This week, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) held a virtual hearing with the Government of Belize and the Maya Leaders Alliance to check in on the progress of the Maya Land Rights Consent Order. This order, agreed upon in 2015, aims to recognize the land rights of the indigenous Maya people. Lead government attorney Andrew Marshalleck provided an update on how things have been moving forward since the last hearing in late January.
Andrew Marshalleck, Lead Government Attorney
“The National Assembly was dissolved on the eleventh February, just days after the draft was presented to the Cabinet subcommittee. The result is that they have not looked at it and have not reverted. The general elections were held on on March twelfth, and on March seventeeth, a new minister responsible for Indigenous Peoples Affairs was appointed. I managed to meet with him on Friday and briefed him as to where we are. He brings a new perspective and new energy to the effort. But he reminded me, and he’s right, that having been previously a minister of state that he was not in cabinet when all the briefings surrounding this issue were presented to that body. So we’ve had to start process of bringing him up to speed on everything. And we hope to accomplish that this week. The ministry is still without a Chief Executive Officer, but we expect one to be appointed. Shortly, our points of contact haven’t yet been completely established. The previous chief executive officer has been accommodating on a request to put us in touch with the new minister, but that is transitional. The three deliverables remain deliverables is the long and short of that. We will have to try to get those papers before what I expect will possibly be a new cabinet subcommittee as soon as we’re able to. And the next step is, remains, the next steps remain the same, but the elections have intervened and have caused delays.”
On the Open Your Eyes Morning Show on Tuesday, Devin Daly, the new Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, emphasized the need for more efficiency within the ministry. He dropped some big news about the current budget and hinted at changes to the staff structure. His comments have sparked quite a buzz among youth advocates, sports fans, and the Public Service Union. Everyone seems to agree that the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council need a major revamp. But the P.S.U. insists that any changes must be carefully planned to avoid hurting real people. Meanwhile, youth advocates are pushing for more inclusion and a stronger commitment to investing in sports and developing athletes. News Five’s Paul Lopez dives into the details.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
On Tuesday morning, Devin Daly, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, stirred up quite a bit of controversy. He revealed that the Ministry of Youth and Sports has to split a budget of seven and a half million dollars.
Devin Daly
Devin Daly, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth and Sports (File: April 8th, 2025)
“The reality is we have accessible to us, about seven and a half million between youth and sports. However, seven out of that seven and a half million is on salaries. We are using five hundred thousand between youth and sports to really bring program work.”
But this isn’t breaking news. What Minister Daly mentioned is actually outlined in the Government of Belize’s approved 2024/2025 budget. A whopping ninety-five percent of the just over eight million dollars is allocated to recurrent expenses like salaries, travel, subsistence, materials, supplies, and operational costs. That leaves only about five percent, or five hundred thousand dollars, for rehabilitation programs, skills training, and maintaining sports facilities.
Devin Daly
“I don’t really believe that any taxpayer would be satisfied with getting that amount for sports and youth work within this country.”
Daly’s comments come just four weeks after he stepped into his new role as the junior minister in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, alongside Minister Anthony Mahler. With his background in professional sports and youth development, Daly is seen as a great fit for the job. Now, the challenge is to figure out how to run these important portfolios more efficiently and effectively. According to Ishmael Nicholson, the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador to Belize, youth participation in all areas of governance has nearly disappeared.
Ishmael Nicholson
Ishmael Nicholson, Commonwealth Youth Ambassador to Belize
“In economics we learn that at a certain point where you have so much employees that the efficiency will continue to decrease. So, in economics we learn that more employees, less efficiency. So if the ministry believes that we have to cut to create more efficiency, and of course if we do it in a practical and proper way through its evaluation and assessments then I believe the youths will back it up, one hundred percent.”
A closer look at the five hundred thousand dollars earmarked for youth and sports investments reveals that no funds were allocated for youth development services in 2024, nor for youth programs and initiatives. The Youth for the Future Participation in Governance line item also got zero dollars. But what can you really expect from a budget that’s stretched so thin?
