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Caye Caulker Chronicles
Independence Day Parade
Central Park, Sept. 21, 1pm
Amandala
BUFFER COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHERN BELIZE STATE THEIR POSITION ON US CAPITAL’S OIL EXPLORATION FOR THE FIRST TIME
Midway Village was established in 1989 and happens to be one of the newer villages in the district of Toledo. The village is 20 miles from Punta Gorda Town and approximately 10 miles from the southernmost village of Barranco. Two weekends ago, August 30 and 31, an expedition of media personnel travelled through the graveled road leading up to Midway, maneuvering through potholes that seemed like craters and evading protruding boulders on the road surface before reaching the remote Q’echi community. Midway is said to be the midpoint of the distance on the footpath connecting the two neighboring villages, Barranco and Conejo.
On arrival in Midway at sunset, Gregory Ch’oc of the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) and a group of Maya leaders and alcaldes got ready for a press conference in which the villagers got to voice their opinions on the oil exploration activities in the area for the first time since the onset of the public discourse on the matter.
OWNER OF REGGAE BUS DIES
The owner of Reggae Bus, a long-time resident of the Yarborough area, has died of a heart attack.
Wendell Hugh Donald Lemoth, 59, a father of seven who resides on Reggae Street in the Brighton Beach area of Belize City, was repairing his bus engine at about 5:30 yesterday evening, Sunday, when he suffered a massive heart attack. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
His daughter said that she tried to give him CPR while they waited for the ambulance, but there was a delay in the ambulance’s arrival, so they rushed him to the hospital in a family vehicle.
One of his sons said that he had just left home about thirty minutes before, when he received a call informing him that his father had died.
Lemoth was well-known in the area. He was a former policeman who ventured into the bus business and briefly, into politics. He ran as an independent candidate against Zenaida Moya for her second City Council term, but was defeated.
BTL’S PROFIT DECLINES BY $5.5 MILLION!
BTL profits down 20%!
Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), the government-owned telecommunications company, plans to host its 7th Annual General Meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 26, 2013, at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize City, when it plans to also declare dividends to shareholders, according to company director Anwar Barrow.
Barrow, who last served as director of BTL in 2011 but who was recently assigned to BTL’s Executive Committee, told Amandala that during the 2012/2013 year the company faced a mix of successes and challenges as they worked to prepare the company to deal with a changing telecoms landscape.
BTL customers have been wondering whether the company has discontinued its triple-up offerings. We made a query with a company rep who told us that the offer had been only temporarily discontinued, pending system changes – but should be resumed shortly.
JAHRINE COURTHNEY AVILA INSTALLED AS 2013 QUEEN OF THE BAY
The 68th Queen of the Bay, Jahrine Courthney Avila, was officially crowned by outgoing Queen of the Bay, Yadira Argueta, on September 10, 2013, at official ceremonies to mark the 215th anniversary of the Battle of St. George’s Caye, inside the Memorial Park in Belize City.
Yadira handed over the cape, crown and scepter to Jahrine, who paraded the stage in her regalia before being serenaded with the classic theme song: “Emblem of Freedom,” written by Eloise Humes.
The natural resource management student at the University of Belize—who won the title on Friday, August 30—hails from Punta Gorda, Toledo.
Rita Lewis is the first in the long line of 68 queens.
ERLIN ARCHIAGA, 21, CHARGED WITH EXECUTING NIGEL NEAL, 34, IN ROARING CREEK
Honduran Erlin Giovanni Archiaga, 21, has been remanded to the Belize Central Prison on murder charges until Tuesday, December 3, for the murder of Roaring Creek resident Nigel Neal, 34, who was shot to death at about 8:30 Friday morning in Roaring Creek Village.
Archiaga was remanded in the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court on Monday, September 9, after appearing before Magistrate Aretha Ford.
Belmopan police charged that Archiaga was the killer who went to Neal’s home in Roaring Creek and lay-waited him. When Neal came home from signing in at the Belmopan Police Station, Archiaga shot him once, and when Neal fell to the ground, Archiaga stood over him and shot Neal about six more times, hitting him in the head, chest and face, said police.
COP KILLS COP –STORY STILL HOT!
Plain-clothes Detective Constable Dean Yearwood, 24, attached to the Precinct 2 Police Formation Crimes Investigation Branch located at Racoon Street Police Headquarters, was shot to death by a fellow officer, Constable Glenn Wayne Grant of Precinct 1 Police Formation, also of Belize City, at about 1:00 Sunday morning, September 8, on the sidewalk on Central American Boulevard and its junction with Nargusta Street.
Yearwood was shot in the back and died on the spot. Incredibly, he may have been shooting in the air, possibly to frighten a thief who reportedly had attacked and tried to rob him, when he himself fell victim to shots from his fellow officer’s firearm.
Family members who have been calling the KREM WUB morning show claim that Yearwood fired four shots into the air, and not at his assailant. They also claim that 20 seconds of a surveillance tape from a nearby business camera are missing.
REPENTANCE EARNED THOMAS FERGUSON, 22, LENIENCY FROM THE COURT
Ferguson expressed regret for burglarizing his neighbour’s house, and returned the stolen items.
This morning, Thomas Ferguson, 22, a resident of Fabers Road, was brought before Magistrate Leslie Hamilton and charged with burglary and handling stolen goods.
Dulce Sutherland, 41, returned home from work at 5:30 Wednesday evening to find that the back door of her house, located at #9504 Fabers Road, had been pried open. She found the house ransacked, and her black and silver 22- inch flat screen television valued at $1,000; a DVD player valued at $100; and a Dell brand laptop computer valued at $1,100 were missing.
Sutherland visited the police station, made a report, and returned home. At 7:00 that night, Sutherland called for police assistance after Thomas returned to the house with all the stolen items, in an attempt to give them back to her. Police arrived and were able to apprehend Ferguson, after which they took him and the items to the police station.
