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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, and other specials

The San Pedro Sun

Belize Tourism Industry Association San Pedro Chapter donates to Marco Gonzalez Spring Equinox Event
At their monthly meeting on February 28th, the Belize Tourism Industry Association San Pedro Chapter (SP BTIA) presented the Marco Gonzalez Archaeology Site with a check for $500. The donation will sponsor-in-part the Spring Equinox Event to be hosted at the Marco Gonzalez site on Sunday, March 18th. “We are dedicated to sustaining and improving tourism opportunities on Ambergris Caye, and as a group, we believe that the archaeological site south of San Pedro Town compliments the many tourism activities our island has to offer. The Spring Equinox event Marco Gonzalez is hosting is truly a unique experience that can be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike and we are pleased to be a sponsor of this fun and cultural occasion,” commented SP BTIA Chairwoman Tamara Sniffin.

Oceana Belize hosts Cocktail & Conservation Fundraiser in Ambergris Caye
As part of their Reef Week activities, Oceana Belize held a Cocktail & Conservation Fundraiser at Mahogany Bay Village in San Pedro Town on Saturday, March 10th. The event saw a group of conservationists sharing the work of their organizations while raising funds for the Oceana Belize Reef Week Initiatives. The event began promptly at 8PM, with Mistress of Ceremony, Justine Nicholas, welcoming everyone and giving a summary of what Oceana’s Reef Week is all about. “This year we launch our Reef Week under the team ‘Our Reef Rocks, Protect it, Don’t Neglect it.’

Tiger Sharks net another win!
The San Pedro Tiger Sharks continue to scale the summit of the National Elite Basketball League (NEBL) with another solid victory on Saturday, March 10th. The island team hosted Verdes from the Cayo District, who in the first half of the game gave the 2017 NEBL Sub-Champs a rocky start. But by the end of the last quarter, the Tiger Sharks comfortably nabbed the victory with a 92-68 game score. The game started at 9PM sharp at the Angel Nuñez Auditorium with a large crowd of basketball fans in attendance. In the first quarter of the game, Verdes dominated the match giving the home squad little room to score. Before halftime, Verdes were on the lead netting score after score. But a few three-pointers by Douglas Valley and some dunks by Martevious Adams gave the Tiger Sharks the points they needed to end the second quarter of the game leading by two points.

Island Invasion launch party takes over San Pedro
King of the Island Promotions once again brought the party to San Pedro Town with their Island Invasion ‘Launch Party’ extravaganza on Friday, March 9th and Saturday, March 10th. The anticipated party held at Fido’s Restaurant and Bar reeled in both island residents and visitors alike for a night of great dancing with some of the best DJs in Belize. The event featured a premier line up of DJs including DJ Debbie, DJ Dalla, DJ Jago, DJ Chabo, DJ Odyssey, and DJ Biggz. The crowd inside Fido’s began arriving shortly after 11PM filling every corner of the dance floor. Everyone danced the night away on Friday and repeated the fun on Saturday to once again boogie to the best summer hits in dancehall, hip-hop, latin, and of course punta and reggaeton. Throughout the night, there were fabulous giveaways and many lucky winners won cash prizes.

Ambergris Today

British Navy Humanitarian Aid Ship To Visit Belize
One of the UK’s naval humanitarian aid and logistic support ships will be visiting Belize 14 – 16 March. The purpose of the visit is to share experiences of delivering humanitarian aid and support to disaster relief operations in the Caribbean Basin with her Belizean hosts. The ship called MOUNTS BAY of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is intending to host members of the Belize Coast Guard, Belize Defence Force, NEMO and Belize Red Cross onboard to share their experiences from Hurricane IRMA last year, which brought devastation to many islands in the east of the Caribbean. For the British Government, the ship provided not only the immediate response directly after the hurricane passed but also became the floating base from which the British Armed Forces operated to restore power and essential services to the islanders of Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.

Ministry Of Health Cautions The Public On An Unauthorized Vitamin And Mineral Syrup
The Ministry of Health informs the public of an unauthorized and suspected falsified vitamin and mineral syrup, Dayamineral ® Syrup 240ml. The liquid supplements were found to be circulating on the local market and those found have since been confiscated. Investigations conducted by the Ministry of Health revealed that the product has not been registered by the Ministry and therefore cannot be imported into the country as it has not met the necessary quality standards and may be compromised. If you are in possession of this product, the Ministry recommends that you do not use it. Pharmacists and any other persons selling the liquid supplements are asked to remove the items from shelves and discard. Establishments are advised to buy pharmaceutical products and related supplies from importers/wholesalers licensed by the Ministry of Health.

