AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life News Daily news prior to today Today's Belize News: September 18, 2015

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

This Is Belize
Belize in all its glory is an array of many things! Belize is its ART, its CULTURE, its PEOPLE, its BEACHES and more!

Editorial: Elected officials must lead by example
Elected officials must lead by example, and follow mandated laws and policy accordingly. THE ISSUE: Despite being told by the Ministry of Education that it was not within his jurisdiction to declare a school holiday on September 11th, San Pedro Mayor Daniel Guerrero chose to ignore the directive. WE BELIEVE: Not only did the Mayor abuse his authority, but his refusal to comply with a mandated order from the Ministry of Education demonstrates a lack of respect for government policy. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Contact us via email at [email protected] or mail to PO Box 35, San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize. Who doesn't love a day off from work or school? So when Mayor Guerrero announced at the September 10th celebrations that he was declaring the following day a school holiday many regarded the man a hero! Without really thinking about what that meant to the equation of how many days students must spend in the classroom per school year, and the unexpected holiday pay for the teachers, everyone thought it was a grand idea. Little did we know that not only had the Ministry of Education declined the Mayor's request to declare the day a school holiday, but our Mayor decided to make his own policy.

Enter your pooch in the Potlickers in Paradise Photo Contest
Saga Humane Society has embarked on their newest fundraising event and it's an adorable pet photo contest. The Potlickers in Paradise Photo Contest is Saga's first ever, and it's open to all dogs of all breeds and all destinations. Everyone is encouraged to submit their entries and support the cause. Funds will be raised through the voting polls, which run at $1 per vote, and the $20 entry fee. The contest will also raise much needed awareness to the work Saga does with rescued pets on the island.

2015 Bart's Bash Regatta is almost here
The Belize segment of the 2nd Annual Bart's Bash International Regatta will take place on Sunday, September 20th in the waters off Caribbean Villas starting at 9:30AM sharp. A race brief will be held on Saturday, September 19th at 6PM at Caribbean Villas Resort. This is a highly entertaining and one-of-a-kind sailing race in which sailors from all over the world and in every kind of sailboat take to their home waters on the same day and sail courses that have been designated as comparable by a computer program in the hands of the Bart's Bash Committee. The committee also takes step to handicap the various classes for special needs sailors.

GOB pays BCB-Ashcroft group $162.7 Million partial compensation for 2009 acquisition of BTL shares
Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the United Democratic Party government continue to put their house in order for early general elections, slated for early next year, by negotiating a settlement to pay the former owners of Belize Telemedia Ltd (BTL) - US$81,088,899.70 or Bze$162.7 Million as partial compensation for government's acquisition in the public interest of BTL shares in August 2009. Barrow presented a Bill which was rushed through all three readings at 10am, 12 noon and 3pm, and approved at a special sitting of the House of Representatives in Belmopan on Tuesday, September 15th, for an Act to compensate the former shareholders, and the Telecommunications Acquisition Settlement Act 2015.

Ambergris Today

Movie Theater Goes HD and 3D at Ramada Belize City Princess
Movie-goers in Belize will be pleased with the announcement from The Ramada Belize City Princess that the Hotel and Casino has just recently updated its cinema with a high definition digital projector and 3D showing capabilities. The announcement came after The Ramada Belize City Princess invested in the refurbishing and upgrading of its theater facilities. Today the Cinema boasts refurbished seating, carpeting and viewing amenities that include the screening of 3D movies. The Ramada Belize City Princess indicates that its new Cinema will now be featuring the latest movies in HD as it has partnered with businesses which will supply them with up-to-date releases that can be downloaded in high definition. The Cinema is promising a richer and more enjoyable movie experience to all its Belizean customers.

Fried Jacks, a Belizean Breakfast Favorite
Besides rice and beans with stew chicken, there can't be anything more Belizean than Fried Jacks, or as we say in Belize 'Fryjacks'. Therefore on your visits to Belize, you've got to ask for these at your favorite deli or restaurant so that when you return home you can proudly announce, "I had the Belizean breakfast." The old fashioned Sanpedranos still make their Fried Jacks "Fryjacks" the traditional way by cutting it in half and a small incision in the middle so it doesn't puff up. Sanpedranos eat their Fried Jacks with beans, cheese, sausage, eggs & bacon.

Belize Tops List of Home Buying Destinations in the Americas
Whether looking for a place to retire, searching for vacation homes, or daydreaming about living "somewhere sunny and 75," Americans are searching online for a home away from home. So where do Americans want to move? Recent research compiled by Point2 Homes shows that Belize is the absolute favorite destination for Americans looking to buy vacation homes or to retire. Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico are the second and third most researched home markets. Data compiled is based on monthly Google searches made by Americans for terms related to homes for sale abroad - in countries located in the Americas. The countries were then ranked based on popularity. To compile the analysis, Point2 Homes looked at people's search patterns - monthly Google searches from the US for specific terms (homes for sale in Mexico, Cancun homes for sale etc.) and pulled out a comprehensive list of keywords, along with their monthly search volume. Then they ranked them based on popularity and put together an infographic (see below) that highlights the preferences of Americans looking to buy a vacation home or find a place to retire.

Misc Belizean Sources

BEL Stabilizes Power Supply Following Nationwide Outages Caused by Weather Conditions in Mexico
Those two outtages last night were country wide Faults and not the damaged switch near Belmopan, which appears to have been replaced by 6:40 or so this morning. According to BEL's press release, the nationwide blackout was caused by a Mexican grid failure caused in turn by "inclement weather in Yucatan". BEL switched to hydro and other generators and power was restored. The second failure was (I guess) caused by switching back to the Mexican supply too soon. Apparently we have two generators under maintenence right now and water levels in the dams are low.

Passing of Ms. Grace Williams
Mayor Daniel Guerrero, the San Pedro Town Council and Staff would like to extend its deepest condolences to the Williams/Holy Cross Anglican School family & friends on the passing of Ms. Grace Williams. Ms. Grace was the principal of Holy Cross Anglican School. May her soul rest in peace.

Full Moon Concert Series
The Junior VYBZ Band will be strumming some happy tunes for you. As part of the Full Moon Concert Series the Corozal House of Culture is delighted to be presenting Junior VYBZ Band Saturday September 26th, beginning at 7:30 p.m. You are kindly invited to join us beside the Bay, under the Full Moon. Keep Corozal Safe & Clean!

Water shortage and water pressure problems in Corozal
Fill in your buckets with water before 1:00 p.m. If you have been experiencing water shortage and water pressure at the tap, so have we. For the past couple of weeks BWSL has been working in rehabilitating their water mains and this may have attributed to the recent loss of water pressure and water loss at your tap. Let's hope this relentless situation can be resolved before the beginning of our tourist season. So BWSL says pardon the interruption today. Belize Water Services hereby informs its customers in Corozal Town that there will be an interruption in their water supply today Thursday, September 17th, 2015, starting at 1:00 P.M.

THUMBS UP FOR CERROS
Are you visiting Corozal for our National Day September Celebrations, then we welcome you to stop by Cerros Mayan Archaeological site along our Corozal Bay. Remember that Cerros is the only Mayan Temple in Belize right on the water. This is a must see and a must photo shoot!! Cerros is located near the mouth of the New River as it empties into our Corozal Bay. Road access is through Copper Bank Village. From Corozal Town, take the ferry road. Once past the ferry, shoot straight to Copper Bank and follow the signs to Cerros. From Orange Walk, shoot straight to Progresso Village and on-wards to Copper Bank. Cerros was inhabited from about 400 BC (Preclassic Era) to 400 AD (Classic Era) when it was abandoned. At the height of its importance, almost 2,000 people lived in and around Cerros, working as farmers and as merchants in the trade between the sea coast and inland communities. The Cerros ruins were first noticed in 1900, but no archaeological work began until the early 1970s when the Metroplex Corporation of Dallas bought the property to build a resort around Cerros' ceremonial center. When the Metroplex plan came to naught, ownership of the site was transferred to the Belize government.

Pan Yaad Steel Bands Concert Sept 19th
House of Culture, 7pm

Fly countrywide on Tropic for $21 on Sept 21
Celebrate Belize's Independence with the Airline of Belize and fly with TropicAir for $21, plus taxes, on September 21st Countrywide! (Contact Reservations at 226-2012 or your nearest Tropic Air station for details and conditions on this one day special offer.)

St. Francis Xavier Primary School visits Corozal House of Culture
So wonderful to have the students and teachers of St. Francis Xavier Primary School visiting today. They were able to view the Road to Independence Exhibit along with the George Price A Man of Purpose and Vision film as part of Public Service Day Activities. Thank you to the Standard 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 teachers who chose to visit the House of Culture today!

D Catch 2nd Anniversary
Happy 2nd birthday, D Catch! They know how to celebrate there, and they will be this Sunday and Monday. "Two years old and pushing on! Come join us as we celebrate our 2 year anniversary and Belize's Birthday with plenty of give aways, great music and even better drinks! D'Catch, 'D' best place to be this Sunday and Monday!"

