7 News Belize

7 News Belize HeadlinesThursday, March 27, 2025

Shyne Returned Diplomatic Passport
The passport drama has ended for Shyne Barrow. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca has confirmed that the former Leader of the Opposition has returned his diplomatic passport with the diplomatic US visa...
BSCFA Scolds PM, He Says Put Your Name On The Ballot
They're the largest cane growers' group and, tonight, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association has scolded the Prime Minister for his decision to strip Minister Jose Mai of the responsibility for the sugar industry...
Traveler's Being Scammed By Bogus Online Immigration Forms
In November we told you about the fancy new online departure and arrival immigration and customs declaration forms. Rather than fill out the paper version, travelers can just log into an online portal and submit everything paper-free...
Caleb Concerned With PCC Recs "Sprinkled With White Christian National Ideologies"
Yesterday we told you that Caleb Orozco, one of the commissioners on the PCC, sent a scathing email to the chairman, Anthony Chanona, criticizing the recommendations put forward by the commission...
Caleb Lashes Out At PCC Chairman And Commissioners
And Orozco also called out the commissioners and the chairman, saying that they're complicit in propagating what he refers to as white Christian national ideologies...
He Killed A Man At A Dangriga Food Stand, Parchue Convicted Of Murder
Thirty year old Dangriga resident Devin Parchue, charged with the murder of Ronald "Pungas" Gill, was found guilty of the charge today by Justice Antonette Moore...
From Living In LA To A Lake I Outhouse, Man Says Wife Stole HIs Home
Imagine one day coming home to find that your house and all your possessions had mysteriously disappeared. Well, for one man, he doesn't have to imagine...
A Recap Of Recent Events At Royal Kahal Resort
Now we know that the three women in a San Pedro hotel room died of carbon monoxide poisoning...
San Pedro Tour Guide And Senator Rail Against Chief Environment Officer
On Tuesday we told you about the protest on the sea against Cayo Rosario - a small island that sits in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Roughly 30 boatloads of tour guides, fishers, and residents journeyed out to the island to protest the development....
City Still Has No Solution For Standoff With OMG Cafe
Today we asked the Mayor of Belize City for an update on the OMG Cafe - which is housed in the city hall building...
Don't Call It A Comeback, Kaya Returns To City Hall
We also asked the Mayor about the return of Kaya Catotuse to the council. She failed in her bid to be elected as the area rep for Albert...
Special Envoy And GG Mainstream Menopause Discussion
They put everything out onto the table today on the mysteries of menopause. A forum spearheaded by the Prime Minister's Wife, Rosanna Briceno and the Governor General Froyla Tzalam which featured a panelist of 5 specialists was held in Belmopan today...
Women Of Coast Guard Lead Wonder Women Competition
At the end of day 1 for the annual Coast Guard Wonder Woman competition, the Belize Defense Force and The Belize Coast Guard were tied with 190 pts and the Belize Police department placed third with 160 pts.
A Special Gift For Special Needs Kids
The Lion's Club in Belize City today donated over 130 hygiene kits to the students from Stella Maris...
Behind The Curtain At Bliss Center
March 27th is observed as world theatre day, which was first initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute...
Women's Month Focuses On The Feminine Creative
It's not only limited to paintings and sculptures, but the annual Women in Art exhibition is a display of multiple forms of art, This year there is some fashion and even more poetry on display...
Mayor Removes "Simple Speed Bump"
We had to follow up with the mayor today - after he finally removed an unnecessary speed bump in the downtown area of the city...
Mayor Responds To Fire Department On Abandoned Buildings
On Tuesday you heard the station officer at the National Fire Service call on the City Council to work with them in demolishing abandoned buildings that are fire hazards...
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7 News Belize - News:
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

Shyne Returned Diplomatic Passport

Untitled Document The passport drama has ended for Shyne Barrow. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca has confirmed that the former Leader of the Opposition has returned his diplomatic passport with the diplomatic US visa. Reports tell us that Barrow returned it directly to Fonseca yesterday morning. Barrow would now have to seek a regular B1/B2 visitors visa if he wished to travel to the US.

For the hawks in the ruling PUP, yanking the diplo passport is seen as a major victory and humiliation of the former political leader who was deported from the US to Belize in 2009. Yesterday, the Prime Minister told us that since Barrow no longer has a seat in parliament, it's only logical that he must turn it in.

And while that is the rule, long experience and observation of these diplomatic and official passports tell us that enforcement of such a standard is, at best, uneven, and, at worst, woefully lacking.

