FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE
Click for our Daily Tropical Weather Report.
Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5 and CTV3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, and the Dickie Bradley Specials
The San Pedro Sun
Gabriela "Gaba" Nu�ez places second in Mr. Vigor y Fuerza 2014
In only the second competition of her career, Gabriela "Gaba" Nu�ez has placed second in the Bikini Fitness division of the 9th Annual Mr. Vigor y Fuerza 2014. Held on Sunday, May 4th in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, the competition saw participants from across the region join in commemorating the 29th anniversary of the Vigor and Strength Gym located in Merida.
The competition included categories for children up to the age of 17 years, beginners, youth, novice, men's physique, modeling women's figure for veterans, and bikini fitness. Winners of the Mr. Vigor and Fuerza qualified for Mr. Mexico Youth and Veterans National Tournament to be held on May 16th and 18th in Mexico City. Winners in the female category will participate in an exclusive championship for women to be held in Mexico City on May 10th and 11th.
Team Legends are the Champions!
It was an exciting afternoon on Sunday, May 4th at the Honorable Louis Sylvester Football Arena as the San Pedro Sports Committee Football Tournament final games were played. After weeks of games, it was down to Team Southwind and Team Legends in the finals. Eager football fans came out to see the highly anticipated games, and they were not disappointed. The first game was actually to determine the third place team, Team Dorados or Team Caye Caulker. The team from our neighboring island village came out with all its might, showing no mercy as they scored a goal in the first minutes of the game. Dorados quickly evened the score, but that single goal did not matter in the face of Caye Caulker's four goals total. With a final score of 4-1, Caye Caulker was awarded the third place trophy and $500 cash.
11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have reduced maternal mortality, new UN data show
A new United Nations report shows that 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made significant progress in reducing deaths from pregnancy-related causes since 1990. However no country in the region is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing maternal mortality 75% by 2015. The 11 countries that significantly reduced maternal mortality (MMR down 40% or more since 1990) are Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru. Despite this progress, an estimated 9,300 women lost their lives in Latin America and the Caribbean due to pregnancy-related causes in 2013 (down from 17,000 maternal deaths in 1990).
The new report, Trends in maternal mortality estimates 1990 to 2013, estimates changes in maternal mortality worldwide and by region and country. It was produced jointly by the World Health Organization
Ambergris Today
Bella Italia Is Doing Something Right
In the short amount of time that we sat waiting for our food at Bella Italia Restaurant, I saw quite a few boxes of pizza come out of the kitchen ready for delivery. And still, in no time, our food was out - two pizzas, lasagna and shrimp pasta. The cook is a fast one at Bella Italia and people are loving this aspect of the restaurant; and their food is great too!
Bella Italia offers great new options for pizza lovers in San Pedro, having different pizza styles that are delicious, plus they come out faster than most pizza places in town. Browsing through Bella Italia's menu you find pizza options like Salsiccia Pizza (tomato, mozzarella & Italian sausage); Carbonara Pizza (mozzarella, parmesan, bacon & eggs); Esotica Pizza (ham, mozzarella, tomato & pineapple) and Margherita Pizza (tomato, mozzarella & oregano), plus the popular favorites like Meat Lovers, Supreme, Shrimp, Veggie and Pepperoni.
Kids Summer Camp at Basil Jones
Learn about our environment in a fun and interactive way!
July 7 - August 1
Registration for Summer Camp is now underway. Applications can be picked up from the Ministry of Education office in San Pedro. Camp will include: Overnight stay, Reef Education, Swimming, Hiking, Bird watching, Arts & Crafts. Cost is $150/week. Some scholarship may be available. Choose the week or stay all four weeks. The camp is located in the north part of the island near Bacalar Chico and will be chaperoned by teachers and trained personnel. Ages 11 - 16 years. Register by May 15th. For Additional info please call Miriam Codd at 662-0858 or Mito Paz at 663-2865 or [email protected]
San Pedro Teams Top Mahahual Fishing Tournament
Two fishing teams from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, topped the 23rd annual Copa Gobernador 2014, Fishing Tournament that was held over the weekend in Mahahual, Mexico besting 57 other teams from five different Mexican states, USA and Belize.