Channel 7

The Shocking Video Of The Rat In the WRH Incubator
Two weeks ago, we broke the story of the rat that was found inside an incubator at the Western Regional Hospital - found, after it bit a newborn's toe. That story - just the details of it - is like an all time low. But, it gets worse; tonight we have video of that rat actually in the incubator. Now we warn you, many may find the video disgusting - and if you do, that's totally understandable; you can take a break for a few minutes. But we have decided to show it because it is so repugnant, and gut-churning; and, basically, it's our duty to show this kind of stuff so that EVERYTHING is done to make sure it doesn't happen again. So�here goes: the cell phone video of the rat being taken out of the incubator - we have altered the voices and obscured the faces to try and protect the health workers trying to get the rat out. Daniel Ortiz breaks it down: Daniel Ortiz reporting The video picks up with the nurses at Western Regional Hospital trying to remove the rat from the incubator. The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luENXxRwPIE

Western Regional Hospital Implicated In Another Maternal Death
And the Western Regional Hospital is also implicated in our next story. It's about a mother who died after giving birth to her 4th child and the husband says medical professionals in the public system are to blame. 29 year old Big Falls, Toledo resident Nolberta Sanchez was transferred from the Southern Regional Hospital to the Western Regional on September 9th. And that is because the hospital in Dangriga did not have the equipment to perform a C-Section. The operation was successful at the Western Regional and a healthy baby girl was born. But, from there, things went downhill. We traveled to Big Falls Village today and found out the chilling details of what happened next from her husband. John Romero, Husband "When we arrived at Belmopan, they told us that he (doctor) would prepare her for immediate surgery. So when we arrived at Belmopan less than half an hour, she was prepared and taken to the operating theater and short at about maybe 10-15 minutes into surgery, the brought out the baby and I met the nurse in the corridor when she came out with my baby. This was about 20-25 minutes after I saw the baby and the nurse told came and told me that the doctor says that he needs to conduct a second surgery, because a bleeding was not stopping within her. So he needed to go in again and open and try to stop the bleeding. But he told me that they would have to remove her womb, because he told me that her womb was not contracting."

Keeping The Faith In Faith
Finally !! There has been some meaningful progress at Faith Nazarene. Today General Manager Raymond Sheppard told us that Principal Policarpia Pech has submitted her application for long leave and that the management and the Ministry are reviewing it. But this is just one step - they are also working on Pech's transfer. This a breakthrough after weeks of meetings, strikes and protesting. Sheppard told us that the leave application and transfer request will be put before the Teachers services Commission tomorrow. When we spoke to the PTA representative she told us that they don't want to be too quick to celebrate because it still has not been finalized. So until then, she told us that they will not send their kids to school until Pech has officially been removed and her office cleared. Today 185 out of 403 students attended classes today - which is less than half od the student body but more than yesterday. Sheppard told us that there will be an official meeting on the afternoon of Tuesday the 22nd at 2:30 and he encourages all parents to attend.

Drought Has Cost Bze 28.5 Mil. (So Far)
The 2015 drought has cost Belizean farmers 28.5 million dollars. That's what the Ministry of Agriculture says after their latest survey of what they stress is an ongoing situation that is not expected to ease up until November. The survey shows that corn is the hardest hit with losses of 18 million dollars, followed by soybean at 5.5 million dollars and then rice at 2 million dollars. And projections are that sugar cane will also be affected, and production in that sector could go down by as much as 25%. The north is the hardest hit and we went back to Orange Walk South today where the losses are still mounting. Jules Vasquez reports:.. Jules Vasquez reporting This is a field that looked bad four weeks ago - but now it is dead - limp, lifeless and that sickly yellow that is synonymous with death in agriculture. We did find a few dried, dwarfed and useless corn cobs, nothing more - a complete write off acres upon acres wasted the sun leeching out the last life from these crops the stalks still reaching up hopelessly to the rainless sky all, told, an expanse of ruin and loss. Max Hernandez, San Carlos Community "In San Carlos, we have 35 years. This year is the first that there is no rain. Every farmer small farmer, even the Mennonites lose all the crops."

G-11, Not "All-Good", But Getting There
And while we were in Orange Walk South with the PUP's Jose Mai - we asked him what's planned for this weekend in San Narciso, Corozal when the PUP holds its Power to the People Rally. As we told you last night, the G-11 - of which Mai is one of only two elected members - is back under the blue tent after a fence mending session with Party Leader Francis Fonseca yesterday. Mai told us he will be at the rally in royal blue:.. Jules Vasquez "Will you be at the rally after the meeting yesterday in Boom where you were told all senses were mended?" Hon. Jose Mai, OW South Representative "I will be at the rally Jules in blue." Jules Vasquez "Is that an indication that all is fine and the PUP is moving ahead with all 31 standard bearers on the same page?" Hon. Jose Mai, OW South Representative "All is not fine, but we hope that all will be fine very soon and I will be at the rally Saturday."

UB and Beltraide Team Up
Today, BELTRAIDE and the University of Belize held a ground-breaking ceremony at the University's of Management and Social Science campus in Belize City. They're building a new facility called the Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute, or BEI2 - a moniker which seems meant to be both catchy and cool, but is neither. The building, though, will be thoroughly modern: in fact it is called Government's first green building, constructed with energy efficiency and low environmental impact in mind. That means it will be outfitted with solar panels, and energy efficient air conditioning systems. It's envisioned as a hub for enterprise research and innovation, where entrepreneurship, innovation and business development will be fostered. We stopped by and spoke with the facilitators about the need for such an initiative within the University: Stephanie Daniels-Moody, Public Information Officer - UB "The Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute or BEI2 proposes to be the hub where this interaction is nurtured and where research and teaching accelerates the creation of new products, new companies, new jobs and increase economic opportunities. The University therefore is committed to this project and all it will do for the growth of Belize."

BEL Blackout "Hecho En Mexico"
If you were plunged into blackout during the news last night, you weren't alone; we all experienced the same thing in the countrywide outages. This morning BEL said the two outages, at 7:20 and 8:35 were caused by a lightning storm in Mexico. BEL says there was a system trip at the CFE plant in Mexico - which supplies power to the entire country - more so when it's not raining and the hydro-electric power is in scarce supply due to no rain and low water levels. BEL says that to avoid a recurrence, they have connected the transmission line to local power sources. Right now only the North is connected to CFE in Mexico so if there is another power outage only Orange Walk, Corozal and San Pedro will be affected.

Police Do Downtown
Once every week, the Police Department's Eastern Divisions go out into the community, especially in hotspot neighborhoods, to meet with residents, and find out what they want and need from police. It's part of the new community policing strategy to improve the relationship with those they serve, and it gives the citizens an opportunity to make suggestions on what the police could do better. Today, we found officers of Eastern Division South touring Orange Street, Albert Street and King Street in the city's downtown area. Daniel Ortiz spoke with the second in command for the Eastern Division southside about the feedback they've been getting: Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2 "Today we see the police from southside visits the businesses on the Orange, Albert and King Streets. Whilst on the business side we still as well interviewed citizens who we meet inside the businesses and it's the same objective, to find out about the service that the police are rendering to the business owners and the public at large and how we could better serve the public. So far it has all been positive. All the businesses that we have stop so far, they are positive about the police service and they are very much appreciate it and they want it to continue. It you would take the time out to visit one or two of them, they might just say the same thing."

Mimie!
September is the celebration season, and every year, foreign acts dominate the entertainment offerings. Just last week to bring in the 10th., as many as eight thousand Belizeans shelled out major money to see Chronixx and Destra on different stages. For 14 years Tony Wright has been fighting the foreign trend - with the Sound Fest where he features and celebrates Belizean artists. This year, he's bringing back one of the most electrifying performers of the Punta genre. He told us about it today:.. Soundfest will be held at the Bird's Isle tomorrow night.

Channel 5

Maternal Death at Western Regional Hospital�
First it was rats that took over the Western Regional Hospital, then recently a huge rodent bit a newborn baby. There is also the case of a snake that bit [...]

�Mother Bleeds to Death After C-Section
According to Romero, his wife was transported by ambulance to Belize City.� Upon arriving at the K.H.M.H., doctors immediately went to work and identified that a substantial amount of blood [...]

Chairman Giuseppe says IRS Summons Has Nothing to Do with Belize Bank
The United States Treasury is tightening the noose on US citizens who hold accounts overseas and have not paid up taxes in the US. Essentially, a US Federal Judge today [...]

Drought Devastates Agriculture Sector
In mid-August, News Five brought you the story of devastating losses suffered by farmers in southern Orange Walk - the result of a prolonged drought. Actually, the first we'd heard [...]

Is Government Taking Drought Crisis Seriously?
The drought was first reported as a crisis in August, and it has very perceptibly worsened. In fact, Mai today classified the drought as a disaster, and claims that just [...]

G-Eleven Member Says Accord is One Step, P.U.P. Isn't One Big, Happy Family
On Wednesday the People's United Party announced a mending of the fences between those faithful to the P.U.P. Leader, Francis Fonseca, and those rebellious standard bearers, unofficially dubbed the G-eleven. [...]

What's Telemedia's True Worth after Settling Massive Debts?
With the annual general meeting scheduled for September twenty-ninth, Belize Telemedia has released its Financial Statements for the Year ending March 2015.� The company has been at the center of [...]

Chamber of Commerce on B.T.L. Settlement
Still on the issue of the B.T.L. settlement, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry sent out a release today saying that while it had no fuss with the settlement [...]

COLA Writes Open Letter to National Assembly
COLA is tonight ramping up its ongoing campaign to have Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington removed from office immediately, to start construction of a forward operating base on Sarstoon Island and [...]

BTV Spreads Awareness on Border Issues to Belize City Youths
On the heels of those letters, BTV front man Wil Maheia was present in Belize City today where he addressed a gathering of youth apprentices on the Belize/Guatemala issue.�� Maheia [...]

Police Investigation into Rape at Palm Center Continues
On August thirty-first there was a very disturbing incident at the Palm Centre, which is a residential psychiatric care facility in Belmopan. Because of the nature of the allegation, and [...]

