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
Police have heightened their surveillance in the North after receiving reports of suspicious narco type activity in one of the villages. Last night in Progresso Corozal, Police discovered that a number of bushes and trees had been cut and utilized as road blocking material in an area of the village. Often this is done when narcos are making way for a landing. Except, in this case, there wa sno landing.
The compol says that they are monitoring activity on the ground but also in the airspace as well.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Yes the police did receive calls that the road was blocked by a number of trees that were cut and placed on the road. I had directed the police to seek the assistance from ministry of works to get some heavy equipment to clear the road of those trees. That was done and since then we have not received any further reports neither did we have any track last night that would indicate that a plane would be coming into our airspace none the less we remain vigilant in the area to see if there is anything that may be planned to take place in that particular area."
And keeping it in the north, after the lifeless body of 20 year old Joshua Hall was uncovered in the Dominguez Layout area in Corozal on Sunday, police say that they have identified a possible lead in his murder. The Compol says that it is very likely Hall was murdered by someone he knew and possibly trusted.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Apparently they were supposed to go on some mission and even words coming from the family even what I was briefed by Mr Rivero who is the head of professional standards branch who I had sent down there that the family did tell him that they know that there were these friends or used to be friends."
"Who were after him and wanted him dead. Mr Hall's body was found not too far from those same individuals and that person is in custody as we believe he may have been the one responsible."
Despite the Hall family's allegations to the contrary, the Compol has ruled out the possibility of police having any involvement in orchestrating Joshua's death. The Compol says the family's speculation arises from a miscommunication that occurred between them and his officers.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I am not aware of the camera system not working in Corozal but I will check with Mr Noble on that and if it is not working then it should be something easy for us to resolve."
"I am not going to say anything negative against the Hall family but I will only say that they know fully well who is behind the killing of their loved one and those persons behind that killing are not police officers. I would concede with them that the police may have acted too slow when they came to the police station initially to make the complaint because the police ought to have taken the complaint seriously from the inception and assisted them in doing what needed to be done to locate their loved ones but in terms of having to do with the killing of Joshua Hall I can say that the police had nothing to do with that."
"The police did partake in the search as a matter of fact I had numerous conversations with Mr Noble and he sent me footages from the drone because we have drones in Corozal and they did a number of searches utilizing and man power. Yes there was some miscommunication between the family and the police at the inception but Mr Noble eventually met with the father and those issues were addressed."
Of note is that Hall was once a suspect in connection to the murder of Norris Flowers and ex-cop turned taxi driver, who was lured to his death in September of 2022 - ironically in the same area that the body of Joshua Hall was found. We asked the Compol whether there is any correlation between the two cases and here's how he answered.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Certainly yes Hall was a suspect in that murder we cannot say yes he did it because he was not charged but he was a suspect. We cannot say at this time if this murder has anything to do with the one of Mr Flowers either. It is something that the police is looking at and hopefully we will be able to prove or dispel that allegation."
And with four murders between Christmas Day and Sunday night - it pushed this year's murder count above last year's number. When we asked the Compol about this he said that even 2 more is still one too many for the year.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Our current murder count is at 89 compared to the total figure for last year which is 87. So by our statistics the murder count is up by 2 this year compared to last year."
"To have 89 murders this year it's still 89 murders too much which in we have to look at things for what they are and every life loss simply means that there are people out there who are grieving for having lost their loved ones and so as a department we do our best to preserve life but we do understand the vicissitudes of life things are going to happen that is going to be beyond your control but when those do occur then it is our duty as the police to do our utmost best to bring closure to families and closure in the form of finding their perpetrator of these crimes and try to bring them to justice and that's what we have been pushing all year to do."
Our murder count is 91 - the most recent being in a sudden death on December 23rd that a post mortem found to be manual strangulation with blunt force trauma. The commissioner told us today he didn't know about that one.
But when it comes to charges, the compol pushed back against criticism made on this station that at least two cases ruled as manslaughter could be murder: Belhem Guzman and Matthew Moses.
