you sit at the window, you will see the number of your seat, 5W or 5I. I guess some of the young persons who were not there are bewildered! You could actually have a seat, and then that helps you with managing your finances because it's not all that cash in the hand of conductors who can then partake in that before bringing what's due to the company."
This week marks Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Week across the Caribbean, and the Ministry of Health and Wellness is taking a closer look at the data right here at home.
With a central focus on preventing repeat unintended pregnancies and helping young mothers thrive, health officials shared Belize's latest statistics for 2024 and 2025.
Jaleeza Roberts was there:
Adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 make up 22 percent of Belize's ethnically diverse population. And like many other nations, a significant portion of births here are to young adolescent mothers. To mark Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Week, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is taking a closer look at the latest data: What are the driving factors, and how can they further reduce these numbers?
Dr. Natalia Largaespada Beer, Technical Advisor, Maternal & Child Health, Ministry of Health and Wellness "We wanted to share information with the different representatives from the media houses and the basic definitions related to adolescent pregnancy, adolescent birth rate-which represents the number of females 15 to 19 having a live birth per every thousand females 15 to 19-the consequences of adolescent pregnancy, and some message of hope for adolescents."
"So globally, the rate is at 44%. Adolescent birth rate for the Latin American and Caribbean sub-region, it is 50%. For Belize, we have two sets of data-one coming from the MICS 2024 with adolescent birth rate at 58%, and from the administrative data from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, we are at 38.8%-38.8 pregnancies, live births to females 15 to 19."
As part of a long-term strategy through 2030, health officials are tackling major issues that threaten adolescent futures-including mental health struggles, violence, injury, and reproductive health care.
Like a pregnancy, for example-the long-term consequences of navigating into adulthood while also becoming a parent.
Dr. Natalia Largaespada Beer: "Well, the ideal is we don't get pregnant until we have 30 years, but I think we have realized worldwide that it is hard to prevent the first pregnancy. But there are adolescents having their second and third pregnancy and unwanted pregnancies before reaching 20 years, so that is the focus right now worldwide to help these young girls. I mean, if we miss the first one, we can help them to prevent the second and the third in this period of transition between childhood and adolescence... and adulthood, which is adolescence."
Reporter: "What is the impact of a high adolescent birth rate on the development of the country?"
Dr. Natalia Largaespada Beer: "Well, more than the development of the country is the impact on the mom, the adolescent girl, and the health consequences for the baby also. But yes, it does have an effect, a ripple effect on the girl, on the family, and the community and the country. And there will definitely be... if it happens in a family living in poverty, then it is just a repeat of that cycle of poverty. So adolescent birth rate is higher in countries that have lower developmental index, definitely."
Twenty-four Belizean creatives now have a chance to bring their ideas to life after receiving funding from NICH. Jaleeza Roberts was at the ceremony for the Belize Culture Fund Grant Awards and files this report:
These are the recipients of the 2026 Belize Culture Fund grants, and the National Institute of Culture and History has doubled its allocation, providing a total of $60,000 in funding for this cycle.
The funding supports artists, cultural practitioners, and entrepreneurs seeking to turn their creative ideas into reality. The Minister says it's a project that allows them to see creativity in action:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture "We're very proud to do every year at NICH because it's really the core foundation of our mandate. How can we support the creative community? How can we give some fuel to these creative ideas that people have? So all over the country we receive submissions, we have a committee, a grant committee made up of the technical officers here at NICH. They review them and they selected the awardees. So it's really, really, really a beautiful program. I'm proud that we started it and it gives, as I said, an opportunity to these creative persons, an opportunity to give fuel and really fertilize to their ideas that they have planted. So they're amazing projects and we're very, very happy to support them."
