The Green Climate Fund is the world’s largest climate fund developed as a part of the historic Paris Agreement. It aims to mobilize funding to support developing countries to achieve their ambitions towards ensuring low emissions and climate resilience. Belize has received a fifty-million-dollar grant that will be used for the protection of the country’s environment. C.E.O. Osmond Martnez explained the significance.
Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of Economic Development
“Recently a fifty million dollars project was approved through the Green Climate Fund, and it’s the first of its kind. And what is important with that project is that is a grant, meaning free money for Belize. And there is no condition that they have asked us to give anything at the contrary. We are fighting for climate finance justice for our country, because Belize have done very well in terms of protection of the environment which means that the protection of the environment helps us in terms of turning carbon dioxide into oxygen and which keeps people alive. Therefore, Belize is a carbon sink country, but for generations, no, or for centuries, Belize has been a carbon sink country. And Belize didn’t receive any dollar or benefit for it. Now, we are saying, listen, through The Green Climate Fund Belize must get big projects, which will benefit the Belizean people.”
Pressure is mounting on the government over the appointment of Gustavo Requena as the Director of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. Requena who is the brother of Cabinet Minister Oscar Requena, succeeded Greg Choc. Requena’s appointment did not come without concerns and criticism. The Toledo Alcaldes Association first fired off a press release saying they were not consulted and that Requena has publicly shared anti-Maya land rights sentiments. The association also expressed concerns over Requena’s familial relationship with the minister. Tonight, the Belize National Indigenous Council also expresses deep concern regarding Requena’s appointment. The council says that the government’s decision to appoint Requena is a lack of serious commitment to the plight of the Indigenous Peoples of Belize. The council says “What we are witnessing here is the setting up of an office that will be marred in partisan politics and from the eyes of the people lacking integrity.” According to the council, transparent selection processes are imperative for such a crucial position and Belize has individuals well-versed in indigenous and social matters.
On Wednesday, the Statistical Institute of Belize published the findings of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which is a direct measure of poverty across various dimensions of well-being such as health, education, employment, and living standards in Belize. The MPI seeks to move away from the single monetary dimension of measuring poverty and instead studies what percentage of the population is multidimensionally poor and what percentage of all the indicators poor households are deprived of. The findings of the MPI for September 2023 revealed that incidents of multidimensional poverty were down by ten-point one percent. Statistician Christian Orellana explains.
Christian Orellana
Christian Orellana, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“For the period September 2023 the incidence of multidimensional poverty is twenty-six point four percent. That means that twenty-six point four percent of the population is multidimensional poor. The intensity of multidimensional poverty is thirty eight point four percent. That means that on average, a poor household had a deprivation score of thirty eight point four percent. And our national MPI is zero point one zero one. We can also look at poverty statistics in two ways, for the total population of the country and for the households of the country, a total of one hundred three thousand niner hundred forty-four persons were multidimensional poor among twenty-four thousand ninety-six households. We now compare the 2023 MPI results to the 2021 MPI results. A decrease of ten point one percent was observed for the incidents. This is a result of thirty-eight thousand five hundred ninety-six individuals among eight thousand nine hundred two households coming out of being multidimensionally poor since the 2021 pandemic landscape, notably due to decrease in the share of the population that experienced deprivations in areas such as underemployment, food insecurity, employment, and cooking fuel. Now, when we compare the intensity between the two years, it can be observed that the severity of poverty among the poor remains the same with very little change from thirty-nine point two in 2021 to thirty-eight point four in 2023. It was observed that among the seventeen indicators, we saw improvements, with the exception of improved sanitation. But it is important to highlight the top five that saw the biggest decrease, and that is underemployment at 1fifteen percent food insecurity at ten point three percent cooking fuel at five point nine percent and unemployment at five point five percent.”
App development may still be considered a niche market in Belize, as local technological advancements are finding their place in the day-to-day lives of Belizeans. Undoubtedly, however, as our society advances, the demand for innovative technological solutions will increase. That is why Aziel Ku and his team at Codetech are tapping into this market to provide everyday technological solutions for real-world challenges in business. The company’s name may not be familiar, but you may have likely interacted with some of their work. News Five’s Paul Lopez has more for us in tonight’s installment of Belize On Reel.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Meet Aziel Ku, the owner of Codetech, a tech company based in Orange Walk Town that has been developing apps that make a difference.
