January, 2025 - Channel 5 Belize

Belize Inflation Hits 2.6%, Food and Rent Soar

Everyday essentials like food, housing, and personal care products saw sharp increases in prices in December 2024, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB). Belize’s inflation rate for December 2024 surged by 2.6%, SIB reported.

“As has been the case throughout the year, the rise in consumer prices was largely driven by higher costs for food products and home rentals,” SIB stated in its report. “However, notably lower prices for fuel as well as information and communication equipment.” The drop in fuel, including diesel, regular, and premium gasoline, reflected a slight 0.5% decline.

‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ recorded a 5% inflation rate, with substantial price hikes in fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats. For example, limes and oranges saw increases of over 20%, while bread and tortillas rose by 3%. ‘Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ also saw a sharp 7.8% increase, driven by higher prices for juices and soft drinks.

SIB also reported a significant uptick in ‘Housing Costs,’ with home rentals and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices rising by 3% and 8.5%, respectively.

While some municipalities experienced varying inflation rates, Belmopan recorded the highest rise at 4.9%, mainly due to sharp price hikes in food, clothing, and personal care items. The village of Independence had the lowest rate at 0.2%.

In 2024, the national inflation rate stood at 3.3%, with food, housing, and restaurant services seeing the most significant price increases throughout the year.

Dr. Almendarez No Longer CEO of SSB

Dr. Leroy Almendarez told News Five this morning that he is no longer the Chief Executive Officer of the Social Security Board. His response to a question on a different matter was, “I am no longer the CEO of SSB and therefore, not relevant for me to comment further on it.”

On Wednesday, human resources services told staff that “with immediate effect, Deputy Jerome Palma will be acting as Chief Executive Officer until further notice.”

The reason for Dr. Almendarez’s departure has not been confirmed.

In August 2024, the SSB announced Dr. Almendarez’s appointment. The statement said, “Dr. Almendarez is an accomplished professional recognised for leveraging strong team leadership and development to drive progress in trade, investment, policy, strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship nationally & internationally. Highly organised, analytical, detail-orientated leader skilled in building and directing high-performing teams to develop solutions to solve operational, technical, and economic-related problems and successfully implementing systems across multiple and diverse operations.”

Belize’s Imports Reached $3 Billion in 2024

In December 2024, the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) reported that Belize experienced a slight increase in imports, with total goods imported valued at $230.7 million, a marginal rise of 0.1% compared to the previous year. A notable uptick was seen in imports of manufactured goods and chemical products, largely driven by higher purchases of items such as glass bottles, building cement, and fertilisers. However, imports for commercial free zones saw a significant decline, dropping by 21.7% due to reduced purchases of footwear and handbags.

The most striking figure in December’s external trade report was the surge in domestic exports, which skyrocketed by 204.3%, reaching $74.1 million. This increase was fuelled primarily by a bulk shipment of sugar, which saw revenues increase from $4.5 million to $52.4 million. Citrus products also contributed, with earnings from orange concentrate more than quintupled. However, banana exports and marine products, such as lobster and conch, saw declines.

For the entire year of 2024, Belize’s merchandise imports totalled $2.909 billion, an 8.5% rise from 2023. Imports of machinery and transport equipment saw the largest increase. It was driven by high-value items like industrial generators and motor vehicles. On the export front, total earnings reached $459.9 million, a 12.5% increase from the previous year. The primary driver of export growth was sugar. Banana and citrus products were also key drivers.

Trump’s Federal Grant Freeze Faces Legal Setback

A controversial freeze on federal grants and loans that has threatened to disrupt vital government aid has been rescinded after a legal challenge. This follows a reported temporary halt to the order by a judge on Tuesday, just hours after President Donald Trump signed it.

The memo was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and sparked a widespread panic among Americans who rely on government assistance. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”

According to the BBC, the office later clarified that the move was meant to allow the new administration time to evaluate which grants and loans aligned with their agenda. However, the order led to confusion and disruption, including a brief shutdown of an online portal for federal funds.

Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, condemned the freeze as harmful to families and vowed to continue opposing such measures. Nonprofit groups added that critical services, like housing and disaster relief, could be impacted.

