The family of slain police officer, Superintendent Henry Jemmott has written to Chief Justice Louise Blenman inquiring about the three hundred hours of community service that Jasmine Hartin was ordered to serve. On May thirty-first, 2023, Hartin was convicted of manslaughter by negligence, but was not sentenced to prison. Instead, she was fined seventy-five thousand dollars, ordered to complete three hundred hours of community service, and take part in producing a public service announcement. While Hartin met the fine and subsequently left the country, Jemmott’s sibling is asking the head of the Senior Courts what happened to the service hours and the PSA. In the letter to Chief Justice Blenman, Marie Jemmott writes, “The Jemmott family is deeply, deeply hurt and disturbed that the criminal justice system could so fail and dishonor the memory of one of its own law enforcement officers by allowing Ms. Hartin to simply ignore that part of her sentence. Is this all our brother’s life is worth?”.
Month: May 2024
Stake Bank Receiver Responds to Feinstein Group
On Monday, we reported on an application being filed on behalf of Stake Bank Enterprise Limited in which the company is seeking to recover almost three point nine million dollars in assets from businessman Michael Feinstein, the former principal of the company that is presently in receivership. Earlier today, the Feinstein Group issued a statement in which it is requesting the appointment of an independent inspector for an investigation into the Atlantic Bank Limited. The statement goes on to read, “the Feinstein Group hereby formally requests that the Governor of the Central Bank of Belize, Kareem Michael, designate an independent inspector or team of inspectors in accordance with a set of publicly disclosed terms of reference to conduct the ongoing investigation into Atlantic Bank Limited regarding alleged violations of Belize’s banking regulations”. In a statement issued by receiver Marlowe Neal this evening, he responded to several statements that have been made by the Feinstein Group. Neal is on record stating that the original project cost present to the lenders was eighty million US dollars. He says that under Feinstein’s stewardship, the company exceeded that estimate by roughly forty million US dollars. Elsewhere in the statement, Neal says, “SBEL has been saddled with over one hundred and fourteen million dollars in debt, with no income to repay either interest or principal. The title to the land surrounding the island is the subject of fraud. The buildings, pier and dredging are incomplete. And the project, by some estimates, will require another seventy million US dollars for basic completion”.
250 Students Graduate from Belize’s PEACE Program
Today, two hundred and fifty students graduated from the Positive Engagement and Civic Education Program, PEACE. This program was launched in October 2023 with the goal of reducing the number of adolescent arrests made in the country. It caters to children living under challenging circumstances or those that require supplementary support and guidance. PEACE was piloted in ten schools within the Belize District and will be implemented in other districts in the second phase of the program. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more on today’s ceremony.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
For several years, Belize has used GREAT, which is the Gang Resistance Education and Training, to take early action against gang activity among youths. In September 2023, the American-based curriculum was phased out in Belize and replaced by the Positive Engagement and Civic Education Program, PEACE. While this initiative is still supported by the US Embassy, it was designed to cater to the challenges specifically encountered by Belizean youths. It seeks to target majority of the sixty thousand students across the country. Today, an award ceremony was held for the ten schools that participated in the first phase. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Howell Gillett gave us some more details on the ceremony.
Howell Gillett, Asst. Commissioner of Police
“Today we are having a graduation certification program. It’s for two hundred fifty children from ten schools within the Middle East District. The total number of children who will be graduating over a longer period will be just over eight hundred. But for logistical purposes, we’re only doing a sample from each school. So it’s twenty-five from each school, which brings us to two hundred fifty young people. So these young people, they’re from middle and upper primary. It’s during their formative ages.”
Gillett explained that while the GREAT program was a strong initiative, it was not the right fit for Belize. PEACE caters to the problems that Belizean children face. He said that there are sixty thousand children across Belize that the program seeks to influence.
“We will try our very best to reach to them because the program is strategic, it’s evidence based and we may never need to make an arrest if we properly and in time work with young people to remain positive. So it deals with bullying, making right decisions, how to resist gangs and all the other areas that we, and it’s tailored for beliefs. The GREAT program was a more U.S. based program. This one is tailored solely for, um, police. It’s in its pilot phase in the ten schools. Come September, we will launch it across the country. And that’s why I told you earlier that thirty-three officers were trained over a period of time. And these officers will now go into the classrooms come September in other parts of the country.”
Heath Bailey, Chief of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Unit of the U.S. Embassy, explained that although the GREAT program was phased out, the U.S. Embassy is an avid supporter of the PEACE initiative.