Still No Arrests in Russell Hyde's Murder
Belmopan Police have made no arrests in the very sensational murder of Roaring Creek underworld figure Russell Hyde. Hyde, along with his companion Marcy Humes, was gunned down on August [...]

Was Devin Neal Flowers Killed by a Relative?
But while things may have calmed down somewhat, there was another murder last week. Roaring Creek resident Devin Neal Flowers was riding his motorcycle on the Valley of Peace Road [...]

Policeman Wasn't Alone When Nicaraguan National was Killed
There is also an update on the investigation into the murder of Nicaraguan Eduardo Perez Sanchez. He was shot in the head twice and his body dumped on the Young [...]

Illegal Cuban Immigrants Busted in Belizean Waters
On Tuesday, five Cubans who were heading to the United States ended up in Belize when their vessel shipwrecked after they set sail from Honduras. They ended in Belizean waters [...]

Ground Broken for G.O.B's First Green Building
Ground was broken today for a green building for which BELTRAIDE is partnering with the University of Belize. B.E.I.-Two, as it is called, is being built at the university's Belize [...]

Healthy Living Gets an Early Flu Shot
At this time of the year and in the month of October, the number of persons affected by the flu or respiratory diseases goes up.� While many persons resist getting [...]

CTV3

Equipment Goes Missing At The Corozal Community Hospital
The Ministry of Health will be inaugurating the operating theater at the Corozal Community Hospital tomorrow, Friday. Minister of Health Pablo Marin made the announcement today in a morning show hosted on his radio station UMUZIK. The Minister was in the company of Corozal Mayor Hilberto Campos. But as he made the announcement, he followed it with some rather disturbing news of things that are taking place at the hospital. We will share what the good news is but first, according to the Health Minister, some very expensive medical equipment was stolen from the hospital. He did not give much specifics but Minister Marin says that they are looking into the matter. Here is what he said. "Although we had some misfortune in the hospital and I have to bring it up; you have people in the hospital doing mischief, they stole an equipment that cost I think over $20,000.00 nobody saw it but if anybody or any person know about this thing please here in Corozal, it is two brand new equipment to do the operations to cut and to fix the person whenever they do the operation it is two of them and they stole one of them and definitely the only person that can use it is somebody in the medical field to do an operation and this was somebody from the hospital did that and we don't know who it was but if anybody have information please send it to the police because whose ever did this he is going to jail and I don't care who it is and it is sad because we are working so hard for us to be able to open this operating theatre here in Corozal and this is what happened."

Minister Of Health Addresses Rat Infestation At WRH
The Ministry of Health has been receiving some very embarrassing and disgraceful media coverage after reports of rat infestation and bites took place at the Western Regional Hospital. Minister of Heath Pablo Marin has shied from the media but while on the morning show at his radio station in Corozal, he addressed the matter. Marin claims that he has done his part to mitigate the problem but says that the hospital's leadership has been lax. Marin says that he has spoken to the hospital manager on dealing with the matter but that has not resulted in any success. "It is all over the media with the rats and the snakes and people trying to blame the minister and having people on Facebook defending me and I need to give them thanks but I will tell you a little scenario of how things happen there; when the situation and this is how the system works and it is sometimes hard for us to deal with, this happened some months ago with the rats and we did ask the manager and the deputy to deal with it, I went again last week when I heard with the situation with the rat inside the incubator...

Drought Continues To Impact Agricultural Sector
The ongoing drought in the north of the country has farmers of the southern Orange Walk District losing in earnings of millions of dollars. But while they are establishing new alternatives, farmers in Little Belize, an area that has always been known for the largest production of corn, is beginning to feel the effects of the drought which has already resulted in the loss of millions of dollars. According to Corozal District Agriculture Coordinator, Fulton Barry Palacio, a total of 8,000 acres of corn amounting to 8 million of dollars have been lost in the Little Belize area and Corozal. "The drought have severely impacted the agricultural sector, the hardest hit to date is the corn farmers of which Little Belize represents the biggest block, we have 6500 acres of being planted and loss due to this drought and another 1500 acres in the rest of the Corozal District which also has been loss due to this unusual and heavy drought and when we totaled that in terms of money figures it translates almost into based on our figures something like 7 to 8 million dollars."

BCCI Weighs In On BTL Settlement
Today the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry weighed in on Governments settlement with Lord Michael Ashcroft which is causing much controversy. BCCI states in its release that it is most concerned at the method of Prime Ministerial Governance displayed with regard to the BTL settlement. The Prime Minister, says BCCI, unilaterally negotiated and bound our country to make a $162.7 million payment with the possibility of yet further payments due at the conclusion of the still outstanding Dunkeld arbitration case. BCCI believes that the hasty move by the Government to announce the settlement of BTL has caused major confusion among Belizeans who are trying to comprehend how a settlement can be made official when the true and final financial cost of the said settlement is as yet unknown. The uncertainty of such action is far reaching and continues to leave us in the dark as to the quantum of Belize's full national debt, says the release.

Severe Weather In Mexico Caused Power Outage In Belize
Last night, the entire country of Belize was plunged into darkness after two unscheduled power outages was experienced between 7:00 and 9:00. Today, while the Belize Electricity Limited has stabilized power, they issued a statement saying that the nationwide outages were caused by weather conditions that affected Mexico last night. The release says the country experienced outages at 7:20pm and 8:35pm and within twenty minutes, it was stabilized. BEL says that low water levels at the major hydro plants and maintenance at two of the power plants in the country are presently limiting the Company's contingencies to mitigate against weather-related instabilities and that plans are in place to resolve the maintenance issues by weekend. Of note is that Belize's national grid is powered by Mexico's Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) Ticul Substation.

A Deeper Look At Road To Independence
The road to independence as we learnt last night, started with the resistance of the Mayas in 1951 and it was an arduous one. This projection, established a foundation for an icon to achieve total Independence through what he calls a peaceful revolution. This icon, named years after as a national hero, warrior of the Belizean people and country, was no other than George Cadle Price. Because of his constant determination to make Belize an Independent Nation the Right Honorable George Cadle Price is today considered to be one of the principal architects of the Belizean Independence. It was Price's ideology, integrity and philosophy that not only awarded him the recognition of a National Hero but also his title as Father of the Nation. Tomorrow, the 19th of September, Belizeans will remember the loss of a great hero, forefather and pioneer of a nation. Carib's Nation Television, Dr. David Hinds, uploaded on you tube an interview he did with Price on his 58th, birthday, where he proceeded to ask him if an opportunity would be granted to do things again, would he do it differently. This is what the Father of the Nation responded.

IRS To Summons To Reveal American With Offshore Accounts In Belize
The offshore banking system of Belize has for a while been slowly taking over the airwaves and today, that banking sector is wading troubling waters says the Internal Revenue Service IRS of the United States. A report published today revealed that a federal judge has issued an order allowing the IRS to serve a John Doe summons to reveal Americans with offshore accounts in Belize. The report says the IRS wants to know who has accounts at the Belize Bank International Limited, Belize Bank Limited, and others, but that the order entitles the IRS to get records of correspondent accounts at Bank of America and Citibank. Citibank will need to produce records identifying U.S. taxpayers with accounts at BBL, BBIL, and affiliates, including correspondent accounts to service U.S. clients. Transactions in correspondent accounts leave trails the IRS can follow. The IRS obtains records of money deposited, paid out through checks, and moved through the correspondent account through wire transfers.

Santa Martha Resident Charged For Drug Trafficking
At around 8:15 this morning the team conducted a search at a residence situated at mile 54 of the Old Northern Highway on the Santa Martha Road. Reports are that when police arrived at the residence they saw 23 year old Ernest Hinds, Belizean farmer, running towards the bathroom. Cops also saw when he threw a black object inside the bathroom. Upon inspecting the bathroom police found a black plastic bag containing suspected cannabis. As a result Hinds was arrested and charged for the offence of Possession of Controlled. The drugs weighed 17.3 grams.

LOVE FM

Family Seeks to Sue Western Regional Hospital for Negligence
A 29-year-old mother of four was laid to rest less than a week ago after she gave birth at the Western Regional Hospital. It is a case that has left the family forlorn and has prompted them to seek legal recourse for what they deem as neglect on the part of the medical officers at [�]

Second Family Blames Hospital for Young Woman's Death
And while relatives of Norberta Sanchez are in mourning, they are joined by their neighbours whose relative experienced a similar ordeal at the Western Regional Hospital and died one day after Norberta Sanchez. 19-year-old, Lucia Cal will be laid to rest this weekend after she was moved from hospital to hospital last week. Love News [�]

IRS Digs Deeper for Bank Accounts of Its Citizens Suspected of Evading Taxes
The United States of America is clamping down on their citizens who are suspected of evading taxes by hiding their income and assets in offshore accounts. Once a tax haven for foreigners, financial institutions in Belize are now being targeted to reveal information on accounts belonging to American nationals. An online article has indicated that [�]

Rotary District Governor Meets with Dangriga Rotaract Club
The Rotaract Club of Dangriga meets with District Governor, Dr Rene Villanueva Senior. Harry Arzu reports. COLA Writes to the National Assembly on 3 Points
Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, has taken the initiative to write to all the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. President of COLA, Geovanni Brackett, spoke to Love News about the content of the letter. GEOVANNI BRACKETT "The Executive of COLA came up with the idea that we should engage [�]

Bad Weather in Mexico Leaves Belize in the Dark
Just after seven o'clock last night there was a countrywide power outage. It was a brief outage that lasted for about twenty minutes with some areas experiencing subsequent outages lasting not more than three minutes. This morning the Belize Electricity Limited sent out a release explaining the cause for last night's blackout, citing bad weather [�]

EU Ambassador In Belize For Celebrations and Other Business
Head of Delegation for the European Union to Belize, Ambassador Paola Amadei is in Belize. During her visit, Ambassador Amadei will meet with several government officials. Next week the Ambassador will be on hand for the handing over of Vocational Training Equipment to Georgetown Technical High School in the Stann Creek District. This project, funded [�]

PlusTV

Ministry of Rural Development hands over mowers to communities
The Sen. Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Rural Development, held a Handing Over Ceremony today at the NEMO Warehouse in the City of Belmopan. The ceremony was to officially hand over five riding mowers, $10,000.00 worth of PVC pipes, fittings, submersible pump and motor and electrical materials. Hon....

