People & Places - Channel 5 Belize

East Indian Cuisine From PG To Belize

From Punta Gorda, all the way to Belize City. This week’s Kolcha Tuesday dives into the world of East Indian cuisine. East Indians are concentrated in southern Belize, but also thrive in other areas as well. Like Annette Ramclam, who welcomed us into her kitchen to watch as she blends the spices she grew up with in her home with traditional Belizean meals. PG Kitchen, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this month, has been dedicated to bringing East Indian culture to any Belizean with an appetite. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.

Annette Ramclam, Owner, PG Kitchen

“I don’t go by measurement.”

Britney Gordon

“Just by the feeling.”

Annette Ramclam

“Yes, that’s how my mom teaches so I just keep it like that.”

PG Kitchen, located at the corner of St. Thomas Street and Freetown Road, has been in operation since 2004. The restaurant was started by Estell Ramclam who wanted to share her culture’s cuisine with others in Belize. It was later handed down to Annette Ramclam, one of her six daughters, with a love for cooking.

Annette Ramclam

“The reason why she opened the kitchen is because she wanted to introduce our cultural food and from then on it became a hit.”

Britney Gordon

“So this was originally your mother’s restaurant that you took over?”

Annette Ramclam

“It was. And then before she got sick. She had six daughters. Nobody else didn’t want to take it over. So I left from PG and came over and took it over.”

Britney Gordon

“How long have you been here?”

Annette Ramclam

“I’m here from 2007, but I originally took it over in 2009. From then on, it’s me one.”

Britney Gordon

“So you said that you prepare your culture’s cuisine. What kind of food do you make here?”

Annette Ramclam

“We do regular breakfast, which is Belizean breakfast, but when it comes to the lunch, then we try to introduce our food, which is yellow ginger and our culture. We call it takari. We do different types of greens. We do pumpkin, whatever greens we could get to them at the market. Pumpkin, calaloo, serosi, a lot of people don’t know about serosi, which is something really good. I love it.”

Ramclam explained that she tries to keep the menu rotating with different items everyday so that patrons can get a taste of something different from her East Indian culture on any given day.

Annette Ramclam

“That’s why people come. I never put out a menu for the same reason. Because people think, oh, they got to have this today, they got to have that. When they come, they don’t know what they’ll be getting something different every day, every day. And every day I have to try got at least three or four different meats. Today I will be having regular Belizean cuisine, rice and beans, stewed beans, white rice, stewed chicken, and stewed pork, beef liver, but the special will be yellow ginger chicken with green beans. In our culture, we don’t say green beans, we say yard beans because it’s like a whole yard. This is how it look like. it’s longer than this. So I just cut it up and then we’ll put it in the chicken along with the other condiments and what we’ve done. You could eat it with white rice, but Belizean people love their rice and beans So it’s their choice whichever they want it with.”

Alongside the takari chicken, Ramclam prepared an East Indian side known as Tomato Choka, which is made by roasting tomatoes on an open flame, before chopping and mixing with onions, colantro and pepper and salt. She explained that this side could be eaten with plain white rice and is a delicious meat alternative for vegetarians.

Annette Ramclam

“Majority of our food you don’t have to have food to get a meal. You don’t have to have meat at all.”

Britney Gordon

“Especially with the beans that go into it, because that’s full of protein.”

Annette Ramclam

“Yes and we do the calaloo as well. We do calaloo, we do the pumpkin. Some of the time I would mix the pumpkin in the chicken like that or the pork meat but then other times, I would just fry it down on the side. Because you have a lot of people that doesn’t eat meat.”

Ramclam explained that while she took it upon herself to expand and renovate her business, the Belize City Council reached out to her to rebuild her establishment from the ground up as part of a rejuvenation project with the BTB. She hopes will begin construction soon but until then, she remains grateful for her business as it is, and just hopes to continue sharing her love for cooking and her culture with other Belizeans.

Annette Ramclam

“I won’t complain because in all business you have good days and you have bad days. So I always look forward for the day which is not good, the day which is good, we save what they call a rainy day. The good days, we save for the bad days.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Pomona Gains Digital Center through Taiwan Partnership

Students and residents of Pomona Village can look forward to connecting with others through the use of the newly installed Digital Connect Center. The center was acquired through a partnership with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and was inaugurated on Tuesday in Pomona village. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Shortly after the launch of the Digital Connect Center in Valley of Peace community in late January, another facility has been unveiled; this time, in Pomona Village, in Stann Creek District, as a part of the National Digital Agenda 2022 to 2025. Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics & E-Governance, attended the ceremony to express the importance of the center’s installation.

