When a state of emergency was introduced three weeks ago, there was talk that it would be extended and expanded to include other areas as the police department saw fit. Monday’s murder of Michael Usher, who lived in the vicinity of Majestic Alley but was shot and killed near Mahogany Street, means that the police department may have to re-strategize so as to prevent retaliation among those rival groups. This was the scope of the SOE as it applied to those areas in Belize City back in March, as explained by Commissioner of Police Chester Williams.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police (File: March 26th, 2024)
“The police and the B.D.F. are on operations within, not just the Antelope area, but practically the entire south side Belize City. As you would be aware by now, a state of emergency was declared this morning covering the almost entire south side of Belize city…Here in Belize City, you know that we have had a slate of shootings, two of which were fatal…The truth is we have seen a long lull Belize City. Again, I always say it takes one idiot to pull a trigger and that could cause a flare-up. And these flare-ups are going to happen occasionally, and we have to be able to have the right approach in dealing with it. As I have said to the minister when we discussed the SOE that it had reached a stage where if we don’t do something, then the cancer is going to spread further and then the other gangs are going to feel like, oh, over there it’s flaring up and nothing’s been done to them, so better we have our own thing so we have to ensure that we do something that is measurable and that is going to bring some calm.”
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition, Moses “Shyne” Barrow has slammed the government, and more directly the prime minister, for what he calls an ineffective state of emergency. Today, Barrow pointed to murders that have happened while the S.O.E. has been in place. Barrow also blasts PM John Briceño as chair of the National Security Commission, which he also believes has been ineffective when it comes to fighting crime.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“I don’t recall over the last 15 years at least that there has ever been a situation where the government has declared a state of emergency and we have had this amount of murder take place. I’d like to quote, the learned or some would say unlearned Prime Minister John Briceno. It is apparent that our government has no real solution to solving crime. Nowhere was this more evident than in this was during the UDP era when the Government declared a state of emergency on the people of the south side of Belize City, which did not result in any lasting peace. The sad, tragic irony of this is under the state of emergency, I believe, the first day or day after the state of emergency was declared, we had a murder. The Minister of Police is failing. We have been saying that for the last three years, the prime minister as the chair of the National Security Commission is failing. The fact of the matter is since the government, the PUP government declared a state of emergency, we’ve had more murders than I believe at any time that the state of emergency has been declared.”
An American retiree has died while snorkeling near the Glover Reef Atolls. On April fifteenth, the unresponsive body of seventy-four-year-old Kent Hills Foster was taken to the Southern Regional Hospital Morgue in Dangriga Town, where he was identified by his wife, Pamela Gay Fairley. Reports are that the two had been vacationing in Belize, having arrived on April tenth, and while snorkeling on the fifteenth, Foster started experiencing complications. His wife attempted to assist him but was unable to. Foster lost consciousness and the captain of the catamaran, who the couple had chartered, performed CPR but was also unsuccessful in his efforts. He was taken to the Southern Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead at twelve twenty-six p.m. While a port mortem exam is still pending, Foster’s medical records showed that he had Aortic Dissection, which is a rare but deadly condition where the inner layer of the aorta tears and blood flows between the layers, weakening the artery wall. Foster had undergone treatment for this condition three weeks prior to his passing. An initial investigation revealed no signs of foul play at this time.
On April third, Prime Minister John Briceño announced new portfolio assignments, as well as the appointments of three additional ministers of state, including Alex Balona, Marconi Leal Senior, and Jorge Espat. In the wake of that announcement, the opposition has been critical of the decision to include more junior ministers as part of the Briceño administration. This morning, when we caught up with the prime minister, we asked him about the recent changes.
Isani Cayetano
“You’ve expanded the number of junior ministers in government. How do you respond to the criticism levied by the United Democratic Party, in terms of the specific roles of these ministers of state?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well I think [that] they are the last to be able to talk because of what they did when they were in government. The point that I was trying to make is that, first of all, it does not cost much to the voters or the taxpayers. Why? Because they have been chairpersons of house committees and that had a, because of that they had to increase their salaries. Now that they have become ministers of state, that is going to be reduced so that they don’t have an imbalance in the amount of monies that they collect along with their colleagues. What is important is that they will be able to provide more work and to be able to do good work for the people, not only in their constituencies but in the country to help the ministers. We have a lot of work ahead of us and we believe that they are still, time is coming up on us and we need to be able to get the work done.”
