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
When it comes to the opposition - the new cycle is dominated by stories of UDP infighting and scheming against each other. But today Shyne Barrow's UDP tried to somewhat re-direct the narrative by focussing on national issues.
Yes, he recently named his own candidates to challenge Tracy Panton in Albert, Godwin Haylock in Queen Square, and Patrick Faber in Collet. But he today held a full press conference and it wasn't about that. Barrow focused the conference on those burning national issues. But as Courtney Menzies found out, it wasn't what you would call a politically high voltage event:
This flyer inviting all to tune into the UDP's press conference on National Issues was sent out late last night. Five members of the party's shadow cabinet were set to speak.
But what promised to be a politically charged event was actually just one elected representative - Shyne Barrow - two executive members, one candidate, Dr. Nelma Jones Mortis and one newcomer, Carlos Perrera. Deputy party leader, Hugo Patt, was notably missing, despite his picture being on the flyer.
While the UDP has not announced their slate of 31, not even half showed up in support. Aside from the media, most of the chairs set out were left empty - apart from the candidate for Queen Square, Shane Williams, who doubled as the MC, and the new candidate for Collet, Gladys Paredes.
The next two hours were spent dissecting the issues plaguing the sectors of education, health, home affairs, transport and sports, and the overall state of life under the PUP. This conference set the stage for the party as the general election looms, and while Barrow has held solo press briefings before, he says today proved that the UDP is capable of unity.
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "We would hope that today's performance and I true reflection of what I've been trying to do as party leader, where I have invited you to my office almost every other week to talk about national issues, it's just unfortunate that the only thing that ever make television are the sensational internal things."
But the verdict on whether this conference instilled confidence in the electorate is left to be seen. For now, the Shyne Barrow UDP awaits a high court decision that they expect will cement them as the one true UDP.
And while that is a rough sketch of the mood, the press conference lasted a marathon two and a half hours. Barrow kicked it off with what he called "Operation Rescue Belize." He zeroed in on the lack of social programs for impoverished persons and the new taxes that he said would come with a second term for the Briceno administration.
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "The only optimistic thing about the new year is that we as Belizeans can implement Operation Rescue Belize, implement Operation Save Belize from the heartless PUP government in these General Elections that are coming. Belizeans will not be fooled by infiltration, they will not be fooled by the distractions whereas the Briceno government has used all kind of subversion and insurrection so that we are not talking about policies but we are talking about people and personality. But the United Democratic Party will not yield to such diversion tactics."
"The next UDP Barrow government will on day 1 reinstate all of the social welfare programs that help so many Belizeans during our 13 years. And we will not only reinstate but we will expand those programs, which is what the People's United Party promised to do."
"If you are not aware, a vote for this PUP government in the coming General Elections will result in at least 5 new taxes and increased taxes. We have the village trade tax where all ministers in Cabinet voted for the passage of the new trade license bill that now taxes roadside vendors, yard cleaners, runman, everyone trying to get into the economy."
"You have the NHI tax which my colleague brother Perrera is going to go into as the shadow minister of health."
"We have the city garbage tax. The government has already agreed with City Councils that after elections they will approve on a garbage collection tax for residents who already pay annually increased property taxes."
"And the one that is really, all of them are outrageous, but this hotel tax increase of almost 40% that the government is trying to implement, every stakeholder that I have spoken to in the tourism industry is saying this is a death nail to the tourism industry."
The former Minister of National Security and current shadow minister of Home Affairs - as well as chairman of the UDP - Michael Peyrefitte took the podium after his leader to discuss what he referred to as under reporting from the police department. He explained that the numbers they've assessed don't match up to the ones coming out of the department and accused them of purposely misinforming the public. He also took a shot at a certain top cop who also has a private venture on the side.
