Today, a Facebook post informed that the ITVET compound on Freetown Road was closed because eleven instructors stayed away from classes after they had not collected their salaries at the end of January. But when we showed up at the institution, we found that while some of the instructors had indeed not shown up, some did and classes were in session for those who were in attendance. The instructors started complaining on Wednesday that the Ministry of Education has not paid them from the start of the school year in September, but they have been getting paid from the school itself. Later on Wednesday, one of the instructors called us to inform that they had all collected their salary for January. The problem with ITVET instructors, according to C.E.O. in the Ministry of Education, Dian Maheia, is a complex one that dates back a while, but that efforts have been made to rectify the problem and that come the end of February, all instructors will start to receive their salary through the Smart Stream system.
Dian Maheia
Dian Maheia, C.E.O., Minister of Education
“It took too long for their contracts to have been signed. In the interim, while theemployment process was going on, the institution supported the instructors by providing them advances. We are at this stage now where we have done our best to rectify. We’ve found out where the errors were, we have found out where the omissions were. We’ve corrected those errors. We have made every effort to support the different people who are involved in this process because it’s not just a Belize City IT-VET process. It’s not just a Ministry of Education process. We have other ministries who are also involved, other units of other ministries, and they have also made every effort to be supportive so that we can correct the mistakes that have happened. Now, where we are now with this process is that they have all been added now to Smart Stream. They’ve been added to the ministries – to the Treasury’s payroll. So they now are going to be paid automatically through the Treasury and not through the school.”
Marion Ali
“So from the end of February, everybody should be paid February 29th on time.”
Dian Maheia
“Whatever day is the payday. So what I expect is that the administration has found a way to keep everything going because I have not been told that there has been any sort of closure or negative impact to the students that are there.”
Maheia informed that there were no classes at IT-VET this afternoon because of a meeting for all faculty and staff.
Earlier this week, thirty students attending the Orange Walk ITVET were reportedly sent home after several months of being unable to pay their school fees. It is a decision that is frowned upon by the Ministry of Education and today, C.E.O. Dian Maheia explained that the students were not suspended from school, but were in fact asked to return with their parents to discuss a payment plan.
Dian Maheia
Dian Maheia, C.E.O., Ministry of Education
“My understanding was that the ITVET Orange Walk had concerns because they had students with outstanding fees, parents who had not kept up with the payment arrangements and so they chose to ask the students to go to get the parents to come and confirm how they are going to handle their payment arrangements.”
Marion Ali
“So those students are for nonpayment of school fees.”
Dian Maheia
“My understanding is that they are not out of school, that they were asked just to get the parents so that they could have a conversation regarding outstanding school fees.”
Marion Ali
“For the students whose families absolutely can‘t afford it, will they be asked to stay at home until they can?”
A second electric bus was scheduled to arrive in country today, ahead of the start of a pilot project to introduce e-buses to the public transportation landscape in Belize. Those buses will be used in Belize City and overseen by the Belize City Council under a project that is funded by the European Union. According to eTransit Startup Coordinator, Neil Hall, the plan is to eventually expand the project by adding more buses to the fleet of e-buses that will be operating in other parts of the country.
Neil Hall
Neil Hall, e-Transit Startup Coordinator
“The funding is coming from the EU, the European Union. The thought that Belize would be a dynamic location to have a pilot project such as this, moving us away from the buses that we currently have which are antiquated and spewing lots of carbon emissions and greenhouse gases and to try out and see if electric buses would actually be a good investment for the country of Belize. Belize City will be receiving two buses, nine meters in length, with capacities of about forty-seven passengers with standees and sitting passengers. Yes, the laws must be amended. While the larger buses will be twelve-meter buses, I’m not sure of their capacity because I’m not a part of the national program and have that information on hand. There are two buses and they will be charged at night and then during the day when they come out, obviously they will not be charging and roughly fully charged and be able to traverse the entire city without having to stop back at the charger and recharge. However, again, being a pilot project, these things are dependent on weather, on how the driver drives, on several different factors, on congestion in the streets, for example, so there might be situations where it’s necessary for the buses to pull in and charge and in situations like that, we estimate that it would be out of service, quote on quote, for one lap, and then would just rejoin like nothing happened.”