In that same release issued by the Government of Belize earlier this month, it was also announced that Belize Rural South Area Representative Andre Perez would be returning to Cabinet as Minister of Blue Economy and Disaster Risk Management. The news came after several months of Perez being sidelined from government following a sex scandal including a female attorney. So what became of an investigation into the matter? When asked about the inquiry led by the attorney general, the PM opted not to touch on the controversial issue.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I really don’t want to go into that. A lot of that has been said. I don’t want to go into a back and forth with Ms. Auxillou. What I can tell you is that anybody could have made any report to the attorney general and nobody did.”
Reporter
“But was there actually an investigation…”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I said nobody did. The investigation was that no laws were broken. You could question the judgment of the person, but no laws were broken that came to light. Nobody went to the attorney general and said here is any evidence. Next question…”
Reporter
“And so it wasn’t determined that the minister did not offer things that he shouldn’t have to this woman.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“As I said, nothing came to attention, no evidence. The point of [it all], I think the point that you all are missing is that Minister Perez went into his constituency and he worked hard and for this municipal election, he… For this election, he, along with the mayor, Wally Nunez, they won by the largest margin ever in the history of San Pedro.”
The housing budget is arguably the smallest allocation in this year’s fiscal plan. But is the Briceño administration considering an increase in the expenditure set aside for the construction of new houses across the country?
Reporter
“Is there any potential that the housing budget would be increased via supplementary? People have complained how minor it is.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well let’s put it this way, it’s way better than what the UDP were doing. I mean, the UDP, they built no homes and so far we have built going to close to four hundred homes and that’s what you need to look at. What is it that we’re getting for. The UDP voted for eight million dollars every year and no houses were being built. So we are building houses. Yes, we said we want to do more but we have to do with what we have. We are still looking around to see if we can get cheap long-term funding and we’re working on that. Should we get that then obviously we are going to make it available for housing.”
Last month, the stevedores who are members of the Christian Workers’ Union turned out at their job site at the Port of Belize Limited to state their discontent with the government and the port on two main issues. They wanted fair and immediate compensation from the government after bulk sugar stopped going to that port for export and was instead channeled through the Big Creek Port. That meant that the stevedores lost earnings from that shipment. They also wanted the port to sit with them to come up with a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Today President of the C.W.U., Leonora Flowers told News Five that while the government has paid up one point six million dollars to the stevedores in compensation, the C.B.A. is still pending with the port and being worked on over the next few weeks. But aside from that, there is one other concern she shared with us.
Via phone: Leonora Flowers, President, C.W.U.
“What we agreed also in that those last days were to move was to move with the discussion on the new negotiations of the CBA, and so we are getting into those as in the next couple of weeks. Actually, we are waiting for the date to be set so we can agree on the days. As it relates to sugar money, there is no more contention with Port of Belize and the Government of Belize. That is a done deal. What is of a bother to us right now, and a serious one, is the fact that the 2nd of July 2020, 35 of our members were terminated and that 35 were members who were adamant and outspoken and who were the more boisterous of our members who headed the union representation, the chiefs and so forth. And so when they were singled out, we believe they were targeted because of their affiliation with the union and the role they played in keeping our members hyped up when there was something to see at all times. And so we took that matter to the Labour Complaints Tribunal. Before that, the Labour Complaints Tribunal did not even exist. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Labour had to implement that tribunal because of the need. And that has been 4 years now, and we have not gotten a resolution on that matter. As late as last year, October, November, we submitted, we made written submissions, or members did their testimonials, as the tribunal panel had requested. And to date, Marion, there has not been a response. And it’s very unnerving to think that a group of people will get a task accept the task, accept their nomination on the panel, and still be unable to present what is their findings and come to a resolution. One thing we know, we have been going into the tribunal procedure in quite detail, and we were told you don’t have to be called, you can be carried forward. Procedures say that you don’t have to be called to a hearing, but in this specific instance, we believe that we are to be heard because we’re making allegations against the court to say that there was evidence, there is evidence of union busting, and we believe that the tribunal owes a responsibility to delve into those matters and to come up with what the reason, reasonable man would do. See as union-busting because we believe it is and we believe our kids have merit.”
