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
Students at UB's main campus in Belmopan had a chance to directly ask the Prime Minister their burning questions today. PM Briceno was a guest lecturer on national leadership, economic development, and opportunities for Belize's future.
And after his 30 minute presentation, the floor was opened for questions. The students asked about the economy, inflation, the proposed Smart acquisition, education, and more.
But one of the messages that stood out from the PM's answers is that those gas prices that are currently causing pain across the populace? Well, buckle up because they're only going to go higher.
Here is a snippet of the PM's Q&A section.
Student "What concrete steps are being taken to raise wages and improve the overall standard of living? Is it the same measures that you guys have previously taken, or are there new measures being implemented now that it is 2026 and prices are going up?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I think I've already answered the question, but let me quickly say once again that we do not control the cost of goods that come into the country. We import everything. And there are only certain things that we can do to, we have not raised taxes, by the way, because then we can't say, okay, I'll reduce, we raise taxes and creating that."
"We recognize the challenge with the cost of living. It's something that's affected worldwide. And I'm sorry to give you the bad news, but right now it's going to get worse because of the war in Iran."
"We have nothing to do with that. But the price of diesel has already, the fuel has gone up, and the next shipment is going to go up more, and we have no control over that. All we can do is to be able to try to get people working."
"We're looking at increasing the minimum wage to $6. When we do that, then we hope that salaries will be able to go up a little bit all around. But then government then has to be more active in its social programs where they could help, especially those that need."
Student "I saw a report from BTL about the positive effects of this acquisition, such as infrastructure, community development, and more employment. But what would be the negative consequences on our economy for consumers and the telecommunications sector?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We have cable our companies and we started out with a small cable company and we ended up buying everybody, all the cable companies in the north, from the Hallover Bridge all the way to the free zone, because we wanted to be able to, we want that cash flow."
"Respectfully due to Jules Vasquez, who is making a lot of noise, we bought his father's cable company in Orange Walk. We paid his company, his father, $350,000 for his cable company. Do you know what we got? Nothing."
"We didn't even get one pen. But what we got is their customers. All we did is disconnect the customer from their system and put them into our system. In effect, we were buying cash flow. And that's what businesses do to be able to grow."
"But on negatives, you could say lack of competition. But the truth of the matter is that you have the Public Utilities Commission. And one of the responsibilities of the Public Utilities Commission is to be able to ensure that these utility companies do not take advantage of the public and that when they price their products, it is priced in such a way that they are not taking advantage of the consumers or their customers."
"So maybe that's about the only thing that I can see."
The lecture plus Q&A finished at about 5:00 pm and you can find a link to the entire event on the UB Facebook page.
Tonight, the Department of the Environment is investigating another fish kill in sections of the New River in the Orange Walk District. It's gotten so bad that the stench of decaying fish has been wafting into the town as well.
So what's causing it and who's to blame? Today, the Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai told us that the fish kill appears to be linked to extremely low levels of dissolved oxygen in the river.
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer - DOE "The Department of Environment has been responding to fish kills in that particular area for many years. We, responded to this fish kill and we have collected data. So we have a fair enough idea of what have, what's the possible cause."
"And as you know, in 2019, the river underwent the a state of eutrophication which degraded the water quality, and the ecosystem. The bad level. In fact, you know, it was all over the news. Everyone knows about that particular incident. And, since then. So we have been doing work before that. But since then, we've ramped up the monitoring, and activities within the particular watershed. So we have done a significant amount of activities to reduce the trips and pressures today that are in the river. And so we went out on, Monday, March 16th, and we collected data and data that we have shows that the dissolved oxygen from the Toll bridge all the way to San Estevan and three miles past San Estevan, the dissolved oxygen where it was was extremely low in all the different sites that we sampled. So the way we conduct our sampling is we, we collect sampling in terms of the column, the water column. So we take measurements, at the surface by feet and at ten feet. And then we also do the left and right side of the river. So we do that for each site. And we have that sampling site at the toll bridge. We had one, what we an era we call by maracas, we call Lamanai River tours. We had one in front of L&R's liquor, one in front of BSI's, Belcogen discharge. Sorry. Back against discharge. One in front of discharge. We had one in the middle of our. It dropped down one by seven. Bridge, one in trail form, one in San Esteban, and then the final one three miles downstream from San Estevan And from our samplings that we did an early test. We could observe that the dissolved oxygen, was extremely low. We have data to show that the dissolved oxygen, for example, in the middle of our drop down was around 2.54mg/l. Right. And so from an ecological standpoint, in the aquatic ecosystem become stress when it dissolved oxygen is that three micrograms per liter and below."