NICHOLI RHYS, 22, CHARGED WITH HANDLING STOLEN GOODS
Rhys was found in possession of an I-phone valued at $1,200.
Nicholi Rhys, 22, a resident of #63 Far West Street, was charged with handling stolen goods when he appeared before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart.
According to police, at 12:05 yesterday afternoon, Earl Perez, 20, a resident of Rancho Dolores, was in his vehicle with his two relatives when he parked on George Street. As he parked, a man approached the vehicle, pushed his hand through the window and grabbed Perez’s 16-gig I-phone from off his lap.
The man ran down the street and handed the phone over to another young man, and they both escaped.
Perez reported the matter to police, who quickly detained Rhys, after the I-phone, valued at $1,200, was found in his possession.
YOUNGER BROTHER, DEMANDING FOOD, ATTEMPTS TO STAB SISTER WITH FORK
George Rangel Pech, 21, of San Roman, Corozal, has been released on bail of $2,000 after being charged with aggravated assault in the Corozal Magistrate’s Court today. He was ordered to return to court on Friday, November 29.
Police say that Pech pulled out a large kitchen fork and attempted to stab his sister in the stomach. The incident occurred about 6:30 Monday evening in Pech’s home in San Roman, Corozal.
The sister told police that she was at home when her younger brother, Pech, who was visibly under the influence of alchohol, approached her and demanded food.
She said that she ignored him and he went into the kitchen, took a cook’s fork and tried to stab her. She said she managed to escape from him and ran into her room, locked herself in, and called police.
LUIS GORDON, 47, REMANDED TO PRISON AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER AND GRIEVOUS HARM
Gordon is accused of trying to kill his brother-in-law.
Luis Gordon, 47, a resident of #48 Amara Avenue, is spending his first night in prison after he was charged with grievous harm and the attempted murder of his brother-in-law, Roberto Gilharry, 39.
According to police, at 6:20 Friday morning, Gilharry, who also lives at the same residence with his common-law wife (Gordon’s sister), went outside to park an SUV in the yard.
As he went outside, Gordon approached him with a shovel and told him that the yard was not a parking lot, but a private residence.
Gordon then reportedly started threatening Gilharry, telling him that “This dah blood, till death,” according to police.
LEOPOLD STEPHENS, 40, REMANDED FOR ROBBING CASH AND WALLET, TOTALING $27
Leopold Stephens, 40, a resident of Ladyville, was charged with robbery when he appeared before Magistrate Dale Cayetano this afternoon. He was offered bail of $3,000 with one surety of the same amount, but was unable to meet it and was remanded to the Belize Central Prison.
According to police, on Thursday September 5, Mariano Novelo, 39, a construction worker of Ladyville, was walking on Edward Quilter Street in Ladyville when he was knocked to the ground from behind.
Novelo told police he was then punched in his face and when he turned around, he recognized his assailant to be someone he had known for the past five years – Stephens. After allegedly punching Novelo in his face, Stephens then robbed him of his wallet, valued at $20, which contained an Atlantic Bank ATM card, and $7 in cash.
STEVEDORE CHARGED FOR ILLEGAL LOBSTER AND CONCH
Jermaine Ottley, 36, a stevedore of 79 Allenby Street, was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court today for one count of possession of controlled drugs and one count each of possession of undersized lobster and possession of conch during the closed season.
According to the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU), Ottley also was found with 1.6 grams of marijuana. After he pleaded not guilty on that charge, he was offered bail of $500 and one surety of the same amount. That matter has been adjourned until November 17.
He was then escorted to another courtroom this afternoon, where he was additionally charged with fisheries offences.
According to Fisheries officer Maurice Westby, early this morning they visited Ottley’s house, where they found ten undersized lobster tails, each weighing less than 4 ounces. He was also charged for possession of 7 conchs, which were found in a white garbage bag with orange straps, tightly wrapped up in another black garbage bag. The reason for this charge is that the conch season is closed from July 1 to September 30, making it unlawful to be in possession of conch during this period.
GARY SEAWELL RETURNED TO COURT TODAY; HIS FATE IS NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE CHIEF MAGISTRATE
Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith will deliver her ruling on October 21, 2013.
Exactly one week ago, Gary Seawell appeared before the Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith, where his lawyer, Arthur Saldivar, made submissions to have at least ten of the exhibits the Attorney General’s Office was seeking to use against him in their extradition case disallowed.
The basis of Saldivar’s arguments on Wednesday, September 4, was that the commission of the notary public who had signed the documents had expired years before the documents were introduced to the courts, thereby deeming them basically invalid in the proceedings.
IN MEMORY OF “BIG MOLE,” SERAPIO ALVAREZ
The news a few weeks ago of the passing of another football legend, Serapio “Big Mole” Alvarez, in California, USA, (on Friday night, August 23), underscores the importance of getting our football records and highlights documented in an accessible fashion for new generations of sports fans. For example, their names might mean little to today’s semipro ballers, but Big Mole and the Mugger, who also passed just over two months ago on June 28, were both instrumental in the first volleys launched in the battle to enact professional football in Belize. What these brothers did in the mid-1960’s with their Independence football team was indeed revolutionary at the time, and their effort later became the inspiration for new generations of footballers to achieve and realize the dream of professional football, for which they had fought and suffered ostracism from the entrenched football bureaucracy.
“Power gives up nothing without a demand,” and just like the Mugger, Big Mole and the players of Independence were banned from playing football for months when they first crossed hairs with the football “committee,” so it was with the Milpros Football Club in 1989, who were also banned for a while from participating in football.
