In January 2020, thirty-six-year-old Anthony Parks was gunned downed in Independence Village, he succumbed to his injuries eleven days later. But when his suspected killer was convicted of murder in April 2022, Shane Bennett escaped from lawful custody and fled to Punta Gorda where he was recaptured shortly thereafter. Tonight, Bennett is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole until after he has completed a minimum of twenty-five years in prison. Bennett has been on remand at the Belize Central Prison for the past three years and that’s the only time that will be deducted from his lengthy prison stay. That’s the judgment of High Court Justice Antoinette Moore earlier today.
Year: 2024
Investigation Still Ongoing on Belize City Meningitis Case
At the end of January a child attending Holy Redeemer Primary School began exhibiting signs and symptoms of meningitis. The Ministry of Education took precautionary steps to protect the remainder of the students at the school. The child remains hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at the K.H.M.H. and today, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard told reporters that the matter is still under investigation.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“From what I understood from the report I got was that the child was being monitored. The last report I got from the CEO at KHMH, because the child was in the ICU, but was not in the ICU under any equipment or anything, but was just being monitored. I understand that at the time, the child was responsive on all of these things. I haven’t gotten a recent update, to be honest with you, so I don’t want to speak out of turn. In fact, I am here today and that’s one of the reasons why I’m here today because I’ll be meeting as well with the Central Health Region and with the CEO of KHMH so we can get an update on terms of what are the things that are happening with current occurrences.”
Bernard Says Free Vaccines Are Fit For Use
The United States government recently donated four thousand, eight hundred doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Bivalent vaccines to the Government of Belize. However, the Center for Disease Control stated on its website that these vaccines are no longer viable to be used as they target a strain of COVID no longer circulating. We asked Minister of Health Wellness Kevin Bernard about this donation.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“I don’t think the United States government would just or the notion is that they’re just dumping things that they don’t want on us. It is a proven fact that this vaccine has been used. What happened is there are several versions of vaccines that have been done. And if you notice, we only got a small quantity of the vaccine, twelve hundred doses of them. And we accept them because at the end of the day, it’s still being used on other parts of the world. It’s not something that was banned. As I mentioned, it’s the adult Pfizer vaccine, something that was produced, had gone to all its necessary requirements. I understand from what we are that this is safe for us to use. Now, we always will rely on the CDC and other FDA regulations. As far as we are concerned from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, when we got, received these vaccines, it was given the green light. We don’t accept a vaccine just because we want to accept vaccines. Trust me, there’s a lot of due diligence that is done before we even take anything from any country.”
Reporter
“It’s not that it’s expired or something’s wrong with it. It’s just that it’s not recommended because it does nothing against the potential strains that are out right now.”
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“We have to look at the type of strains you have. And luckily for Belize, we have not had any major issue in terms of an influx of covid cases. It’s being managed. But as I said, we will continue to realize what we can and how we can and if down the road we are not going to use the vaccine and we’re not going to use the vaccine. These are donations that are given to us. Yes, we accepted these donations but the Ministry of Health and Wellness, as I said, would not have accepted these if it is not fully recommended. As you are saying, CDC mentioned, there are certain things that you may hear on the media or on social media that sometimes not necessarily all that, we have to be very conscious of a lot of fake news. And as I mentioned, we accepted those vaccines because it was genuine and vaccines that can still be utilized within the country.”
Legal Opinion on Standing Orders Gives Way to Senate Meeting
The Sitting of the Senate for Thursday will proceed as scheduled, that is the final decision by the President of the Senate, following a legal opinion issued by the Attorney General earlier today. As we reported last week, the opposition has raised serious concerns regarding the function of the Leader of Government Business in the upper house, since it is of the firm belief that that individual, based on their knowledge of the Standing Orders, must be minister of government. Those concerns were raised in the wake of former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay resigning from Cabinet. In his legal opinion, AG Anthony Sylvestre referred to the Constitution of Belize where he says, “there is no provision in the Constitution that mandates that there must be at least one minister in the senate for it to be properly constituted, or that the Leader of Government Business in the Senate must be a minister. Indeed, the only reference to a mandatory requirement in the Constitution relating to a minister is that he or she must be a member of the National Assembly”. In reference to the Standing Orders, the Attorney General wrote, “to the contrary, there are multiple provisions in the Standing Orders which make clear that the offices of a minister and Leader of Government Business are distinct and separate”.