Aziel Ku
Aziel Ku, Owner, Codetech
“We have been very blessed that God has given us options and our technology has now adapted really by the government to see its potential and they have embraced technology in moving forward, and the postal services reached out to us about the technology we have done. As Vistro we did live tracking, you could track the food order in real time and those were the components that helped a lot for the postal service. We worked with the sports council where they wanted a way to help federations and the ministry be self-reliant with fund raising both internationally and here locally. So we built a platform where they can share, sell tickets and fundraise and provide revenue for the different federation.”
Recently, Ku and his team collaborated with the Orange Walk Town Council on a software programme that allows drivers to renew their driver’s licence online. And the process is as simple as it gets. The licence holder simply opens the software, scans the barcode on their licence, and follows the steps provided, including paying online. As you heard, Ku is the developer behind Vistro, a popular delivery service app.
Aziel Ku
“My question is always, why do you want to do it, what is the reason. As a developer if you want to do it for money, it won’t work, because it is hard. And at the end of the day all you have is your passion. All I have is my passion, so when it is hard, no one is using it, you promote it, push it on Facebook, pay for ads, it doesn’t work then all you have is that dream and passion and that is what you need. That is where the project should start. Vistro didn’t make it in the first five months. We pushed it and nothing happened, until the sixth month we got one or two people that started to use it and realized how helpful it was and overnight thirty thousand people started to download it and we were there.”
Aziel Ku has been featured in the U.S. Embassy Entrepreneur Spotlight Initiative. He was also the recipient of the Belize Youth Award in the Innovation in Technology category. With his ability to develop innovative software, one would think that Ku spent years in school to develop the skills he now possesses. On the contrary, he says that he is self-taught.
Aziel Ku
“I learnt a lot of it online and practice and failing and burning a lot of computers. My passion is that I want to be someone that helps. I want to build stuff that helps people, make a difference and inspire other people and I found my gift is in technology to be able to understand and explain to others how they can use technology to help them forward. My story is not much different than anybody’s one. My mom is a taxi driver, my dad is a teacher, I just had to be passionate about it and go through it. So, I feel like it is niche, but it is because of the hard work.”
Recently, Ku and his team have been pushing their interactive artificial intelligence (AI) software called Edith. The Belize Postal Services is already using A.I. Centaur Communications is also using the service.
Aziel Ku
“She is an AI software that connects to company system. Centaur is one of our clients where she connects to their own internal software so people can chat, get an account information and balancer through messenger. We also developed Edith so anyone can use her. You can take a picture of a homework, a parent can do so and ask Edith to explain it in Spanish, Mandarin and she will break it down, provide questions, teachers can upload their curriculum to Edith and she will help them develop plans. That is our vision for this year.”
If you’ve always had a knack for themes, this is your chance to win some extra cash. The National Celebrations Commission launched the September theme competition for Belize at forty-three. The annual competition is open to anyone and the Director of the Institute of Creative Arts, Kim Vasquez went over the details of it for us.
Kim Vasquez
Kim Vasquez, Director, Institute of Creative Arts
“We have this annual competition, and the cash prize is 1, 000. It’s open to anyone. So if you want to get your creative writing juices flowing you can send in a couple entries. Definitely you want to keep in mind, ideas like patriotism, unity, cultural identity, where we are with our development as a nation. Those are some things to brainstorm around if you want to participate in the competition.”
Marion Ali
“And the deadline?”
Kim Vasquez
“The deadline is the 26th of April and you can send your submissions in by email. You can go on the social media page, the Facebook page for the National Celebrations Commission. Or, if you want, you can drop them off by hand at the NICH headquarters at Government House.”
The Senate inquiry into Portico’s Definitive Agreement that was scheduled for today was postponed and the notification from the National Assembly building didn’t give a reason for it. However, the Principal of the Port of Magical Belize project, David Gegg, who was expected to give testimony at the hearing today did not attend. Gegg says that the invitation was found on his driveway by his assistant and addressed to his late father, Edgar Gegg. He also wrote a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Eddie Webster, about the Senator leading the inquiry, Janelle Chanona. Gegg tells Webster about a letter sent by Waterloo Holdings C.E.O. Stewart Howard to Senator Chanona a couple of days before she had announced the launch of the inquiry lends itself for anyone to infer an appearance of bias by Chanona, and says that this without mention of other matters, suggests that Chanona is compromised and that she is incapable of objectivity. In the letter, Gegg casts criticism on Chanona and opined that no objective Belizean would believe the timing of the letter from Waterloo was merely coincidental. Gegg wrote that he will not subject himself to questioning by anyone who he thinks is biased. Gegg said that he is prepared to appear before the Committee, but on the condition that Chanona recuses herself. He also took a jab at the committee for referring to its own communication as an invitation instead of a summons. Gegg indicated that he needs notice three days prior to appearing before the committee to give him time to consult with his attorneys. News Five tried to reach Chanona for her reaction to Gegg’s letter but we did not get a reply.
