The Belize Agricultural Health Authority, BAHA, is reminding the public that importing agricultural products without the necessary permit is illegal and punishable by law. In an interview with the Technical Director of BAHA’s Quarantine and Inspection Services, Hernan Zetina, he stated that border control will be tight, and fines will be hefty this season to ensure the safety of all Belizeans and animals that unregulated items put at risk. Here’s more on that.
On the phone: Hernan Zetina
On the phone: Hernan Zetina, Technical Director, Quarantine and Inspection Services, BAHA
“The reason why BAHA is very concerned about contraband is that a lot of times these products do not go through the process of risk assessment and therefore they can serve as pathways for plant pests and animal diseases that may be in the region or not in the region, but in other parts of the world, but are not present in Belize and so if these plant pests or animal diseases do come into Belize, they could devastate our agricultural patrimony. There’s also, sometimes people bring food items that may not be wholesome, and so they can pose problems for humans and also for animals, for example, when people bring in contraband feed. So the press release is just a reminder to everyone involved in the importation, seal distribution of agricultural products that are regulated by BAHA, that it is illegal to import these products without a BAHA permit, or if you’re found in possession of illegally imported products, then you can face hefty fines and also go to prison if you’re convicted. We’re working along with the other regulatory agencies, such as customs, fisheries department, MIT of the Ministry of National Security. And so, it’s a coordinated effort between different agencies. And we’re also stepping up our border inspection. So, during the Easter period, there’s a lot of traffic that happens through the border. And so, we have included inspection as a priority. So, whenever you’re passing the northern or western borders, you might need to catch long lines and you will see our BAHA officers there doing their inspection to ensure that whatever is imported is imported legally.”
Belize ratified the Escazu Agreement last year, and since then, the government has been working on charting a strategic plan to implement the agreement. Named after the second sub-division in San Jose, Costa Rica, the agreement is a binding political treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean that seeks to improve access to information and justice in environmental matters, as well as participation in decision-making. It is the first of its kind of environmental agreement in the world. Now, Belize is working on implementing the agreement after consultations that looked at legislation and policies to guide the process. Today, the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the World Bank held a stakeholder engagement assembly in San Ignacio to begin the process. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story in this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Today, people who have an interest in the environment and access to justice in environmental matters gathered to give their input in the process of formulating a strategic plan to implement the Escazu Agreement. Minister of Sustainable Development, Orlando Habet, says there will be consultations after this stage.
Orlando Habet
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development
“The consultation process now will begin with the roadmap being established, because it is a strategic plan. So now we’ll get the different communities, NGOs, CBOs, and all stakeholders who have an interest, indigenous groups, people from different races, whatever it is that should have an interest, because they also have the rights, so that we can have something that is very comprehensive, meaningful for Belize.”
During the event, Yaya Marin-Coleman from the UBAD Educational Fund sat in protest on the grounds that all relevant organisations should have been included in the process from this inception stage. Ruth Spencer is a community activist from Antigua and Barbuda. She supports the involvement of the NGOs that stand up against developments that threaten the environment.
Ruth Spencer
Ruth Spencer, Community Activist, Antigua and Barbuda
“Unless the people become empowered and take this Escazu Agreement in their hands and move forward with it, that’s where the power is. The power is in the people. Principle Ten was the name before the Escazu Agreement. It came out of the 1992 Rio Summit because the governments realized they alone don’t have all the answers when it comes to environmental matters. So one of the principles that came out of the Rio Summit was Principle Ten, which said stakeholders must be engaged in the process. And look how long it take for the Escazu Agreement to be signed, almost 20 something years. And this is the roadmap that’s being discussed today is for this greater stakeholder engagement. If that doesn’t happen, it’s just going to be something on paper.”
Minister Habet explained that invitations have been sent out countrywide to those organisations, and their input will be welcomed as soon as the consultancy phase, paid for by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, is completed. Habet adds that people who feel they are at risk of suffering severely from climate change and feel that they have been excluded have a chance to take part in the process and have a say in how developments in Belize proceed.