Ishmael Nicholson
“The most important thing that is missing for the ministry, beside the budget, is the national youth policy, which is the foundation for which the department will create the strategy for it to create more opportunities for growth for young people. So without that the department does not have a proper strategy to engage young people properly because that strategy is absent and youths are not involved within the department effectively and meaningfully we create youths becoming at risk in which we are suppose to prevent youths from becoming at risk youths.”
The sports budget paints a similar picture. Not a single dollar was set aside for youth programs and initiatives. Instead, more money was allocated for buying furniture and equipment—forty-six thousand dollars—than for maintaining sports facilities, which only got forty thousand dollars. This has resulted in poorly maintained facilities across the country and a serious lack of investment in athlete development.
Devin Daly
“As a government, our job is too fold, making sure that facilities is upkept and kept to a certain standard and work with the federation to ensure that the competition and development side of youth sports and senior sports is caried out. One of the things that is dear to me is to make sure we keep these facilities to a certain standard and we have to apply pressure and ensure the federation are carrying out tournaments in the facilities we provide.”
But with the way the current budget for youth and sports is set up, there’s no financial wiggle room to boost youth involvement in governance through the DYS or to improve the maintenance of sports facilities. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
So, the 2024-2025 budget has highlighted some serious financial gaps in the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The big question now is, how are they planning to fix this in the new term? One idea on the table is to bump up the budget. But will that really plug the leaks? Another, more likely, proposal is to cut down the number of employees in the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council. The Public Service Union is clear about this: if job cuts are going to happen, there needs to be thorough consultations and a real understanding of how it will affect those who lose their jobs. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the details.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council have been working with an eight-million-dollar budget, but ninety-five percent of that goes to recurring expenses like salaries. This leaves just five percent for youth and sports development, which Minister of State Devin Daly and youth advocates say is far from enough. One proposed solution is to increase the budget allocation for the new fiscal year to better support these crucial programs.
Devin Daly
Devin Daly, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth and Sports (File: April 8th, 2025)
“Before we look at an increase in budget, we have to look at the reality of what we can do with this money and the only thing that I can say at this time is more monies need to go into facilities development and also sports and youth development , and I know that is something that both directors believe and agree with. So, if the ministers and both directors agree then the necessary changes need to be made.”
According to the Public Service Union, these changes will likely result in a thirty percent staff cut between the two entities. PSU President Dean Flowers acknowledges the reasoning behind this move but emphasizes the need for transparency throughout the process.
Dean Flowers
Dean Flowers, President, P.S.U.
“What prompted our response was led first and foremost by the concerns brought to our attention by affected staff members who called into a meeting and informed that some of them will be without a job in the coming days. We do have members particularly in the Department of Youth Services. We do recognize the rationale. I think that it is no secret that across the public service there is great inefficiencies, inefficiencies created by the very politicians that we elect each and every election cycle. So if it is there will be an attempt to fix those, it has to be done comprehensively. It has to be done recognizing we are dealing with people.”
The union argues that letting go of a hundred employees without first tackling the long-standing inefficiencies, alleged corruption, and potential ‘ghost workers’ would be detrimental.
Dean Flowers
“The term ghost workers would have become famous, maybe eight years ago when we recognized that where the government payroll is concerned, a lot of people are on the payroll who have not worked a day within the public service. There are files in the public service that simply have an employment letter in there. These are files opened years ago, people who are on the payroll. It has an employment letter. That approval has been given for John X. He does not take vacation leave, does not take sick leave. There is absolutely nothing else in John X files other than approval that was given by the ministry of finance for him to be employed in an open vote capacity.”
According to Daly, the ministry’s approach is not simply about taking jobs away from people, but rather to create greater efficiency within the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council. Daly points out that many of these employees have been around since before the current administration took office.
Devin Daly
“We are about continuity and about finding the most effective unit and team to carry out the new mandate. When we look at the staff, a majority of these staff predates this administration. We have staff that is there for twenty something years, fifteen something years, and that is the majority at both of the organizations. So politics aside, which it is never aside, it is a problem that the precious administration never addressed.”