The Department of the Environment said the issue was first reported around March 10 and appears to have persisted for roughly a week before conditions began showing signs of improvement. The department also recorded elevated levels of chlorophyll, indicating increased algae growth. Excess algae can consume large amounts of oxygen in the water. When asked if the dry season will cause this issue to continue and potentially worsen, Mai said he just cannot confirm that as yet.
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer - DOE "So we believe that the, the high level of well, again, the growing levels of, algae at the lower end of the river, may have depleted some of the water causing the fish kill."
"It's difficult to say because, again, nature equalizes itself, slowly over time. Right. What I could tell you is that we have had significant intervention in terms of the type of, the source of pollution that goes into the river. Right? So from a pollution, management standpoint, we have a record of the point source of discharge and non-point sources of discharge.So the non-point sources of discharge are difficult to identify and measure because, the pollution is diffused into the aquatic ecosystem. So in terms of new river for upstream for marine drop, there's a lot of agricultural activities. And the farmers for that they use nitrates and phosphates or fertilizers. And the fertilizers when it rains, rushes into the river, right, and gets into the river. So it's difficult to measure and pinpoint. Exactly where and how it is, is entering into the water for the ecosystem."
"And so with the dry season upon us, can we expect that this will worsen? Like I said, it's it's it's a possibility. And it's difficult to say because what we have observed is that since 2019, when it was at its worst point, the river has been rebounding. Right. So we see the fish kills being, less frequent and less intense. So this picture was not as bad as some of the issues that we had to deal with in the past. Right. That means and suggest us that the river is slowly coming back to equilibrium, coming back to a level where it could at least remain or maintain some level of healthiness."
The Department of the Environment will continue monitoring the river and analyzing samples to better understand the conditions that led to the latest fish kill.
We also sought an update from Chief Environmental Officer Mai on the status of the fuel vessel anchored off Big Creek Port - a situation that remains in limbo as authorities appear undecided on how to proceed.
Customs and the Department of the Environment bear the primary responsibility for clearing or rejecting the vessel and bringing charges against the crew if it broke the rules - which did happen.
So, what has nothing happened after so many days in Belizean waters? That's what we asked Mai today:
Reporter "Just to shift gears a bit, we know that there was an oil, a boat with oil that came into the country, the importer, the clearance, it didn't follow the different conditions that came along with it. And so they were held accountable for the violation. Whatever they were. And so, do you have any updates on this that you can give to us?"
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer - DOE "Unfortunately, right now I don't have any update. It's an ongoing issue that we're looking into."
Reporter "And so is it still being investigated into or the person still held. Should we expect any charges?"
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer - DOE "It's it's it's difficult to say right now. And I wouldn't want to comment on it. Yeah. It's difficult to say."
As we understand it, authorities are finding it difficult to confidently connect anyone or company to the vessel and its cargo.
Tonight, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association is under pressure to settle a massive legal dispute with BSI and Tate & Lyle Sugars. The proposed deal would force farmers to abandon an 11 million dollar claim for unpaid Fair Trade premiums without receiving a single cent in compensation.
And getting into the mix on the side of the multinational is the Government of Belize which has offered a million-dollar fertilizer package to encourage a signature on that settlement. In a letter to the BSCFA, Prime Minister John Briceño has pledged one million dollars in fertilizer over two years, along with monthly operational support for the Association. However, that assistance is strictly contingent on the BSCFA dropping its legal claims against BSI and T&L Sugars.
While the Prime Minister frames this as a path toward industry stability, the Association is caught between immediate relief and a legal battle for those many millions in unpaid premiums. The BSCFA has signaled it is willing to talk, but they are demanding 'tangible recognition' of what is owed rather than walking away empty-handed.
The association's attorney at Young and Company have presented a formal legal opinion saying the settlement offers zero compensation for these past losses and could give the sugar companies the power to withhold future payments with 'impunity.' This comes after the High Court ruled last July that the farmers do have the right to sue the multinational companies right here in Belizean courts.