TRIPLE B BOMBS LADYVILLE JAGUARS, 8-0
The decisive Game 2 of the Atlantic Bank National Women’s Football Championship 2013 at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan on Saturday, September 7, was far from the tight contest in Game 1 a week earlier at the MCC in Belize City, where Triple B and Ladyville Jaguars played to a nil-nil stalemate. It was predicted to be an uphill battle for Ladyville in the return match, after one of their big stars, Shanell Gentle, had received a red card in Game 1; but, as it turned out, the Ladyville squad was also without their star defender Sarah Arzu in Game 2, as she had a mandatory training date with the Coast Guard, so the Jaguars were without their two best players.
The clear underdogs, Ladyville battled gamely, but it was only a matter of time before they succumbed to the Triple B attack, led by national champion sprinter Kaina Martinez. And it didn’t help when another Ladyville star player Kara Kisling went down with a knee injury and had to be taken to hospital. The final score was 8-0 in favor of Triple B, with the fleet-footed Kaina netting 4 goals (14’, 37’, 45’ & 71’), talented midfielder Miriam Villamil scoring 2 (16’ & 79’), and Jennisha Scott (53’) and Rosebell Ogaldez (88’) adding 1 goal apiece for the winners.
BELIZE PLACES 4TH, WINS 4 INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Returning to Belize on Saturday was the Belize Youth Female National Volleyball Team, after participating in the Central American Female Youth (U18) Volleyball Championship in Guatemala City, Guatemala last week.
Belize finished the tournament with a 2-3 record, after losing their final game on Friday in straight sets to top seeded and now undefeated champions of the tournament, Costa Rica.
In the tournament, which ran from September 2 – 6, Belize lost to Honduras (2-3), Guatemala (0-3) and Costa Rica (0-3); and we defeated El Salvador (3-1) and Nicaragua (3-1).
The results are a major improvement for Belize. A Belize Volleyball Association release stated:
“The young girls have made Belize proud with a gutsy performance, working hard, and providing a good result. The experience will be valuable as the results continue to improve with each competition and volleyball continues to grow.
SJC TAKES THE LAND Editorial
The historic decision by St. John’s College to introduce a formal and permanent program of African and Mayan history into its curriculum is, of course, a progressive one, but it is, at the same time, almost unbelievable in our opinion, because the institution took the lead when the other religious denominations continued and continue to drop the ball.
When this newspaper was established in 1969 and began to agitate for the teaching of African and Indian (Mayan) history, the relationship between the ruling PUP, led by Premier George Price, and the Jesuit-established SJC was a very close one. Mr. Price was an SJC graduate, as were other PUP founders like Johnny Smith and Nick Pollard, Sr. The Jesuits were Americans of Irish and German ancestry, which is to say, they came out of communities which were not pro-British. In British Honduras, the Jesuits had become popular among roots Belizeans because of their contributions to education, credit unions, basketball, boxing, and community life in general. After Bob Turton died in 1955 and Mr. Price became PUP Leader in 1956, the closeness between the PUP and Roman Catholic Church leadership became evident.
CULTURE AND CLIMATE Editorial
A culture had grown inside Belize’s police personnel which contributed to a certain climate on the streets of Belize City. That culture involved the use of firearms to bring down suspects trying to flee, and so a kind of target range climate developed, on the police’s part, especially after dark.
What you have to understand is that an automatic handgun with a magazine clip of ammunition is really like a small machine gun. Once you pull the trigger and hold it down, then you release a barrage of bullets. This means you do not have to be a good or careful marksman to feel that you are taking care of business. You just pull trigger, and let lead fly.
The preliminary evidence suggests that an off duty policeman was walking home on Central American Boulevard around 1 a.m. on Sunday, September 8, when a couple perpetrators jumped him with robbery on their mind. He pulled his police issue .38 and fired warning shots in the air. Another off duty policeman, this one armed with a police issue 9 millimeter automatic, happened upon this action. He pulled his gun and sprayed bullets. He shot both the first off duty policeman and one of the perpetrators in the back. The off duty policeman died on the spot. The perpetrator was hospitalized.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
“ … that inner doubt shared by so many, whether the masses of people are competent to make decisions for a democratic society. It is the schizophrenia of a free society that we outwardly espouse faith in the people but inwardly have strong doubts whether the people can be trusted.”
- pg. 104, RULES FOR RADICALS, Saul Alinsky, Vintage Books, New York, 1971
“It is when people have a genuine opportunity to act and to change conditions that they begin to think their problems through – then they show their competence, raise the right questions, seek professional counsel and look for the answers. Then you begin to realize that believing in people is not just a romantic myth. But here you see that the first requirement for communication and education is for people to have a reason for knowing. It is the creation of the instrument or the circumstances of power that provides the reason and makes knowledge essential.”
- pg. 106, ibid.
I have said to you that I am not a child, I am not really interested in how people look or how they walk. What I am concerned with is how people think, and when it comes to our leaders and those who are leaders aspirant, I want to know what is their development philosophy.
HARVEST CAYE – MORE DISADVANTAGES THAN ADVANTAGES Letters
— by Joseph Alvarez
Dear Editor,
After listening to and observing all the discussion about the soon to come Harvest Caye investment project, I would also like to make a contribution as a stakeholder myself in the tourism industry. There are a couple major issues I would like to expound upon, which from my vantage point haven’t been totally examined.
It appears as if though there is no national cruise tourism policy in Belize. Allowing N.C.L. to build a destination on Harvest Caye is ridiculous since Belize is one of the leading destinations in the Western Caribbean. The government seems to be wearing blinders and could only see the political mileage they could garner from this project.
There is already a cruise ship terminal in Belize City and if we plan to take the same approach to accommodate the privileged few then we’re heading up that proverbial creek without a paddle.
We are fully aware of the situation and conditions that exist outside the Tourism Village and what transpires there on a daily basis. Hard working independent Belizeans who go out every single day, rain or shine, to try and make a living, are being pushed aside.
