P.S.U. President Dean Flowers also had a few words for Doctor Vincent Palacio, the President of the University of Belize. Flowers says he is extremely disappointed in the president’s response to the government’s decision.
Dean Flowers
Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union
“And I want to say, Doctor Vincent Palacio I am extremely disappointed with your lack of emotions on this stinking deal. Saying you are disappointed leaves a whole lot to be desired as the president of U.B. Valuing bush for six point nine million dollars, what is wrong with you brother? When the P.S.U. just help the government require two hundred and twelve acres of land for three point three million dollars. This is madness and the commissioner of lands needs to be held accountable for that foolishness. How will you subdivide the thing and buy the thing when dah just bush. And I will say this. My son broke his hand, double fracture. I went to Western Regional and all they did was wrap his hand. I had to go to Saint Lukes and pay five hundred dollars. That six point nine could have done a whole lot for Western Regional to make it the key primary hospital in the west and then we go to the tertiary center.”
Unlike the students and the president of the University of Belize, the tertiary institution’s faculty and staff union has taken a clear stance on the government’s decision to reject the university’s land offer. The union issued a release on Thursday night expressing its discontent with the six point nine million dollars, fifteen-acre purchase. U.B.F.S.U. says it firmly believes that the land currently owned by the University of Belize, as initially proposed, would successfully meet all required environmental assessments and receive approval from qualified, objective building engineers. Today we spoke with Doctor Pio Saqui the President of the union who urged the board to call on the government to reconsider their position.
Dr. Pio Saqui
Dr. Pio Saqui, President, U.B.F.S.U.
“I think the reaction of the union is exactly the same as every national of Belize should have. The motion that was passed in the House of Representatives and Senate clearly indicates that this hospital was to be built on the U.B. property. Any change or deviation to that decision should have gone through some type of rigorous process and a transparent one that we should see. U.B. has very good land and if there is any kind of evaluation or assessment done that says this property is not good enough, we should have been able to see that to determine that. For the union this is a sad day because we do believe in transparency, accountability and good governance. This speaks to the heart of that. This is not just a U.B. employee, U.B. student issue, this is a national issue. U.B. faculty and staff union, as well as the students, need to be a part of the discourse. We have not been approached or communicated with in any official way.”
Paul Lopez
“Does the union have a position on the university’s president’s response to this entire situation?”
Dr. Pio Saqui
“I can’t speak for the president. I have not communicated with him personally on the issue. I have only seen the response of the chairman of the board. But we have spoken and one of the things that we have really said is that the board of trustees did not have a say in deciding when this hospital was going to be moved and where it was going to be moved. There was some discussion and objection particularly from the faculty and staff union voting against the move. But we are just one vote on the board.”
Normally, whenever we hear of signing of an economic Memorandum of Understanding, it’s to benefit women. Today, however, the governments of Belize and Taiwan extended a project to include men. Taiwan, which has been funding social programs to uplift the lives and livelihoods of Belize’s women, has now agreed to do the same for Belize’s men. The initiative came about through the efforts of Belize’s Special Envoy for Women and Children, Rossana Briceño, who sought the assistance of the Taiwanese Embassy and got the green light. At a special signing ceremony, representatives of both countries attached their signatures to documents, making the agreement official. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Men and boys who sign up for an empowerment project stand to gain endless economic opportunities through partnership between Belize and Taiwan. It aims to improve stressful domestic situations by offering men and boys economic opportunities. Special Envoy for Women and Children, Rossana Briceno sought the funding.
Rossana Briceño
Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy for Women & Children
“We had young people there trying to figure out and, and in consultation with our communities to see what’s the best approach for police to end poverty, to end abuse, to end gender-based violence to have more equality in our communities, in our homes. And this engaging men and boy rightly with its title, we were focusing on the men and trying to change mindsets, trying to reach out to boys, getting them at an early age to start working on their attitudes and beliefs and all of that, because if we – whatever we grow up with, whatever we get in the house, that’s what we’re going to give back. So that’s our goal.”
Taiwan came through once again, through its ambassador to Belize.
Lily Li-Wen Hsu
Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Belize
“When I look at the proposal, I just been struck to see that how serious the violence against women, the issue in Belize. It is – this is surely affecting women, not physically, but mentally and their own development and any opportunity. So the training like this targeting our future leaders. The men and boys, young men and boys, is a very strategic way to tackle this issue from bottom up or in the long run in a fundamental way. And I think our Women’s Empowerment Project As previous speakers mentioned, mainly we want to build up women’s capacity and if they earn money or they want to get out to learn new skills without a safe family net back home or a safe environment back home, there’s no point to do that. Or they don’t feel comfortable enough to work outside of their family.”
