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Tropical Storm Sara Will Make Landfall In Belize (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
Tonight, Tropical Storm Sara is pounding northern Honduras with heavy rains which are likely to produce life threatening mudslides and flash floods.
Belize is watching the storm closely because the forecast track shows the system making landfall in Belize sometime this weekend - most likely Sunday.
The 3:00 pm advisory from NEMO declared the Preliminary Phase of the National Hurricane Plan, meaning that a tropical weather system is expected to make landfall within 72 hours.
That announcement came after the Tropical Depression was upgraded to a Tropical storm at 3:00 pm.
At 6:00 pm, the storm is moving to the west at 10 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. And it's headed for Belize.
The projected forecast projection is for this to come ashore as a Tropical Storm with 50 mile per hour winds.
It's an unprecedented system because in all its recorded history, Belize has never been hit by a storm so late in November.
And because of this, it's a hard storm to predict. This morning, the Chief Met Officer was part of a Zoom Press briefing discussed the variables that give it a wide cone of probabilit
Ronald Gordon, Chief MET Officer
"You can see that from this tracking tool, there is a wide cone of uncertainty with where the center of Tropical Depression 19 would go, extending from southern Belize virtually all the way up to Yucatan."
"all the way to northern Yucatan"
"The forecast is for it to stall north of Honduras for at least 24 to 36 hours, and then eventually begin moving to the northwest into our area."
"So there is a good chance that Belize, a very likely chance that Belize will be impacted by a tropical storm, sometime on Sunday, late Sunday, possibly Monday morning. Timing is also variable because no one can predict exactly when. These models again are not perfect."
"Rainfall. That's what the system is going to produce. So what you're seeing on the screen now is the rainfall accumulation predicted again by a model. So bear in mind that it doesn't have to be that exact value. But what you're seeing these shades of orange into red indicate very high rainfall. And this is from six or midnight last night or this morning to about midnight on Monday. So accumulation over a five day period of about, I would say, upwards of ten inches of rainfall, possibly even higher across parts of Belize."
"Yesterday evening they were projecting it to make landfall with 70 mile per hour wind. It is down now to 50 mile per hour or wind. For context - and I don't like to do this, but I will do it - Tropical Storm Nadine came ashore with 60mph wind. The current prediction is for this to come ashore at 50 mile per hour wind. I will repeat that in terms of the prediction can be off. So we need to bear in mind that the system could come ashore a bit stronger, and if it does come ashore as a 70 mile per hour tropical storm that is only five miles or four miles, actually lower than the threshold for a category one hurricane."
"Yes, there is a very likely chance that the country would be impacted by a tropical system. Currently, we expect it to be a tropical storm. I would not venture into landfall location specifically, but the highest probability is that it would make landfall on the country of Belize and and in terms of timing, this is expected to occur late to Sunday into Monday."
What's Stopping Sara From Strengthening? (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
Again, that is just a forecast and it could change due to the unpredictable nature of the storm.
But, as of 3:00 pm the official forecast says the center of Sara will approach the coast of Belize on Sunday. Some strengthening is expected and Sara should have maximum sustained winds of around 50 mph at landfall in Belize.
But, the sooner it comes, the better it is for Belize because that means the storm will have less time to strengthen. And, while Honduras is facing - we repeat - life threatening floods and landslides - the storm's contact with that landmass is keeping it from strengthening.
The Chief Met officer outlined some environmental factors working in Belize's favor:
Ronald Gordon, Chief MET Officer
"One of the factors that could prevent further strengthening is interaction with land. As I showed, the system is forecast to move very near to the coast of Honduras. And if it jogs even a bit south into the mainland Honduras, it will weaken further. However, if it remains offshore, then it will be a bit stronger. So there is still, some variance within the intensity forecast."
"Yah, the extreme worst case scenario, which is outside of the forecast right now, is perhaps a category one hurricane. We're not seeing that, but that's the extreme worst."
"Best case? It weakens further over Honduras and comes across as a depression and just be a rainfall producer. But important to note, rain is a significant hazard. If you get 10 to 15in of rainfall, that could that could significant flooding across this country."
"And it's important for persons to know that the mean fatalities from tropical systems is that the wind, it's actually the water. So be prepared."