Orlando Habet
“We have to involve the issues of economics, the social issues, and also the environmental issues. This is not only about climate change per se, because climate change is a political issue and a lot of it, as we know, is man-made. But how do we now look at the environment, our eco-systems, our forests. How do we protect those? And then, looking at our environmental justice – how to we protect those people who are the defenders of nature and of the environment. So we have already, for example, pieces of legislation like the Freedom of Information Act, which is crucial and then we have other policies which are in place for climate change, the national biodiversity, the Forest Department have different policies that guide and assist us.”
Early on Monday morning, a fire erupted in San Ignacio Town, catching Juan Tzib and his family off guard as they slept in their residence on Rodriguez Street. The fire originated in a “back room” within the yard, rapidly spreading and engulfing the property, leaving the family unable to salvage any belongings. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported. But the Tzib family lost everything to a fire they believe was intentionally set.
Juan Tzib
Juan Tzib, Fire Victim
“So I closed the gas tank. I couldn’t find the adjustable tool to unscrew it. So I run from my machete and I cut the hose. This is a tank that is of 22 gallons, almost two three-quarters full. And I can tell you, I cannot tell you how I drug that time to the roadside, which is about roughly about 50 feet away. I guess that’s what helped in for the blaze not to get worse but at that time the fire was already coming into the house,. Well, everybody ran out, so we couldn’t save nothing, nothing at all. It is being confirmed by many people that I guess they saw something or know something or have heard something about it. That’s what they’re saying that is, is that guy that did it and I’ll tell you the truth when that fire started and I was on the roadside watching it deeply in my heart, I believe it was him. Nothing takes that away from me that it was him. And like I said, people are confirming to me that it was him.”
If you would like to assist Tzib and his family, you can contact them at six-two-one-four-one-seven-nine.
Tomorrow marks the last day of Peace Corps Language Week 2024. The theme this year highlights the Peace Corps’ commitment to volunteer competencies like diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; International Language Week emphasizes the importance of language in fostering intercultural understanding. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
The Peace Corps is a U.S.-based volunteer organization that partners with countries all over the world to assist and support developmental goals at the grassroots level. The Peace Corps in Belize is one of the longest-running programs in the region, operating since 1962 with over two thousand Americans who lived and worked in Belize as volunteers supporting projects in the health sector, agriculture, women’s empowerment, and education. Peace Corps Country Director in Belize, Nadine Rogers, told us more about their work in Belize.
Nadine Rogers
Nadine Rogers, Country Director, Peace Corps Belize
“Since 1917, we’ve been supporting the Ministry of Education. They have a national literacy strategy and the goal of that is to get all standard one students reading at grade level. And so, we’ve got response volunteers that come and work with teachers to prepare them to be able to implement an illiteracy intervention with those Children that need the help. And then when we first came back after the COVID-19 pandemic we were working with a youth health and wellbeing project which this is its last year, but we’ve had volunteers working in that area they’re partnering with schools. It initially focused on the old health and family life curriculum, but now expanding into sports, exercise, nutrition, some of those other, broader, sort of health and wellbeing.”
According to Rogers, several initiatives that the Peace Corps participates in emphasize youth empowerment and well-being.
Nadine Rogers
“This past year we launched our new project in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Transport and it’s called Youth Empowered by Sports. So, we’re partnering with the National Sports Council coordinators and sports coaches at a number of primary schools and they’re working to ensure that these young people can get the benefit of organized sports, the discipline, the skill the strengthening and the opportunity to engage and talk about life skills and other things through a sporting mechanism.”