Heath Bailey, Chief, International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Unit, U.S. Embassy
“So this this initiative, the PEACE Program is a partnership between the U.S. Embassy through the Central America Regional Security Initiative, an initiative we call CARSI. Belize Police Department, as well as the Ministry of Education to develop a Belize specific program to help these kids understand alternative dispute mechanisms and to reduce conflict, reduce gang involvement and bullying. And we’re really proud and happy to be able to support them.”
Heath Bailey
“I think the reason why this program is effective and why the kids enjoy it so much is because it is built for Belize. There have been other programs that Belize has implemented before, anti gang programs that have been more general but the genius of this program really is that the Belize curriculum developers were able to tailor it to the needs of the country. So yeah, I do, I think it’s quite effective.”
He attributed the success to the police officers who were able to engage and form meaningful relationships with the participants as their instructors.
“We been able to meet some of the instructors, some of the police officers who have implemented the program. And part of the effectiveness is that they’re really great. They’re really engaging, and they’ve developed relationships with these kids and I think that’s really key.”
The program ran over a six-month period, targeting one school for an hour each week. Participants included children in the middle and upper divisions from standards two to six. We spoke with Standard six student, Brooklyn Jerrylee Casanova, of Saint Luke’s Methodist, to hear her takeaway from the experience.
Brooklyn Jerrylee Casanova, STD 6 student, St. Luke’s Methodist Primary School
“I participated in many activities such as like scenarios, role playing, answering questions, and just overall communicating with everyone and having a fun time.”
Britney Gordon
“What do you feel like you’ve learned from this program?”
Brooklyn Jerrylee Cassanova
“I’ve learned on many dangers and ways to avoid them, ways to help someone, be it helping another to be in a better place and to understand everything that is going on with their situation.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
Belize Recognized for Low Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
As recently as ten years ago, the transmission of HIV through unprotected sex, and blood transfusion through the sharing of drug needles was alarming. In fact, to prevent further spread of the virus, health discussions back then were focused on condom-use. The idea eventually latched on and now, the transmission is around two hundred per year. But Belize is doing an even greater job at reducing the transmission of HIV from mother to child and for that, the World Health Organization recognized our efforts in that area. At a ceremony in Jamaica today, Belize was one of three Caribbean countries to receive certification for that achievement. According to Public Health Nurse Esther Deville, Belize has been recognized for reducing not only mother-to-child transmission of HIV below five percent, but also syphilis. News Five’s Marion Ali reports
Marion Ali, Reporting
Belize’s efforts in reducing the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis have paid off with a recognition today by the World Health Organization. The global health authority today certified Belize, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for keeping their annual transmission rate below five percent. The effort to reach this goal, according to the Director of Public Health and Wellness, Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, began over two decades ago.
Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Dir., Public Health & Wellness
“We had started with the program of elimination from about the year 2000, between 2000 and 2004 when it really strengthened. We have been able to strengthen the capacity in our laboratory services. That has also helped us for early detection, more awareness, and early treatment, of course.”
Gynaecologist, Dr. Marcelo Coyi, says that under an agreement with the Ministry of Health & Wellness, private hospitals must also provide affordable access to pregnant mothers under the National Health Insurance.
Dr. Marcelo Coyi, Gynaecologist, Belize Medical Associates
“As soon as a woman goes to the general clinic, a pregnancy test is done, and she’s automatically booked into the prenatal clinic so that we get them as early as possible in the first trimester. And that has been another change that we have seen, where the the amount of pregnant ladies joining the clinic in the first trimester has increased to about 90 percent in the first trimester. The medication used requires no out of pocket payment by patients. That is also a very critical part of ensuring that we continue to provide these medications free of cost.”
Stephanie Lisama took both the syphilis and HIV tests a couple months ago under the ministry’s program because she says she wants to know her status for her baby’s sake.
Stephanie Lisama, Pregnant Mother
“It’s important for me to have this syphilis and HIV test because I don’t know if I have it. So if I know, if I would know that I have it, then I would make sure that the baby is okay because then it can be transmitted to the baby and any complications can cause complications to the baby and that’s what I want to avoid.”
Public Health Nurse Esther Deville accompanied Minister of Health Kevin Bernard to Jamaica to receive the certificate. She shared with the media that there is a stringent protocol for administering the antiretrovirals to pregnant mothers who are infected. The medication, she says, significantly reduces the transmission of HIV to the unborn child, but the earlier the mother registers at a health clinic and tests for these diseases, the better it is for her baby.
