August, 2024 - Channel 5 Belize

G.O.B. Employee Says Allowances Due to Her Still Outstanding

One public servant is tonight alleging that the Government of Belize, specifically the Department of Youth Services, has up to four thousand dollars in subsistence and meal allowances outstanding to her. Nichole McDonald showed up to our office in her work uniform. She says that she has been employed with G.O.B. for the last sixteen years. She went on to explain that she was deployed to Mountain Pine Ridge in April 2023 to work as a matron at the youth facility which was shut down several months later. She further explained that she was then moved to Belize City, later Belmopan and then back to Belize City. According to McDonald, during this period she operated with the understanding that she would be receiving subsistence, meal allowances and travel allowance. She asserts that the Department of Youth Services has withheld those payments from her, except for three thousand dollars that have been paid. But McDonald is likely to face disciplinary action after she visited the D.Y.S. Finance Officer and allegedly caused a public disturbance while demanding the money. The letter further asserts that McDonald has launched a social media campaign against the finance officer which is against the Public Service Regulations. Today she told us that she has six children at home that need school supplies, and that she will continue to speak out.

Nichole McDonald, Matron, Department of Youth Service

“In the public service regulations it says if you move from one point to another point it comes with allowances.”

Paul Lopez

“And that includes?”

Nichole McDonald

“Food and mileage.”

Paul Lopez

“And were you getting those?”

Nichole McDonald

“No sir, that is why it amounts to four thousand dollars plus.”

Paul Lopez

“And this would be monies you spent out of pocket?”

Nichole McDonald

“Yes, and I use my money while my pay stopped. My gentleman, my fiancé, he was the one that floated me to go to Belmopan every day. Unfortunately for me, because of going to her she deemed me disrespectful. I am not disrespectful. What is mine, please give me mine. The way I approached her on more than one occasion. I had a tension headache. I didn’t eat that day. I didn’t have money to feed my kid that day. The AO had to lend me a hundred that day. How do you think I feel?”

Paul Lopez

“The letter written to you recently says you went in there and you gone on rambunctious.”

Nichole McDonald

“I didn’t go on rambunctious. Give me what is for me. Give me what is mine. I done work for that. Give me that, like what Supa G said, give me that I work for that. Like what Bob Marley said, get up and stand up for your rights, that is what I am doing.”

Caye Caulker Welcomes Weather Station

As Belize moves further into the hurricane season, the need for timely and accurate weather updates remains a priority for the National Meteorological Service. Throughout the country, the Met Service is working to install weather stations for more detailed data and today Caye Caulker welcomed its very own. News Five’s Britney Gordon attended the opening ceremony earlier and learned what this means for residents of the island.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Earlier this year, Central America and the Caribbean waited with bated breath to see where Hurricane Beryl would make landfall. As a precaution, over two thousand residents evacuated the islands of Caye Caulker and San Pedro in anticipation of the category two storm. While Belizeans on the mainland braced for the potential impact, many islanders were not willing to take the risk.

Kristian Puerto, San Pedro Resident

“The last one that hit was just a tropical storm. And this is the first major hurricane that I’m going to have to be evacuating from the island. And yes, I’ve noticed a lot of people, especially a lot of people from the, from mainland Belize. They’re kind of evacuate the islands.”

With the latter half of the hurricane season fast approaching, the need for accurate and timely weather updates is important for every Belizean. That is why, today residents of Caye Caulker celebrate the newly installed weather station.

Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy

“This weather station is being inaugurated here in Caye Caulker, is actually very important, but at the same time symbolic because it is representing all the different weather stations that are being installed. All across the country. And of course we choose a beautiful Caye Caulker to highlight it and that the amount of money is being invested and hundreds of thousand dollars US dollars for this project. And that culminates here today. And as was given up at the description of the where station, the vital data that it shares across this country and across the world and in real time. It’s really important puts us at the cutting edge and especially when it comes to being informed in terms of when weather patterns are coming towards our country.”

There are approximately seven other weather stations placed strategically throughout the country, with an average cost of three hundred thousand dollars each. The project is financed through the Green Environment Fund from the World Bank with the intention of assisting countries in collecting data for climate resilience initiatives.

Ronald Gordon, Chief Met Officer

“People always want precise information. Even with the forecast, they’re always asking us to give us the forecast specifically for this area. So having a weather station on the ground will assist us in that area. To be able to more precisely see what’s happening in Caye Caulker and what is likely to happen in the future.”

The station has capabilities to record standard weather conditions such as wind speed, and rainfall but it is also equipped to detect solar radiation levels. This data is available for all to access through the Belize Weather app that is available for download to Android users and coming to IOS soon.