Between March eighteenth to the twenty-third, Peace Corps partook in its yearly celebration of International Language Week. It was celebrated under the theme “Language & ICDEIA: Spotlighting Intercultural Communication”. This refers to the commitment to volunteer competencies such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Nadine Rogers
“I think it was Nelson Mandela who famously said, if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head but if you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart, right? And so at the Peace Corps, we recognize that language helps us to nurture, really meaningful connections and bridge differences and just live out the things we believe as an organization., live out our values. And so during Language Week, we celebrate the importance of language to our model of intercultural exchange. We have a development model that is not us pushing certain things. It’s an exchange and a learning and you can’t have that exchange if people are talking in different languages.”
Rogers explained that during language week, volunteers participate in several activities around the world such as virtual language lessons, live language cafes, and educational language booths. She said that here in Belize, the team in Belize is training new volunteers in Creole and Spanish.
Britney Gordon
“How do you feel that immersing yourself in a language helps assist the Peace Corps with doing the work that they want to do?”
Nadine Rogers
“Great question, Britney. Language learning takes great cultural humility, right? It requires you to give up the things you think you know, even the words you think you know and learn someone else’s words. But that approach is foundational to Peace Corps, way of doing development. It’s an invaluable skill that volunteers carry around with them. Long after they’ve left, they can still communicate in these languages. And language, it just goes beyond culture. It goes beyond what is on paper and what people say to each other in conversations, right? But it soaks up elements of culture and history. And you find that words, have meanings that carry through time and carry through place.”
Rogers further explained that immersing the volunteers in a language and culture also assists them in connecting with their host families. She said that as the volunteers move their work into more rural areas, the opportunity to connect with other languages that are less common and possibly endangered presents itself.
Nadine Rogers
“And as I mentioned, we’re taught, we’re teaching Spanish and Creole, but as we move into more rural communities, you may find that we would add other languages as well as those communities.”
Britney Gordon
“So it could possibly expand to Garifuna or some Mayan languages as well.”
Nadine Rogers
“For sure and we’ve done that in the past. And so, it really just depends on where project work takes us, what the need is but yes, it could include those.”
The Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV) says that the government should do more to protect the Chiquibul Forest. In a press release, the BTV said that the government must take “decisive steps to halt this invasion”. That invasion the BTV is referring to is the illegal activities being carried out by Guatemalans inside the Chiquibul Forest. Earlier this week, Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) that a flyover conducted recently revealed a newly constructed road inside the Chiquibul. The FCD says the road is for access to water, thereby facilitating for a more pronounced activity of cattle ranching activity in that southern region of the park by Guatemalans. Leader of the BTV, Wil Maheia told News Five that there must be an increase presence in the Chiquibul for its protection.
Wil Maheia, Leader, Belize Territorial Volunteers
“We find it very, very sad that on international days of environment, Belize is priding itself on protecting our natural resources yet turning its back to all the incursions and degradation that’s happening to our protected areas. We call on the government, we call on the UDP who has been very quiet throughout all this. This just didn’t start yesterday. This started more than 10 years ago and it continues to grow. There’s over 2000 hectares which is larger than the entire Belize city that has been deforested. Now the average Belizean cannot even go on the side of the road and clear land without being arrested. Why can’t the government stop the Guatemalans? Obviously they don’t care because they are not doing anything, right? Three years now since this government got into power. Nothing has been done to really stop the incursions into the forest in my opinion. Yes, I give the government a big applause for building the Sarstoon Forward Operating Base. That has reduced the amount of illegal fishing. If we do the same in the Chiquibul it will reduce the incursions. It will reduce the degradation of our protected areas. This is Belize. This is what we have.”
On Thursday, Belize joined the global community in celebrating International Day of Forest. This year’s theme is Forests and Innovation: New Solutions for a Better World. The theme highlights the need for the development of new technological solutions to fight against deforestation. On Thursday, forest officers along with B.D.F. soldiers replanted about a hundred mangroves along the coastline of Cattle Landing Village in the Toledo District. We spoke to Forest Officer, Minerva Gonzalez.