The Compol strongly denied the allegations that he has any influence as to whether a murder charge is downgraded to manslaughter.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It is not the commissioner of police who determined if a person gets charged for murder or manslaughter the criminal code is clear where a person raises self defense in any matter of a fatality the file must go to the DPP for advice and the police act on the advice of the DPP. So for anyone to say that the commissioner is pushing murder to be manslaughter that is high class stupidity and you shouldn't tolerate it."
A&R stores across Belize may have been busy these holidays - but some of their customers were grumbling.
And here's why: in an attempt to stop the use of single-use plastics, A&R enterprises introduced a number of ecofriendly options within several of their stores last month, giving customers the option to either bring their own reusable bags, or purchase one at their stores.
It may be the right thing to do but that doesn't make it popular.
We visited the store today to find out what the experience has been like. Jomarie Lanza reports.
Once you're through at the checkout counter in any store, traditionally the cashier would bag away your purchases and hand you your receipt, no charges for plastic bags, even if you leave the store with more than a dozen.
But not so at A&R Enterprises. Here customers can decide whether they wish to purchase one of their reusable bags, ranging from 5 to 25 cents, or opt for a box, or no bag at all. Their Regional Manager says this decision stems from GOB's decision to phase out the use of single plastics two years ago, and since then it has taken them a few tries to integrate it into their check out system - trying out a more eco friendly option.
Leili Montalvo, Regional Manager, A&R "As you notice we put out our Ad we are integrating eco friendly practices in our operations with our biodegradable bags we attempted it two years ago when government had put out the notice that we have to phase them out and well the reception wasn't good, so….Nobody else jumped on it so we are starting it again and we want all our customers and the community to jump on this with us to understand the importance of reducing our carbon footprint and then the waste it causes to our environment."
They have introduced their reusable bags at 4 store locations, in Orange Walk, Belize City, Belmopan, and Santa Elena since Nov 1st. But so far it has been met with resistance. Montalvo says that they are simply doing their part in raising awareness of the importance of reducing waste, and choosing reusable options, in hopes that other stores may follow the lead:
Leili Montalvo, Regional Manager, A&R "In general some have been receptive others are angry and others are asking why we are charging for the bag and it's just we are not charging the full cost this is just part of the cost. We are charging part of the cost in an effort to encourage them to bring their own bag. And these are reusable they can bring back this bag too or bring their own reusable bags. We have those available too and you know we encourage the cloth bags."
"We offer boxes, customers take the boxes for some, in Belize City they don't like the box but in general people have been taking the boxes. We have had some backlash mainly saying we shouldn't put A&R on it so we will be getting bags without the A&R and we will be charging it at just the cost price."
One business trying different strategies to strike a balance between customer expectations and environmental preservation - they hope they can find a balance in 2025.
We should note that this is the norm through the Mexican state of Quintana Roo: bring your own bag or buy a fabric one at the store.
If you haven't gotten a stomach bug this month, you probably know someone who has. Gastro-intestinal illnesses seem to be everywhere - and while there are no official numbers on the norovirus in Belize, we know that in the US there were 91 Norovirus outbreaks in the first week of December.
So, it's definitely around and today we spoke to Dr Marvin Manzanero via zoom about what he's been seeing in the outpatient setting:
Dr Marvin Manzanero, Internist/Bioethicist "We are noticing, or people are reporting cases of gastrointestinal infections. We are assuming it's a viral infection, and we more commonly tend to think is going to be the norovirus. The Norwalk virus. It is considered a winter, vomiting disease, so, so to speak."
Jules Vasquez "If one is feeling the onset of this. What should one do?"
Dr Marvin Manzanero, Internist/Bioethicist "Well, the more common symptoms, as you're rightly indicating, is diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain or pain in the gastric area, usually gas building up. Some patients are documenting fever and headaches and general malaise. It usually is a self-limiting situation where patients will recover maximum three days. Of course, they're going to feel weak for a couple of days after, but it's in the course of the disease itself, it's usually 1 or 3 days. It usually will come about 12 to 48 hours after you have been in contact with with the virus."
"There is no treatment though Jules. And I think this is very important to stress this out because since it's a viral infection, we routinely are not going to give you, there's not a treatment that you give for the virus itself. What you're going to give is treatment for the stomach pain, for the fever, for the general abdominal discomfort the patient is going to be having."