The fund is now in its third year, with 24 small projects selected to receive grants aimed at stimulating Belize's creative sector and supporting cultural development across the country. Twenty recipients will receive microgrants of $2,000 each, while four projects will receive $5,000 apiece. The program is designed to provide seed funding for initiatives that may otherwise struggle to secure financial support. In its third year, NICH has been able to gauge its success:
Francis Fonseca: "We've had a very high success rate-92% success rate. So we've had projects where we've had murals, we've had small projects where people start a little soap company, a little soap business. We have projects we've supported where people create jewelry. So many, many, many exciting initiatives have come out of it. A lot of educational work, a lot of projects have to do with our creatives going into the schools, using the funds to create projects with students. So it's really all around, it's a win for everyone."
One of the recipients, Julian Brown, created a project called "Corozal Stories" where he intends to digitally tell the stories of the northern district in three languages:
Julian Brown, Grant Recipient "For me, it was primarily very personal. I feel that there is a big need to... to document the many stories and the many people in the many events from Corozal Town in specific. I know that there are a lot of things that my generation and your generation doesn't know pertaining to our local community, and I think that the best medium at this point in time is to use social media to create and to find ways to engage our generation to learn about these stories. So for me, it was primarily something that I look forward to as... as a young Corozaleño, and I am looking forward to creating and documenting all of these beautiful stories."
"The name of the project is Corozal Stories: A Digital Snapshot of the North, and the main objective is to create this, but also incorporate three languages. So I want to document in English, in Spanish, and in Yucatec Maya, since it's something that we don't normally do, but is very present and very prevalent, especially in the surrounding villages of the town."
Last night on the news, you may have heard Foreign Minister Fonseca urging respect for media colleagues, but the media got no respect when Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lin Chia-lung, visited Belize on September 28th.
There was no invitation or soundbite opportunities for local media houses. Matter of fact, the media never even saw the agenda for the visit.
When we asked Foreign Minister Fonseca about it, he said he wasn't aware that the media was not invited:
Francis Fonseca: "I was... I'm not aware that there was not... invitation to the media. I'm not certain it was him or to engage him. I don't know. We work with the Embassy of Taiwan in Belize to coordinate these visits. Obviously, they make certain decisions; we make certain decisions. But certainly, you know, I... we would have been fully prepared to... to make him available to... to the media. So I don't know why there was not a specific press conference of that nature. I certainly would apologize for that on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for... for perhaps not organizing a media engagement directly between ourselves and the media."
Jaleeza Roberts: "Would you be able to confirm if during that time there was a groundbreaking for the new embassy, for the new Taiwanese embassy?"
Francis Fonseca: "I don't know if... I don't think there was a groundbreaking. I think because I didn't go, but I think they visited the site. I think the... the Foreign Minister wanted to see the proposed site of the building, and so I think they visited that site. But I'm not sure. I don't think there was an actual groundbreaking, but I may be mistaken. But I was not present."
Jaleeza Roberts: "Is there any reason why they're moving the building to Belmopan?"
Francis Fonseca: "Well, Belmopan is the capital city of... of our country, so we encourage all embassies to... to have their headquarters in Belmopan. You know, that should be the... the practice. I think most... most of them have done so; we only have a few remaining in the city. The United States moved many, many, many years ago-I think they were the first to move to Belmopan. So, yeah, any new embassies that are being built, we require that... that they be built in the capital city."
And with the Minister apologizing to the media, he also cleared up the issue surrounding school bus contracts. We note that in mid-September, some privately contracted school buses had to suspend their runs because the Ministry did not pay them. The issue has now been resolved. Here's how the Minister explained:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture "There are no guarantees in this life and in this work. But yeah, we did resolve it. It was really an issue of the bureaucracy. We had, as I reported to you all, we had instituted a new procedure which required that the Contractor General vet and approve these school bus contracts. So it was a new system that we put in place. And it obviously took more time than we expected for the approvals to come. But we got the approvals and we were able to then execute the payments. So it was just a question of, you know, time. We're satisfied that everything is going well, and we don't expect any further problems."
