A fire in San Ignacio Town broke out at around 12:30 a.m. today. Juan Tzib and his family were asleep in their residence on Rodriguez Street when the fire broke out. Tzib was awakened by his daughter, who alerted him to the fire.
It is suspected that the fire began in a “back room” in the yard. The fire spread quickly, and the family was not able to save anything.
No one was injured. Firefighters are investigating the cause.
If you would like to help the family, you can contact 621-4179.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Saturday that one of its aid containers, containing crucial supplies for maternal, neonatal, and child survival, was looted at Haiti’s main port, amidst increasing control of the capital by gangs.
Approximately 260 humanitarian-owned containers are under the control of armed groups. Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, condemned the looting. He emphasised its detrimental impact on children in urgent need of assistance. The looted container contained essential items such as resuscitators and related equipment. Maes called for an immediate end to looting and emphasised the necessity of ensuring safe humanitarian access amid the escalating crisis. Armed groups breached the main port a week earlier, disrupting the flow of essential food and supplies to the capital.
Haiti is experiencing a critical shortage of basic healthcare and nutrition access for women in the Port-au-Prince area. Nationwide shortages of electricity, fuel, and medical supplies have crippled hospitals, with six out of ten facilities unable to operate effectively.
Haiti continues to grapple with a protracted political and humanitarian crisis, resulting in severe hunger and life-threatening malnutrition in parts of Port-au-Prince.
In response to the crisis, unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced plans to step down once a transitional council is established. However, the capital remains heavily influenced by armed gangs, leading to widespread violence, including killings, kidnappings, and sexual assaults.
Police have charged one of their own for the crime of aggravated assault with a firearm. Thirty-six-year-old police officer Felix Hernandez was charged with shooting Richard Valerio on Thursday, March 14th.
The incident happened at the Punta Gorda sports auditorium. Fernandez told police that he and his common-law wife were attending a basketball game when they were harassed by Richard Valerio, the ex-partner of Fernandez’s wife, who made threatening remarks. Fernandez attempted to avoid confrontation by relocating, but Valerio persisted with profanity.
When Fernandez decided to leave and requested an escort to his vehicle, he discovered Valerio damaging his car with rocks, prompting Fernandez to intervene. After Valerio threw a rock at Fernandez, missing him, Fernandez fired a single shot from his licenced 9mm pistol in Valerio’s direction. Valerio sustained injuries to his lower back and was taken to the Punta Gorda Hospital for treatment.
The firearm was retrieved for ballistic testing.
Police continue to search for Jamie Young, the man investigators say fatally shot thirty-year-old Damion Baptist. According to the official police report, officers were called out to an area near mile nine on the Philip Goldson Highway. At the scene, police found a red Ford Fusion crashed into a lamp post. They also observed bullet holes on the front passenger side.
Baptist was driving the car while twenty-nine-year-old Laneedrah Dawson, Young’s ex-girlfriend, was in the passenger seat. They were travelling from Ladyville Village towards Belize City when Young began following them in his grey Wingle. Between miles eight and nine on the highway, Young overtook them, halted his vehicle, and discharged multiple shots, injuring Baptist. An ambulance passing by rushed Baptist to the KHMH, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Young remains a wanted man.
Police in Belize City are investigating the shooting murder of twenty-six-year-old Liston Williams. Williams was shot several times on Saturday night in Belize City. Police say that at around 9:50 p.m., Williams was riding his motorcycle on Woodpecker Street when he was approached by the gunman, who fired several shots in his direction. Police are investigating.
Exclusive footage captured by News Five shows the moment when a member of the Belize Police Department had to fire two warning shots to break up a fight. The brawl broke out on Sunday morning at the MCC Grounds in Belize City, following a match between Kelly Street FC and Fort George FC.
Despite the two warning shots, the brawl continued. Officers on the ground later took control of the situation.
Teams and supporters gathered at the MCC Grounds for the William Dawson Peace Cup 2023-2024.
