AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life News Daily news prior to today Today's Belize News: January 28, 2016

CTV3

Fire In The Free Zone Still Being Assessed
Yesterday we told you about a massive fire in the Corozal Commercial Free Zone which destroyed a 3 storey concrete structure used as a warehouse. The structure, which measured 75 x 75 square feet was extensively damaged and belonged to P & P enterprises and is owned by 35 year old Orange Walk Businessman Amid Moriani. As we mentioned yesterday, Corozal Police and fire brigade were dispatched at the scene at about 3:00 p.m just as the fire had started. Despite the fact that the fire was brought under control just before midnight by members of the Corozal Fire Department along with and the Mexican Fire Brigade we understand that up until news time tonight they are still trying to fully extinguish the blaze. An investigation to access the damage and to determine the origin of the fire is currently ongoing. Reports are that the building was insured.

Import/Exports Down In December 2015
When it comes to Imports and Exports, the report from SIB shows that both were down for 2015. We start off with the Imports. Belize's total imports for the month of December 2015 were valued at $179.7 million. This was a decrease of 2.5 percent or $4.6 million over imports for December 2014, which totaled $184.2 million. During the month, imports destined for the 'Commercial Free Zones' and 'Export Processing Zones' both declined by $6 million, as fewer cigarettes, clothing, shrimp feed and steel structures were purchased, when compared to the same month in 2014. Imports of 'Machinery and Transport Equipment' rose by $2.6 million, owing to increased purchases of telecommunication parts during the month. And due to the Christmas Season, a spike in turkey imports led to a $2 million growth in the category of 'Food and Live Animals.

Mexico Looks In Ways To Attract More Tourist From Belize
On Tuesday January 26th, Mexican newspaper Novedades, Quintana Roo, reported that the tourism sector representatives in Chetumal issued a proposal to the Chamber of Delegates and the Servicio de Atención Tributaria (SAT) to remove the fee charged to Belizeans travelling by boat from San Pedro to Chetumal. According to the report, the president of the Commission of Tourism and Environment of Chetumal, Jose Hadad Estefano, confirmed that a few days ago the members of the Committee of Tourism in Belize reached an agreement to make the request in order to lower or eliminate the tax. On the route from San Pedro to Chetumal the SAT charges the boat 700 thousand pesos per day, previously it was only 25 thousand pesos per boat. Boats are also charged 360 pesos per passenger, while other cruises that have mass numbers of tourists on board are charged equally hence the Committee of Tourism believes that it is unfair that a small country like Belize whose boats carrying 60 people would be charged this amount.

Cubans Incarcerated At Hattieville Prison Demand Date Be Set For Their Release
Last week the Minister of Immigration, Godwin Hulse, mentioned in an interview with the media that on Friday January 15th, a document was to be signed in order to free the thirty two Cubans who were incarcerated at the Belize Central Prison in Hattieville since august of last year. Today we can tell you that this news has gone international and according to El Nuevo Herald, the prisoners are unaware of the plan and the decision made with regards to their liberation as they remain locked away in prison. According to the report, one of the inmate who goes by the name Yorday Leon Perdomo, told the newspaper that absolutely no authorities from Belize have contacted the Cubans to speak to them about their freedom. Perdomo further stated that when he called the Immigration Office concerning the issue, he was told that officials are presently working in getting the process done; however, there is still a delay.

Joint Operation Results In Interception Of Drug Trafficking From Mexico Into Belize
In a joint operation between the customs, coast guard and the BDF four parcels of suspected cannabis were intercepted this morning. The drugs were allegedly coming into Belize from Mexico. At around 6:00 am while on patrol in a contraband hotspot between the areas of Ramonal on the Mexican side and Estereo on the Belizean side of the Rio Hondo, authorities intercepted the parcels of what they suspect to be marijuana. While they believe that the drugs belong to two individuals that were in the immediate vicinity of where the drugs were found, they could not detained the men since the parcels were not found in their possession but rather in some bushes. The exact amount of the drugs is not yet known as it needs to be handed over to police for official weighing.

