The Leader of the Opposition, Moses “Shyne” Barrow, has received a formal response to his protest regarding the notice period for the House meeting scheduled for today.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Valeria Woods, tells Barrow that the notice for today’s sitting is not in contravention of the Standing Orders.
“The Clerk of the National Assembly was notified on Sunday, June 23rd, by the Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the Executive for June 28th to be set aside for a House meeting. This was brought to my attention and the notice went out on Monday, June 24th when the Orders of the Day were verified. I do appreciate the concern on notice; however, the notice for this meeting is not in contravention of the Standing Orders.”
She noted that since assuming office, efforts have been made in collaboration with the Clerk’s Office and the Cabinet Secretary to enhance notification practices. Although the Standing Orders do not specify a notice period for regular House meetings, the practice of providing at least one week’s notice has been adopted to facilitate the application of Standing Order 19(3) on Notice of Question.
“This effort has been undertaken since in Belize, by practice, all administrations to date have not utilized Standing Order 11 (1) of establishing House meetings weekly on Fridays,” Woods said.
The Speaker reminded Barrow that the notice of meetings and other Standing Orders are currently under review for proposed amendments. The Committee on Standing Orders is expected to set a date to consider these amendments before the year’s end.
A long, violent dispute that resulted in the shooting death of thirty-seven-year-old Leslie Gillett in January 2022, was decided upon in the High Court this morning. Earl Baptist, a resident of Police Street, who stood trial for the murder of the Burrell Boom businessman, has been found guilty. He appeared before Justice Derick Sylvester and gave an unsupported alibi, telling the court that on the evening of the deadly shooting he was with his father and common-law wife at the Northern Fishermen‘s Cooperative. Despite providing the court with an explanation of his whereabouts, Baptist did not call on anyone to testify on his behalf. As we’ve reported, Gillett, otherwise known as Dimes, was gunned down by a pair of men who entered Matilda’s Shop on the night of January twenty-first, 2022. The men were there to exact revenge for a murder that took place in the village two years earlier. After pretending to make a purchase, the gunmen fired multiple shots at Gillett, who died at the scene of the shooting. During the subsequent trial, Sergeant Rollington Fuller testified that shortly after the shooting, he was invited to view the surveillance footage that was retrieved from cameras mounted inside the shop. Under oath, the police officer told the court that, from the video, he saw a Hispanic male with a white shirt and a camouflage facemask. Moments later, he saw two males approaching the shop. One of them was seen wearing a black face mask, with black stockings, and dreadlocks covering it. While Fuller was unable to determine the identity of the second person, he was able to positively identify Baptist. July fifteenth has been set as the date for mitigation pleas to be heard on Baptist’s behalf.
While a conviction was secured in the High Court this morning, a murder suspect also managed to walk away from a charge that was brought against him in November 2019. Denver Bevans was accused of the shooting death of a Belize City fireman who was ambushed and executed while walking along Welch Street. The first person to respond to the scene of the deadly shooting was Corporal Briceño Chub, an off-duty police officer, who was returning from a nearby shop. After hearing what sounded like gunshots, he saw someone running. He later identified that individual as eighteen-year-old Denver Bevans. In trial, Corporal Chub told the court that when he initially saw Bevans, he was seventy-five feet away, but when he saw him with the firearm which he held up before scaling a fence, he was only fifteen feet away. Nonetheless, when Chub testified to seeing the suspect at Rogers Stadium after he was detained by police and placed in the back of a pickup truck, he only saw the top of the individual’s head. In court, Chub was unable to identify the man seen running in the footage to be the same person detained by police. This and other factors, including the absence of a D.N.A. test to determine the blood found on Bevans’ shirt, led the court to find Bevans not guilty of murder.
It’s been two days since the government of Belize enacted another state of emergency and the Belize Police Department has issued wanted posters for nearly fifty men wanted under the S.O.E. Under an S.O.E., police officers conduct house raids, make arrest and detain individuals in areas that are known for gang activity. The department hopes that carrying out an S.O.E. will abate the number of gang-related crimes, that have been on the rise in the past two weeks. However, as police continue to make sweeps across southside Belize, residents are coming forward, claiming that they nor their loved ones should be included in the dragnet. Earlier today, we spoke with Alrick Lamb, who has been charged with being a member of a gang. He says that since the S.O.E. was declared on Tuesday, he has been fearful to walk the streets. On Wednesday, his brother Kurtis Lamb was detained, and he knows that police are also seeking him.