So is the proposed settlement agreement a 'trap' for cane farmers? That is the question as the BSCFA reviews the proposal - which we understand has the association divided this evening. They went into a meeting to discuss the proposal and Vice President Fred Ortega spoke to CTV-3 News when he came out a short while ago. Here's how he put it:
Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chaoirman, Committee of Management "Really and truly, it does not bring any good benefit to our farmers. It brings and it contains what they have presented to us from 2021 when we started with this agreement with BSI. We thought that there will have been changes to that letter, but nothing that is in there will benefit the farmers because what they're asking for is for us to remove the court case that we have."
"And not only that, but for future days to come that we won't be able to go to court or to fight for our rights."
Reporter "What is the leadership of the association saying at this point in time, the committee of management?"
Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chaoirman, Committee of Management "Well, there are some of us that are not in agreement with that, because we have seen that it will not be beneficial to our farmers. Nevertheless, most of the leaders have approved that we hold a general meeting and an emergency meeting this coming Sunday, on which we are not stopping that to happen."
"But what we would want is our farmers to really analyze and understand what the implications are if they agree to that letter that have been sent to us to forego the court case and to forego everything, even the premium."
"So that is what we would want our farmers to clearly understand before taking any decision."
Ortega says the entire membership of the BSCFA would have to decide on any issue like this. We'll continue to follow this story.
Last night we reported on a 21 year old who appears to have fatally shot himself in Camalote Village. The victim has been identified as Andy Suazo, a rapper and call center agent.
The details surrounding the shooting are puzzling to police and our team headed out west to find out why. Jaleeza Roberts filed this report:
Police are investigating the puzzling circumstances surrounding the death of 21 year old Andy Suazo, a dancehall artist who went by the artist name of "Anga".
Shortly after 4:00 pm yesterday in Camalote village, police received information that a man was rushed to the Western Regional Hospital with gunshot wounds.
Initial investigations revealed that around 3:30 p.m., Suazo left his mother's home in Camalote Village and visited a friend and told him that he had a firearm. He then showed him a silver pistol. While handling the weapon, the firearm reportedly jammed. The friend told police that he warned Suazo that the pistol appeared to be malfunctioning. However, Suazo allegedly continued trying to unjam the weapon when he shot himself.
The friend's mother rushed him to the Western Regional Hospital but it was too late, he was pronounced dead on arrival. His family refused to speak to us today.
His friend later told police that after the incident he removed the pistol from the house because he did not want his parents to become involved. Investigators later processed the scene where one live round of ammunition was recovered.
The friend also reportedly led police to the location where the firearm had been hidden. It was retrieved along with six live rounds of ammunition and taken by police as evidence.
Police have detained 5 men as investigations continue.
A rape conviction has been upheld by the court of appeal.
In September of 2018, Pomona village resident Albert Williams was charged for one count of rape where he allegedly assaulted a woman outside her home on the Pomona Road, raped her outside her house, and then dragged her inside and stole her personal items. In March 2022 he was convicted in a trial by Justice Antoinette Moore who sentenced him to 14 years.
But, he took the matter to appeal where it was dismissed today and his conviction and sentence for rape was affirmed.
Today, Gales Point resident Austin Meyers walked into the Hattieville police station to turn himself in. That's after this wanted poster was issued. But Meyers says he didn't commit the crime he's accused of. In fact, he says that while he's wanted for a stolen boat, he was busy planting mangroves in Gales Point Manatee when the incident happened. He says he's being targeted and harassed by the police.
We spoke with him and his attorney today.
Austin Meyers, Claims Police Harassment "They already picked me up for something I didn't do and have me there for 3 days at the station and they don't have any evidence about the boat that's missing. I don't know anything about that because I wasn't planting mangroves that whole week, me and my colleagues, they just want to frame me for something I didn't do."
"It affected me very bad because the thing that I do, I show the kids what to do in Gales Point Manatee with mangroves to grow. I had about seven or eight kids with me planting mangroves."
"It couldn't continue, caused some of my mangrove to die because I have to water it nearly everyday in that time."
"I'm asking for peace from the police."
Norman Rodriguez, Attorney "The situation normally is that they would detain people and in some instances they don't charge, I don't know what the position is because I have not been able to reach any police officer from Hattieville. The one person I spoke to wasn't too polite and there are some officers that would give a little information to assist the attorneys in making a decision how to move but this one wasn't so cooperating. So that is the position where we are, he has to turn himself in and they will surely detain him and he understands that they want to charge him for something but he says he know he has not committed any crime or offense and the one involvement with the police he has had so far was that they detained him for a certain period of time and released him and he believe that is the same reason they want to detain him again."