Michael Peyrefitte, Shadow Minister, Home Affairs "The most alarming and heartbreaking example of this is the under reporting of murder statistics. The police department recently released a report citing 89 murders for 2024. Yet when we examine the actual data and the records that we have access to and have been given access to, our research shows that there were actually 97 murders, not including 10 additional deaths that clearly bear all the hallmarks of murder but which were prematurely and suspiciously classified as mere death investigations. A per capita or 24+ murders per 100,000 is not an insignificant increase from 2023 when it was 21 per 100,000."
"And another statistic that will have to be revealed to the Belizean public will be the number of people who will be sent back to Belize who are criminal elements and members of criminal gangs. We see the recent President of the United States making it very clear, sending planes, military planes, to Columbia and to Guatemala with people who he decides are undesirables. When Belize are returned to Belize, who are these people?"
"Add to that, when you talk about statistics and the truth, the policy of the police department, this police department, is that any robbery or burglary under $5,000 is not counted in their statistics. And when you check the statistics, most burglaries and most robberies have a value of less than $5,000 so when they tell you that so many robberies and burglaries take place, violent crimes, crimes that can lead to violence, you are not getting the true picture of what the actual numbers are."
"The next UDP government will ensure that the police department has a leader who listens to our officers, who fights for their wellbeing and who ensures that they are given the tools, the training and the respect they need to do their jobs effectively."
"We must also address a disturbing trend among certain high ranking officers. Too many of them have begin to blur the lines of public service and private gain. We have seen cases where senior officers have become deeply involved in personal business ventures, raising serious questions about there their funding comes from and whether they are using their positions of authority to further their private interest."
7News has long disputed the Commissioner's total of 89 murders in 2024, and we can confirm that even police internal documents put that number at 94.
Dr Nelma Mortis, former educator and current standard bearer for Port Loyola discussed one of the most pressing issues affecting the education system: teachers not being properly paid. We told you that the BNTU has declared they will demonstrate in February. Dr Mortis explained some of the concerns that plague the ones that remain in the profession.
Dr Nelma Mortis, Shadow Minister, Education "Our teachers are leaving the profession due to a combination of factors, including overwhelming workload, lack of support from administration and management, increasing student behavior and issues and that's an effect of our social ills, high level of stress, excessive licensing requirements, poor working condition and a feeling of not being valued by the community or parents which leads to burnout and a desire to pursue different career goals. Many of them are even now moving towards call center work to save their lives, they are on life support. Another area that is defunct in the Ministry of Education is that of addressing the related issues of salary, increments, and allowances in an efficient manner. A blue bone was thrown to us and I refer to it as a blue bone because according to the PUP, we don't deserve meat. We were promised in December 2024 that teachers, they would correct the matter of the increments and the outstanding salaries and allowances for teachers. That's a matter of the PUP showing us how good they are at engineering and electioneering. To date, 650 teachers have not received their two year increment salary adjustment or upgrade. As I understand it, this will be reflected in the January salaries, so we will hear an uproar very soon. again, a crisis management plan was employed, increments were not paid out through smartstream and therefore the payroll maintenance wasn't done in time so January salaries will look just like December without the increment adjusted."
A fire in the South claimed the life of a senior citizen last night in Dangriga, in the Wagierele area. 69 year old Sonia Sambula lived upstairs inside of a two storey wooden structure while her two nephews and daughter lived downstairs. Sambula's son - who lives in the city - spoke with us via phone from Dangriga this evening. He says that when the fire started everyone dashed out of the house, leaving his elderly mother to fend for herself. He says that she was most likely sleeping when the fire started.
Voice of: Denmark Sambula, Son of Deceased "My two nephews were in the house with my mom. They came out of the house and just left my mom in the house to burn up. Two of them, no scratch, no dig, nothing - I am right here now with them. They just left my mom in the house to burn up."
Jules Vasquez "And how do they explain that?"
Voice of: Denmark Sambula, Son of Deceased "They can't even face me right now. They can't face me. All the family is right here standing up talking to one another. They can't face me at all and that is what hurts me. It's so sad."
