For the past several years, the sargassum invasion has affected most if not all of the Caribbean countries, some more than others. Some have gone ahead to find creative ways to dispose of it or to turn it into something useful. And later this year, Caribbean countries will meet to discuss this one common problem. San Pedro has had its share of dealing with sargassum and Belize Rural South Area Representative Andre Perez says Belize will likely be present at that assembly in September in Grenada.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“This sargassum is everybody’s problem, especially the Caribbean, and we are in the western part of the Caribbean and we are like the funnel to receive all that. I’m sure the sargassum task force is participating because remember there’s a sargassum task force. So I’m sure that there’s participation there.”
This Saturday, Belize Camping Experience and Western Dairies are inviting you to come out and purchase a scoop of ice cream for a worthy cause. The Scoops of Hope initiative is a one-day fundraiser to raise money for the Belize Camping Experience annual summer camps. As the camps are free of cost, the non-profit organization has partnered with Western Dairies to raise funds for this year’s events. Alexander Perez, Director of the Belize Camping Experience explained how this promotion will work.
Alexander Perez
Alexander Perez, Director, B.C.E.
“We really challenge the corporate world, how they can partner with us. And Western Dairies answered that call. And so what, after many years of working, you know, and challenging different businesses, one of it is that, what if we take a hot day in Belize, right? And you can give a percentage of the ice cream to the kids to Belize. So that we can do the summer camps. So, after long conversations and meetings, they have decided that we’re going to, we call it Scoops of Hope. That for every scoop you buy on June first, which is this Saturday, fifty cents will go towards the kids for the summer camps that are taking place. So if you buy two scoops, that’s one dollar. I would encourage everyone to buy three scoops. And in that way, you can be a part of that vision. To see Belize changing Belize. And so how is going to work is that if you come to the Western dairy branch and you say, let me get a bucket, then I know they want to, I know Belize just want to support because we need community for us to run these programs, but that’s not going to work. It has to be scoops. It has to, it doesn’t count in any other product, but if you say, I will bring my container and put me ten scoops, that is going to work. Or you can get it in a little cup. That’s going to work.”
Anya Claire Preez
Anya Claire Preez, B.C.E. Volunteer
“It’s an invitation for everyone come out and come to the closest Weston Dairy’s and purchase your ice cream. And every scoop, fifty cents will be donated to Belize camping experience and all the funds will go towards, will help summer camp day camps across Belize and around the area. It’s free camps for all the children, and we do a small camp in the afternoon. And you can bring your own container and get ten scoops or even more and share it with your family.”
A Manhattan jury has convicted Donald Trump on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. Judge Juan Merchan has scheduled the sentencing for July 11.
Prosecutors charged Trump with participating in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election and executing an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which involved concealing a hush money payment to an adult film star.
This felony conviction of a former president or major party frontrunner is unprecedented, yet Trump remains eligible to run for office.
Trump condemned the jury’s decision as a “disgrace,” asserting that the “real verdict” will come during the presidential election on November 5. President Joe Biden responded on social media, stating that his 2024 rival can only be defeated at the ballot box.
Carrot farmers in Orange Walk and Corozal districts will lose all that they have invested in this year’s crop if they are unable to get their produce to market soon. Dozens of acres of carrots remain in the field unharvested, which is uncommon in the north at this time of the year. The Ministry of Agriculture says the market is oversaturated due to unfavorable weather conditions late last year. The Belize Marketing and Development Corporation refutes claims that it is importing carrots currently. The farmers believe that contraband carrots from Mexico have taken their place in the market. News Five’s Paul Lopez traveled north today. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
2024 has been a difficult year so far for carrot farmers, particularly those in the Orange Walk and Corozal districts. Carrots are not selling at the rate they traditionally would, leaving many farmers with acres of unharvested crops that are starting to go bad.
Sabino Yam
Sabino Yam, Patchakan Farmer
“I guess all the farmers that have carrots right now are basically in the same problem. Basically it is the selling of the carrots we are having problem right now. I have contacted some of my buyers and they are not buying.”
Sabino Yam owns a carrot farm in Patchakan Village in the Corozal District. On a normal year, Yam would have already sold all his carrots on the local market. This year, he has only been able to sell eight sacks of carrots. So, what has led to this shift in the market? The Ministry of Agriculture says there’s a glut of carrots on the local market.