A Ceaser Ridge resident visited our studio today to make a complaint against the Belize Police Department following the enactment of State of Emergency in Belize City. The resident, Ashley Flowers, says she opened her door at around 6 a.m. on Tuesday after hearing police officers out front. Flowers says she was unaware that a State of Emergency had been declared so she questioned the intentions of the officers and sought to cooperate with them. She alleges that two officers physically assaulted her, pulled a gun at her boyfriend who was taking a shower, and then left without detaining anyone or finding anything illegal. Here is what she told us.
Voice of: Ashley Flowers
Voice of: Ashley Flowers, Belize City Resident
“While I had them entering into the home I told them morning and I asked them what are they looking for and if I could help them. No reply, just one lady answer and ask you and who live here. Just my son, my boyfriend and my granddad. But, I could really know what the go on and how I could help. So, she ask, who dah your bway, weh your bway name? So I said he is in the bathroom taking a shower, but I just want know what is going on, no answer. That is when one of the officers started to kick in and stomp in the door and they managed to open it. My boyfriend just gets to pull up his pants, not even had boxers on or anything like that. While they kick open the door deh shout hands up, put up your hand. That is when I pull out my phone, because I was cooperating with the officers. But they got me to the next point where I was being disrespectful and using obscenity and I was asking the officer why would you point the gun into his face. When he noticed the person in the bathroom wasn’t who he was looking for he went from there and started walking in my direction. I started to back up because he was in my face. I didn’t know it was a state of emergency until he started choking me and said if I don’t know what is a state of emergency. After he choked me he stone me between a stove and some tools my dad had and he stamped me to the side and punch me to the face. I still have swelling to the side of my head and the scratches and bruises on the side of my stomach.”
Flowers told News Five that she sought medical attention for her injuries and is currently on painkillers. She also alleges that a female police officer squeezed her shoulder with force and only let go when she informed them that she suffers from a heart condition. Flowers added that her rights were violated, and she hopes that she gets her day in court.
Haiti finds itself amidst one of its most severe crises in decades. The collapse of the central government has left the prime minister stranded abroad, while gangs rampage through Port-au-Prince, to prevent the establishment of a new transitional government. However, in certain regions of Haiti, the memory of living in a functional state has faded. Tonight, we bring you a firsthand experience from a Haitian whose life has been turned upside down. Her name is Alexandra Pierre. She is twenty-five years old and says that this is the first time she has experienced such a crisis.
Alexandra Pierre
Alexandra Pierre, Haitian
“I’m 25 years old, I’ve never lived that situation in Haiti since I was born. So I’m used to, and somehow I’m used to the instability of the country. I’m used to regular strikes, mobilization in the streets. But we’ve never been in a situation where you cannot go out anymore. Usually you have the mobilization during the day. And at night you can spend some time outside. Even though you don’t have mobilization, everybody’s so afraid. So the streets are empty. And even during the day, everybody is afraid when you don’t have mobilization, you’re so scared that you don’t go in the street in just in case there is mobilization and everything is closed right now in Haiti, the main infrastructure schools are closed, they are online. Hospitals are closed. So the pharmacy are closed. So you’re afraid if you have any kind of injuries. If you are in any way injured, though, you don’t have the basic support to for your health. So that’s, that’s the situation right now in Haiti. And every time you’re here shooting, you’re so afraid. And it’s so regular right now. So even though sometimes a person is testing his gun just in case to be able to preserve itself in case of any attack and then when you have to go to the bank, I was telling I was telling you yesterday that I couldn’t have the meeting because Monday is when you go to the bank. You spent five hours in the line and then you cannot even have the amount that you requested to make every time you go. You can only have 100 US dollars due to the instability of the currency, the Haitian currency. Most of us going in and out of Haiti, we keep our savings in US dollars. It’s a more stable money and then you can change it to buy your groceries. So that’s why I have my savings in US dollars and you can only have 100 US dollars. So each week you spend five weeks five hours in the line to get 100 US dollars when the bank is open.”
Approximately two hundred armed gangs hold sway over Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They are wreaking havoc by burning police stations, releasing thousands of criminals, and perpetrating kidnappings and killings that force residents to flee their homes. They have pillaged hospitals and halted commerce. Persons have been fatally shot, decapitated, and burned in the streets. The violence is intense, and according to Pierre, it is not something someone forgets so easily.