The existing Women Empowerment Project has had notable success throughout Belize for at least seven hundred women. The C.E.O. at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amalia Mai says that extending it to men is expected to do far more than create economic opportunities.
Amalia Mai
Amalia Mai, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“I think this new component of the project will assist 600 young men. And I very much applaud the Special Embassy for going farther outside the box of only women. Because really and truly, while we have our own struggles and we have our own challenges, certainly we don’t live alone. And so including the men, the young men, is very important. It takes them away from crime. It gives them a more productive life. And really at the end of the day, what do we want? Strong families.”
Today, an American national is enjoying his vacation in Belize with lighter pockets after being busted for entering the country with marijuana. He is forty-nine-year-old Roderick Boone, who was caught with twenty-two grams of Class B cannabis on Thursday. Reports are that Boone arrived at the Phillip Goldson International Airport on a flight from North Carolina when a customs officer allegedly smelled a strong odor from Boone’s person. The officer asked him if he had anything to declare, and Boone allegedly admitted to having weed on his person for medical uses, which he handed over to the officer. Upon weighing the contents of the bag, it was discovered to be above the legal limit. Boone was charged with importation of a controlled drug. He appeared unrepresented in court today and while he pleaded guilty to the crime, he maintained that he was sure the contents of the bag were only about thirteen grams and attributed the rest of the weight to the bag itself. Boone was told that the charge typically carries a fine of three thousand dollars or a three-year prison sentence. However, due to his early guilty, plea, he was given a one third deduction of the fine. Boone has until next week Wednesday to pay the fine.
Belize City resident, Timothy Elijio pleaded guilty today to possession of over a hundred grams of marijuana with intent to supply. He was fined five thousand dollars and was spared from a stiffer fine, plus three years in prison since he is a first-time offender. Police had also detained Elijio’s common-law wife, but Elijio confessed that the weed was his. Initially he didn’t agree with everything that was read as part of the facts of the case and said the weed belonged to his common-law wife. He was offered bail and taken into the holding cell. Sometime later, however, he decided to change his plea to guilty and was taken back to the courtroom where he pleaded guilty. The forty-three-year-old was ordered to pay the fine by December 31, 2024, or he will spend a year in prison. On Wednesday, police visited Elijio’s house with a body cam and began to search the place. They found some jackets hanging and inside their pockets police found the weed.
In just a few short days, Belizeans all over the country will tune in for the finale of KTV the Remix Season Six. With just three contestants remaining, the competition is more tense than ever, as fans have until Sunday to cast their vote for the winner. On Thursday, we brought you the story of finalist Elijah Noralez and how he is preparing for next week’s big show. Tonight, we feature two other finalists who are eagerly awaiting that day. We travelled all the way to San Pedro to speak with contestant Flor Augustin. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Flor Augustin’s love for music began, like most things in her life, with her mom. She was just eleven years old when she began singing at church. And since that moment, she has never stopped.
Flor Augustin
Flor Augustin, KTV the Remix Finalist
“My mom was actually the one that gave me that little push. She asked me to, you know what, canta conmigo. She was Spanish, so sing with me, sing this beautiful hymn with me. So I was like, okay, why not? Which I was really scared ’cause it was in front about 40, 40 persons I think in church. But, we did a precious him. And that’s where it all started from there to school, to high school, and now to KTV.”
Marion Ali
“And that’s where you said you discovered the talent?”
Flor Augustin
“Yes. That’s where I said, you know what, my mom, actually my mom and she had always believed. Believed a lot in God. Me too. She said, you know what? I think. You’re given a gift and you should use it. And it hits me a lot lately cause I think I should use it.”
Making it to KTV the Remix has been on Flor’s bucket list since she first watched the show back in high school and, as she explains, this year was her year to take the stage.
Flor Augustin
“It’s like a goal that I had to try out. Which I did last year. With my online audition because I was busy at work, so I couldn’t attend the live ones So I sent my online audition, but unfortunately, I didn’t make it but that didn’t stop me I was like no next year I’m going to the live ones and I will tell them I came back just to prove you guys that you know I think I got the voice and I deserve a shot.”
Flor spends most of her days working as a restaurant supervisor at Margaritaville Resort in San Pedro. She is here, all the way from Independence Village in Stann Creek, where she visits her five-year-old son Juliyan whenever she can. All that travelling is arguably Flor’s greatest challenge. Her support team has been there every step of the way. As a friend, Luis Diaz describes what it’s like being her fan and critic.