Lionellie Meyers, Sister "The issue here for me personally is that Austin isn't just my brother, he's my worker and practically the face of my business and we do tourism. The impact of having a wanted poster for the face of a small business, it's extreme, it's very terrible. The tourism industry is already not great and something like that really deters clients."
"The issue with the stolen boat, I really don't see it as something Austin is capable of but beyond that, it has been very hard to get information from the police department in regards to what the charges are. It's either contradicting information or no information at all."
We'll let you know if and when he is criminally charged.
If you're a shopper, head of household or just a regular working person - you'll know that when prices go up - they rarely if ever come down.
And that's the reality that food vendors are grappling with - facing constantly rising costs - which inevitably trickle down to consumers. And now it's directly affecting the most affordable street food in Belize: basic chicken tacos.
Today we sampled some street side tacos and Jaleeza Roberts spoke to the vendor who travels 65 miles by bus daily just to make a living:
And in other news that's going to force a change in consumer habits, pharmacies are now being forced by strict regulations to require a prescription for all prescription regulations.
Now, this may sound like emphasizing the obvious - but the truth is that many prescription meds can be obtained over the counter without a prescription.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is now enforcing regulations on the accessibility of prescription medication.
Senior drug inspector, Samira Gongora, says that the measure must be taken to ensure the safe use of medications countrywide:
Samira Gongora, Senior Drug Inpector "Prescription drugs that drugs that are prescription have always been prescription drugs. You need a valid prescription to access them from the pharmacy and for it to be dispensed. We have taken the liberty to separate pharmacy sale from general OTC because we know in Belize in some rural areas, we don't have pharmacies everywhere, like especially down south."
"So we've put some items on general sale so that these items can be available at grocery store, providing that they're stored at the accurate temperature, not to affect the integrity of the product. So it's nothing new."
"I mean, as a pharmacist, you know that certain medication, antibiotic control drugs, drugs for NCDs, they require a prescription at all times. If it is, let's say you're a patient with diabetes or hypertension, you should have already enrolled in a clinic."
"You have a doctor, you have your appointment pretty much every three months in the public sector. And even in the private sector, if it is that you're seeing a doctor, you have your appointments that you need to meet whenever your refills are up."
"So let's say you're on your metformin as a diabetic. After that three months is up, you have to make sure that you meet your appointment to see your doctor. Because what it is that you have to make sure, and this is in the best interest of the patient, we need to make sure, or you need to make sure that the medication that you're taking is working."
"So in addition to getting your prescription filled, you need to see the doctor every so often, do your diagnostic tests, you need to do your blood works, you need to do x-ray, ultrasound, to see if it is that the medication that you have been prescribed is working or the doctor would need to change it to something else that can allow you to be a patient that is controlled and that your illness is controlled."
"So pretty much that is what we are what we are ensuring that we have control over the medication and that it is in the best interest of the patient that they get their checks done and you're not taking that medication forever and ever and you don't know if it's working or you're getting worse."
Tonight the Forest Department is trying to track another conflict cat - this time in Crooked Tree. This cat has been killing and eating livestock.
The Crooked Tree residents are hoping that, like the jaguar called "Anri", this cat can also be captured before they lose any more of their animals.
Currently "Anri" is still being assessed and his injuries - including his screwworm infestation - are being tended to. Where he will go next is still unknown at this point.
However, there has been contradictory information coming out of the Forest Department and the village. Courtney Menzies took a deeper look at both sides of the story.
There's a lot of misinformation and miscommunication surrounding the recapturing of Anri the jaguar.
According to the Lemonal resident, whose yard the cage was placed in, the jaguar was trapped early Sunday morning.
She says she immediately contacted the authorities.
Voice of: Nicole Anthony, Resident, Lemonal "Around 5am Sunday morning I heard the dog barking ferociously and it didn't want to stop."
"When I spot it properly, direct on the cage, I saw it eating the dead calf and I got my phone and called the man out of Corozal first because I wanted it to move instant."
"I notified the villagers in the village group chat, the chairlady came and saw it and after that the villagers started to come because everyone wants to see what was causing them distress and the Jaguar while it was in that trap it was quite content, only if someone was looking at it too close it would get angry."
