Category: Cayo District

A Belmopan resident is left in a state of despair after a fire broke out in her home around four-thirty a.m., today. She is single mother of four, Alisha Latchman who awoke to the smell of smoke surrounding her house. Fortunately, Latchman and her four children were unharmed, but have suffered great financial loss. We visited the scene of the fire today, to hear how this unfortunate event occurred.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

This morning, around four thirty a.m. it was up to Alisha Latchman, to gather her four children and get them to safety, as a fire blazed inside her home. Luckily, the single mother was able to get her eight-month-old twins, five-year-old daughter, and her fourteen-year-old son out of the house unharmed but was forced to watch as the flames consumed a portion of her rented home until the fire department arrived.

 

Alisha Latchman, Fire Victim

“This morning we dih sleep, I dih sleeping inna  living room with the two babies I noh sleep inna dih room. And then  my next two kids, they’re in their room  and  I smell smoke. So, at first I never really paid no mind.  But then I smell the smoke starting to get stronger, you know, so I get up and when I get up,  I realize that the inner of the house the smoke they come from and I look up and I see the thick smoke inner the ceiling. So I grab my two eight month baby from off the ground and I run to the next room with my next two bigger kids there, and there and I try to get them out.”

 

Latchman stated that, in the midst of the chaos, she was concerned for her children as it was difficult to get some of them out of the house.

 

Alisha Latchman

“For a minute, I think my daughter, something happened to her because she never wanted to get up.  She never mih dih move to get up, but we managed to get her up. And we come out by the time we go for exit back to the to the living room area I just see the current gone off and everywhere dark and a lot of smoke and everything. And I see, you know, the front room.  In my room just a lot of fire, a lot of smoke, everything, and I managed to get open the front door and me and my kids. I exit out through the front door with them and they come out through the gate and my son come and halla fih dih neighbors them to help.”

 

She estimates a loss of approximately twenty-three thousand dollars in damages, which includes, furniture, appliances, schools supplies, clothes and documents.

 

Marion Ali

“So you managed to save much of what you own?”

 

Alisha Latchman

“Well, I tried going back inside. Let me see what I could get. I never managed to get much. I only grabbed like  two bags. And I couldn’t do nothing else more because then the whole place full of fire and smoke, thick smoke.”

 

Marion Ali

“So, I see that it’s not burnt down, but it’s scorched  severely, is it still livable?”

 

Alisha Latchman

“Inside damage. Yeah. So, I mean I can’t go back in and go live now, and that’s where I was renting, that’s not my place.”

 

We sought further information at the National Fire Service where Fire Station Supervisor, Kenneth Mortis updated us further. According to Mortis, the fire was due to an electrical malfunction.

 

 

 

Kenneth Mortis, Fire Station Supervisor, National Fire Service

“We conduct investigation. We will learn that the fire was as a result of a electrical flaw and that stemmed from the electrical circuit part of it in the room.  Again, we were fortunate to contain this fire and suppress it before it managed to expel itself from the building, creating more damage to other nearby structures.”

 

Latchman is at a loss for what do next and is asking the public to extend assistance to her and her family.

 

Marion Ali

“You have a number where people can reach you?”

 

 

Alisha Latchman

“Yes, 675-4504.”

 

Marion Ali

“And that’s for Alisha?”

 

 

Alisha Latchman

“Yes, Alicia.”

 

Marion AlI

”So, now that you say it’s not habitable, where are you staying? Who will you be with?”

 

Alisha Latchman

“Well for right now, one of my auntie she have my kids them but from there, I don’t know.  I don’t know what happened. Where we’re going from there.”

With the municipal elections only days away, the current term of office comes to an end on Friday. But, most P.U.P. mayors are not packing up and cleaning their offices until Thursday when the city councils and town councils are dissolved. That is with the exception of one, Mayor Sharon Palacio. She was elected in March 2021 and made history as a woman in politics. But, since taking up office, the tides have never turned in her favor. Whether it was disharmony within her council, a rift between her and her area representative, questions concerning her motivations, or a public feud with the prime minister, Mayor Palacio has spent a lot of time in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. But, she believes that half the truth has not been told and she says that she will do just that in a tell-all book, soon to come. We caught up with Mayor Palacio in her Belmopan office today, ahead of her exit. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Mayor Sharon Palacio made history in March 2021, when she became the first woman mayor in Belmopan’s history. But on the last week of her three-year term, Palacio is not receiving high praises for this accomplishment. Today, we met her in her city council office packing up her belongings with not a single one of her councilors anywhere in sight. Despite being elected as a People’s United Party mayor, she remained at odds with the city’s area representative, Oscar Mira.