Mexico Proposed Trinational Jaguar Reserve With Belize And Guatemala
According to Riviera Maya News an announcement for the proposal of a jaguar reserve has been made by head of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas of Mexico. Alejandro del Mazo Maza of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp), announced that Mexico plans to create a trinational reserve with Belize and Guatemala to protect the jaguar. “It is a project that we are already working on with Guatemala and Belize, countries that have shown interest in collaborating and establishing this protection in a trinational way in the first protected natural area for the feline. “There is already a political disposition, so we are working on the definition of the polygon and the challenge is to continue with the plan to make it a reality this year.”

UDP San Pedro Town Council Sworn In As PUP Pushes For New Election
While the People’s United Party heads to court today, Wednesday, March 14, to contest the final results of the recent municipal elections in San Pedro, the United Democratic Party held its official swearing in ceremony of the San Pedro Town Mayor and six councilors. The San Pedro PUP state that there are 275 unaccounted for ballots in one of the boxes and that there is significant discrepancies in the election process which is more than enough to put a shadow of a doubt on the results in San Pedro Town. Today, they will appeal to the Belize courts for a new election procces on the island.

Misc Belizean Sources

A Night of Rotary Membership & Trivia
Get your thinking caps out and test your knowledge with a night of Rotary Membership and trivia. On March 24th at Pier 366 on the beachfront of Banyan Bay Suites. RSVP Recommended. See you there!

Belize and the Caribbean Region Showcase Opportunities in Outsourcing Services at the 22nd Global Connection Forum in Mexico City
As consumer demands continue to evolve, companies strive to become competitive through innovation by enhancing their products and services. At the same time, the primary focus is also geared towards ensuring customer satisfaction, which is achieved not only through competitive prices, but also, through customer experience. This is attained through efficient and effective supply chains; hence, companies quickly seek to outsource part of their operations to specialized companies in nearshore destinations as Belize. Amidst these global changes, the Mexican Institute for Teleservices is currently hosting the 22nd Global Connection Forum in Mexico City, as of March 12th – 14th, 2018, which seeks to serve as a platform for Offshore Outsourcing Services stakeholders to learn about the most recent and emerging global trends in the contact centre services sector.

The Belize Diabetes Association Corozal Branch presents Bridging the Gap
March 17 is our Bridging the Gap community outreach fair, It's focus is to bring awareness about diabetes and our organization to the community. As such we have invited several speakers to give talks related to the disease and different organizations, such as the BCVI, who will have educational booths set up. To make this learning experience fun we are inviting Fries the clown. There will be musical and dance performances, games and other activities.Food and drinks will be on sale.

European Familiarization Tour 2018

Women and Art
Exhibit Launch March 15.

Ride to the Reef
The fifth annual Ride to the Reef was another sensational success, with more than a 100 cyclists making the 50 mile journey from the capital to the coast to show their love with our marine resources.

Paint N Splash
See you this week at from 2-4pm Thursday.

New police barracks on Caye Caulker
The new police barracks will be breaking ground shortly. Gabriel Nunez the contractor has received his first payment. I feel like I have been to a meeting at the National BTIA office with the commissioner of police so long ago. Congratulations to all persons involved in making this a reality and especially the CCBTIA board!

Reef Week Recycle Art Competition
Congratulations to the winners and also the ones that participated for the Recycle Art Competition

Belize DJ Competition Finals
Friday, March 23, 2018. Starting at 8 p.m. at Club Elite in Belize City

World Consumer Rights Day 2018
The Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) in the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Commerce hereby informs the general public that World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) will be internationally observed on Thursday, March 15, 2018 under the theme “MAKING DIGITAL MARKETPLACES FAIRER”. The theme elaborates that e-commerce, buying products or services online, has transformed the marketplace. Consumers can now with a connected device and a payment method can buy anything from music to take-away, book transport and accommodation, or buy tickets to events. This new way to trade has opened up a vast array of choice for consumers and expanded convenience on a scale never seen before.