Hurricane safety awareness is a year-round endeavor, says the Belize City Council, which recently completed the annual inspections of Belize City’s Hurricane Shelters. These inspections are a necessary part of hurricane preparation, which isn’t reserved for just hurricane season. We spoke with Melony Dawson, the City Emergency Management Organization’s Liaison Officer, for more information.
Melony Dawson
Melony Dawson, CEMO Liaison Officer, Belize City Council
“We had our annual shelter inspection last week. It took us merely a week and this is comprised of a team to inspect these shelters within Belize City. This is to make sure that these shelters are structurally sound. It’s basically to provide safe space for the shelter we use during times of any disaster. What we do is, a team of us, we go out. And this team is comprised of our city engineer, our city planner, we also have our building inspectors, and in addition to that, we do this in collaboration with NEMO, of course, and the two NEMO coordinators, along with the police department, and the fire department, so everyone has a technical part to do whenever we go out to do this inspection and also to make mention we have Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education who assist us as well.”
Reporter
“What exactly are you checking for when these inspections occur?”
Melony Dawson, CEMO Liaison Officer, Belize City Council
“So we go by the National Standards for Emergency Shelters and we basically have to ensure that these buildings are structurally sound, like I mentioned. We want these buildings to be up to standards in the event of any storm. And thereafter, we have to ensure that the, for example, We look for simple things like the windows to make sure they are working well, the doors, they have the proper locks and different stuff like that.”
Reporter
“How many shelters were checked recently across Belize City?”
Melony Dawson
“We did, last week we inspected nineteen shelters and, in addition to that, after the inspection, we do our reports and these are basically findings for each of the shelters we did. We write the report and then thereafter we send it to NEMO headquarters and then from there, they do vetting of the listing and then they make their approval from there and thereafter that is where NEMO published the shelters.”
The month of February is recognized as Congenital Heart Defect Awareness month and tonight’s story highlights a young man whose life is a testament to resilience and the uplifting power of music. Despite being born with a congenital heart defect, Aiden Aranda has forged his path as a gifted musician, self-taught and versatile in playing multiple instruments. Here’s this week’s Look on the Bright Side.
Sabreena Daly, Reporting
The impact of music resonates universally, touching the depths of every soul that consumes it. Though the influence of music extends to all, only a select few possess the artistry to convey its enchantment.
Aiden Aranda
Aiden Aranda, Musician
“Since I was five years old, I have been around music and playing music. The instruments that I can play are guitar, drums, any variety, the recorder, the flute, the steel pan, which is my main instrument. And I’m learning to play the sax, the clarinet, and the bass guitar.”
Sixteen-year-old Aiden Aranda is a talented musician who realized early on that he had a special bond with music. He kicked off his musical journey at the age of five with the steel pan and has since taught himself to play several other instruments. Like many musicians, he believes that music originates from the rhythm of his heart.
Aiden Aranda
“That boop boop sound, music is attached to it. The heart is attached to music in a very passionate way because it depends on how a person feels. The genre of music they listen to, it depends on, like, their emotional status.”
The heartbeat and music share an innate connection, a rhythmic symphony that taps into the pulse of our emotions. In Aranda’s case, the heart’s connection to music is much more personal. His mother Indira Bartley would know.
Indira Bartley
Indira Bartley, Mother
“I took him to the pediatrician and what happened was the doctor looked at me and said miss Bartley, what kind of medication is your baby on? I said medication for what doc? He said don’t you know that your baby has a hole in his heart?”
The medical prognosis for someone born with a congenital heart defect is typically bleak, but Aiden, with the support of his family, medical professionals and The Gift of Life Foundation, underwent two surgeries and an open-heart procedure to beat the odds at the age of two.
Indira Bartley
“It was two days after his second birthday. He had his first open heart surgery for eight hours. The doctor came and he looked at me and he said, Miss Bartley, we need to call the priest. And I asked him, call the priest for what? He said the surgery did not help the baby. He said, we need to pray for him because we don’t know if he’s gonna make it out for the night. I got up in that hospital bed and I started talking in plain English. I said, God, you did not bring me here for this. You took me away from all my family and all my friends to kill my baby when I have no support. And I said, I claim the life of my baby in the name of Jesus Christ.”
Since then, Aranda has carried on as a normal teenager but with stents in his heart to stay alive. In 2020, he was taken to the Cayman Islands to replace the tubular support that collapsed and, as recent as 2021, another operation was done to balloon that stent again.