Alexandra Pierre, Haitian
“Well, it’s not something that you can get over. It’s, it’s, it’s the violence and then You’re just trying to live with that violence because you have no choice. It’s either the gang or the inhabitants. So this is the situation and then I’m not telling that they did it, they didn’t do it right for cutting heads. I’m not telling that they, well, it’s just, It’s just a chaos right now. It’s difficult to have to stick to some kind of morality and say, okay, this is, you should preserve life. You should preserve dignity. It’s just, you should preserve your life. So, and then this is, I think, this is the violence. It’s the way they have killed the, the gang members for me. And this is the most cruel part I’ve ever lived in Haiti. And, I live in the island. It’s been 35 years. And then the, the prices are higher as well because with the gangs in every in the main entrance of the Capitol. So you don’t get the fruits as you used to, you know, get the rice as you used to. So even the money that you get hat you have, it has so much pressure on it. Then it’s not enough, right? Anyone can live with only hundred per week, and we are three in my family. So we are three on this hundred dollars. So, this is this is a situation and I’m very sad.”
The Statistical Institute of Belize held a press conference today to present its G.D.P. estimates for the fourth quarter of 2024. As well as the consumer price index, external trade statistics for February 2024, and the Consumer Confidence Index. Also shared was the breakdown of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which is a measure of poverty across various dimensions of wellbeing, such as health, education, and employment. And living standards. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
According to the Statistical Institute of Belize, the economy grew by three point two percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. This growth was attributed to the tertiary sector, which observed an eight point eight increase of about seventy point three million dollars in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2022. SIB credits this growth to the strong performance of the industries within the service sector.
Christopher Hulse
Christopher Hulse, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“The tertiary sector went from seven hundred ninety-seven point one million in quarter four of 2022 to eight hundred sixty-seven point four million for quarter four of 2023. This is an increase of seven point three million or eight point eight percent mainly driven by an increase in the hotels and restaurants industry, transportation. We see arts, entertainment, recreation. The industries that have a tie to the increase in tourism movement. Looking at the other services, admin and support services went up by four point five percent as we see an increase in BPO’s and also travel agencies and tour operators. So two things that are increasing, the call centers and since we have tourism movement we see the travel agencies and tour operators also increasing. We have increases in real estate, one point eight percent, human health, two point four slight decreases for wholesale and retail trade, communication, and other services. Adversely, the primary and secondary sectors contracted, undergoing a three-point one and two-point eight decrease, respectively. This puts the primary sector down by an estimated five million dollars and the secondary sector down by eight point eight million dollars. These declines were attributed to poor weather conditions that negatively impacted water levels and subsequently resulted in low crop outputs and electricity generation. Now, for Banana, if we look at the levels, that 21 3 is still low, But 2022 was such a down year that when we compare the two periods together, we will observe an increase. But compared to before 2022, we see that overall banana is still down. So we will have that trend for most of the crops, that for the entire year. If we look at the sum of it, it will be down due to the weather conditions for most of them. Now conversely, we see an increase for livestock. So overall, livestock saw an increase of eighteen point four percent, where we had cattle up by twenty-four point five percent, pig up by twenty-two point one percent and poultry up by eleven point two percent. So even though we saw declines in the crop, livestock offset that decrease, and that’s why when we look at the primary sector overall Even though the crops were affected, we saw zero point eight percent decline because of the livestock going up.”
External Trade reports from February 2024 revealed an increase of thirteen point seven percent of imports and an eight point one percent decrease of domestic exports. The most notable contributors to the increase in imports were machinery and transport equipment, as well as minerals, fuels, and other lubricants. The decrease in domestic export revenue was attributed to several key exports.
Ronald Orellana
Ronald Orellana, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“Animal feed revenue plummeted from ten point one million to two point eight million as exported quantities fell by more than two thirds during the period. Likewise, sugar exports saw a notable decrease of six point eight million, dropping from ten point seven million to three point eight million, with earnings down by sixty-four percent. Reduced exports of lobster products and shrimps during the period. Led to trip led to a three point eight million decline in revenues from marine products dropping from seven point one million to three point two million. Diminished volumes of orange concentrate also contributed to a downturn in exported citrus declining from four million to one point seven million. Despite the general decline in domestic exports, Bananas experienced a significant increase of seven point four million, surging from five point one million to twelve point five million, with quantities more than doubling for the period. Additionally, other exports category went up by one point eight million, from six point two million to seven point nine billion, due to wooden furniture and crude soybean oil.”