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics & E-Governance

“Connectivity to the Internet and the wilder and the wider world is not a luxury in the fast paced digital era anymore. It is a necessity. As such, our commitment to closing the digital gap and making sure that no community is left behind is demonstrated by one thousand seven hundred villagers to this digital technology, to both digital technology and digital skills training through this center. I wish to highlight the forward thinking vision of the area representative, the Honorable Rodwell Ferguson, his steadfast support, commitment and consideration for his constituents. I express my sincere gratitude to the Taiwanese International Cooperation and Development Fund, the ICDF, for their important assistance in bringing this initiative to fruition. Their dedication, along with that of the Embassy of the Republic of China, Taiwan to advancing digital projects in Belize has had a significant impact on how our rural areas are being developed.”

This center was made possible through collaborative efforts with the Republic of China (Taiwan). Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of Taiwan to Belize, spoke on the significance of this endeavor.

H.E. Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize.

“This center in Pomona is the first one being inaugurated in 2024 and three more Digital Connect Centers will be set up soon. So I’m very excited that we continue to advance the digital transformation in Belize through the collaboration partnership between our two governments. Now, like every digital connect center we launched, this center in Pomona not only provides facilities like computers and the internet connections, it will also carry out digital literacy training courses so that participants of the courses could be equipped with the tools and capabilities needed in today’s digital era. I hope members of the community, or even beyond in the neighboring villages, young and old, women and men, will all make good use of these facilities and actively participate in the training courses to empower yourselves and embrace the endless digital opportunities.”

The Area Representative for Stann Creek West also extended his gratitude for the donation and hopes for the expansion of the project.

Rodwell Ferguson, Area Rep., Stann Creek West

“And regardless of whichever government is in office, we maintain a relationship with you because we know of your kindness and your one contribution to our small country. It’s a very small country and we appreciate every aspect of your contribution. Minister, you and your staff, when you call me I say, Minister, you want to take one digital connect to Pomona? Right away I embraced it. But I tell you, we got twenty-six villages and if you only bring it to one, then the rest might get jealous. So I’m hopeful that there is more connection to find more funding to do likewise in my twenty-six villages because we all have children and now the old age is over. We used to go to a library and do our research in books. Now all this research is done through computer. So it is very important for us to have that access for our children to gain the proper education they deserve.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Police to Charge Biscayne Father with Murder of Levan Aldana

Police have arrested and charged a man from Biscayne Village with the murder of Belize City resident, Levan Aldana Junior. Twenty-eight-year-old Arthur Hill, a construction worker, is the man who police believe stabbed Aldana to death on Wednesday night as they walked from Hill’s jobsite to a residence where their two girlfriends live. Today, head of the Eastern Division, A.C.P Hilberto Romero told the media that they received a call about the stabbing, found Aldana suffering from the stab wounds and took him to the K.H.M.H., where he died that night. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Tonight, two sisters in Biscayne Village have children whose fathers have been taken away by crime. One is the girlfriend of the deceased, nineteen-year-old Levan Aldana Jr. and the other is the girlfriend of the accused, twenty-eight-year-old Arthur Hill. Both live in the same house and that was where Hill and Aldana were drinking on Wednesday night before they left the residence. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero told reporters today that it is the same information that the police have gathered.

A.C.P Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“Investigation revealed that Levan Aldana left a house in Biscayne along with one Arthur Hill and shortly thereafter, Levan Aldana returned with the injuries. The information we have got is that these two persons have an altercation from way back and every time they see each other and are consuming alcoholic beverages, they get into fights.”

A while after the men left the residence, they arrived at Hill’s job site, a ranch situated a few hundred yards away on the Philip Goldson Highway. His boss, who spoke with the media off camera, said it was apparent that the men were drinking but they weren’t arguing when they went there.

Voice of: Arthur Hill’s Employer

“They never made a argue. The only thing they made a talk about that apparently two of them made a have, two of them made a mad at them. Because he didn’t tell dih, young boy that, if he didn’t get the trip for him. And the young boy didn’t tell him if he didn’t get the trip for him, because he didn’t want to give her no money. That would be the conversation they would have.”

The two sister’s mother, Delvorine Dominguez said that the incident was not spurred from any dispute involving her daughters.

Delvorine Dominguez, Mother-in-law of the accused & the deceased

“I just nuh want nobody to blame my daughter and say my daughter set it up because my daughter not set it up because right now, my daughter is very traumatized. And they got it on Facebook, the rumors go wrong. They spread that my daughter set it up, my daughter would have never ever set up nobody for kill Levan.”