Voice of: Alrick Lamb
Voice of: Alrick Lamb, Wanted Under S.O.E.
“Weh mek I call unu fi mek I speak with unu today because I tired ah the harassment. Literally, I get harassed twenty-four and more. I neem feel safe to walk with my son on the street anymore, because everywhere we go. We there at Civic Center, we try to go free fi we mind at the beach, anywhere we go, police come and harass we. Da like we da neem fah Belize, we da neem citizen ah Belize City on a whole, None at all. The way how they treat we. Fih seh reason, I noh know, because dah no like we de out deh dih do anything bad or anything out of the way of harm people or anything like that. I, right now I fi go da work and I can’t even move because they post my picture on Facebook. If I could ah mi change weh paat I grow up, I would, because I noh want the harassment from police, but da noh like if I could go anywhere else. I noh got no next move to make any move to go anywhere else like that. But back ya I born and grow, so da back here I from, da back here I stay. Check my house, da right back here, so da back here I born and grow I don’t got nowhere else where I could go, if I could have gone somewhere else, I done gone because I tired of the police harassment.”
Another family member has come forward in protest of the state of emergency, which was brought into force on Tuesday. Since then, the police have been making the rounds in Belize City to arrest individuals believed to be involved in gang activity, in an attempt to control the recent spike in violent crimes. Tonight, Helen Samuels voices her concern for twenty-year-old son Ralston McDonald and her frustration with the police department. She claims that her son is being unjustly detained and is pleading for his release.
Helen Samuels
Helen Samuels, Mother of Detained
“When I reach da Raccoon Street Police Station, ney tell me ney ker them up. Well, an officer come out and talk to me and tell me go check Queen Street Police Station. When I reach da Queen Street Police Station, they no got ah deh. They ker ah up da jail. So, di I ask why they ker ah up da jail when da P.I.V. investigation ney pick ah up fah. Forty-eight DA forty-eight. Ih supposed to mih come out four o’clock Wednesday evening. They ker my son da jail. My son da no criminal. Ralston da no criminal. Ralston just started life. Ralson just turned twenty. Why unu wa paint my pikni as a criminal fah? Because we live in Gungulung. Not everybody live da Gungulung da wa criminal. I need this fi stop because my son da no criminal. You understand me? I need this to stop. I want my son got wa free place fi walk. Unu cya di come and plant my son as a criminal, because my son is not a criminal. My son is an easy-going boy. You understand me? I need it to stop. Whole Easter holiday, they gunned down my son like my son murder. Please make ney get my son outta that place, because my son no belong there. That da fi criminal. If my son mi got a bad record, then I coulda mi understand it, even if I’m there. But my son got wa good record, so I need fi deh yah fi fight fi my son. What about the rest of the children deh, weh ney ma dead? Because da no only my son. They next two bwai weh gone up, ney ma dead. So who ney got fi fight fi fa? Nobody noh deh fi fight fi ney.You understand me? That’s why I deh yah. My eyes still open. That’s why I deh yah fi fight for my son.”
A weather system that will cross this region over the weekend is expected to dump major rains over Belize. Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon says the system has little chances of developing into a hurricane before it reaches, but that we need to be alert and take necessary action if our area is prone to flooding. In addition to that, another weather system further out will likely become a hurricane and could possibly come near to us.
Ronald Gordon
Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist
“We are looking at two systems currently that are in the area where one is just on our doorstep just northeast of Honduras, and that’s a broad area of low pressure that currently has a low chance of development before it approaches our coastline. That system will affect us starting tonight. We are going to see an increase in rainfall, and that will persist at least through to Saturday or Sunday of this week. So we’re looking at a few days of relatively heavy rainfall across the country from this system. As I mentioned previously, the chances of it becoming a tropical depression or a hurricane before it gets here are quite low. But it’s going to be a rain producer. And then the second system we’re looking at is more out there in the Atlantic. It’s midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles and that system has a higher chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within about 48 to 72 hours. We are looking at several models. One of them indicates that system will likely affect the Lesser Antilles on Monday of next week and then enter the Caribbean Sea and thereafter there are some divergence of where it is going. One model shows it going just over northern Honduras. One takes it further to the north. We’re in hurricane season. We know we need to be prepared. So what residents should be doing right now is to closely monitor the weather situation, stay tuned to official weather forecasts and certainly be prepared in the event that we need to take any action.”
