May, 2024 - Channel 5 Belize

Man Goes Missing After Leaving Rehabilitation Center

A family is pleading for assistance in locating their loved one who went missing after he left the Jacob’s Farm Rehabilitation Facility in Corozal district. Fifty-year-old James Young was last seen at the facility in Patchakan Village around midday on May sixth, where he had been receiving holistic treatment for substance abuse issues. As persons seeking treatment at the facility can discharge themselves, Young simply left the grounds. According to his family, he has a history of mental illness so they are asking that members of the public refrain from harming him and instead report him to the nearest police station so that he may be reunited with his family. We spoke with Young’s nephew, who provided some more details on the situation.

Kenroy Young, Nephew of Missing James Young

“From since last week, Monday, my family and the police department and staff members and some of the Men who live at the facility in Patchakan Village at Jacob’s farm. We have all been intensifying our searches over the past few days this weekend. We did a more intensive search and all in Corozal and Orange Walk and we have turned up nothing. But every day my family members are in Corozal. We go to Orange Walk, we go to the villages in between. There were people saying that they received, we received tips of people seeing him in Corozal town upon the family’s arrival to these locations, it turned out not to be him. I don’t know basically what more to see about him being gone this long because this is not him. Even through all his years of mental illness, he has never done something like this. So I’m just appealing to the Belizean public. If you see him to please call the numbers that are on the bottom of the flyers there for our family members, or you call the nearest police station in the area where you are, because right now we’re at an impasse as to where he is. Because if he was coming to Belize City, because he is from Belize City, from, he used to live on Wagner’s Lane in Belize City, known as Jump Street. And it’s our consensus, if he was leaving from there to come to Belize City, he should be here by now. He’s 50 years old. He’s dark. He’s of dark complexion. He has dark colored eyes. He’s six feet, two inches tall. He wears about one hundred thirty to one hundred forty pounds. And he was last seen wearing a dark blue t-shirt and a dark blue long pants.”

“Kaya Fi Di Alberts”

Belize City Councilor Kaya Cattouse has officially declared her candidacy for the Albert constituency. Cattouse has been serving as a city councilor for the past three terms. She took to social media today to say quote, “over the past four years, I have witnessed the challenges facing the Albert Constituency, and I’m more determined than ever to lead us back to our blue roots. Together, we can ensure a P.U.P. victory and pave the way for a better quality of life for all Albert residents by uniting under the P.U.P. banner and ensuring that no one is left behind”, unquote. Cattouse is the only P.U.P. hopeful to date that has publicly declared her interest to run in the Albert Division. If another person chooses to submit their standard bearer application, then the party will certainly have to decide whether they will endorse a candidate or hold a convention. The P.U.P.’s deadline for application submission is at the end of May. We will continue to follow.

Are Cane Farmers’ Work Affected by “Blackouts”?

The recent power outages that have affected the areas of the country that are hooked up to the national grid have impacted almost every field of work, at least work that depends on power supply for lighting, cooling or processing purposes. But outdoor work has not been affected much – that is work that requires manual labour. Corozal Southeast Area Representative, Florencio Marin Junior, who represents cane farmers in the sugar belt, says that the recent outages have had little to no impact on their operations.

Florencio Marin, Junior, Area Representative, Corozal Southeast

“Remember it’s agriculture, noh, so they don’t really have that direct need to work. It is in the field, right. Now they’re mostly cutting their cane. Some have begun fertilizing their cane. You don’t really need much electricity for that operation.”

Kaya Wants to Represent Albert

Belize City Councillor Kaya Cattouse announced a few minutes ago her candidature for the Albert Constituency. In a post, Cattouse said, “I’ve witnessed the challenges facing the Albert Constituency, and I’m more determined than ever to lead us back to our blue roots.”

She promises “a better quality of life for all Albert residents” if she is successful.

The current area representative is Tracy Taegar Panton.

Venezuela’s Military Buildup Near Disputed Essequibo Region Heightens Tensions

Venezuela’s armed forces have relocated significant personnel and equipment near the contested, oil-rich Essequibo region controlled by Guyana. This is according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

This move could escalate tensions ahead of Venezuela’s upcoming presidential elections.

The CSIS report, published Tuesday, presents updated satellite images from mid-March to late April, showing sustained construction and expansion of a military base near Anacoco Island on the Guyana border. While Venezuela and Guyana have disputed this sparsely populated territory since the 19th century, the discovery of massive oil reserves offshore Guyana has intensified the conflict in recent years.