The true test will now be to wait and see if defeated PUP Cayo West Rep Jorge Millin Espat's diplomatic passport is also recalled. We won't hold our breath.


BSCFA Scolds PM, He Says Put Your Name On The Ballot

Untitled Document They're the largest cane growers' group and, tonight, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association has scolded the Prime Minister for his decision to strip Minister Jose Mai of the responsibility for the sugar industry. They wrote to him on Tuesday expressing, quote, "deep concern and profound discontent" regarding what they call "the recent and alarming decision."

They chide the Prime Minister for going to Miami to meet with owners and managers of ASR and they say that led directly to Mai being stripped. They question, quote, "and we are yet to learn what else was required from your government by ASR owners and managers."

They note that Mai has been a, quote, "steadfast advocate for the sugar cane farmers….(who) has not shied away from standing by the interests of local farmers, as is our expectation from your entire government as this was one of the major commitments made by your government to the constituents in the north since Plan Belize 1.0.

They conclude, quote, "The shift in leadership within the portfolio risks exacerbating the already difficult situation for cane farmers, who will now find themselves at the mercy of multinational interests rather than supported by a government that champions their rights and well-being…..The future of our local sugar cane farmers must not be dictated solely by the profit-driven motives of multinational corporations…"

Today, in Orange Walk the PM said he's the decider, not Fred Ortega:

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I'm going to be kind to the BSCFA. And first of all, that they are not the Prime Minister, if Fred Ortega or any one of them want to be Prime minister, put their name on the ballot and somebody can be the Prime Minister and make the decisions. When I make decisions in setting up a cabinet, I try to look at it from different angles or where I think I could best get."

"I could put the best team forward. And I believe that that's exactly what what I have done. And and I have the reasons why I brought the sugar industry in under my position I want the industry is in crisis and we have to give it the highest priority. If they can't realize that then that the industry is in crisis, then they are the problem because they are in crisis themselves as a as an association."

"But I don't want to get into a back and forth with them. Really I found their letter very insulting. But I will leave it as that."


Traveler's Being Scammed By Bogus Online Immigration Forms

Untitled Document In November we told you about the fancy new online departure and arrival immigration and customs declaration forms. Rather than fill out the paper version, travelers can just log into an online portal and submit everything paper-free. The Border Management department predicted that it would make for "faster and more convenient immigration and customs processing for all travelers."

But, what it has done is create an opportunity for scammers who are now defrauding travelers with a bogus knockoff site. The fake site is named "belizetravelform.com" and though it is fake, it looks legit enough. But when it gets to the final step of filling out the form it requires what it calls a "mandatory migration and customs fee" - which is 15 US dollars. Travelers are then directed to enter their credit card information and they are charged - only to find out when they land in Belize, that nothing has been entered into the system here, no fee was required and they were scammed by a hoax site.

We spoke to the CEO in the Ministry of e-governance, Jose Urbina about it - and he told us they became aware of the fake site about 7 to 10 days ago. They have tried to get it taken down, but without much luck. So, he says they are focussing on educating travelers, simplifying the domain name and also using search engine optimization to bring the official form to the top of google searches. When we searched today, the fake form was at the top of the list - while the legit official form was at number three on the search results. Travelers are also offered a QR code at the airport - which leads them to the legitimate page.

We stress that no fee is required - and any site asking for a fee is a fake scam site. The legit site is https://belizetravel.immigration.gov.bz/Belize_Digital_Forms/.


Caleb Concerned With PCC Recs "Sprinkled With White Christian National Ideologies"

Yesterday we told you that Caleb Orozco, one of the commissioners on the PCC, sent a scathing email to the chairman, Anthony Chanona, criticizing the recommendations put forward by the commission. He says that the recommendations are, quote, "sprinkled with White Christian National ideology...that is grounded in White Supremacy." End quote. He is particularly concerned with 9 of them, which he says will halt or even cause the regression of the rights of women, youth, and members of the LGBT+ community.

And today he spoke to us about what he sees as one of the most concerning recommendations that will impact reproductive rights:

Caleb Orozco, Commissioner, PCC
"The particular nine recommendations I'm concerned with because it sprinkles white Christian nationalist ideology into the recommendation. I don't remember that we still have a white British colonizer governing us. I don't remember that the Prime Minister is a British citizen or that the opposition leader is a British citizen. Make it make sense that nonwhite people will hold up white supremacy values in this recommendation."