Belizean youths having intercourse at an earlier age
Our young people are having sexual intercourse, many out of wedlock and school, and at an age very close to the legal age of consent. If that's news to you, and even if it isn't, the National AIDS Commission, assisted by the Statistical Institute of Belize, has the statistics to prove it...

Minister of Sports gives progress updates on major Belize City stadiums
For most of his term, Minister of Youth and Sports Herman Longsworth has been bedeviled by the construction and development of three sport stadia in Belize City. The biggest project is the Marion Jones Sporting Complex which broke ground six years ago, when Elvin Penner was the Minister and Longswor...

First 'green building' will house BELTRAIDE units
A Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute is scheduled to be built at the University of Belize' Faculty of Management and Social Sciences in West Landivar, Belize City. In a collaboration between the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) and the University, the new fac...

Sports Ministry starts skipping rope program for primary schools
Skipping rope - it is a favorite but rarely practiced pastime among primary school students, but the Ministry of Sports believes it can be good for your physical health and in an effort to end the couch potato syndrome among our youngest, it has started a program for skipping rope in primary schools...

NEMO PRAYING FOR RAIN
The communities of Biscayne and Gardenia are among first villages affected by the unusually long dry season. But of course those are not the only communities prone to the effects of drought. In fact, many rural communities are still using the well and pump system, which is affected by the long , dr...

Water Relief in Belize Rural North
The lack of a proper water system coupled with an unusually long dry season has left the communities of Biscyane and Gardenia in Belize Rural North, struggling to meet their water needs. As a result, Major Lloyd Jones, PUP Standard Bearer for Belize Rural North, mobilized to bring some much needed r...

The Guardian

BTL bought and paid for
On Monday September 14, the government announced that it had come to a settlement in the BTL matter putting to an end 6 years of litigation over the price for the company. In making the announcement, Prime Minister Dean Barrow explained that the negotiations were completed after two meetings with Michael Ashcroft in May and August of this year and thereafter correspondences via e-mail. The negotiations were described as fast and furious by the Prime Minister and it culminated with government agreeing to a payment of 162.7 million Belize dollars to be paid to British Caribbean Bank (BCB) and the former owners of BTL. When government nationalized BTL it assumed a 22.5 million dollar loan which BCB had given to BTL but even as it did so BTL's new management maintained that the loan was illegal. That led BCB to initiate arbitration under a 1982 Bilateral Investment Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Belize for the promotion and protection of investments. On December 19, 2014 the Arbitral Tribunal ruled in favor of the Bank and ordered the Government to pay compensation. As part of the settlement, the Government agreed to pay the Bank US$48,544,927.78 representing compensation, including costs, expenses and interest on the original 22.5 million dollar loan.

Drought cost farmers 28 million dollars
Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Jose Alpuche is reporting that the ongoing drought is costing farmers in the north western part of the country some 28 and a half million dollars in damages. Alpuche says that the most severely hit agricultural product is corn suffering some 18 million dollars in damages followed by soy bean which is experiencing some 5 and a half million dollars in damages and rice with 2 million dollars in damages. While these are suffering currently there is a projection that sugar cane will also suffer some losses where it is estimated that a 25% decrease in production will occur. With projections of the drought lasting up to November of this year as a result of the 'El Nino' weather phenomenon, Alpuche says that government is looking at ways in which it can help mitigate the adverse effects of the drought. He says that already DFC is contemplating the possibility of interest forgiveness for farmers being affected as well as making seed money available for replanting. He added that they are also looking at the market shortages that may occur as a result of the drought and looking at how these can be ameliorated.

House meeting filled with PUP jokes and jokers!
At Tuesday's house meeting we were treated to our usual bellyfull of laughter stemming from the jokes we hear in the presentations of some of the members of that house. First up to bat was the PUP Leader. His entrance alone is funny. This gentleman must have been a cowboy in another life because he walks as if though he were sitting on a horse for quite a long while. That was not the only joke from him though. In trying to sound eloquent he has taken the letter "A" out the alphabet. Someone needs to tell him there is no "O" in heart because he said heort. We will skip the biggest joke of the day for now because it was so big and go to Dolores. She said that she could not really pay justice to the debate because she was not given her paper on the bill until she arrived at the meeting that morning. Even though she said that she still went on to debate the bill. That must have accounted for the gibberish she spoke during her presentation, because she certainly made no logical statements.

New school building at All Saints Primary
It has been three years since infant one students of All Saints Primary had classrooms to call their own. The building that once housed first graders was deteriorating and sinking; therefore, it had to be demolished in 2012. The Government of Belize promised the institution a new building and gave the Social Investment Fund (SIF) the responsibility to complete the project. While the construction project was underway, the young students needed a place to stay. Therese Roches, Principal of All Saints Primary, had to come up with ideas to create five temporary quarters for learning. School administrators decided to move out of their office to provide space for the children. The Parish allowed the school to use its hall for classes. Two classrooms at the school were split in two. It was far from an ideal situation and comfort was sacrificed for the sake of learning. On Monday, September 14, 2015, administrators, teachers, parents and students invited Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education, and Hon. Santiago Castillo, Minister Responsible for SIF, to celebrate the opening of their new school building.

KHMH employees get 14% salary increase
Employees of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital are looking forward to a 14% salary increase following negotiations between the KHMH's management, 4 cabinet ministers and a negotiating team from among the employees. In mid July employees of the statutory body had requested a salary increase from the management and board of directors of the institution which in turn made a request from the government. The request was not fulfilled after the government indicated that the employees had to negotiate as a group for their salary increase. This led to just under a week where the employees went on a go slow stopping elective procedures from taking place. Shortly thereafter the negotiating team was set up and it included Ministers John Saldivar, Patrick Faber, Pablo Marin and Godwin Hulse. After weeks of negotiations which included the employees setting up various committees to look at cost saving measures at the hospital, the board has agreed to give the employees their salary increase.

Use the bus stops please!
The Belize City traffic department through its manager Kevan Jenkins and councilor B.Q. Pitts has been taking a proactive approach in resolving some of the traffic issues which affect motorists in the old capital. In the last week of June a productive meeting was held to address concerns with the taxi operators and since then there has been marked improvement in that sector. The "Dollar Van" sector continues to be a problem but steps will be taken shortly to address that concern. Last week once again the Traffic Manager Kevan Jenkins held yet another meeting with, this time, the city shuttle service operators. On September 7, a meeting was held at the traffic department office on Youth for the Future Drive between Mr. Jenkins on the one hand and Belize Transit Services and Lopez Shuttle on the other. The purpose of the meeting was to address the operators' lack of compliance with and breach of the road service permit regulations and policies. In a letter written to both operators back in October 2014, Jenkins warned about serious ramifications for failure to adhere to routes and approved bus stops. He warned that "The blatant refusal of these companies to comply with these stringent measures incorporated will not be overlooked or allowed to go on without serious ramification�". These ramifications include the temporary suspension of road service permits in the first instance and eventual cancellation if the violations persist.

Carnival 40 years later, serious business!
The Carnival Road March started 40 years ago, in 1975, to bring some flare to the Tenth of September celebration. A few girls were dressed in costumes of the most basic designs and they danced through the streets in celebration of the Battle of St. George's Caye. The costumes were not glamorous. The music was not heart pumping. The energy was not off the charts. There was no great prize to be won. However, the satisfaction these "revelers" felt after the road march was immeasurable. Today, thousands of dollars in cash and prizes is up for grabs. The road march is as big as it has ever been. The music is as loud and clean as ever. The costumes are the best we've seen in Belize; but where is the love? What was a celebration of past victories and future opportunities seem to have evolved, or regressed, into a high stakes all or nothing competitive exercise. The practices leading up to the road march get more strict and joyless each year. Going to a Sunday practice for your community's carnival group is like watching an episode of "Dance Moms". It is all about getting the steps right and getting the group ready for competition. Even the senior revelers have been transformed into dancing mercenaries. It seems like nobody remembers that Carnival is supposed to be a celebration.­

Cayo Welcome Center gets new chairs
The Spanish Lookout Community has undertaken another effort to assist the Cayo Welcome Center in San Ignacio Town. On Friday of last week, 30 plastic chairs were handed over to the Mayor of San Ignacio and Santa Elena, Earl Trapp Jr, in Spanish Lookout. In receiving the chairs, Mayor Earl Trapp thanked Ben Barkman from Econo Diesel and community members for their generous contribution. Mayor Trapp promised that the chairs will be put to good use. At the handing over ceremony, Ben Barkman took the opportunity to give Mayor Trapp a tour of his business, Econo Diesel, where the focus is on Diesel engine repairs; especially fuel injection engines.