Luis Diaz
Luis Diaz, Flor’s Friend
“I’m not the only one that comes together and listens to her when it comes to her singing her rehearsal We have other servers and bartenders that also join in and listen to her and then everyone we sit around the bar She sings at the other side and at the end of her music everyone just tell her like we are the judges to her and then we let her know what we think about this where she can do better where and then we debate among each other. So that’s the process for most of the weeks.”
If Flor were to win KTV the Remix Season Six, the money, she says, would go towards building her home in Independence. The love and support she’s received has been overwhelming so she sends a message to all her supporters that the road through life may be difficult, but it is worth the journey.
Flor Augustin
“It’s tough. We will meet our challenges and a lot of people will leave us. A lot. And it’s gonna be hard, but we just have to have faith in God and never give up. Because we have other people that, you know that love us and that they don’t, they wouldn’t want to see us giving up or crying all the time or feeling sad. They want to, they want the best in us too. So for those other special holding on to life and be grateful for every single person you have around you.”
If the next KTV the Remix champion will be Chelsy Castro, she will need your help. Chelsy shared with News Five that she was not able to get herself a sponsor for the voting competition, whose winner is determined by the number of votes they receive. Chelsy is only nineteen, but aside from wanting to continue in music, she also wants to help children. News Five stopped in with Chelsy for a little while to get to know who she is when she’s not on the KTV stage. It happens that at only nineteen, she has been turning a few heads on the island already among people who know her talent and have asked her to perform at special events. The winner will be announced on Tuesday night, but voting ends at midnight on Sunday and Chelsy says if she wins, she wants to invest the money in children. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
If you’re a fan of KTV the Remix, you may have seen her and heard that lovely voice as she sang each Tuesday night at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts. Chelsy Castro is only nineteen years old. Born in Belize City, she now lives, works and studies in San Pedro. As a nine-year-old, discovering her singing talent came one day while attempting to brighten someone’s day.
Chesly Castro
Chelsy Castro, KTV the Remix Finalist
“I had a friend who was in a fire accident and she went to the US for surgeries and stuff like that and it was like on her birthday week And so my mom decided like, you know, let’s just sing a little song for her. At the time we didn’t know that I could sing. So I did it and then she was like, “you’re kinda good” (laughs). Yeah.”
Chelsy’s mom, Cindy Fuentes works with children in the arts and also sings. She coaches her daughter for every KTV session. She says Chelsy has long surpassed her ability.
Cindy Fuentes
Cindy Fuentes, Mother of Chelsy Castro
“I do sing at karaoke’s. Um, not that good. Not that karaoke good, but not that – stage good, but the drama and all that, that would come from me. I do a lot of – I help school when it comes to the festival of arts and so I’m the most artistic when it comes to stage performance and how she should stand, what she should do, facial. So I’m the one that does all that for her.”
We met Chelsy on the job, at Belizean Melody Art Gallery on Barrier Reef Drive. It’s a not-for-profit gallery that promotes the works of Belizean artists only. While Chelsy herself does not paint, she helps to run the display room. She’s also majoring in business management at the San Pedro Junior College. For the past six weeks, she has been juggling homework, her eight-to-five, and KTV preparations.
And if we were to go by her performance, specifically on the night of July twenty-third, when she wowed the audience with her rendition of the Latin song, Que Agonia by Yuridia and Ángela Aguilar, you would think she speaks Spanish fluently. She doesn’t and had to put in extra hours to get that performance down pat.
Chelsy Castro
“I was like planning out songs for each of the genres and for Spanish. We focused on that more because I don’t see Spanish. And so I was like –”
Marion Ali
“At all?”
Chelsy Castro
“Well, agua (laughs) good morning.”
Chelsy does not have a sponsor for her appearances on the show, instead she sings karaoke at nightclubs. When the audience cheers her on, she asks them to vote for her. She also sings at events where people who have recognized her talent, ask her to perform. Now that she has reached this far, she has greater musical pursuits on the horizon.
Chelsy Castro
“I’m actually consider considering to like potentially becoming a Belizean artist. I’ve got in contact with like producers and they want to help me out and so like potentially I could be publishing my own music.”
Chelsy sees herself composing her own music, as well as performing well-known covers, should she land an opportunity in the music industry. She also wants to help children.
Chelsy Castro
“I’ve never had a vocal teacher Until KTV when I met Miss Giselle, that was my first time going to a vocalist So I wanted to with the 10, 000 invest in like some music instruments to also help children and give them that support that they need thankfully I had from my mom, but, you know, I can give that to other kids, give them that vocal lessons, like, with that $10,000 I can, like, teach myself to, like, give to others.”
