Former Belmopan City Administrator Sherlene Julien has stepped forward to clear her name amidst controversy. Julien’s name appeared on a leaked list of Innovabel Estate land recipients from within the council, suggesting she acquired six parcels of land through two companies, Ajalon and Associates Limited and Almeya Consulting Limited. In her statement to the media, Julien firmly denied ever owning a company named Almeya Consulting Limited. The document also claimed that Julien’s son received two parcels, with all eight properties allegedly sold to her for a thousand dollars each. Julien refuted these claims, stating the document is intentionally misleading and full of errors. She clarified that she received four parcels of land, less than an acre, as part of a legally negotiated employment contract. The value of these parcels was deducted from what she was owed for nearly three years of service to a financially struggling city council. Julien contends that the accusations are baseless, aimed at tarnishing her professional reputation and undermining her contributions to the City of Belmopan. She also expressed that the situation has caused undue distress and reputational harm to her son and family.
A family is homeless tonight after a devastating lightning strike destroyed their house. Remarkably, lightning struck the property twice on Wednesday afternoon, tragically claiming the life of their pet in the first strike and igniting a fire in the second. This freak incident has left the family heartbroken and desperately seeking help from the community. News Five’s Paul Lopez brings us the story.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
A home in Georgeville went up in flames on Thursday afternoon. The victims of the fire, a young family, lost everything. We spoke with the owner of the destroyed wooden structure, Vannesa Guzman.
Voice of: Vannesa Guzman
Voice of: Vannesa Guzman, Fire Victim
“This dah mih something that we never expect because I was not at home at the moment. I was with my mom when my little brother called me and told me that my house was on fire. I didn’t believe him at first but then he video called me and showed me that the house was smoking out and when he came and checked the house it was already too late.”
The circumstances surrounding the fire are nothing short of shocking and are certainly not a common occurrence in Belize.
Vannesa Guzman
“When they told us who it happened, ih mih really shocking. I never believed lightening cause something like that. We pitbull get it first then he dead. Then we house get it next.”
Guzman’s brother lives on the adjacent property. He ran over to save some of the household items, including items purchased for her son’s birthday party that was to be held on Saturday.
Vannesa Guzman
“He mih the try get some stuff, but by the time he get up the step the house just explode. Then everything, we cant save anything. We lose everything, like nothing we stay. But I just, I try be strong. It hurts a lot. We wont say it does not hurt. These are things we can recover, but we had memories. I had memories from my baby and we were looking forward to his party. He was so excited. He did his countdown and when he see that his house was burning it hurt him a lot. Up to now, he still stay frightened.”
Guzman and her family lost everything to the freak fire. They are now seeking assistance from the public to get back on their feet.
Vannesa Guzman
“I just hope we could get the little help that everyone says they could help. I just pray that they do, cause we nuh got nothing. So, we really appreciate, with all my heart. Anything wah work for us.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez
You can reach the family at 608-1088 and 627-6361 if you wish to offer any assistance.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) serves as the regulatory and supervisory authority for Belize’s non-banking financial services. In 2021, the Government of Belize enacted the Securities Industries Act, which expanded the responsibilities of the former International Financial Services Commission, transforming it into the FSC. Now, the FSC oversees the securities sector and the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry. Although legislation to regulate the securities sector has been in place for the past four years, the FSC is actively working to raise awareness about the investment opportunities within this sector. Today, they hosted a press briefing to shed light on these opportunities and provide further information.
Claude Haylock, Director General, FSC
“You really should care because I mean we are starting the process of regulating the securities market in Belize. Securities have always been in Belize. It is there but it has never been in a regulated and formularized way. Basically securities are stocks, bonds, people buy shares in companies. People are able to invest in that way. As the company prosper the shares increase in value. Their little part in that company increase in value. There are some Belizeans who own shares in BTL. When those companies do well, they do well. It gives Belizean an opportunity to invest in other things, rather than having a bank account and lets be frank, we all know. You getting little or nothing in bank. It probably cost more to keep your money in the bank than what the bank gives you in interest rate. Securities gives Belizeans another opportunity for investment and to grow wealth. I think that is an important objective of government to broaden, democratize capital in Belize. Belize is a very bank centric economy. The introduction of securities will give Belizeans other ways to invest in the market.”