Horse and Jockey dead
As predicted 2 weeks ago that the borrowed horse would be taken out the General Election Triple Crown Derby, has now come to reality. The previous MAJORITY Shareholders of BTL have now settled with the new MAJORITY Shareholder the Government of Belize. PM Barrow made the announcement to the Nation of Belize at a 2 pm Press Conference on Monday. That must have been well received by many Belizeans, Social Media lit up like lightening across the sky. All sorts of praises have been offered to the Government of Belize under the able Leadership of Prime Minister Barrow. There is a major wrinkle in this situation, in making it's exit the horse threw it's JOCKEY. That jockey broke his neck and died. Now at the PUP Headquarters on Queen street there is plenty bawling and fainting. Some of the PUP higher-ups who had dreams of becoming Ministers in what they view as a soon to come PUP Government following up on a PUP VICTORY AT THE POLLS aka Derby, have taken it much harder though. They are suffering from HYGOPOOPHA locally known as 7th degree Makobie. A run has been made on those places that supply TOILET PAPER, because the main symptom of Hygopoopha is UNCONTROLLABLE BOWEL MOVEMENT. The scent coming from PUP HEADQUARTERS is fowl. They may have to go to Chetumal to get an additional supply of toilet paper, but to do that they would have to go through Johnny and it seems Johnny is too busy celebrating to lift a hand to help them.

Hummingbird Highway rehabilitated
A contract was signed between the Ministry of Works and A &N Construction Limited for the rehabilitation of the 54 mile stretch of the Hummingbird Highway on Tuesday September 15. The contract comes after the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Opec fund agreed to fund the road's rehabilitation in February of this year. Under the rehabilitation, the highway was divided into four segments for management purposes from Belmopan Roundabout Junction to Sibun Bridge and Alta Vista Bridge to Dangriga Town. The project will see the improvement of the road's surface as well as better vertical and horizontal alignments. There will also be the replacement of existing single lane bridges and the paving of the road's shoulder. The road will also feature high visibility line marking, reflective road studs, bus lay-bys and other road furniture to bring the entire road to international standards.

Kareem Musa Grabbing at straws
For the last month or so Kareem 'Mini-Me' Musa has been on an attack Darrell Bradley campaign. You see Mayor Darrell Bradley who is his political opponent in the Caribbean Shores is of an impeccable character and as such there is no scandal to tie him to unlike Mini-Me's family where there is always a scandal or some sort of Backa-post operation that they can be linked to. Darrell Bradley does not come with baggage; he only comes with the record as being the best Mayor Belize City has ever seen. Mini-Me on the other hand must look his father's misdeeds square in the face and take ownership thereof. We say take ownership because we are using his rational, that so is a man so is his son. In other words BWOI UH DAH JUS LIKE UH PUPPA! First he tried to make an issue, that according to him Caribbean Shores pays the biggest property taxes in the city. Even if that is so they have some of the most valuable properties in the city. Those streets where those properties are located are well cleaned and they don't suffer from the commercial activities the other parts of the city endure. Also they once paid the least taxes even though then got the best service.

New library for August Pine Ridge
On Friday September 11, the National Library Service inaugurated a completely new library in the village of August Pine Ridge. The new structure came at a cost of some 100,000 dollars and was financed by the government of Belize. The library is fully furnished with books as well as internet ready computers. Present at the opening ceremony was Minister of Education, Hon. Patrick Faber and UDP Standard Bearer in Orange Walk South, Guadalupe Maga�a Dyck. The building was constructed on a parcel of land which was contributed by the village council while preparation of the land with filling and leveling was done through the efforts of Maga�a, who also lobbied government for the building to be built. Construction on the structure began on August 21 and was completed in less than a month.

Musahahahahaha!
What do Richard Prior, Dennis Miller, Kevin Hart, Chris Rock and Said Musa have in common? That's right, they are all great comedians.The one that stands out most however is Said Wilbert Musa. In his younger years Said made a living as a teacher and later on as a politician. He reached the pinnacle of his political career when he became the Prime Minister of Belize. He made a disaster out of the latter. Said's ambition to serve the Belizean people did not stop there. He has rededicated his life to the people and has decided to serve them as a comedian and clown now. He has tried many forums to divulgate his wisecracks and jokes but none seem to serve him better than the National Assembly of Belize. His last performance on Tuesday September 15 was the best. He had young and old rolling with laughter at his witticisms. The one that took the cake was when he said, "you can accuse me of all kind ah thing but you cannot accuse me of corruption." The collective laughter was heard starting from the Rio Hondo all the way to the Sarstoon.

Cousin shoots cousin in Placencia
While the rest the nation was celebrating the Battle of Saint George's Caye, the family of 45 year-old Vance Edward Cabral, a Placencia Village resident, was morning his tragic loss. It appears that his cousin shot him to death, and police believe that it was intentional, and so, he's on remand at the Belize Central Prison. According to police, at around 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, they responded to a shooting at a marina in Seine Bight Village, in the Stann Creek District. That's where they found a blue and white boat, "Island Dancer"; inside the vessel, they found Cabral's body with a single gunshot wound to the head.

Former police officer acquitted of Hopkins murder
Former police officer Wilfred Anthony Garcia, 51, is a free man after he was acquitted of the charge of murder by Justice Denis Hanomansingh in a trial without jury that ended Wednesday, September 16, 2015. Garcia was arrested by police for the chopping death of 17-year-old Luke Nunez, Jr. According to police reports, Nunez and Garcia were involved in a misunderstanding at a bar on the north side of Hopkins Village sometime after 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 26th, 2012 and it led to Garcia chopping Nunez to the right side of the chest, center of the head and the upper left side of the chest. Nunez was rushed to the Southern Regional Hospital for treatment but later succumbed to his injuries.

Allegedly broke into cop's home and stole gun
Clive Sutherland, 29-year-old Wagner's Lane resident, is at the Belize Central Prison on remand after he was denied bail when charged in connection with the burglary of a cop's house in which a 9 mm pistol was stolen. PC Aldo Valdez reported to CIB that at about 12 noon on Sunday, September 13, he was home, at # 3708 Louise Bevans Street in the Jane Usher Boulevard area, socializing with Clive Sutherland when he decided to leave for Unity Street. Valdez left Sutherland by himself at the house since he would only be gone for a short period of time. According to Valdez, when he returned about 20 minutes or so later, he noticed that Clive was gone and when he checked inside a draw of his bureau inside his room he discovered that his gun and magazine containing 15 live rounds was missing. He immediately reported the matter to police and Sutherland was apprehended.

Shakeem Humes charged for Carnival night shooting
Shakeem Humes, 23, is at the Belize Central Prison on remand for charges of attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm, dangerous harm and wounding upon woman police corporal, Christine Avila, and her boyfriend, Joseph Debride. At around 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, September 12, police responded to a shooting incident on Curassow Street where they found Debride suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck. Avila reported to responding officers that a man they know well approached them and told them he was armed. Though she was off duty, being an officer of the law, Avila tried to take the weapon away from him. Debride came to her aid after seeing the struggle between the two. However, the gunman managed to break free. While fleeing, he aimed the gun at them and fired several shots at the couple. Debride, Avila's boyfriend, was shot in the neck. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial with critical injuries but he has since been stabilized.

Tortilla delivery man charged for stealing sales money
Francis Mai, 40, is serving the first days of a three year sentence for failing to pay a fine for drug trafficking. Mai appeared in court on Monday, September 14, for a charge of theft from his boss, Jason Musa, when it was discovered that he had not paid a fine for an old drug offense conviction. Allegations being made against Mai by Jason Musa, owner of a corn tortilla shop, is that for July 29 and 30, 2015, he received 262 pounds of corn tortilla to sell to local business people in Belize City. However, Mai failed to show up back at work with the money for the tortilla and that was when Musa made a report to police. Musa said that he did not bring in the money from sales and has not returned to work since. He was supposed to turn in $527.28.

Corozal Sailing Association
Dear Members and Friends; This report it long overdue sorry for the delay. As you probably know by now our former board member David Bartz suddenly passed away. He will be missed by all, the board has approved that one of the Optimist boats be named after him. Not only did we lose David , but also his wife Dari, our secretary. Now to Antigua, the first major international competition for " Team Belize". Our sailors did not bring home medals but had a good showing overall. Thank you all for supporting the sailing club and our sailor Jasmine personally. Without your support this would not have been possible. The St. George regatta. The boat left from Marriott pier at 8 am in Belize City and returned early afternoon. We sent 4 Optimist and 1 Laser sailor. This was a camping weekend. Report to follow. The next regatta is on Caye Caulker early October 10&11 2015.

Joslyn Chavarria captures Annual September Criterium
The Belize City Council and Leslie's Imports with collaboration with the Cycling Federation of Belize sponsored its 6th Annual September Cycling Criterium on Sunday September 13, 2015, on Albert and Regent Streets in Belize City. The Criterium commenced at 10:00 am with the Youth Development Programme Races and this was followed by the female race which went 15 laps around the two streets. The first female rider to cross the finish line was Patricia Chavarria of C-Ray, second place went to Kaya Cattouse also of C-Ray while third place went to Paulita Chavarria of C-Ray Cycling. In the Junior Race which went 20 laps, first place went to Kaydine Pinelo in a time of 49:40, second place went to Ernest Bradley in a time of 51:41, third place going to Shaun Codd in a time of 52:49 and fourth place went to Darien Anderson in a time of 52:57.