"And call it good for this country. Make it make sense that you you will rob. You will rob a woman, not just woman, youth of their autonomy. Now, one of the recommendations talk about defining life stating at conception. Now suppose you as a woman carry a baby that will not survive out of your womb. And you want to I don't know, for the lack of a better word."

"Remove this baby that will not survive outside of your womb. The particular recommendation I'm concerned with recommendation. It's in other matters, particular too, which speaks to the idea that a woman has no, absolutely no independent choice of how she decides to manage her health. She'll be forced to carry a dead child to term. If she is raped she'll be forced to carry the child to term."

"If her life is at risk. She'll be forced to carry her. She would be forced to risk her life. We're not enslaved by the British colonizers anymore. None of us need to say yes, master no master. In this country. So why we as nonwhite people will then proceed to subjugate our own citizens in this country make it make sense."

He added that these recommendations largely ignore the suggestions put forth by his own community among others. As for the rest of the process that follows, he's not sure what happens next.

Caleb Orozco, Commissioner, PCC
"We've gone to a a planary and we tell the so-called technical people, in the diplomatic chair group, you put this recommendation as an operation of recommendation. They put this recommendation as a constitutional matter. They people the erase the contributions we've made at plenary. That is insidious of them to do so. Separately, I personally have no or rather I am not inspired to take these recommendations to my population for discussion because I spent two years of my life on the P.C.C."

"Just for them to erase the concerns of my population out the recommendation, the disrespect. They never called me chi chi man, battyman but by the mere fact that they have these recommendation that they raise us out of our concerns tells me I will remain a second class citizen in this country for the foreseeable future. Now for the other recommendation, there are literally a recommendation that says we are here to repress control, to tell you as an enslaved person what to do."

"And you don't have no option. And this affects young people. And I say that within the context of the long list that I think I provided with regards to them being robbed of their freedom of expression and dignity and their access to our right to education. I say this within the context that people with disability have been completely erased out of this report."

"Tens of thousands of people with disability in this country and you are telling me they have to deliberate further on whether people with disability need protection. Separately when it comes to the issue of procedure and what happens next? Well, let me clear that up. We don't know. How is it that you right now, the understanding is how is it that you expect me to go back to my population and discuss this recommendation with my money?"

"You're not giving me none. And I suppose to be happy already or be enthusiastic about it, knowing full well that those who follow Christian, white, Christian ideology and enforces white supremacy in this country will just come back and erase the concerns of my population."




Caleb Lashes Out At PCC Chairman And Commissioners

Untitled Document And Orozco also called out the commissioners and the chairman, saying that they're complicit in propagating what he refers to as white Christian national ideologies with the recommendations.

Caleb Orozco, Commissioner, PCC
"First of all, the sustained insidiuosness that the management of the Secretariat, led by a farmer who has no experience with constitutional matters, led by a farmer who preaches his religiosity to the end degree. The problem with this process is their leadership, specifically chairman and teacher is that his management is tone deaf, tone deaf, in that he has no respect for the national ethos to address the socioeconomic disparity between citizens."

"He has no respect for ensuring that a comprehensive review of the Constitution reflected that ethos. Part one. He is shaped by the elevation of the Vice chair. Maria Zabaneh. She has a long history of anti-right issues when it comes to women, when it comes to elevating the church power to control and repress the citizen. She has a long history in the name of Jesus, not in the name of our Constitution, not in the name of fairness, to amplify repression in our citizenship."

"And then, of course, as I note the commissioners are complicit, all of them by silence, by saying nothing, by watching these recommendations roll by even though they could read and write. They've got nothing to say. And that is what I'm angry about most, because in getting an education and they don't have any sense of responsibility to speak up and speak loudly about their mandate to address the need for our citizens to be treated fairly."


He Killed A Man At A Dangriga Food Stand, Parchue Convicted Of Murder

Untitled Document Thirty year old Dangriga resident Devin Parchue, charged with the murder of Ronald "Pungas" Gill, was found

guilty of the charge today by Justice Antonette Moore.

She has reserved sentencing for a date to be announced.

Gill, a song writer and entertainer, was stabbed multiple times with a knife by Parchue on July 23, 2022. He

was buying food from a restaurant in Dangriga Town when an altercation ensued between him and Parchue. Parchue pulled a knife and fatally stabbed Gill, who died on the spot.

The Crown, represented by Assistant DPP Javier Chan, called several eye witnesses to testify on the Crown'sbbehalf.

Parchue did not testify. He gave a statement from the dock claiming that it was self defence.