Belize-Guatemala Joint Commission Meets in Belize
A meeting of the Belize-Guatemala Joint Commission was held today, March 14th, under the auspices of the Organization of American States (OAS), in Teakettle Village, Cayo District. The meeting was headed by the Commissioners of both countries, the Ambassador of Belize in Guatemala H.E. Alexis Rosado and the Ambassador of Guatemala in Belize H.E. Georges de La Roche, as well as Mrs. Katalina Montana, designated by Mr. Manuel Washington Abdala, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the OAS for the Belize-Guatemala issues. This meeting took place as a follow-up from the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala on February 27th of this year, in the joint visit made to the Office of the OAS in the Adjacency Zone.

Prime Minister of Belize and the Head of the European Union Delegation to Belize Sign Financing Agreements for the Health Sector and Public Finance Management
The Prime Minister of Belize and Minister of Finance Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow and the European Union Ambassador to Belize H.E. Malgorzata Wasilewska signed two Financing Agreements for a total of BZ$28.8 M for projects in the Health and Public Finance Management sectors. The signing ceremony took place at the Prime Minister’s Office at the Laing Building in Belize City. Funding for the two sectors is allocated under the 11th European Union Development Fund (EDF) to assist in the social and economic development of Belize. The proposed projects are in line with Belize’s Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy and will assist in achieving the country’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

SAN PEDRO TOWN COUNCIL 2018-2021 SWEARING IN CEREMONY
In a short and intimate ceremony, the new San Pedro Town Council 2018-2021 members were sworn officially sworn in. After opening the ceremony with the Belize National Anthem, Pastor Clive Welsh from the Lighthouse Christian Radio, blessed the council members and those in attendance with a prayer. Following the prayer, the Town Administrator, Mrs. Patricia Verde Tillett began with the swearing in ceremony. After the swearing ceremony, Mayor Daniel Guerrero thanked everyone for attending and stated that this past election was a wake up call for their team. With this in mind, he continued that he and his team will work even harder for the people of San Pedro Town.

Congratulations to NICH La Ruta Maya Team!
The National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) would like to share a heartfelt thank you and congratulations to Hener, Efrain and Feliz Cruz for their hard work and award-winning effort over the weekend. The Cruz brothers were the paddlers for Team NICH in the 2018 La Ruta Maya Challenge held March 9 to 12. This race began in San Ignacio and sped down the Belize River to Belize City. Team NICH worked hard and achieved third place in the Male Category, after encountering a challenge on the third leg of the race that added more than 13 minutes to their overall time. We acknowledge and appreciate the unwavering, dedicated support staff from the Institute of Archaeology, family members and friends of the Cruz brothers. We are proud to showcase the Cruz brothers as examples of attributes which represent the characteristics that NICH would like to see displayed in all of its employees.

Sarteneja celebrates Child Stimulation month 2018
Sarteneja Village, Corozal. Sarteneja Nazarene Primary School, preschool students, celebrating Child Stimulation month 2018 in beautiful Sarteneja.

Heroes and Benefactors Day Highlights
The Institute for Social and Cultural Research has a highlight video of the events they had at the George Price Centre and Goldson House for Democracy. Looks like they had a great turnout for the holiday. "Our highlights from today's National Heroes & Benefactors Day 2018. Have a blessed weekend."

Maya Day 2018
Its a family day and alcohol free. Where the Maya people share their way of life through a Maya ceremony, dances, story telling, games, cuisine, and bartering of farm produce. Sunday, March 25 at 5 PM - 8 PM, Tumul K'In Center of Learning in Blue Creek Village, Toledo.

Channel 7

KHMH Needs A Roof Doctor, Quick!
The roof is falling at the KHMH - and urgent repairs are needed. Some patients were sent home today and all clinics or elective services have been cancelled for the remainder of the week. An official release from the KHMH minutes ago says, quote: "A structural review of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Physical plant was commissioned today following an incident in which debris fell from the ceiling of the facility. A preliminary assessment has discovered the need for immediate remedial reinforcement to a section of the hospital roof which is already underway." "While these repairs are being executed and in the interest of safety we are limiting traffic through the facility as such there will be no clinics or elective services for the remainder of this week. Visiting hours has also been reduced."