Minister Herman Longsworth to present Jump Ropes to school
The National Sports Council of Belize will on Thursday 17 September, 2015, present Jump Ropes to the schools in the Belize District that participated in the Jump Rope for Health Training that took place in June of 2015. The Hon. Herman Longsworth, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports with direct responsibility for Youth and Sports will distribute the ropes at an official ceremony scheduled for 10:00 am on the Basketball Court at Rogers Stadium. Each school that has participated in the training will receive a Jump Rope for Health Training Kit which includes a total of 35 ropes of varying lengths and a Skill Development Cue Cards.

2015 Bart's Bash Regatta Announcement
The Belize segment of the 2nd Annual Bart's Bash International Regatta will take place on Sunday, September 20, in the waters off Caribbean Villas and will start at 9:30 sharp, with a race brief Saturday 6pm at Caribbean Villas. This is a highly entertaining and one-of-a-kind sailing race in which sailors all over the world and in every kind of sailboat imaginable take to their home waters on the same day and sail courses that have been designated as comparable by a computer program in the hands of the Bart's Bash Committee, who also have a computer program to handicap the various classes. Last year 16,780 skippers of all ages competed. It is a fully legitimate regatta, formally recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, which proclaimed last year's Bart's Bash the largest boat race in history.

Verdes in Quer�taro Mexico for CONCACAF play
The National Football champions of Belize, Verdes FC, left the country on Tuesday 15 September, 2015 for Quer�taro, Mexico, where they will compete in their away portion of the Scotiabank CONCACAF home and away series. The away game for Verdes FC is scheduled for Thursday 17 September, 2015, at 8:00 pm at the Estadio Corregidora in Quer�taro, Mexico, against the Gallos Blancos Quer�taro. In Verdes' home game played on Tuesday 18 August at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan against the Gallos Blancos Quer�taro the game ended in a 0-0 draw. The State of Quer�taro is located in north-central Mexico. The team is expected to return home over the weekend. The Verdes FC will compete again on Tuesday 22 September at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan against San Francisco of Panama.

Groundbreaking for new chapel at KHMH
Representative of the Belize Council of Churches and the Belize Evangelical Association were present at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital on Monday September, 14 as ground was broken for the construction of a chapel at the hospital. Bishop Roosevelt Papouloute, President of the Belize Council of Churches, noted that the new chapel will be a place for reflection and meditation for patients, families and even staff at the KHMH. Sharing that sentiment was KHMH's CEO Adrian Coye who stated that he himself will be using the facility when it is complete. He explained that the chapel is a gift for the people of Belize because the KHMH is about healing people but that it is not just a matter of physical well being rather one which includes social, mental and spiritual wellness. With the chapel he stated that the KHMH will now be covering all bases. Coye added that those who will use the chapel are not just patients but also families who would want to come to terms with what is taking place in their lives. He added that the non-denominational space is a valuable gain for the people of Belize no matter the rooting of how it arrived. He concluded that he was grateful to those who envisioned it and brought it to fruition.

Braun and not Brain, the CWU demise
1. The previous FCIB Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expired on 31st December 2013. 2. In February 2014 CWU notified the Bank that they would not be ready to submit proposals until after June 2014. 3. CWU submitted proposals in May 2015. This is almost one year after indicated date. 4. CWU agreed to a first negotiation meeting for July 14th, 2015, two and a half weeks short of the August 3rd, 2015 announcement of the agreed sale. 5. At the initial meeting, CWU refused to engage the bank in discussions on its counter proposals because some members of the Bank's negotiating team were not physically in Belize. 6. CWU after being a year and a half late was pulling rank on the bank and utilizing bullying tactics. 7. The Bank appealed to CWU to at least take a look at the counter proposals. 8. CWU refused to bargain unless the Bank's none resident negotiators were physically present in Belize. 9. The Bank tried to accommodate by arranging video conferencing, but this was unsuccessful.

When the elephants fight only the bankers get trampled
He said. She said. They did this now. They should have done it then. NONSENSE!!! The nightly news bickering does nothing for the sixty plus professionals who will be out of a job in a few weeks time. First Caribbean International Bank is closing its doors in Belize, fact. Heritage Bank is buying over its assets, fact. Individuals will be losing their jobs, fact. Those individuals deserve every single benefit due to them for years of committed service to the institution, fact. What is due to them??? The FCIB Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expired on 31 December 2013. Since there has been no new agreement since, then common law would declare the existing CBA as the governing document. The easiest thing to do; therefore, would be to base severance packages for employees based on what is set out in the existing CBA. But how fair would that be to the workers?

Fight or Flight? 217th Anniversary of the Battle
"Two hundred and seventeen years ago, on September 10th, 1798, the Governor of Yucatan and his Spanish armada retreated from our waters, their mission a complete failure." - Hon. Manuel Herredia, Chairman of September celebrations Commission. Every tenth day of September the Belizean people parade through their community streets because of two reasons: one is because we remember and two is because we know. We remember when word came that the Spaniards were planning to attack the settlement there was a vote on whether we should fight or take flight. We remember that when the slave owners were split down the middle on that decision they decided to call for the coloureds from Flowers Bank to vote. And we remember that they voted unanimously to stay and put up a defense. We know that this decision to stay and defend the settlement is the cornerstone upon which an independent nation was built. We know that we are descendants of those very brave men and women and their blood runs through our veins. And we know even today, that no matter how big and powerful they may be, Belizeans will stand up to any bully in defense of our territory and control of our destiny. Belizeans parade through the streets on the tenth of September because we know that if that vote was held today, 217 years later, the results would be no different.

Government of Belize Contributes to Relief Efforts in Dominica
alth of Dominica and has the honour to refer to the letter dated August 31st, 2015 from the Prime Minister of Dominica, Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit, and Savingram, CDEMA/15/OB/34, dated August 31st, 2015, appealing for emergency relief following the damage caused by Tropical Storm Erika on August 26th, 2015. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belize is pleased to inform that the Government of Belize will make a cash contribution in the sum of US$125,000 to the Government of Dominica for its relief efforts. The contribution will be deposited on September 9th, 2015 into the account provided in the damage assessment report.

Quarantine lifted on poultry farms in Cayo after 6 Million dollars in losses
Poultry farmers in the Cayo District can now breathe a sense of relief, following the lifting of quarantine measures on Wednesday of last week over their farms. A joint press release from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture, the Belize Agriculture Health Authority BAHA, the Ministry of Health and the Belize Poultry Association declared last Wednesday that the formerly Avian Influenza infected areas in the Cayo District had regained a free status and in compliance with the World Organization for Animal Health International Standard. Such a victory declaration comes nine months after the H5N2, low pathogenic; Avian Influenza Virus had infected the poultry sector in Spanish Lookout, which triggered an unprecedented series of responses from both the Government of Belize and its many partners in development. As a result of the Avian Influenza, farmers suffered some great economic losses; as some 84,000 layer birds and half a million eggs had to be destroyed. Then there were the after effects of those losses, where the birds had to be buried and affected areas decontaminated, all adding to losses of a little over six million Belize Dollars. Just in operational costs, the Government of Belize had to spend over a million dollars.

Press statement by Senator Ray Davis
In view of recent comments made in the media regarding my position as Senator, particularly my attendance at the most recent Senate meeting, I consider it is necessary at this point to make the following statement. Hopefully, it will assist in sorting out the confusion regarding my tenure as Senator. 1. On 28th August 2015, I received by way of email from the General Secretary of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), a copy of a letter dated 25th August addressed to me and signed by the President of the NTUCB, Mr. Marvin Mora. The purpose of the letter was to inform me that I have been "removed as Senator for the NTUCB" and that "the Civil Society Steering Committee will also be informed of [the] decision and the Governor General will [be] subsequently notified". 2. The letter was prefaced with a notice of the results of the votes at a meeting of the General Council of the NTUCB held on 22nd August 2015. I was informed that the majority of the Council had voted at the 22nd August meeting that the NTUCB was "not satisfied with [my] performance as Senator" and that "the Congress should replace [me] as a Senator". The letter also referred to the "concerns" raised by the General Council regarding my performance, which I was invited to address at a meeting of the Council on 4th August 2015.

Large percentage of youths having sex
The Statistical Institute of Belize was commissioned by the National AIDS Commission to conduct a survey on the sexual behaviour of youths from the ages of 15 to 24. The survey revealed that youths are engaging in sexual activities at a very young age but, if you are looking for a silver lining, most of them are adhering to the recommended safety measures while doing so. A report on the study entitled KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practices in Sexual Behaviour & HIV in Belize 2014) was released on Wednesday, September 16, by the National AIDS Commission. The study shows that 61.2 percent of the 73,369 youths age 15 to 24 have had sex already. The rate is even higher for youths in this group that are out of school. 74.4 percent of those have had sex compared to only 38.7 percent of youths still in school.

Belize Bank Bulldogs captures Central American Softball championship Silver Medal
The Belize Bank Bulldogs, the National Softball Champions of Belize, represented Belize at the XIV Central American Senior Female Softball championship that was held in Managua, Nicaragua, from September 10-13, 2015. On Friday 11 September, in the first game that Belize played at Estadio LA Tribuna, Belize Bank Bulldogs fell to El Salvador by the score of 7-2. The losing pitcher for the Belize Bank Bulldogs was Kenreen Gillett. In game two, Belize Bank Bulldogs defeated Guatemala by the score of 7-1. The winning pitcher was Ashley Lucas. In the Belize Bank Bulldogs third game of the day, the team blanked Costa Rica by the score of 12-0. The winning pitcher was Leandra Guy.