This video, captured at 5:30 am reflects that, the cat was calm and not agitated.
But it would be at least another two hours before the CSFI team got to the location - and by then, Anri was antsy.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer "This one happened so quickly that, the CSFI team was in Lemonal by 7:00. I wasn't even awake yet and they were already there reacting to the situation."
But, villagers tell us it was actually after 10:00 am when CSFI got there - which would mean the cat was caged for 5 hours. By this time the trap was hot and surrounded by villagers.
However, Pinelo praised the team for capturing the jaguar within two days of laying the trap.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer "We put the cameras and we found out. Yes, it was a Jaguar. We also had pictures from the community, showing us that it was a Jaguar. And so what we did then was deployed the camera in that time where we got the reports and we put the cage. Yes. There might have been a delay in the time, but, we when we when we did take the cage, there was not much as I said, there was only two days, in terms of when we put it there and when we catch we caught it."
But aside from being stuck in a cage for hours, he was also injured. And he may have hurt himself in the small cage. But Pinelo also put some blame on the residents.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer "When we got the animal, its entire face was was bleeding, its nose was bleeding, and I was made to understand that people who were hitting it put bars in his face. So that might have been one of the reasons for the break as well. I can't blame anybody. Like I said, any of those two options might be the reason why, but we realize that it does have a canine missing that would need to be extracted Because if it is left like that, they get infected, it can kill the animal."
According to Anthony, however, she did not see the villagers being violent towards the jaguar. And she clarified that the trap was there much longer than Pinelo said.
Nicole Anthony, Resident, Lemonal "I believe it was when it first got in the cage that it hurt itself because when I was out there no one was hitting or poking it, I didn't see anyone doing that but I believe if that happened, because they said that occurred, I believe that was when I went upstairs because I didn't want to see it anymore, I just wanted it to go from out of the yard."
"We didn't get any disclosure about this animal because they tracked it, they knew where it was, whenever they came in the village, they could have told us where the jaguar was situated. Also because on the lovefm morning show, I heard Mr Pinelo say the trap was set there one or two days before but the trap was in the yard from February 25th. I would just like to clarify that because I don't want anyone believing it was a quick catch, the jaguar refused to go in the cage for quite a period of time."
But Pinelo added that while they can set up the cage and monitor the jaguar, they can't force it to go inside.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer "In rating the situation I will say we could have reacted faster in terms of trying to catch the animal but I will also put a caveat in there that I cannot force the jaguar to go into the cage. We can see it on the GPS tracker moving around but that does not mean we can tell it to get in the cage."
But, the community remains concerned that Forestry isn't being on the level with them - and when a community meeting on Sunday afternoon was cancelled without notice after villagers waited an hour for it to start - their misgivings deepened:
Nicole Anthony, Resident, Lemonal "I believe that we weren't respected enough and that's what is upsetting because they could have notified us that there would not have been a meeting yesterday because the jaguar has been caught but they could have come and highlighted the do's and don't's but not only that, they could have given us more information about it, it already gave us hell so we just wanted to know but yes they chose not to have the meeting again but they could have informed the chairlady."
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer "The meeting that was called was for us to explain to them what we were going to do to try and catch the animal. Understand me when I say the animal was caught before the meeting and so while it is yes a slip up on us to call and say we don't want to do the meeting again because we're dealing with the cat right now, all of us were scrambling to try and get this cat out and to try and get the health assessment for it so it might have slipped us in informing the chairlady that we would not have the meeting again, at least on that date."
Today the National MET service brought together several stakeholders for a multi-hazard early warning systems workshop. The goal is to move away from reporting on hazards as they're occurring to warning residents in specific areas what may be coming their way. This will allow them to better prepare and to mitigate damage to property. The Senior Climatologist told us more.
Shanae Young, Senior Climatologist, National MET Service "This workshop is co designing early warning products at different time scales, the weather, today, tomorrow, and also climate time scales. We have a wide range of stakeholders and we're basically working with Colombia University through a project we have with the United Nations development program and also the World Food Program and the Koran government and basically Colombia University was hired to help us create hazard maps for different key climate hazards which includes drought, heat waves, severe thunder storms, strong winds, etc. This is important because we all know that whether and climate affects all sectors but it affects each sector including the general public in a different way so we're mapping out how these hazards have impacts on different sectors and we're also establishing critical thresholds so for somebody in Belize City to be affected by an excessive rainfall event and get flooded, there's a certain rainfall amount that would cause that so we need to know what those rainfall amounts are in order for us to proper provide early warning to that particular area or community in Belize so that they're not flooded or they do things to mitigate or prevent severe flooding."