"In regards to the peculiarity of it forming this late in the season. Not unprecedented, but yes, we know for the most part systems do not form this late, especially for us, however we did, we do know that we are transitioning or if not already, in La Nina conditions, which typically means that you would have a more active end of season, which which is what we are seeing."
"Also another favorable factor is a warm ocean current, warm ocean waters. The last I looked, we were up to about 29°C, which is one degrees Celsius above normal in our area. So those factors are contributing to, this particular late season, tropical storm."
Jules Vasuqez:
"The earlier it makes landfall, wherever it does, the less chance it does to strengthen, Am I correct?"
Ronald Gordon, Chief MET Officer
"Yes. The more it stays over that area and the closer it goes into Honduras or closer to the shore it is, it will interact with land. So again, I believe most persons are aware, but just to inform those that are not tropical cyclones cannot survive over land. They get their energy from warm ocean waters. That's the, basically the energy source. So if the center or if part of the system is impacted by land, then it will weaken or prevent. If not, we can at least prevent further strengthening. And that's what we are looking at. So the longer it stays there it is the better for us."
Forecasts Are Fluid Because Weather Is Dynamic (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
And while Belizeans are hoping that it remains a low grade tropical storm at landfall, the forecast and storm tracks are unpredictable - more so than usual for this story.
Gordon stressed that Belizeans must remain vigilant, but also urged them to trust their local MET officer first, since they accurately predicted the strength of Tropical Storm Nadine on October 19th.
Ronald Gordon, Chief MET Officer
"I want to make it also clear that yesterday the forecast was suggesting the system coming ashore on Monday, now, the models have changed and have it coming in late Sunday. These are things that we advise the public always forecast changes from time to time. The weather is dynamic. It is fluid. Things change as the models get more information, they make different forecasts and hopefully more accurate forecast."
"But the forecasts for these systems have increased with the confidence has increased tremendously over the years and I think the public is just catching on to it. There was the era that we used to evacuate an entire island just for a minor threat. Well, we are beyond there, the science has improved significantly. That we can now determine that after some level of confidence that these systems are coming at a certain threshold."
"I personally would not take drastic actions for every system, every x that appears on the map out there."
Will NEMO Give Clear Directives To Businesses? (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
And so while the new conventional wisdom is to take a more measured response to approaching storms, has this also carried over to businesses? During Nadine, businesses fromBelize City up to Corozal where the storm was predicted to make landfall carried on as usual even as the storm was upon us. Fortunately, it was a minor storm and there were no life threatening situations. But what if?
Today, the media pressed the NEMO boss for an answer on what directive would be given to business. Owners and other interests as to keeping their doors open during the storm:
Reporter:
"The last time, though, the NEMO director had no, control of whether or not to close any businesses. What he did say was, something indirectly."
"So this time around, I want to ask whether or not there will be something different? Will there be a closure of business?"
"I wanted to ask whether or not NEMO will have a direct command of closing business until the storm is passed or not."
"And I understand that business needs to be open to make money, and people need to be employed. But one life represents a family, and one family represents a community. And so I just wanted to get that from Nemo on based on that."
Daniel Mendez, Director NEMO
"At this point, it is too early for us to make that determination. We will keep on monitoring with, with the National meteorological Service. And we will be guided by their advice."
"In the last, In the last storm, yes, every storm is different, every storm is unique. We, it happened so fast that we could not make those determinations. But we will be guided by the advice of the MetService, and we would try our best to balance those needs. I do understand there's a need to to keep businesses open, but at the same time, as the reporter had said previously, every life is important."
Reporter:
"But the last time you did not make a command in terms of closing business when a storm was hitting us, in fact, Nemo, made a comment or a statement after the fact. After a storm hits Belize."
Daniel Mendez, Director NEMO
"We at NEMO do not have the overall authority to just simply to just say businesses must close. This is a major decision that needs to be addressed, at the highest levels."
Reporter:
"One, I want to reiterate that clarity, clarity is needed as to when is it serious enough to send employees home? Because it is also the comment from Mr. Mendez, that Nemo did not have the authority to close businesses, then who does? Because in the community I am, local government was ordering people closed or the police were and then it was quite a confusion in several instances. So, when does that happen? And can there be clarity, as has been asked before?"
Daniel Mendez, Director NEMO
"In terms of determining the closure of business, this is a, these are major conversations that need to be had. While I say I don't have the final say, this does not mean that I am not providing advice to the, to to the chairman of Nemo, who is the prime minister."