Minister Fonseca Assures IT-VET Teachers of Timely Payments
Last week, instructors at the Belize City IT-VET called the media to say that their salaries were not being paid by the Ministry of Education since September. The instructors said that it was the institution itself that was meeting their salaries each month. Some of them had issues with that fact, as well as the contracts they have with the ministry. But since then, the Ministry’s C.E.O. has told News Five that the matter has been resolved and today, the Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca, assured the instructors that their salary issues are a thing of the past.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“In the case of the ITVET here in Belize City, again, that’s a long-standing challenge. But we were able to resolve that issue on Friday last week Friday, Finally, we’re up to date with the payments. I talked about this in the National Assembly on Friday. It is not that the teachers were not being paid; they were getting monies through the IT-VET in Belize City. But they had not – we had not gotten the money from the Ministry of Finance as yet to pay them. So the IT-VET in Belize City through the support of the ministry was giving them money that now has to be reimbursed. But they were getting paid, and now what we have done is put them on the smart stream system, so that this problem does not reoccur. And again we’ve been looking at the contract situation. The whole challenge with this with IT-VET is the contracts which are annual contracts – one-year contracts. So we’re looking at that to try to expand and extend those contracts. But the main thing is that it has been resolved.”
Minister Fonseca: No Student Should Be Sent Home for Not Paying School Fees
Another IT-VET issue that surfaced last week was that thirty students attending the Orange Walk ITVET were reportedly sent home for owing several months of school fees. But the Minister of Education has said that no student should be kept from the classroom because of outstanding fees. Today, he reiterated that position and said that a payment plan can be put in place to solve the issue.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“In the case of the Orange Walk ITVET, discussions and with the manager of the Orange Walk IT-Vet and the briefing that I got, he said that the students were not sent home. They were asked to bring their parents to school to discuss a payment plan for the remaining outstanding fees that they owed. That was done and my understanding is that issue has been resolved. All the students have been back in school since last week, sometime Wednesday, Thursday and they have worked out a payment plan with the parents for the remaining outstanding fees. We made it very clear to them that students should not be out of the classroom because they have not paid their fees. And there has to be something worked out.”
Minister Fonseca: Curriculum Reform Designed to Ease Work
For over a year, the Ministry of Education has been discussing with educators the matter of curriculum reform. Some teachers have raised concerns of their own on the topic, such as the timeliness in delivery of the revised kits and how that could affect students. Today, Minister Fonseca said he hasn’t heard of those concerns and pointed out that the whole idea behind curriculum reform is to make the work easier, but more effective.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“I really have not heard that complaint at the Ministry of Education. I know there are always challenges with any new – the implementation of any new, initiative, and the curriculum reform is a big issue, a big initiative. So there are some challenges as we go along, but for the most part, I think teachers have embraced it and they recognize that the ministry is working very closely along with them to make it even easier for them. The whole idea is to make their class preparation even easier and I think that goal is being achieved. Not to say we don’t have a few challenges, but I think generally it has been well received. And wherever there are difficulties, we sit and work with the managements and the schools to address them.”
No Taxes on K.H.M.H. Workers’ Gratuity
They’ve come out swinging when the working conditions at the K.H.M.H. do not meet their standards, but now employees at that hospital will no longer pay taxes when they collect their gratuity upon retirement. This comes through discussions between the Public Service Ministry and the Ministry of Finance. Today the Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard shed light on this breakthrough.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“That has been a process through the public service and Ministry of Finance. That was something that we were trying to fix what had existed. As you know, some subsidiary or called statutory bodies were exempted and they were not exempted. So it was all an issue where the Ministry of Finance and the public service felt that they had to put it in line with other statutory bodies. So that’s, basically, that’s what was done.”