"I went to the morgue to look for my mom, my mom looks like a barbecue chicken in the morgue. It's like a barbecue chicken without no sauce that came off the grill. That is how my mom look in the morgue."
"I just broke down in the morgue just now. I can't handle it, I broke down in the morgue in front of everybody. Who has the heart to do that to someone who is a Godly person, because she was a Godly person. Everything for her was church."
The investigation is ongoing as to the cause of the fire.
Those who wish to assist Sambula and the family with funeral expenses can contact him at 606-4530.
A Honduran National living in Belize today pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault for touching an 8 year old child inappropriately.
The incident occurred on Thursday January 22nd when the child was sent to the store. She told her mother that a man at the store had touched her twice while she was standing on the steps of the shop waiting to buy.
The incident was also captured by the store's surveillance footage. The man was later identified as 48 year old Jose Luis Ramos, a resident of Southside Belize City.
Ramos appeared in court unrepresented this afternoon before a senior magistrate, and read two counts of sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to the charges and the magistrate informed him that he may serve a custodial sentence due to the serious nature of the offence. The matter was adjourned so Ramos could seek legal advice, and his sentencing is set for Wednesday February 12th. 2025. Ramos could potentially face up to 12 years in prison. Immigration services are also looking into Ramos's Nationality status.
Tonight, Emil Rivers continues to recover in the Western Regional Hospital - after he was shot by police on Saturday. Meanwhile an internal police investigation into the circumstances of the shooting of this civilian is ongoing.
But, tonight, there are serious doubts about the credibility of the storyline that police have put forward - and some of those doubts have been cast by the commissioner himself.
Jules Vasquez reports on a series of telling elisions, obfuscations and misrepresentations:
The last time we saw PC Sheldon Arzu was in 2005 - when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for using excessive force when he shot and killed a man in the police station.
He lost an appeal, served his time and somehow was allowed to re-enlist in the police department where he has been assigned to the Independence Police station.
On Saturday his paths crossed with 24 year old Emil Rivers - who police were detaining for an alleged aggravated assault.
Police say that he escaped and two officers tried to subdue him:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "He ran from the police who were cleaning the cell. He went to a nearby house where it is alleged that he armed himself with a machete. The police cornered him, attempts were made to disarm him from the machete, a warning shot was fired but that did not work. At some point the police officer shot him to the leg. He's presently admitted in a stable condition. As in every police shooting, an investigation will be carried out by the professional standards branch."
According to an internal police report leaked to 7News, PC Arzu "shouted in a commanding voice to Emil Rivers….that police would have to shoot him..." It goes on, quote, "PC Arzu, fearful of the threat the individual posed, took aim at his leg and fired a single shot with the police-issued .38 pistol; however, the individual still didn't release the machete. PC Arzu then took a shot at his leg again, and upon the individual releasing the machete, he was quickly subdued..."
Except that is untrue; he wasn't shot in the leg; he was shot in his back and in his abdomen, rupturing his intestine.
Today, in a remarkable Facebook comment the commissioner cooly conceded that Romero lied. He said "...the individual was shot in the abdomen and I don't think the identity of the officer is relevant at this time."
Of course, he doesn't think it's relevant because legitimate questions about how a cop convicted of killing a man in the police station could be back in the department.
The victim's mother says she's angry that they shot her son but relieved that they didn't kill him:
Voice of: Marlene Rivers, Mother of Shooting Victim "If they had shoot him in his foot claiming he was running, I would have accepted it, Jules. Why in a my son abdomen, why? Or why in a my son back? If this man is trying to run away from you, you got no right to shoot him in the back, he is not a threat to you because he's not facing you. And it was in his upper back like his head they were aiming for."
The commissioner adds that the only question is whether the shooting is justified - indeed, it may be - but the question of how a convicted killer cop ended up back in the department is also a compelling one.