Andre Perez

“You will actually see the real information coming in because of here and that information is actually coming from that weather station. So as it relates to the village in terms of weather patterns, what is going to come fishing or snorkeling, diving or for an event, especially now, Caye Caulker is always very busy on weekends. And when the summer comes at all events, it is important to make their plans according to what the weather.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Belize Nominated as ‘Most Desirable Country’ in 2024 Wanderlust Awards

The 2024 Wanderlust Travel Awards are just around the corner and this year, Belize is nominated in the ‘Most Desirable Country’ category. The awards allow travelers to vote for their favourite destinations and promote them to potential visitors. The Belize Tourism Board is encouraging Belizeans to visit WanderlustMagazine’s Website and vote before it closes on October eighteenth. We spoke with B.T.B. marketing manager, Gale Malik-Ozaeta, for more details on the award.

Gale Malik-Ozaeta, Marketing Manager, B.T.B.

“The Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards is the UK’s longest running and largest travel magazine by circulation. And we normally do campaigns with different publications around the world. And so it means a lot for us to be nominated. First of all they exist to inform and inspire travelers globally to take the road less travelled. And Belize first being known as the mother nature’s best kept secret, there are still a lot of paths less traveled in Belize. And so this year, they’re celebrating their twenty-three years and we have been nominated for the category most desirable country to the rest of the world. Voting is open right now, and it closes October eighteenth, 2024. Now, this is not the first time we’ve been nominated for a Wanderlust Reader Travel Award. We have actually won in the past. In 2023, we won silver for best emerging destination, and in 2022, we won silver for most desirable emerging destination. So we are encouraging everybody to go out and vote. We are pushing it on our social channels and through all our partners to vote for Belize so that this year we may be able to walk away with the gold. UK is one of our emerging markets. It’s, we do have visitors that travel to Belize from the UK, but not as much as the other destinations. When we compare our visitor numbers to the U. S. and to Canada, it’s a lot. Far less for UK and Europe on a whole. And so, the publicity or that this opportunity brings to the destination, it’s very welcoming because there are, Wanderlust has a lot of readers, a lot of readers who may have never heard of them, about Belize, readers who are thinking about Belize, but don’t know exactly where to go or what to do.”

Wilson Grinage Wins Annual National Song Competition

Over the weekend, the annual, National Song Competition was held here in Belize City and one winner walked away with a grand prize of twenty thousand dollars. That Belizean musician is Wilson Grinage. He competed against several other artists who performed their compositions before a live audience at the Bliss. Here’s a glimpse of those performances.

https://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/08-19-20214-Song-Competition-SOT-Trim.mp4?_=1

The annual National Song Competition is organized by NICH, the Institute of Creative Arts, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology.

Tennis Tournament Raising Standard of Discipline in Belize

The Belize Tennis Association hosted tennis players from across Central America this weekend for the Belize Open Men’s Singles Tennis Tournament. It all went down at the Pickwick Tennis Club’s home court. The tournament saw twenty athletes compete for the coveted cash prize and bragging rights. It is not one of the sporting disciplines we see often covered in the media, partially because tennis in Belize is not as popular as team sports like basketball and football. But tennis has a faithful following in Belize and young athletes who take it very seriously. News Five’s Paul Lopez tells us more.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Tennis has been played in Belize for more than seven decades. At the height of its popularity in the nineteen fifties, Edward “Billy” Musa Senior was involved.

Edward Musa Sr., Tournament Sponsor

“In the fifties and sixties we had three tennis clubs vying against each other for the Martinez Shield. It was a prestigious shield that each club wanted to win. The Belize Club, where we are right now, were mainly expatriates under the colonial rule there were a lot of expatriates in Belize. At the New Town Club, where the old two tennis courts are, there was a big building there and they were involved in tennis too. They were civil servants working for the government. The Pickwick Club on North Front Street were mainly businessmen.”

In 2024, the discipline remains alive in Belize. Admittedly, it is not as popular as it once was back in the fifties.

Edward Musa Sr.

“A lot of people think that tennis is only for the well to do elites and this is not the case. What we find, the problem with tennis is that it is an individual sport and players, our population prefer team sports like basketball and volleyball.”

Even though the popularity of the discipline has somewhat dwindled over the years, Musa remains at the helm of the efforts to keep tennis alive in Belize. He sponsored a regional Open Men’s Singles Tennis Tournament over the weekend in Belize City. Samron Pott, the Tournament Director, says it has been running since 2017.

Samron Pott, Tournament Director

“This year’s event has twenty players. Belize is represented, Guatemala is represented, Mexico is represented, and Nicaragua is represented. So, we have some talent out there at the pickwick club this year. Two, three gentlemen have already proceeded to the semi-finals, one Belizean, one Nicaraguan, one Mexican the last quarter finals are on display on the court over there nuh. And that one is between our top ranked Belizean, Stephan Sosa and the Guatemalan who represented Guatemala internationally.”