Ground was officially broken for the commencement of the Stake Bank Tourism Development Project back in 2018, and work got underway for the mega cruise facility shortly thereafter. But tonight, after investing north of one hundred million dollars, Port Coral, a Michael Feinstein initiative, has gone into receivership. Earlier today, News Five confirmed that a receiver had been appointed for the project during a meeting on Thursday. That individual is Marlowe Neal. The receivership is expected to last for a period of between six to nine months with a view to complete the construction of piers that would allow for cruise ships to berth at Stake Bank. But there is also multi-million dollar claim that had been brought against the Briceno administration prior to Stake Bank going into receivership. Earlier today, we caught up with Prime Minister John Briceño, who spoke briefly on the matter, as well as the status of a piece of legislation that was to have been introduced in place of the definitive agreement.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“When it comes to the issue of the receivership, that‘s a matter for the bank and I‘m sure that they may have their reasons why it is that they believe that they have to put the Stake Bank project in receivership. But, as we know, the main players behind the Stake Bank Project decided to sue the government and from what I am told there is really no case. So I can‘t understand why it is that they would want to sue the government.”
Reporter
“What do you believe this means for the cruise sector? Will Belize ever see a berthing port?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I do believe that we will. As we said, there are three areas: there is Stake Bank, there is Portico and also now there is the Port of Belize. And so, all of that is still remaining in play and we will see which is the one to be developed into a cruise port that can meet not only the needs for today, but also for ten, twenty years from today.”
Reporter
“This is the largest receivership, I believe, in Belize’s banking history. Do you think it will affect the banking sector, though?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“No, it will not. The Central Bank has been very clear and also, so has Atlantic Bank. They have been very clear from day one that they are going to ensure that they protect every single cent of the depositors. So, no, I do not expect it to be a problem.”
Isani Cayetano
“PM, where are we with the legislation that’s forthcoming with respect of cruise tourism development in this country?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well, nowhere. Until we know where we’re going, it does not make sense to pass this piece of legislation. We’re pretty much ready, but depending on which direction we will go then we may need to make some adjustments to that piece of legislation. So that is why we are holding on to it and we will deal with it when the time is appropriate.”
Reporter
“Notwithstanding that you say the claimants don’t have a case, has the government engaged with them? Have you met with them?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“No, I have not met with them, but Mr. Feinstein did call me on Wednesday wanting to have a meeting, so I hope to meet with them next week.”
Prime Minister John Briceño is scheduled to meet with the Christian Workers Union on Monday to discuss the tumultuous state of affairs between the Port of Belize and the stevedores. As we reported earlier this week, employees of P.B.L. effected a work-to-rule after repeatedly demanding that government compensate them for sugar redundancies after the shipment of bulk sugar was relocated to Big Creek a few years ago. But G.O.B. remains resolute in its position and today PM Briceño echoed the sentiment that no one lost their job as a result of the transfer. Here’s what he had to say ahead of Monday’s meeting.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I’ve had several with the stevedores and every time we meet, we come with an agreement but it seems that when they leave the meeting they come up with other issues. I said to them from the beginning, let‘s not talk about sugar or the sugar money. I said, you have your position and we have our position that there is no claim for no kind of redundancy. Nobody got fired, so there is no sugar money. But as a government, we are prepared to be able to address many of the pending issues between the stevedores and the Port of Belize so that we can modernize the port. The way the port has been running for the past ten, fifteen, twenty years, it‘s not in the interest of the port or in the interest of the country and I have been explaining to the stevedores, now we have competition, there is more than one port. So when you decide that you don‘t want to discharge a ship, the ship would either go back to their home country, quite likely the United States, or they go down south to discharge their container. That‘s what happened with sugar. So when they behave the way they do, they decide not to offload, they are shooting themselves in the foot. We need to be able to find common ground where we both, stevedores, Port of Belize and the Government of Belize, that we want to find how we could move this forward, how we could modernize and that is the intent, to protect their interest. I understand and we want to do that, that is why the government made an offer of one point five million dollars to say, listen, let‘s stop fighting about everything. Let‘s come up with the new working practices. You can‘t work more than fifteen hours and when you‘re finished working fifteen hours a new gang finishes if the ship is not finished offloading. Let‘s look at the number of gangs, the port wanted to bring it down to twelve, there‘s fourteen and the stevedores said they would not accept it. I said, okay, in the CBA that you have already signed you‘re talking about thirteen, okay, let‘s stay with thirteen. So we‘ve agreed to that. So, most of the things we‘ve agreed, they‘re just small little things.”