Election Elation For The Blue At City Hall
Election elation - that's what PUP supporters were feeling in Belize City today when the first PUP City Council in 12 years was sworn in. It was a street festival for the party faithful who gathered on North Front Street in front of City Hall to celebrate what seemed an unlikely victory one week ago. Jules Vasquez was there: Jules Vasquez reporting: With 2006's winning and losing mayoral candidates side by side in the front row - it was a pointed reminder that the last time the PUP flags draped city hall was 12 years ago. But today it was all beaming smiles for the PUP 11 - still pinching themselves at the upset they pulled off in the UDP's power base:

Mayor Says Managers Leaked, Questions Loyalty
And while it was all political bluster and hype today, when the music fades down, and the crowds go home, the real work of managing the city's day to day affairs begins. And, for that, the new Mayor will need a management team he can trust - and right now, he's not sure he has that. The press asked Wagner about all those contracts the last mayor signed with senior managers. He says they were signed in bad faith:... Reporter "Last year there were certain contracts that were renewed for certain employees. Are these contracts a part of the intention of the new council to be reviewed?" Bernard Wagner, Mayor - Belize City: "That represented the same contracts of which I spoke about. Those were the contracts that were given to some of the management officers. As a professional I felt that was an act of bad faith. You never give out contracts if you are demitting office. for the previous mayor to put his employees in a situation where they are now being scrutinized I think was poor judgment. We will continue to look at how that matter can be worked out or resolved. Certainly, it was an act of bad faith and we'll take it from there."

Senate Debates Loan For Caracol Road
There was a very robust debate in the Senate today about a raft of loan motions, and a sovereign guarantee that the Barrow Government took to the upper house today. In total it's about 100 million dollars in loans, and a sovereign guarantee of 35 million dollars for BTL for the company to upgrade its fiber optic network to provide high-speed internet to homes and businesses. We start first tonight with the loan motion to construct a fully upgraded road to the Caracol Archaeological Site. Last week, he announced in his budget presentation that the phase one of the project has already begun. The OPEC Fund for International Development has approved a Loan of 40 Million US dollars to the Belize Government for the Caracol Road construction.

Opposition Senate Says BTL Loan Guarantee Too Much Debt
And from debate over the Caracol Road's loan motion, we turn now to the sovereign guarantee that the Senate has approved for BTL to get a 17.5 million US dollar loan from the Taiwanese Government. The Taiwanese Government has approved the low interest loan to the telecoms company for the upgrade of its fiber optic transmission system. The issue is that the Taiwanese Government wants the Belize Government to guarantee the loan, in the event that BTL defaults. Again, the senators who were opposing the loan motion said that the Government needs to be making conservative financial moves at this time.

Driver Who Knocked Down Injured Teen Served With NIP
16 year old Josue Tut Cabrera remains hospitalized at the Northern Regional Hospital after he was knocked down on Sunday night. As we showed you last night, a security camera on the Belize - Corozal road captured when Tut was punched down by two men, not far from his home. He fell unconscious to the pavement, and a cane truck ran over him causing 5 broken ribs, a punctured lung, an injury to his liver, and internal bleeding. Tonight Orange Walk police say they have the driver of the truck. He is 33 year old, Sergio Talango who was detained. They took a urine sample, and he was served with a Notice of Intended Persecution. The men who punched him are still at large.

Primary School Teacher Remanded For Allegation of Child Rape
An Independence Village primary school teacher has been accused of raping a 12 year old girl. 35 year old Lennox Mejia - who apparently also doubles as a cab driver - gave the child a ride last week Thursday morning at 7:15 AM. She expected to be taken to school but he allegedly took her to a house where he allegedly raped her. A medical examination conducted on the minor certified that she was carnally known. The child and her mother made the report to police and today Mejia was arraigned in the Independence Magistrate's Court before Magistrate Deborah Rogers.

UB Students Take It To The Hill
And so those last two stories are two more cases of minors being victimized by sexual or physical violence. And there are so many other cases…in fact, for the last few weeks on the evening news, we've been showing you case after case where children are the innocent victims of sexual or gun violence. In several instances, these children lost their lives in almost incomprehensible ways. This trend, which has the full glare of the public lens, has received universal condemnation from all parts of civil society, and today, a group of students from the University of Belize took more direct action when they voiced their disapproval. They staged a demonstration right outside the National Assembly Building at the height of the Senate meeting today. We asked them why they were doing it:

Peace and Reconciliation, A Dialogue
And a community activist has also decided to take direct action in response to the spate of violence against children. Cynthia Ellis Topsey has launched the Belize Movement For Peace and Reconciliation. She held a press conference today to say she wants to start an outreach to synthesize efforts and open a dialogue. Here's more from the event at the UWI open campus: Cynthia Ellis-Topsey, Community Acitvist: "This nation is grieving for the deaths of these children and these men and these boys and these girls and therefore we declare a time of mourning and grieving. Nothing is wrong with that in this time of women's month. We are recalling and seeing the cries and the blood that is streaming on the streets and we can't be quiet anymore. Enough is enough. So, the call to action is a dialogue of every individual, every organization, and every group that is interested in going through a process of reconciliation."