Jules Vasquez "What should people drink? A lot of people feel that you have to drink Gatorade or that Pedialyte or something like that."
Dr Marvin Manzanero, Internist/Bioethicist "Water is always going to be at the center of whatever we tell patients because patients say, well, you're right. People are using these, electrolyte solutions. People are saying, but I can't eat or drink anything because then I have this sense of wanting to vomit."
"Something is going to stay in your stomach, something is going to be absorbed. So it's always important to try to keep hydrating yourself throughout the course of the day. Mindful of the fact that babies, pediatric patients and older patients are more likely to become dehydrated."
"But water remains the key of that. And you don't have to engage in buying any of these expensive products. You can do the self, you know, the, the the oral rehydration salts that you can get, and you mix that in water."
Jules Vasquez "But is there any way to avoid contracting this virus?"
Dr Marvin Manzanero, Internist/Bioethicist "But primarily this is a handwashing situation. This is very important that we stress this out because it's proper handwashing."
"Also know that this particular virus, if it is the norovirus that that we have around circulating, - I can't know that for sure - the alcohol based sanitizers that we tend to use a lot instead of a hand washing is not going to be effective simply because of the type of virus that gives you this."
"So it has to be proper hand-washing techniques."
So, again, if you or someone you know catches the bug, the best thing to do is to stay hydrated while it runs its course. Children and older persons may however need to go to a hospital.
Next week Chester Williams will complete 6 years as Top Cop, safely surpassing his predecessor Allen Whylie to become the longest serving Commissioner of Police in over 100 years.
And though his position is secure, 6 years is a long run at the top. When we spoke to him this morning we asked him whether or not he had an exit plan, or if he will continue to serve out for another year. Here's what he told us about his future plans.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I certainly will not say I don't have an exit plan but at this time I am still not sure in terms of what I will be doing if I will finish the year, 2025 as commissioner if I will leave before I am not sure yet I will have to look at and with my options to see what is there for me. I am still pretty young and so it's something I have to look at to see what I will do until then I continue to remain committed to my duties and responsibilities as commissioner of police making sure I serve the Belizean people to the best of my ability and more importantly to ensure the police do what needs to be done to keep our people safe and treat our citizenry with the utmost degree of respect."
We also asked the Commissioner about the bail received for a man accused of raping a 13 year old in Placencia. As we reported, earlier this month, 34-year-old Dane Percival Neal, was charged for the rape of a child.
He is reportedly out on bail, and as a result of this the public is questioning whether or not the charge of rape should be a bailable offense.
When we spoke to the compol today he broke down for us how the judiciary system functions when it comes to granting bail for certain cases.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It's a matter for the judiciary I think that the crime control and criminal justice act clearly outlines the different offenses for which a person may not be able to be granted bail at the first instance which would be at the magistrate court level and I do believe that rape of a minor is one of those instances. So the magistrate may not be able to grant bail for it but the accused person can then apply to the Supreme Court for bail and the Supreme Court being the guardian of the constitution would then be able to consider that person for bail. As a matter of fact even murder while the court at first instance does not give bail for murder if the person applies at the Supreme Court for bail for murder the high court is in a position where they can grant bail if they see it fit because the constitution did not clearly stipulate that if you are charged for murder you cannot get bail it did not say that. So every crime."
"Is a bailable offense it's just a matter for the court to determine if they are going to grant bail and if they do under what condition or conditions they will grant those bails."
In July we reported that the General Legal Council, which is responsible for complaints the public makes against attorneys, had found OJ Elrington guilty of professional misconduct, and fined him $15,000 dollars - $5,000 of which must go to his former client, Pastor Dozie.
But, two weeks ago, Dozie wrote a letter of complaint to the commissioner saying he was being denied a copy of his police report.
This is because he is pursuing criminal forgery charges against Elrington. That's after the GLC expressed concern about the authenticity of a document allegedly signed by his client that Elrington entered as evidence. They said they would send it to the police to determine whether Pastor Dozie's signature was forged.