Esther Deville, Public Health Nurse
“At this point where we are in Belize, there is no need for a child to be born with HIV, have a vertical transmission of HIV or syphilis because we have the medication and the resources available for them to prevent that. The medication now suppresses your viral load. By you suppressing your viral load, the chances of you transmitting the virus to your child is almost nil. And it is measured. We do have viral load testing in Belize, where we would test to see how it is. And the truth is, from my experience, from what I have experienced in caring for those women, is that one month the viral load decreases significantly. So the medications are very effective. You might have, for instance, a mother who, would reach probably late to the clinic, right. And there are medications that are given for these special matters. So everything is done from our part in the health system to ensure that this matter, this baby is negative. However, there might be some factors that are out of our control, and so it is not, it is less than 5%.”
Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard joined in encouraging all pregnant mothers to make use of the chance to protect their baby’s future.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“Every child has the right to born and remain free from HIV and syphilis.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
Massive Crocodile in Belama Phase 3 Raises Community Concerns
A massive crocodile lurking in a canal in Belama Phase Three has residents worried. One resident shared a video on social media of the enormous reptile, while calling on the relevant authorities to visit the area and relocate the animal. We visited the area this afternoon and numerous residents told us that this is the largest crocodile they have ever seen in the area and that many dogs have been killed since it showed up a couple weeks ago. The community now fears for the safety of its children. We spoke with Kyra Young, a resident of Belama Phase Three. Here is what she told us.
Kyra Young, Belama Phase 3 Resident
“I posted a video because my neighbor was alarmed. They actually woke up to that crocodile in their yard. It was in the yard. So, they sent me the video to show me and at first, I was taking it lightly because people always try to make things bigger. When I went to see it for myself, did you guys see how big that crocodile is? That is why I call it “crocodilious eatorous”, because I have never seen one in that regard. That took the dogs, ate all the four five pot licker them and the puppies. One of them actually took the puppy out of the child’s hand, because they were playing in the yard and the dog went to drink water from the canal and the crocodile took the puppy out of the baby’s hands. What if the crocodile took the baby and I have kids and my kids always play in the yard. So, I saw that very alarming. There are small ones, we always see the small ones, they always come up to the bridge, that is why they are not afraid of us. They come all the way up here, they wait for us and the animals. This one I saw is the biggest crocodile I have ever seen in my life and I have seen crocodiles in San Pedro, I have seen them at the crocodile sanctuary and this is the biggest one I have ever seen in my life and I believe we need to sought this out together as a community and we don’t want one day they say it took a child or a man or woman, because you see how big that is? That is bigger than you and I combined. That will take me easily. I dah bones. I am pleading that the community could get together to see how we could remove this animal. I know you trap them with hooks and bait, so see how we could trap this animal and take them out of this area and put them in another area where they won’t be around humans. I understand this is their habitat, but this is my habitat as well and how will I be afraid to traverse my area because of a crocodile? I don’t think that makes sense. This feels like dinosaur ages, we need fih tighten up.”
Caribbean Journalists Complete Investigative Journalism Training
Three Belizean journalists have completed a one-week training, organized by the Media Institute of the Caribbean, on investigative journalism. News Five’s Marion Ali and Hipolito Novelo, along with the San Pedro Sun’s Dion Vansen, travelled to Jamaica for the workshop. There, they received training in different aspects of investigative journalism. At the end of the workshop, the journalists are all tasked to work in groups on investigative pieces on relevant, cross-border issues. Marion Ali filed the following report on the importance of this kind of training.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The Media Institute of the Caribbean was founded in 2012 to offer Caribbean journalists the support they need in carrying out their work in their respective countries. Three years later, the institute increased the number of workshops for journalists in the region and in 2019, it began to offer training in its signature program, the Investigative Journalism Fellowship. Kiran Maharaj is the President of the M.I.C. She put together the topics that were deemed important for the training.
Kiran Maharaj, President/Co-founder, Media Institute of the Caribbean
“Our working journalists didn’t really have anywhere to go to be able to build their capacity. So that’s why we started to do these programs to fill all of those gaps. So it’s about improving the quality of journalism. It’s also ensuring that our journalists can meet the demands of our audiences. Digital security is very, important in the current landscape, and also disinformation and how we are able to decipher what is real and what is not real, as well as data journalism. We don’t have sufficient data in our region. I don’t know why. We need to encourage open sources of data. We need to ensure that our, governments and our state entities provide better data because then we can help tell their stories as well. But then it also shows that there’s a certain degree of transparency that we want to work towards.”
Retired journalist Jim Clancy, formerly of CNN, worked on groundbreaking stories, including the Jim Jones cult.