 

Sharon Palacio, Outgoing P.U.P. Mayor, Belmopan

“Personally as far as I am concerned the area rep and I we have some type of togetherness. So if you go way back you’ll see how the relationship started there is a history. But there comes a time if you say or do something I do not agree with then I will stand up. My standing up to the area rep has been for some time. So, if anybody want to interpret how they want that is there issue, but if they come to me and listen to the genesis of the truth of the disorder, the whole world will jump on my side.”

 

 

The People’s United Party did not endorse Palacio as its mayoral candidate for the March sixth elections. They also disqualified her from contesting the party’s municipal convention. She has accepted her fate, but says that is not the last Belmopan residents will hear from her.

 

Sharon Palacio

“There is lot things I haven’t said and I will not say to you Paul, forget about it, but it will be written in my book. There is a lot of things I have to say, because there are other women who I want to support because in this country I am a proud mayor, I am the only female.”

 

 

 

 

Paul Lopez

“This book you are speaking off, I would imagine you are speaking of literally writing a book?”

 

Sharon Palacio

“I have written and I am only waiting for elections to finish before I publish my book, because my journey ends on election day and as soon as election is over that book will be published. The name of that book will be called a mother’s dream.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What will the chapter that speaks to your political journey say in this book? Will it speak to lost time, unwanted leadership perhaps?”

 

Sharon Palacio

“No, it will highlight a beautiful journey, a journey whereby Sharon Palacio came in and my ethnicity is always being discriminated against in this country. That chapter will reflect the truth, it is going to speak about everything and I think there are things a lot of people don’t know they will read and find out and if they want to say that racism doesn’t exist in Belize, that is a lie, a big lie.”

 

 

 

But, perhaps there are not enough pages in any book to tell the story of how divided Mayor Palacio and her councilors were. Neither would that story have a happy ending because, with the exception of Councilor Sanie Cal, Palacio and her councilors have been shelved.

 

Sharon Palacio

“When it comes to the actual convention, if you were studying how everything went, all these mayors got endorsed. People would need to ask why Palacio didn’t get endorsed. That is a part of the book. Oscar Mira, the councilors are just a mini part of the entire story. The big picture is all the way at the top, all the way at the top. So, let’s leave it for the book.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How upset were you went this idea was projected upon you that you spent more time focusing on Africa and pushing forward that agenda than on the city and the works of the city and do you believe you could have done things differently in that respect?”

 

Sharon Palacio

“That is a perception. The whole thing about Africa would have been a therapy, because the racism started from the very beginning, whereby, let me tell you something since you want something and I don’t care. The first breakdown was when I fired a corrupt traffic manager. The powers that be wanted me to take that man in and I said hell no. Who am I, a person from down south to tell these people no. They would have never accepted that and that is where the trouble started. And the councilors became victims themselves.”

 

And so, as she clears her desk and says her final goodbyes, there are some that still see Mayor Palacio as an influential figure in the city. But, will her influence play a role in who wins the Belmopan municipals on March sixth?

 

Sharon Palacio

“I will not go out there and say vote for this one or that one, I will never say that, but my people will know what to do. My people are more annoyed than myself. Remember I have big family and when you spoke about Sanie Cal surviving, he escaped. Who is Sanie Cal, who the nephew of Moises Cal. If people put that together do you think Sanie Cal would have any kind of position here?”

 

Paul Lopez for News Five.

The 2024 municipal elections are upon us and across the country infrastructure works are being undertaken ahead of March sixth. But, one project in Belmopan is causing a stir among residents. Not only is it revealing how deep the divide has been between the P.U.P. area representative and the P.U.P. city council, there is also the likelihood that due process was not followed. Area Representative Oscar Mira and Mayor Sharon Palacio sat down to discuss upgrades to five streets in the Maya Sites area. In the execution of the project, workers began connecting existing dead-end streets to the George Price Boulevard. Residents in the area say they were not consulted on this and Mayor Palacio says she did not agree to that aspect of the works. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Since its inception, the Maya Site in Belmopan has had five dead-end streets. And now, a decision has been taken to connect those cul-de-sacs to the George Price Boulevard. Residents in the area are pushing back and the mayor says she had no part in that decision.

