The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing was also called upon to assist in the firefighting efforts but Chief Engineer at the Ministry, Evondale Moody said they were not able last week because of the location where their heavy-duty equipment was at the time made it impossible for them to reach the villages. But Moody said that they are able to dispatch the equipment if necessary, this week to assist.
Evondale Moody
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH
“Last week we were in touch with NEMO as well and they had requested the assistance of MIDH to provide water trucks and also heavy equipment such as backhoes and excavators to assist them in dealing with the wildfires down south. However, because we were working in the Bella Vista area we were not able to provide that support. However, this week we expect to provide that support to them as best as we can.”
The equipment might very well be needed because late this evening, Chairman of San Pedro Columbia Village, Basilicas Choco told News Five that the fires that were suppressed and weren’t any longer a threat were again raging in the village. We’ll follow up on this story on Tuesday.
On Friday, we led our newscast with an upsetting story involving a foiled kidnapping attempt. An individual, whose criminal history includes a guilty plea for an unnatural crime, was apprehended by Belize City police after he snatched a five-year-old girl from a trampoline in her yard. The harrowing incident happened on Thursday, while twenty-five-year-old Shandy Pech was about to take a bath. Her daughter was outside in the yard playing when a male suspect, identified as Kareem Hamilton, appeared on the scene and attempted to abduct the minor. It wasn’t until another child who witnessed the ordeal reported to Pech what had taken place that she sprung into action and was able to catch up with the would-be kidnapper. When she did so, Hamilton reportedly refused to let go of the child, telling Pech that the little girl was his niece. That’s when the mother began screaming for assistance. Several neighbors responded and were able to take away the minor, while subduing Hamilton. Earlier today, Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero told reporters that thirty-three-year-old Kareem Hamilton had been arrested and charged for the crime of kidnapping.
“On Thursday, May sixteenth, 2024, Shandy Pech reported that she was at home when she was alerted that a male person had taken her daughter. She immediately responded and followed a male person who took her daughter. An investigation was carried out and persons assisted her in the area and a person was detained. After the investigation, one Kareem Hamilton was detained, thirty-three years [old] has been arrested and charged for the crime of kidnapping.”
Paul Lopez
“Sir, is this individual known by police for this type of behavior?”
Hilberto Romero
He’s known to police, yes.
Reporter
“Has he tried to kidnap a child before?”
Hilberto Romero
“No, he had an incident with a child before.”
Kareem Hamilton appeared unrepresented before the lower court this afternoon where he was charged with on count of kidnapping and has since been remanded to the Belize Central Prison until July twenty-third.
Public outrage is increasing by the minute as more social media users view a video of a man abusing a male child. The disturbing video was posted on Facebook.
The police say that an investigation has been launched.
The heartbreaking video shows the man throwing the boy to the ground. He slaps and kicks the vulnerable boy repeatedly. The boy cries as the man continues to attack him.
Public Outrage as Man Caught Abusing Child
During one of the instances, a woman intervenes. News Five has not confirmed where the incidents took place.
At today’s police press briefing, A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division, told reporters “an investigation is being carried out in regards to that video that was on Facebook.”
On Facebook, users are expressing their disgust at the man. One wrote, “This makes my stomach turn, I am so angry. That man is a perfect example of what ails this nation. Disgusting. Fire him. Jail him. Somebody deal with ah.”
Another said, I hope he is found and rots in prison…”
Public Outrage as Man Caught Abusing Child
Earlier today, UNICEF issued a release calling for urgent action to end violence against children. UNICEF said it is “gravely concerned by the spike and gravity of incidents of violence that have been impacting children in Belize over the last couple of months.”
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded the Article IV consultation with Belize, endorsing the staff appraisal without a formal meeting.
Economic Performance in 2023:
Belize experienced moderated economic growth and inflation in 2023. Real GDP growth slowed from 8.7% in 2022 to 4.7% in 2023, driven by sectors such as tourism, construction, retail, wholesale trade, transport, and business process outsourcing. Inflation decreased from 6.3% in 2022 to 4.4% in 2023, largely due to lower transport and utility prices, despite rising food costs. The fiscal position remained robust, but debt dynamics became more challenging. The overall fiscal deficit widened, influenced by a reduced primary surplus and increased interest payments on external debt. Public debt slightly declined from 67% of GDP in 2022 to 66% in 2023 following the acquisition of the Port of Belize and the settlement of foreign investor litigations.
Future Economic Outlook:
Real GDP growth and inflation are expected to further moderate. Growth is projected at 3.4% in 2024 and 2.5% from 2025 onwards, with inflation anticipated to drop to 1.3% in the medium term, aligning with declining commodity prices and global inflation. The primary balance is expected to remain at 1.2% of GDP from FY2024, with public debt projected to decline slowly but remain above 50% of GDP through 2034 due to slower nominal GDP growth and high global interest rates. Key risks include higher global food and fuel prices, prolonged high global interest rates, and climate-related disasters.