Jim Clancy, Trainer, M.I.C Workshop
“The Caribbean investigative journalism network and workshops like this one, give me a chance to give something back and to share that knowledge. This workshop in particular refreshes in a reporter’s mind for journalists, perhaps that aren’t accustomed to working in investigative journalism. journalism, how stories can come together and work for the public good and benefit the readers, the viewers, the listeners, wherever they are.”
Areas covered in the training included digital tracing, digital security tips, and best practices in investigative writing. For the journalists I spoke with, the training is an important tool which they can now apply in the scope of their work.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporter, News 5, Belize
“We have a lot of fake news online nowadays. Everyone wants the news at their fingertips and with A.I. and misinformation and this information and all the fake news out there, we have to ensure that our skills and our techniques are up to date in investigating these stories and events. One of the things that stood out to me, or I had interest in, was a presentation done by Gordon. He deals with investigative journalism, especially online journalism. And one of the sessions he had to deal with the oil spill in Trinidad, with that boat that capsized, and the oil spill there causing a lot of damage. Now he took one picture and he and his team reviewed that picture to not only identify the name of the boat, not only to identify the boat itself and where it was coming from, but actually track it to where it disembarked from, and the owners of that boat, who the boat was registered to and the company and he taught us how you can investigate a story and different techniques and skills that you can use online from a single picture.”
Valerie Fris, Freelance Journalist, Suriname
“In Suriname we don’t have a lot of investigative journalism, but that is mainly because of we don’t have the funds, the, most of the newsrooms are like, you go to report an item, you come back, and that’s it, but no deeper stories, no larger stories. And I want to be – set myself apart from that and do these kind of stories just investigate and take the time to go deeper.”
Latrishka Thomas, Producer, Observer Media, Antigua
“I haven’t done that much investigative or that many investigative pieces. I’m usually do features or quote reporting, but I thought that this would be helpful because it’s something I’ve always wanted to venture into, and I learned a lot of tools, things I didn’t think and would have never thought of tools such as how being more secure. I didn’t realize how much my devices are unsecure, and I learned so many tools I think I could take back home to tell my colleagues, and also to write a very, impactful feature a very impactful investigative story.”
Michron Robinson, Freelance Journalist, G.I.S., Barbados
“This was a really good capacity building session for our Caribbean journalists. Oftentimes, we may face a lot of pushback going after stories in terms of investigative journalism. There’s oftentimes the call by our policymakers, by our politicians, by our leaders for more investigative journalists, but it asks, the question is oftentimes asked, do our policymakers really want investigative journalism as it could topple political systems. I feel more empowered as a Caribbean journalist to go after stories that are – that others may want to run away from.”
Kiran Maharaj
“We live in small societies, small communities, it’s difficult to tell the stories yet. There are ways to tell the stories still from different perspectives and angles, but our journalists just needed a solid foundation to be able to understand how to do it.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
New Peace Corps Volunteers Touch Down in Belize
Today, twenty-three eager Peace Corps trainees arrived in Belize, ready to embark on their 27 months of dedicated service to the people of this nation. They join forces with the pioneering cohort of the Youth Empowered by Sports (YES) Project, which landed eight months ago.
The Peace Corps Belize, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Transport, partners closely with counterparts in the National Sports Council across the country. The YES Project aims to empower Belizean youth to lead healthy lives and fulfill their potential.
Over the next eleven weeks of intensive pre-service training, these trainees will delve into the Peace Corps’ development approach, YES project objectives, technical skills, health and safety protocols, as well as language and cultural immersion in Kriol or Spanish and Belizean customs. Their goal: to become effective and capable volunteers.
The group is slated to officially take their oath as Peace Corps Volunteers on Friday, July 19, 2024.
This new cohort complements the ongoing service of two groups of 27-month volunteers and the Response Volunteers already embedded in communities throughout Belize. This marks the fourth group of Peace Corps Volunteers since the onset of the pandemic.
AI Catholic ‘priest’ defrocked after recommending Gatorade baptism
An attempt by a Catholic advocacy group to spread the word of God using an AI model has backfired, and chat bot – Father Justin – has been pulled down and reworked. The group’s Catholic Answers website contains answers to commonly asked questions from those confused by the good book. Father Justin was supposed to aid this, by answering any other queries worshipers may have, but as commonly happens the interactive Q&A bot really didn’t work that well.
“Recently, my colleagues and I at Catholic Answers have received a good deal of helpful feedback concerning another new technology: our AI app, Fr Justin,” wrote Christopher Check, president of the group.
That helpful feedback being complaints the software shouldn’t have masqueraded as a man of God and also gave out unholy advice. “We have rendered ‘Fr Justin’ just ‘Justin’,” Check said in response. “We won’t say he’s been laicized, because he never was a real priest.”