Fishing crew of the Real Challenge boat managed to secure the second place at the tournament while Team Amigos (Amigos del Mar) placed third, both taking home a new vehicle and trophy. Participants from San Pedro include Team Amigos, Lady Leslie, Real Challenge, Rojo Lara among others.
Ambergris Today Congratulates both teams on their excellent performance.
Misc Belizean Sources
Belize Tourism Expo 2014
Betex, Belize's Tourism Expo, starts tomorrow, and ends Friday. Many Cayo businesses will be attending the BTIA organized event, which will, take place in Belize City. Cayo's Larry Waight wrote an article about BETEX for commdiginews.com. You can find out more at their website: http://www.betex.bz/
"The Belize Tourism Expo is an initiative of the Belize Tourism Industry Association, Belize's leading national private sector tourism association. BTIA represents a unified voice, and advocates for issues that benefit its members. BTIA also influences tourism policy, legislation and marketing for the sustainable development of the industry and improved quality of the visitor experience. BETEX was first organized in 1996 and now takes place every two years, attracting approximately 300 - 350 local and international tourism professionals and press representatives."
Western Ballaz Take Down No Limit
The Western Ballaz travelled to Belize City to play the No Limit at the Bird's Isle court. The Western Ballaz won the match 63 - 77, sealing their 2nd place in the NEBL(photos on G+). They travel to PG this Saturday to play the Toledo Diplomats. They host the Belmopan Bandits on Friday, May 16th. Go Ballaz!
FISHING REPORT: Week of April 27 - May 3rd, 2014
Week Summary: It was great having Jason and Dane from the Crested Butte Fly Shop hosting a great group from Texas, 20 in all, and all had a blast! The wind was just relentless until very late in the week so it kept the permit and tarpon number in check.
Phase 2 Solar Panels Installed and working at Holy Cross!!
Thanks to you, our many donors, our Phase 2, second set of solar panels, have now been installed by Baker Renewable Energy (BRE, http://bakerrenewable.com/) at Holy Cross Anglican School in San Mateo, Belize. This second set will produce peak 5KW of power generation -- doubling our capacity from 5KW to 10KW.This past week, two BRE technicians spent the week working at Holy Cross Anglican school to afix the new array on roofing sections above the kitchen and lower division classrooms. As shown in the attached picture, the new array features 10 250W panels that are angled toward the east, and 10 that are angled toward the west. This will even out the power distibution curve. Further, the roof-length is long enough that we can, up to a point, simply add-on additional panels without having to implement additional breaker equipment. Since each panel has its own microinverter, a problem with any one panel will not bring down the entire array.
HOMEMADE MOSQUITO TRAP
WITH WARMER WEATHER COMES MOSQUITOS! WITH SUMMER APPROACHING I THOUGHT I'D SHARE THIS
Have you noticed the Mosquitos are already out! Here is a homemade trap to help keep you and the kiddos from being a blood donor!!!
HOMEMADE MOSQUITO TRAP:
Items needed:
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 gram of yeast
1 2-liter bottle
HOW:
1. Cut the plastic bottle in half.
2. Mix brown sugar with hot water. Let cool. When cold, pour in the bottom half of the bottle.
3. Add the yeast. No need to mix. It creates carbon dioxide, which attracts mosquitoes.
4. Place the funnel part, upside down, into the other half of the bottle, taping them together if desired.
5. Wrap the bottle with something black, leaving the top uncovered, and place it outside in an area away from your normal gathering area. (Mosquitoes are also drawn to the color black.)
Change the solution every 2 weeks for continuous control.
Government by default
By Abdulmajeed K Nunez
How can we allow Francis to become PM by default?
No wonder the country is doing economic summersaults
It's gonna be everyone's fault
For failing to think outside the colonial vault
Development is at a screeching halt
The minute you sell you vote
And take the load of sand and the blue note
The citizenry eating five years worth of salt
Because of the contract they made under strain
It's youths committing all sorts of assaults
The entire country is at fault
Medical SNCO: Helping others makes for happy heart
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Cassandra Glasco says it makes her heart happy whenever she's able to help other people.