Indira Bartley
“They’re waiting until he’s eighteen or nineteen. Because the entire right valve for his heart needs to be changed. And also the stents need to be replaced. But right now he’s a bit young. They don’t want to do that. They are waiting until he becomes an adult, so that when he’s done with that, he’s done with surgeries for good.”
It’s a heavy load to carry emotionally, but Aranda has found ways to cope and find peace in his prognosis. If you ask Andrew Green, a mentor to Aiden, he’d tell you that he believes music is Aranda’s comfort.
Andrew Green
Andrew Green, Mentor
“I’ve known Aiden for a couple years and being a mentor to him, it makes me feel happy because seeing him playing various instruments and having fun on stage alongside him, it’s amazing to see how he recovers and how he heals himself, just channeling through that music.”
Aiden Aranda
“I processed it a lot better with, you know, my connection with music. And basically, I would say to other kids that have the same heart conditions and things as me, I would say to them, don’t let it hold you up. You have, if you have potential, you go do it. Don’t let it hold you up.”
His mother, witnessing Aiden’s musical journey intertwined with his health battles, speaks of the special connection between his heart and the rhythms he creates.
Indira Bartley
“I can’t explain the talent that he has, cause he would listen to something, and then he’ll pick up the keyboard, and you hear that coming out of the keyboard. He picks up the song and if he wants to play, you know, he sits and he plays with the guitar until he gets that sound. The doctor says, you know, the rhythm of the drum helps his heart to keep a rhythm. So with that, I can have him play the drums all the time. I have no problem with that.”
Aiden Aranda
“The different sounds that come from the instrument, when you hold different: notes, it’s a different melody every time, so, yeah, it goes with your emotions.”
And maybe it is the case. Aiden Aranda, born with something special in his heart, would turn its rhythm of adversity into a symphony of strength.
Looking on the Bright Side, I’m Sabreena Daly
In an immediate update to this story, we note that Aiden Aranda may have to seek an emergency operation earlier than expected.
World Wetland Day 2024 will be celebrated on Friday February second, under the theme, “Wetlands and Human Wellbeing”. The day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971. Belize is a signatory of the international treaty that recognizes wetlands of international importance. So, tonight’s Belize On Reel takes us to the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the two protected wetland in the country. We sought to find out how this wetland is contributing to the wellbeing of Crooked Tree villagers through various conservation efforts. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary is recognized as a Wetland of International Importance or a Ramsar Site. This protected area consists of over fourteen thousand acres of waterways, logwood swamps and lagoon. This wetland provides a habitat for over three hundred species of resident and migratory birds. It is also home to other wildlife, such as fish, snakes, turtles and frogs. This protected area borders one of the oldest Creole communities in the country, Crooked Tree Village. And, to ensure the viability of this important ecosystem, residents must learn how to make use of its resources sustainably.
Verna Samuels
Verna Samuels, Co-Owner, Bird Eye View Lodge
“Every Sunday I could recall as a child my dad use to go out. We never use to go to the store to buy chicken. My dad use to go and kill a bird and that is what we would eat on Sundays.”
Verna Samuels is the co-Owner of Bird’s Eye View Lodge, an accommodation in the village that provides overnight stays, tours of the lagoon, and birdwatching expeditions for tourists. Born and raised in Crooked Tree, she recalls her father hunting the Limpkin birds, also known as the crying birds. That culture of hunting birds for food has become practically nonexistent in the community. Amanda Acosta, the Executive Director at Belize Audubon Society, and her team, have led the charge in providing public awareness to residents about the importance of this wetland and its wildlife.
Amanda Acosta
Amanda Acosta, Executive Director, Belize Audubon Society
“In the eighties when it was designated, it was designated as a wildlife sanctuary. By law wildlife sanctuary does not allow for extraction. Unfortunately that does not recognize the traditional uses within the community. That community has always fished. So it was areas of contention, contention build up, it came to a head and we were forced to go to the drawing board with the community and government.”
Derrick Hendy is the Site Manager at the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary for the Belize Audubon Society. Hendy understands the traditional significance of this wetland to villagers. He works with residents and schools in surrounding communities to provide education on this habitat.