Andrew Mejia
Andrew Mejia, Acting Director of Extensions, Ministry of Agriculture
“The situation we are having now is as a result of what happened last year. During the months from August to October we had a drought preventing the farmers that were to plant early based on the schedule we had created with the Ministry. After that we had an issue with flooding. That compounded the situation. So everybody planted the same time, around the end of November to December.”
To ensure that every farmer gets a fair share of market demands, they take turns planting and harvesting. Carrots in the Cayo District should have already been sold out by now, leaving only carrots from farmers in northern Belize on the market. But that is not the case this year.
William Can
William Can, Agriculture Officer for Cayo District, Ministry of Agriculture
“From the data we have Cayo planted sixty-three acres and from that sixty-three acres at the moment we have around eight acres to manage in the Cayo District so we can safely say that the peak of production in the Cayo District has passed. We will have two to three weeks of production left in Cayo and from that the only two districts left is Corozal and Orange Walk.”
The Ministry of Agriculture says that produce in Cayo should be sold out within a week. That will make space in the market for carrots from Orange Walk and Corozal. But farmers are not sold on the ministry’s explanation. Jose Gonzalez, a farmer in Indian Creek Village is doubtful.
Jose Gonzalez
Jose Gonzalez, Indian Creek Village
“Si, puedo nostros. We have our doubts. We heard that Cayo have carrots. But in the past they use to come buy eighty, a hundred sacks of carrots from us. And now they are just taking twenty, twenty-five sacks. So we have our doubts and think that contraband has something to do with how they are not buying carrots from us right now.”
Carrot farmers are convinced that the illegal importation of vegetables from Mexico is the reason they are facing these challenges. During our visit to a farm in San Carlos, a group of farmers complained bitterly about the negative effects of contraband carrots. While cleaning their produce to take to the market, the men argued that the government is not doing enough to stop contrabandistas. Mejia says the argument about contraband carrots is, to an extent, justified.
Andrew Mejia
“I do believe so and I won’t discredit them. What the Ministry of Agriculture has done is that we are in the process of re-activating our contraband interdiction team, compromised of customs, immigration, police, BAHA to see what is actually happening with this accusation. Otherwise we don’t have any concrete information on that. So until the team is activated we will be able to get a handle on what is happening with that. But I can assure the farmers that the saturation is due to oversupply at this time.”
The Belize Marketing and Development Corporation is also responding to allegations that it has received import permits from the Ministry of Agriculture to bring in carrots from Mexico. B.M.D.C. Is responsible for importing goods that are not available on the local market. Valentin Carillo, the administrator at B.M.D.C., says the last time they imported carrots was in November 2023.
Valentin Carillo
Valentin Carillo, Administrator, B.M.D.C.
“I have heard concerns about the carrots issue and I have also heard that we have License right now. I came here to clear it out. We are not importing carrots from last year November.”
Paul Lopez
“How often during the season?”
Valentin Carillo
“Like last year we had a meeting with the farmers and we put a cut off date. It depends on how the season goes. As if see it right now it will go a month, a month and a half depending on local production.”
Sabino Yam
“It is claimed that they are not giving license to import but still we are seeing Mexican products on the market. So what is happening? That is rhe reason we want to know. But some of the farmers do have evidence that those importers there are bringing stuff through the border. I am from Patchakan. Patchakan is right next to the borderline to Mexico. I can say maybe six four years back there was a lot of contraband. Now I have not seen much. As a result I can conclude that this contraband is passing through the border.”
During our trip north, we also sought to find out why a demand for carrots from Mexico exists locally. Whereas fifty pounds of carrots can be bought locally for thirty-five to forty dollars on average, fifty pounds of Mexican carrots can cost as much as eighty dollars. But is paying double the price for carrots worth it? Farmers say it’s currently all over the local market. B.M.D.C.’s administrator says carrots from Mexico are not superior.
Sabino Yam, Patchakan Farmer
“Well they look totally different. They are more different. They look kinda waxed. We can say. We producers can identify our products right. As we go to the market we can easily spot Mexican product.”
Paul Lopez
“What is it about, from your experience, is it about handling Mexican carrots that makes it so desirable? Is it superior?”
Valentin Carillo, Administrator, B.M.D.C.
“It is not superior. It is done in the optimum time to produce it because in November, December, January, February I believe we have some good quality. Even now I saw some good quality. So it is not like it’s superior. Similar with the onion, we have good quality onion. So there is nothing to envy from across there.”
