This weekend, Belize City residents were shocked when they discovered that several streets across the city were flooded with up to four inches of water, despite the lack of rainfall. According to the National Hydrological Service, the floodwaters are making their way down the Belize River and emptying out into the Haulover Creek, subsequently flooding several areas along the path. To address the flooding, the Belize City Council has implemented a pumping station to drain the excess water. Over the past few days, the floodwaters have ebbed and flowed in different areas without warning. Deputy Mayor, Allan Pollard tells us that the flooding is more than just a drainage issue.
Allan Pollard
Allan Pollard, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“In most of the areas it has gone down, so that we have, we are very thankful for that. But as the expert have indicated to everyone, it’s really It’s a unique situation where the river is actually coming above normal heights on that mixed with high tide is a recipe for disaster, right? We had a meeting yesterday with the mayor and you know we cannot stress enough how much that we have to sensitize people to understand that climate change is real. It’s here. Everybody talks about, in the future when it comes to climate change, but we are actually living in examples of what. What we’re seeing, I’ve never personally seen the river that high. I’ve never seen streets being that flooded without any rainfall. It just shows that it’s not so much of a drainage issue, but just climate change in general. If you look at the seas, for example, someone sent me a video of the area by Hanga yesterday, and to see the sea level that high as well, it just shows overall what we’re going through is something that is very alarming. And we have to make sure that, We are putting the right measures in. The pumping station is one effort, but that alone cannot drain all the water out of Belize City and that’s a pilot program. We have to look at other areas, and we have to ensure that we are keeping up with the maintenance of the city as well to ensure that the water drains off as quickly as possible.”
There are several streets throughout Belize City that are in desperate need of repairs. For months, Belizeans have complained about the state of Saint Thomas Street, that was left in disrepair due to the work on the underground water system. Deputy Mayor, Allan Pollard, explained that these complaints have not gone unheard. He tells us that the Belize City Council is working toward addressing the issue as soon as possible.
Reporter
“People are complaining about the state of St. Thomas Street and Mahogany Street, there’s another street, both major streets that are in need of some care.”
Allan Pollard
Allan Pollard, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“Correct, excellent that you brought that up. St. Thomas Street is, long overdue, as you may know. We have most streets that we are doing in the city has mostlybeen either government or city council. This one is a bit of a mix. It’s city council, it’s government, and of course, we have involved the utility companies as well. As you know, there had to be some level of paperwork to ensure that each participating body is getting their fair share of the deal So we have had liaised with the B.T.L., we have liaised with Belize Water Services, also with the Belize Shelter and also Belize City Council. We had a lot of contractual setbacks in terms of getting the contractor to agree to the terms that we usually provide, and also to get us to agree as well. And of course, the other stakeholders to get in there as well. But I’m confident that right after the September celebrations, we should start that project very soon. I know the residents are clamoring for this to be done and I know myself. I can assure the community that, that will be done very soon.”
The grass along the streets in some areas of Belize City have grown taller than some of the people walking on those sidewalks. There is a stretch of sidewalk on Elston Kerr Street in front of Gwen Liz High School that seemingly has not been cut in months. Today, we asked Deputy Mayor, Allan Pollard to explain why the Belize City Council has not maintained those parts of the city. He said that the street was recently paved and that works continue to proceed in the Collet area where the street is located.
Allan Pollard
Allan Pollard, Deputy Mayor
“We have done a lot of work in terms of infrastructure in the Collet area. As you know, Elston Kerr [Street] has recently been paved. We have spent significant resources in that area. As far as the maintenance of the grass, the teams are working every day, so it’s just a matter of getting them out there. As you know, it’s a big city, and we’re trying to prioritize a lot of the areas that are more visible during the September celebrations time. And, you know, we have to apologize for that, but we will get back on track with the regular maintenance of the city. But, as you know, we have to prioritize our September celebrations and our people who are, you know, along these routes for carnival, for parade, for, you know, different types of celebrations.”