Derrick Hendy
Derrick Hendy, Site Manager, Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary
“People use it for food. Everytime when it filters out people will catch the fish and sell it. But as I said, there are rules and regulations, people really don’t want to follow the rules and regulations. And, if we continue that way, we will eventually contaminate all of our waterways and it will be much more expenses for us to maintain and even to get drinking water.”
The Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary acts as a catchment area for the Belize River that flows from west of the country to the east and into the Caribbean Sea. The water that flows into this wetland goes through a natural filtration process, removing excess contaminants, before flowing back out into the river. Water levels vary throughout the year, as a result. But, apart from its value to wildlife and naturally purified water, the sanctuary attracts tourism capital for residents.
Amanda Acosta
“Bird tourism is actually one of the main driving tourism reasons for that community. It is what people go there for. If there is no fish, there won’t be any birds, because that is the food for the birds, because that is one of the reasons why birds go there as well. So they are all tightly interwoven as one needs the other.”
Verna Samuels
“The Wetland is what causes the birds, not only the birds, all of the wildlife to be here. Then, in turn that brings the tourists who are bird lovers, nature lovers, so it is like a cycle that if the wetland is here, the birds are here, the wildlife is here, and that attract the business that we want to attract, the tourist.”
At the government level, policies have been developed to govern protected areas that are also traditionally used by surrounding communities, like the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. Whereas most protected areas fall under what is termed as a “classification one” or a “no-take zone”, Orlando Habet, the Minister of Sustainable Development, explained that given the circumstances, the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary falls under what is known as “classification two”. This permits certain traditional activities.
Orlando Habet
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development
“We have to understand and realize that their communities that are built around these protected areas and people will have to have their livelihoods, and they will have to fish, hunt and harvest some medicinal plants and do a bit of farming. But, we work alongside them so that all of this can be done sustainably so that it is there for many generations to come. The good thing with the community is that they have realized this also, so they want to do the protection and they want to have their children and grandchildren and future generation to be able to enjoy what is there now and hopefully they can protect it and conserve it in a way that they can use some now and use for the generations to come in their livelihood.”
For the first time since it has been constructed, vehicles were able to cross the new Haulover Bridge near mile five on the Philip Goldson Highway. Today, Ministry of Infrastructure Development officials walked over the bridge to inspect the almost complete structure and we took that opportunity to ask them about it during a soft opening. News Five’s Marion Ali was there this morning to speak with ministry officials about the new structure and the scope of work that is still left to finish. Here’s that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
It has been under construction for the past two years and today, vehicles were able to cross over the new Haulover Bridge near mile five on the Philip Goldson Highway. While most of the work is completed on the new bridge, Chief Engineer Evondale Moody explained that there is still some work left to complete.
Evondale Moody
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH
“We’re doing basically a soft opening of the new Haulover Bridge. This is being done in an effort for us to get traffic onto the new structure because of the old alignment we have to tie into the existing road. And so at that intersection is where we will have a high elevation, and so we need to close off the whole approach so that traffic could be transferred to the new bridge. The idea is to have that done by the first or second week in March. Once we could complete all the aspects of the new structure, which includes the additional rails that we have pending and some tie-ins that we have to do for the utility companies, then we would consider the bridge to be 100 percent complete.”
The new bridge is designed to last several decades, Moody says, as its capacity is intended to withstand.
Evondale Moody
“With the integrity of the structure, we definitely believe that it will be able to sustain natural disasters. It’s also designed to contain basically a category five hurricane. So that shouldn’t be a problem. It’s not a steel structure that would be susceptible to wind damages and so forth. And also the substructure that we have is designed for earthquake as well. So this should be a structure that should last us, with maintenance, at least a hundred years. The bridge structure is designed to Ashton 93 – an HL 93, sorry. And so that is designed to carry a substantial amount of weight. So that shouldn’t be an issue in terms of the stability of the structure.”
And while the bridge, constructed at a cost of around thirty million Belize dollars, is expected to meet the growing demands of a rapidly expanding city and traffic heading north, the Minister of Infrastructure Development, Julius Espat says he has more reasons than one to feel proud of the project.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister, MIDH
“This is the first bridge that was designed by a Belizean, built by a Belizean, supervised by a Belizean. How can you not be proud of a situation like this? And you all are seeing it. It’s an awesome experience to be here. It’s a Belizean initiated project. It’s not red or blue, and I have stood by that from the day I was elected and from the day I was given the opportunity to be the minister. We represent all peoples: red, blue, mauve, pink, people of all colors.”