When we spoke with the Compol today he said he had not seen the alleged forgery or the letter from Dozie:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I am not aware of pastor Dosey filing any report I know Dosey personally. Him and I joined police together he was my squad brother and when the thing initially happened he had came to me and I advised him to go to the general legal counsel which he did in terms of there being any criminal liability on the path of the attorney with respect to that matter I am not sure I see more a matter of a client and attorney misconduct. None the less if Me Dosey feels that there is something criminal there we are willing to look at it put that file together and send to the DPP and seek legal advice on the matter. I am not aware at this time though of there being any complaints officially filed by him I know I received a letter on my desk from him on Friday of Last week where he is asking for the police to conduct a criminal investigation into the matter I had referred that letter to the head of national crimes investigation branch for them to look at it if there is a need to get a statement from me if one has not yet been obtained that will be done and then the investigation will go from there."
There is grumbling in the lower ranks of the police tonight about working at what are called "extraneous duties" during Christmas for which they have not been paid - which the police have already been paid by the various municipalities. .
For example, in Belmopan reports are that $4,000 was paid by the City Council for 30+ officers and they have yet to collect.
When we asked the compol about this today, he told us that it takes a while for them to process the payout, he explained why.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Police officers work extraneous duties in September, Christmas and New Year's and Easter holidays. How it works is that when you work extraneous for September for example it would have to go through my office to the ministry and then to the ministry of finance for approval. We normally do our best to have it ready that they can get it before the Christmas. Unfortunately this year that did not happen it has been approved by ministry of finance about a month or so ago I received it and I give it to commander of operations who normally put together the list and outline how much each officer will be getting. When the commander of operations is finished with it, it then goes to our accounts section and then from our accounts section it then goes to treasury. Unfortunately the treasury was short of staff and they were not able to input the names of the officers and the amount they were to collect in the system so that they could have gotten in in December and so that did not occur. However we have been assured by treasury that the officers are going to get their extraneous in January so they are going to get paid and so every officer who works extraneous duty gets paid there is absolutely no situation or circumstance where an officer is not going to be paid unless the officer did not report himself on or off duty then yes that is going to create some issue because you have to have proof that the officer did in fact work hence the reason we told our officers whenever you show up for extraneous duties make sure you document yourself in the diary that you report on duty and you also document yourself when you report off duty. So for any officer to be saying what they have said to you they are being disingenuous."
And whether you make resolutions or not - for sure, at the stroke of midnight, everyone is going to be hearing fireworks or firecrackers or at least dynamite or popshots.
And while you may not be too keen about the noise and annoyance that comes with these explosives during the Christmas and New Year season, others see them as harmless fun for kids, and even in some cases adults.
But what do police think? The compol says that every year they receive dozens of complaints about the noise, especially on New Years Eve. And when we asked him what they plan to do about it, he said that they are willing to allow it for one night and one night only.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "People call the police complain on blog about firecrackers and man give the kids a break man. It's almost done."
"I am not going to have no child arrested for discharging fire crackers. Well if the parents are caught with it that is a different story."
"But the thing is Marisol if the police goes to a house based on information and searches and finds fire crackers or whatever they may call them and they do not have a permit for it then the police can arrest and charge. I can tell you a number of persons applied for fire crackers for a permit to import and we had people apply for like $5,000 worth some applied for $3,000 worth some apply for $2,000 worth and I when I see that amount I say hell no I will only approve $500 worth because then if you are buying $5,000 or $3,000 you are certainly buying for a commercial purpose that is not for your personal consumption and so I would approve them $500 and I would say on the application go and donate the rest of the money to a charitable organization. Why are you going to put $5,000 up in flames come on so I don't approve that amount I only approve $500 only when it comes to the town councils the city councils and the village councils, I would approve that amount because I know they are doing it for the celebrations."
And going back to an interview we first showed you yesterday - former foreign Minister during Belize's push to independence, Assad Shoman told us more about how - in the late 70's - the Carter Administration was trying to get Belize to cede a piece of its territory to Guatemala to settle the dispute. He told us about a Good Friday visit to the State Department:
Assad Shoman, Historian/Ambassador "Don't forget that, for example, in 1978, in the I think it was a good Friday was good Friday in 1978, when Mr. Price and myself went to the State Department, it was like going into a ghost town in there to meet with (former Secretary of State Cyrus) Vance and I believe (Terence) Todman was his assistant when he tried very hard to convince us that Belize must give up some land, something in order to settle the issue with Guatemala. But, you know, that was part of his office, I suppose as president of the USA, but after that, as you say, he became he enabled, he was enabled to do otherwise."