Helping people is essentially in her job description as a New Horizons Belize 2014 medical technician deployed from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., in support of medical readiness training exercises, or MEDRETEs, in the Punta Gorda region in Belize.
The 19-year senior NCO is spending the second year in a row on the New Horizons team, sharing her lessons learned from last year and also sharing her compassionate demeanor with Belizeans lining up to receive free medical care. New Horizons is a multi-faceted exercise geared toward providing mutual medical training and advancement opportunities for Belizean medical providers and their Canadian and U.S. military counterparts.
"The difference I'm seeing this year is our reach has been a little further," Glasco recalled. "Last year, we stayed closer to the main cities for our MEDRETEs. This year, we are going out into the villages.
SBDC and DOE at Agric
The Small Business Development Center was at Agric, and they got some pictures of their clients' merchandise.
The Department of the Environment had an information booth there too.
"Proud clients of SBDCBelize"
Romain Virgo Unplugged Concert
Romain Virgo played after Agric at Barrio Fino, and Danny Chung got some wicked shots of the concert. Denise Castillo and Shannelly Sutherland also performed. More great pictures are coming.
Belmopan Sports Wednesday
The Bandits host the Verdes today at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium for the semifinals of the PLB Belikin Cup. The game starts at 7:30pm. The Belmopan Active Youth is having their basketball final at Hilltop Court, starting at 7:00pm. They'll have Above the Influence playing the Ball Hard Live Free.
BEL Reviews PUC's Initial Decision on Annual Review Proceeding
Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) is reviewing the Public Utilities Commission's (PUC) Initial Decision on the 2014 Annual Review Proceeding (ARP) for BEL.
BEL is pleased that the PUC's Initial Decision also proposes a reduction in electricity rates, which amounts to a 1 per cent deviation from BEL's proposal. This decision allows BEL to fulfill its Mission to "provide reliable electricity at the lowest sustainable cost�"
The Company will be meeting with its Management team to review the PUC's entire decision, including the five schedules approved, to determine the possible implications of the PUC's decision on BEL's Five Year Investment Plan.
BEL will submit its written comment to the PUC by May 12, as required under the ARP.
The Belize Road Safety Initiative
Sometimes you've just got to "take the keys" to save lives.
Young Ashley Silva lost her life last month in a tragic traffic accident. Her parents, Karim and Melonie, open up their ordeal, reminding us to "buckle up" and "think before you drink".
Be sure to like The Belize Road Safety Initiative to listen their story and more. Learn about what the Government of Belize is doing to make Belize's roads safer for all!
Channel 7
Cayo CET Says UDP Chairman Alberto Wants to Quitar School Land
Tonight, the faculty, staff and student body the Center for Employment Training in San Ignacio are upset because a piece of their school land is being allocated for another public purpose.
They say that they've been maintaining it for years with hopes of getting a title for it, but now the Chairman of the Belize Water Services, Alberto August - who is also the Chairman of the UDP Party - is hoping to make use of it for the relocation of the San Ignacio Fire Department.
7News went to the Cayo District to speak to the Vice Chairman of the CET Cayo Board of Governors - who is also a prominent PUP in the town. Here's how he explained it:
Orlando "Landy" Espat - Vice-Chair, Board of Governors, CET Cayo
"It was never maintained by the sports council and we at CET we use to maintain it. It came to a point we heard that this was going to be given away to some private individual and we calculated that it was for speculation purposes, so what we did was to move the board and then we held a meeting with Honorable Francis Fonseca, he was the Minister of Education under the People's United Party government.
Canadian Complains About Street Crime
A Canadian businessman who's been in Belize for just over a week says he might not make it to the end of his stay because he's been robbed twice in eight days.
John Lorenz is stating at the Renaissance Towers in Belize City - and walks over to the Radisson Gym for his morning workout. But, twice, on the walk over, he claims two different pairs of men have tried to rob him.
Lorenz told us about it today:..
John Lorenz, Canadian businessman
"I've been here now since March 26th and I'll be staying for the foreseeable future unless I get killed in the meantime."
Daniel Ortiz
"Why do you feel that your life and safety is threaten in this country?"