The Caribbean Court of Justice today heard an appeal concerning a ruling handed down by Belize’s Court of Appeal back in March 2023. The appellants in the matter are the Attorney General and the Minister of Natural Resources and the respondent is Primrose Gabourel. Viewers may recall that back in 2017, the Government of Belize compulsorily acquired the Buttonwood Bay property. In 2023 the court of appeal ruled that Primrose Gabourel is entitled to over one million dollars in full and fair compensation. The appellants are now seeking to set aside that Court of Appeal decision. As we said, the matter was heard today before the CCJ. The Appellants are being represented by Samantha Matute while Godfrey Smith appeared on behalf of the respondents. Here is some of how that played out.
Samantha Matute
Samantha Matute, Assistant Solicitor General
“The fixed date claim that was filed, if your honor takes a look at the number one relief that is being sought, it says that the respondents is actually seeking damages for violation of the claimants rights under section seventeen of the Belize constitution to protection from depravation from its property, except by or under law by the unlawful taking of approximately one point three five acres of the claimant property. In response to this fixed date form an affidavit was filed on behalf of the appellants. In that affidavit there were certain admissions that would have been made and one of those been the compulsory acquisition of the respondents property and this would have occurred in February of 2007 and in addition to that admission being made, there was the admission that the government was ready to establish the land assessment board to make a determination of what would have been the just compensation due to the respondent.”
Godfrey Smith
Godfrey Smith, Attorney for Respondents
“If the appellant’s appeal fails then this court affirms the judgement of the Court of Appeal will consequentially flow or perhaps this court can decide that it can do the valuation itself.”
The matter was adjourned for the CCJ to make a decision on the matter.
If you are a coconut lover then you probably have tried this Belizean coconut sweet treat, tableta. Different people approach the recipe in their unique ways. But the primary ingredients of tableta are coconut flakes, ginger, and sugar. It is one of those cultural sweets that Belizeans enjoy as a dessert or simply to satisfy a craving. The preparation process has been passed down from generations and it still lives on. In tonight’s episode of Kolcha Tuesday, News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled to Sand Hill Village to learn how to make tableta from one resident who learned the recipe from her mother more than four decades ago. Here is that story.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Sharon Louise Leslie splits wood for her fire hearth. This is the first step in the process to make tableta, a Belizean coconut sweet.
Sharon Leslie
Sharon Leslie, Entrepreneur
“Ah the chop the wood now to light the fire so we could start to make the tableta right.”
She sources pine wood from land in Sand Hill Village where she has lived since childhood. Leslie was ten years old when her mother first taught her how to make tableta.
Sharon Leslie
“Because my mom the do and we the help her. I dah mih the oldest gial for my mah.”
Paul Lopez
“And at that time did you see it as a chore or was it fun?”
Sharon Leslie
“As fun, because mommy the do something and we the help out. Like when we use to make cake, we never had mixer. You have your bucket and you stir.”
The wood is lit, and the first step is complete. The fire hearth is Leslie’s preferred method for cooking tableta.
Sharon Leslie
“The stove is too small because sometimes I have to make a big amount. This lady would say, I need sixty dollars’ worth. I can’t put those on the stove and ih wah tek to long.”
Leslie places a huge cast iron pot over the fire and ensures that it is thoroughly clean.
Sharon Leslie
“Yo wah sih this pot when I finish with it, because yo have some people, once the tableta finish there is nothing in this pot.”
Paul Lopez
“And that is how you do yours.”
Sharon Leslie
“Right.”
Paul Lopez
“Now you put yourself to the test, because you give me a promise. Ah have to sih if dah thing real.”
For this recipe, Leslie grates three coconuts. She is very particular about the types of coconuts she uses in her product.
Sharon Leslie
“We nuh use dry coconut, it have to be half green coconut, yo grater it. The main ingredient and the white sugar, nuh brown sugar white. Because, some people do mek it with brown. I don’t know, from I the mek, I the use white not brown. From my mom teach me then.”
After the grating, Leslie pours her white sugar into the heated cast iron pot. This process requires constant stirring to prevent the sugar from burning while it melts over the fire. When she wants to increase the heat, Leslie adds more wood. Similarly, to decrease the temperature, she removes wood from the fire. After ten minutes, the sugar is completely melted.
Sharon Leslie
“Now we are going to add the trash to it…”
Leslie takes a break from stirring to grate a piece of ginger that she adds to the pot closer to the end of the cooking process. She has passed down these skills to her two daughters to keep the tradition alive. But she says that they prefer steering clear of the fire hearth and working their eight-to-five jobs. Her twelve-year-old grandson assists her when he is off from school.