 

 

Anthony Chanona, Maya Site Resident, Belmopan

“cul de sacs lend to ‘neighborhoodness’. It lends to citizen security. Children can recreate on a street. it allows elderly people to take walks because it limits the flow of traffic. Only the people who live on the street do business on the street. That is the idea of cul de sacs, it helps citizen security and it builds ‘neighborhoodness’.”

 

 

Anthony Chanona, a former Belmopan Mayor, and a resident in the area for twenty-eight years, says the project will increase security risks. He further contends that the proper processes were not undertaken in the execution of the project.

 

Anthony Chanona

“What it does, it opens up our neighborhood to all and sundry. Any motor vehicle can now enter and exit these streets that were the private domains of only the residents. That is what the cul de sacs gave us. And therefore the neighborhood will get nosier. It takes away or citizen security because now we don’t know who is entering and who is leaving. The children on these streets riding their bicycles are now exposed to two way traffic. It doesn’t add anything to what we had. It takes away our rights. And I am saying that you cannot ram this down the throats of the neighborhood and don’t ask us whether we agree.”

The city’s municipal leader says that she objected to the project when Area Representative Oscar Mira first made the proposal during a meeting in her office. She says the only agreement she entered into was to have the streets paved.

Sharon Palacio, Belmopan Mayor
“I decided I don’t have the money but I know the area rep has access to funds. I called him and said I would like for us to partner on the streets. My job was to prepare the streets for paving. So we spent a sum of money to prepare the streets. Recently Mayor Chanona called me upset about the opening of the cul de sacs. He asked me if I gave permission. I said no I did not. I made it categorically clear to the area rep. cause he said around the table, I am going to burst them open. I said, why and he said because it is good for development. I said look, Mayor Palacio is not in agreement with bursting them open.”

 

Mayor Palacio has since issued a cease and desist order to the ongoing works. Today, no further developments were being done in the area. Concrete culverts lay along the George Price Boulevard awaiting a final determination, while at least one intersection has been completed.

 

 

Sharon Palacio

“When my mayor Chanona stood up I said ok this is my time to stand out and make sure that my point is clear. That is where I sent a cease and desist to the company.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How is it that as the mayor these works would have been able to go ahead without your approval, consent, some sort of agreement from you. You are at the municipal level the head of the city.”

 

 

 

Sharon Palacio

“In this case a lot of things have happened in this city by the same persons we are speaking about and I see it as development anyhow and I would have loved to be a part of those works. But when I would pass by and see certain things happening I say ok, it is for the best interest of all of us. So I never reacted I kept quiet. By right all these streets should have come through me. I never sent a cease and desist any at all. This is the first I have sent and I know the parties involved are very unhappy but all I am calling on is speak to the residents.”

 

With the cease and desist order in place, works that were ongoing to pave the streets have also come to a screeching halt.

 

Anthony Chanona

“I was happy to hear that he has conceded to not proceed but they should continue with works on the streets. That was never stopped. So, why did we have to get to this point? Just follow the rule of law and do what you were hired to do.”

 

 

Sharon Palacio

“Right now I am calling on the area representative to go and pave those streets as we agreed. I was there earlier today and that is the reason why I went live because I wanted to see if the paving has started, and it hasn’t.”

 

Reporting for News Five I am Paul Lopez.

We also heard from Oscar Mira, the People’s United Party Area Representative in Belmopan. He contends that based on registered and authenticated street plans from 2006, those dead ends in the Maya Site area should be connected to the George Price Boulevard. He says that the decision was taken to connect the streets based on those plans. Here is more from Mira, courtesy of our colleagues at Plus TV.

 

Oscar Mira, P.U.P. Area Representative, Belmopan

“We met in her office and she called her city administrator and the city engineer. We went through the plans of what she wanted to do. She suggested again that she would prepare the streets for paving and I would do the rest. I thought it was a good initiative and project. Unfortunately when we were putting in the culverts we had another meeting and she came back with a stop order. Perhaps I believe that if the mayor had done her homework and check on the official map for Belmopan, I have a plan from 2006 showing ten lots being a subdivision of a portion of open space in Belmopan. Those were the areas we are talking about, because in the past there was nothing else after those streets there was a cul de sac. I think most of us remember those days. However with the new plan, this was in 2006 which is registered and authenticated it now shows that the area has been opened unto the George Price Boulevard. That is when the boulevard was also surveyed. So we decided to do the streets and if you notice the maps it all leads on to the boulevard.”