Social Security For Same Sex Unions?
Once you and your spouse are working and paying social security, you both qualify for a pension, death benefits, among others forms of Social security assistance. But it is not that simple at all for those living in same sex relationships. Social Security does not recognize that partnership so that couple is pretty much on their own. It's in the law and today members from the Promoting Empowerment through Awareness for Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Women's group, PETAL hosted a forum at the Radisson to address this very pressing issue. Here is more from the event. Simone Hill, PETAL, Coordinator: "What we wanted to do here at PETAL is to look at Social Security, what was happening before in the past maybe before social security came in to be and now what is going on with social security and where it will take us in the future. We are also as organization who look after the needs of women particularly lesbian and bi-sexual women, we are looking to see if there are any gaps as it concerns women who identify as Lesbian and bi-sexual."

Changing GOB Store Orders: More Efficiency or Less Oversight?
Earlier in the news, we showed you the fiery debate in the Senate over the loan motions and the sovereign guarantee for BTL. Well, we still have a little more for you from that Senate Meeting. We take you now to the portion of the debate over an amendment to Stores Orders Regulations of 2017. The Government wants to allow accounting officers to be able to spend money from the public purse all the way up to $50,000 for items they need to use to run their ministry. From the Government's perspective, this amendment gives a bit more autonomy to these accounting officers, so that they don't have to take all purchase orders to the Financial Secretary. It's supposed to be a welcomed relief for the Fin Sec, but today, the Opposition and some of the social partner senators were not buying it.

Business Senator Says New Budget Is About More Taxes
And today's Senate meeting gave us an opportunity to speak with Business Senator Mark Lizarraga on the new budget for 2018-2019. The Prime Minister introduced it at last week Friday's House Meeting, and the House will debate it at the end of the month. The Senator gets it a little longer than that to digest it, but the Business Senator told us this evening, that he doesn't need that entire month to realize that the Government is increasing taxes. He said that no matter how the Prime Minister spins it, broadening the tax base, is the same thing as increasing taxes on the general public. Here's how he explained it:

Another City Shooting
There has been another newstime shooting in the city. 7News has confirmed that a man has been rushed to the hospital after he was reportedly shot at his home on Ordonez Street - which is off Western Avenue in the St. Martin's area. His condition is not confirmed at this time - but he is said to be in grave condition. Our news team is on the scene and we'll have more on this tomorrow.

The Teakettle Tete-A-Tete
Teakettle Village may not be the typical setting for a major diplomatic tete-a-tete, but a resort in that western village is where the Belize - Guatemala Joint Commission met today. According to an official release, the Commissioners of both countries, Ambassadors Alexis Rosado and Georges de La Roche, headed the meeting with Katalina Montana as the OAS representative. They reviewed the earlier progress regarding the bilateral agreements signed in 2014 and agreed that the implementation of those long - languishing agreements will be accelerated. The Joint Commission will meet again in April 2018.

EU Loan For Health Sector Greening
In other diplomatic news, Prime Minister Dean Barrow and and the European Union Ambassador to Belize today signed two Financing Agreements for a total of $28.8 million Belize dollars for Health and Public Finance Management projects. Most of the money, $25.6 million Belize dollars will be used in the Health Sector to upgrade health facilities to meet SMART and Green standards. The idea is to get health facilities in a condition to withstand natural disasters and be more energy efficient. The Public Finance Management portion of the funds is $3.2 Million Belize dollars, which will be used to strengthen of the internal and external audit control systems and the Office of the Contractor General.