BIOLOGICALLY APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, OR GMO? Letters
— by Karin Westdyk
Dear Editor,
Biologically appropriate technology is designed to do no harm to the environment – the air, water and soil in which we, and all animals, depend on for life. It is working with nature, not against it. It is learning from and respecting nature. An example of biologically appropriate technology would be energy, produced on site where needed, from renewable sources.
Interestingly, energy is an area where humans have made some serious wrong turns and where we should have learned that we must be very careful about who is telling us what and why. Having been an environmental journalist turned anti-nuclear/pro-renewable energy activist, I am seeing similar patterns in the debate over GMO corn as existed in the nuclear debate. The parallels lie in how the public was sold on nuclear power back when there was controversy and concern that nuclear power might not be “ biologically appropriate technology.” Touted as being “safe, clean, and too cheap to meter” by the industries that financially benefited, nuclear energy turned out to be an expensive environmental nightmare, costing trillions, and many lives. We still do not have a clue as to how to safely deal with the waste which must be monitored in some cases for 250,000 years, and Fukushima is an ongoing out-of-control environmental disaster contaminating water daily with ionizing radiation that flows to the open sea.
PAUL ON THE ELECTED SENATE Letters
— by Paul Rodriguez
Dear Editor:
What we are here proposing as safeguards needed to protect a Senate to be elected may be what much older states need urgently as REFORMS. Two of our most powerful institutions, i.e., political parties and the media, will not like the restrictions placed on senatorial candidates. It is obvious that they make loads of money from the exercise of democracy. However, in the long term they will benefit from the blessings of a more progressive society due to less crime and less corruption.
At any rate, it is unthinkable that we should continue along the same beaten, oppressive way. As a nation we perhaps need to grasp this moment and take an historic decision that may well elevate Belize to the status of greatness.
Readers, we take it for granted that the vast majority of our fellow citizens already are in support of the elected Senate. The concern now is what it will look like and what electoral rules we need to put in place to safeguard its independence and integrity.
KETOCONAZOLE COULD LEAD TO LIVER DAMAGE AND ADRENAL PROBLEMS
The Ministry of Health moved today to issue an advisory on a widely used oral antifungal drug – ketoconazole – which had been banned two years ago in France and which was recently banned in Europe over concerns that the drug leads to liver damage and adrenal problems.
“The risk of liver injury is greater than the benefits in treating fungal infections,” said an announcement by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) dated July 26, 2013.
EMA recommended the suspension of oral ketoconazole-containing medicines throughout the European Union – and that news alert found its way to Belize.
Chief Pharmacist Sharon Anderson told Amandala this evening that they learned of the warning about two weeks ago and after internal discussions with other ministry officials, they decided to issue a press statement today.
IN 15 YEARS, BELIZE’S FISH STOCK COULD BE DEPLETED
Belize to end open fisheries access.
Jamaica legal expert, Dr. Winston McCalla warns: “in some adjoining regions, for example Jamaica, the fish stock has been totally depleted and Belize is very fortunate to have its fish stock, but if it is not properly managed, in 15 years we could have a big problem.”
With a new fisheries act now in the pipeline, the Fisheries Department has initiated a move to revamp Belize’s fisheries regulations; and in order to secure a buy-in from fishermen and other stakeholders in the industry, it has been undertaking a series of consultations across the country of Belize.
One of the biggest concerns of the fishing community is access to what some indicate is a dwindling resource, and traditional fishermen want an assurance that they won’t be boxed out from waters that their fathers and grandfathers have routinely fished because of the new set of fishing rules – particularly the move to establish managed access across the seascape.
Beverly Wade, Fisheries Administrator, told the media in an interview Thursday morning that, “Belize is one of the few countries that continue to have open access fishery, and it’s certainly not sustainable. It’s often referred to as ‘tragedy of the commons,’ because at the end of the day we can’t continue to put the same pressure on the resources and expect them to still be viable.”
KREM’S NEW EVENING NEWSCAST TIME: 5:15 P.M.
An important time change is coming to KREM Radio’s dynamic programming starting Monday, September 16, 2013.
Effective Monday, KREM’s evening newscast will switch from the 6:00 p.m. time slot to 5:15 p.m.
Management is hopeful that this move will allow them to service the many commuters who are out of the office and in their ride of choice by 5:15.
The move has also been occasioned by the advent of KREM TV’s nightly news, which also airs live in the 6:00 p.m. time slot.
RENOWNED BELIZEAN ARTIST, NELLO PLAYER, WINS NAT’L PATRIOTIC SONG COMPETITION
Kernelle Parks, whose stage name is “Nello Player,” is a popular Belizean singer/songwriter who has been on the music scene since he recorded his first song back in 2005. Since then, he has gained utmost respect and has produced several reggae/dancehall albums, such as Collective Insight, Best of Nello Player and others.
The prolific artist has also won the National Patriotic Song Competition for the second year in a row. He told Amandala that it’s a truly wonderful feeling for him to have won again, particularly since this is the fourth year that he has performed in the contest. At first, he said, he wanted to sit out the competition, but then he found out about the grand prize being offered by NICH – a trip to an international festival. He said, “The opportunity caused me to change my mind, so I decided that I couldn’t sit out this year; then winning the Patriotic Song Competition again was an even greater feeling.”
THE CYCLE OF ABUSE
So the piece I wrote last week elicited lots of verbal response, reaction and reflection, and many were so grateful that the truth about our legal status when it comes to the protection of our children from abuse is being exposed. Of course, it was not shocking to anyone that the detractors whose agenda was exposed, were animalistic and spewing venom, especially on Facebook, but that in not one bit bothers me, because the truth will someday set them free. What was alarming is their lack of defense for our children. I said then and I will say it again, because our children are not voters and are not given the voice they deserve, in this country the lewd and immoral ways of adults will always seek ways to trample our children rather than protect them. Any right-minded person would have thought that 100% of Belize would have condemned the sexual assault of a boy age 13 by a 45-year-old woman, in the role of a nanny, but there were those who took offence to her being called a pedophile despite the “professionals” such as the psychiatrists declaring that sexual contact between an adult and person age 13 and below is still pedophilia… hmmm, I wonder why some would even want to split hairs over this point, if not to defend their perverted lifestyles and intent.