Espat explained that the completion and opening of the bridge at this time was not designed to coincide with the upcoming municipal elections because it was scheduled to be completed around this time. The bridge is scheduled to be officially opened in the latter part of March, when all the electricity connections and other fixtures are in place. Marion Ali for News Five
The old Haulover Bridge, meanwhile, has not seen its last days as yet. It will be used somewhere in the Cayo District, using the same contractor that built the Haulover Bridge, M and M Engineering.
And, only a short distance away from the new Haulover Bridge, works are currently ongoing at the roundabout near the Biltmore Hotel. Anyone travelling out or into the city would note that the area has been under construction for quite some time. So, what has been the delay in completing the project? We asked Evondale Moody, the Chief Engineer at MIDH.
Evondale Moody
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH
“The delays we had were that we had significant problem in locating the BTL underground docks and we also had to take some time to ensure we don’t damage the twenty-four inch water pipe that was there. So that line and the BTL line took us some time and that caused some delay to the contractor. But, we think it was important for us to take some time, especially with the BWS pipe, because if we had broken that pipe we would have cut off water to the entire Belize City and that would have taken us at least a week to fix and from what we gathered from BWS, their capacity in Belize City for water is only for twenty-four hours. So we deemed it necessary to ensure the contractor takes his time doing the piling works that were required. We expected those works will be completed by the second of March. I got that update from the contractor, two days ago and so right now they are working on the beams and they will be pouring the deck slab for the circle and then complete those works.”
When reporters caught up with Minister Espat in Belize City today, he was also asked about the concerns raised by the Belize Elite Basketball League over the price tag attached to using the Belize City Civic Center. As we reported, teams that host home games inside the Civic are required to pay five thousand dollars for each game played. The league’s management argues that the fee is well above their budget. The facility is managed by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing. So, we asked the minister for a response to the league’s concerns. Here is what he told us.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructural Development
“I don’t see how. The situation is that every home team pays five thousand dollars for the use of the Civic on the night that they are the home team. What do they get for that? We provide security. If you go the civic and compare it to any other arena that the country has it is one of the areas that is maintained to the highest level. It is clean. No bathroom is leaking, no bathroom is broken. All the chairs are properly placed. There are clean. The environment is healthy the air-conditioning works. We provide even security for the games. For those five thousand dollars, what does the home team gain? Well they have access to the ticketing and they have access to the bar. So, if they want to reduce the rates, no problem, then give us the ticketing and give us the bar and then there is no charge. So it is a private, public partnership and we are doing our part. If the Government of Belize, through us does not maintain the civic they won’t even have an auditorium to be able to work or practice in. I think it is a balanced approach. They all signed the contracts before they made interviews. All those contracts I have on my desk signed by them because they know it is fair, it is extremely fair. And, the misconception is that two teams pay for the same night, one team, the home team pays for the civic and they have the ability to generate the income and they do generate income. The bar alone generates more than five thousand dollars and the thickening alone does that.”
The Philip Goldson bust has been mounted at its permanent location atop a marble pedestal protected by barriers at the entrance to the highway named after him. It’s been there about a week now after after it was severely damaged in September of last year. Sculptor, Stephen Okeke got the contract to repair the bust and after a little over two months, it was completed. Today, News Five asked the Minister of Infrastructure Development, Julius Espat about the importance of having the bust repaired and put back in its place.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister, MIDH
“Philip Golson is a national hero, just like George Price is a national hero. We thought it was very important that the image of our national hero was destroyed, so we contacted the artiste and we made sure that he was given deposits based on the quality of work and the time frame and he came through. So the final product is now there. And we added a couple little, as you would say, nice features, like the marble. I think it’s a national hero, so why not? And the Chief Engineer also placed some protective barriers so that it can minimize the toppling down again of the statue or the bust. But again, nobody should be speeding around that roundabout. So, as I said, we can only do our part, and we as a culture, all of us, have to look out for this country and look out for the things that you all invest in. Remember that all of that is your money. You pay taxes and your taxes are what’s putting these things up. But we have to, we have to be proud of our national heroes.”
