There is a shortage of primary and secondary school teachers in some districts ahead of the new school year. In some cases, schools have placed advertisements for vacancies they hope can be filled soon after classes resume on Monday. Teachers have resigned for several reasons, including better paying jobs, teaching opportunities closer to home. In one instance, the Belize National Teachers’ Union blamed the ministry for not having sufficient staff on hand to process the volumes of certificate for teachers who have completed the requisite number of hours of training. News Five has reached out to the Ministry of Education for a response to the problem. Today, Chief Executive Officer, Dian Maheia explained that the requirement for teachers to complete a hundred and twenty hours of continuous professional development over the course of five years, to renew their license, is one that has been in place for several years. What’s new is the fact that it is being enforced.
Dian Maheia, Chief Exec. Officer, Min. of Education
“Teachers who receive their licenses in 2019 are now having to renew. It’s five years later, so we, by our accounts estimate that there’s some twenty-three hundred teachers. It’s in that range – I’m sorry – I don’t have the exact number, but it’s a number in that range. About twenty-three hundred teachers across the country who will have their licenses expiring August 31, 2024, what we’ve seen from our work is that we have about twenty-one hundred of those teachers who have completed the requirements, and their licenses have been renewed and processed. It’s like eighty-eighty percent of them. There’s another group. That’s about nine percent, I think it’s something like two hundred or so or a little bit less. Those are in process still. They’re either being reviewed still or the teachers are completing the hundred and twenty-hour assignment. For whatever reason, those are in process from the numbers that we have the indication that we have. There’s only about three percent of teachers who have not submitted applications for their license renewal. At this time, we’ve been working in collaboration with the BNTU. They’ve been very consistent in updating their surveys and sending to us at the ministry the lists of teachers who have questions, concerns. Regarding the reports that they’ve gotten from the TLI or not gotten from the TLI so that with the list of names that we get from the BNTU, our respective units are doing the reviews and the checks so that we make sure that if there’s if there’s something that we’re missing but the union is getting feedback from that particular teacher that we’re trying to respond to ensure that we’re, responding to the needs. I think it’s like between 80 to 90 percent of the workshop offerings that are being given right now and the ministry’s offerings are free teachers do have options to do CPDs from other providers and some of those other providers do charge when, when we started the T.L.I as a platform to offer CPD. Three years ago, the very act of starting the T.L.I really review revolutionized how professional development was being offered for the first time. Teachers didn’t have to travel. They didn’t have to, you know, physically leave where they were. To go to sit in classrooms in other places for eight hours a day for five hours a week, only two weeks of the year. So teachers have had opportunities over the past few years to engage in different kinds of courses, and at different times of the year. And in general, what we’ve seen in feedback from the majority of teachers is that they have made use of the varied forms and the times in which they were able to access those CPDs.”
Maheia explained that the ministry has made alterations to ensure that the certificates are processed as quickly as possible so that teachers can receive their licenses. Furthermore, in respect of the shortage of teachers created by teachers migrating or moving to other fields of work, there’s not much that the ministry can do. C.E.O. Maheia assured us that there are also newly trained teachers who will be looking for teaching jobs and can fill the posts.
Dian Maheia, Chief Executive Officer, Min. of Education
“What we’ve recognized is that and this has been over the past few months, we’ve recognized where there have been bottlenecks. Indeed, there have been challenges within the system and. Within the ministry itself, we have made adjustments. We have made changes in some of our offices. We have increased staff, um, some temporary personnel. We’ve, deployed people with different responsibilities to try to ensure that some processes recognizing that. There would be a really intense period now leading to the end of August and to the opening of school, um, because we would have over 2000 teachers who would need to renew licenses. We made some adjustments already. And so I think the recognition that there have been bottlenecks is accurate. We recognize that as well the union knows because we’ve sat in conversations and we’ve talked about it. We made commitments to adjust staffing and procedures and we’ve done those things so that we could it. So we could process a little bit faster, and we could try to move, um, more efficiently. So, yes, we’ve recognized, we’ve made adjustments and we’re continuing to process as quickly as possible. The truth is that there are there are vacancies right now. The data that we’ve collected shows that there are vacancies right now. Um, for example, with the secondary level, there’s vacancies for part-time as well as full-time positions, looking at both government and government aided. What we see is that from the point that was made earlier, there is, there is a very large vacancy for teachers of English. That’s where the biggest gap is right now. We recognize that. So that is a real situation right now in secondary schools. We’re trying to see how we can support the management with that. The primary school situation is that from the data that we have gathered as recently up to this morning, we’re gathering data is that while there are some vacancies in the primary school primary schools across the system, most of those, to be honest, are pending approvals from the ministry, which are expected to be coming within these days right here. We all know the reality that the Ministry of Education spends the lion’s share of its budget on paying teacher salaries. They – while we hear and appreciate every teacher who feels that he or she is underpaid, the reality is that this ministry is not in a position to say, oh, you know, we can do anything to make teachers’ salary is competitive right now compared to anybody else. When you look at teacher salaries that are being paid here compared to other countries, Belize’s teachers are not poorly, not so badly off. It’s not just happening here in Belize. It’s happening across the world. We have Belizean teachers in other Caribbean countries. With the way that CSME works, technically, we can have other teachers from other countries come here as well.”