AS A LAYMAN …
MINDPRINT B (for “Beta”) … bank …
Can you think of anything that you want or need, either physically or intellectually, that you don’t have to have bank money, dinero, penga? Everything takes money, and in this day lots of it. Food, clothing, shelter, health, education, entertainment, holiday, all require bank, and as long as you live, you will require these necessities.
Now you may get “bank” by working for it, by inheriting it… “Wealth distorts the value of people who do not work for it,” Perez Alfonso, co-founder of OPEC, or by stealing it, either big time as by wiping out of Mongolia’s entire foreign reserves of $900,000,000.00 recently by way of derivative trading, or through insider stock manipulations as played by Boesky and Milliken, or small time as practiced by the burglar, shoplifter, “jacker”.
BUFFER COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHERN BELIZE STATE THEIR POSITION ON US CAPITAL’S OIL EXPLORATION FOR THE FIRST TIME
Midway Village was established in 1989 and happens to be one of the newer villages in the district of Toledo. The village is 20 miles from Punta Gorda Town and approximately 10 miles from the southernmost village of Barranco. Two weekends ago, August 30 and 31, an expedition of media personnel travelled through the graveled road leading up to Midway, maneuvering through potholes that seemed like craters and evading protruding boulders on the road surface before reaching the remote Q’echi community. Midway is said to be the midpoint of the distance on the footpath connecting the two neighboring villages, Barranco and Conejo.
On arrival in Midway at sunset, Gregory Ch’oc of the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) and a group of Maya leaders and alcaldes got ready for a press conference in which the villagers got to voice their opinions on the oil exploration activities in the area for the first time since the onset of the public discourse on the matter.
HARD TIMES FOR FAMILY OF 5 FROM SAN PABLO
No food to eat for days, and husband unable to work due to illness; wife unemployed.
A family of five from the village of San Pablo in Orange Walk has fallen on hard times, and is appealing to the public for financial assistance to alleviate their difficult situation. The husband is not working due to illness; two children are going to high school and the mother is unemployed. The mother said that they have been forced to go without food for extended periods and are in a financial crisis.
Leocardia Acurio, the mother of the three children, informed us that her husband, Marcial, had gotten seriously ill about 7 years ago, and after he recovered from the devastating illness, he was unable to work to provide for his family.
Doctors diagnosed Marcial with post-epiglottis, and as a result, he has completely lost the ability to speak. Marcial was also diagnosed with “lack of concentration due to illness,” and as a result was certified as being incapable to work.
2 FIRE VICTIMS SEEK ASSISTANCE
Two families whose homes were completely destroyed by fire are seeking public assistance to help them to rebuild their lives. Sonia Murrillo’s house in Maskall Village was destroyed at about 9:00 Sunday morning, and her loss was estimated to be about $60,000, while Cornel Gomez, whose house was destroyed in the Neal Pen Road Extension area on Thursday, September 5, said that the value of the home and household belongings he lost is approximately $20,000.
Both families said that they need materials to rebuild, and are accepting donations of supplies, as well as monetary donations to buy items such as food and other necessities.
Gomez said that about 10:00 Thursday, he was not at home, but was in the vicinity of his house in the Neal Pen Road Extension area, when he suddenly heard a loud explosion and saw a house erupting in flames. At the time, he had not been aware that it was his house that had caught fire, because no appliances had been left on in the house to create a fire hazard.
ARTHUR BAPTIST, 25, DIES 3 MONTHS AFTER BEING SHOT
Arthur Baptist, 25, who was shot in the head on June 1, 2013, and given a 5-percent chance of survival by doctors, survived for three months before finally succumbing to his injuries.
Baptist, of Neal Pen Road, died at his home at about 6:30 on Thursday evening, September 5, after enduring a lot of pain. He was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital morgue for a mandatory autopsy to certify the cause of his death.
Doctors who examined Baptist reported that the shot fired into his head split on impact inside his brain, and they had given him a 5% chance of survival. Baptist was released from the hospital within a month, but as a result of the injury, he was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He also was unable to talk.
GUAT GOLD PANNING ENDANGERING BELIZE WATER SOURCE: FCD
Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director of Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), told Amandala Monday evening that illegal gold mining activities being undertaken by Guatemalans who are now targeting Belizean highlands pose a serious threat to Belize, because some of Belize’s main waterways are being compromised.
Manzanero spoke of the need to get the attention of the Department of the Environment in addressing this issue of illegal gold panning in the Ceibo Chico area of the Cayo District.
“I feel that the impacts that are taking place there now – it is a more daunting situation. Those are the beginning of our main headwaters, and so what we see in terms of the impact – it is an environmental impact,” Manzanero said.
He said that gold panning is taking place more in the highlands than before, and Belize will have to be more strategic in dealing with the situation.
The Reporter
CITCO bans big buses from downtown Albert Street
Regular sized buses that are used to offer city-wide shuttles from northside to southside will no longer be allowed to use Albert Street.
Stake Bank Cruise Port worries conservationists
The Feinstein Group’s plan to construct a causeway through the Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary poses great risks for the manatees that live in that area, Sea to Shore’s Manatee Research Associate Jamal Galvez said Thursday.
Four persons remanded for murder victim Aguirre’s gun
Four persons were remanded to prison on Wednesday, after Belmopan Police discovered a 9mm handgun licensed to Daniel Hugo Aguirre, 37, who was murdered over the weekend. His charredbody was found in his burned out taxi.