The Race for Town Hall Kicks Off in Peini
Tonight, we officially commence our pre-election coverage of the 2024 municipals with a series of profiles that will introduce mayoral and councilor candidates from all nine cities and towns to the masses of Belizean voters. In our inaugural segment, we take you to Punta Gorda where we met with mayoral hopefuls from the Belize Progressive Party, the People’s United Party, as well as councilor candidates from all three political organizations. Here’s our first episode of Meet the Candidates.
Anita Nicholas, B.P.P. Mayoral Candidate, PG
“From a child, I was always around with politics with both of my grandparents, my grandfather and my grandmother. When they would go to any political activities, they would take me along with them and I thought there was where my interest and my love for politics grew. However, I decided, based on what I have seen and based on what I have learned, to hold the politicians accountable and I was not seeing accountability in both of the major political parties, I decided to join the Belize Progressive Party which was a new party and that was how I decided to run with the Belize Progressive Party.”
Seleni Cus, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate
“What motivated me was that I saw the state our town is in at the moment and as a youth, I have been out before I even thought to get involved with politics and I thought that, you know, I could make a difference here in town and I would be a voice for the youths and women here in my town as well. Based on records, I believe that we don’t have most females being involved in politics and being the first Maya female to put up my name on a ballot paper here in Punta Gorda, I think that it is something, you know, that our youths can look at, especially young females. They can look at that and, you know, take a stand because it’s time for females to come up and join the political field.”
Jahrine Avila, P.U.P. Councilor Candidate
“For me, personally, I’ve always been involved with different organizations in my community, giving back and always volunteering my time. So when I was approached by one of our past leaders, Mr. Galvez, he spoke with me and my first thought was, you know, I’m not that type of person to be into politics but he was like, look at the bigger picture, look at what you have done in your community and see what you can do now on a bigger platform. So I thought about it and said, “Hey, why not!” This is not for myself, but for my community. I’ve always been involved. I have love for my people and my community, so why not give it a shot and do what you do best.”
Kevin Choc, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate
“What inspired me to run again, put my name on the ballot, is the people, you know. I have a passion to serve, you know, and the people have seen that and they, basically, I have a group of people who are behind me, pushing for me to be, some ah dehn mi even wahn I run fi mayor, but, you know, yoh haffi climb up di ranks. I believe that everything takes time. So di people is what inspired me to put my name on a ballot.”
Isani Cayetano
“What do you believe is perhaps different this time around from the previous time you ran for office?
Kevin Choc
“What is different is being in opposition. That is very different, you know, and I believe that hard times create strong men.”
Malcolm Galvez, P.U.P. Councilor Candidate
“PG needs a lot of help, you know. We need people, well we need leaders that are willing to stand up and speak on behalf of the voters, on behalf of the residents. One of the things that I personally did was, I got up at our national party council meeting and I mentioned that, you know, Toledo East has always been, the south has always been known as a PUP stronghold. I mentioned that to the prime minister and deputy prime minister and at the time we had the worst streets in the country. It’s not the best place to mention some of the problems, but it is important to us, so every opportunity the current council got, we tried to mention those issues.”
Franklyn ‘Kranka’ Polonio, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate
“I went there because I realize that we need to build that hope again, you know, that trust, that integrity as Belizeans and also as politicians. I believe that trust needs to build back and that’s one thing that I basically have with the people of Punta Gorda.”
Carlos ‘Obeah’ Galvez, PUP Mayoral Candidate
“People, voters here in PG, had asked me on numerous occasions to come back in participate in electoral politics and, you know, I decided after thirteen years, I decided, you know what, I said listen it’s at the call of the people, at the request of the people, why not?”