On Wednesday, the Belize City Council issued a press release stating that it could not find a court ruling made several years ago in which the council has to pay businessman, Tony Novelo monies. Novelo had written the council seeking payment for over four hundred thousand dollars, but the council in its response, said it knew nothing about the ruling. It happened that Novelo, who along with his brother, David, owned Novelo’s Bus Terminal, had sought to purchase the land near the Pound Yard Bridge from the council. Both sides ended up in court. Today, attorney for Novelo, Arthur Saldivar explained how it ended up that the council owes Novelo.
Arthur Saldivar, Attorney for Toney Novelo
“The claim surrounds a portion of land the property that once belonged to the City Council. They were selling it at the time for $1.2 million and they brought a claim that $1,061,000 was outstanding. And they sought to claim that sum from Antonio Novelo. Initially, he had contracted Dr. Elson Kaseke and thereafter, during the course of it, a team of attorneys came on board to assist with the defense. Ultimately, a few weeks, in 2011, the matter was concluded. The judgment itself was issued in 2009, October 2009. And in 2011, we had been trying to secure the payment of legal fees from the City Council. Those legal fees were never paid. From my recollection of things because Dr. Keseke had fallen ill, it was incumbent on Mr. Novelo to assist him, and that remaining legal fees wasn’t paid by the council, so the attorneys on the matter could not be paid. And this is basically what caused the initial action to seek to collect, because the council has always acknowledged the debt but they have not discharged and with that debt, interest accrues.”
Reporter
“What is this about the current council now issuing a release saying that they have no copy of this judgment. They want to see it. They’ve said they’ve requested it from you all and you have not made a copy available to them.”
More relief is on the way for the victims of the victims of the brushfires that raged in Toledo during the unprecedented dry season experienced this year. In response to the devastation, the Julian Cho Society, Toledo Alcaldes Association, Maya Leaders Alliance and its partners launched a forest fire relief, restoration and prevention initiative. Through this effort, over thirty-seven thousand pounds of food were distributed to three hundred and seventy-two families. Cristina Coc, spokesperson for the Toledo Alcalde’s Association and Maya Leaders Alliance provided us with more details.
Cristina Coc
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, Toledo Alcalde’s Association & Maya Leaders Alliance
“Our response was intentional. It was rather than invest in trying to control the fires, which we knew in many instances were uncontrollable, we were gearing up and prepared to provide food relief. and emergency relief in the aftermath of the fire. And so we have been able now to provide food immediate food supply to victims who lost their cornfields and who lost their subsistence farms. We’ve provided them with culturally relevant foods in the form of corn beans, rice, flour and of course, sugar. We did that over the course of the last three weeks, we’ve been delivering that emergency food supply to communities. In the Toledo district and we’ve identified, I think the number is three hundred and seventy-two families that were directly impacted. There were many other families who lost cash crops, who lost. Permanent trees, fruit trees. For those victims, we are going to roll out a program where we’re going to provide seedlings for them to restart their farms. That is in the medium to long term. In the next couple of months or so, we’re going to have those seedlings ready to be distributed. Right now, our priority is the food. We work on a daily basis with these communities. We work on a daily basis with the alkalis in all of these communities, the chairman, the village councils of these communities. And so it is a part of our response. In our relationship with the communities, we know that being is really important. Food security is a big thing in the communities. And it is all our responsibility to respond in a positive way if we can to the communities.”
The various city, town and village councils have held their hurricane preparedness training sessions and meetings for the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Today, the Ministry of Blue Economy held its first ever such forum and it had in attendance a host of government departments and units. News Five stopped in at the event in Belmopan and spoke with C.E.O. in the Ministry of Disaster Risk Management, Kennedy Carrillo, and NEMO Coordinator, Daniel Mendez. They said people have to change their mentality that NEMO is just an organization; instead, they say we all have a role to play in NEMO.