Parchue was represented by attorney Ivan Williams.

The trial without jury took place at the High Court in Dangriga.


From Living In LA To A Lake I Outhouse, Man Says Wife Stole HIs Home

Untitled Document Imagine one day coming home to find that your house and all your possessions had mysteriously disappeared. Well, for one man, he doesn't have to imagine.

Norman Gibson landed at the PGIA at 5:30 on Sunday. When he arrived at his Berry Street address in Lake Independence, every single one of his possessions had been removed from his yard. According to him, it's his wife - whom he has been separated from - that stole his house and everything in it.

Now, Gibson is forced to sleep in the only standing structure in the yard - the outhouse. He came to our studio appealing for help. Courtney Menzies has this story.

This book - aptly titled Love's Executioner - lies discarded on the ground where Norman Gibson's house used to sit. That's because his wife allegedly took the home and everything in it.

Gibson, who has lived on Berry Street for almost 3 decades, has been in Los Angeles for the past year, receiving medical treatment and also working. Before that, he lived in one half of the apartment building that was on the lot. His wife had lived in the next half for the past 6 years.

But then this past weekend, Gibson got a call from his neighbor that his house was being torn down. He came home on Sunday - about a month earlier than he planned - and found nothing but the outhouse.

Norman Gibson
"Total surprise. Like… just, you know, surprised."

Courtney Menzies
"And when you inquired, maybe to your neighbors or so, what did they tell you?"

Norman Gibson
"That my wife brought some people here to break the house down."

Courtney Menzies
"Did she tell anybody why she was doing it?"

Norman Gibson
"No."

Courtney Menzies
"And she hasn't been in contact with you at all?"

Norman Gibson
"No."

Courtney Menzies
"To your knowledge, why do you think she would do something like this?"

Norman Gibson
"Hate."

Courtney Menzies
"So you guys had a tumultuous relationship?"

Norman Gibson
"Yeah. And I told her it's over. So she started hating."

Courtney Menzies
"But you allowed her to stay in the house."

Norman Gibson
"Yes."

Courtney Menzies
"Nobody knows where the house is now?"

Norman Gibson
"No ma'am."

And so this is where Gibson has been living since Sunday - inside the small outhouse, sleeping on a child's mattress, next to a broken toilet, with nothing but the two suitcases he returned with. The situation has left him completely exasperated.

Norman Gibson
"Frustrated, confusion, I'm not even thinking straight. When Mr Jules asked me where I was, I told him I was in Los Angeles, and I meant to say Angelus Press so you see my confusion and how I'm not taking it too good."

"Everything I've tried to do. I've been to Belmopan at the Lands office about 4 times, just turning me around, sending me here, sending me there, go here, go there… [sighs]."

Courtney Menzies
"Whose name was on the house, who did it belong to?"

Norman Gibson
"It was for my brother-in-law."

Courtney Menzies
"And so are you in contact with them, what did they tell you?"

Norman Gibson
"Well, apparently he didn't do the right paperwork, because it was a leased land. And he didn't finish the process or something, all he had a parcel number and the lease number and when he told me about the land, he asked me if I wanted to come stay back here because he didn't want to come back here because of the neighborhood so I told him, yeah, I'll come and I came and I started to build the place, I kept the place clean, I paid tax and everything and that's how I ended up with it."

And with no clue how to move forward, Gibson is asking for assistance for any authority who can help him get back into his home.

Norman Gibson
"I just want my place back, that's all, I just want my place back. No problem, nothing, just give me back what I had. Because she obtained the land through deception, fraud. She went and told - I don't know who in the government she spoke to. She went and told them that I had abandoned the land for 6 or 7 years, something like that and I left the place but it's not true. I have all my neighbors that can testify that it's not true."

Courtney Menzies
"And right now you have nobody else to stay with?"

Norman Gibson
"No ma'am."

Courtney Menzies
"have you reported it to the police at all?"

Norman Gibson
"Yes."

Courtney Menzies
"So they have a report?"

Norman Gibson
"Yes."

Courtney Menzies
"They didn't tell you anything?"

Norman Gibson
"They can't do anything. I tried to get them to charge her for the house and the stuff in the house, they say they can't do anything. They say I have to take it to the court."

But for now and the foreseeable future, Gibson will have to spend another night sleeping in the outhouse.

Gibson is hoping that his area rep and Minister of Natural Resources will intervene to assist him.