On Tuesday, the Belize City Council issued a release notifying the public that vending along the carnival route is strictly prohibited on carnival day. Shortly following the announcement, public outcry flooded social media. In response, Citco’s Communications Manager, Michelle Smith told News Five that vending is allowed on reserved spaces and private property. Today, we spoke with Mayor Bernard Wagner for further clarification.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“Vending is allowed. There is no issue there. No vending will be on the street where the carnival is taking place, but we have areas off the street, off street, that vendors will be allowed to work, to sell. I would suggest that they contact our PR department in that respect. But we have a lot of reserve areas in the city. That stretch and vending will be allowed on the areas that are not on the exact street that the carnival. Take for instance, Princess Margaret Drive, you’ll have one side of the street being utilized by the carnival, so the other side of the street will be allowed for vending. There’s no issue there. I think it was just communication, and if you have an issue and you don’t understand our communication, You call the city council and get the pertinent information. We have to get out of this, get pon social media and start to rant and rave. And there are ways how you go about discussing these issues and we never said that there would be no vending. We said that on the route, on the exact street that the carnival is is in held, you can’t vend.”
Reporter
“Alright, just to clear up on this concept, can you tell us a little bit about how you guys came to this decision? “
Bernard Wagner
“No, It’s a whole sort of it’s a lot of collaboration. The Carnival Association does have some restrictions in terms of BTL parking, we have certain covenants with those vendors in that area. And so we don’t want to jeopardize their ability to earn income in the park era. So we have said that era along the Digi park is a no vending era. So that allows those vendors in the park to be able to earn some measure of income for that day.”
In addition to CitCo’s announcement that no vending will be allowed along the carnival route, City Hall also announced that parking on the streets or sidewalks along the route is also forbidden. Mayor Wagner explains that despite the tradition of tailgating to view the parade, it is a public safety hazard and cannot be allowed. Here’s what he had to say.
Britney Gordon
“Sir, in regards to the no parking rule, so people that park their cars and sit in the back of it to watch, that won’t be allowed at all. People that are in the back of their pickup trucks, none of that, that either?”
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“We have to do these things here with order. People da Belize, we tend to like disorder. Once there is order, we rant and rave. We love disorder as a community. We’ve got to change our culture. We are saying, listen you can’t have vehicles blocking the road to the carnival. We need the police to be able, law enforcement to be able, Move around in that era pretty freely. So you can’t have vehicles parking along the entire road. The other side where the carnival is not being held have to be cleared because that’s a road for police emergency. So people can come in their vehicle, but they’ll have to find alternative parking along the alternate streets.”
We also got input from Commissioner of Police Chester Williams on the regulations outlined by the Belize City Council for the new carnival route. ComPol Williams repeated that vehicles obstructing the carnival route will be towed and vendors along the route will be removed. He says the police department has enough personnel to ensure a safe carnival weekend.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“The police have a job to do and we try as best as we can to discharge our duties without any complaint and work around whatever obstacles that may arise. And so the September celebrations committee, which is chaired by the honorable Minister of Education have decided on a route for the carnival and the police are going to follow that route. We have done our groundworks in terms of running the route and to see what challenge or challenges that we may have on carnival day to be able to ensure that the carnival moves from its starting point to where it is going to come to an end without any hindrance. And so, we believe that we will be able to police the event without any incident. Police officers will be along the route, so we’re not going to depend on city traffic. Yes, if they are there to assist we welcome assistance. But we do have the manpower to ensure that we cover the entire route of the carnival. And as well as to have police officers who are going to accompany the carnival to make sure that it’s safe and no incident occurred during the carnival itself.”