Stephan Sosa, a resident of Belmopan, plays for the Belmopan Tennis Club. We witnessed him win his match after competing against his Guatemalan opponent in a match that ran for approximately two hours under the sweltering heat of the day.

Stephan Sosa, Tennis Player, Belmopan Tennis Club

“The majority of the toll comes from the heat. I find that to be the most difficult element for me to combat and just the fact that the format is so condensed, it being done over one weekend, it is a bit hard to recover, it is a bit hard to recover between matches considering that little resting time. Beforehand I prepare by buying supplements and ensuring I have the fuel my body needs to play optimally. I purchase a lot of electrolytes drinks like Gatorade. I also have energy gels among other various other supplements I wouldn’t like to disclose to be honest. They are not illegal supplements for the record. I am just making that clear.”

Pott was born into tennis and intends to utilize his youthfulness to keep the discipline alive in Belize.

Samron Pott, Tournament Director

“So I was born into tennis, so the passion existed from birth, and it is a beautiful game. I know what tennis can do for an individual in terms of values that you learn through tennis, but fitness as well, it is a great way to stay fit. So, it is something I intend to do for quite a while, keep this sport going.”

At the end of the weekend tournament, Mexico’s Braulio Bautista emerged as the champion for the third time. Nicaragua’s Orland Suarez won the silver medal, while Belize’s Stephan Sosa secured the bronze medal. A successful end to a tournament that sees tennis played at its highest level, raising the standard of the discipline in Belize. As for Edward Musa Senior, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Edward Musa Sr.

“We participate in regional tournaments, like Guatemala and Mexico invites us, but internationally we have to qualify, and we have not reached that standard yet.”

Paul Lopez

“How long do you plan to keep this up. You have been in it since the fifties?”

Edward Musa Sr.

“Until I die.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Men’s Softball National Returns After a Decade

Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. After a ten-year hiatus, the Men’s National Softball Tournament is back. The games were played over the weekend in Sandhill Village. Spectators from across the country filled the stadium to cheer on their favorite teams. Tonight, we bring you highlights from the gold-medal matchup between Belize City’s Wolfpack and the Hattieville Cubs.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Here we are at the bottom of the second inning. Neither of the teams have been able to score a run up to this point in the game. Shareef Humes up to bat for Wolfpack with runners on first and second. He connects and sends the ball flying into right field. That hit brought Bryan Grant home for the first run of the game. Christian Hernandez came from behind with a massive hit into left field. Keron Tillett and Shareef Humes made it home on that play, bringing Wolfpack’s score to three runs.

Wolfpack made a fourth run at the bottom of the second inning, following an error by the catcher. Christian Hernandez with the slide to home base. This is the top of the third. The Hattieville Cubs are up to bat with their minds set on closing that gap. Bases are loaded. Brandon Rogers Junior hit a ground ball past the shortstop and into center field. Milton Flores makes it home. But watch as Brandon Rogers Senior slides into home plate. It is a very close one and the umpire calls it an out. One run for Hattieville.

Malique James swings at the high pitch. The pitcher is unable to stop the ball. A bad throw to first base sends number eight and Rogers Junior home. That’s now three runs for Hattieville Cubs. Malique James there on second base catching his breath. With James on third after stealing a base, Jayson Garcia sends a ground ball to the shortstop. James makes the run and ties that brings it to an even score at four apiece.

Both teams were unable to make any runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Brandon Rogers Junior for Hattieville Cubs got the closest to gaining a lead at the top of the fifth inning. Garcia is tagged on his way to first base. Rogers gets caught between two fielders on his way to home base. Unaware that the ball fell, he sprints back to home base, but Wolfpack still gets the out. Here at the top of the sixth inning, Flores did what needed to be done to give his team the lead and put this Men’s Softball National in the books. Yes folks, the match ended in favor of the Hattieville Cubs with five runs to the Wolfpack’s four runs.

Jason Garcia secured three individual awards, including Most Run Batted In, Best Earned Run Average, Best Pitcher and the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award. So, the silver medal went to Wolfpack. Camalote’s men’s softball team secured the bronze medal in the tournament. This is a team that was put together last minute to compete. Quite exceptional performances there from the top three teams.

And, as Hattieville Cubs celebrate, the 2024 BEBL Champions, the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes held their victory parade on Saturday afternoon through the streets of Belize City. A player’s truck and a fan truck were featured in the parade, along with several other vehicles sounding victory horns. Paul Flowers, the General Manager of the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes, appeared to be extremely excited and pleased as he held that championship trophy, even waving it to onlookers. We spoke with Gilbert Gordon, the Chief Executive Officer of the organization, ahead of the parade.