John Lorenz, Canadian businessman
"I have lived in a lot of different countries in the world like Rio de Janeiro which is a dangerous city and I never felt unsafe there, but I feel very unsafe here in Belize City.
Accused Cop's Family Complains Of Setup
Last night, the big news was about police constable Yannick Wade, accused of masterminding the theft of 8 guns from the San Pedro police station. Wade is assigned to the san Pedro police station and called in sick on Thursday; the guns were discovered missing on Friday morning - but could have gone missing from Wednesday night.
Wade is in jail tonight because two of the guns were found on the premises of his girlfriend's house - where he is known to reside. He faces multiple charges of theft for the eight missing guns and for keeping an unlicensed firearm.
But while police seem to have a credible case against - what if it is all a setup? That's what his family is alleging. They spoke with Monica Bodden this afternoon:..
Coye Family Money, It's Complicated
Last night we told you about the temporary relief that the Coye family received when Justice Shona Griffith ordered that their bank accounts be unfrozen so that they could get full access to their money. Well, a few hours after that major victory, a Panamanian company, Internet Experts SA, through their local attorney, Lisa Shoman, managed to get an ex-parte injunction from the Supreme Court which restrained the Coyes from accessing their bank accounts.
It's a significant setback for the the Coyes, and today, we got a chance to speak by phone with Lisa Shoman, about why her clients believe they had to block the family at the last minute:
Lisa Shoman
"This was an injunction, an ex parte hearing that was held before Madam Justice Young and it was an application which was made on the 8th of April. When my clients saw that the Coye's were making moves to try and have their funds release the clients instructed that we go ahead and try to get an injunction because going back to 2010 there has been a claim for 4, 8 million dollars by Internet Experts which was file in November of 2010 claiming that the monies were being held among other people were owe to them by Money Exchange International Ltd. Melanie Coye and the late Michael Coye. This was all part and parcel of business that Money Exchange International was doing Internet Experts."
US Child Predator Listed To Be In BZ
A flyer from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says that a convicted child predator is residing in Belize. 63 year old Thomas Allen Bloom was convicted of sexual battery and child coercion in Brevard Florida in 1997. He is registered as a sexual predator in Florida and his given address on the flyer is Belize. Doesn't say where in Belize but the information was updated to reflect his Belize location in 2013.
US sex offenders are not required to register in Belize.
Hon. Boots Says 254 Lots In Cotton Tree Was Private Land Acquisition
Last week Friday on the news - we interviewed the chairman and vice chairman of Cotton Tree Village - who explained why they were suing the government for giving away land within their village boundary. The villagers - bolstered by their PUP Area Representative Julius Espat - have retained attorney Andrew Marshalleck of Barrow and Company to challenge government for overstepping the local authority of the lots committee and the village council to decide who gets land in their village. The challenge comes out of a recently disclosed decision to give city residents 254 lots within Cotton Tree village. In the House of Representatives, it was alleged that all 254 lots are for Anthony Boots Martinez to distribute to his PORT LOYOLA constituents.
Well, Martinez tells us that not quite how it works. The 254 lots are to be shared amongst the eight UDP Area Representatives in Belize City - who will get 30 each. Martinez adds that the lands were not national lands but were acquired from a Chinese landowner who owns a large tract in the area. He said his cabinet colleague Wilfred Sedi Elrington negotiated the purchase of the land for a public purpose. He says the landowner has twice that volume of land to sell and he would encourage the villagers, or their sponsor Julius Espat, to speak to him about purchasing it.
Bliss Center Far From Blissful With Broken AC and No $$$ To Fix It
The Bliss Center, it's one of the only air conditioned indoor facilities in the country, and while it should be the National Theater, in reality, it is used for everything from graduations to pre school variety shows to spiritual revivals to rock concerts. But anyone who's been in there recently will know that it's not so air conditioned anymore. NICH President Dianne Haylock confirmed to us today that only one of the three air conditioning units in the main theater is working. The facility has no windows, so when a performance is going, and there's even half of a full house, it starts getting very hot, very quickly.