On Friday, the Leader of the Opposition abstained from voting on a motion to celebrate thirty-five years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Patrick Faber and Tracy Panton both supported the motion, though Shyne Barrow asserts that they do not speak for the U.D.P. Hugo Patt also supported the motion. Today, Barrow was asked if he will switch the country’s allegiance to China if he becomes prime minister.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel as U.D.P. leader established diplomatic ties with China. That is the truth in 1984. So let us be factual. So, every U.D.P. leader has not supported Taiwan. Sir Manuel Esquivel in 1984 established relations with China. That is the history of U.D.P. Tell the truth. Tell the factual history of it. Don’t see that every leader in the U.D.P. has supported Taiwan. There is a history in the U.D.P., where the U.D.P. supported China.”
Reporter
“Will you follow his lead?”
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
“My position as it relates to Taiwan was on a specific basis.”
Reporter
“What about Hugo Patt, do you hold the view that your member, your U.D.P. member should have also abstained?”
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
“We discussed it before the fact, and I told him he was free to abstain and he knows the history and why I have taken the position and many in the party take the position I take and it is something we need to sit down and discuss and I will be guided by whatever decision the party makes. I will not make the decision unilaterally. This is a form of protest, expressing the dissatisfaction with the facts. I have great difficulty with the behavior of Taiwan. China is the world’s second largest economy. America, the UK, France, all of the G7 has relations with China. There are only ten nations out of all of the UN that have relations with Taiwan.”
And, if there were any doubts about the status of Patrick Faber, John Saldivar, Tracy Panton and Beverly Williams in the United Democratic Party, today the party leader confirmed that they have been expelled. It is a much more rigid position than what the party initially took when they declared the four “constructively resigned”. Barrow says, Faber is facing karma.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“One of the things that I just take whatever affliction of pain the media decides to give to me, but let us deal with the facts. Patrick Faber created constructive resignation. He created it. It is not in the national constitution, granted, and the speaker made her decision. But in the U.D.P., he removed a sitting member from the party and all that is happening now is karma. He can’t undo the precedent he set as party chairman. Our party chairman has been in the party just as long as him, has sacrificed just as long as him, served as senator, served as speaker, served as minister. That is the problem. In a democracy we are all equal. The people is equal to the prime minister.”
Last week, we told you about the faceoff between members of the Belize Territorial Volunteers and the Guatemalan Armed Forces in Belizean territory on the Sarstoon River. Over the years, there have been numerous reports of these confrontations with no solution in sight, except for a ruling from the International Court of Justice. It is an issue that the Leader of the Opposition raised in his State of the Nation address. But how would he resolve tension on the Sarstoon?
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“Being candid and taking principled positions, to me and being consistent is what we would hope from the government. I can assure you that when the prime minister met with the president of Guatemala, Sarstoon was not on the agenda. The continued aggression in our waters was not on the agenda. They are more concerned with being friends and being polite and exchanging niceties. When you don’t have to be rude, you don’t have to go to Guatemala and declare war. But you have to say, listen, this is what we need. I promised Belizeans that I would have a Sarstoon Protocol, let’s work this out. Let’s come to a solution. I need to deliver this for my people. I need to protect my BDF. I need to protect my Coast Guard. I need to protect civilians that want to traverse our waters. Let’s figure this out. But we have not seen any deliverables. Again, the Prime Minister went to Mexico begging the outgoing Mexican president and said that he agreed to give us the twenty-five megawatts. That has not happened yet. So what the prime minister knows how to do is to try to shape narratives and deceive the people. So, he will have the drums playing, the marching band, the BDF marching, all of this pomp and circumstance. But what is the reality? I actually wanted to do my speech from Pound Yard, right at the bridge. In a rubber boot, because that is the reality. That is where the reality is, putting forward this theater, when the reality for Belizeans is far from what he’s saying. And it’s not me just making it up.”