Gilbert Gordon, Chief Executive Officer, Hurricanes

“When you look at it and talk about playing in the BEBL, winning a championship is always challenging. The entire season was me with a lot of issues and challenges. So, whenever you win that championship, it makes the win so much sweeter. So, we did a lot of activities this week. We met with the ministers, we also had our awards ceremony and of course today we are having our fourth motorcade. This championship is for the Belize district. Hurricanes represent the entire district, over a hundred and add thousand people when you talk about professional basketball. So, the motorcade is going to go through the principal streets of Belize. We will be making a lot of noise. We have about five hundred, forty add cars.”

Paul Lopez

“Perhaps you are not thinking about it as yet, but how do we go back to the drawing board in the off season and try to retain some of these same players and go to a back-to-back-to-back championship?”

Gilbert Gordon

“The reason why Hurricanes win championships is because we are forward thinkers. We don’t wait for the appropriate times in regard to be able to try to get players. We are very proactive. So, we have signed some key players already. We have already spoken to our players we have right now to resign them. So, we are all the way up the road in rebuilding and ensuring we have another championship in 2025.”

And finally, for tonight, the National Futsal League of Belize hosted an international futsal tournament over the weekend in Orange Walk. The tournament saw teams from across the region, including Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and two teams from Belize. At the end of the weekend-long tournament, Honduras secured the gold medal. El Salvador won silver, while the Belmopan Futsal Club won the bronze medal.

Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.

Suspects Arrested for Burglarizing Belmopan Courts

Police have arrested three people in connection to a burglary at the Belmopan branch of Courts Furniture and Appliance store on August 12, 2024.

The burglary, which occurred at around 4:30 a.m., involved seven armed men who restrained the security guard before breaking into the store. They stole various electronics and cash from a safe.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero reported today that several stolen cellphones and laptops have been recovered.

Randy Slusher, Tyra Diaz, and Roy Alvarez, all from Belize City, have been charged with ‘Handling Stolen Goods.’ The stolen items were found during searches at the suspects’ residences in Belama in Belize City.

The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges may be levied.

Caye Caulker Launches First Weather Station

Under the “Energy Resilience for Climate Adaptation” (ERCAP) initiative, the National Meteorological Service (NMS) inaugurated a new weather station in Caye Caulker. This project valued USD 8,000,000 was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank and co-financed by the Government of Belize.

The initiative installed 23 Automatic Weather Stations, 6 Rainfall Stations, and 6 Hydro-meteorological Stations, increasing the total number of weather stations in Belize to 75.

The ERCAP project is implemented in collaboration with Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) and the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics and E-Governance (MPUELE). It aims to improve weather monitoring and energy resilience against climate change impacts. “The installation of these Automatic Weather Stations marks a significant advancement in our nation’s ability to monitor and respond to weather events,” stated Minister of Blue Economy Andre Perez.

Additionally, the Minister announced the upcoming launch of a weather application that will provide ‘real-time’ weather updates.

Belize Resumes Re-sensitization of Healthcare Teams as Mpox Spreads Globally

Medical professionals in Belize are ramping up health measures and monitoring efforts against monkeypox as the disease continues to spread across the world. In an interview with News 5, Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Director of Public Health and Wellness confirmed, “We have now restarted our re-sensitisation to the healthcare workers. We ensure that our surveillance team and border teams are aware of this increase in cases of monkeypox.”

While the new Clade 1b Mpox subvariant is spreading in Africa, it has not been detected in Mexico, including Quintana Roo, according to official reports. “Official reports from Mexico show that none of this new subvariant has been diagnosed in Quintana Roo or in any part of Mexico,” she said.

Dr. Diaz-Musa reassured the public that Mpox, unlike respiratory illnesses, has a much lower transmissibility. She emphasized that the outbreak is being closely monitored and that there is no need for panic.“I want to stress that this isn’t something that should be causing us any panic or for us to be as a country worried about something like a pandemic. At this point, it’s just for us to sensitize our staff, our team,” she said. “It’s just something that we need to monitor,” she added.

In Belize, there have been no reported cases of monkeypox, and earlier tests in 2023 confirmed cases of chickenpox rather than monkeypox.

UNICEF Implements Nutrition-Based Cash Transfer Programme in Southern Belize

UNICEF, with backing from the Government of Korea and in partnership with the Belize Ministry of Health & Wellness, introduced the Cash Plus Nutrition programme in 20 villages in southern Belize. The initiative tackles the issue of hidden hunger, where children suffer from micronutrient deficiencies that lead to stunted growth and developmental delays.

The programme provides families with BZD$200.00 monthly via the Digi Wallet mobile app to help them purchase necessary groceries.

Dominga, a mother of nine from the remote village of Machakilha, has benefited significantly from the programme. The financial support has enabled her to better feed her children, who have shown improved weight and activity levels.

The programme also focuses on nutrition education, with mothers participating in counselling sessions to learn healthier cooking methods and recipes. Community health workers conducted practical cooking demonstrations and lactation coaching to enhance the families’ food preparation skills.