A man who was caught stealing several items inside Simon Quan Store on Queen Street was ordered to pay thirty times the cost of the two items he stole after he pleaded guilty to the offense. Thirty-five-year-old Rashaan Kadeem Castillo, an unemployed of a Holy Emmanuel Street address in Belize City, was arraigned this morning in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court on Coney Drive on a charge of theft. Allegations are that on Wednesday, Castillo took a pack of chocolates valued less than five dollars and a pair of reading glasses, also worth less than five dollars. The magistrate imposed a fine of three hundred dollars, plus five dollars cost of court. The store owner reported that on Wednesday evening sometime after six, he was working at the cash register inside the establishment when he was alerted by one of his employees that there was someone shoplifting in the store. The store’s security guard searched the man and found the stolen items tucked under his shirt in his pants waist. Castillo has until April thirtieth to pay the fine, or he will spend three months in prison.
Category: Belize District
Man Fined for Public Drinking
A man was fined today for consuming alcoholic drinks in a public space. Twenty-five-year-old Francisco Torres pleaded guilty to public drinking after he was caught drinking a beer in public. The incident happened on January twenty-eighth on West Canal. In court, Torres wasted no time to plead guilty to the charge, and picked up a fine of thirty dollars plus five dollars cost of court. Torres has until March twelfth to pay the fine or he will spend a week at the Belize Central Prison.
No Case Submission Refused in Oscar Selgado Trial
Attorney Oscar Selgado was back in court today to hear Justice Nigel Pilgrim’s verdict on a no case submission by his attorney Adolph Lucas. Selgado and his attorney did not receive the news they hoped for, as Justice Pilgrim wasted no time in handing down his ruling. The no case submission was denied by the High Court. Following the verdict, Selgado took to the witness stand to testify. He was then cross examined by the Director of Public Prosecution. News Five Paul Lopez was present in court. He tells us how it all played out.
Attorney Oscar Selgado returned to the High Court this morning for a verdict on a no case submission by his attorney, Adolph Lucas. Selgado’s trial for abetment to commit murder has been ongoing since October 2023, before Justice Nigel Pilgrim. The matter, which is nearing conclusion, has seen both the defense and the crown close their arguments. In response to a no case submission filed at the end of the last hearing, this morning Justice Pilgrim ruled that the application to withdraw the charge against Selgado is refused by the court.
Justice Pilgrim considered the primary evidence established in this trial, those being seven recorded phone conversations purportedly between Giovanni Ramirez and Selgado. Ramirez is the individual Selgado allegedly contracted to kill Marlyn Barnes, a woman who filed a complaint against him before the General Legal Council. In his ruling, Justice Pilgrim also considered the testimonies of Commissioner of Police Chester Williams and former Inspector of Police Wilfredo Ferrufino. Both men testified that they are familiar with Selgado and that police received those phone recordings with Selgado from Ramirez. As we have reported, those recordings would later go missing.
Following the ruling, Selgado was given three options, remain silent, make a statement from the dock, or provide a testimony from the witness stand. Selgado opted to speak from the witness stand. The fifty-four-year-old attorney initially refuted claims by the Commissioner of Police that they made contact with each other twenty-three years ago when Selgado was a Belize Defense Force soldier. Selgado further argued that when Williams became the commanding officer at Eastern Division, he had no reason to contact him. As for the phone recordings that were placed on two disks by Ferrufino and handed over to the court before going missing, Selgado says he was never provided any copies of those disks during his disclosure hearing. Selgado maintained his innocence and his argument that he does not know Giovanni Ramirez, nor did he contract Martinez to murder Marlyn Barnes, as is alleged.
Reporter
“It is a win for you that the judge did not throw out the case
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
“We don’t speak in those terms”
Reporter
“Even a small win?”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
“We don’t use those word.”
Reporter
“But it is encouraging that the judge did not throw out the case today?”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
“We did not think that the judge was in danger of being thrown out to use your words?”
Reporter
“What follows now in the case?”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
“Addresses.”
Reporter
“How much longer will the case go on?”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
“We return on the thirteenth and we will complete our addresses on that day and then the judge will set a date for him to give his verdict on that matter.”
Reporter
“You said of all the untruths you said from the witness stand this was your biggest.”
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
Yes, you quoted me correctly, what is your question
Reporter
No I was just trying to get clarity on exactly what you said.
Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, DPP
“Yes.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
ComPol Williams Press Charges against Brother For Alleged Cyber Bullying
Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, has pressed charges against his brother, Arthur Williams, for alleged cyber bullying. This morning, Arthur Williams was escorted to the Belize City Magistrates Court in handcuffs. He appeared unbothered as he raised his shackled arms for the camera. Williams was unrepresented in court where he was read three charges, two counts of using a computer system to disseminate false information with the intent to cause another person to be subjected to public ridicule or embarrassment, and one count of using a computer system to intimidate a person under the Cybercrime Act. Williams pleaded not guilty to all three charges. The charges stem from several slanderous posts on Facebook that were created on January seventh. It is alleged that Arthur Williams is the individual behind those posts about his own brother, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams. He was offered bail in the sum of ten thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same amount. He met bail and was released from police custody. The matter was adjourned to March twenty-seventh. Williams says he intends to get an attorney to represent him in court at the next hearing.