And the other question of how a blatant mistruth could so easily enter a police report and the mouth of the police press officer - brings into doubt the credibility of the entire police account.
We expect to hear from the Commissioner of Police on this tomorrow.
Earlier in the news you heard from 3 of 5 UDP shadow ministers. Newcomer Carlos Perrera spoke on the issue of health. If his name sounds familiar it's because he was once the finance director at KHMH and came under official scrutiny for his performance at that time.
But that was more than a decade ago and now he's back and he has a report card for the PUP.
Carlos Perrera, Shadow Minister, Health "What is their report card? Let us talk about the report card of the PUP since they got into power. It's very lengthy, I won't bore you. But the first hit they got was in February of 2021 where several organizations clamored for better healthcare down south in PG and Dangriga. Why? The Placencia Polyclinic was abandoned. In August 2022, nurses walked out of the Northern Regional Hospital and the Corozal Community Hospital. In October 2022, the Southern Region voiced the concerns to the Ministry of Health on medical supplies. October 2023, a continuous neglect of allegations by patients in our regional hospitals. In April 2024, allegations of neglect by patients at the Northern Regional Hospital, the backyard of the Prime Minister, and the backyard of the Minister of Health."
"The continuous chaos as we heard in 2024 where there was shortage of equipment and medicines at the national hospitals, KHMH. We heard the CEO of KHMH talk about being blindsided by the workers union, out of grievances, guess she was lost. We have the KHMH anticipating supply shortages coming out on that end. We have pharmaceutical supplies stalling in the public health sector. The pension and the pay scale for the national hospital not addressed. And I can go on."
The final shadow minister to speak was the vice chairman, Alberto August. He complained about the state of the Transport Department as well as the state of sporting facilities in the country, particularly the Mexico Sports Center.
Alberto August, Shadow Minister, Transport & Sports "For the very first time in the history of this country, the nation is experiencing a prolonged unavailability of vehicle license plate, vehicle stickers, and driver's license. We will recall the minister telling the nation that this matter would have been addressed by September of last year. When that failed, the prime minister himself came out and said this matter would have been addressed by the end of the year. We're almost finished with the first month of the new year and the nation is still experiencing this level of incompetence. When we look at the various bus terminals across this country and the dilapidated conditions of these facilities, it's a further indication of the ministerial incompetence of Rodwell Ferguson."
"We've witnessed recently as yesterday where we have, and we're honored with the presence and the visit of the president of the International Volleyball Association, Mr Cristobal Marte. When this man visited the Mexico Sports Center, one of the areas that should be used for volleyball in this country, that man had nothing good to say about the government of Belize and in particular about the minister with responsibility for sports in this country."
"We hear the Prime Minister making several trips to Mexico. Some of his trips are in secret. In fact the man is telling us when he goes now, he doesn't even have to tell us because he has WhatsApp. Mr Prime Minister, sir, if you're going so frequent to Mexico, why can't you ask the Mexicans, take the photographs of this facility, and ask the Mexicans to please pump in some money to this facility to bring it to the standards that it once was."
But after today's press conference, we're still unsure who will be on the UDP's slate. Barrow said that announcement is coming soon, and it may see the return of a prodigal son.
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "We have 31 candidates, but we will be introducing our 31 candidates in the next week or so. To be quite transparent. I've been in discussions with Elodio Aragon, and so we're going to finalize his return, or not, this week, and then we will introduce our 31 candidates, because as always the UDP is focused on bringing together, ensuring that we have everyone on board and keeping the room for reconciliation with those that wish to return."
"And so Mr. Elodio Aragon had indicated that he was looking at returning to the UDP, so we will give him a few more days and then we will move forward."
And while we also don't know Tracy Panton's full roster of candidates, we do know that Lee Mark Chang is running for her in Mesopotamia. He launched his candidacy last week with fanfare, but today, Barrow said he's not too concerned.