Court Dismisses Feinstein’s Stake Bank Constitutional Claim

In late 2024, Michael Feinstein took the Government of Belize to the High Court over the compulsory acquisition of twenty-three acres of Stake Bank Island. Tonight, Justice Rajiv Goonetilleke ruled that the government’s planned acquisition doesn’t violate Belize’s constitution. Feinstein’s legal team, led by Godfrey Smith, argued that the acquisition lacked a legitimate public purpose and was meant to resolve a private title dispute in favor of Honduran Company OPSA. However, Justice Goonetilleke found that the acquisition was indeed for a public purpose. The government had published its first acquisition notice in the Gazette on August twenty-seventh and was set to publish a second to finalize the process, but the court temporarily halted it pending the case’s outcome. Today, the High Court dismissed Feinstein’s claim, ruling that his legal team failed to prove their case and awarding costs to the Government of Belize. So, what does this mean for the project moving forward? We’ll have to see if Mediterranean Shipping Company is still interested in acquiring the island, especially after Prime Minister Briceño announced major development plans for the Port of Belize Limited over the next five years. Regardless, this ruling is a significant setback for Belizean investor Michael Feinstein.

Lee Mark Chang Threatens to Sue Shyne for Alleged Defamation

Mesopotamia standard bearer Lee Mark Chang is gearing up to sue Opposition Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow for a hefty sum of between thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars. This lawsuit stems from allegations Barrow made during a Tuesday press conference, which Chang claims were deliberately defamatory. These statements were broadcast across multiple media platforms, and Chang’s legal team, Balderamos Arthurs LLP, insists they are false and damaging to his reputation. Chang, who is Barrow’s direct rival in the upcoming general election, believes the statements were made to sabotage his political ambitions. The legal team’s letter demands an apology from Barrow, stating, “You are hereby advised to promptly and immediately publish an apology to our client, in terms to be agreed by our office. The said publication is to be given the same publicity as the defamatory statements you published”. Additionally, the letter demands a payment of five thousand dollars to be delivered to the legal team’s office, warning that this amount will increase if the matter goes to court.

Video Shows Emil Rivers Being Shot by Police in the Stomach

Twenty-four-year-old Emil Rivers is still in the hospital with injuries to his abdomen and back after being shot by a police officer during an armed standoff last weekend. The incident took place on January twenty-fifth in Independence Village, southern Belize. Rivers allegedly assaulted Inspector of Police Michael Rosado, who noticed him appearing intoxicated and carrying a large knife. After a scuffle, Rivers was taken to the Independence Police Station but managed to escape custody. Officers pursued him, and when they caught up, Rivers was wielding a machete. During the confrontation, Officer Sheldon Arzu shot Rivers twice. PC Arzu, who was previously discharged from the Belize Police Department after a deadly shooting in 2003 and served thirteen years in prison, was later reinstated. Tonight, we’ll show you the encounter that led to Rivers’ injuries, along with comments from Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa and Commissioner of Police Chester Williams.

Isani Cayetano

“ComPol, what’s to happen of the investigation into Sheldon Arzu at this point and what seems to be new information that suggests that he may have been in the wrong, as well as the release of the video that you guys have?

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I will not say if he is in the wrong at this time. I have viewed the video, I have my opinion of it and PSB currently has control of the matter. I do not want to say or do anything to influence the investigation that’s going to be done or is being done by PSB. The video will be released to you, the media, for public consumption and the public can also be the judge of what transpired. Let me say that the young man in the video had assaulted Inspector Rosado who is the officer in charge of Bella Vista with a huge butcher’s knife, almost killing him. He was arrested, he was detained by the police and he escaped from the police station. He was pursued to that location where the shooting happened, by the police. It was a lengthy standoff while he wielded a machete at the police. Police fired, I think, two warning shots or three warning shots and he did not surrender or put down the machete end eventually it led to him being shot in the stomach.”

Isani Cayetano

“How does ACP Romero go from stating publicly that the man was shot in the leg to him being in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound to his abdomen?”

Chester Williams

“The gunshot wound to the back is the exit. The video will show you everything. It will show when he was shot, what angle and everything. It’s going to show you that. Perhaps Mr. Romero was misinformed because from the inception when it happened, I know it was in the stomach.”

Reporter

“But sir, why does the police report have a knowing misrepresentation? It says that PC Arzu, this is an internal report, shot him, shot him in the legs, or shot after him in the legs twice. I’m saying that there is purposeful misrepresentation of the facts, perpetuated then by Mr. Romero. It’s a worrying trend that brings the entire story into doubt.

Chester Williams

“I believe that Mr. Romero was misinformed. I did not speak to Mr. Romero before he had that press brief with you all. I don’t know what information he got.”

Why was Sheldon Arzu Back in a Policeman’s Uniform?

But why was Sheldon Arzu back in uniform as a law enforcement officer after being convicted of manslaughter and serving thirteen years for a shooting death inside a police station? That’s the burning question posed to both Minister Musa and Commissioner of Police Williams. But first, let’s hear from the Minister of Home Affairs on why the video of Rivers’ shooting was released to the media.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“I was made aware by the commissioner that there is video footage and while it is the policy of the department not to have a trial by media for every single incident that happens, I believe that it certainly warrants the media being in possession of that video. And so I believe that the commissioner will be requesting the PSB to share that video with the media, just for transparency and clarity.”