Paul Lopez
“Will you guys be out there removing vendors if they decide to sell along the way?”
Chester Williams
“Well, certainly the vendors cannot sell on the street. If they’re parked, if they’re on the, not the sidewalk, but if they’re parked on the edge of the street without hindering the sidewalk, they can stay there. But no vending will be allowed on the sidewalk or the streets. The day before the carnival, the police will run the road with our tow truck. And any vehicles seen parked along the road, on the road, the owners will be asked to move it. If they don’t move it, or if we cannot find an owner, then we’ll tow it away.”
According to research conducted by Doctor Harold Young in 2019, there are as many as fourteen hundred active gang members in Belize City. These groups of young men prey on each other often in a struggle for turf in the illegal drug trade. The wanton violence has seen deadly shootings in broad daylight when gang members are caught straying out of their neighborhoods. Since they have become part of our reality, the streets have not been as safe as they once were. These young men, many of them unemployed, use their fraternity to also target regular civilians to rob, commit home invasions, assault, and murder. In this edition of our Five Point Breakdown, News Five’s Marion Ali looks at gangs, why people join them, and intervention programs to guide other youths away before they are led astray. Here’s that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
In the Old Capital, a murder scene usually means the work of a gang taking revenge on a rival street gang for a previous killing or shooting. It has been this way since the mid-nineties when the original Bloods and Crips gangs were formed. The rivalry between the two made certain streets at certain hours more dangerous to walk. But what are street gangs in the first place?
What Are Street Gangs?
A street gang is defined as a group of persons who repeatedly engage in criminal activities that impact the order and safety of public places in particular. But why do men and youths join gangs?
Why Do People Join Gangs?
Brandon Baptist
Brandon Baptist, Gang Member
“I deh pahn the street for quite some while, I get caught up in the jail a lot of times. I was with the police. I always deh pahn news. Everybody knows me, Brandon Baptist, right?”
Karl Augustine
Karl Augustine, Belize City Resident
“When I was 16 years old, because of poverty and lack of leadership and, you know, I didn’t have that father figure in my life. So, you know, I ended up on the street. One of my friends, um, he passed away by gang violence.”
Karl Augustine says he was never a member of any gang, but the life he led as a youth created the same impact for him. And as Baptist alluded to, his time with the gang led him to incarceration. Now, both men are trying to turn around their lives.
Karl Augustine
“I decided to leave that lifestyle behind and I joined the volunteer BDF. And from the volunteer BDF, I spent like two years in the volunteer BDF and then joined the regular force. And, during my time in the regular force, um, there was different options because it’s just not being only a soldier. Also, they give you like different opportunities to become a mechanic or electrician. So, um, they asked me if I wanted to take a trade, so I picked the trade. And that’s how I learned about electricity.”
Difficulties in Leaving
Sometimes it’s difficult to leave.
Marion Ali
“Did you get threats, things like that?”
Timmy Stamp
“Yes, yoh get threats. They threaten yoh and different things like that.”
Brandon Baptist
“Every time I try to do something positive, I fall back. But I still fight it.”
Marion Ali
There are a few individuals who have joined street gangs and have left successfully. The next person we spoke with shared his testimony of a life of crime and violence. Fifty-seven-year-old Timmy Stamp joined the KGB Bloods in the early nineties. For him it took family life to take him away from the streets.
Timmy Stamp
Timmy Stamp, Former Gang Member
“We that we start this. make it get big like this. Yeah, we totally start it. You because I was in blood. We was KGB. I thank God that I don’t have to kill nobody. You know what I mean? Um, yeah, Rob, you name it. We gone through it. You know what I mean? But otherwise we don’t have to kill nobody. And I thank God for that. You know what?
Marion Ali
“What eventually opened your eyes for you to decide, you know what, this enough for me and I have to exit.”
Timmy Stamp
“Well, my beautiful wife when I meet she done like, you know, I wanted to take her out to different places and can’t ker she no way. And I cyant go no way.. Then I have a new daughter and different things that I want to do better today. You know something. So therefore I ask God like change my lifestyle and you know, get me away from this.”
Stamp opened his own business, first a fruit shop, which transitioned into a grocery shop he now owns on Dean Street. He showed us scars he suffered while in the gang. To help steer tomorrow’s leaders away from that path and worse possible outcomes, he conducts evening sessions and has field trips for children from the area.
Timmy Stamp
“We have evening classes that we do with them, you know, teach them to read, spell, math, and things like that. We get up on different trips, you know, just make them know their country beliefs, you know, I think we need more things like dende.”