Executive Board Assessment:
Belize’s key policy priorities involve reducing public debt to 50% of GDP by FY2030 by raising the primary fiscal balance to 2.0% of GDP from FY2025 onwards. This entails increasing priority spending on infrastructure, targeted social programs, and crime prevention, financed through additional revenues and expenditure reprioritization. Structural reforms aimed at boosting inclusive and resilient growth and vigilant financial stability measures are also crucial.
Achieving a 50% public debt-to-GDP ratio by 2030 would ensure debt sustainability and fiscal buffers. This target, aligned with investment-grade emerging market economies, would likely maintain debt below the 70% GDP target in the 2021 Medium-term Recovery Plan. Attaining this goal requires fiscal consolidation to raise the primary balance to 2% of GDP from FY2025, supported by a medium-term fiscal strategy and a potential Fiscal Responsibility Law with robust fiscal rules.
Revenue and expenditure measures can enhance the primary surplus and fund essential spending. Broadening the GST base, increasing excise taxes, rebalancing manufacturing taxes, and improving revenue administration can boost revenue by 2.2% of GDP. Reforming the PPPO could reduce government spending by 0.1% of GDP. Savings would support a higher primary surplus (0.8% of GDP) and expand priority spending (1.5% of GDP), fostering medium-term growth and resilience. Priority spending includes infrastructure improvements, renewable energy investments, childcare and training subsidies for vulnerable women, targeted transfers for food security, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Improving the business climate and developing a disaster resilience strategy (DRS) are essential for medium-term growth. Enhancing access to affordable credit for SMEs, digitalizing land and business registries, and improving government services are key priorities. A comprehensive DRS would support funding for climate mitigation and adaptation, reducing output volatility.
Increasing international reserves would strengthen the currency peg. Belize’s external position is strong, yet international reserves remain below the ARA metric. Fiscal consolidation and structural reforms to increase reserves would fortify the currency peg, especially with rising external financing needs projected when blue loan repayments begin in 2032.
Limiting central bank financing of the government, preserving financial stability, and strengthening the AML/CFT framework are critical. Reducing central bank financing gradually would decrease excess liquidity and support local capital market development. The central bank should monitor financial stability risks, enhance supervision of vulnerable institutions, and enforce the AML/CFT framework, particularly in the IFS.
The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) says it is actively responding to wildfires affecting San Pedro Columbia and nearby communities in the Toledo District. The Toledo District Emergency Operations Centre was activated last Thursday.
According to NEMO, an emergency meeting included representatives from the Fire Department, Forest Department, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing, Ministry of Transport, Belize Defence Force, Ya’axché Conservation Trust, and Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE).
Initial assessments were conducted, and an action plan was created to provide immediate humanitarian support to affected families. NEMO says it maintained communication with the leaders of San Pedro Columbia, Crique Jute, Mafredi, and San Antonio.
An aerial reconnaissance confirmed the extent of the fire, assessed initial damage, and assisted in containment planning.
According to NEMO, there is no immediate fire threat to Crique Jute, Mafredi, or San Antonio.
Iran’s president and foreign minister have died in a helicopter crash during a period of heightened tensions in the Middle East. President Ebrahim Raisi and the foreign minister were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter went down in dense fog, leaving Iran without two of its top leaders amidst extraordinary regional turmoil.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei swiftly appointed a little-known vice president as caretaker to ensure that the government remained stable.
Iran has not provided a cause for the crash nor indicated sabotage, stating only that the helicopter fell in mountainous terrain during sudden, intense fog.
This incident occurs amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, which has further destabilised the region.
President Raisi, a hard-liner and former judiciary head, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei. His tenure saw worsening relations with the West, uranium enrichment nearing weapons-grade levels, and the supply of drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. His administration has also faced mass protests over economic issues and women’s rights, adding to the current sensitivities.
Opposition Leader, Moses “Shyne” Barrow says he vehemently denounces the “repugnant behavior of Sean Diddy Combs captured on the video in which he is seen physically assaulting Mrs Cassie Ventura-Fine.”
CNN aired security video that showed him beating singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Diddy took to social media on Sunday to apologize. “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. Sometimes you gotta do that,” Combs begins in a brief recording shared on Instagram. “I was ****ed up … I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavioron that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
In his statement, Shyne said “There is no place for Violence against Women anywhere on the planet.
In his statement, Shyne said “There is no place for Violence against Women anywhere on the planet. As a father of a precious daughter, a global citizen and the next Prime Minister of Belize I want absolutely nothing to do with people who engage in this pattern of diabolical behaviour.”