A Recap Of Recent Events At Royal Kahal Resort

Untitled Document Now we know that the three women in a San Pedro hotel room died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Their grieving families have expressed satisfaction at the finding of the investigation - but still say they are displeased that a misleading narrative was put out there by police right after their deaths.

Jules Vasquez tracks the history of the story:

First it might have been gummies:

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"So we found some of those gummies inside the room. Now we're not saying at this time that the gummies cause the death but we're looking at every possibility."

Then tequila.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"They purchased a bottle of tequila, which they took with them to their room. We have no video footage showing them consuming that tequila."

"So I did my research on tequila and my research did reveal that tequila, even the not so fake one can have deadly consequences at some point in time if it is abused."

But, it wasn't any of those which caused these three young women's death:

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFS
"There were no illicit drugs found in the toxicology results, the only thing that was at high or significant levels were the carbon monoxide levels."

"We did as well test the physical evidence that was seized from the room, the gummies, the suspected alcohol, some vape cartridges, all of them were negative for any illicit drug, except I believe one of the items contained some THC, which is the active drug in cannabis, and that was just one of the items."

"Regardless of whether it was found in one of the items that was recovered from the room. No illicit drugs were found in the bodies of the victims."

Yesterday, after receiving those results, the families of the victims issued a statement saying "we are incredibly heartened by the results of this investigation and grateful to those who completed it in a thorough and independent manner.

While today's official finding puts to rest those initial reports, we hope this will give authorities in law enforcement pause before they make similar suggestions during future investigations. Survivors such as our families deserve their best, honest work. We received it today but needed it throughout this investigative process."

So now the attention turns to Royal Kahal. The hotel was forced to abruptly close on March 07th and re-opened on March 19th.

The closure was forced in part because of this Trip Advisor post from a guest who stayed at the hotel from February 17th-21st. They noted "serious safety concerns.… saying, "On February 18th, our carbon monoxide detector went off with levels above 400. Despite informing the front desk, the staff seemed unfamiliar with the issue. Maintenance suggested turning off the gas, but the CO levels remained dangerously high. We were left feeling uneasy. The next morning, a friend reported dizziness, which we now suspect was from CO exposure. While the hotel is beautiful, the lack of CO detectors is concerning. I urge management to address this for the safety of future guests."

But, it was not addressed, and Kaoutar, Imane and Wafae arrived there around the very same time - on February 19th. They were last seen alive on February 20th - and most likely died that night from carbon monoxide poisoning with very high levels of exposure:

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFS
"Anything about 10% is where you start to experience adverse effects of Carbon monoxide exposure, such as headaches and nausea. 40% is typically the threshold where it becomes fatal. The victims had, one of them was about - I don't recall exact numbers - but at 60%, all of them had higher than 60% carboxyhemoglobin saturation levels. One of them had as high as 80%."

They most likely experienced unconsciousness and then death:

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFS
"And so at those saturation levels, let's say 50% just just for an easy ration - it means that over half, or 50%, half of your blood cells that should be carrying oxygen are now filled instead with carbon monoxide, and so now your body won't be reciting oxygen which it needs to function to survive for your brain to work."

"Eventually, in this case, the lungs would start filling up with fluid in a short space of time."

A sad end for these young women, and their families say "Our families and others who may have been harmed at this hotel deserve a full accounting of what happened…"

The hotel says "we have been taking all possible steps to ensure that the Resort is safe,…we have conducted multiple careful assessments of every unit on the property. These assessments have found no further indication of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in any of the units."


San Pedro Tour Guide And Senator Rail Against Chief Environment Officer

Untitled Document On Tuesday we told you about the protest on the sea against Cayo Rosario - a small island that sits in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Roughly 30 boatloads of tour guides, fishers, and residents journeyed out to the island to protest the development. They parked their boats near the machinery and held up posters, telling the developers that they are destroying their waters and their livelihood.

Well, last night on Channel 5, the Chief Environmental Officer said the protest was because people are misinformed. He said that contrary to the belief of the protesters the developers were not doing excavation or dredging. He underscored that the current activity is not illegal.