Consumer Price Index Declines For The Month Of December 2015
The Statistical Institute of Belize today published its latest statistics on prices and external trade for the country of Belize. When it comes to the Consumer Price Index, the report shows that during the month of December 2015, consumer prices declined, on average, by 0.7% from 103.5 recorded in December 2014. For the year 2015, the average national inflation rate was negative 0.9 percent. During the month of December 2015, the average price per gallon of all three types of fuels remained lower than they were in December 2014. The price of premium gasoline was down by about 10 percent, while that of regular gasoline was 16 percent lower. Diesel fuel was more than 24 percent lower than it was in the same month of 2014. These decreases, combined with a drop of more than one third in international airfares, resulted in an overall decline of more than 8 percent in the "Transport" category when compared to December 2014. As for food prices, statistics show that when compared to December 2014 there was no change. Although price increases were seen across all types of meats, says SIB, these were offset by lower prices for Red Kidney Beans and various fresh vegetables, including carrots and onions.

LOVE FM

Doctor Escapes Death While Friend Succumbs in Home Invasion
The family of 37-year-old Ian Robert Blair is in mourning over his death which came in the wee hours of this morning at a friend's home on Simon Lamb Street in Belize City. It is a story that started out as an apparent home invasion but turned into a homicide with Blair dead and a [�]

Corozal's First Murder for 2016
The first murder in the Corozal District for the New Year was recorded this morning. Love News got the details from second in command, Corozal Police, Inspector Peter Serrano. PETER SERRANO "Sometime about 8:30 am today information was received of gunshots fired from the Skeleton area of Corozal Town. As a result police visited the [�]

How Badly Was Tourism Affected by News of Swaney's Murder
Anne Swaney, the Executive Producer of online operations at ABC7 was murdered in Belize about two weeks ago. Swaney was found dead floating in the Macal River partially nude. She was staying at the Nabitunich Farm Resort when she went missing and her body was recovered the next day. Love News spoke to Javier Paredez [�]

BTB's Comments on the Paumen Saga
Owner of Dark Knight Cave Tubing, Bradley Paumen was recently charged with abetment to murder. Officials believe that Paumen paid to have four persons including his neighbor killed. Two other men were recently charged, who Paumen allegedly paid to get the job done. Dark Knight Cave tubing is still running today, and Love News spoke [�]

Was Attempted Murder Over Land?
Investigators suspect that a land dispute is the reason Bradley Paumen allegedly plotted the murders of Michael Modiri, two of his workers and his attorney. Paumen wants control of a piece of land that Modiri owns in order for him to get easy access to caves which are essential to his Dark Knight Cave Adventures [�]

Immigration Minister Speaks on Muzikant (Czech National)
The mystery of Martin Muzikant keeps unraveling and tonight we air the comments of the Substantive Minister in the Ministry of Immigration. As we told you last night, Muzikant was arrested in Orange Walk Town and yesterday Magistrate Merlene Moody remanded him to prison. He will spend six months behind bars and it is expected [�]

Hulse Disputes Espat's Comments on Farmers' Lands
As Minister of Natural Resources, Godwin Hulse, also has to deal with the situation involving farmers of Valley of Peace Village. As you may recall the farmers took Santander Sugar to court after their crops were affected by aerial spraying. The matter was resolved and the farmers received land and financial compensation. What they did [�]

Lands Minister Says Harmonyville Papers are Processing
Squatters are still occupying areas of the Harmonyville Agricultural Subdivision along the George Price Highway. As you may recall those who first squatted in the area got together to form BGYEA and the matter was taken to court. After mediation, it was agreed that Government would assist in solving the issue once and for all. [�]

Senators Debate Ombudsman's Contract Renewal
The Senate met today in Belmopan. One of the matters debated was the reappointment of Lionel Arzu as the Ombudsman. Arzu is being reappointed for a period of one year beginning January 1, 2016. The Government is satisfied with Arzu's performance however the opposition is not. Today PUP Senator, Lisa Shoman share her views. LISA [�]

Teachers' Union and Civil Society Get Representation in the Senate
At the Senate meeting today, Elena Smith, was sworn in as the Senator representing the National Trade Union Congress of Belize and Civil Society. It has been months that both the NTUCB and Civil Society were at odds over who to appoint as senator. However this is just a temporary solution as Smith will be [�]

PlusTV

Woman kills son- in -law, claims self defense
A sixty-two-year-old resident of Biscayne mortally injured her son- in- law allegedly in self defense. On Friday the 22th of January, 62 year old Moszetta Reyes was at home with her mentally disabled daughter, Alva Reyes who is a mother of four. While at home, Alva's boyfriend, Arthur Wade, ca...