One example that Claude Haylock, the Director General at the Financial Services Commission, highlighted is an Initial Public Offering or IPO that the San Pedro Town Council recently floated. This IPO is valued at twenty-eight million dollars. The FSC is not responsible for promoting such opportunities. They exist to build investor confidence and awareness while carrying out their regulatory responsibilities.
Claude Haylock, Director General, FSC
“Let me give you a real example right now. We have just approved, I shouldn’t say the word approved, under the Municipal Securities Act, the San Pedro Town Council has floated and IPO to the tune of twenty-eight million dollars which if Belizeans, the IPO is put out there, Belizeans can look at it and subscribe to it. They can buy a piece of that bond offering. It is an attractive interest rate, an attractive rate of return, so why not. We are not here to promote that. That is not what we do as regulators. I just wanted to give that as an example of a practical way that we are starting to deepen the investment market in Belize. There are others that are warming up. We have nine registrants under the Securities Industry Act, sixteen, so there is real activities take place. There are brokers, dealers, agents, so Belizeans have an opportunity to be able to engage these people to look for investment opportunities other than holding land or keeping the money in your bank account or hiding it under your mattress.”
So, how does one go about launching an IPO or any other investment opportunity? According to Marlos Kus, the Director of Licensing and Authorizations at the FSC, the first step is to submit the necessary documentation to the commission. He elaborated on the detailed process and the rigorous oversight involved, emphasizing the commission’s commitment to ensuring that fairness and transparency are at the heart of every investment opportunity.
Marlos Kus
Marlos Kus, Director of Licensing & Authorisations, FSC
“Any municipality or company that wants to do an IPO, the first thing they need to prepare is a prospectus. The Municipal Security Act outlines what should be in a prospectus. The main reason for the prospectus is for the issuer to disclose all the risk or the information that the material investor would need to decide as to whether they should invest in this offering. The commission does not express anything on the merits of the offering. What we issue is a receipt that they have filed this prospectus. When an investor sees that it is not to say oh this offering is good. It is that we have ensured that the offering has disclosed all the material information. So, an investor should look at the prospectus, look at it from the beginning to the end and make that decision, should I invest in this? To develop a market we need to educate the Belizean people because this is relatively new to everybody, so we need to start there.”
Many of the terms used to describe investment opportunities available to Belizeans are often too complex for potential investors to understand. This complexity is a key reason why many Belizeans are not taking advantage of these opportunities. To address this, the Financial Services Commission is launching a smart investor awareness campaign during World Investor Week, from October seventh to thirteenth. This week is recognized annually by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, of which Belize recently became an associate member.
Nilda Sosa
Nilda Sosa, Director of Operations & Corporate Services, FSC
“All IOSCO members and supporters, such as IDB, the World Bank Group and partners of IOSCO to promote this global initiative will be launching investor initiatives and activities. There will be competitions that will focus on the importance of investor education. There will also be webinars and workshops with the objective of educating the public in the different areas that were mentioned. From our perspective, the FSC will be launching an investor center website where resources and tools can be accessed with that investor center, we host the official webpage for World Investors Week and all the resources, information that we will sharing with the public can be accessed through our website at FSCBelize.org.bz. We will also have complementing that a free webinar that FCS will be coordinating for the public. This webinar is called Smart Investing a Guide to Navigating the Securities Landscape. This will be complemented to the FAQ segment we will have.”
In May, former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador discussed with Prime Minister John Briceño the possibility of increasing Mexico’s power supply to Belize by five megawatts. Although that discussion did not come to fruition, this week, PM Briceño held a similar meeting with the new Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum. Today, Minister of Energy Michel Chebat informed News Five that President Sheinbaum assured them that the existing arrangement would be honored and that they would explore ways to increase the power supply. The meeting also included Mexico’s new Minister of Energy, Luz Elena Gonzalez Escobar, and her team.