"Like I said, there was a need to try to find a balance between public safety and the need to keep things going. We did see that happening in, in, Tropical Storm Nadine. We did our best to to make those known, that that the the decision was, was this was a very quick storm."
"And so it was very challenging for us to be able to keep that, to, to provide those that advice."
"We have taken those lessons and we will be, implementing those, so we should be providing better information to the public, for this, system."
Immigration Nabs 15 Persons Being Smuggled Through Belize (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
A late evening release form the Department of Border Management and Immigration Services announces that a total of fifteen persons are being housed at the Global Village Hotel under guard pending repatriation. Of the fifteen (15) persons, eleven (11) are Jamaican nationals, six adults and five minor children that arrived in Belize over the period November 4 -11, 2024. Four (4) are Brazilian nationals that entered Belize on November 11, 2024 on the COPA flight from Panama. They were found inadmissible either because they did not have a return ticket to their country of origin. They were traveling with minors that are not properly documented; or the Address provided by eight of the Jamaican nationals as a place of abode was #111 North Front Street - which is the location of a water taxi service, not a hotel.
Three of the Jamaican nationals are indeed seeking judicial review in this matter. The department says it remains vigilant on the number of Jamaicans among other nationals that are using
Belize as a transit point to reach the United States and Canada. The suspected smuggling of anyone, particularly minors, through Belize, will under no circumstance be countenanced.
Rob's Robbed For The Third Time (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
It's one of the true-true "Fiyah Haawt" restaurants still left in the Belize District, but because of its remote location,
Rob's Fyah Hearth at mile 17 on the George Price Highway is also often the target for robbers.
On Tuesday afternoon, two persons were inside prepping for the next day when a gunman barged into the kitchen - followed by several other men. They stole the staff's money and cellphones.
The restaurant's cook told us what happened.
Sabrina Robinson, Rob's Fire Hearth Food
"We were here in this same kitchen prepping for the next day as normal. I was over that side and the young man behind me was doing exactly what he's doing now and while over there I saw like he jumped backwards. So I was like, what happened? And I was over here so I come and I was like, where's the snake? When I look, the snake? Gunman coming with the gun. I looked at him and he said, don't move, don't run."
"I didn't hear what he said first so I asked, what do you want? Give me everything. I said, well see the drawer there, you can take whatever is in the drawer but please don't hurt us. He was getting the stuff out of the drawer, I was still standing here listening to church on my phone. The next young man rushed in from behind. He started to unplug the charger from the outlet. He said, we're going to take these phones. So I looked at him and said, you will take my phone too? He said yes we are going to take them. So I looked at him, the same gunman, has the gun on me, and I asked him, I could take out the chip out of my phone? No mommy, you can't do that. So after everything, they ran outside and they crowd up at the backdoor. a crowed is not one, two, or four, if it was four, I am sure that I could have distinguished that it was four. It was more than four. From there I was just praying that they left so that I can do what I needed to do. They left and I just went, called 911 and with the quick response of the police, about 10 minutes later the CIB came but the police, about 5 minutes after they were to the back. I heard two gunshots after the young men went. Two gunshots to the back there."
"Really, to be honest, about 15 to 20 minutes before I would say, the police officer did come to do his regular checks. so I don't know if they were outside watching to see when he left or whatever but the increased patrol in the area would be good and would be helpful to us in this area because this is a known area for violent activities."
Police this evening arrested and charged two 15 year old minors and 19 year old Serjio Cruz for the crime of robbery.
Relatives Charged For Killing Carillo (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
Earlier this week we told you about the murder that happened in San Lazaro village in the Orange Walk District.
The victim, 48 year old Julio Carillo was found in a Canefield with multiple stab wounds.
Today, police officially arrested and charged 47-year-old Iran Moguel and 24-year-old Emanuel Carrillo jointly for the crime of Murder.
The family told us Moguel is a relative of the deceased Carillo - and at one point was staying in their home. His co-accused, Emanuel Carillo may also be a relative.
6 Years After $50k Robbery, Sambula Walks Free (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
24 year old Everald Sambula, one of three men who was accused of pulling off an armed robbery at Premium Wines and Spirits on Newtown Barracks 6 years ago, walked free from 5 counts of robbery today. That happened after the Crown made an application due to a witness who was fearful to come to court and testify. Justice Candace Nanton had ruled against the crown's application and ordered that the witness must appear in court but after the witness failed to appear, the case was discontinued and Sambula was free to go.