Reporter

“Sir, but if you had your way, you said someone with a criminal conviction should not serve. He should not be in the department.”

Kareem Musa

“Again, you will have to ask the last administration. My opinion is that as long as I am the minister and if you bring someone with a criminal record, I don’t believe that you should be enlisted. No.”

Chester Williams

“He was enlisted under the previous administration.”

Reporter

“But you are the commissioner, you control the enlistments.”

Chester Williams

“It was Minister Saldivar. At the end of the day, I don’t want to go into the semantics of whatever because if you are a, hypothetically, a convicted murderer and someone comes to you and attacks you, is it right to say that because you are a convicted murderer, you must not do nothing? I don’t think that should be the case. We must look at everything based on the facts that exist. So I’d rather leave this until the investigation is done. Whatever PSB decides, then we’ll go by that.”

Reporter

“But I am just asking, you were the police commissioner when he was enlisted. Did you look at it and say, “He was convicted for manslaughter in a police station while on the job. I can’t do this, minister…”

Chester Williams

“Of course, yes, at that particular time he was enlisted as a special constable with the tourism police unit and then subsequently, the minister had requested that he be given a regulation number. Obviously, I would oppose it and I don’t want to…”

Reporter

“Did you oppose it?”

Chester Williams

“Of course I did, but I don’t want to go into too much details of that, but I’ll say to you that I opposed it.”

Marconi Leal Departs from Belize Rural North Race

After serving the Belize Rural North Constituency for one term, Area Representative Marconi Leal has announced he will step aside in the upcoming general election. According to a press release from the People’s United Party (P.U.P.), Leal made this decision after discussions with his family, the Belize Rural North Executive Committee, and the P.U.P. leadership. While the release didn’t specify the reason, it mentioned that Leal wants to focus on personal matters. The P.U.P. expressed full respect and support for Leal’s decision, thanking him for his years of service and contributions to the party’s progress. The release also mentioned that the P.U.P. will select a new Standard Bearer in full consultation with the Belize Rural North Executive. Leal has pledged his full support for the new Standard Bearer and is committed to securing another victory in the upcoming elections.

The Gloves are Off! Chester and Kareem Fire Back at Mike Peyrefitte

During Tuesday’s U.D.P. press conference, former National Security Minister Mike Peyrefitte didn’t hold back, accusing the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Home Affairs of deliberately underreporting the number of murders in 2024. According to Peyrefitte, there were actually ninety-four murders last year, but the Belize Police Department only recorded eighty-nine. In his fiery critique, Peyrefitte also renewed his call for the immediate removal of Kareem Musa as Home Affairs Minister and Chester Williams as Commissioner of Police. When we caught up with Musa and Williams in Belmopan earlier today, they had some strong words for Peyrefitte.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“I saw that Peyrefitte was lamenting that in fact the number should have been ninety-four. Now, when I listen to Peyrefitte and Shyne, I get the feeling like they are the grim reapers of governance and politics. I never seen two people, well three, more pray out the lives of Belizean people than these people. They are praying out the lives of these people, the numbers show that we had eighty-nine homicides, but they are getting up there to complain that it should be ninety-four. We want more people dead in our country, like when they were in power, a hundred and forty-five.”

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“There is no false information being put out by the department. Your figure is ninety-one and I could understand your ninety-one, because you have two in there, that one is still not yet classified. That’s the one in San Pedro, and we also have one that is a manslaughter. That’s how you reach to ninety-one. We cannot categorize those as murders because manslaughter is not murder and that has not yet been classified. We cannot put that as murder at this time. So I can understand you. But I cannot understand how Peyrefitte arrived at ninety-four, and then to say that, to have a country with a murder per capita of twenty-four is unacceptable. I want to give him his records, the UDP records for the past, during their time in office, for the past twelve years. They came into office in 2008. 2008, we averaged 39.9 per hundred thousand. 2009, 30.1 per hundred thousand. 2010, 40 per hundred thousand. 2011, 37.8 per hundred thousand. 2012, 43.4 per hundred thousand. 2013, 29.0 per hundred thousand. 2014, 35.2 per hundred thousand. 2015, 33.4 per hundred thousand. 2016, 27.9 per hundred thousand. 2017, 38.2 per hundred thousand. 2018, 37.8 per hundred thousand. 2019, 34.7 per hundred thousand. 2020, 26.o per hundred thousand. Under the current administration, 2021, 31.3 per hundred thousand. 2022, 28.4 per hundred thousand. 2023, 21.5 per hundred thousand. And 2024, 21.7 per hundred thousand. So even if he wants to put it at twenty-four, it is still far better than what existed during the UDP’s twelve years in office.”