Lack of Proper Infrastructure Hinders PG’s Development
You just met several of the candidates vying for a seat at Town Hall in Punta Gorda on March sixth. They are all optimistic that their respective slates will be successful on Election Day. Beyond the campaigns, however, are serious concerns being shared by residents of PG and those issues have to do with the deplorable conditions of streets and drains. In the following story, News Five’s Isani Cayetano takes a look the infrastructure crisis that is frustrating Punta Gorda’s socioeconomic progress. Here’s that story.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The southernmost municipality is often described as forgotten, lost in a world of its own where growth seems to evolve at a much slower pace than in other parts of the country. Infrastructure is a key factor for socioeconomic development, as it provides the physical and digital means for people to access opportunities, goods and services. All of that is quickly changing and residents of Punta Gorda are keenly aware of what it takes for their hometown to advance in those respective areas.
Punta Gorda Resident
“When it comes to, like, road infrastructure, I don’t think anybody that lives here or that has come around here will think that they are doing a good job. However, we have seen some work going on. I don’t know how much that is going to accomplish, but until we see much and see how much it has done then we‘re going to be in a good place to render judgment. When it comes to roads, I think they are still lagging behind.”
As municipal leaders, the aim is to leverage social and economic infrastructures to support sustainable growth and development. It is necessary to invest in projects that meet the needs and demands of the citizenry, as well as align with the strategic vision and goals of the town council.
Carlos ‘Obeah’ Galvez, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, PG
“The crying you’re hearing from a lot of people is infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. With the present conditions of the streets and roads in town, we need to get to work as of now, not waiting until we get into office. So currently, we are currently working and repairing a lot of streets, major streets.”
For some, the recent roadwork may be long-awaited, given the deplorable state of streets and drains across the town. For others, it remains an extremely difficult situation that hinders the development of Punta Gorda.
Franklyn ‘Kranka’ Polonio, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, PG
“We have a municipality right now [that] is ailing in all aspects, you know, in regards to, when it comes to roadwork, when it comes to the economy, you know.”
Roads and physical infrastructure are critical because they improve the connectivity and integration of different communities in PG.
“Weh da di improvement ah PG? I noh sih nothing. Dis maanin’ ah ride gone by da bridge, by Joe Taylor deh, di way I sih di foundation, da bridge, dehn got sohn lee, weh dehn wah do deh? Wah lee pass walk… dehn tek down Haulover Bridge and dehn ker it da Cayo. We noh got no two-way bridge, soh why dehn neva bring dat ya? Infrastructure, we have a lot of things here [that are] yet fi get done and we noh di sih no movements yet. Now I need fi send wah message to my government, to my prime minister and di government that I support, I need di staat sih my Joe Taylor Bridge staat build, I need fi staat sih my road paved.”
Transport networks, including bridges, can facilitate the mobility of people and goods, reduce trade costs and connect markets. Returning mayoral candidate Carlos Galvez contextualizes this by looking at the achievements of the present Punta Gorda Town Council.
“What they have done, they have initiated that Joe Taylor Bridge. That’s approximately two million dollars, a new bridge, a two-lane bridge. The contract has been signed already, M&M Construction, and also six major streets.”
Social infrastructure, on the other hand, improves the quality of human resources, such as education, health, and social services, which leads to an increase in the wellbeing and efficiency of the population. As an example, public education can enhance the skills and knowledge of the workforce, as well as foster innovation and creativity. Together, they foster social cohesion, cultural diversity, and political stability.
“On my manifesto, there are two things, two big things that we looked at, one is a House of Culture. When we get a House of Culture built here in PG, we will be looking at the tourism industry, the sector, you know, affecting that in all manner. We have the different cultures, we know that PG is one of the melting pots in Belize, you know. That will bring jobs, we have different crafts, different food items in PG. And of course, another one is looking at a call center. That will very much boost the economy of PG, money will be spending and things will begin to look better in that regard.”
To create a more livable, resilient, and prosperous municipality for the people of Peini, municipal leaders should collaborate with other stakeholders, such as the private sector, civil society, and international organizations, to mobilize resources and expertise in infrastructure development. Isani Cayetano for News Five.