Joslyn Chavarria captures Annual September Criterium
The Belize City Council and Leslie's Imports with collaboration with the Cycling Federation of Belize sponsored its 6th Annual September Cycling Criterium on Sunday September 13, 2015, on Albert and Regent Streets in Belize City. The Criterium commenced at 10:00 am with the Youth Development Programme Races and this was followed by the female race which went 15 laps around the two streets. The first female rider to cross the finish line was Patricia Chavarria of C-Ray, second place went to Kaya Cattouse also of C-Ray while third place went to Paulita Chavarria of C-Ray Cycling. In the Junior Race which went 20 laps, first place went to Kaydine Pinelo in a time of 49:40, second place went to Ernest Bradley in a time of 51:41, third place going to Shaun Codd in a time of 52:49 and fourth place went to Darien Anderson in a time of 52:57.

Verdes FC maintains lead in Premier League
The Premier League of Belize Opening Season Tournament continued over the last weekend with three games across the country. On Saturday 12 September 2015, at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium in Independence Village, the visiting national defending champions Verdes FC edged out the host team Wagiya FC by the score of 3-2 to maintain its lead in the competition. The host team Wagiya was the first to get onto the scoreboard when Kyle Valerio scored his team 1st goal of the game in the 14th minute of play to give his team a 1-0 lead. The visiting Verdes FC was able to get onto the scoreboard when Deon McCaulay scored the 1st of his 3 goals in the 37th minute of play to tie the score a 1-1. Meanwhile, the host team Wagiya took a 2-1 lead into the second half of the game when Brandon Cacho scored the go-ahead goal in the 46th minute of play.

American man killed outside of Xaibe Village, Corozal
American John Ross, a 47 year-old chicken farmer who lived just outside of Xaibe Village in the Corozal District, was found brutally murdered on Monday, September 7. He had been living in Belize for the past 10 years, and he sold chickens and eggs right from his farm. A group of men, who are some of his usual customers, showed up on his property expecting to do business as per normal. What they found that morning was Ross' body beside a septic tank. He had suffered chop wounds to the neck, face, and right arm. The American national lived by himself, but police had detained his son who had been living with him until recent weeks.

Cousin shoots cousin in Placencia
While the rest the nation was celebrating the Battle of Saint George's Caye, the family of 45 year-old Vance Edward Cabral, a Placencia Village resident, was morning his tragic loss. It appears that his cousin shot him to death, and police believe that it was intentional, and so, he's on remand at the Belize Central Prison. According to police, at around 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, they responded to a shooting at a marina in Seine Bight Village, in the Stann Creek District. That's where they found a blue and white boat, "Island Dancer"; inside the vessel, they found Cabral's body with a single gunshot wound to the head. His cousin, Jeffrey Cabral, told police that he and his cousin, Vance, were socializing on the boat with 3 other men.

Mental patient pleads guilty to damage to property
Heidi Reid, 51, was spared from going to prison for damage to property due to her mental status. According to police report, on Saturday, September 12, Reid passed by the Queen Street Police Station, took an object she had in her hand and slammed it into the glass door, causing damages to the sum of $275. She was apprehended by officers at the station and charged for damage to property. Reid appeared unrepresented in the courtroom of Magistrate Ladonna John on Monday, September 14. She was making noise of discomfort, claiming she was in pain. Reid told the magistrate, "they beat meh up." She asked to see a doctor. However, the charge was read to her. Reid wasted no time and pleaded guilty. Magistrate John told her that it is wrong to go around causing damage to people's property.

Lenford Harris charged for Sandhill shooting
Teenager Lenford Harris, 18, is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after he was charged for shooting at Bryan Davis,27. In a report to police, Davis, a construction worker of Sandhill Village, said that he was at home sleeping in his bed at about 12 midnight on Monday, September 14, when he heard a noise from outside the house. He decided to go take a look and that was when he saw Harris and three other men standing in his yard. They were armed with a handgun and a shotgun. Davis said that Harris then pointed the firearm at him and he ran to avoid getting shot. Police later responded to the incident and took a statement which led to the arrest of Lenford Harris.

Sheep thieves kill farm caretaker in Maypen
The body of 51 year-old Salvadoran Jorge Eduardo Aguirre, a caretaker of a farm in Maypen Village in the Belize District, was found floating in the Belize River on the morning of Saturday, September 12. It appears that he was killed on the farm that he cared for, and then dumped into the river, most likely to try to get rid of evidence. According to police, they found Aguirre's body in an advanced state of decomposition in the river. That's after a resident found his severed right foot, and later inspection revealed that his right hand, at the area of the wrist was also chopped off. They also observed other chop wounds to the neck, foot, hands and head. At this time, police are investigating the murder, and they suspect that the theft of sheep may have been the motive of the killing.

3 shootings on carnival day, none was fatal
On Carnival Day, Saturday, September 12, there were 3 shootings in the city, despite the very best efforts of the Police Department, who were trying to contain the violence, especially during the September festivities. According to police, they found 19 year-old Gary Young, a resident of Kraal Road, at the KHMH suffering from a gunshot injury to one of his wrists. He told police that he and a 16 year-old minor were walking on Barrack road. As soon as they arrived at the Pickstock Street intersection, they were approached by 3 men. Young and the men had an exchange of words, and while they were walking away, someone from the group started firing shots at them. Young was injured on the wrist, while the minor suffered an injury to the left buttock. They were both transported to the KHMH where they arrived in a stable condition.

Breaking Belize News

PUP prepare to observe National Service Day
The People's United Party (PUP) has released its list of planned activities for National Service Day, which falls on a Saturday this year. Observation begins on Friday with the annual wreath laying ceremony at 9:00 a.m. at the burial site of the dearly departed Father of the Nation and Leader Emeritus of the PUP, the [�]

Victim with troubled past pleading to police for justice
Thirty-three-year-old Andres Moreno, a resident of Carmelita Village says that he was lured from inside his house on Sundaynight and viciously attacked by three men with the intent of robbing him. Moreno, who himself is no stranger to the police and has had a few run-ins with [�]

Kids having sex before 15, new survey says
The 2014 survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Sexual Behavior was released in Belize City and showed that the South still has the highest infection rate of HIV/AIDS. Data also showed that Garifuna youth are sexually active from the earliest ages, followed by Creole youth, a significant amount of them having [�]

Belize ~ Analysis of settlement between G.O.B. and Ascroft alliance over B.T.L.
By Richard Harrison: In 2009, with follow up in 2011, the Government of Belize took by force, without compensation, the shares of the Ashcroft Alliance in Belize Telemedia Ltd (B.T.L.), which at the time totaled 94.2% of the 50,000,000 shares. This was part of its thrust to nationalize utility companies using a [�]

Muffles Highschool holds annual symposium
Over 500 students from the Muffles High School participated in their annual symposium under the newly built auditorium. The symposium which is held just before the Independence Day festivities sees one student from each form level, write a speech surrounding the September Celebration's theme and present it [�]

Minister of Sports gives progress updates on major Belize City stadiums
For most of his term Minister of Youth and Sports Herman Longsworth has been bedeviled by the construction and development of three sport stadia in Belize City. The biggest project is the Marion Jones Sporting Complex which broke ground six years ago, when Elvin Penner was the Minister [�]

Guatemalan killed in PG identified
Earlier this week we reported on the Guatemalan merchant that was ambushed, robbed and murder in Punta Gorda between the villages of Corozan and Otoxha. The victim has since been identified as 20-year-old Oscar Xol IC from San Pedro Carcha Alta Vera Paz, Guatemala. A post mortem examination on the [�]

Police burn marijuana plantation
Over 350 mature marijuana crops were set ablaze by Orange Walk Police. During an anti-drug operation on mile 54 of the old Northern Highway in the out skirts of Orange Walk Town (Santa Martha Road), police discovered a 75 ft. by 75 ft. marijuana plantation with mature plants ranging from [�]

Police confiscate over 300 grams of weed
Belize City Police, in two separate searches, seized over 373 grams of cannabis. The first search was conducted on Cadle's Alley sometime around 4:00 a.m., where officers discovered a black plastic bag containing 164 grams of Cannabis. An hour and half later they conducted another search, this time on Pinks Alley where [�]

Sports Ministry starts skipping rope program for primary schools
Skipping rope - it is a favorite but rarely practiced pastime among primary school students, but the Ministry of Sports believes it can be good for your physical health and in an effort to end the couch potato syndrome among our youngest, it has started a program for [�]

Nurse snakebit at Western Regional
Reports have surfaced of a snake attack inside the Western Regional Hospital grounds in Belmopan nearly two months ago, in which a nurse walking to the quarters on the hospital grounds was bitten by a non-poisonous snake in her left ankle. According to 7 News, the incident occurred [�]

EU Ambassador in Belize for Independence celebrations
Her Excellency Ambassador and head of delegation of the European Union (EU) to Belize, Paola Amadei, touched down today, Thursday for a week of activities highlighting contributions by the EU to Belize. According to the Ambassador in a press release statement, "The Belize-EU relationship has blossomed this year, [�]

BEL explains Wednesday night blackouts
Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) has released a statement explaining what caused the two power outages that affected the country last night at 7:20 p.m. and again at 8:35 p.m. It states that ongoing inclement weather in Yucatan, Mexico caused faults at one of Comision Federal de Electricidad's (CFE) substations and as a result, [�]

Warm temperatures to continue in Belize
Warm and mainly fair weather will continue during the next couple of days. The National Meteorological Service of Belize is predicting mostly sunny skies today and partly cloudy skies tonight, with showers being isolated inland this afternoon and in the South tonight. Winds will be blowing from the East at 5-15 knots [�]

US IRS crack down on American Belize account holders
As part of continued financial tightening in the US to combat tax evasion and money laundering a federal judge in the US has issued an order allowing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a John Doe summons to reveal Americans with offshore accounts in Belize. The order specifically targets [�]

Blogs

Famous Artists in Belize
ART, three little letters that can easily mean big talent and big bucks. Once upon a time when you heard someone speak about art, you could almost guarantee they were speaking about a painting or a drawing. Today, when a person classifies himself as an artist, the first question that comes to mind is "what kind?" Art is a personal and cultural phenomenon that allows people to express themselves and their ideas in a variety of ways. There's modern and contemporary art which includes not only pictures anymore, but also dance, music, gastronomy, writing, acting, sculpting and so on. And while the world moves toward including art in every industry, Belize is equally involved in showcasing its artistic talents through some famous and not so famous artists of our own. Here are some Belizeans whose work categories them as nothing less than famous artists in Belize: Dance, Music, Gastronomy, Sculpting & Painting.