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "I'm not concerned about Mr. Chang, we'll send him back to his multi-million dollar mansion on Seashore Drive to which he has had refuge and has never been in the Mesopotamia constituency, has never done anything for the Mesopotamia people, no concern about Mr. Chang."
Reporter "But when you look at his launch, the turnout seemed to be significant."
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "50 people that didn't get their $30, I ended up giving them assistance because they're my people and you know they just went to see the puppy show, so no concern."
Since their launch in August of 2024, the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project, better known as BEEP under BELTRAIDE, awarded more than a third of a million dollars in grant funds.
Those were handed over today to a select number of Agriculture, Tourism, and creative sector micro small and medium enterprises. Jomarie Lanza attended the ceremony and here's what she learned about BEEP's first Cohort.
BELTRAIDE's Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project awarded seed funding to 29 outstanding MSME's that successfully completed the program's training. 14 of these businesses were start up enterprises while 15 of them were awarded under the export category. The executive director for BELTRAIDE says that the selection process for the project was competitive.
Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE "So this is the first Seed Capital ceremony, under the Belize enterprise empowerment project and the journey had been really eye opening to see the interest first of all was incredible as we mentioned there were 279 applicants across the categories and so it was a tough job to fiddle it down to who you know provided complete applications and there after the progress was quite rigorous just looking at their concepts, understanding what it is that they are setting out to do and then of course short listing and the signing up for the pitch segment and so it has been inspirational. We have seen a variety of different Ideas and so it just speaks to the creativity that exists in the Belizean entrepreneurial landscape and so what's inspiring is the level of creatives that are actually putting forward ideas, women, women led businesses putting forward ideas and all in all just new ideas, new things that don't even exist in the Belizean market as yet or just very nascent and so that has been inspirational. Its been very tedious to have to spend many hours going through the concepts and the proposals and then fine tuning and providing feedback."
Quiroz says that they looked for viability, and well thought out concepts, aside from new emerging ideas. And with that they disbursed up to 370k in grant funding to today's awardees. Narda Garcia who sits on the BELTRAIDE board says that thanks to projects like BEEP, Belize's Orange Economy will continue to blossom.
Narda Garcia, CEO, Office of the Prime Minister "To me the BEEP is a very comprehensive program that will give you yes seed money as a start up to grow or as a maturing company as we call which will be the second phase or as an export ready company."
"We also teach them to read and understand contracts because you get a contract from a resort, from a big resort they have lawyers and everything but you have to learn to read them and understand them so that you can comply the requirements of the contract so we thought that the orange economy can benefit from this and the orange economy from my standpoint and from I believe everybody's standpoint is so very crucial for the tourism industry."
We also spoke to two of the Awardees, David Daniel Smith, who caught the eye of of the judges through his Animation enterprise, and Jolie Pollard, ghe Owner of Ikooma A Belizean Seaweed haircare line which she plans to expand.
David Daniel Smith, In Awe Films "So being in the creative sector, specifically the animation industry, it's been quite a journey. It's kind of exciting to see now that the Orange Economy is actually picking up in Belize but at first it has been a very difficult journey because a lot of people did not understand the industry or understand the work it takes also understand the quality the standard that we need to reach as well as the casting so it was pretty hard to convince people that at the beginning what I am doing is actually viable but seeing now that animation is actually a multi billion dollar industry its about time we get out share of the pie in this and its pretty exciting to see where we are going in the next steps forward."
Jolie Pollard, Ikooma "So yeah I joined Beltraide that year and I was like man I should gave done this a long time ago and they have just been really helpful and that's how I found out about Beep and so I joined the program and they were, they guided us through the whole process and these people just went over and beyond for us and I shared this experience with many of the other entrepreneurs or advisors who were just there really wanting us to win and seeing potential in our businesses and I think this has been a very validating experience. I ams someone who started in my little kitchen just experimenting, going for my swims and trying to come up with something that's good for my hair and now here we are really feeling that we have something good to offer. And we should feel proud as Belizeans cause I mean here we are we are the lucky recipients out of the whole country and that says a lot and it's so encouraging."