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Tonight, BWS is issuing an urgent warning to homeowners following a sudden spike in overnight water meter thefts. That's right-BWS has reported that almost 30 meters have been stolen in the Belize and Corozal Districts. And not only is this costing the company thousands to replace, but it's also causing mental stress for the households who have to live without water until they can get another meter.
"We have been receiving a lot of reports lately of some of our customer meters that are being stolen here in Belize District and also in the Corozal District. Back in December, we had the same issue where we were getting our meters stolen. But it seems that it has started again. It started back in June of this year-it started here in Belize City, from June to September. So right now we have estimated a total of 18 meters that have been stolen, and in Corozal, just from yesterday to today, we have 11 meters."
"You could cage it or enclose it, but what mostly we ask is to be cautious or see if any suspicious activities are happening in the area-anybody circling or watching the meters in the neighborhood."
Sanjay Keshwani, COO, BWS
Turning now to Belize's foreign affairs-is there still no final decision on the way ahead for the Cuban medical brigade?
"Yeah, we're still working on it. We're still working on it. So, we've extended the deadline. But, you know, I'm very optimistic that we are approaching a resolution to the matter. But again, we are..."
When it comes to the Safe Third Country Agreement that countries in this hemisphere have signed with the United States, Antigua and Barbuda stands out.
And from foreign affairs to culture, Minister Fonseca met with the National Garifuna Council and representatives from NICH today to discuss a broad range of issues.
Prime Minister John Briceño is in Bangkok, Thailand, at the ancillary meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.
Police are looking for two crossover SUVs in rural Belize: one stolen this morning in a Burrell Boom home invasion, and the other used in a Ladyville armed robbery.
We have an update now on that horrific homicide in Orange Walk. Police have confirmed disturbing details surrounding the murder of 35-year-old community sports activist Wilson "Chato" Perez in Carmelita Village.
Recently, we've been reporting on the king tides in Belize City, but it's been causing a major sewage issue in the Embarcadero area of San Pedro-near the artisan market.
"First off, I wanted to bring you guys for you to see what's around this neighborhood. So here we have two restaurants, we have a deli, a grocery store, the preschool-very important-and of course the artisan market. This area, as you can see, it's a residential area where many of the fishermen come to offload their catch for the day. So this is called the Embarcadero area. Yesterday I was told about... apparently we see the overflow of the sewer going into the lagoon, which that could lead to potential health risks and, of course, to environmental contamination."
Jorge Aldana, San Pedro Resident
Eric Rhaburn, Water and Wastewater Operations Manager, Cayes
Beyond the measures they'll implement on the island, BWS is also embarking on a project here in the city. The Chief Operations Officer explained that they're building two new water tanks at the headquarters:
The controversy surrounding Assad Shoman's new book cover has taken another turn. Just days after the College of Arms in London released correspondence authenticating the 1907 Royal Warrant image used on the cover of Shoman's A History of Belize in 13 Chapters, a Kriol cultural leader is now alleging that the College of Arms may have been shown a different image than what was actually published.
In a major legal victory for equity over legal paperwork, the Caribbean Court of Justice has ruled that decades of reliance on a verbal promise outranks a formal registered land deed.
Justice Denys Barrow, Judge, Caribbean Court of Justice
High Court Judge Martha Alexander has thrown out a judicial review claim challenging the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
This week marks Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Week across the Caribbean, and the Ministry of Health and Wellness is taking a closer look at the data right here at home.
"We wanted to share information with the different representatives from the media houses and the basic definitions related to adolescent pregnancy, adolescent birth rate-which represents the number of females 15 to 19 having a live birth per every thousand females 15 to 19-the consequences of adolescent pregnancy, and some message of hope for adolescents."
Twenty-four Belizean creatives now have a chance to bring their ideas to life after receiving funding from NICH. Jaleeza Roberts was at the ceremony for the Belize Culture Fund Grant Awards and files this report:
Julian Brown, Grant Recipient
Francis Fonseca: 