In the north, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association has also issued a release in respect of the proposed commission of inquiry into the operations at the Belize Sugar Industries Limited. While government has been advised not to proceed with the probe, the B.S.C.F.A. has expressed its strong opposition to that recommendation and has gone on to criticize the Briceño administration. The Prime Minister told reporters earlier today that he would waste his time responding to the B.S.C.F.A.’s criticism.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I will not waste my time in answering the BSCFA. I think and I will do what I believe is in the interest of the industry and in the interest of Belize. We have three other associations that are working with the sugar mill. They‘re not the only ones so let‘s start off with that. I have said to them that there has to be proper consultations. There were not proper consultations. The way the commission of inquiry, the terms of reference, the way it was set out, it was a terms of reference for the BSCFA. So I am meeting with the minister on Monday and on Monday we are going to finalize the terms and then we‘re going to proceed. But if we were to proceed the way they want us to proceed, we‘ll be wasting our time because we are going to be taken to court and the court is going tp rule against us. We are not going to appeal just because they asked us to appeal. We are going to appeal if there is a case and it seems as though there is not a case to appeal.”
FAO’s launches innovative approach to prioritizing water management investments in Belize
The FAO Investment Centre today launched a study highlighting FAO’s new methodology to identify and prioritize investments in irrigation and drainage in Belize. The study outlines a practical framework for policymakers and private sector investors to address climate-related risks and bolster agriculture resilience through investments in water management.
Mohamed Manssouri, Director of the FAO Investment Centre, said; “It is vital that we boost strategic irrigation and drainage investments, with the goal to elevate agricultural productivity and support Belize’s smallholders to deal with climate challenges.”
‘Priority areas for irrigation investments in Belize’ shows how data-driven investments in water management – alongside improved data availability and strategic resource allocation – can reduce climate risks to Belize’s agriculture sector.
Urgent need to support farmers facing climate threats
In 2019 a severe drought devastated agricultural production and hampered economic growth, with Belizean farmers collectively losing as much as USD 38.5 million. The sugar industry was severely impacted, necessitating government intervention to provide financial aid for affected producers.
Climate-induced shocks have not only jeopardized food security and damaged infrastructure, but also triggered widespread economic repercussions – including increased transportation and food prices.
Identifying investment priorities
To support these goals, FAO’s innovative approach aims to guide policymakers and private sector investors in identifying investment priorities within water management infrastructure.
Roble Sabrie, Economist, FAO Investment Centre and lead author of the study, said; “We sought to develop an evidence-based decision-making system that is practical and tailored to improving national and local planning, and supporting efficient resource allocation. To prioritize projects effectively, we considered technical, financial, economic, social, and environmental aspects – ensuring the approach is both comprehensive and practical.”
FAO employed a dynamic mix of on-the-ground data and advanced tools like EarthMap and Google Engine to map out Belize’s irrigation and drainage needs. This proposed approach combines diverse data sources, including temperature, precipitation, water deficit, and land use. It considers climate trends, assesses impacts, and estimates required investments for sustainable water access, focusing on priority watersheds.
Luis Loyola, Senior Irrigation and Drainage Specialist, World Bank – who was part of the FAO project team – said; “The methodology supports informed decisions and helps to identify priority areas for strategic irrigation and drainage investments – while factoring in climate change. We are aiming to enhance decision-making for more effective and responsive water infrastructure development.”
The initiative draws on learnings from FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) conducted in 2019-2021, and builds on the World Bank Infrastructure Prioritization Framework (IPF) to prioritize investments using climate, natural resources, and socioeconomic data.
It complements ongoing programs by the World Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) focused on enhancing climate change resilience in agriculture.
Next steps for forging water-tight investments
Strengthening collaboration with authorities and institutions for data-gathering and sharing is a crucial step toward enriching future analyses and enhancing the accuracy of assessments.
Yet, these innovative initiatives driving data-driven decision-making and investments from FAO and other partners mark significant strides towards building a more sustainable and resilient water sector in Belize.