Belizean student shot in Guyana recovering
Belizean student studying in Guyana, Garfield Dennison, is said to be recovering. from gunshot wounds he received last week in Guyana. Dennison was shot twice as he was standing outside of his premises in Cummingslodge. 30 year old Dennison had just dropped off his new girlfriend and was about to r...

Yohnny Rosado and son forced to close business
This evening Yohnny Rosado and his son Yohnny Jr. are out of work. While the elder Rosado is a well-known tour operator, about eight months ago the father and son started a tire selling business called Econo Tires on the Philip Goldson Highway. Today, however, representatives of the Belize City Coun...

Conservation organizations to promote sustainable fishing
Seafood is a major source of income for Belizeans, from those who catch it to those who cook and sell it. But worried about the level of illegal masking of fisheries products under different guises and wishing to reward individual fishermen and businesses who do the right thing, a coalition of touri...

Benque Resident charged with drug trafficking
Benque Viejo Resident Javier Itza was arrested and charged for Drug Trafficking. On Sunday 24th January , Benque Viejo Police were conducting mobile patrol in the San Jose Succotz Village, Cayo District. While doing their patrol, their attention was drawn to Javier Itza who was acting suspiciously....

PUP debate called off
The PUP debate between those three men seeking leadership of the blue party has been called off. The debate was to be held on January 28, a few days before the national convention to chose the PUP leader. Organizer of the debate, Glenn Tillett, issued a press release today saying quote "After due co...

Ombudsman and Commissioner of Police sign MOU
The recently reappointed Ombudsman of Belize, Lionel Arzu and the Commissioner of Police. Allen Whylie, today Tuesday 26 January 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Racoon Street Police Station in Belize City. The purpose of the MOU is to strengthen cooperation between the offices...

The Reporter

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Belize to hold 2nd Annual Convention
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Belize will be gathering on Saturday January 30th for the annual convention, in which they plan to address current issues such as integration and terrorist risks. According to Organizer of the Convention, Naveed Mangla, the convention will bring together new members to meet the Muslims already in Belize. Non-muslims are invited to attend the convention and interact with the Muslim people in Belize to get to know what Islam is about. The community that was established in November 2013 has existed for almost three years and has over a hundred members, mostly from Belize City and surrounding villages. The mosque is located in Buttonwood Bay. Mangla said the social climate of Belize is welcoming to Muslim people, unlike other western countries in which followers of the Islamic faith face much discrimination and xenophobia. Belizeans are very open minded, Mangla said, and have a high level of acceptance of different communities.

Breaking Belize News

Toledo Community College holds Career Day Expo
As part of career week at the Toledo Community College (TCC) in Punta Gorda Town, a Career Day Expo was held to showcase prominent job choices that would appeal to students after completion of their studies, featuring presentations from various government departments, military branches [�]

Cubans released after over seven months in prison
Twenty eight Cubans who were imprisoned for entering the country illegally are being released. The group will be released into the community, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington after their release order was signed yesterday January 26th. The Minister said the group [�]

Minister of Natural Resources and Immigration addresses controversies
Today, Minister of Natural Resources and Immigration Senator Godwin Hulse addressed a number of recent controversies erupting in those two ministries. Ministry of Natural Resources addressing Harmonyvile and Valley of Peace On either side of Belmopan on the George Price Highway are two festering land [�]

No evidence sets cousins free from burglary
A pair of cousins, were accused of burglarizing Quality Used Tires on Central American Boulevard, owned by Rene Gordon; but in court today the police could not prove the charge and the two men walked. 35 year old Kenrick Pitts, aka "Snake", along with his [�]

Traffic officer pleads guilty to handling stolen goods
The Belize City Traffic Department was robbed of decal license stickers valued $325 in March of 2015. The finger of blame was pointed at a now-former security guard, Glenroy Reynolds, who was charged with burglary and handling stolen goods after he brought back seven of [�]

Senate meets in Belmopan
At its first session for 2016 and second in the third term of Prime Minister Dean Barrow's administration, the Senate considered, debated, and approved four bills brought from Friday's session of the House of Representatives, as well as three motions. The motions concerned a line of credit [�]

Statistical Institute of Belize releases 2015 fourth quarter stats
A release from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) earlier today, showed that in the month of December 2015, prices fell for all three types of fuel compared to December of 2014, with Premium gas down by 10 percent, Regular gas down by 16 [�]