Three civilian deaths pose challenge for Police Commissioner
The Belize Police Department still has no answers for the families of the three men who died while in police custody between last April and May 2013.
CEMO responds to flooding in the City
September 10th activities in some areas of Belize were held under heavy rains due to a slow-moving weather system that hovered over the country.
Visa applications to Canada made easy
Only nine Belizeans have emigrated to work at fast-food restaurants like Mcdonalds in Canada since the Canadian employment agency ACTYL began recruiting in Belize last December.
Belizean Politics poisonous to true development
On Wednesday, August 21, 2013, Syria’s two-year civil war came to possibly its lowest point yet, when Syrian President Bashar al-Asaad launched a chemical weapon attack against his own people—rebels and civilians alike.
The Belize Times
Griga Market Mess! – UDP crony paid HALF A MILLION but FAILS to complete project
A huge financial mess and several investigations into possible corruption are the only results of a $1.38 million project mismanaged by the Government’s Social Investment Fund in Dangriga Town.
In the middle of this mess is Kennard Smart, a so-called contractor who’s better known for his political connections to Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, a UDP don in Orange Walk.
Smart’s company, K&G Construction, was awarded the bid for a contract to rehabilitate and extend the Dangriga Town Market in May 2012. The awarding of the contract was very controversial and caused an uproar with town residents. K&G is a new “construction” company based in Ranchito Village in the Corozal District. Dangriga Town has high unemployment, especially among its young people. Residents said it was not logical to hire a company that was located hundreds of miles away to do work that could be done by locals. They protested and called for the contract to be rescinded, but the Social Investment Fund, headed by another political appointee close to Vega, had its way.
VEGA’S NEPHEW Refuses to return $50,000
Imer Hernandez, the nephew of Deputy Prime Minister, who was at the center of a financial scandal involving public funds from the Ministry of Works has still not cleared his name. Hernandez was given a lucrative works ...
KTV Latino star found dead, burnt in car
Residents of the City of Belmopan are still mourning the horrific murder of Daniel Aguirre, the 2011 KTV Latino star, who was found inside his taxi car on Saturday morning. Aguirre went missing on Friday night. His family ...
Family of Slain Cop Question Investigation
The investigation into the killing of Police Detective 24 year old Dean Yearwood has taken a controversial twist following comments from his family in which they expressed doubts and concerns. Yearwood ...
Independent Belize!
By G. Michael Reid As Belize prepares to celebrate its Independence, a little reflection and retrospection might be in order. On Saturday September 21st, we celebrate as a nation, the 32nd anniversary of this momentous milestone. There were many who believed, and probably some who still do, that Belize was not ...
Anti-Reform Barrow
Despite all the talk about transparency in government, Prime Minister Dean Barrow now appears to be quite happy with the status quo. This is despite the ever increasing charges of corruption in his administration and a damning report by the Auditor General. The proposal to change the make-up of the Public ...
Allied Sport Club dominates September open track meet
The Allied Sports Club of Belize City dominated the September track and field meet held at the still incomplete Marion Jones Sports Complex in Belize City on Saturday, September 7. Here are the results: Junior 100m 1st ...
Camalote Blazers win softball finals Game 1st
The Camalote Blazers put themselves on the good foot to take the 2013 Cayo Softball Association’s female softball championship by hammering Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy in Game 1 of the finals ...
Triple B’s claws Ladyville Jaguars 8-0 for female football championship
The Belmopan Triple B’s won the 2013 Atlantic Bank female football championship, blowing away the Ladyville Jaguars 8-0 in Game 2 of the finals at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan last Saturday. Kaina Martinez and Miriam Villamil led ...
Hon. Jose Mai provides education grants
Orange Walk District, September 11, 2013 The Hon Jose Mai continues to provide financial assistance in the form of Education Grants for students of the OW South Constituency. On Monday, 9 September 2013, the Hon Jose Mai visited Centro Escolar Mexico, where ...
AMAZING GRACE – Christian Misconception In Politics
Can you be a Christian and be in politics? That’s a very good question to ask as many people believe you cannot. But before I continue let me again explain that I don’t fully subscribe to the word “Christian”. To be a Christian really means that you believe that Jesus exists ...
HOME ECONOMICS – Debate & Development
By Richard Harrison The philosophy of economic development that the leaders of countries believe in or rather, the philosophy adopted by those who the leaders listen to and take advice from....is what determines the actions that the leaders are willing and able to take. There is evidence to prove that Belize, since ...
The Forgotten Ones
By Patrick Jason Andrews The City of Belmopan is the youngest Capital City in the world. Its people are a mosaic of races, cultures and values, coming from all over this beautiful country of ours, and beyond. It was a center ...
Stories of a Sufferrah – Tales from the Dark Side
You might see him browsing the bars and night clubs or sometimes playing dominoes in front of Brads boledo-millionaire merchant store. He is known for trying his best at being the jester of the House of Representatives, with his made-up vocabulary and derogative words towards man, woman and child. I think it ...
Norwegian Deal Sellouts
By Gilroy Usher, Sr. We all want investment and development for the country, but several aspects of the Norwegian deal is a major sellout of Belize to rich foreigners. After Norwegian cruise was given sole rights to develop a tourism island in the south for the next 25 years - that’s ...
Keeping in touch in BRC
Over the past few weeks Belize Rural Central (BRC) Area Representative Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia has been making the rounds in her constituency and keeping in touch with as many residents as possible. Last weekend she attended ...
New PUP Belize Rural South executive
A new executive for the People’s United Party (PUP) Belize Rural South division was elected on Sunday September 8th on Ambergris Caye at the PUP office located on Pelican Street. The new executive committee consists of new Chairman ...