"That was helped by, I think, very strongly by (Omar) Torrijos, but also by the fact that also helped by Torrijos, a lot of Latin American states were supporting Belize then. Even Argentina was supporting Belize. So that, that that that helped him to go ahead and do what he should have done from the beginning, which was fully support Belize's right to self-determination and independence and territorial integrity."
And that's it for 7News on this New Year's Eve. Thanks for joining us tonight and all throughout the year. From all of us here at Channel 7 - we hope you have an enjoyable and safe New Year's celebration.
We leave you tonight with some of the images that made news in 2024, and you can join me for the full year in review coming up in about half an hour right here on Channel 7.
So stay tuned for that and join Jomarie Lanza back here on Thursday at 6:00.
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Police have heightened their surveillance in the North after receiving reports of suspicious narco type activity in one of the villages. Last night in Progresso Corozal, Police discovered that a number of bushes and trees had been cut and utilized as road blocking material in an area of the village. Often this is done when narcos are making way for a landing. Except, in this case, there wa sno landing.
"Yes the police did receive calls that the road was blocked by a number of trees that were cut and placed on the road. I had directed the police to seek the assistance from ministry of works to get some heavy equipment to clear the road of those trees. That was done and since then we have not received any further reports neither did we have any track last night that would indicate that a plane would be coming into our airspace none the less we remain vigilant in the area to see if there is anything that may be planned to take place in that particular area."
And keeping it in the north, after the lifeless body of 20 year old Joshua Hall was uncovered in the Dominguez Layout area in Corozal on Sunday, police say that they have identified a possible lead in his murder. The Compol says that it is very likely Hall was murdered by someone he knew and possibly trusted.
Despite the Hall family's allegations to the contrary, the Compol has ruled out the possibility of police having any involvement in orchestrating Joshua's death. The Compol says the family's speculation arises from a miscommunication that occurred between them and his officers.
Of note is that Hall was once a suspect in connection to the murder of Norris Flowers and ex-cop turned taxi driver, who was lured to his death in September of 2022 - ironically in the same area that the body of Joshua Hall was found. We asked the Compol whether there is any correlation between the two cases and here's how he answered.
A&R stores across Belize may have been busy these holidays - but some of their customers were grumbling.
"As you notice we put out our Ad we are integrating eco friendly practices in our operations with our biodegradable bags we attempted it two years ago when government had put out the notice that we have to phase them out and well the reception wasn't good, so….Nobody else jumped on it so we are starting it again and we want all our customers and the community to jump on this with us to understand the importance of reducing our carbon footprint and then the waste it causes to our environment."
"We are noticing, or people are reporting cases of gastrointestinal infections. We are assuming it's a viral infection, and we more commonly tend to think is going to be the norovirus. The Norwalk virus. It is considered a winter, vomiting disease, so, so to speak."
In July we reported that the General Legal Council, which is responsible for complaints the public makes against attorneys, had found OJ Elrington guilty of professional misconduct, and fined him $15,000 dollars - $5,000 of which must go to his former client, Pastor Dozie.
There is grumbling in the lower ranks of the police tonight about working at what are called "extraneous duties" during Christmas for which they have not been paid - which the police have already been paid by the various municipalities. .
And whether you make resolutions or not - for sure, at the stroke of midnight, everyone is going to be hearing fireworks or firecrackers or at least dynamite or popshots.
And going back to an interview we first showed you yesterday - former foreign Minister during Belize's push to independence, Assad Shoman told us more about how - in the late 70's - the Carter Administration was trying to get Belize to cede a piece of its territory to Guatemala to settle the dispute. He told us about a Good Friday visit to the State Department:
"That was helped by, I think, very strongly by (Omar) Torrijos, but also by the fact that also helped by Torrijos, a lot of Latin American states were supporting Belize then. Even Argentina was supporting Belize. So that, that that that helped him to go ahead and do what he should have done from the beginning, which was fully support Belize's right to self-determination and independence and territorial integrity."