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.”
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.”
Belize’s First Health and Nutrition Expo
Healthy habits, healthy schools, healthy Belize”, that is the theme of the first Health and Nutrition expo held today the Belize Civic Center. The expo was held in order to encourage healthier habits and bring awareness to health concerns threatening the young population. Several primary and secondary schools attended the event earlier today, where they got to sample an array of nutritional foods, as well as learn about how to make small changes in their daily lives. News Five’s Britney Gordon stopped by to learn all about it. Here’s the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Today, dozens of students got the opportunity to learn about fostering healthy habits at the first ever Health and Nutrition Expo at the Belize Civic Center. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in partnership with several NGOs and government agencies, including the Ministry of Education. At the event, students visited booths where representatives educated them on topics such as mental health, nutritional dietary options, skin care, and non-communicable diseases.
Robyn Daly-Faber, Technical Advisor for Nutrition, Ministry of Health and Wellness
“So we wanted to be able to share with those that are in the program and others as well, the impact, the importance of health and nutrition. We’re giving out posters, informational, flyers, contents. We’re also being able to teach some of the students some pointers about health and nutrition today. We have twenty-two booths. We also invited some of the beverage companies that are selling juices that are natural for them to also promote their healthy products. So that gives us about twenty-two and we expect about five hundred students varying from preschool, primary and secondary school to join us today.”
Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard spoke on the importance of such an event.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“Today as you know the Ministry of Health and Wellness have launched the National Nutrition Policy last year. And as part of the commitment and to ensure that we move on with the policy, we have been able to team up with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, in showing our commitment as a government and as ministries, that we are committed to ensuring that we can Push into Belize, especially in our schools at a very young age, the issue of being healthy habits so we can create healthy schools and the end result that we have a healthier Belize. As we have been saying for a long time, we have to address the issues of non communicable diseases that are affecting our society. In my message, I spoke about it briefly, diabetes, cancer and all these things that are prevailing in our country, we need to reduce that and the only way we can do if our people start to eat up healthy, start to build those healthy habits, and it has to start not only from the schools, but from home, as Minister Fonseca rightly mentioned. It starts at home, but we must ensure that it is incorporated in the school system and that’s one of the reasons why the Ministry of Education has also adapted the healthy eating habits within the school system. For us, it’s important that we bring together stakeholders from both the non-governmental organization, the government partners, international partners, and the private sector to come together to ensure that we continue to promote this initiative.”
According to Education Minster Francis Fonseca, this event is part of a larger initiative to educate students about personal health and encourage change within the community. The ministry has been working on several other projects that are set to be implemented soon.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“I think we all know, in our own individual lives, we know how important health is, how important nutrition is to leading a healthy life. So I think for us at the Ministry of Education, what’s important is that. We have, in a sense, a captive audience. We have, as I said in my remarks. We have one hundred thousand students in our education system from preschool to university. And so we believe that represents a unique opportunity to really instill in our students these healthy habits which will ultimately lead to them leading healthy lives and Belize becoming a healthier country. So it’s, absolutely important at the Ministry of Education. We have focused on this in our new curriculum that we launched, the competency based curriculum health and nutrition and sports play an important part of that in that curriculum. We’ve also worked with the Ministry of Health to develop the National Nutrition Policy. And of course we’ve launched the National Healthy Start Feeding Program across the country, which is all about making sure that we’re providing nutritious meals to our students in their classrooms across the country. We have to start gradually, but I’m happy to report that we’re already in thirty-five primary schools. We’re already in nine high schools. Later this year, we’ll expand to twelve other high schools and I think six other primary schools. So it’s an exciting initiative. And the whole objective is about ensuring that we’re producing healthier citizens for Belize.”
“It’s a challenging issue because you know how addicted our people are to these sugary drinks and our students and young people in particular. But it’s something we feel very strongly about, so we’ve worked along with the Ministry of Health to pass that legislation about the banning of sugary drinks in our schools. We have to take a phased approach, obviously, a responsible approach so it’s being done in phases but I’m very glad with the initial results as we roll out that program. Already we’re seeing that, there’s so many good alternatives, coconut water, natural water, of course. So it’s, again, it’s a challenge. It’s an issue of changing habits and ensuring that our students understand and appreciate that it’s much better for you to drink some water or drink some coconut water than to drink a soda or a soft drink.”
Reporter
“When it comes to what the schools are allowed to sell, is it going to be made mandatory now?”