Key Facts Expats Should Know About Living in Belize
A couple weeks ago we brought to you some key information on what Expats moving to Belize should know. If you've made the move to Belize or you're still looking for more information on what living in Belize is like, here are some key facts that will help make your stay much more fun. The point is, Belize is different. Many people choose to retire here and love their new home but do realize that, like anywhere else, it's not perfect. Our culture is different. If you are aware of these 9 Facts and you bring an open mind, it will be easier to adapt, assimilate, and enjoy. Not everything that is different has to be scary, in fact, it might just very well be unBelizeable.

Heading Over to The West Side of Ambergris Caye And An Exciting New Project
Monday I took a trip to the west side of Ambergris Caye. The "reef-less" side. Tiny islands�mangrove shore lines with a smattering of sandy beaches. And a handful of houses�maybe less than 5? There is no power, sewage or water supply on the lee ward side but it is absolutely beautiful. I drove over the bridge from San Pedro town�a beautiful day. And then all the way west and�here. The "Secret Beach". We were on our way to an exciting project, Cayo Frances, that is under construction�to open in 2016. We ducked through a tiny break in the shoreline into a BEAUTIFUL lagoon�super shallow crystal clear water (perhaps two feet?) and an area, black dirt on sandy Ambergris Caye, soon to be a very very exciting business� �for fly fishermen, nature enthusiasts and for those who really want to get away from it all.

2015 See and Taste Belize Festival: Feel Good News!
This unique fundraiser is for a very good cause & shows how far Belize's culinary culture has come over the years. We just heard about an event being held in Florida that combines some of our favourite things - Belizean cuisine and help for children in need of help. Yes, word's come across our desk that the Consulate of Belize in Florida has joined forces with the Office of Special Envoy Belize to support children's health by hosting a "See & Taste Belize" Festival to be held in Miami October 10th 2015. Organised in conjunction with the Belize Tourism Board (aka the BTB), Beltraide, Flavors of Belize and Florida International University's School of Hospitality Management and Tourism, the festival will raise money for Belize's first, and much needed, Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Check Out This Belize Resort with Waterfront Cabanas on a Private Caribbean Island
The Belize Barrier Reef is the second-longest reef in the world. It's dotted with hundreds of islands, or cays, just off the coast of Belize. Eight miles from the mainland, Yok Ha Belize Island Resort has one of these private Caribbean cays all to itself. The resort has exclusive access to some of the best snorkeling, fishing, and scuba diving in the world. And Dangriga, the cultural capital of Belize, is just a short boat ride away. Yok Ha Resort comprises five brightly colored cabanas scattered along the edge of the Caribbean Sea. One is red with yellow trim, another is fuchsia, and a royal-blue unit opens onto a yellow-and-orange porch. Some have ocean views and private verandas. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the island. You can hop into one of the complimentary kayaks or go snorkeling and explore the offshore coral reefs. The resort also offers a number of half- and full-day tours. One takes you to Belize's famous jaguar preserve, which also has howler monkeys and pumas. Back at the resort, Chief's Place serves complimentary meals, including three-course dinners with fresh seafood specials.

Bon voyage San Ignacio, hello Belmopan
This afternoon we said good bye to San Ignacio and hello to Belmopan. After 3 days of luxury at the San Ignacio Hotel, we are about to get back to nature and enjoy a tropical Hobbit house experience before going home to the San Pedro rat race. Not wanting us to schlep our bags down the hill, the front desk offered to call us a cab and although we had originally planned to walk we agreed. The cab was $5 and the bus station attendant double checked with us when he saw who our driver was. He said sometimes the guy charges tourists more. Our bus pulled up within 5 minutes. Cost to get to Belmopan was $6 for both of us and the trip took about one hour. All pricing in Belize dollars. I have Leisa Carr-Caseres to thank for the idea of more mainland time. Emailing back and forth with her on a non related topic got me extending our downtime and heading in the Banana Bank Lodge direction. She also gave me the following recommendation "Trey's Barn & Grill (best steak in Belize - not kidding)"

"Wings of Hope" lands on YouTube
BFREE's new film, Wings of Hope, was released on YouTube in August. The 20-minute documentary chronicles the re-discovery of a population of wild Harpy Eagles in the Maya Mountains of southern Belize. The film showcases the history of the BFREE and University of North Carolina, Wilmington initiative born from this discovery - the Integrated Community-based Harpy Eagle and Avian Conservation Program. Created by Emmy-award winning filmmakers, Richard and Carol Foster of Wildlife Film Productions, and narrated by Jacob Marlin, this film is rich with breath-taking footage of adult and juvenile Harpy eagles and other wildlife and vistas found in the pristine tropical forests of the Bladen Nature Reserve. Over the seven year duration of the project, the Fosters followed project trainees William Garcia, Liberato Pop, Alejandro Cholum and Thomas Pop as they work to learn about and attempt to save this rare bird and its diminishing habitat.

International Sources

U.S. tax-evasion probe expands to Belize
U.S. authorities have targeted Belize-based banks in a new expansion of their hunt for Americans suspected of evading taxes by hiding income and assets in offshore accounts. A federal court in Miami on Wednesday approved special "John Doe" legal summonses seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who may hold undeclared accounts at Belize Bank International Limited or Belize Bank Limited. The court order gave federal investigators authorization to seek records of so-called correspondent accounts the Belize banks maintain at Bank of America and Citibank. Information from those accounts, which enable foreign banks without a U.S. presence to handle transactions in U.S. dollars, is expected to help the IRS identify U.S. taxpayers who hold or held accounts at the Belize financial institutions. "These John Doe summonses will provide detailed information about individuals using financial institutions in Belize and, to the extent funds were transferred, other jurisdictions," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline Ciraolo. "But rest assured, we are receiving information from many sources regarding hidden foreign accounts and offshore schemes."

IRS targets US taxpayers with accounts at Belize banks
A federal court in Miami, Florida, entered an order on Wednesday authorizing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a "John Doe" summons seeking information about US taxpayers, who may hold offshore accounts at Belize Bank International Limited (BBIL) or Belize Bank Limited (BBL). Belize Bank is the first, oldest continuing, and largest bank in Belize, with over BZ$825 million (US$413 million) in assets (2007) and BZ$182 million of capital reserves (2007). Its network of 13 branches covers the entire country. It has a 44% market share in loans and 38% market share in deposits. It also has a banking subsidiary in the Turks and Caicos Islands - British Caribbean Bank. The bank's executive chairman is Lord Michael Ashcroft, former deputy chairman of Britian's Conservative Party and the 37th richest person in the UK, as ranked by the Sunday Times Rich List 2009, with an estimated fortune of �1.1 billion (US$1.5 billion). The order granted permission to seek records of BBIL's and BBL's correspondent accounts at Bank of America and Citibank. Those records will allow the IRS to identify US taxpayers who hold or held interests in financial accounts at BBIL and BBL, as well as other financial institutions that used the same correspondent accounts.

Videos

Belize Sailors in Jeopardy, 12min. Blanca Velasquez and in danger of losing registration and scholarships in Malaysian World sailing competitions.

Pre-Vet Large Animal Veterinary Practices Class in Belize with CELA, 2min. This video is a quick view of all the field experiences pre-vet students get when they take this two week Large Animal Vet Practices field course with the Center for Engaged Learning Abroad in Belize. Students participate in a community animal health clinic in a local village.

Morning Matters BC Carniva1, 58min.

Morning Matters BC Carnival #2, 75min.

The Rat In the WRH Incubator, 3min. The video picks up with the nurses at Western Regional Hospital trying to remove the rat from the incubator. By this time, the baby that was bitten had already been removed and placed elsewhere, and the nurses had tried a number of things to catch it. The reason the rat looks wet and somewhat dazed is because it had been doused in Sheltox in an attempt to kill it.

Belize 2015 Arrived Outdoor, 7min.

Belize Jungle Palapa, .5min. Drone footage of our little off grid home in Beautiful Belize.

The Americas, 16min. Dr Joel Rookwood's film documenting his journey through Chile, Brazil, Argentina (Patagonia), Ecuador (Galapagos), Panama, Guatemala, Belize, USA, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas - during the summer of 2015

Relaxing mood, 10min. SaudzEnigma i love Enigma and i was relaxing at this beautiful caye in Belize :)

Sunset, Santa Elena, Cayo, Belize, .5min.

Belize snorkeling trip Barrier reef swimming., 5min.

Tull Rea Down in the Boondocks Average Joe's San Pedro, Belize, 7min.