Father Justin reportedly claimed to be a real priest based in Assisi, Italy, and told people: “I am as real as the faith we share.” Justin was also very anti-masturbation, calling it “a grave moral disorder,” which is considerably less nuanced than Pope Francis’s views expressed last year.
As seen in this Twitter thread, one questioner received Father Justin’s blessing to marry her brother, saying it was “a joyous occasion,” and also offered absolution after a confession – a huge no-no from a theological perspective for a non-priest.
In an interview, the group’s COO Jon Sorensen said they had only spent $10,000 on the project and tested it over six months. However, this wasn’t enough to stop the AI cleric telling one questioner that baptizing a child with Gatorade was perfectly all right.
“Right now there are a bunch of people trying to break it. And if you’re on Twitter or anywhere else, it’s like this ‘gotcha’ moment,” he commented.
“But when somebody breaks the AI, that actually helps us improve it. In the meantime, while people are breaking it and taking screenshots of it, posting it all over the internet, I’ve got to take my lumps. But that’s the only way I could make the thing improve.”
The chat bot was quickly pulled, reskinned, and presumably had its training data overhauled. Now it’s back as simply Justin, his priestly garb has been replaced with a shirt and jacket, and he’s described as a virtual apologist who is in development mode.
Belize Joins Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency
Prime Minister John Briceño signed an agreement to join the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE). With 21 signatures and eight ratifications already secured, this milestone underscores Belize’s commitment to regional cooperation in space technology.
PM Briceño said, “Belize signs on becoming 1 of the first 25 countries to benefit from the #ALCE working to improve satellite communication accelerating digital transformation. Available satellite imagery will help detect deforestation due to crossborder incursions, while protecting heritage.”
Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena presided over the event and emphasized that Belize’s participation in ALCE will bolster regional integration. As a member, Belize will engage in cooperation agreements and knowledge-sharing initiatives with other Latin American and Caribbean nations, focusing on satellite monitoring of environmental conditions and hydrometeorological risks.
ALCE, headquartered in Querétaro, Mexico, serves as the coordinating body for space technology collaboration across the region. By harnessing the technological capabilities of Latin American and Caribbean countries, ALCE aims to advance development, enhance satellite communication systems, strengthen early warning systems, map climate change impacts, and bolster disaster prevention and agricultural practices.
Goldfish Swim School owner teaches swimming, builds relationships in Belize
By Maggie Rose Baron of the Daily Herald
Since Alex Tyler first visited Gales Point, Belize, in 2014 on a church mission trip, his impact on the small fishing village has expanded to the tune of $47,000 raised, nine trips organized and dozens of volunteers involved from around the United States.
Tyler, a franchise owner of Goldfish Swim School locations in Glen Ellyn and St. Charles, visited Belize again this January with a team of 15 others. The group built a house for a family of four, taught swimming lessons and stepped in to lead a third grade class when the teacher was out sick.
“I think there’s a lot of value in continuing to go back,” Tyler said. “To see what you’ve done, and to build on what you’ve done.”
Tyler also led a “CandyGram” campaign for the fourth time this year, which involved more than 50 Goldfish locations and raised more than $10,000. For $1, students and instructors could send a note and a piece of candy to another student or instructor of their choosing.
Funds raised will pay for tuition, school supplies and transportation for children in Gales Point to attend high school. Tyler said the costs associated with secondary education often are a barrier for families.
According to Tyler, around 40 Belizean children have benefited from the campaign over the past four years, with several expected to graduate this year and go on to jobs in various trades.
“I really want these kids to find hope in whatever their dreams are and whatever they want to become someday,” Tyler said.
Tyler and the rest of the team also support a different kind of education: learning to swim. Gales Point is a village surrounded by water, where fishing is a main source of food and where hurricanes often displace large parts of the community. But when Tyler first visited, he found that most of the community could not swim.
“They just didn’t have the chance and the opportunity to enjoy all of the experiences their environment has to offer,” said Bryan Ocava, general manager at the Glen Ellyn Goldfish location who has been on five Belize trips, including the one this year.
Tyler said his goal is to get kids comfortable in the water so that it becomes a source of fun rather than fear. “We’ve definitely changed that mentality in the village,” Tyler said. “I’m hoping that for generations to come, that’ll continue.”
“The ability to see and experience other cultures and to build bonds and lasting relationships with other people that you normally wouldn’t interact with, it adds a shade of color to how you go about your day-to-day operations,” Ocava said. “It really gives you a sense of companionship and compassion.”