“Yes, that’s the whole idea. That, as I said, the whole policy is about banning these sugary drinks in our schools, on our school compounds. But it has to be done in a phased approach. So it’s not saying, okay, effective today. No, it’s being done in a phased, rolled out approach. And so far it’s been very successful. And we hope, as I said my, our goal really is that over a period of say a year and a half or two years that eventually we can have a complete ban of these sugary drinks on our school campuses.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
One Road, Two Projects
The rains a couple months ago seriously damaged a number of streets in Belize City. Cemetery Road, which has not seen repair work for several years, was among them. But now that road is receiving urgently-needed resurfacing at two different locations, and what is interesting is that there are two different entities conducting the work. Today, the Belize City Council issued a press release informing that the work that has begun on the portion near the Constitution Park is a project that it is overseeing. That rehabilitation was made possible through funding of a hundred thousand dollars from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing. Meanwhile, the MIDH is conducting rehabilitative work on another portion of Cemetery Road – that four-hundred-foot stretch from the roundabout to the junction with Elston Kerr Street. Chief Engineer in the Ministry explained to News Five today the two projects taking place on Cemetery Road.
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development
“The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing is currently doing some works on the George Price Highway from its intersection with the Central American Boulevard near the monument towards Partridge Street. These are some minor works that we had planned for just over a month or month and a half ago that we wanted to execute, but we could not execute that because of the range that we had. And also we wanted to utilize the contractor that we had doing some paving works at the Haulover Bridge, but now that we’re finished with those paving works, we were able to get the contractor to mobilize to that section of the highway yesterday, and I issued a public notice to the media so that they could have shared with the public of these works that we will be executing over the next five days. Basically, the idea is that we had some minor road failures in that little section, whereby the pavement was under some stress because of vehicular traffic that utilizes that section, especially the buses. We have a bigger project, which is called the George Price Highway Upgrading Project, which is the upgrading of the entire George Price Highway from Central American Boulevard to Belmopan. So, that section that we’re currently working on is within section 3 of the full scope of works. And so, we’re trying to limit the extent of works or the extent of funds that we have to spend within that year until we could get the full project up and running later this year. We do not go into the city unless we are asked to do so by those municipalities. However, as MIDH, we’re willing to assist and so they have been discussions between our CEO and also the minister for us to assist the City Council financially to do some works on Cemetery Road, and that will be implemented by the council itself and not by MIDH.”
MIDH Official: Haulover Bridge Was Never Planned Four Lanes
On Tuesday, we reported that there was a minor traffic accident on the newly-opened Haulover Bridge at Mile five on the Philip Goldson Highway. When the finishing touches on the bridge are complete, it will have proper lighting and line marking down the centre of the bridge to guide motorists to stay in their respective lanes. The Haulover Bridge has become the topic of much discussion lately. While some have marvelled at the design and aesthetics of the bridge, others have complained that it is not a four-lane structure to accommodate more traffic. Today, the Chief Engineer, Evondale Moody set the record straight that the bridge was never designed to be a four-lane structure.
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development
“The Haulover Bridge was never, ever four lanes, never. The original structure that we got designed by an Italian firm called Polytechnica was exactly the same width that we have right now in terms of typical cross-section. The only difference is that this structure is a reinforced concrete girder bridge, and the original one that was designed was an arch bridge, which basically was a single span. So it spanned from one bank to the next, but that was a steel structure. And based on the retendering procedures that we went through, we were not able to construct that bridge because of the significant cost. We were estimating, based on the bids that came in, that whole structure was supposed to cost us $60 million Belize. We could not afford that, and so we had to go back to the drawing board and that was when we decided to design the new structure that we have built right now locally, and so that was what we were able to build for $30.9 million, which is still a substantial amount, but it works for us based on our economy and what we could afford. Just to ela borate on the four lanes, we would have never been able to do that because the approaches coming into the new Haulover Bridge from Belize City, and also the part where you depart going north, we did not have the space to put four lanes. So it made no sense for you to build a four-lane bridge when you still have to taper back into two lanes. And if you know the value of lands around that area, especially where we have built the bridge, we had to acquire a number of properties equating to over $6 million that we spent in land acquisition. So if we were supposed to build a four-lane bridge, imagine how much we would have had to pay to convert that section from the north end of the new Haulover Bridge going towards the airport. Those are all expensive land on the seaside and on the riverbank. So it was never, ever the ministry’s intention to build a four-lane bridge at that location, never.”
New CT Scan Machines Are In The Country
The new CT Scan machines are officially in the country. Belizeans have been anticipating the arrival of the new equipment ever since it was announced that they would arrive in late January. While January may have passed without the arrival, the wait is finally over. Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard brought us up to speed on its status today.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“The CT scan is in country. I know that the Fuji team, because it’s a Fuji brand. And as I had mentioned, it comes with warranty, it comes with maintenance, over a five year maintenance plan, supported by the Fuji company and they were in country last week, and I think they are still in country this week. And the installation process will commence. We are hoping that by the end of this month, we should have the installation completed, and it should be in operation in early March.”