Chelsy’s favourite songs are from soundtracks. She left us with this treat from the Little Mermaid. Marion Ali for News Five.
Every year, doctors from various parts of The U.S. travel to Belize to provide life-saving corrective surgeries for young cardiac patients. The initiative is facilitated through the Rotary Club and has been saving lives in the country for decades. Today, we stopped by the Lion’s Club in Belize City where the Gift of Life clinic was being hosted. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
To be happy and healthy, that’s the wish all parents make for their children. But good health and happiness come easier to some than others. For the parents and children at the annual Gift of Life pop-up clinic, they are fighting hard for it. Pediatric cardiologist, Doctor Gul Dadlani is visiting Belize for the fourth time as part of this program.
Dr. Gul Dadlani
Dr. Gul Dadlani, Pediatric Cardiologist
“The Gift of Life program through Rotary is fantastic. About one in a hundred children are born with a congenital heart problem, meaning a heart problem that’s there at birth. Many of those will need a surgical procedure to correct that. So the gift of life program brings cardiologists and a full team to diagnose those heart conditions and then allows those that need surgery to be able to raise the funds to send them out of the country to have their heart surgery and come back and lead a great quality of life.”
The most common diseases observed by the doctors include a ventricular septal defect which is a hole between the lower chambers of the heart. Ten -year-old Jacinto Penner recently received surgery at the K.H.M.H. from the Gift of Life Doctors in Belize. Jacinto’s father, Milton Penner, says his family’s life has been changed watching their little heart warrior make a full recovery.
Milton Penner
Milton Penner, Father of Jacinto
“It was last year in October. It’s almost a year ago. And it was a very smooth process. It was absolutely wonderful and marvelous. The fact that we were able to do this in Belize, very amazing. Very happy about it.”
Britney Gordon
“Now that your son is recovering, you guys brought him back here today just for follow ups and just to make sure everything’s alright?”
Milton Penner
“Yes he is perfectly fine. After the procedure he is actually recovering in a very beautiful way. We never saw, after leaving the hospital, it was like an instant fix, like instantly. There was not a sign ever again. It was, it was just a very beautiful thing for, to watch, to see him. Just recover and not a sign ever again. And now we’ve been back once. This is the second time after the procedure and He’s doing excellent.”
Jacinto is one of many patients whose lives have been touched by the program. The doctors are spending three days in Belize City after one in Dangriga. Nurse Heidi Hess, who has been coming to Belize for the past twenty-four years, estimates that the team sees at least one hundred children annually.
Heidi Hess
Heidi Hess, Pediatric Cardiac Nurse Specialist
“I feel very connected to the country and to the people here. Everyone is so friendly. The children are fantastic. And I’ve, I love watching them grow up and now they’re growing up and getting married. And they come in and they bring their own children for me to see. And that’s very rewarding.”
Businessman Lawrence Ellis has been endorsed as the People’s United Party’s standard bearer for the Mesopotamia division in Belize City. The current area representative is the leader of the United Democratic Party, Moses Barrow.
In a Facebook post, PUP Leader and Prime Minister John Briceño urged Mesopotamia voters to embrace a new era of leadership, emphasising the need for fresh energy and representation in the constituency. He is confident that Ellis will bring change to Mesopotamia.
“Mesop needs new energy, new representation and a new leader to breathe new life into this area of our commercial capital. Let’s break 40 years of UDP neglect in Mesop.,” the Prime Minister said.
Retired journalist Rowland Parks of Pomona Valley has been honoured with the Zee Edgell Prize for Literary Arts, recognising his contributions as a journalist and poet. The announcement was made by the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) on its Facebook page.
NICH said, Parks’ journey to literary acclaim began despite an early departure from school. His thirst for knowledge eventually led him back to education, where he earned a journalism degree from Baruch College, City University of New York. His literary talent first gained recognition in 1977 when his evocative poems were featured in “An Anthology of Belizean Poetry: Vol 2.”
“However, it was his seminal work, “Poems of Passion, Patriotism, and Protest,” co-authored with luminaries Dickie Bradley and Evan X Hyde, that truly cemented his place in Belize’s literary landscape. Leading up to his recent retirement in 2021, Parks distinguished himself as one of Belize’s preeminent photojournalists, capturing the essence of his homeland through his lens.”
NICH explained that before retiring in 2021, Parks was celebrated as one of Belize’s leading photojournalists, capturing the essence of the nation through his photography. Earlier this year, over 20 of Belize’s most esteemed poets and writers gathered to pay tribute to Parks, highlighting his lasting influence on Belizean literature and journalism.