Sambula was accused of robbing 5 persons and the company of over $50,000 among several personal items.
He was the only one who was arrested and charged and his trial was to begin before a jury of 9. He was represented in court by Attorney Leeroy Banner. The other 2 accomplices were never charged.
UB Students Turn Macaroni Into Cranes (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
If you're having pasta tonight, then you'll probably be interested in what the students at the University of Belize are doing with their noodles.
The annual macaroni structural competition was held over the last two days to prepare and select three teams that will compete regionally. The teams each have five persons and the students hail from four fields: architecture, building and civil, mechanical and electrical, and construction technology.
Today they showcased the structures they created yesterday. Courtney Menzies was there and has this story.
Pasta noodles may not seem like the strongest building material, but with a little reinforcement and a lot of hot glue, they can hold up to 35 kilograms, about 77 pounds or at least that's what the students at UAB were aiming for today. The original macaroni structural competition is coming up in chetumal. And today, the aspiring teams showed off the structures they made yesterday, hoping for a chance to compete regionally.
The students were tasked to build a crane, and the coordinator of the competition explained the criteria they were looking out for.
Lloyd Carillo, Coordinator, Macaroni Structural Competition
"It basically goes with efficiency. If they use less material and hold on more weight, that is a very important criteria, because it is strong and versus something that you put all the material and hold on to that same weight the next one holds. So you have to see that see on that. Then we have the way how they design. How they do presentation or the audience liked it, which model did they love the most, And especially the judges. Us lecturers have to have an input on it."
For one team, Im-pastable Force they quickly realized the mistakes they made, and while they weren't selected to progress further, they said the experience was worthwhile.
Kenny Gongora, Im-pastable Force
"We had to design our macaroni crane first, which we had a little bit of trouble, so all of us put our head towards our drawings. We make sure all our forces were equally distributed throughout our whole a crane and we spent like an hour or 2 designing our drawing. And then we just did it to scale, started building it, which took us a really long while."
"We reached late. We procrastinated a little bit in the beginning, but then we still and then we still didn't have enough time. So we had to go with the flow and we didn't fully do our design we wanted to do so we kind of failed on that but we could have done better. The slips, the apparatus they use to test the stress of the the crane."
"It just slipped, slip, slip. So it's not our fault."
Reporter:
"So that must have felt so discouraging."
Kenny Gongora, Im-pastable Force
"Yes, because we couldn't even tell what was our weight limits."
Jezael Tillet, Im-pastable Force
"Building the project itself was very fun because we were teammates, we were cracking jokes. There were some mistakes which we had to correct as well. Getting scorched with our fingers, by hot glue over all it was a very fun experience. Hopefully we do end up going to Chetumal and if we do, we'll, make Belize proud."
And the team that placed first Macaroni Ninjas explained the work that went into building their crane and the mistakes they hope to correct.
Leonardo Ruiz, Macaroni Ninjas
"It was a lot of fun. We were here at school from 8 in the morning until 5 in the evening, so it's a full 9 hours nonstop working. It was a lot of arts and craft like. We had to break macaroni, glue them together, here we glued them in layers of seven. We had to make sure we had the glue inside everything."
"So it was nice and rigid. And from there we had some power blades that help us cut their macaroni and hot glued everything. Personally, I haven't touched a hot glue gun since primary school, so a lot of fun went into that."
Reporter:
"Did you suspect that you would have come out on top?"
Leonardo Ruiz, Macaroni Ninjas
"So for the moment, I say let's aim for third or fourth place so we don't have to go to Chetumal but after a while, we had so much fun that we actually wanted to win the competition and we were very pleased with our outcome. Primary issue is that in our crane rather than breaking it slipped off the machine and probably broke on the ground."
"So our primary issue is making sure that it can be clamped on well to the machine because there's a lot of momentum, a lot of bending moment that makes it rotate and fall off and personally with the design, that's why they have counter weights. But we weren't sure if we were allowed to add weights to the back."
"So that's something we need to look forward to."
And while they're trying not to be overly confident, Carillo explained that the Belizean teams always beat expectations.