CNN’s report is the latest public relations crisis for the former hitmaker, who also finds himself at the centre of a federal investigation after agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in late March.
According to CNN, the investigation was handled by the Department of Homeland Security’s team that handles human trafficking crimes.
His name is Kareem Emory Hamilton and he has been charged with kidnapping. This is after a Belize City woman, Shandy Pech, reported to police that her five-year-old daughter was taken by a man. It happened on Thursday.
Wrapping herself in a towel, Pech ran up the street in the direction of the man. With the help of neighbours, they detained the man until the police arrived. Though Pech didn’t know the man, he identified himself to officers, revealing a past conviction for an unnatural crime against a child with special needs.
A woman is happy that she was able to act swiftly to save her child from what would have likely been a traumatic experience on Thursday. Shandy Pech told News Five today that she was just about to take a shower when another child alerted her that a man had just taken her five-year-old daughter from off a trampoline in their yard. Pech said that she quickly wrapped a towel around herself and bolted up the street in the direction that the little boy pointed where the man went with her daughter. With the help of some neighbours, she said they detained the man, who police took away. While Pech said that she did not know the man, after he identified himself to the officers, she realized that he has been convicted in the past of an unnatural crime upon a child with special needs. Pech decided to make a Facebook post using the man’s name and picture to alert other parents and guardians to be wary of strangers who are passing through their neighbourhood.
Shandy Pech
Shandy Pech, Mother of Kidnapped Child
“I was about to take a bath when another child that she was playing with in the yard came and he told me, he said that someone is taking your child. So I was like, what? And I jumped up in my lone towel and I came out and then I saw him already down the street going with my child. And that’s when I ran him down and three other neighbors assisted me to get her back.”
Marion Ali
“So he was carrying her in his hands or just walking with her?”
Shandy Pech
“In his hands.”
Marion Ali
“And she was screaming?”
Shandy Pech
“No, she wasn’t screaming and when I talked to her, she said she didn’t scream because she was afraid he would hurt her.”
Marion Ali
“This person, is it the first time you’ve seen him? Do you know him?”
Shandy Pech
“This is the first time, honestly, I’ve seen him. I’ve never seen him before.”
Marion Ali
“So what went through you when you saw that?”
Shandy Pech
“When I saw that, all I did was go into mommy mode and I ran him down. I didn’t even care if my towel dropped. I didn’t care about anything. I was just trying to get her.”
Marion Ali
“Did you have any kind of an exchange with him? What did he say?”
Shandy Pech
“Yes, I had an exchange. When I saw him, I grabbed my daughter from him and I asked him, who are you? He said, oh, this is my niece. I’m her uncle. I’m like, but if this is your niece here, her uncle, I’m her mother. So how come I don’t know you? And that’s when he put the child down and then other neighbors came and assisted me. I’ve looked him up and I’ve seen that he’s a repeated offender. He has done it before. I’ve got messages from several people stating that he did it to someone they know. I want court action because this isn’t the first time that he actually did something like this and I just want parents to be more vigilant and look for their children more.”
An educator in the south has been arrested and charged for the rape of a student who attends the same primary school where he teaches. The incident happened in Aguacate Village, Toledo District on two occasions in the same week. The teacher has been arraigned on two counts of rape upon the thirteen-year-old student, who, accompanied by her grandmother, went to make a police report against the teacher on Monday. She told investigators that the teacher had sexual intercourse with her last Tuesday and Friday and that the incidents happened inside the school’s bathroom. Following the child’s report, police issued her a medico legal form and on Tuesday, the fifty-year-old teacher surrendered himself to police. He was cautioned and charged with two counts of rape. He appeared on Thursday before the Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court, was denied bail and was remanded to the Belize Central Prison. His case will be called up on June twenty-seventh. Minister of Human Development, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia said that the law regarding sexual offenses are about thirty years old and will be updated.
Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development
“Just yesterday we heard about the rapes of several young girls, teenagers 13, 14, 15, and so that shows us that we have so much work to do in achieving gender equality, because if our young girls who do not even have the age of consent to sexual activity are being sexually assaulted and raped, then that – there is so much work to do. I just want to flag that and to say that our Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People’s Affairs, we will continue to work hard in terms of promoting that gender equality that we need.”
Reporter
“It’s very disturbing; one of them happened in a school. What are your comments on that?”
Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
“Now that one – you would almost want to lock up the offender and throw away the key. Mind you, everybody is entitled to a fair trial, but really that means that there’s so much work to continue doing because a 50-year-old teacher – and what makes it so much more heinous is that a teacher is in a position of trust. A teacher is in a position of trust and responsibility and to know that a teacher is accused of raping a student that is really beyond the pain.”