"At the MET office we traditionally provide weather forecast but we're in the process of moving towards impact based forecast so not just telling persons if it's going to rain or be hot but how it will affect them."
"And all of these multi hazard early warning workshops, these different consultancies that we have with Colombia University, World Food Program, and many other agencies are helping us in our process of developing our five year strategic plan. So on the 23rd on officially World Met Day we will be hosting a consultation in Belmopan at the NEMO office, again with all these key stakeholders because the work that we do at the MET service is not just based on what we think people or different users need but we actually letting those users or sectors provide input as to what types of products, what types of services they require, what time scale, how quickly, how accurate do they need that information so that we can plan and incorporate those and improve some of the current services that we provide to them."
And on Monday, The National MET service will be having a weather and climate fair at the Mae Gordon Park in Belmopan to celebrate World MET Day.
These days, what can a shilling get you aside from a few candies?
Well, it can also buy you a round of games at Retro Zone Arcade.
It appears that the game shop era may be making a comeback and we spoke to the owner and designer of the gaming machines today. Jomarie Lanza has this story.
Before the Playstations, XBoxes and Nintendo switches took over the TV in your house, there were arcade zones, or as we call them "Game shops" a meet up point for all the kids after school and during summer, but thanks to one man who gave into his nostalgia for the "good old days" he's turned those memories into a business venture of bringing the old game shops back to life.
Joel Westby, Owner of Retro Zone Arcade "Growing up in the 90s and early 2000 I used to always be at Munchies or Lion King, my mom used to come for me at game shop back then it used to be really nice so I said what are these kids are doing today let me give them an opportunity so they have something to do because nowadays kids don't really have anything to do but being idle on the street but now we have a game shop and you see them in here everyday during lunch, after school the place is always packed."
Joel Westby, the owner of Retro Zone Arcade located on Central American Boulevard spent the last month constructing and programming these 4 arcade machines. He says after building the first one he saw the potential for opening a game shop.
Joel Westby, Owner of Retro Zone Arcade "Well I was watching a YouTube video about how you build arcade cabinets and I decided to build one. Me and my dad we built the first one and then after that I said let me open a little game shop and I built all 4 of them after that."
Jo- "So you did the programming and everything?"
Joel Westby, Owner of Retro Zone Arcade "Yeah everything I did I built the whole cabinet put on all the edges that you see on the arcade, program the buttons everything I did."
And like the old arcade games all it takes is a few shillings to stay occupied for hours. Westby says it was a favored pastime back then for children and still is now. The kids keep coming in - and so do their dads!
Joel Westby, Owner of Retro Zone Arcade "Well like the arcade games the old school arcades, if you put in a shilling you get to play until you die but the newer games like off a play station and so they go by times so its shining for 5 minutes. Yes so if you want to beat one of them you have to bring a whole lot of shillings."
"When it comes to the community like parents that come in here and so they say it is really something nice I did they like it because they know where to find their sons now once we don't see them, its the game shop we are coming so I usually give them my number to call incase they want to know if their kid is here then I can find out if there kid is here and tell them that he is here."
Sounds familiar doesn't it? A mother looking all over the neighborhood for her child only to find them at the game shop with all the other kids. One resident says that the environment Westby has created is one that will keep many children safe and off the streets out of harm's way after school. It's a magical thing that many old retired gamers can relate to.
Elvis Bevans, Resident "It might look like small arcade shop for now but this is a big look for this neighborhood because when we grew up we grew up in game shop as well and it was missing for a while so when my brother said he wanted to bring back a gameshow in the neighborhood I told him it was an excellent idea because all the kids love gaming you know and by having this game shop it will help kids who don't have an after school program to have safe environment to spend time in so I would like to invite out all the kids at port Loyola and this whole Southside of Belize that let their parents know this is a safe and nice neighborhood for the kids to spend time after school."
Jo- "You remember your days coming to a game shop to play?"
Elvis Bevans, Resident "Of course I remember my days perfectly but the only thing I am not seeing is a little pacman for now but we will l get that very soon it is just the first day and the opening you know but we will have all the games that the kids will like."