Paul Lopez
“So what makes the Mexican carrots double the price?”
The United Democratic Party alleges that a P.U.P. minister from Orange Walk called on law enforcement officers to stand down after smugglers were caught carrying sacks of sugar across the border to Mexico. According to a release from the party, a Belize Defense Force patrol along the Rio Hondo seized a large quantity of sugar from a group of individuals crossing an irregular border point. The release asserts that one of the individuals made a call and shortly thereafter, the soldiers were instructed to stand down because the group had an export permit for sugar from BAHA. The opposition is questioning whether such an export permit exists and why the individuals decided to use an illegal border crossing. We spoke with Valentin Carillo, the administrator of the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation. B.M.D.C. distributes sugar on the local market.
Valentin Carillo
Valentin Carillo, Administrator, B.M.D.C.
“On that I cannot say. What I would say on B.M.D.C.s part is not part of that. As I explained we bought ninety- two tons of white sugar for the domestic market for distribution from October last year to April this year which is roughly about two hundred and sixty-eight bags for branch. We divide into four branch Orange Walk, Belize, San Pedro and Bjg Falls. So that averages about sixty bags per month. When you divide it by week it is only fifteen bags a week distribute in each branch. fifteen bags.”
Reporter
“Are you aware of why there is a demand for Belize sugar in certain parts of Mexico?”
Valentin Carillo
“Well that is the high acquisition price over there. Over there is two dollars and change per pound and our one is sixty eight cents, seventy-five cents. We can assist if they say you know what let us give BMDC fifty percent of the distribution then it is a government entity. We can monitor who to sell and where to sell and even maybe bag it in one pound to dissuade people from moving this across the border. All of these things.”
Doris Grant is making the news again tonight, this time for a search of her house on Reggae Street. Grant, who was charged over a week ago with a multitude of offences related to receiving monies by deception, also saw her two daughters shot during what police say was a fight near a nightclub on Newtown Barracks over the weekend. And last week, police conducted a raid at Grant’s farmhouse in Gardenia Village. She showed the media how the police tore open the grill door to gain access and then proceeded to ransack her house. This time Grant told News Five that the police targeted her family home on Reggae Street on Tuesday evening sometime after three p.m. She provided us with surveillance footage showing when the police arrived, meeting one of her sons-in-law, also a policeman, just as he was about to exit the yard. The police, reportedly led by Assistant Commissioner Doctor Richard Rosado, searched the upper flat of the two-story house, which was occupied by another of her other sons-in-law. Grant said she was not at home when the search happened. After about two hours, Grant said the police then proceeded to the lower flat of the house where she lives. There, they searched only her bedroom and removed a chess that was locked with her diabetes medication. They also took some documents and receipts for building materials and her vehicle. Grant said that she is positive that the police will find nothing incriminating in the chest. She expressed frustration that her son-in-law, Jarrell Young, who was shot in the leg by police in the incident near Shisha’s over the weekend, and who was the only one at home when the search was conducted, was charged. The charge against Young was for boisterous behaviour. Meanwhile, x-rays on his leg have determined that he will need a surgery to remove the bullet from his muscle where it is lodged, Grant says.
Independence police have arrested and charged Selvin Ramos for the murder of his sibling Eladio Ramos, following a deadly shooting on May twenty-sixth. The brothers reportedly got into a physical altercation on Sunday during which Selvin produced a shotgun and fired a blast that killed Eladio. In the wake of the incident, investigators waited for instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on how to proceed with charges. On Tuesday, Selvin Ramos was arraigned on a single count of murder.
Earlier today, thirty-nine-year-old Jamaal Jackson, a well-known criminal, was acquitted of the charges of attempted robbery and grievous harm. As we’ve reported, Jackson was accused of attempting to jack a pair of security guards who were making a night deposit at Scotia Bank on Albert Street back in 2016. During the incident, Jackson was pursued by police after coming under gunfire when they responded to the robbery in progress. A woman police officer was injured in the head and arm during the shooting. An investigation subsequently led to Jackson’s arrest. But tonight, he’s free of both charges as the case could not be proven in court. After two days of a voir dire, the matter ended with a nolle pros, setting Jackson free of the charges. Of note is that Jackson appeared unrepresented in court.