The Upside of “River Bottom”
"River Bottom" it is a play by Jamaican Patrick Brown and Rotarians in Belize want to bring it to life for you, but with all that Belizean-ness we know and love. This is the Rotary's 15th production and Rotarian Sandra Mckay dropped by to tell us why everyone should treat themselves and their families to this showing. Sandra Mckay, Rotarian: "Well the name of this play is 'River Bottom', it is one of Patrick Brown's production and the public might be very familiar with that name by now because since the year 2003 most of our annual plays have been from Patrick Brown." "It is set in rural Jamaica when Patrick wrote it so we transferred it to Rural Belize. We choose the village of Bomba, at the time we heard that they did not yet have light or "lectrification" as Patrick calls it and water so that was the kind of setting, he calls it a fishing village, a 'fishining' village that is part of the humor."

Calling All Aspiring Actors/Actresses
And those same Rotarians can probably audition for a pilot tv series entitled Life or Death. An international film director is in Belize to film it. He dropped by to tell us that he wants it to be a series featuring a Belizean cast . Auditions are tomorrow and Friday from 9 to 4 at the House of Culture. Everyone is invited. Krusen has filmed features in 20 different countries including Bosnia , South Africa and Mexico to name a few. He lived in Belize for 2 years.

Rotary’s Rewarding Raffle
How would you like to win a clean 50 grand? That's what those who bought into Sunrise Rotary's Cash raffle got to dream about for months…until a winner was chosen this week. Tickets sold for one hundred dollars each and Cellular Plus bought two of them - and one of them turned out to be the winner. That's a pretty good return on investment and we found out more from the roatry and a representative of the winning company today:

GOB and AA Back To CCJ
The legal battles between the Government of Belize and the Ashcroft Alliance continued at the CCJ today. Today they were arguing over the same 90 million dollars plus arbitration award which the Government owes the Belizean Bank for the Universal Health Services debacle. As has been extensively reported - the government has tabled the appropriations bill in the National Assembly - because they hold very firmly that only that body can authorize a payment from the consolidated revenue fund. But, the Ashcroft Alliance is impatiently waiting on its money - after it got a firm and final judgement from the CCJ. But, the government majority in Parliament has clearly indicated that it will vote against it.

The Airwing Answer
Today Belmopan Police literally went far out of their way - all the way to Ladyville - to give 20 police youth cadets from their area a look into a world they could never imagine. It's a trip to the BDF Special Boat Unit and the Airwing of the Belize Defence Force. The kids were given a tour of the military installments and a helicopter display. OC Howell Gillett who led the trip told us more via voice message:

Channel 5

The Blue Tide Reaches City Hall – Wagner and Team Now in Charge
There was a changing of the guard today at City Hall, from the red to the blue. A new mayor and councillors for the country’s largest municipality took the oath [...]

U.B. Students Take Anti-Crime Protest to National Assembly
In Belmopan, where the upper house met today, a group of students left their classrooms at the University of Belize and headed over to the national assembly building. For about [...]

Emergency Evacuation after Ceiling Problems at K.H.M.H.
This evening, there was mass movement at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City. News Five understands that there were issues with the ceiling of the national referral hospital, [...]

Teacher Charged with Assault of Minor, 16
A teacher of Independence Village is being accused of sexual assault of a sixteen-year-old girl. Lennox Mejia, known as “Namule,” was read the charge before Magistrate Deborah Rogers in the [...]

P.U.P. Leader: Insatiable G.O.B. Can’t Get Enough of Taxes
During the budget presentation for the upcoming fiscal year, Prime Minister Barrow announced that a tax of twelve and a half percent will be added to the existing cost of [...]

Consumers to Pay Extra Costs
While he stayed away from speaking on behalf of Speednet Communications, the parent company of Smart, Briceño says that the additional cost will be borne by consumers of data, potentially [...]

Taxes Should Be Going Down, Says Mark Lizarraga
The debate for the 2018 Budget is set for next week Thursday and Friday. One of the key points will be how the government is managing the tax base for [...]

Gov’t Still Too Spendthrift
According to Lizarraga, G.O.B. in 2017 had promised austerity measures to cut back on operational expenses. In the 2018 Budget, they’ve only been able to do so by two percent, [...]

Will Belize Bank Finally Be Paid for U.H.S.?
The Caribbean Court of Justice this morning heard dueling applications from the Belize Bank Limited and the Attorney General in Port of Spain concerning the still-outstanding U.H.S. matter. The C.C.J. [...]

In Washington, Court Says Assets Can Be Collected
The Belize Bank is tightening the screws. On Monday a U.S. district court judge ordered that the Bank can seize property owned by the government of Belize “in the jurisdictions [...]