The Retro Zone is located right across from 88 Shopping Center.
They carry out their duties with a passion, and often without a thank you or any form of special recognition in return. But today was a day for honoring these women, giving them the spotlight for their contributions towards society and helping others. Jomarie lanza attended the event this morning and here's how it went.
The women that were awarded by the National Women's Commission for an award, were nominated by their peers and select organizations.
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Students at UB's main campus in Belmopan had a chance to directly ask the Prime Minister their burning questions today. PM Briceno was a guest lecturer on national leadership, economic development, and opportunities for Belize's future.
"I think I've already answered the question, but let me quickly say once again that we do not control the cost of goods that come into the country. We import everything. And there are only certain things that we can do to, we have not raised taxes, by the way, because then we can't say, okay, I'll reduce, we raise taxes and creating that."
Tonight, the Department of the Environment is investigating another fish kill in sections of the New River in the Orange Walk District. It's gotten so bad that the stench of decaying fish has been wafting into the town as well.
"The Department of Environment has been responding to fish kills in that particular area for many years. We, responded to this fish kill and we have collected data. So we have a fair enough idea of what have, what's the possible cause."
We also sought an update from Chief Environmental Officer Mai on the status of the fuel vessel anchored off Big Creek Port - a situation that remains in limbo as authorities appear undecided on how to proceed.
Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chaoirman, Committee of Management
Last night we reported on a 21 year old who appears to have fatally shot himself in Camalote Village. The victim has been identified as Andy Suazo, a rapper and call center agent.
Today, Gales Point resident Austin Meyers walked into the Hattieville police station to turn himself in. That's after this wanted poster was issued. But Meyers says he didn't commit the crime he's accused of. In fact, he says that while he's wanted for a stolen boat, he was busy planting mangroves in Gales Point Manatee when the incident happened. He says he's being targeted and harassed by the police.
"They already picked me up for something I didn't do and have me there for 3 days at the station and they don't have any evidence about the boat that's missing. I don't know anything about that because I wasn't planting mangroves that whole week, me and my colleagues, they just want to frame me for something I didn't do."
Norman Rodriguez, Attorney 
Lionellie Meyers, Sister 
And in other news that's going to force a change in consumer habits, pharmacies are now being forced by strict regulations to require a prescription for all prescription regulations.
"So we've put some items on general sale so that these items can be available at grocery store, providing that they're stored at the accurate temperature, not to affect the integrity of the product. So it's nothing new."
Tonight the Forest Department is trying to track another conflict cat - this time in Crooked Tree. This cat has been killing and eating livestock.
"Around 5am Sunday morning I heard the dog barking ferociously and it didn't want to stop."
"This one happened so quickly that, the CSFI team was in Lemonal by 7:00. I wasn't even awake yet and they were already there reacting to the situation."
Today the National MET service brought together several stakeholders for a multi-hazard early warning systems workshop. The goal is to move away from reporting on hazards as they're occurring to warning residents in specific areas what may be coming their way. This will allow them to better prepare and to mitigate damage to property. The Senior Climatologist told us more.
"This workshop is co designing early warning products at different time scales, the weather, today, tomorrow, and also climate time scales. We have a wide range of stakeholders and we're basically working with Colombia University through a project we have with the United Nations development program and also the World Food Program and the Koran government and basically Colombia University was hired to help us create hazard maps for different key climate hazards which includes drought, heat waves, severe thunder storms, strong winds, etc. This is important because we all know that whether and climate affects all sectors but it affects each sector including the general public in a different way so we're mapping out how these hazards have impacts on different sectors and we're also establishing critical thresholds so for somebody in Belize City to be affected by an excessive rainfall event and get flooded, there's a certain rainfall amount that would cause that so we need to know what those rainfall amounts are in order for us to proper provide early warning to that particular area or community in Belize so that they're not flooded or they do things to mitigate or prevent severe flooding."
These days, what can a shilling get you aside from a few candies?
"Growing up in the 90s and early 2000 I used to always be at Munchies or Lion King, my mom used to come for me at game shop back then it used to be really nice so I said what are these kids are doing today let me give them an opportunity so they have something to do because nowadays kids don't really have anything to do but being idle on the street but now we have a game shop and you see them in here everyday during lunch, after school the place is always packed."
Elvis Bevans, Resident 