Radisson Fort George Hotel & Marina awarded prestigious "3 Green Key" award
The Radisson Fort George Hotel & Marina, this week, was honored with an environmental certification from Green Key Global, a certification body geared specifically toward the lodging industry. The Radisson was awarded the prestigious "3 Green Key" award. The Green Key Eco rating program is [�]

Bus passenger shoots another on bus in Esperanza Village
Reports reaching our newsroom indicate that a passenger inside a bus was shot in the head while travelling to Belize in the village of Esperanza, Cayo District. Information is still sketchy but BMG was made to understand that the trigger man was also a [�]

Police say burglary was motive for attack on Simon Lamb Street
Police say they recovered a flat screen television stolen from the residence of Dr. Marcos Christopher Rugama Miranda on Simon Lamb Street and have detained three persons as part of their investigations. However, Dr. Rugama is in stable condition after being stabbed in the chest [�]

Fire officials investigating Free Zone fire
Fire Officials and police in Corozal are still investigating the cause of a mid-afternoon fire in the Corozal Commercial Free Zone on Tuesday. The alert was set off shortly after three in the afternoon as the Corozal Free Zone fire unit was dispatched to the [�]

Elena Smith joins Senate
Educator and long-standing union activist Elena Smith was this morning sworn in as the twelfth member of the Senate, representing the trade unions and civil society. Smith's appointment ends a several-months' long stand-off between the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) and the Civil [�]

First murder in Corozal for 2016
According to reports from Corozal, that municipality has registered its first murder of the year. Information reaching our newsroom is that a little after 8:30 this morning a man was shot and killed in the vicinity of Skeleton town. The shooting incident claimed the [�]

Officer accountable for prisoner's escape
An internal investigation has been launched at the Benque Viejo Police station to hold an officer accountable for neglect of duty after it was discovered that a prisoner escaped from his holding cell yesterday morning. At around 11:00 a.m., checks were made at holding cell number [�]

Minor charged for carrying weed
During a routine patrol on Arenal Road in Benque Viejo town, Cayo district yesterday evening around 5:00, police intercepted two male persons on a motorcycle who were acting suspiciously and found one of them, a 17-year-old male minor, with 82 grams of cannabis. Upon sight of [�]

Blogs

How to Make Your New House Sustainable
The concept of sustainability (meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations) has been around for a number of years now. However, its application to housing has been slow. Those projects that have been undertaken tend to focus largely on producing ultra-green housing that is extremely hard to reproduce as mass development projects. People might falsely believe that when they are building a house incorporating any sustainable solutions will require additional costs and effort. It is actually the opposite. Sustainable housing has the potential to produce good quality housing at a price that is affordable both in the short and long term. Some of the sustainable solutions require very little if any additional financing with comparison to the costs that need to be incurred anyways in a newly constructed building. Moreover, while an initial cost might be a bit higher as for purchasing, for example a sustainable heating system, there is a fast return on investment as utility bills are much lower with sustainable heating than a standard one. It is possible to save around 30% on the use of energy and water in a sustainable house. A truly sustainable housing project should incorporate economic, social and environmental issues in the planning and design stages with the aim of providing a building that is affordable, accessible and environmentally sound. It goes without saying that compromises will have to be made, but the result is a project that can be applied to the mass housing market, where the greatest environmental impact lies.

Estel's 5th Annual Ribs Cook-Off
Texas singer/songerwriter Jerry Jeff Walker in town and his huge crew for sold-out Camp Belize (his yearly two week concert set in San Pedro.) And 6 grills going filled with delicious pork ribs. 6 grillmasters. 3 from San Pedro, 3 from the states. At least 10 musicians. This year there were two female chefs. Jennie Staines from Elvi's Kitchen and Amy Knox from Wild Mango's. Two FAVORITE restaurants in town. Part of the ticket price - and the raffles - were all for the Sunshine Foundation. Which raises money for scholarships for kids on Ambergris Caye.