Kennedy Carrillo
Kennedy Carrillo, C.E.O., Min. of Blue Economy
“The National Emergency Management Organization and Disaster Risk Management Ministry overall is now under the responsibility of a new minister, a new C.E.O., and obviously our approach to the response at a national level will come with innovation and it will come with greater inclusion. These are some of the areas that we have already assessed as areas that can be strengthened. And so as a ministry, we had very quickly and very fast the opportunity to assess how prepared are we to respond to disasters just three weeks into assuming responsibility for the ministry because of the unprecedented and forest fires and so it was baptism literally by fire, but it gave us the opportunity to assess and to look at where the weaknesses are, and one of them is engagement, at a national level, engagement of the key partners that play an important role in emergency response.”
Daniel Mendez
Daniel Mendez, Coordinator, NEMO
“We’re discussing many different issues that are important to the whole disaster management function. This is where we’re trying to steer NEMO. So we’re moving away from the being name of being the response only organization to one that really focuses on all aspects of the disaster management cycle, including recovery. And these are issues that we haven’t really been speaking about. So the forum today really gives us that ability to reach out and to spend more time talking about these. What we will do for NEMO as C.E.O. Kennedy has said, is really to strengthen the system, the NEMO system, which is important. NEMO is not just the organization that you see on the ground with the people in NEMO uniforms, but actually all of government, everyone is part of NEMO during a disaster.”
It is the largest oil-producing plant in the world and earlier this year, Belize experimented with the idea of growing the nut that makes African Palm Oil as an alternative to naturally-produced cooking oils. Experts in the agriculture industry believed the African Palm Oil had great potential for Belize, and at a summit held late last year, Guatemalans in the industry had offered their advice to Belizean farmers on how to grow and manage the crop. This week’s edition of Belize on Reel takes a closer look at the African Palm Oil and found out that while it produces a very healthy cooking oil, the labour it requires for harvesting is a challenge. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Jose Abelardo Mai
File: Jan 18, 2024: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“I believe that one other option is African palm oil. Although the environmentalists have a little concern about it because in other countries when they planted African palm oil, they had to clear a lot of land. In this case, it’s not that, because the lands are very clear for citrus. It’s just replacing the dead orchards with another product.”
Marion Ali, Reporting
Back in January, the African Palm Oil industry showed a lot of promise. At an investment summit, Guatemalan agro producers shared their interest, expertise and knowledge with Belizean farmers who were previously involved in declining crops like citrus and bananas. But there hasn’t been much advancement since then to establish an African Palm Oil Industry.
Hugh O’Brien
Hugh O’Brien, Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture
“Belize so far, it’s not like any physical research has begun. We were at an exploration stage in terms of the African oil palm industry. The oil generated from the oil palm, from the African oil palm dominates just about between 33 and 34 percent of the oil market in the world, of the plant oil market, if I can call it that. You’re comparing it to soybeans, to sunflower and other oils that are used, coconut oil and so on. So it’s the biggest – it is the largest oil-producing plant in the world. It’s a plant that can produce 3,000 pounds of oil per acre.”
Aside from its economic potential, the product from African Palm Oil is considered among the healthiest naturally produced oils for cooking. In addition, it is also used in different types of cosmetics.
Hugh O’Brien
“You can export in its crude form, and there are other companies in the world that will buy that, and then purify it more, and use it in cosmetics, and consumption oil and facial creams and soaps and it’s a wide range of products that is produced from African Oil Palm.”
But why has the discussion on the product not gone past the exploratory stage? Advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture, Hugh O’Brien says there were some challenges that were identified that this crop would pose for Belize.
Hugh O’Brien
“We have not made a decision to go full scale ahead. We have not closed the doors on the opportunity, but based on how things are with our other industries, interest from our farmers we’re going to make that decision. It is just like coconut is, it does take an amount of labour to get the fruits harvested to manage your farm. All our industries are struggling right now. The papaya people are having challenges getting workers. The coconut farmers are having challenges getting workers. In fact, this year we’re going to be losing between 150,000 to 200,000 boxes of oranges because we have been unable to harvest it fast enough because of labour challenges.”
We visited a residence in Teakettle Village where African Palm Oil trees are grown but for decorative purposes only. Marion Ali for News Five.