According ot BELTRAIDE's CEO they will be putting out a call for 2 more cohorts under the project. 18 of those enterprises awarded today are owned by women.
Earlier in the news we told you that Shyne Barrow would be revealing in the near future. But we've seen some of the candidates so far - Jose Espat, David Almendarez, Gladys Paredes, and Carlos Perrera. We already told you of the controversy Perrera found himself in - which Barrow dismissed. But what about the others? Well, he doesn't seem to think there are any.
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "I don't know what controversies you're talking about with Mr. Almendarez and Mr. Espat."
Reporter "Well, Mr. Espat, you know, has all those allegations of being, calling himself a doctor, being a fake doctor, whatnot. We have Almendarez who, you know, all the FECTAB, all those press conferences and whatnot."
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "What's wrong with FECTAB fighting for the tourism industry?"
Reporter "It's just a lot of controversy?"
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "What controversy is there in fighting for the tourism stakeholders?"
Reporter "Fine."
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "When Almendarez was beating the UDP on the zinc fence radio station and TV, nobody had a problem with Mr. Almendarez."
Reporter "Because he wasn't running."
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "It doesn't matter. He was an activist and he is speaking his mind."
Reporter "But now he is running."
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "And so what is someone that is running? Someone that is running is someone that wants to represent people. So whether you represent people as a tourism stakeholder with your tourism organization, or you're a member of the United Democratic Organization wanting to represent people in Belize Rural Central or Albert, I don't believe it makes a difference."
"And I don't know what comments you're looking at, but I know when I look at the response for Mr. Espat, it has been overwhelmingly positive with people saying, yes, you know, you've been fighting for us. Take the next step. So I don't know what you're talking about. And I wish you would look at the comments. This is the only quarrel that I have with the media. You would come and you would say that. But you don't look at the comments about John Saldivar. What are the comments about John Saldivar? but I am asking about candidates, period. Because candidates are, whether it's PUP candidates, whether it's Alliance candidates or UDP candidates, what I'm saying is it is better for the UDP to move away from corrupt carcasses, from the corrupt dinosaurs that were occupying some of those constituencies than to maintain the status quo which the people rejected in 2020. So we prefer to proceed with new people. Everybody started somewhere. Manuel Esquivel started somewhere. Candidates have to have a first election. George Price lost his first election for the Belize City Council."
"So we have to start. And we prefer new candidates that have given themselves to community activism, to stakeholder activism, than to proceed with these run-of-the-mill garden variety corrupt all-time dinosaurs."
Reporter "Mr. Pereira left the KHMH embroiled in controversy. Ms. Parades, who you now have in Collet, She's on social media supporting the People's United Party in October 2020, right before the general election. She posted a Facebook post supporting the People's United Party."
"She was also a member of John Saldivar's camp as well."
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader "So what's wrong with that? Tracy Panton was a member of the PUP. I could send you the video where she declares that she worked for the Mark Espat Camp."
"So now, people can't go from PUP to UDP. It happened many times in the history of our parliamentary voting, where people went from... I remember, Elito, Philip Goldson, Theodore Aranda. It happens all the time."
A document called "Trump's Deportation List" made the rounds of WhatsApp today and while its authenticity is not confirmed, it is generating a lot of interest in Belize and across the region.
The document purports to be from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE on Enforcement and Removal Operations and is dated November of 2024.
It enumerates how many orders of removal have been issued for illegal immigrants who are in the US and not detained - but could be deported pending the resolution of these matters. Those matters could be an asylum request or some other issue withholding removal. For Belize the figure is 899 persons - according to the document. This means Belizeans who could now likely lose their protected status under President Trump's immigration crackdown, and end up being deported. And while Belize has barely a thousand, by comparison, Guatemala has one quarter million persons in that status and Honduras has a little more.