Michel Chebat, Minister of Energy
“Present at that meeting was also the head of the CFE from whom we actually purchase electricity. It was a very fruitful discussion. We discussed several issues, including the agreement for Belize to purchase energy from Mexico, we spoke about Belize’s energy security, which is very important for us. We also spoke about Belize’s energy security, which is very important for us. We also spoke about the basic needs of energy of southern Mexico and Belize and discussed a little bit about how we could go about addressing the issues on both sides of the border. I think our meeting was the first meeting she ever had since taking over this position, but she did assure us that all the agreements we had in place with the former government will be respected and will be honored. And we looked also – and obviously we discussed the possibilities of increasing that as we had done with the former president. And there is that commitment to look at that and to see how best we can get that done. I think one of the important things that did come out of this meeting is a commitment from the new administration to continue working with Belize to make sure that we have the energy supply that we need. And we also agreed that we’re going to have a joint working group that will of course consist of BEL and PUC who are going to be meeting regularly with our Mexican counterparts to see how best we can push forward these agreements.”
We also asked Minister Chebat to respond to allegation of voter fraud that his political rival in Cayo North, Dr Omar Figueroa had brought forth this week, he said that because the matter is now before the courts, he could not, but offered to give a comment after the court has dealt with the case
Forty-five thousand dockworkers at US ports on the East and Gulf coasts have returned to work, ending a three-day strike and alleviating concerns about import shortages on store shelves. The suspension of the strike also halts any further inflation on goods upon their arrival. The International Longshoremen’s Association, representing the dockworkers, has paused the strike until January fifteenth to allow time for negotiating a new contract. This afternoon, Jody Williams, Vice President of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told News Five that the suspension of the strike brings a sigh of relief for Belizean businesses.
Jody Williams
Jody Williams, Vice President, Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry
“We have so much holidays coming up, and definitely we as Belizeans, we want our products to be on the shelves. We don’t want to have anything that will affect – add more to inflation or that there’s shortages of products in the market. So this is a big sigh of relief for us. The timing was everything, you know, the length of the strike, and this was like, you could say two and a half days. Thankfully, I guess the U.S government and everyone around the world saw the need that they needed to go to the table and to get this resolved as soon as possible because the global implications was very, very high, especially at this timing of the season where we’re coming up to Christmas.”
This week, twenty-two-year-old Diego Santos was charged with manslaughter after allegedly causing the death of sixty-one-year-old Danatilo Cruz. Reports indicate that Santos and Cruz had an altercation, during which Santos pushed Cruz to the ground, resulting in a fatal head injury. Cruz was discovered in a comatose state the following morning and later succumbed to his injuries. This incident follows the arraignment of twenty-one-year-old Allen Coye, who was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of fifty-eight-year-old Belhelm Guzman, whose body was found bound and decomposed in Camalote Village. In another tragic event, on September twelfth, sixty-one-year-old Ubaldo Guzman was found brutally chopped to death in his home in Santa Elena after an altercation with his companion, Peter August, who was subsequently charged with manslaughter. This alarming trend of elderly citizens dying during altercations with younger individuals raises serious concerns about the safety of this vulnerable community. We spoke with Dorelyn Sabal, Program Officer at the National Council on Aging, to learn more about how to protect the elderly from situations that could lead to their abuse or untimely death.
Doralyn Sabal
Doralyn Sabal, Program Officer, National Council on Aging
“Usually elder abuse is done by somebody close to that older person, whether it’s their child, grandchild, or perhaps the caregiver. And so we typically try to encourage whether it’s family caregivers or paid caregivers to assess their situation acknowledge when you’re feeling burnt out and we encourage families to also be in tune so that when that person is feeling a bit of burnout they can encourage them to take a deep breath, relax a bit and so that they can get back fresh and revitalized to go back and help that older person. Because it can be challenging. Sometimes older persons sometimes have underlying conditions. They might suffer from dementia. So things of this sort. We have to ensure that they’re taking care of themselves in order to take care of somebody else.”
Britney Gordon
“And what’s the mandate on ensuring that these elderly people aren’t left alone in situations where maybe their Children don’t live with them? How do we navigate ensuring that they are adequately cared for in those situations?”
Doralyn Sabal
“There’s currently no mandate in place to say that you have to be there for that older persons. But what I can see is that the consulate currently hasn’t dropped our welfare and protection bill for older persons. And these are things that we are trying to tackle because we can see that there are some gaps in terms of services for older persons protection for older persons, and measures that can be put in place to ensure that they are well predicted. So there’s nothing. In place, but we’re working on trying to ensure that our older persons are aging with dignity and integrity.”