Both the accused and the deceased have children with their respective girlfriends in Biscayne Village. Marion Ali for News Five.

Elderly Corozal Taxi Driver Goes Missing Without a Trace

A body was found today on the outskirts of Corozal Town. Sketchy reports are that the body was discovered behind a newly-built Mormon church on the Santa Rita Road this afternoon. Police have not released any information thus far on this discovery or the identity of the person as forensic experts left the scene late this evening. They have confirmed, however, that the body is not that of missing Corozal taxi driver, Rosalito Pacheco, who has not been seen since Wednesday when he left home to do a taxi run. Eastern Division Head, A.C.P Hilberto Romero share with the media today what they have on the missing taxi man.

A.C.P Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“On Thursday, the 1st of February, 2024, Marli Mo report her Kamala husband, Rosa Pacheco missing. She reported he left in his gold Toyota car to do taxi runs. from Wednesday and has not returned since. Efforts have been made to locate him. His phone has been called and he is not responding. Several searches are being conducted to try and locate him, but so far he has not been found, nor has the car been found.”

Marion Ali

“Did he say where he was leaving to do his run?”

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“No, he left to do his regular runs within Corozal.”

Marion Ali

“Had he, prior to him going missing, complained to anybody or told the police that anybody was troubling him or had he received threats?”

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“No, not that we know of. No, we have no such report.”

High Court Hands Down a Life Sentence for Marlon Everett

A life sentence has been handed down by Justice Candance Nanton in a murder case involving thirty-three-year-old Marlon Everett. He was convicted of murder in the shooting death of Albert Johnson which occurred in April 2018. In imposing the life sentence, Everett was informed that he will not be eligible for parole until he has served twenty-eight years in prison. Johnson was shot and killed while he was walking ahead of two other persons on Regent Street. According to the main witness, Everett was walking approximately six feet behind Johnson when he, the Crown’s witness, pushed his hand inside his pants, produced a firearm and handed it to Everett who crept up behind Johnson and fired two shots, fatally injuring him. Despite the murder being captured on surveillance footage, the identity of the shooter was not clear. A police officer was also called as a witness who testified to being able to identify the gunman as Everett, after recognizing him from the footage. Everett’s sentence takes effect retroactively, from April twenty-first, 2018.

Man Charged for Manslaughter After Driving Drunk

Last night, we reported on the tragic passing of Kenrick Castillo, a forty-six-year-old Dangriga resident who died after a vehicle crashed into his home where he slept, causing the building to collapse on top of him. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Michael Logan who has since been arrested and charged for manslaughter and driving under the influence. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.

Britney Gordon, reporting

On Wednesday, a vehicle was captured speeding down the road by surveillance cameras at J-mart Store in Dangriga. The video depicts the black jeep travelling at high speeds and capturing the attention of the security guard on duty. This was later identified to be a vehicle driven by Michael Logan, who was under the influence and accompanied by two passengers at the time. Logan reportedly lost control of the vehicle, crashing it into Kenrick Castillo’s home, resulting in his death. Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero stated that Logan has since been arrested and charged.

A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“Wednesday, thirty-first of January, 2024, around eleven-thirty p. m. Police responded to fatal accident on Saint Vincent Street, Dangriga. Upon arrival, they saw a Jeep Patriot vehicle extensively damaged. The driver was identified as Michael Logan, who reported he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into the part of a building in the area. At the time, a e mail person identified as Kenrick Castillo was inside that building and he was taken for medical treatment and he succumbed to his injuries. Michael Logan has since been arrested and charged for the crimes of manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct, a drove motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit, a drove motor vehicle without due care and attention.”

Reporter

“I know in America they have, I think Vehicular homicide that I know we don’t have here. But I guess you catch out to anything else. Mr. Castillo… was in his home, is there any other offense that can be put onto the factory? “

A.C.P. Hilberto Romero

“No. There is no other offense that he can be charged for. That is the maximum that can be done because it stems from a traffic accident.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

PM Weighs in on Maya Land Tension in Toledo

Tensions have been high in Toledo District over G.O.B.’s draft Maya Land Tenure Policy. At the start of the week, we took you to Santa Elena Village and Punta Gorda Town where the Toledo Alcaldes Association, the Maya Leaders Alliance and the government’s consultation team were holding simultaneous public discussions. Several village leaders, from Maya communities across the south, have also released video statements rejecting the draft policy. One leader went as far as tearing up the document on camera. Today, reporters asked Prime Minister Briceño to weigh in on the tension in the Toledo.