The True Value of B.T.L.
When the new budget was presented to the House of Representatives last Friday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow made claims with respect to the value and cost of B.T.L. Tonight, we [...]

Is New Investment in Phone Company a Good Idea?
A loan to B.T.L. was also tabled before the Senate today. The loan from Taiwan is for of thirty-five million Belize dollars, for a commitment period of twelve years at [...]

Accused Cop Killer to Learn Fate in 2 Weeks
Thirty-seven-year-old Delford Slusher has been on trial for the past three weeks, accused of the murder of a police officer. Corporal Victor Lima was shot twice in the chest during [...]

Where is Teeth in Stores Orders Regulations?
The 1968 Stores Orders Regulations were last amended in 1992. They establish ceilings under which accounting officers may purchase stores both locally and internationally without first having written approval from [...]

U.D.P. in Charge in San Pedro; P.U.P. Says Not for Long
A new U.D.P. town council was sworn-in on Tuesday in San Pedro, amid a pending legal challenge being mounted by the People’s United Party. Mayor Daniel Guerrero won by a [...]

Bernard Wagner: P.U.P. CitCo Will Perform
Bernard Wagner enters office with an uncertain grasp of how well off the Council is. The Municipal Bond is tied to the City’s subvention from Central Government and other sources [...]

Coming Together on Women and Violence Issues
The Belize Movement for Peace and Reconciliation says that it is strategizing and implementing change to address the cycle of violence that seems to have a grip on the country [...]

Gov’t Receives New Financing from E.U.
Belize and the European Union have reached agreement on nearly twenty-nine million dollars in financing for projects in the health and public finance management sectors. The agreements were signed in [...]

Calling All Actors for New TV Series
If you have a passion for acting or just want to see if you have what it takes, then you might want to head out and audition for a part [...]

Cellular Plus Wins Rotary Raffle
Fifty-thousand dollars – that’s how much Cellular Plus Belize won in a raffle. The Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise played a willy-wonka golden ticket style raffle to raise funds for [...]

LOVE FM

Senators debate $40M loan project for the upgrading of the Caracol Road
The Senate met today in Belmopan. The morning session focused on the OPEC Fund for International Development forty million US dollar – Upgrading of the Caracol Road Project, Phase 1 Loan Motion. Through this project, the Government of Belize aims to improve the connectivity and accessibility between the George Price Highway and the Caracol Archaeological, …

UB students protest increased of crime against children
Students from the University of Belize, Belmopan Campus, staged a protest in front of the National Assembly Building. The students, most of who are from the English department, protested the increase of crimes against children, specifically focusing on the case of 17 month old Allyssa Nunez. Lecturer Carmecita Adilma Romero told us more. Carmencita Romero, …

Will Belize Bank Limited cease GOB’s assets?
Yesterday we told you that U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta authorized the Belize Bank Limited to seize property owned by the government of Belize in the jurisdictions where such attachment or execution is appropriate. According to court documents, Judge Mehta determined that the Government of Belize has been given all required notices and a …

Belize Movement for Peace & Reconciliation to tackle the crime problem
This morning Belize Movement for Peace and Reconciliation held a press conference to address the crime situation that has been plaguing our society. In her address, the Co-ordinator of the Belize Movement for Peace and Reconciliation, Cynthia Ellis-Topsey said that a group of capable people will join forces to fight against the crime problem. Cynthia …

New jobs at City hall?
But proper housing is but one of many issues Belize City residents, in particular PUP party supporters, will be looking forward to. The new City Council will be flooded with requests for jobs, especially from party supporters. How will Mayor Wagner handle the issue? He suggested there are options that can be looked at. Bernard …

PUP City Council sworn into office
Supporters of the People’s United Party converged on the Belize City Hall this afternoon as the newly elected City Council was officially sworn into office. The team, led by Mayor Bernard Wagner, took their oath and are now officially running City Hall. The team swept the polls on March seven on a campaign that ran …

New City Council announces housing project
But it was not all about the mess at City Hall today. In his address to supporters this afternoon, Mayor Wagner made an announcement and a promise to Belize City residents. According to the Mayor, as early as September, they will be making good on one of their commitments and that’s on housing. Here’s how …

New City Administration reviews contracts at City Hall
Since their win on March 7, Mayor Wagner has kept busy in his new office. Today he told the media that since they took over office, they have found that the council saw an increase in expenditure, especially in the period leading up to elections. This is something that is now being closely looked at; …