Dean Flowers
“You cannot have efficiency if you have a work force that is not contended or working under fear. So they must be a consultation. There must be inclusion in the decision making process so that you have buy in. But also there must be the safeguarding of people’s livelihood to the greatest extent that we possibly can preserve that. That is the angle we are coming from. We are not here to stop the necessary overhaul that is needed within these two department, or the wider public service on a whole but we believe the approach being taken is not inline with best human resource practices.”
The San Pedro Town Council is making some big environmental waves by establishing sister-city relations with Clearwater City in Florida. Mayor Wally Nunez just returned from a visit to Clearwater and shared with News Five that they’re looking to partner with their U.S. sister city for help with turtle nesting, conservation practices, and even cultural tourism exchanges.
Wally Nunez
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“They are big with conservation. They have a marine aquarium that – I look at it more like a rehabilitation center than an aquarium because when you talk about aquarium, everybody thinks that they’re just gonna go and look at the animals and they’re in captivity. But these animals that they have there are in rehabilitation or they have been taken there because they cannot be released in the wild. So, they’re big with dolphin conservation. They have turtles. They have already started with manatees. They have partnered in Gales Point here whereby they have a place that they are assisting with the manatee conservation. We are looking at different ways that they can assist us here in San Pedro, maybe later on open a rehabilitation center here for turtles because we have certain issues with turtles here. Who knows, probably later on a movie which would showcase our beautiful island and of course the culture of Belize. And these are things that we are looking at as partnerships with different or other municipalities, other towns and countries that we can benefit and they can benefit from an exchange like this. I met with the mayor of Clearwater. I had the privilege of meeting him in his office. We had a very good conversation and he is very excited about it. He actually made a post about it on his Facebook page. So it looks very promising and the marine aquarium is fully on board with us. This trip wasn’t only about the marine conservation and the aquarium and the sister city relationship, but also, we took the opportunity to go to the eastern part of Florida to see where they’re doing beach restoration, more on a nature-based solutions. We are looking at the different ways that they have been working on the beach, how they have been creating their dunes, how it protects them from different elements with respect to the storms, beach erosions, how they’re tackling all of that because we need to work on our beach solution as well.”
Traffic on La Isla Bonita has been a real headache over the past couple of years, mainly because of two big issues: the island has been flooded with imported golf carts, and there’s been a surge in trucks dumping fill for development projects. The San Pedro Town Council has been working hard to tackle these problems by implementing strict measures. Mayor Wally Nunez told News Five that a comprehensive study on their traffic situation is essential. In the meantime, they’ve put limits on heavy-duty trucks and the importation of golf carts to San Pedro.
Wally Nunez
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“We have not been issuing any more permits for golf cart rentals. If you are aware, the council is not the one who directly gives the permits. There is a traffic control committee who does the permits and then it is passed on to the council. When it comes to these permits, we have asked the Ambergris Caye Traffic Control Committee, and of course, part of the council is part of that committee. We do not want anymore golf cart rentals. We’re not issuing trade license for new go cart rentals so that we can have more control of what is going on on the island. Until we do a proper study of the traffic flow and the amount of vehicles necessary and apart from that, we know that we have an issue with the trucks bringing down material to fill different areas. We do use these trucks as well as part of the council works in the different areas. However, we’re going to limit them on how they come into town. We’re going to be – I don’t want to use the word ban, but it’ll be restricted in the sense that they will no longer be allowed to come into town without a proper permit and escort. The trucks will have to barge their material from the north side to the south side of the island. If there is a need to bring any trucks for material for the council, we will try to do it as least as possible. We’ll try to get them to the barge as well, but if we need to bring them somewhere within the town area where they’re restricted, it would have to be at certain hours, probably at four in the morning or five in the morning where there’s less traffic. They’ll only allow one or two trucks to deliver per day.”
On Saturday, April fifth, Ambergris Hope Hospital celebrated a major milestone with the launch of a blood and blood products storage reserve on Ambergris Caye. The event was a big deal, featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony, free blood typing for the first twenty guests, vitals checks, voluntary blood donor sign-ups, public education, and even a pharmacy sale. This marks a huge leap forward for the island’s ability to handle medical emergencies and planned surgeries. The hospital brought together the Island Donors Squad and medical students from Washington University of Health Sciences to celebrate this game-changing improvement in lifesaving capabilities. Having a local reserve of blood and blood products means faster access to critical care. In emergencies, every second counts, and being able to start transfusions without waiting for transport to the mainland can be lifesaving. This new reserve will also cut down on the need for expensive late-night emergency flights. Beyond accident-related emergencies, Ambergris Hope frequently uses blood for cesarean deliveries, childbirth, laparotomies, and appendectomies. This new reserve is set to make a big difference in all these areas.