So why don't they just fix it? Well Haylock says it's not that simple. She says the Bliss Center has multiple chronic leakage problems due to poor construction when it was first built in the early two thousand's.
Robber Jailed
29 year-old Lincoln Sabido is at jail tonight after he was taken to court for robbing a Chinese Grocer a week ago.
According to police, 37 year-old Desuo Li, the owner of Ying Li Shop, reported that on last week Tuesday, he was unloading items from his vehicle when 2 men entered his shop. One of the men pulled out a gun and the other a knife. At gunpoint, the men ordered him to lie on the ground, and that's when they robbed him of 2 cellular phones and 2 cartons of cigarettes and $700 cash. 2 customers were in the store at the same time and they were also robbed of money and possessions to a total value of $3,500.
BEL Pleased With PUC
BEL sent out a release today basically saying it's not fighting with the Public Utilities Commission - even though the regulator cut its proposed rate decrease by one percent.
BEL says it is pleased that the PUC's Initial Decision also proposes a reduction in electricity rates. But will it object to that decision as BWSL recently did? A release says the Company will be meeting with its Management team to review the entire decision�to determine the possible implications�on BEL's Five Year Investment Plan.
BEL will submit its written comment to the PUC by May 12th.
Why Was Water Interrupted For Hours?
Yesterday just after midday, approximately 12,000 households along the Northern Highway and in Belize City, which is the largest population centres in the country had no water for a little over 7 hours.
It wasn't a planned service interruption; early in the morning they discovered complete break in one of their 24 inch main pipes on the highway, which required them to dig 10 feet into the ground to repair it.
Today, the operations officer explained to us why they had no choice but to interrupt service after trying to ensure that those customers had water to use earlier that morning:
Dave Pascascio - Operations Manager BWS
"We woke up yesterday morning to a break in our main transmission line that supplies Belize City and so what we had to do was to manage the storage we had to last for the duration of the repairs, but cognizant of the fact that we were entering peak morning demand we did not reduce pressures until after peak until about 8am.
It Was A Very Good Year
Last night we told you thirty five thousand people had attended the national agriculture and trade show. Today the Ministry of Agriculture sent out day by day breakdowns: 16000 persons attended on Saturday and 18000 on Sunday. This is an increase over the previous year.
Cyclists To Puebla
Today 6 top male cyclists left Belize for Peubla Mexico to participate in the Pan American Cycling Road Championship form May 6th - 11th. They are Joel Borland and Giovanni Lovell in the Under 23 category, and Marlon Castillo, Greg Lovell, Ron Vasquez and Byron Pope in the elite category. They are accompanied by Head Coach, Perry Gibson and cycling Association official, Orson Butler.
A total of 22 countries will be competing for 18 spots in the Pan American Games Toronto 2015.
All the riders will be taking part in the Road Race, while Marlon Castillo, Byron Pope, Joel Borland and Giovanni Lovell will be participating in the Individual Time Trial.
Channel 5
Land dispute between BWS and CET in San Ignacio
There is growing discontent in San Ignacio tonight over one acre of land. The land is a portion of a five acre plot on which the Center for Employment Training [...]
PSU says Chief Pharmacist has been victimized by Health C.E.O.
The pharmacy dispute surrounding the appointment of a Minister's daughter remains on centre stage. Danini Contreras is the daughter of U.D.P. Minister Erwin Contreras. Contreras, who is not registered as [...]
Minister Godwin Hulse has 21 days to resolve Danini Contreras dispute
Those circumstances surrounding the Chief Pharmacist, and arising from the appointment of Danini Contreras, are among the issues which have been taken before the Minister of Labour. As promised, the [...]
Should Danini Contreras be removed as Director of Drug Inspectorate?
And our question for tonight is: Do you believe that Danini Contreras should be removed as Director of Drug Inspectorate? Send your comments and responses using your SMART phones to [...]
70 year old US businessman attacked twice in 8 days
A seventy year old US national currently in Belize on business is reporting that he has been attacked twice in eight days and in broad daylight. John Larencz has been [...]
Despite a court ruling, Coye family still has no access to their monies
On Monday, the Coye family enjoyed a short-lived legal victory when the Supreme Court ordered that their assets, amounting to millions of dollars in cash, be unfrozen.� The family's holdings [...]