Well, today, tour guide Oscar Iboy said Mai is missing the point:


City Still Has No Solution For Standoff With OMG Cafe

Untitled Document Today we asked the Mayor of Belize City for an update on the OMG Cafe - which is housed in the city hall building. The council clashed with the management of OMG over signage. They defiantly are keeping the sign aloft. So what does the mayor think? Here's what he said today:

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"Listen Belize City council is the council that has been the greatest supporter of small businesses and so when I hear those comments it's nonsense. We have created this sort of form that has driven small businesses, we are the leaders of entrepreneurship in developing entrepreneurship in the city by just the mere fact that we have this super sale where we don't charge any of these vendors it is a small fee to get a small space but we create all the marketing of that event we create all the entertainment for that event so we are glad when small businesses are able to thrive in our city, local economic development is one of our pillars at the city hall and so that's nonsense we continue to push for entrepreneurship but, you must have some measure of control in your spaces and I don't think its anything ridiculous that we are asking from the vendors, the vendors signed a lease agreement and the lease agreement clearly specified that we do not ant any sort of advertisement that does not meet up to the standard of the city hall, we have also been telling those vendors in the lower flat that we ill create a sort of marketing mechanism a really professional standard directory so to speak where it will be lit up at night and it will clearly show who all are the vendors in that facility, but it takes time and you have to have patience in everything you do and there is no need for this big ruckus to be created over something simple that we can sit around a table and really come to a conclusion."

Courtney
"The sign is still there though even after the police and enforcement department….."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"So they are actually not complying with our request and that is not nice,"

Courtney
"So what happens now then?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"That is not nice, so I will sit-down with those individuals I just came back in the city this past Tuesday and so I will personally have to sit with the vendors and we will have to be pragmatic about it and Im hoping that clearer heads will prevail."


Don't Call It A Comeback, Kaya Returns To City Hall

Untitled Document We also asked the Mayor about the return of Kaya Catotuse to the council. She failed in her bid to be elected as the area rep for Albert. So what's her re-entry been like? Here's what he said:

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"She never left the work of the counsel she never left, of course we are glad to have her back, Kaya is very good counsellor and has worked very hard in running one of the biggest departments in the council, sanitation, she has done a good job while she may not have been successful at the national level I still believe she is a very very good client, or standard bearer prospect for the Albert division and I will continue to support her and I wish her the best in the future."


Special Envoy And GG Mainstream Menopause Discussion

Untitled Document They put everything out onto the table today on the mysteries of menopause. A forum spearheaded by the Prime Minister's Wife, Rosanna Briceno and the Governor General Froyla Tzalam which featured a panelist of 5 specialists was held in Belmopan today.

They dubbed it "Let's Talk Menopause" and here are some highlights of the discussion.

H.E Rossana Briceno, Special Envoy for Dev. of Families & Children
"This all started when I met the GG at a ministry of education event entitled lead like a girl. So today we gathered for an important reason to create a safe space, a safe open and informative space for discussion on a topic that touches the lives of women everywhere, yet it is often shorted in silence, confusion and sometimes even stigma and considered taboo. Menopause is a natural stage of life yet too often it is misunderstood and under discussed."

Dr Veronica Rosado, Gynecologist
"Perimenopause is the stage right before menopause, it's right before menopause so you will start having all the symptoms in perimenopause and menopause is actually when you have 12 months, one year complete of no periods. Once you don't see your period for 12 months, if you see it for 9 months and it comes again you are still not in menopause. That is one of the definitions."

Melissa Diaz Musa, Director, MOHW
"Going back to the study and going back to the access hat our women have in our population to ensure that when you get to this stage you are as healthy as possible we do have over 50 almost 60 health facilities across the country at different levels and the first step would be going into one of these facilities seeing a nurse and then seeing a medical officer. In terms of the symptoms that you have the consultation will then involve looking at the symptoms and a lot of the menopause treatment is geared towards essentially alleviating symptoms."

Jihane Habet Santlal, Nutritionist
"You need to have nutrients, you need to have energy and as a woman especially when you are going through menopause you are fatigued so you need energy. You need to have those calories for energy."

H.E Dame Royal Tzalam, Governor General of Belize
"And one of the sides that really frightened me into becoming more interested in strength training was that the older you are when you fall, your chances of survival beyond 2 years really minimises. And I always jokingly say I want to live till I'm in my 80s, 90s if I can but I want to have a quality of life. I don't want to be wheelchair bound and any of those things so my commitment, my personal commitment to myself is that I need to be informed about menopause, I need to eat well I need to exercise, doing the right kinds of exercise so it's not just cardio anymore it's strengthen training and most importantly talk to my family because my family will tell you I have good days, I have bad days to the point where my son will say now mommy you slept good last night? No hot flashes? He knows about hot flashes. Are you okay? And it's amazing that even somebody asking you if you are okay sets the tone for the rest of the day because it means you are not alone. To the point where I now have become a menopause bore, I will talk to people openly about it among my sisters even within my family there are 7 of us, 7 females and we experience the spectrum."