Sharon Leslie
“Yo got some people weh deh gwen dah states today, deh wah call me from eena the week and seh Ms Leslie I need wah forty dollars tableta and a thirty dollars cutup brut fih ker. Deh wah inform me ahead of time to get the coconut prepared to make it.”
Soon after the cooking process is complete, Leslie transfers the tableta onto a flat wooden surface to cool down. She flattens out the finished product with her hands and cup.
Sharon Leslie
“We done smooth it off now we wah leff it fih cool fih bout twenty minutes then we will slice, and you guys can have your taste.”
Paul Lopez
“Watch so the pot just as clean as Ms Louise said it would be, so you could tek ah at it world.”
Now it is time for the taste test, though the tableta required a bit more time to cool down.
Paul Lopez
“Original tableta, straight from the fire hearth the way your granny use to do it. Ms Leslie, mein, yo can’t beat this. I the tell yo that.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez
Sharon Leslie can be reached on her Facebook page at Louise Leslie or by phone at six-two-five-two-seven-six.
In March 2024, four representatives from various Belizean organizations journeyed to America to participate in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative. This program was launched by the U.S. Department of State in 2015, with the mission to empower emerging entrepreneurs and business leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. This year, over two hundred and sixty entrepreneurs spent four weeks with various U.S. organizations nationwide. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with two of these participants today, to learn more about the experience. Here’s that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
The Leaders of the Americas Initiative is a five-week program for entrepreneurs, funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In this annual fellowship, nearly three hundred promising leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada travel to the United States to expand their leadership and entrepreneurial skills and network through skills-building workshops and opportunities to learn from and exchange with U.S. counterparts. YLAI states that participants are selected via a competitive application process. We spoke with Iniki Zuniga, owner of Aesthetics Marketing Solutions in Belize, who was a participant in this year’s event.
Britney Gordon
“What is it that you do while a part of this program?
“We basically get to be partnered with another organization that is similar to ours so that we can learn. First of all, they ask us what is the major problem of our business. For me, it was scaling and expansion. So they found a company that was already in the process of scaling and expanding. And that way I could witness how they are doing it. And from there, I feel like I’m more equipped now to scale and expand my business here in Belize.”
Zuniga explained that he had previously applied for the fellowship in 2015, when it was first launched but was not selected. This year, he decided to try again as he is now doing business full-time, and his application was approved. He said that his program started off in Houston before moving over to Utah and finishing in Washington D.C.
Iniki Zuniga
“The main takeaway is sharing your business and networking helps a lot because now I have a lot more opportunities. And also, now I have a lot more resources that I could get, that I could use to expand and help my business. If I was offered to do it again, I’d definitely do it again. The program is very helpful, very useful and very beneficial to anybody that would join.”
Also participating in the program was Javier Saqui, owner of Ya’axkin Butterfly Farm in Maya Center, Stann Creek. Saqui explained that he applied for the program after a colleague from the Department of Youth Services reached out to him about the opportunity.
Javier Saqui
Javier Saqui, Owner, Ya’axkin Butterfly Farm
“So Youn Leaders of the America’s initiative is it’s an exchange program. It connects young entrepreneurs from the Caribbean, Central and South America to US companies and organizations. And they will place you with companies and organizations that align with your business. For example, in my case, I’m a butterfly farmer. I do butterfly farming. So they placed me with Butterfly Wonderland. It’s a butterfly conservatory in the United States, and it is the largest butterfly Conservatory in the United States. I’m very fortunate enough to work with the director side by side to teach me how to develop my business more.”
Much like Zuniga, Saqui stated that one of the challenges his company faces is expansion and through the program, he was able to learn how to overcome that. Another aspect of the program that Saqui enjoyed was the cultural exchange between other participants and friendships he was able to foster.
Javier Saqui
“I think the best part of the experience was connecting with the other fourteen fellows that was placed with me in Phoenix, Arizona. So they were from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. And we made long life friendships. We became a family and we connected so much. I know I have friends from different parts of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. So to me, that was the best part of the experience, the bond that we created. So, I think it’s a life changing experience for me, like I said, so when I came back, I have a different mindset now. I’m not the same person when I left. So when I came back, I am motivated more than ever to develop my business and to look for more opportunities. One of the things we also found is we found a market for our butterflies in the United States with Butterfly Wonderland. So there were some species that they’re very interested in and now we’re starting to work on those species. We’re starting to farm them so we can export them to the United States to Butterfly Wonderland. So other people get to see the Belize butterflies there and they learn which country they come from and part of the country they come from.”