Portfolios for new council at City Hall still pending
While Mayor Wagner and his ten councilors swore their allegiance to the City today, there is still some organizing to do. Wagner says they are still to decide how the portfolios will be distributed among the councilors. That, he says should be sooner rather than later. Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “We continue to work …

Blogs

A Perfect (Usual) Day in San Pedro
You may recognize L. Kelly Jones from his great aerial photography in New Year, New Life, New Business? and How Big is Ambergris Caye? Now you can enjoy his wonderful one-day itinerary guest post. He and his wife Susan know how to pack in a full day eating, diving, and drinking their way around San Pedro town. L. Kelly Jones is a Texas Board Certified –Commercial Real Estate agent and longtime Belize visitor. He also took all the fantastic pictures in this post.

International Sources

Corals, cayes and cocktails in Belize
It takes 10 minutes to get the allure of stand-up paddleboarding – 10 minutes to fumble down the edge of Southwest Caye, quads burning, and turn into a placid lagoon flanked by mangroves and sheltered from the easterly trade winds that blow across Glover's Reef. Guide Cedric (Budge) Casimiro points out a sun-bleached iguana, eyeing us lazily from a branch above. Another vibrant world awaits below our feet, so we drop the boards, strap on masks and slip into the lagoon. There are sea grasses, anemone, sea urchins, conch shells, an orange starfish covered in knobby cleats. Spotted rays, surgeonfish, yellow goatfish, scrawled cowfish, grunts and sergeant-majors, their yellow bodies decorated with five black bars. On the lagoon floor is a large bed of upside-down jellyfish, throbbing blotches of army green, mustard yellow, rust red and indigo blue. Their arms are clustered on top of their bodies (not on the bottom, like most jellyfish), where they attract growths of symbiotic algae. Their antennae drift like tethered tadpoles, each with a shock of colour and constantly pulsing as we drift above in barely a metre of water. It's like snorkelling through open-heart surgery.

These Neon Shrimp Are the Bees of the Sea—Here's Why
With 60-mile-per-hour pincers that create noisy shockwaves capable of stunning or killing their foes, it's no wonder snapping shrimp are sometimes compared to pistols. But being quick on the draw is not the most interesting thing about these see-through crustaceans, several species of which make their home within sponges on coral reefs. You see, snapping shrimp are the only animals in the ocean known to practice eusociality—or the division of labor and collective raising of young most commonly seen in insects such as honeybees and some mammals, like naked mole rats. For the study, Bornsbusch and colleagues examined more than 300 snapping shrimp queens collected from sponges over the course of 25 years from coral reefs in Panama, Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Florida.

Videos

Tour bus Belize, 4min.

Belize at ITB Berlin. Kudos to all who represented Belize at ITB Berlin, 4min. With Belize Tourism Board recording huge increases from the German market, Karen Pike, the director of marketing & industry relations, shares what's behind the increase, as well as adventure, wellness and rejuvenation in Belize

ANNUAL AGRICULTURE AND CULTURE FAIR WAS CELEBRATED AT CHAN PINE RIDGE VILLAGE, 3.5min. On Sunday the Village of Chan Pine Ridge came alive as residents celebrated their annual Chan Pine Ridge Agriculture and Cultural Fair. Despite numerous obstacles, one of them being the lack of support from Government, the Village Council, under the leadership of Cornelio Torres, managed to pull through.

Daniel Guerrero reinstated as Mayor of San Pedro Town, 2min. Swearing In Ceremony of all UDP 7 took place last night.

Swearing In Ceremomy Belize City Council 2018 - 2021, 2hr.

Scuba Diving in Belize near the Blue Hole, 1.5min. Diving off of Half Moon Caye, Belize. 3 separate clips of diving with Caribbean reef sharks, feeding a school of fish, and finding a spotted moray eel.

Diver Travels Into Darkness Of Great Blue Hole Of Belize, 4min. This recreational diver tested the boundaries by venturing into the deep, dark abyss of The Great Blue Hole. Erin Spencer, 40, travelled 11,814 kilometres from New Zealand to Belize, reaching a depth of 134.18ft – four feet further than the recommended recreational depth. The international customer relations manager said although visibility diminished after diving only 20 metres - due to several days of rough weather – the sight was incredible.