The Belize Defense Force has deployed two senior officers to Haiti in support of its restoration efforts. Recently, infamous Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as “Barbeque”, told a reporter that he and his men will consider these interventions as aggression, heightening concerns for foreign military personnel. Opposition Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow shared his thoughts.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“I believe that the same risks and sacrifice we are prepared to make for our Haitian brother and sister we need to take our maritime borders equally as serious. It is unfortunate that we don’t see that from the foreign minister and prime minister. But I do believe that as CARICOM nations we need to stand together, and we must give what it is we expect. So, if Belize ever finds itself in need of the CARICOM nations, we hope that they would come to our aid and so I commend our BDF for stepping up to the tax of sacrifice and putting their lives at risk and I support standing in solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters. They need us right now and we need to be there for them.”
Hip Hop mogul, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs is behind bars after he was arrested on Monday by Homeland Security on suspicion of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and interstate transportation for prostitution. Former Bad Boy artist, now Leader of the Opposition, Moses “Shyne” Barrow says he does not take joy in seeing Diddy’s downfall. However, when we spoke with him at the U.D.P. headquarters today, he put forward that he was not close friends with Combs as some may want to believe.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“When I was an eighteen-year-old kid just wanting to do nothing other than make my mother proud and make Belize proud and be recognized for my talent and take over the world. I was defending him, and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me. He contributed; he pretty much sent me to prison. That is the context by which you must always describe that relation. I forgave. I moved on. But let us not pretend as if I was in Miami for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I went again to a charity event for impoverished youths in London. So, let us not lose sight of what the cold hard facts are. This is not someone who I vacationed with and who he and I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship of brotherhood. This is someone who destroyed my life and who I forgave and who I moved on and for the better interest of Belize, because he was in a position at that time to give scholarships and to maybe invest, I would not deny attempting to bring the investment to Belize and contribution to education to Belize. But don’t distort it as if he and I were bomb bally. This is someone that destroyed my life. But do I take any joy with what he is going through, absolutely not. I am different than other people, no one needs to fail for me to succeed.”
Reporter
At the height of your professional relationship or through your reconciliation, when he was instrumental in promoting you through Revolt Media, were you aware of these freak-offs event and did you participate in them? Were you aware of the freak-offs?
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
“Sir, I had nothing to do with Sean Comb’s life, everything was strictly on a professional level.”
The Belize City mural has been unveiled a few days prior to Belize’s forty-third anniversary of independence. The project, commissioned annually by the National Celebrations Commission, has become an integral part of the September festivities. This year, well-known Belizean artist, Gilvano Swasey led a team of students from Wesley Primary School to paint a mural on the Roger’s Stadium fence. News Five’s Britney Gordon was at the unveiling today for more details on the creation of the piece.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
A nation proud and free, Belize at forty-three is the theme for this year’s September celebrations. As part of the festivities, the National Celebrations Commission, the Belize City Council and NICH have unveiled this year’s Independence mural, joining the other works of art on the Roger’s Stadium fence at the corners of Dolphin Street and Cemetery Road. Deputy Mayor Allan Pollard says this year was special for the project.
Allan Pollard
Allan Pollard, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“We’ve started it a couple years ago where we’ve had artists actually take on this Roger’s Stadium fence and depict some of their artistic creativity and blend it with a bit of patriotism. And we have continued along this side. And this year we’ve done a little twist in incorporating some of the artists from the primary school. So it went for younger artists and as you can see, it’s still a beautiful masterpiece. And, just having them all here, coming together as a class, being creative, and coming up with something so masterful very appreciative from us at the city, and it really adds to the overall aesthetics that we have here in Belize city.”
Gilvano Swasey, one of Belize’s most respected artists, was commissioned for the project. He was inspired to invite the children of Belize onboard to bring their vision to life.