Attorney speaks on injunction by Panamanian company
According to Bradley, the injunction was filed without their knowledge. Via Phone: Richard 'Dickie' Bradley, Attorney for Coye Family "So, yesterday the judge gave an order.� Arguments were also [...]
G.O.B. versus Jamaican Gay Activist, Maurice Tomlinson; ruling to be delivered
The Caribbean Court of Justice convenes on Wednesday at its seat in Trinidad where it will hand down a decision in the case of Maurice Tomlinson versus the Government of [...]
Alrick and Brandon Smith acquitted of attempted murder
In March of 2013, police were reportedly engaged in a shootout with two alleged street figures. The incident involved Brandon Smith, aka Battery, a member of the PIV gang located [...]
Accused robber, Lincoln Sabido, is arraigned
A Belize City man from the Berries Street area of Saint Martin's De Porres is tonight on remand at the Belize Central Prison after he was accused of robbing a [...]
Barranco residents speak on oil exploration by US Capital Energy
The village of Barranco is a Garifuna community in the Toledo District; it is also one of five buffer communities on the outskirts of the Sarstoon Temash National Park where [...]
Caye Caulker without a doctor for months
One of the prime tourism islands has been without a doctor, in some instances for months, and the access to timely healthcare on Caye Caulker has become an issue for [...]
17 pharmacies, but only 2 pharmacists in San Pedro
The appointment of the new director of drug inspectorate has brought to the forefront a wide range of shortfalls within the system in respect of imported pharmaceuticals and persons practicing [...]
Belizean is killed in a helicopter accident in the U.S.
A Belizean who left Belize years ago has died in a helicopter crash at Fort Bliss, Texas. He is twenty-seven year old Sergeant Dwight Burn who lived in Barstow, California [...]
PricewaterhouseCoopers hosts financial literacy training
Financial Literacy Training�it not a topic that you often hear about, but it is an initiative that has been ongoing in Belize since 2008.� It targets teachers and students from [...]
Financial training culminates with multiple fairs at ITVET
The two-day training is interactive and includes presentations from various institutions. Deputy Chief Education Officer, Carol Babb, spoke of how the continuous work of the international organization has led up [...]
CTV3
Shots Fired In The Louisiana Area, Bullet Graces Its Target
Residents living in the Louisiana Area of Orange Walk Town had a pretty good scare sometime around 9:00 last night when seven shots rang out in the area.
Reports indicate that Victor Luna, who resides on Asuncion Street, was the target. According to our sources the individual was driving his vehicle on Macal River Street when a lone gun man fired seven shots at his direction. One of the bullets found its target but luckily Luna was only grazed on the right foot.
Orange Walk Police visited the area and recovered 7 (9mm) expended shells. As for the gunman he was long gone by the time police arrived in the area. But police investigations have led to the detention of a 17 year old minor from Sittee River Street in Orange Walk Town.
Thirteen Year Old Goes Missing
A woman from the Village of Carmelita in the Orange Walk District is tonight desperately looking for her 13 year old daughter who exited the family's home at around 3:35am Monday to use the outdoor latrine and went missing.
According to Angela Martinez, when she saw that her daughter, 13 year old Janet Elsie Daniela Martinez did not return inside, she called out for her but received no response. Checks were made in the area and to Martinez's surprise Janet was nowhere to be found.
Martinez reported to police that when she checked Janet's room, she discovered a back pack containing her daughter's clothes and deodorant. Martinez suspects that her daughter left with a twenty three year old man from the same village.
Belizean Soldier Dies In Plane Crash
A Belizean who served with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, in the US Military has died after he and three other soldiers crashed during training exercise in New Mexico. International reports indicate that twenty seven year old Sergeant Dwight W. Burn was the crew chief aboard the CH-47 Chinook helicopter that went down during high altitude mountainous environment training in Fort Bliss' northern training area near Orogrande, New Mexico which is about 45 miles away from the Texas base. There were three other soldiers with Burn and are reportedly listed in stable condition.