As the Caribbean braces for another busy hurricane season, there’s something else we need to get ready for: the invasion of sargassum mats drifting in from the Atlantic Ocean. Early signs suggest that we’ll be seeing a lot of sargassum on our shores this year, with the first batch already making an appearance. News Five caught up with San Pedro Mayor, Wally Nunez, to find out how his council plans to tackle this unwelcome and costly problem.
Wally Nunez
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“We try to take it out from the ocean as soon as possible, because once it stays on the shoreline, it starts to decay, decompose, and then it’s, it smelts. But if you take it out from the water, it dries out with the sun and it doesn’t sink as much. What we do with the sargassum is we’re taking it to an area by San Pedrito, where we are filling up an area for recreational purpose. So that way we are showing that we are using sargassum for another purpose. Yes, it is landfill, but then we also put material on top of it so that it doesn’t smell and it settles. We have filled an area where you can see kids using it as a little park to play football. So we want to increase on that and expand on that area so that it turns like into an entire recreational area for something different for the entire town. But our main issue is not what we do with the sargassum afterwards. Our issue is taking it out from the water in the quantities that are coming in. It’s very difficult. Luckily, we have some resorts that are doing their part. B.T.B. is also helping us financially to be able to put more manpower out there to assist in the cleanup. However, it is mother nature and it’s difficult to keep up.”
When Mayor Nunez took office in 2021, he had to tackle a major issue: corruption in the traffic department of the San Pedro Town Council. There were shady dealings with fake license stickers being sold, and the money never made it to the council’s funds. But Nunez says that’s all been sorted out now. They’ve upgraded their software, and the council has had to get pretty inventive with the licenses to keep things running smoothly.
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“We have implemented different measures when it comes to the licenses. Every year we change the design of the stickers. We have different measures that are in effect so that we can know if they are doing something wrong with respect to the licensing or the registration of the vehicles.”
Belizeans who love shopping online from Chinese businesses like Shein and Temu might need to rethink their purchases. The Trump administration’s new tariff regime adds a thirty-four percent tax on products from China, on top of the existing twenty percent. Since items from these online stores are shipped from China through the U.S., a fifty-four percent duty could be applied, significantly raising the price for consumers.
Leroy Almendarez
Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Economic Consultant
“If China is now at fifty-four percent, thirty-four plus twenty, because you could see the cascading effects with the tariffs when they were mentioned. These countries are there for doing business. An online platform means you don’t need physical space so that will reduce your cost. What they can also do, which I am not sure they will do, but what some entities or business will do, is an application of a thirty-four percent tax or let us say it become fifty-four percent, you might decide to share the cost, maybe at least for a period of time, which means you have reduced your revenue as well. Let us say for example that you had already placed an order for something from China a week ago, what happens after yesterday, is an application of that tax unto that product that you have purchased, or we say that was old stock and therefore. I don’t think they will do that. So, we will really have to see how the world will react. CARICOM should have been more proactive, there could have been some anticipation that this was possible.”
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry has started meeting with its members to talk about how the Trump administration’s tariffs might affect the private sector. Jody Williams, Vice President of BCCI, says they’re ready to advise their members and work with the government to ensure stakeholders get some relief.
Jody Williams, Vice President, B.C.C.I.
“We are on the meeting table. WE are trying to collaborate and have as much information flow as possible and to be there to advise. In this time for this new ten percent information is crucial and essential for us to see what kind of decisions we are going to make, what plan to do. What little tweaks and changes in order for an exporter to not take that ten percent. So we as chamber will provide information, do the collaboration, bring persons to the table and we will bring heads together to see how we can work along with the government, with foreign trade, to see how we could lessen the impact on us exporters. Inflation is already going on and extra percentage of inflation does not help anyone including exporters and consumers.”