Gilvano Swasey
Gilvano Swasey, Lead Artist
“About three months ago, when you get old time, it’s hard to tell. Wesley upper inviting me to talk about art. And usually I ker some lee painting. This is Benjamin Nicholas. This is art about culture. But they said, no, mister Swasey, we want you to talk about curating. How do you set up an exhibit? And I was like, wow, nobody never asked me about that. And that is very crucial. Presentation is very crucial. How do I let people understand my art? How do I let them appreciate it? You have many artists who have created amazing things, but they don’t know how to present it or express it or defend it. And so I was very much amazed by that request and even by the questions that I got from the students. So when I was asked about this mural, I said, right down the street, Wesley deh, you got Queen Square, you got St. Ignatius, all the primary school across this way. So why would I want to come out and paint these when the kids can do it themselves?”
The mural comprises three paintings; designed to look like composition notebooks, decorated with the sticker of the national symbols of Belize. Swasey was inspired after researching art from 1981, the year that Belize gained its independence.
Gilvano Swasey
“I had to look at the pictures from colonial time passing over to our time. I had to look at even the stamps. And that’s how I got to start with this concept. If you look at the small post over here, the stamps, those are the actual, some of the actual stamps from 1981. that celebrated, like I said, Mr. Price said, we needed an identity and national symbols, the national bird, the national flower, our flag, the mahogany tree, and the tapir. So in that research, I found all things Belizeans, there are many things Belizean.”
Six students from Wesley Primary School were selected by their teacher to assist Swasey with the project. Among them are Omarion Neal and Amani Cooper. Amani, who painted the toucan, said that this experience was an honor.
Amani Cooper
Amani Cooper, Artist
“I painted the toucan, and I didn’t think I could do it, but I did it.”
Britney Gordon
“How did you get involved in it?”
Amani Cooper
“Gina Itza, my brother’s teacher.”
Britney Gordon
“And how was it bonding with all the other painters and being a part of this celebration for Belize?”
Amani Cooper
“It was very fun. Very fun.”
The artists began painting last Thursday and completed the mural on Monday. Omarion Neal, who painted the tapir, joined the project when his teacher saw him drawing and invited him to participate.
Britney Gordon
“How long did it take you to draw it?”
Omarion Neal
Omarion Neal, Artist
“Well bout ten minutes I could seh.”
The Belize City Council facilitated the artists by ensuring that the surface of the fence was clean and coated with an underlayer of paint. Pollard says that it is due to the hard work of Swasey and the students that the mural is such a success.
Allan Pollard
“There’s not many words I can use to describe how big of an artist he is, how big of an impact he has on art history in Belize. So to have him lead the students and, really bring out the best of them artistically is something that we really appreciated from him. And as you can see how he incorporated that with the books and education. Only a curator like himself could successfully, create that and bring that message across to the students. So I think he did an awesome job with the kids and of course some guidance from their teachers as well. It was a awesome blend, an excellent blend and we are very pleased with what we’re seeing here today, with the outcome.”
The Caribbean Chicken Store on Guayana Street, Orange Walk District was targeted in an armed robbery on Tuesday afternoon, September 17. According to the store manager, two men entered the establishment—one armed with a firearm and the other with a knife. The men reportedly demanded money and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. No injuries were reported. The police are now actively searching for the two suspects.
In another incident, a zinc structure on Taylors Alley, Belize City, was reportedly consumed in flames just before 2 o’clock this afternoon. The 15-foot by 12-foot zinc structure belonged to 70-year-old Benjamin Belisle. Belisle stated that a man had visited him around that afternoon, asking for cigarettes. Shortly after, Belisle’s property was seen in flames. No injuries were reported. The house was not insured.
Additionally, police are looking into a stabbing incident in Caye Caulker that left three youths injured. Officers responded to a report at a pier in the village on Tuesday night, September 17. According to the police, 18-year-old Darren Estrada was found with stab wounds. Initial investigations revealed that Estrada and two minors were allegedly attacked by three men armed with machetes while riding their bicycles toward the Bahia Area. Estrada was taken to Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, while the two minors are reported to be stable.