Mira also responded to the calls from residents in the Maya Sites area and Mayor Palacio to have the paving of the streets completed, despite the cease and desist order. Mira says that the streets will be paved in the coming days.

 

Oscar Mira, P.U.P. Area Representative, Belmopan

“I think he have it wrong. If they want to return it to a cul de sac, because it has already been opened. This map is from 2006, registered, authenticated and all the signatures are there so if they want to revert it back I think that is where that process needs to be done by the Belmopan City Council. But, for now the official map shows that it is an open street. Should they want to return if back before 2006 that is where that process needs to be done. I believe that those residents that live on those streets are deserving of proper streets and we will continue to work on paving those streets. We will get to that issue of the culverts later. I believe the residents deserve to have their streets paved and that is what we will be working on in these coming few days.”

The twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena are striving to stay on top of tourist activity with the addition of new park and boardwalk near the Macal River. Today, a double groundbreaking ceremony was held by the Belize Tourism Board to introduce phase one of the project. News Five’s Britney Gordon attended the ceremonies today to learn more about the initiatives. Here’s that story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

The twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena are well-known for their luscious foliage and the shining waters of the Macal River separating the two towns. These assets have always been able to attract tourist and locals to the area, but with the addition of a boardwalk and park, the Belize Tourism Board is confident that the area is set to be bustling with activity within the next year.  Today, two groundbreaking ceremonies were held on the banks of the Macal River to set into motion, phase one of these endeavors. We caught up with Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations, Anthony Mahler in San Ignacio, who spoke with us about the El Cayo Boardwalk.

 

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations

“Pretty much it’s just a groundbreaking for the development of this area. I think this is a beautiful era for people to gather and to enjoy the natural assets that Belize has. And we will continue to roll out these projects all across the country. Like I said, in another fifteen or twenty minutes we go over to the other side and do one on Santa Elena. And then on Friday we do in Succotz.”

 

 

Mahler explained that the boardwalk project, which he anticipates will be completed within the next eight months, will cost about nine hundred thousand dollars and is to be filled with various amenities for entertainment and leisure.

 

 

 

 

Anthony Mahler

“I always believe that any project that we do of this nature should create an environment where people could come in and generate a living. So it has to have some kiosks where people can sell their products. Whatever it is, it has to have some area for entertainment. And it has to have some of the basic facilities like bathroom and that type of thing and those are the infrastructural needs that a project like this would come with.”

 

 

Partnering in the project was Minister of Sustainable Development, Orlando Habet, who expressed his excitement for the potential of the boardwalk

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Management

“As a project I think it is very beneficial to our community because it will bring some economic activity, but also some entertainment. And it also provides a space for our people to come out, view the river be able to witness sort of on a grand stand, a larger landscape scale whatever is happening on the river, whether it’s sporting events, canoeing, the Ruta Maya and also we plan to have during celebrations, for example, the twenty-first September celebrations, we have our fireworks. We can do the fireworks on a platform in the river where people will be able to view not only the lights up in the sky, but also the reflection on the water and making it so beautiful.”

 

According to Cayo Central Area Representative, Alex Balona, this park project has been in the works for many years and will be a token of pride for residents of Santa Elena, especially.

 

Alex Balona, Area Representative, Cayo Central

“For many years we have wanted to create something along the riverbank of the Macal, on the Santa Elena side. So today, our groundbreaking ceremony for the Santa Elena River Park, marks one of the things that we have in our manifesto. When I visited the people in Cayo Central, this, one of the things they ask for something where they can go and spend time, especially with their families. This here is something that will add to the attractions, the tourist attractions for Santa Elena, and also in the second phase of the project is where we will be creating these booths and stalls where people, small entrepreneurs who are engaged in handicraft can come display their products and sell them to the visitors to our town.”

 

Balona stated that this project, which costs around seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, is set to be completed within a year and aims to be as environmentally sustainable as possible.

Alex Balona

“The first phase shouldn’t take long because its basically addressing, creating the walk along the river here, having a wall retainer, everything, I want to stress that it is natural the sand, we might be importing some white sand, but the retainer wall, everything is natural because we want as much as create something that is attractive to our tourists, we want to ensure that it is eco friendly as well.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.