Every day, Belizeans come across stray animals wandering the streets, often hungry, injured, or pregnant, relying on human kindness for survival. Unfortunately, help is hard to come by for these creatures, who are frequently viewed as nuisances and public health risks. Humane societies across the country are striving to address the problem, but with limited resources, the situation is becoming increasingly dire. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more details.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Belize faces a significant issue with stray animals. Across the country, thousands of pets are abandoned or left to fend for themselves on the streets. As these strays scavenge for food, they often scatter trash, and tragically, many fall victim to traffic accidents daily. The responsibility of managing this growing problem falls on the shoulders of dedicated volunteer teams. Liam Woods, a volunteer at Belize City Animal Aid, shares insights into the crucial work his group undertakes to address this pressing issue.
Liam Woods
Liam Woods, Volunteer, Belize City Animal Aid
“We do a whole bunch of work. Scattered, would not be the word, but something similar. cause we all have our jobs and responsibilities, school and so forth. So we tend to go every Saturday to our foster home. We take care of all the animals that we have up for adoption, cause we have to maintain them. Bathe them, take care of their ticks and fleas, monthly preventatives, and heartworms. Food is a big issue actually. On our last bag of dog food today. So we’re looking for donations or else we’ll pull from our fund, which the funds are low.”
Just this week, dozens of animals were rescued and are in desperate need of a forever home. When animals become strays, the likelihood of them getting pregnant or impregnating another animal increases; further exacerbating the issue.
Liam Woods
“I’d say, it’s really bad. Because, and it’s not even people’s fault. The thing is, spaying and neutering is an expensive procedure. And to do that you require responsibility and care for your animal. And that’s why one of our main objectives right now is to restart the program with the spay and neuter clinics for a heavily discounted price. That’s just a bit problematic right now because we have issues finding and sourcing doctors. But yes, I’d say it’s quite bad, the abandoning and neglect.”
To prevent this, the BCAA requires that those looking to adopt animals from them to have a fenced yard.
Liam Woods
“We are really against tying animals because that’s a whole different issue in itself. Thank you. But just keep them enclosed, because once a dog goes and hits a female, they say that males can smell it from miles away, and they will pack her, and then the pregnancy will just continue and continue.”
Woods pointed out that the window between rescuing an animal and finding a foster home is shrinking, as funds and space become increasingly scarce. Presently, the Belize City Council does not directly handle the rescue of stray animals. However, in the unfortunate event that an animal is run over or dies by other means, the sanitation department steps in to ensure proper disposal of the body. Sanitation Manager, Simeon Alvarez, elaborates on this process.
Simeon Alvarez
Simeon Alvarez, Sanitation Manager, Belize City Council
“Our sanitation department’s role is just to ensure that we remove the carcass whenever we get a call or a request. That means we only remove the animals in they have died. In respect to the amount of stray dogs, it’s directly the responsibility from the Public Health Department and the Ministry of Health. They normally collaborate with the council and do dog eradications I think quarterly.”
Previously, animals were rounded up and euthanized by the council, but the program was put on hold after backlash from various humane societies.
Simeon Alvarez
“However the Humane Society, I think, had an issue with it. I believe they wrote the council one time and they wanted to see how we can improve and enhance the eradication of dogs. I think they prefer we rehabilitate the dogs them and try to find Owners or some persons who will want to adopt the stray animals rather than eradicate them the way we do.”
To some, euthanasia might appear to be the easiest solution, especially for those who feel threatened by stray animals or find them a nuisance on their property. However, since this issue largely stems from human actions, humane societies argue that these animals shouldn’t be punished for circumstances beyond their control. Despite their best efforts, the noble aim of saving every animal is a challenging goal for these groups to maintain.
Liam Woods
“That is very extremely difficult for all of our volunteers collectively to do. Because as you mentioned, we all have our own jobs, our responsibilities at school, issues at home, everything we have to take care of. And we’re living in a society where you have to work you need to do that out of your free time, and free time is very limited, an issue that we’d really like to resolve throughout these coming years is to gather more volunteers, people interested, outreach, as I said, to help us with this issue.”
As the problem persists, the teams dedicating their time, energy, and resources to save and dispose of these animals, hope that more people can come together to find a solution fair to both the animals and the people living in their shared habitats.
Simeon Alvarez
“Stray dogs compound the waste management stream in respect to that, even the mental patients, the people that dig up the garbage like I said, stray dogs. The increase of that definitely affected our city tremendously. And I believe we need to find a solution for it sooner or later with the human society.”