Reporter:
"You think that when you get to Chetumal, that you'll come out on top there?"
Leonardo Ruiz, Macaroni Ninjas
"At least third place probably have so much fun that we'll want to win. So aiming for first place, of course, but we have to lower our expectations."
Lloyd Carillo, Coordinator, Macaroni Structural Competition
"Over the years we have won three times first place, one time second. Overall, we have stayed within 1st to 10th place we have never gone to the 36th position, never reached there. Last year was one that we won first and second place. We believe we took the third, but they didn't want to give us that by 0.1 of a gram."
Reporter:
"Is that a testament to the type of education, the level of education that these students are getting here?"
Lloyd Carillo, Coordinator, Macaroni Structural Competition
"Yes, it's a huge testament because we are here as associate level with the guys over there, the university over there is a bachelor's level, a much higher level than what we have here. Some of them are coming back to Belize and are going to be professionals. Some of them are in Mexico being professionals."
"So you have engineers, architects over there versus our associates degree students and we won last year so we could boast that too."
The competition will be held from 27th to the 29th of this month and three teams from Belize will be participating.
While the local record is 35 kilograms, today's first-place team managed to get their crane to hold 11 kilograms - or about 24 pounds.
Encouraging Girls To Embrace Leadership (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
UNICEF's annual International Day of the girl was observed today under the theme "Girl's Vision For The Future." They hosted a adolescent girls town hall event with up to 200 young girls in attendance from different schools across Belize. The event showcased panel discussions, and noteworthy speeches from significant female leaders like Dr Lydia Guerra the first female lieutenant Colonel of the Belize Defense Force, and speaker of the house of Representatives, Valerie Woods. Here are the highlights from today's event.
Alison Parker, UNICEF Representative
"Today is when we commemorate the international day of the girl this is a day that the United Nations puts aside for us to look specifically about the issues of girls across the world. For us in the Latin American and Caribbean Region there are a number of areas where we have to look at what the situation is with girls so firstly we are looking at issues of violence against girls and women and then the second piece is look at where we are in terms of child marriage and early union and we find that these beliefs and cultures and norms that have impacted the development of women overtime but we have also been able to look at what are the positive issues that girls and women have brought to the table and I think the issue of have conversations around the challenges and the negativity has been there but today the ideas we want to share are the opportunities. What are offered for girls along the way and I think over the decade we have come a long way. There has been huge investment in girls and women there has been a lot of talk about women's empowerment and Opportunities for business. Two days ago I was in a meeting where we were talking about small micro small and medium enterprises where women are in the space and the opportunities that are being created for them to access financing so that they can take the stage and own their space and manage their families. Today we see women entering what has been termed before as male dominantes learning spaces. We have our first lieutenant Colonel here from the ministry of defense this is amazing so women are breaking barriers and this isn't the first time they are doing it they have done it in the past and I think this is a fantastic opportunity for young women to take the stage own their space and contribute to national development."
Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House
"In my professional capacity I preside over a house that is still predominantly meal in Belize. We still have a challenge and having women step up if you will or engage it is no fault of theirs is not an easy environment, but when UNICEF reached out to ask if I would deliver opening remarks on the occasion of the international day of the girl, I felt it was an opportunity to girls in Belize from across. I believe it's from all six districts they were able to get some of the young students here that they really have power in their own right and just this past Tuesday that was exemplified with the passage of the law to change the legal age of marriage, and that rarely was done predominantly because of the effort of the national children's parliament last year, and all of these young girls and boys stepped up and made exceptional debates as to why it needed to be done one year later it became an actual legislation and that is such a example of how young people youth voices can influence change and development in our country and I thought it was important that they know that that they should leave forward and believe in themselves. They are going to make mistakes and yes there are going to be naysayers."
"But they really have a strong voice and I hope that I was able to convey to them that as long as they are authentic, and they are not pretending to be somebody else and they speak from their heart, they can be our future leaders and they can actually break barriers."
House Speaker Confronts Cancer With Courage (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
And while she showed up today and delivered a dynamic speech on stepping up as women and girls and choosing to embrace our roles as leaders, on a personal note Woods also spoke to us about what has taken place after choosing to disclose her diagnosis of breast cancer at the last house meeting. She says that she has learned that it can happen to anyone.
Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House
"I do my annual Checks which I encourage all women to do them last year. They were clear I was due this October and self exam. I realized that something was a bit off and then I was due, and that was when it was confirmed so I felt it was necessary to make this statement at the end of the session because one. I always think it is important that you control your own narrative and two it is important for those of us not just women quite frankly but the Belizean public it can happen to anyone at any time and at the last house meeting I quoted Dr Yacab the Oncologist for Belize at KHMH where he gave some startling statistics, and I'm not sure if people honed into that, but it was very startling on breast cancer, and he made the point that he is concerned that our woman and our girls are not doing their annual checks so I do hope that it encourages our woman to do their self exams, but to get their annual checks and maybe just maybe it helps a little bit to de stigmatize cancer we need to talk about it We need to raise awareness about it and we need to know that it is a community of support. The Belize Cancer Society and many others have been doing an excellent job and I add my voice to that."
We'll keep you posted on her progress as Speaker Woods makes updates available..
Opposition Leader Promotes New Documentary On Major US Talkshows (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
He may have been criticized for leaving the house meeting early on Tuesday - but Leader of the Opposition Shyne Barrow may have done so in pursuit of a greater cause - at least for him personally.
He's turned up on a whirlwind publicity tour leading up to the premier of his documentary "The Honorable Shyne". Jomarie Lanza has a review of some of the stops he made, touching stages no Belizean has before:
While he may have left his party in a tumultuous state….
"clapping..."
Shyne Barrow is on a Press Tour for the launch of his documentary, "The Honourable Shyne Barrow" on Nov 18.
So far he has appeared on the Tamron Hall Show, the Daily Show, Access Hollywood and Steven A Smith's Podcast.
And the man who is frequently hectored and harassed by the Belizean media is treated like an emperor returning in triumph to take a bow:
applause...
Shyne Barrow
"I've got to come here more often my goodness."
"Come on back."
Shyne Barrow
"This is like Madison Square Garden or Nassau Coliseum when I used to be a performer.
When I used to be performer"
Stephen A Smith, Host, The Stephen A. Smith Show
"Not only are you a politician, you look like a politician. Did you ever in your wildest dreams believe you'd be sitting here today as a politician talking to me and anybody else, for that matter?"
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"Well, you know, I'd like to be specific. I'm the opposition leader of the Belize House of Representatives. I'm not just a politician elected representative which puts me in line to be the next prime minister of Belize."
Shyne Barrow, Leader of The Opposition
"You know there is no greater fulfillment than knowing as opposition leader I'm fighting for policies, I'm fighting for legislation that is going to help the young Shyne's, whether a young girl or young boy.
"This is even greater for me because you are creating a society, your policies are going to impact society at large and not just impact the creative sector, the Agro sector, the business sector the laborers so it's similar to a musician because everyone listens to your music so it really is a seamless transition for me."
But more than just speaking about his personal ambition, Barrow is doing a lot of explanation about his history with Sean P Diddy Combs:
Shyne Barrow, Leader of The Opposition
"I wasn't the one arguing no one can tell you that Diddy was the one arguing he was the one having a confrontation but that's my guy you know we are working together we are part of a team, a Bad Boy family. I'm not going to leave him and just abandon his side which is what he ended up doing to me as I said I said this back in 2001 and I've said it over the years but then there came a point where it was like a cancer I can't carry this with me for the rest of my life."
"I had a loss of 10 years incarceration for something that I didn't do I was defending a friend and a friend turned around and said it was him but it wasn't me it was according to the witnesses. One witness said Diddy Shot him, I never said it because I was busy defending myself and defending him but the point I'm trying to make is I could have felt sorry for myself for ten years but I didn't I was present everyday of those ten years then I got deported and I was present every day for the 13 years of deportation before I was allowed to come back here as the future Prime Minister of Belize so I kept fighting for 23 years."
"His celebrity, his power was so loud that when myself and my mom and my supporters were screaming, Hey, this guy destroyed my life, this guy sent witnesses to testify against me."
"And I was just trying to defend him. And, you know, he's ruined my life, took away my freedom, took away my career. Nobody was listening. Nobody heard me. And I've been saying it for so long. And I got to a point where I said, you know what? I'm not going to keep exerting energy on blaming anyone. I'm going to take responsibility for my life."
"I'm going to curate my present and my future, and I'm going to let go of this baggage.""