Minerva Gonzalez
Minerva Gonzalez, Forest Officer, Forest Department
“The theme for this year as every year there is a different theme, is forest and innovation. So it speaks to how we use technology in order to maintain our forest, conserve and protect and restore our forest. This here is a technology. While it might not be a computer, having any sort of intervention by man, using different equipment is the use of technology. We are being innovative in trying to restore the forest we have lost.”
Catherine, Princess of Wales, announced today that she’s been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing “early stages” of treatment. Princess Kate made the announcement in a pre-recorded video statement on social media.
Catherine expressed her diagnosis as a “huge shock.” She clarified that while a London surgery in January initially appeared to address a non-cancerous issue, subsequent tests detected cancer, prompting her medical team to recommend preventative chemotherapy, which she’s currently undergoing. She expressed anticipation for a return to her work once she’s fully recovered. She concluded with thoughts for those battling cancer, urging them not to lose hope.
The National Meteorological Office of Belize has issued a Heat Alert. The advisory says “Temperatures are expected to exceed 97F inland. Residents are advised to stay hydrated and avoid outdoor activities as much as possible, especially during afternoon hours.”
Inland is expected to be 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here are some tips to stay hydrated in hot weather:
-Drink Plenty of Water
-Eat Hydrating Foods
-Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine:
-Take Regular Breaks
-Wear Light Clothing
-Replenish Electrolytes
Pet owners are also advised to keep their pets hydrated.
In an interview with PLUS TV in Belmopan on Thursday, Prime Minister John Briceño said, “What has happened, as we all know, the Jamaican national has made an accusation, and the police have reviewed the tape, and they believe that they have enough information or evidence to be able to do a full-fledged investigation.”
As News Five reported, a Jamaican national lodged an allegation against an immigration officer at the Philip Goldson International Airport. The Jamaican national is accusing the immigration officer of stealing several thousand U.S. dollars from them.
Chief Executive Officer Tanya Santos of the Ministry of Immigration said that, despite earlier social media reports, only one officer has been apprehended for interrogation.
In the interview, PM Briceño, who is also the Minister of Immigration, said, “I’m told that the Jamaican was, and I can’t go into too many details, but basically passed over monies, and then when he tried to leave the country, he was told he can’t leave the country, and so then he got upset and made this report.”
Briceño stressed that this sort of behaviour cannot be countenanced and that “it needs to end now, and we need to find a way to get rid of all of those people that behave in such a manner.”
Last night, we told you that A.S.R./B.S.I. denounced Prime Minister John Briceño’s decision to launch a Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry. It was gazetted on March nineteenth, prompting a statement from the multinational company. The miller contends that the decision is politically motivated and erodes B.S.I.’s investor confidence. Today, members of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association’s executive team were present for day two of the budget debate inside the National Assembly. They were there to support Jose Mai, the Minister of Agriculture and a member of the B.S.C.F.A. Alfredo Ortega, the Vice Chairman of the Committee of Management commented on B.S.I.’s position.
Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chairman, BSCFA
“Like in any case it is a pity they behave in that way because in all, before they had said that they want to put two commissioners on which they had named them, from Brazil two join the other three persons from Marishous. So they were on board long before this thing with the commission of inquiry. It is nothing new, so it is a pity to hear from them now on this date that they will be coming out and say they will not support the commission of inquiry. I think that the prime minister has to take better steps and better decision in regards to this commission of inquiry, because as you can recall, the prime minister and the minister of agriculture have mentioned many times that once the commission of inquiry brings out their information that information will be used by the cane farmers, not only the BSCFA but the other associations to get better commercial agreements and also it will assist the Government of Belize to produce a modernized sugar industry. So to us the BSCFA is not a surprise, but we believe that Belize should not admit that multinationals comes and place in our throats or in our mouths what they want things to happen in their way. Belize is a nation of laws and rules and rules must prevail. If, look, I will use this example, whenever a Belizean opens a small business and GST gets to know there is a business, they come directly to the business and investigate so that person can pay their GST. So if they do that to small Belizean people, why shouldn’t they do that to the multinationals?”