We can also confirm that up to September 30th, 139 Belizeans had been removed from the US in 2024. Since November of 2024, Belize's Ambassador to the US has confirmed that the number of deportations has increased.
Under the new Trump program, ICE plans to arrest at least 1,875 undocumented migrants per day.
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When it comes to the opposition - the new cycle is dominated by stories of UDP infighting and scheming against each other. But today Shyne Barrow's UDP tried to somewhat re-direct the narrative by focussing on national issues.
Shyne Barrow, UDP Leader 
"The only optimistic thing about the new year is that we as Belizeans can implement Operation Rescue Belize, implement Operation Save Belize from the heartless PUP government in these General Elections that are coming. Belizeans will not be fooled by infiltration, they will not be fooled by the distractions whereas the Briceno government has used all kind of subversion and insurrection so that we are not talking about policies but we are talking about people and personality. But the United Democratic Party will not yield to such diversion tactics."
The former Minister of National Security and current shadow minister of Home Affairs - as well as chairman of the UDP - Michael Peyrefitte took the podium after his leader to discuss what he referred to as under reporting from the police department. He explained that the numbers they've assessed don't match up to the ones coming out of the department and accused them of purposely misinforming the public. He also took a shot at a certain top cop who also has a private venture on the side.
"And another statistic that will have to be revealed to the Belizean public will be the number of people who will be sent back to Belize who are criminal elements and members of criminal gangs. We see the recent President of the United States making it very clear, sending planes, military planes, to Columbia and to Guatemala with people who he decides are undesirables. When Belize are returned to Belize, who are these people?"
"Our teachers are leaving the profession due to a combination of factors, including overwhelming workload, lack of support from administration and management, increasing student behavior and issues and that's an effect of our social ills, high level of stress, excessive licensing requirements, poor working condition and a feeling of not being valued by the community or parents which leads to burnout and a desire to pursue different career goals. Many of them are even now moving towards call center work to save their lives, they are on life support. Another area that is defunct in the Ministry of Education is that of addressing the related issues of salary, increments, and allowances in an efficient manner. A blue bone was thrown to us and I refer to it as a blue bone because according to the PUP, we don't deserve meat. We were promised in December 2024 that teachers, they would correct the matter of the increments and the outstanding salaries and allowances for teachers. That's a matter of the PUP showing us how good they are at engineering and electioneering. To date, 650 teachers have not received their two year increment salary adjustment or upgrade. As I understand it, this will be reflected in the January salaries, so we will hear an uproar very soon. again, a crisis management plan was employed, increments were not paid out through smartstream and therefore the payroll maintenance wasn't done in time so January salaries will look just like December without the increment adjusted."
A fire in the South claimed the life of a senior citizen last night in Dangriga, in the Wagierele area. 69 year old Sonia Sambula lived upstairs inside of a two storey wooden structure while her two nephews and daughter lived downstairs. Sambula's son - who lives in the city - spoke with us via phone from Dangriga this evening. He says that when the fire started everyone dashed out of the house, leaving his elderly mother to fend for herself. He says that she was most likely sleeping when the fire started.
"They can't even face me right now. They can't face me. All the family is right here standing up talking to one another. They can't face me at all and that is what hurts me. It's so sad."
Tonight, the man accused of killing 24 year old Mark Waight is on remand in prison.
A Honduran National living in Belize today pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault for touching an 8 year old child inappropriately.
Tonight, Emil Rivers continues to recover in the Western Regional Hospital - after he was shot by police on Saturday. Meanwhile an internal police investigation into the circumstances of the shooting of this civilian is ongoing.
The last time we saw PC Sheldon Arzu was in 2005 - when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for using excessive force when he shot and killed a man in the police station.
"He ran from the police who were cleaning the cell. He went to a nearby house where it is alleged that he armed himself with a machete. The police cornered him, attempts were made to disarm him from the machete, a warning shot was fired but that did not work. At some point the police officer shot him to the leg. He's presently admitted in a stable condition. As in every police shooting, an investigation will be carried out by the professional standards branch."