WOMAN IN THE HOUSE – Showcasing Talent
By Dolores Balderamos Garcia I have wanted to write about Rajiv Halim and the “Masters of the Saxophone” show at the Bliss for several weeks now. It has been a busy 'summer' school break, with voter transfers and registrations and continuing area representative work. (Representing people, if we want to get ...
SIF and the UDP dis Dangriga again
The Dangriga Town Council was informed on Saturday, September 7, 2013, by Social Investment Fund (SIF) through a correspondence date September 6, 2013, that the SIF’s Board of Directors has terminated the Contract for the Refurbishment of the Extension of the Dangriga Town Market. The SIF Board ...
REFLECTIONS ON THE PUBLIC SQUARE – Investment and Jobs
By Francis W. Fonseca Investment drives growth. Growth drives development. Belize needs to grow and develop urgently. Belize needs investment. The four simple sentences above stand separately but together form a vital link to Belize’s future. In 2013, no one credibly questions the importance of investment, both domestic and foreign, to national development. ...
San Estevan/Progresso Road Neglected over and over
Dear Editor, I write today to express concern on behalf of all of those who keep silent on the contract works that were supposed to be completed for the Orange Walk to Progresso Road which is approximately 15 miles. We Belizeans are characterized by being conformant with the status quo of ...
Solar Power for Powerless Villages
Dear Editor, I read a short article in the BELIZE TIMES that read "Solar Makes Sense". The article noted, and I paraphrase: there are 38 villages in the Toledo district without electricity. The Government-owned electricity company which collected 193 million dollars from consumers last year seems to have invested very little to provide ...
No to NCL Deal!
Dear Editor, I’m pleased to be given this opportunity to share my thoughts and opinion with your reading audience. Realizing the importance of the limited space you have available as the leading newspaper in the land, the experience is humbling. After listening and observing all the discussion about the soon to ...
Jasmine Lowe murder trial held in secret?
Dear Editor, Wednesday, Sept. 4th, accused murderer Bert Vasquez, the alleged killer of 13 year-old Jasmine Lowe, had a court appearance in San Ignacio. I was the only member of the public in attendance for his hearing, however I did not get to witness the proceedings. As Vasquez was led into the ...
Elected Senate- the Sole Oversight Authority
Dear Editor: Janus in his article of 1st September, 2013, again recommended an ELECTED Senate as the cure for our ills of corruption in government and public administration. He is eminently qualified to give our nation sound advice on this matter, having lived his whole adult life dedicated to public service. ...
BRC Executive Committee stands by Area Rep Hon. Dolores!
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte Speaker House of Representatives Independence Hill Belmopan Dear Mr. Speaker, As the Executive Committee for the Belize Rural Central constituency under the leadership of Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia, we write to you to put on the record our firm support for Hon. Dolores and our demand for respect to her and ...
My summer 2013 - can you Belize it? Contributed by Ed
I’m writing this blog from the porch of a house in Belize, which serves as the main base for a rehabilitation sanctuary for monkeys, manatees and a whole number of other endangered animals. In fact, it’ll have to be a fairly quick blog, as a new manatee calf and an infant spider monkey should be arriving for some intensive care in an hour or two!
Earlier this year, when all my housemates and course mates were sorting out their internships and placements, and I realised I had not yet secured any constructive plans for my own summer, I took to the internet to try and track something down. This led me to the Global Nomadic site (www.globalnomadic.com). Although I had no experience in primate rehabilitation, I applied for the monkey rehabilitation placement and, after filling out the application form online and forgetting about it for a month or so, I got an email telling me that I’d been accepted.
My morning drive aka bumpity bump bump
Since Dick has been working afternoon shift at Tropic Air it has put a hold on our sunrise joyrides. While I did not quite make it out of the house for sunrise today, I did manage to take a break from work and go for a morning rainy day drive down south. My first stop was the crock pond but it was too waterlogged to park our usual spot.
I was in the mood to find a road less traveled and continued south. As soon as I got off the cobblestones, it started to get bumpy but that did not deter me. I figured as long as the ‘ road lakes’ were not too bad I would keep going. It is always a scenic drive and today it was particularly nice with the rain having washed all the dust away leaving me with a lush green tropical view.
Strange Fruit: Why Does Everyone Know Where San Pedro’s Breadfruit Trees Are But Me?
I definitely love bread and I certainly love fruit. But when I read the description of the Caribbean favorite, the breadfruit: ”its name is derived from the texture of the cooked fruit, which has a potato like flavor, similar to freshly baked bread (Wikipedia)” and a friend described them as “spongy”, I don’t know…I felt a little bit…icky.
Breadfruit for sale – 2 for $5bzd in Central Park, San Pedro
As the “fruit season” in Belize winds down…we will soon bid farewell to abundant mangos…
craboo…
tambran and cherimoya and rarer ones like the custard apples and sour sop (check below for posts on many of these)…breadfruit seem to be available in many spots.
This Year’s September 10 Parade a Peaceful Success
Having just finally had a chance to put feet up on the desk and read the local Belize papers, it was rewarding that the first story was a good news piece from the Guardian about the annual September 10 parade through Belize City.
As Guardian reporter Shane D. Williams pointed out, this year’s parade reflected a growing sense of security and peace in Belize City, as with even with more marchers than ever before, there were no untoward incidents reported among the enthusiasm and partying that continued to build as the throng made its way from Memorial Park through a new, longer route through the city this year.
The article also made mention of the fact that attendance in the parade is strictly voluntary and that everyone is marching because they want to express their patriotism and sense of belonging to a growing new nation where opportunities seem endless. We like it as another example of Belizeans coming together on their own to celebrate solidarity and that sense of “hand wash hand” that characterises Belizean society.
“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.
Rain again yesterday and this morning (yes, I am covering two days in this one edition -sort of ambidextrous !) but it doesn’t stop me from my ‘me time’ on the veranda we are renting during our build in Ambergris Caye, Belize.