The event was facilitated by the MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS.


Women Of Coast Guard Lead Wonder Women Competition

Untitled Document At the end of day 1 for the annual Coast Guard Wonder Woman competition, the Belize Defense Force and The Belize Coast Guard were tied with 190 pts and the Belize Police department placed third with 160 pts. That's following the personal fitness test APFT challenge and 1 mile swim.

Today the competition followed through with a 6 mile run early this morning and a coast guard medley that took place this afternoon. But so far the Coast guard still appears to be in the lead with 290 points, the BDF at 280 and the BPD at 240. Tomorrow the final event is set to take place which is the crucible. We'll let you know who the winner is when that's done.


A Special Gift For Special Needs Kids

Untitled Document The Lion's Club in Belize City today donated over 130 hygiene kits to the students from Stella Maris. Each child took home toiletries like toothpaste and toothbrushes to take a little of the strain off of their parents. But the Lion's Club also had some help with the donation. Courtney Menzies was at the ceremony and has this story.

Today, more than 130 students of Stella Maris Primary School took home a gift - hygiene kits, courtesy of the Lion's Club, Social Security, UNICEF, and the Belize City Council.

The project started with an idea from the Lion's Club, which then reached out to the other partners. As the treasurer explained, in the end they decided to go outside the box.

Sharry Castillo, Treasurer, Lion's Sub Umbra Floreo Club, Belize City
"The package itself hosts toiletries, we also have like underwear, socks, the hygiene products that they need. Toothbrush, toothpaste, it's basically a self care supply for each individual kid."

Courtney Menzies
"Why did you guys decide on hygiene packages?"

Sharry Castillo, Treasurer, Lion's Sub Umbra Floreo Club, Belize City
"To be honest the decision, we always given school bags and everybody has this back to school drive and it's a nice initiative, but we tend to look beyond just schoolbags, there are needs that kids maybe need that parents cannot provide and as a partnership and with groups and the lion we serve so we tend to look more beyond a school bag and we decided that the hygiene package would be more suited the kids of Stella Maris because with the disabilities they have, it's hard for teachers to look after everything for them so if we could send a package home to that parent as well to assist with them, that was a great initiative to came to our mind as well."

Sheree Selgado, Teacher, Stella Maris
"I believe Ms O'Brian told me that it was something it was something small they wanted to do and when they shared the idea, others, like UNICEF, they jumped on it, Social Security and they did it this way, their way, bigger, and of course we appreciate everything that we have gotten."

"Each student received a package today, each boy each girl, and we even have some overs so we can store for when they don't have that we have here for them."

Reporter
"How important is this support?"

Sheree Selgado, Teacher, Stella Maris
"Very important because we know where these students are coming from, we know the backgrounds of some of these students, we know the struggles of some of the parents so yeah, it's very important."

"We don't want it to stop here, we want others to jump on it and to continue to support our students."

And for two of the partners, CitCo and SSB, they said they jumped at the chance to assist the school.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"This is a very special occasion for us to be able to participate in an activity like this, which really focuses on these kids here at Stella Maris and when asked to contribute to this event, we were compelled to do it and so it's a pleasure for us to be able to participate in such an activity."

"We try to spread as much as we can all across the city. We have so many schools in the city, Stella Maris is very special for us given the circumstances. We as a municipality try to spread our little resources we have all across the city and you can see that in the works we have been doing all across our city."

Vanessa Vellos, Communications & PR Manager, SSB
"The Lion's Club approached the Social Security Board to see if we would be interested in donating towards their causes and so Stella Maris, as you know, represents a school that caters to children who have special needs at times so we received the request and we decided to give them a cash donation of $500 and that was given from our SDA account and so that is our role in today's activities whereby we gave a cash donation plus we also gave a donation of crossbody bags and some water bottles so it was just to give something extra beyond what we already gave them."

And Castillo says the Lion's Club hopes to partner with other organizations to help them to give back to the community.


Behind The Curtain At Bliss Center

Untitled Document March 27th is observed as world theatre day, which was first initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute. It highlights the importance of keeping the joy and the magic of the theatre alive, and all the hard work that goes into live performances on the theatre stage. Today at the Bliss they invited two schools, Belize Elementary and Sunshine preschool, around 110 students in total to experience and get a tour of the theatre, guided by their tech team. Here's what that was like for those kids.