Their names and the extent of their injuries were not released. The CH-47 Chinook is a heavy-lift transport helicopter that was first used in Vietnam and today is used mainly to move troops, ammunition, large-caliber guns and equipment. The Brigade Burns was attached to and other units from across the military routinely train at Fort Bliss because of its vast desert and mountain terrain, according to the Military officials.
Electricity Rates To Reduce
And amidst all the bad news there is a bit of good news to share with you tonight especially in these hard economic times.
Belizeans are to see a reduction in their electricity bill. That announcement was made yesterday by the Public Utilities Commission who has approved a minimal reduction in electricity rates, after carefully following the Annual Review Proceeding submitted by Belize Electricity Limited earlier this year.
According to the PUC the rate presently stands at 0.04465 cents per kilowatt per hour. A 0.0165 cents reduction has been applied to the rate, cutting it down to what now consumers will be paying 0.04300 cents per kilowatt per hour.
BEL had predicted a little over ninety three million, three hundred thousand in regulating assets value; however the Public Utilities Commission has reduced that figured by approximately seventeen million dollars. After carefully reviewing the annual proceedings by BEL, in a press briefing John Avery, Chairman at the Public Utilities Commission spoke about the corrections of the retroactive formula used from the period of July 1st 2012 to June 30th, 2013.
Muffles High School Receives Much Needed Financial Assistance
Muffles High School is much closer to achieving their dream of constructing their much needed auditorium. Today, during a short assembly at the school grounds, Chairman of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association Committee of Management, Alfredo Ortega, handed over a cheque of one thousand dollars to the Principal of the highs school Margie Johnston. The donation was made under the BSCFA / Fair Trade Educational Program.
Alfredo Ortega - Chair Man BSCFA
"It's a program that the farmers throughout the social program that they had approved when we had the meeting for the Orange Walk branch in which they approved for the different schools and at this time it was four schools and one charity group that were approved for this program and the farmers set aside five thousand dollars and it was divided equally so each school will be getting a thousand dollars and today it is Muffles Highs School that will be getting a thousand dollars for the auditorium program that they have."
Rossana Briceno To Receive Principal Of The Year 2014 Award
The Ministry of Education has selected a Principal of the Year for the year 2014 and the award is going to Rossana Briceno, School Principal at Saint Peter's Anglican School in Orange Walk Town. Briceno was chosen by the Ministry of Education and the Teacher Education Development Service for her years of service and dedication to her work at the Anglican school. Briceno was selected for the award following an extensive interview session with principals from primary schools across all six districts in the country. We will have more on this story in our subsequent newscast.
Classes Cancelled At Ranchito Government School
An insect infestation has prompted the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the Village Council at Ranchito Village in the Corozal District to take action at the Ranchito Government School. While officials at the Ministry of Education would not give an official comment on the matter, our news room has received several phone calls from concerned parents who have told us that classes have been cancelled for the week. Our News Team visited the school today in an effort to find out what the situation is. Dalila Ical reports.
Dalila Ical - Reporting
Classes have been cancelled for the week at the Ranchito Government School after parents and the school administration complained about serious insect and quite possibly rodent infestations at the school.
While Officials at the Ministry of Education refused to give us an official comment, concerned parents have made calls to our news room saying that the situation is one that has been ongoing for a long time now.
58 Immigrants Including One Belizean Detained In Mexico
Over the past weeks Mexican Newspapers have been reporting on a number of cases that are being linked to human trafficking. First it was the alleged kidnapping of two 8 year old girls from Sabidos Quintana Roo, a small Mexican Community located along the banks of the Rio Hondo.
The minors were allegedly lured to the river bank by a 13 year old girl who reportedly worked for a 19 year old Belizean man only identified as Ariel who lives in the community. Luckily the kidnapping was foiled after the parents of the minors went searching for them. The girls were allegedly to be brought to Belize.
The second report was aired last night. As we mentioned a 16 year old minor reported to Mexican Authorities in Felipe Carrillo Puerto that for the past seven months she has been in a relationship with a man identified as Miguel Angel Manzanero Cocom and all that she wanted was to come back home to Belize since she was being verbally and physically abused by Cocom. We understand that authorities were investigating the matter. And now to tonight's report.