Island BBQ Grilling Competition Becomes Major Attraction
Close to 1,000 ribs are prepared to feed the masses that gathers every year to sample finger licking good BBQ ribs at Estel's annual Cook-off and that is nearly not enough to supply the demand of the hundreds that attend the event. The cookoff is gaining momentum and people are looking forward to the lively event that takes place at the popular island eatery that has established itself as one of the best on Ambergris Caye. Charles Worthington and family host the event at Estel's Dine by the Sea with live music, plenty of beer and cocktails and delectable food. With its growing popularity, the BBQ ribs don't seem to be enough as tickets run out with latecomers wanting to sample the ribs that are no more. Grill masters start setting up as early as 9a.m. prepping their grills, smokers and seasoning their racks of ribs. Anybody wishing to see them in action can become spectators outside the restaurant in the ally where the tents are set up for the chefs.

We Went on Vacation�And Now Live Full-Time in Paradise
Many people say that you cannot possibly come to Belize and not have some kind of a big adventure. I have to agree. My first visit to Belize was in 1995. I vacationed for a week of scuba diving off Glover's Reef. I met my Belizean husband, Marcos, during that trip, and he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico with me in 1996. I was a practicing psychotherapist and my husband launched a small business. We enjoyed living in Santa Fe, but were intensely busy virtually all of the time. We traveled to Belize every year and explored the country in depth over the next 17 years. We knew our hearts belonged to this small nation, with its laidback lifestyle and friendly people. The breakneck speed at which life had to be lived in the U.S., raising two kids and running two businesses while maintaining a house eventually took its toll. In 2013, we made a permanent move to San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye. The beauty of the crystalline turquoise water, gorgeous weather, and active and thriving English-speaking community is something I still appreciate.

Belizean Rice Pudding
Put water into a saucepan and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Add rice. Turn on medium heat and cook till the water boils. Reduce the heat of the stove to low flame. Cover the saucepan with its lid and let it simmer until the water evaporates. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix well 2 1/2 cups of the cooked rice, sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 9 baking dish. Bake the mixture in the preheated oven until the top is golden. This could take 30 - 60 minutes. Cool on stovetop. Serve hot or cold.

Chimole
Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown in a hot pot with little oil. Once browned add enough water to cover the chicken and then add onions and garlic. Simmer for 30 minutes. Dissolve recado and tomato paste and add to the chicken. Add the diced tomatoes and apazote leaves. Add more water if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Served hot with boiled eggs and corn tortillas

International Sources

Two U.S. airlines offer refunds to travelers to destinations with Zika virus outbreaks
Two major U.S. airlines are offering refunds to passengers worried about the Zika virus outbreak in many tropical countries. United Airlines says customers booked to fly to areas affected by the virus can reschedule or get refunds. American Airlines says it will give refunds to pregnant women who were planning to travel to parts of Central America. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned pregnant women to take precautions against mosquito bites when traveling to areas in Latin America and the Caribbean where there have been Zika outbreaks. The CDC says the mosquito-borne illness could be linked to a birth defect of the brain. The United Airlines offer began Tuesday and includes any country covered by a CDC travel notice, an airline spokesman said. American Airlines began refunds Monday for pregnant passengers holding tickets to El Salvador, Honduras, Panama or Guatemala, according to a spokesman. A spokesman for Delta Air Lines said the carrier was monitoring the situation but not yet offering waivers. JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines were not immediately able to say whether they were offering refunds. Southwest Airlines said it was sticking to its normal policy, which lets customers who cancel ahead of time reuse the value of their tickets. All of those airlines fly to at least some affected locations.

Passport Expiring Soon? Renew It Now, State Dept. Says
If you have a United States passport expiring any time in 2016, the State Department has a message for you: Renew it now. The department anticipates a surge in passport demand throughout this year, and officials hope to avoid a crush that could leave some Americans fuming in frustration with no passport in hand on the day they planned to travel outside the country. Officials are expecting a flood of renewals of 10-year passports issued in 2006 and 2007. The latter was the year when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative went into effect, for the first time requiring passports for Americans returning by air from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda. As millions of citizens scrambled to apply for their first passports, backlogs swelled and many were stranded. "We were overwhelmed then, and we are not going to be overwhelmed again," said Michele Bond, the assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, who oversees passports. She has been on a campaign to cajole Americans into renewing early.