"I pray for the victims and I pray for Diddy. I pray that he's able to do some soul searching. And even if he's not guilty of the accusations, there's a reason he is where he is right now, and it's up to him to communicate with God and and to try to cleanse his soul and pivot and move forward."
And Barrow also got the opportunity to boast about his personal evolution:
Shyne Barrow, Leader of The Opposition
"Because I'm a very stoic person. I'm a very disciplined and focused person. So I don't I don't live in these pockets of emotions in the journey of life. I move on. Yeah, but in making myself vulnerable and inviting people to do an examination of my life, I had to go back."
"I think it's like the human spirit, which is indefatigable and indomitable. It's incredible. Yeah. Like a lot of people, I think all of us have that. We have that. And that's why those people are so excited to see me because I represent them."
And while the audience coos as he occupies these global stages with a kind of glib grace, Shyne still has one thing on his mind: little ‘ole us:
Shyne Barrow, Leader of The Opposition
"As the opposition leader of Belize. I have to be transparent. I have to be accessible to the media. And there's always this one sensationalist journalist's names Jules Vasquez. He hates all politicians and ask the worst questions. So while I'm talking about the state of the nation, he'll ask me about Diddy."
Host:
"So this is why you had to."
Shyne Barrow, Leader of The Opposition
"So that's why. That's why you see those sound bites. Because I don't care to talk about them. I care about public policy, public administration, health care, citizen security, education."
The film's producers had a closed premiere party in the US earlier this week.
Flooding In Western Belize, And With Storm Approaching, It Will Only Get Worse (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
Tonight, there is heavy flooding reported in western Belize.
Footage and pictures coming out of Arenal, Benque Viejo, San Ignacio and Santa Elena show water coursing through the streets like rivers - with current!
It's a disturbing scene and it comes after - from earlier today - the MOPAN RIVER at Benque Viejo Town was reported bankfull stage while on the MACAL RIVER, at FORTIS facilities, reservoir levels at Challillo, Mollejon and VACA spillways were. active;
Today's flood advisory warned of flooding on the Macal and Mopan rivers - and that has been compounded by heavy rains in the west today.
And all this 48 hours before Tropical Storm Sara makes landfall in Belize. As we have reported, the main threat from this system is heavy rainfall - as much as 10 to 15 inches over 5 days.
Today the Chief Hydrologist spoke about the flooding threat:
Tennielle Hendy, Chief Hydrologist
"We do have a flood warning still in effect for the Rio Hondo, Macal, Nopan and Belize Rivers. Some of the roads in the north are still impassable. As we move to region seven, you can see that where -even though it's at flood stage levels - it is decreasing at the moment. In region nine, we have the Mopan and the Belize rivers are still at bankfull or flood stage and the three dam facilities, the spillways are still active. A departure from the flood forecasts issued yesterday is that we are now seeing that the Sibun river is, exhibiting or reflecting increasing, above normal, levels."
"With the estimated accumulation of ten inches of rainfall, over a five day period, what we can expect that we will be seeing, flooding in those areas that will be affected, the areas that are already flooded, If you receive additional rainfall, we can see that extent widening in these areas. And when it cannot, what we say, spread out anymore, the extent it will go deeper. So we might see an increase in the flood level height or the height of the water in your area."
NEMO Wasn't (posted on Thu Nov 14, 2024)
Elmer Cornejo, CTV-3 News
"We've been having trouble getting updated information from our local NEMO offices. In terms of Corozal, which was the last, storm that hit us, directly, and we had most of the effects of that storm being, we had zero information from the Nemo office in Corozal, and it was all due because of protocols."
"Can that change? Is that protocol something that should be revisited when the system is happening and directly hitting us? Everybody needs to know information. And I think, in my humble opinion, as a, as a journalist, we are not there. It used to be different where we can get the information. And I understand we don't want to panic people, but everybody wants to know what is happening in order to make decisions."
"I just wanted to know whether or not that's going to change this time. People expect the media houses to report updated and precise information. "
Daniel Mendez, NEMO Coordinator
"Clearly, that's something that, needs to be addressed. And it's it's an area that had already been expressed to me by others. It's an area that we will be revisiting, and ensure that we are, will be able to provide more information.So we will be we will be working with our district coordinators to ensure that information is provided to, to you as necessary."
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