I’ll pick up on yesterday later but first want to cover this morning. Later I will return to yesterday (confused? Me too). Anyway, back to the veranda and this morning.
I’d been out there for just over an hour (I got out there at 05.05 hours) when on looking at the beach I saw two guys doing stretching exercises. Nothing unusual in that, loads of people use the beach for their exercise regimes.
Interning on our remote Caribbean island!
Nearly 6 months ago I stepped out of a small craft on Punta Gorda’s airstrip as a pale English boy with no diving experience, about to embark on a new adventure, and really had very little idea of what to expect. I was greeted with a smile by Jo on a sweltering hot day, who quickly gave me a tour round town and then dropped me off at the guest house which would be home for my time in Belize.
Punta Gorda itself is a pleasant town, with enough isolation to give a real idea of Belizean culture and lifestyle, but still full of all the amenities any traveller would need for any length of stay. I had been told about how friendly the community here was, and until this day have saw the same hospitality every weekend I returned to the mainland, it certainly made fitting into to a new lifestyle very easy. After spending the weekend touring up to the Blue Creek caves with my first group of guests (an experience I would recommend to anybody) the following Monday I ate a hearty breakfast at snack shack – to this day I still treat myself to the sublime brownie shakes before departure – and then headed to the dock ready to head off to the Island and start my diving adventure.
International Sources
Hurricane Season is Half Over; Will it Remain Quiet?
September 10 marks the traditional halfway point of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the first half of the hurricane season of 2013 is making its mark in the history books as one of the least active such periods on record. Going back to before when the Hurricane Hunters first began flying in 1944, there has been only one hurricane season that made it past the half-way point without a hurricane forming: the El Niño year of 2002, when Hurricane Gustav formed at 8 am EDT on September 11. Tropical Storm Humberto is looking poised to become a hurricane later today, and 2013 will likely end up ranking in 2nd place for latest formation of the season's first hurricane, going back to 1941. Here are the Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1941 in which the first hurricane did not form until after September 7:
Life in the womb (9months in 4 minutes), VIDEO
Simply amazing...
Inside a Maya pyramid, mysterious carvings hint at superpower struggle
Archaeologists say a beautiful, monumental Maya carving, hidden inside a pyramid in Guatemala, shows how one 6th-century superpower asserted its influence over its rival.
The stucco frieze was discovered last month at the Holmul archaeological dig in Guatemala's northeastern Peten region. The carving and its accompanying inscriptions suggest that the region's rulers weren't just squabbling warlords, said Francisco Estrada-Belli, director of the Holmul Archaeological Project. Instead, those rulers were enmeshed in a bigger political clash between the kings of Tikal and the rulers of Kaanul, also known as the Snake Kingdom.
"It's all a grand scheme of building a Maya empire," Estrada-Belli said. "Sometimes the Kaanul kings were on top. Sometimes Tikal was on top. But there was nothing chaotic about it."
Belizean Garifuna Leader Remembered In Illinois
Belizean-born Garifuna Leader, Thomas Vincent Ramos, will be celebrated posthumously in Illinois later this month.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has issued a proclamation to establish and recognize September 17th as Thomas Vincent Ramos Day in the state.
Ramos was the catalyst for the first Garifuna in the United States during the 1960′s in Los Angeles.
Governor Pat Quinn recognition and honor for a Garifuna leader is the third among governors, state legislators and mayors. In 2009, former Houston Mayor Bill White proclaimed December 2nd as ANDY PALACIO DAY; in March 2013, a petition in the Texas Legislature was introduced by Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis and was passed to declare March 14 as Chief Joseph Chatoyer Day in Texas and in September, the state of Illinois has followed.
SITCA reveals long run tourism growth for Central America
The Secretariat of Central American Tourism Integration (SITCA), together with the tourism authorities of the seven Central American countries - Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama - have conducted a study on the evolution of the tourism sector in the region over the past twelve years and made a positive forecast of expected 6.1 per cent growth for this year based on the results.
The study shows that, in the period between 2000 and 2012, tourism to Central America has grown by 122.8 per cent from 4.23 million visitors in 2000 to 9.39 visitors in 2012, an annual increase of seven per cent on average.
The American continent is the main source of visitors to the region.
Domestic tourism from within the region accounts for 40 per cent of the total whereas North America brings between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of visitors.
Europe and South America represent ten per cent of the total.
'Suddenly we have no more power': Oil drilling on Maya and Garifuna land in Belize
For centuries, Belize's Toledo district has been home to indigenous Maya people and Garifuna, an Afro-descendant people. They have relied on the natural resources of Toledo's forests and rivers to preserve their way of life. But recently the government of Belize has allowed foreign companies to extract resources from their ancestral land without their consent.
In 1994, without consulting Toledo Maya or Garifuna people, the government converted almost 42,000 acres of their ancestral territory into government land, the Sarstoon-Temash National Park (STNP). The government then opened the STNP to oil exploration by US Capital Energy Belize, Ltd, a wholly owned Belizean subsidiary of American company USC apital Energy, Inc.
Mesoamerican Reef needs more local support, says report
From massive hotel development through the agriculture industry, humans are destroying the second largest barrier reef in the world: the Mesoamerican Reef. Although global climate change and its effects on reefs via warming and acidification of coastal waters have made recent headlines, local human activities may destroy certain ecosystems before climate change has a chance to do it. The harmful effects of mining, agriculture, commercial development, and fishing in coastal regions have already damaged more than two-thirds of reefs across the Caribbean, in addition to worsening the negative effects of climate change.
A recent evaluation by the Healthy Reefs Initiative (HRI, www.healthyreefs.org) of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR), which runs continuously for over 1,000 km, from north of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula south to Honduras, highlights the combination of locally-grown threats to this iconic ecosystem.
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