The Role of Intervention Programs
Stamp and other community leaders get support from the Leadership Intervention Unit, headed by Dominique Norales.
Dominique Norales
Dominique Norales, Chair, L.I.U
“You have Mr. Timmy Stamp who runs after school program. You have Stix who runs Days of Healing. Miss Olga who runs an after-school program in her front yard. Um, other, other community groups, neighborhood watch groups who have, um, really been doing that nuanced work that we, we can’t have, we can’t do.”
The L.I.U works with various organizations, agencies, institutions and units to divert troubled or at-risk youths through channels that can help improve their lives.
Dominique Norales
“That work, first, you know, involves collecting some information on them, um, the neighborhoods they come from, and children they have. When they would have dropped out of school, which is a situation most of them have gone through for several reasons. And then we, um, put them on work teams, which are based in different parts of Belize City. That work is supported by the Belize City Council, where we try to coordinate, um, what sort of beautification work needs to be done in communities. Appended to the work program is also the TOBAL vocational training, um, that we engage our clients in. Um, so some of them are enrolled in school as well, which happens two times a week, um, every week for three to four months depending on holidays and stuff like that. And then those persons by and large are also engaged in other trainings.”
It is trainings like this that Brandon Baptist and Karl Augustine are also engaging youths in the Lake Independence Area in, to ensure that most of their waking hours are spent in positive activities. Augustine, who is a BDF soldier, says their background in electrical work complimented the program he wanted to manage.
Karl Augustine
“A lot of people think that. People from the Lake Independence are just criminals, or when people heard about um, Lake High, or St. Martin era, people would think that, it’s just violence people, but it’s nothing like that. You know, there’s actually good people here, and people who are willing to help other people, and willing to change their life, if people would have given them the opportunity to do so. Some of the trainees. Come up to me and they tell me, Mr. Carl, look man, my phone got, the wire got damaged and the skill that, the way that you show me how to connect the wires together, it’s the same thing that I did and the phone started to work.”
Brandon Baptist
“They got a lot of youth there, you know, they go to school, a lot of youth where they try out there, and then they end up in a gang world or da violent world soh we have to stop that before that happen then soh wi give them wa opportunity fi come learn a lee trade.”
Making The Bold Step Out
Dominique Norales says the L.I.U also works with youths who slip and with gang members who walk and show that they really want reform. For those who want change like Stamp did thirty seven-years ago, the challenges will be there but faith rules everything.
Timmy Stamp
“Remember da God run things, nuh deh. Da God run things. I just put all my faith and my trust in God.”
The Belize Coast Guard has been equipped with military-grade drones that will allow them to extend their patrol far beyond what the eyes can see. Two Skyfront Perimeter Eight Hybrid Drones were commissioned today at an opening ceremony at the Coast Guard’s headquarters just outside of Belize City. The Blue Bond and Belize Fund For Sustainable Development in the Office of the Prime Minister financed the purchase of the drones at one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars each, for a total cost of a quarter of a million dollars for both. And two more are expected to be acquired for the Belize Coast Guard by the end of the year. So, how will these high-flying, long-range drones assist the Belize Coast Guard in their efforts to protect Belize’s maritime space? News Five’s Paul Lopez was at today’s ceremony. He tells us more.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Belize Coast Guard has acquired two military-grade drones that can reach a maximum range of one hundred and ten miles.
Florencio Marin
Florencio Marin, Minister of National Defense
“Today the Ministry of National Defense and Border Security is demonstrating a new capability that is being added to its reputation. We are entering the domain of unmanned air systems. This new capability equips our Coast Guard with the cutting-edge technology required to conduct operations along our maritime border and beyond line of site well into our exclusive economic zone.”
The Belize Coast Guard is authorized to make detentions in Belize’s maritime spaces in instances where individuals are caught violating maritime regulations. The greatest challenge at sea is arguably illegal fishing. Individuals from neighboring countries often fish Belize’s waters without authorization.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“This new aerial fleet will serve as a second fleet and complement our marine vessels, enhance our monitoring capabilities and operational effectiveness across Belize’s blue. This fleet will also assist in our enforcement efforts of illegal fishing and drug trafficking and can contribute to the frequent search and rescue endeavors of our Coast Guards. This is very exciting.”