Jillian Fuller, Theatre Director, ICA
"Today is being celebrated as world theatre day and since it is world theatre day and we are the only ones here that have a theatre we decided to do the celebration and invite some preschoolers especially since it's child simulation month. And we invited the preschoolers we did a little demonstration with the lights, sound effects, we did some art and we had a little drumming so that they can see what does on not only in front of the stage but also behind the scenes."

"It has been pretty good. We did some sound effects with some scary scenes and they were a bit scared and then we had them do some dancing and stuff like that and they were happy after that."

"They are our future and they are our little stars. So what they are doing, we made them paint some stars and then we are going to put it on a backdrop that's what we are going to use as part of our backdrop for the women in art tonight."

Keeran Ysaguirre, Assistant stage Tech, ICA
"Well for world theatre day what we are teaching the kids is how to actually decorate a backdrop so what we do, what I did I had them paint a star and also right now what they are doing is painting a moon as well so I had created a little backdrop on the stage so what we are going to do is we are going to go ahead and have stick the star on the cloth that's on the stage and my fellow assistant taught them how to make different sounds using the mic and using our sound system and after that out light tech taught them the different colours of light that we do have red, blue, green, orange, purple so we taught them how to, how the light system moves up and down and stuff like that."

"They did enjoy it; they actually had a drumming session as well, whereby our lead drummer Denmark for the late Aurelio went ahead and taught them how to beat the Garifuna drums as well, so they enjoyed that. It was very interactive. They were interacting with the light technicians and so we asked them different colours and shapes and the kids are very smart."


Women's Month Focuses On The Feminine Creative

Untitled Document It's not only limited to paintings and sculptures, but the annual Women in Art exhibition is a display of multiple forms of art, This year there is some fashion and even more poetry on display. The curator for the event is a visual artist herself, and she gave us more details about the flow of their set up for this year.

Gayla, Curator, Women in Art Exhibition
"So there wasn't particularly a criteria because we wanted women to show their pieces and their talent and their art. They are creators right? So in terms of the theme It is about empowerment, our rights for women and children, women and girls. And if you notice, if you take a look around the exhibit is specifically on a journey, the journey that women go through so it has themes such as breaking the silence, social change and activism, future and innovation because a lot of women are not only painting but they are literally turning that talent into more. You have that tonight, I don't want to give away a lot but yes you also have cultural heritage, our strength and our resilience. It's a journey so tonight the art exhibition is all about women's journey."

"So March is women's month. It's a special time for women to be seen and heard. That's where I think the impact is to answer your question what I'd like to see and this is only my opinion is for it to go forward not only in terms of an exhibition but actually get to highlight these women more, their crafts, like I said in the beginning they are creators and some women are single mothers and this is their way of making an income so I would like to see it be carried forward."

"So the total artists participating is 35, the total pieces I'm sorry I can't give you the total pieces because I haven't counted them but they were all allowed to give five pieces per artist."

The event began at 7:00pm and is open to the public


Mayor Removes "Simple Speed Bump"

Untitled Document And finally tonight, we had to follow up with the mayor today - after he finally removed an unnecessary speed bump in the downtown area of the city. It caused countless traffic jams, and slowed the flow of traffic during the rush hour.

Today, he conceded that the simple speed bump has outlived its useful life:

Reporter
"Why did the council see a need to place a speed bump on a Main Street?

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
To ease speeding (laughs)."

And while he was laughing then, the council has realized the error of its decision. Quietly and without notice, the speed bump was removed earlier this week. Rather than easing speeding, it was creating a constant traffic jam, 200 feet beyond an intersection now controlled by traffic lights:

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"No it was both, we had plans to include that area there in our smart system, traffic management and we just had to put that bump there temporarily and so as you can see the lights are now functioning and so we have removed the speed bump."

"We have received very good comments on that traffic light it has created sort of a smooth flow of traffic and that is just about people, people want to be encouraged and people want new smart activities in their city and its thought I always say let's work smarter than harder having a person their in the morning manually guiding traffic is that smart, it is working harder and having now a traffic light there which really monitors and really controls how traffic is flowing in that area we feel good about it and we will continue to see those key areas where there are hot spots developing to put in place that sort of traffic management system."


Mayor Responds To Fire Department On Abandoned Buildings

Untitled Document On Tuesday you heard the station officer at the National Fire Service call on the City Council to work with them in demolishing abandoned buildings that are fire hazards. But today the mayor said it's not so easy. If it were, he explained that there would be much more opportunities for the council to take advantage of all that space. But as he puts it, those buildings all have owners despite being abandoned.


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