With presidential elections just two months away, President Nicolás Maduro might leverage the “imminent threat of invasion” to disrupt or delay the vote.

The CSIS report warns that although Venezuela has more to lose than gain from full-scale conflict, it continues to play a “dangerous game” over its claim to the Essequibo region. The report emphasizes that the rhetoric of “the Essequibo is ours,” combined with new military commands and legal frameworks, is perpetuating a state of prewar readiness.

Shots Fired at Fairweather Camp

Police in Punta Gorda Town are investigating an incident that took place at the BDF’s Fairweather camp yesterday afternoon. News Five has learned that police officers are investigating a staff sergeant who reportedly fired his 9-mm firearm several times inside the compound.

The staff sergeant fired the shots in the air. There are no reports of injuries.

The staff sergeant left the scene. News Five contacted the BDF, and we were told that it is a police matter.

This is a developing story.

Bowen & Bowen Faces Beverage Supply Disruptions Due to Power Issues

Bowen & Bowen Limited issued a release earlier today, saying it is facing temporary disruptions in beverage production due to recent power challenges from CFE. B&B says that it is working with Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) and the broader community. The company says it is voluntarily reducing its power usage at BEL’s request to help ensure a stable electricity supply for residential areas and other critical services.

In its statement, BEL said “While reducing power usage has caused temporary availability issues for certain products, it is necessary to support continuous power availability to households and critical services. We understand this has caused an inconvenience for our customers and consumers, but we assure you that this is a temporary situation.”

According to BEL, these power reductions coincide with scheduled maintenance on its production lines and backup generators, further impacting its production capabilities. BEL says it is working diligently to complete this maintenance as quickly as possible.

Shooting in Ladyville

Twenty-six-year-old Frank Young was shot last night in Ladyville Village. Investigators say that Young was shot while walking on the Philip Goldson Highway. He was injured in the right arm and leg. According to Young, he heard gunshots and later realised he was shot. He was taken to the hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

CFE Commits to 75 Megawatts to Belize’s National Grid

Prime Minister John Briceño is back from Cancun, following a whirlwind visit over the weekend where he met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the head of the Federal Electricity Commission, C.F.E. PM Briceño was accompanied by senior officials from Belize Electricity Limited to discuss a solution to Belize’s energy crisis. As we’ve reported over the past few weeks, the country has been experiencing a series of scheduled power outages. Those blackouts were the result of load shedding that became necessary when C.F.E. was unable to provide energy to Belize’s national grid. The meeting with President AMLO was fruitful and PM Briceño has returned to Belize with good news that the Mexican energy provider will now supply a total of seventy-five megawatts to the national grid. This morning, the prime minister spoke with reporters regarding this latest development.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“When I met with the president in Mexico City, he invited me to join him in Cancun where every two weeks he goes to look at the [progress of the] Tren Maya project. And so he invited different ministries and the head of C.F.E. to be able to meet with us. We had a chance to meet with the president and the head of C.F.E. and they have agreed that they will work with us to continue to provide energy. As you know, well probably most people don’t know, we have a maximum of fifty-five megawatts of energy that we can buy. Now what the president offered us to be able to increase it by twenty more, so we’ll be able to buy approximately seventy-five megawatts and we’ll be working with C.F.E. now to run a second line into Belize.”

PM and Agriculture Minister Discuss Trade with Mexico

Also accompanying PM Briceño to Mexico was Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, Jose Abelardo Mai. Together, they held discussions with other Mexican government officials on issues that include cattle exportation, as well as the contrabanding of Belizean sugar.

Prime Minister John Briceño

”As you all know, a lot of our sugar is being contraband into the Chetumal region and it creates shortages for us. The president agreed that he’ll talk with the Minister of Economy for us to look at the tariff regime to be able to expect to reduce it and also then to give us a certain quota to be able to export sugar into [Mexico]. We spoke about cattle. The presidential decree has come to an end and we’re looking at expanding it so that we can continue to export cattle into Mexico. We also looked at coconuts, a new industry in Belize and we’ll be working with… and the Minister of Agriculture was there with me. They will start the discussions as to how we’d be able to get our coconuts, following the requirements from Mexico and so we spoke also about that and shrimp.’

Earlier today in Belmopan, the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation, AMEXCID, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, launched a project called Reproductive Technology in Cattle Production in Belize. The project includes a diagnosis of the cattle industry.