"What is their report card? Let us talk about the report card of the PUP since they got into power. It's very lengthy, I won't bore you. But the first hit they got was in February of 2021 where several organizations clamored for better healthcare down south in PG and Dangriga. Why? The Placencia Polyclinic was abandoned. In August 2022, nurses walked out of the Northern Regional Hospital and the Corozal Community Hospital. In October 2022, the Southern Region voiced the concerns to the Ministry of Health on medical supplies. October 2023, a continuous neglect of allegations by patients in our regional hospitals. In April 2024, allegations of neglect by patients at the Northern Regional Hospital, the backyard of the Prime Minister, and the backyard of the Minister of Health."
"For the very first time in the history of this country, the nation is experiencing a prolonged unavailability of vehicle license plate, vehicle stickers, and driver's license. We will recall the minister telling the nation that this matter would have been addressed by September of last year. When that failed, the prime minister himself came out and said this matter would have been addressed by the end of the year. We're almost finished with the first month of the new year and the nation is still experiencing this level of incompetence. When we look at the various bus terminals across this country and the dilapidated conditions of these facilities, it's a further indication of the ministerial incompetence of Rodwell Ferguson."
And while we also don't know Tracy Panton's full roster of candidates, we do know that Lee Mark Chang is running for her in Mesopotamia. He launched his candidacy last week with fanfare, but today, Barrow said he's not too concerned.
Since their launch in August of 2024, the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project, better known as BEEP under BELTRAIDE, awarded more than a third of a million dollars in grant funds.
"So this is the first Seed Capital ceremony, under the Belize enterprise empowerment project and the journey had been really eye opening to see the interest first of all was incredible as we mentioned there were 279 applicants across the categories and so it was a tough job to fiddle it down to who you know provided complete applications and there after the progress was quite rigorous just looking at their concepts, understanding what it is that they are setting out to do and then of course short listing and the signing up for the pitch segment and so it has been inspirational. We have seen a variety of different Ideas and so it just speaks to the creativity that exists in the Belizean entrepreneurial landscape and so what's inspiring is the level of creatives that are actually putting forward ideas, women, women led businesses putting forward ideas and all in all just new ideas, new things that don't even exist in the Belizean market as yet or just very nascent and so that has been inspirational. Its been very tedious to have to spend many hours going through the concepts and the proposals and then fine tuning and providing feedback."
"To me the BEEP is a very comprehensive program that will give you yes seed money as a start up to grow or as a maturing company as we call which will be the second phase or as an export ready company."
"So being in the creative sector, specifically the animation industry, it's been quite a journey. It's kind of exciting to see now that the Orange Economy is actually picking up in Belize but at first it has been a very difficult journey because a lot of people did not understand the industry or understand the work it takes also understand the quality the standard that we need to reach as well as the casting so it was pretty hard to convince people that at the beginning what I am doing is actually viable but seeing now that animation is actually a multi billion dollar industry its about time we get out share of the pie in this and its pretty exciting to see where we are going in the next steps forward."
"So yeah I joined Beltraide that year and I was like man I should gave done this a long time ago and they have just been really helpful and that's how I found out about Beep and so I joined the program and they were, they guided us through the whole process and these people just went over and beyond for us and I shared this experience with many of the other entrepreneurs or advisors who were just there really wanting us to win and seeing potential in our businesses and I think this has been a very validating experience. I ams someone who started in my little kitchen just experimenting, going for my swims and trying to come up with something that's good for my hair and now here we are really feeling that we have something good to offer. And we should feel proud as Belizeans cause I mean here we are we are the lucky recipients out of the whole country and that says a lot and it's so encouraging."
A document called "Trump's Deportation List" made the rounds of WhatsApp today and while its authenticity is not confirmed, it is generating a lot of interest in Belize and across the region.