Attendees at today’s launch ceremony on the Coast Guard Compound were given a live demonstration of how the drones would work in a scenario where illicit activities are suspected at sea. In this situation, the drone was sent in to assess the suspected vessel, before the Coast Guard swooped in. The drone boasts proven flight times of over five hours and can carry eleven pounds for three hours or twenty-two pounds for an hour. So, delivering a Coast Guard hat to the prime minister is considered light work.
“The perimeter eight will conduct aerial operations for conservation efforts while simultaneously supporting the twenty-two other missions that the Coast Guard is chartered to conduct. The drone squadron will be charged with delivering intelligence, surveillance and target acquisition in support of the first and second fleet. Let me paint the picture for you, a pilot station that could be stationed here at the Coast Guard headquarters will be able to conduct surveillance operations from here to San Pedro Town on Ambergris Caye. A pilot station here will be able to conduct surveillance all along the coast, from this station to Commerce Bight Pier in Dangriga. A pilot station at our based-on Hunting Caye will easily be able to patrol the Corona Reef and the entire Gulf of Honduras. Our operation base at Calabash Caye will be able to easily patrol our three atolls in support of our maritime operations.”
According to Prime Minister John Briceño, the benefits of these newly commissioned unmanned aerial assets are far reaching. He spoke about the blue economy’s role in poverty reduction, economic transformation and environmental protection. Effective monitoring of Belize’s blue spaces ensures the long-term sustainability of these objectives.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“In just two years since the groundbreaking of the Belize Blue Bonds initiative, we have made remarkable strides. WE have committed ourselves to a vision of a healthy ocean space where development is balanced between the needs of both nature and people. The Blue Bonds program is more than just a financial mechanism. It is a testament to our dedication to a nature positive economy and a people centric agenda. It is about ensuring that our marine and coastal resources continue to provide essential ecosystem services, protect us from the impacts of climate change and secure the livelihoods of future generations.”
The Belize Police Department is also in the process of acquiring its own unmanned aerial assets. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams confirmed that these drones for the Belize Police Department are on the way. Among the uses of the drones will be to assists in operations along Belize’s northern border.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I do believe that whatever was done here today in terms of the launch of the Coast Guard drone, it’s going to be helpful to the entire security apparatus. The Coast Guard is our sister agent in terms of law enforcement. They do have the ability to be able to enforce laws on the seas. From time to time the police do call upon them to be able to assist in search and rescue operations, as well as to take the police from point A to point B when it comes to the maritime domain. You would know that when people do go missing on the waters, they tend to contact the police. Sometimes we have incidents at these remote cayes that require police assistance. And so, again, in that respect, the Coast Guard will also be able to assist us. And I’m sure that should there be an event that is mainland, and we would seek the assistance of the Coast Guard, they will also assist us in that endeavor to make sure that we can reach areas that we would not be able to reach so quickly. So, it’s a very good thing. And we’re hoping that very soon the police will be able to help us become a part of what is taking place. The intent is to make sure that the three security forces will be able to have that capability in terms of making sure that we can have drones to be able to assist us in our fight against crime. I can say that we have already the approval from the Cabinet to purchase a drone that is going to be used along the illegal or irregular border crossing areas in the north. We have received the finance for it. We’re just waiting for the drone to come in. It is not as capable as the one at the Coast Guard launched today, but it will also help us in that respect, though, to be able to ensure that we cover the illegal border crossing areas in the north.”
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams also provided the media with an update on the weekend murder of twenty-three-year-old Demitri Usher in front of his home on Wood Street. As we reported, Usher was sitting in front of the property when a gunman opened fire in his direction causing his fatal injuries. According to ComPol Williams, investigations have revealed that Usher was killed over an affair with a woman.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“From what we are gathering is that it may be over a woman. Apparently, the deceased person had an affair with a young lady who had an affair with another gang affiliate. And from what we’re getting, we’re getting to understand that it may be a result of that.”
Reporter
“Have any arrests been made so far?”
Chester Williams
“At this time, no, we’re still looking at those persons who are of interest.”
Reporter
“Is this something like an inter gang arrival or something like that?”
A police officer has been detained, along with two other Belize City residents, following a police operation at a Banak Street resident. The operation led to the discovery of a large quantity of cannabis. ComPol Williams told us more.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Yes, yesterday the police searched a home on Banak Street. That search led to the discovery of I think, either a kilo or a pound of marijuana. The police later learned that a police officer also resides at the house. And so based on that, the two persons who are present and the police officer has been arrested and charged for drug trafficking.”
Reporter
“Do these persons have any connections to the gang that operates in that area?”