Think Manatees are Recovered? Look Farther South
Manatees in Belize face increasing threats from development-and potentially from the U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made headlines around the world earlier this month when it proposed that the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and its relative the Antillean manatee (T. m. manatus) no longer be listed as "endangered." Instead, the agency said, the famed sea cows should be considered merely "threatened," a designation that means they're no longer immediately threatened with extinction. That may be true in Florida, but manatees face much greater threats elsewhere. In fact, some conservationists fear that this announcement could be the thing that pushes some populations of Antillean manatee-the subspecies that ranges through the Caribbean and down through about half of the east coast of South American-into extinction. "The FWS is painting it as if things are good," says Jamal Galvez, a research biologist with the Sea to Shore Alliance who has been working on manatee conservation in his native Belize for more than 15 years. "Their assessment doesn't take into account what is happening down here in Belize."

Aurelio is the standard-bearer for Honduran Garifuna roots music
As Aurelio Martinez knows well, music is much more than another commodity to be bought and sold. The Honduras-based troubadour with the stage name Aurelio understands its role in helping bring together and bind whole communities, and has dedicated his life to his people, the Garifuna of Central America's Caribbean coast. Through his liltingly melodic and highly rhythmic songs, he bolsters their identity, while spreading awareness of their little-known black culture. The Garifuna descend from African slaves shipwrecked off St. Vincent and the indigenous Caribs of that island. They survived deportation, starvation, and disease to spread out along the shoreline of four nations-Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras, where Aurelio grew up in the village of Plaplaya. "My mother is a Garifuna singer-songwriter, but she never left the community," he says, reached on the road in Honduras. "She often arranges songs for me. My father played guitar. When I was three, he left and went to the U.S. He did homemade recordings and sent them to us. I learned to play that way, without any teachers." Aurelio first made his mark on other instruments, however. "I was the percussionist for the entire community during celebrations. That way, I learned many of the traditional dances and ancestral songs. After I left home at 14 for the city, I studied and worked at the same time, playing with various cultural groups and commercial bands. In time I became a member of Los Gatos Bravos, one of the leading Honduran bands, and toured Japan, where we recorded Sonidos Garífunas Del Mundo."

U.S. Expects to Collect $1.36 Billion From Swiss Banks
The Justice Department said it expects to collect more than $1.36 billion from 80 Swiss banks and other financial firms that acknowledged encouraging U.S. taxpayers to hide money abroad. Currently the Justice Department is investigating whether banks and financial advisers in Israel and the Caribbean, especially Belize and the Cayman Islands, also encouraged U.S. tax evasion, according to Jeffrey Neiman, a former Justice Department attorney who is now with Marcus Neiman Rashbaum in Miami. A Justice Department spokeswoman said offshore tax evasion remains a priority but declined to comment further. The U.S. campaign against secret offshore accounts intensified in 2009 after Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG admitted that it helped U.S. taxpayers hide money abroad. Since then, the U.S. has collected more than $13 billion from individuals and financial firms in connection with secret offshore accounts.

Caribbean tourism sector to be enhanced by better health systems
Trinidad and Tobago is one of six Caribbean countries to benefit from a US$800,000 Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) grant to develop and implement a regional tourism health information, monitoring and response system. The other Caribbean nations that are beneficiaries of the IDB grant, as disclosed at Wednesday morning's grant signing ceremony, are The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Jamaica. The Caribbean region is the most tourism dependent region in the world and the recent pandemics - SARS in 2000, HINI in 2009, chikungunya in 2013 and now the zika virus - have accelerated the need to monitor and respond to travel related illnesses and support the tourism sector to adopt comprehensive and effective health and environmental sanitation practices. In welcoming this three-year regional tourism health initiative, Shamfa Cudjoe pledged the support of the ministry of tourism as "strengthening the public health system will strengthen our tourism product".

One Fish Two Fish, No Fish: Rebuilding of Fish Stocks Urgently Needed
A major new study has revealed that the global seafood catch is much larger and declining much faster than previously known. The study, by the University of British Columbia near Vancouver, reconstructed the global catch between 1950 and 2010 and found that it was 30 per cent higher than what countries have been reporting to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome since 1950. In the Caribbean islands, the catch was more than twice as large as previously reported and declining at a rate 60 per cent faster than the official rate, the Canadian study found. "This trend needs to be reversed urgently, or else a lot of people who depend on the sea for affordable protein are going to suffer," said Daniel Pauly, a fisheries scientist who led the study. "And climate change is just going to make things worse." Called the "Sea Around Us" and funded by the Pew Environment Group, the study involved more than 400 collaborators over more than a decade.

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