The joint release from the MLA and the TAA also states that, “the decision by government ranks among the worst of the many recent improprieties and injustices surrounding the rosewood and larger logging industry, and they call government’s conduct intolerable.” But notwithstanding that, the Mayan leaders are still committing their assistance with the possible fallout [...]
The 2013 hurricane season for the Atlantic will be a busy one…that’s the official predictions coming out from Doctor William Gray and his colleagues at the Colorado State University. They predict that there will be more activity than the median from 1981-2010 season. From eighteen named storms, nine are expected to become hurricanes of which [...]
Over the course of this week and particularly today, the heat has been unbearable. While at the Met, we took the opportunity to ask, meteorologist, Ronald Gordon, about the cause of the sweltering heat. Gordon says that it is normal during the dry season and gave some recommendations in adapting to the hot temperatures. [...]
Shipments of Rosewood, which fetches top dollar in mainland China, were blocked by a moratorium by the Ministry of Forest, Fisheries and Sustainable Development. But on Monday, cameras caught the removal of flitches from the Forest Department in the Capital. Both the Minister, Lisel Alamilla and the Chief Forest Officer, Wilbur Sabido, are out of [...]
So, finally there is an explanation of an official sort; even if delivered in a less than official fashion. But there are glaring points which the Minister of National Security brushed aside during his regularly scheduled appearance on the “Fus Ting Da Mawnin” show. In March, rosewood found in Belize and the rest of the [...]
The rosewood crisis festered until February 2012, when the moratorium was introduced. Up to that time, one of the main exporters of timber, and a name frequently associated with illicit harvesting of rosewood, is Kambokin Enterprises Limited. That company is registered in Corozal, and when News Five went digging for answers, we found out that [...]
Rosewood is once again in the media spotlight; that is, confiscated or harvested rosewood. The much sought after timber first got all this attention because millions of dollars worth of its flitches were seized from illegal loggers even when a moratorium was in place. Now, ironically, it is getting all this attention because government is [...]
But while government is ominously silent on the rosewood issue, public outrage has been fast and furious and very loud. This morning on the airwaves, Belizeans called the decision to return the illegally harvested rosewood shameful and disgraceful. Today, News Five spoke to Toledo activist Wil Maheia, who has been involved in the fight to [...]
And the very active COLA, represented by its vocal president Giovanni Brackett, weighed in on the rosewood issue this afternoon as well. He says his organization is outraged, and will do whatever is necessary to call out the government to right what they see as an egregious wrong. Giovanni Brackett, President, COLA “There are [...]
At two minutes past two this afternoon, a five point five magnitude earthquake occurred near Tela, Atlantida which shook up other areas in north, central and southern Honduras. It lasted about three seconds and while no deaths have been reported so far, telephone and electricity lines were interrupted. The earthquake was felt in north-eastern Guatemala [...]
The harvesting of rosewood is illegal and there is a moratorium in place since March sixteenth, 2012, but that has not stopped the highly lucrative trade to markets in China, where there is a huge demand for the precious hardwood. On Monday afternoon, confiscated flitches of rosewood held at the Forestry compound in Belmopan were [...]
But while there are certainly more questions than answers, the clouds are beginning to clear away from what is actually taking place on the rosewood scene. This afternoon a release from the Forest Department, sans official letterhead, declared that an amnesty period is in effect for rosewood harvested before March fourteenth, 2013. The release states [...]
Each year the Protected Areas Conservation Trust, PACT, awards project grants to organizations to support the conservation and promotion of environmentally sound management of Belize’s natural and cultural resources. While the organizations who receive that much coveted funding assistance may change from year to year, the goal they work toward remains the same. This year [...]
The conch season will be closed from July first to September thirtieth, but three persons have been arrested and fined for fishing undersized conch in southern Belize. The bust was made by the Southern Environmental Association, known as SEA, which co-manages various marine areas. Two persons, who were caught with nine hundred and eleven undersized [...]
Throughout the year, manatees are injured or killed at sea by water traffic. The rehabilitation of injured manatee falls largely on the shoulders of a conservation group that treats them to be released back into the wild. It could be a long process but it is certainly costly. The center is located up north and [...]
On March fifth, a black howler monkey was captured and savagely beaten allegedly at the hands of four third form students of the Belize High School of Agriculture in southern Orange Walk. But despite immediate rehabilitation, the endangered species did not survive the attack and perished exactly one week later, on March twelfth. Video circulated [...]
Move over Grammy Awards…it’s time to celebrate music in Belize and there’s no better place to do that than the third annual Belize Music Awards. The event kicks off with a red carpet affair at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday night, and with all the hype and talent in the lineup, [...]
As we reported in our previous newscasts, residents of Orange Walk, as well as various conservation organizations, have expressed outrage over an act of extreme animal cruelty, which led to the death of a howler monkey at the hands of a group of teenagers. The incident occurred at the Belize High School of Agriculture in [...]
The investigation by the Forest Department into the beating of a black howler monkey and its subsequent death from injuries sustained has concluded. It is believed that charges will be levied against four third form students and a teacher who were involved in the incident. The fine for the offense is one thousand dollars each [...]
In January and early February it seemed that rosewood was in the news nightly, with somebody either harvesting it illegally, burning it, sneaking it out of the country or discovering it by the container-load. But since then there’s barely been a murmur about rosewood. Now is that because the smugglers have gotten craftier or because [...]
And that donation of communication equipment could not have come at a better time, as today the Fisheries Department hosted a seminar on communication with its partner agencies including the BDF boat wing, the Police, the Coast Guard, the Port Authority and Customs Department. The workshop is targeted at improving the link between these agencies, [...]
A black howler monkey was allegedly savagely beaten by four third form students of the Belize High School of Agriculture in southern Orange Walk has not survived the attack. After being stabilized at a clinic in Belize City last week, the monkey was transferred to a rehabilitation facility run by the Forest Department in Corozal. [...]
On Tuesday evening, a black howler monkey was allegedly captured and savagely beaten by four students of a school in southern Orange Walk. Even worse than that, reports suggested that a teacher instructed the students to stone the monkey and beat it with sticks since it had defecated on him while he was taking a [...]
And while Oceana celebrated the seas, there was a very wild celebration on the mainland. Our camera friendly buddies at the Belize Zoo were gyrating to the sound of the voices of preschoolers from La Democracia on Wednesday morning. The singing group called “The Gibnuts” regaled Junior Buddy, the ambassador Jaguar and Panama, the Harpee [...]
Belize became the first country in the world to completely ban bottom trawling in December 2010. A statutory instrument made it illegal to carry out trawling in Belizean waters. The initiative was the brainchild of Oceana Belize which bought the last two operational trawlers from a local fishing cooperative. But in the south of the [...]
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