Governor General Froyla Tzalam has issued a Writ of Election for holding a by-election for the Toledo East Electoral Division. The writ notes that the day appointed for the nomination of candidates is Tuesday, July second. As Prime Minister John Briceño has announced, the by-election will take place on Wednesday, July seventeenth. The Representation of the People Act states that “the persons entitled to vote at the election of a divisional representative must be persons whose names appear on the register for that division, as existing on the Nomination Day. According to the Elections and Boundaries Department, the cut-off-date for persons wishing to be registered as electors and who wish to vote in the upcoming by-election was Monday June tenth. That time has already passed. The department says that the cut-off-date allows the officers to conduct their due diligence on all applications received, which includes the publication of supplementary list and holding of revision court as required by law. Persons applying to be registered as electors after the cut-off-date of will not be eligible to vote in the Toledo East Electoral Division by-election.
Category: Toledo District
Dennis “Desho” Williams Prepares for Toledo East By-Election
As we have reported, the People’s United Party elected Osmond Martinez as its candidate in Toledo East during a recent party convention. He is set to go up against the People’s National Party’s Wil Maheia and the United Democratic Party’s Dennis “Desho” Williams. We heard from Williams for the first time today when he made an appearance on Open Your Eyes. Williams spoke about the challenges that residents are facing in the constituency and a few of his plans to address those issues. Here is a bit of what he had to say this morning.
Dennis “Desho” Williams, U.D.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East
“I enjoy the satisfaction I get from just assisting people and many of my colleagues told me mein you like to help out, why not take it up. It was a long, hard, though decision because it is not my kind of thing to be in the forefront. I am more of a street soldier for the party and working hard. But I decided to take it up. It is extremely challenging because the size of the constituency alone is extremely difficult. My furthest village is seventy-two miles north, that is Monkey River, then you have sixty miles south. One of the biggest issues in the rural areas is the maya land rights issue. That is the one of the main sticking points and as you go that is one of the questions they ask. And, my response to them is that well I spoke to my party leader Honorable Shyne and he says that we are a law abiding country and if the court rules something then we have to abide by it you know. I am no expert. I just go by what the court says. It does not really affect me, like us living in town. It affects them and their future because they are complaining about the one kilometer outside of their village. They say that is not enough. I spoke to like I said Shyne, he has a lot of connection, we would benefit greatly from a call center in P.G., there is none. We have graduates from U.B., Highschool that has great command of the English language. But they have to leave, and some go to Harvest Caye, some to Belmopan to seek employment and one of the cries I hear from them is that it is difficult to further their education if they have to leave home to find work. So, a simple thing like a call center with five hundred jobs would create a lot of employment and we don’t need central government to do that. When it comes to tourism that is not something we can do right now, but we have the full package when t comes to Toledo, we have the reef, we have the Cayes, the Maya temples, falls, cave tubing, we have everything. But, the B.T.B. has done nothing to create employment there.”
Sewing the Gaps Between Poverty and Empowerment
In the Maya village of Pueblo Viejo, women and girls are taking steps to empower themselves, despite their financial situations. The Taiwan Technical Mission and the Ministry of Rural Transformation are working together to offer the women of the Tumul U.J. Pueblo Mopan Women’s Group sewing lessons with the goal of helping them reach financial security and one day, pass on the skills to the younger generation. The initiative is part of the Enhancing Women in Belize in the Covid-19 Post Pandemic Era project. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more information.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
In the village of Pueblo Viejo, a remote community in southern Belize, a group of sixteen women joined forces to help pull each other out of financial insecurity. These are the members of the Tumul UJ Pueblo Mopan Women’s Group who will now be enrolled in the Taiwan Technical Mission program where they will learn a valuable skill that has supported Belizean women and families for decades, sewing.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Rural Transformation
“Today, my friends, is about celebrating this wonderful project that the Tumul group is going to benefit from. And really what this project seeks to do is really to provide training for our women to improve their entrepreneurial skills, to improve their sewing skills to improve their, you know, the collaborative effort of working together and to be able to pass on those traditional and cultural skills that our women have. You know, when we look at the women who are out there and you see that beautiful embroidery that they have. That’s so wonderful. So wonderful. And, you know, our women, they know how to embroider this, how to sew, how to But it’s not sufficient for them only to know. We want them to pass it on to the children. We want them to be able to share it with our other beautiful cultures and beliefs. And we want them to see it as an opportunity for you to be able to make some money.”
The women will learn the basics of sewing and maintaining sewing equipment. At the end of the course, the participants will be able to create their own outfits and possibly sew uniforms for school children. Coordinator of the group, Dalia Sho, explained what we can expect from this training.
Dalia Sho, Coordinator
“So the program will be three months, two weeks for the duration of the classes. They’re going to learn the basic to a full course sewing, which is measurement and so forth, learning the basic when it comes to the machines, the different parts, how to take care of your machines, because that’s very important, because that’s the tool that they’re going to use throughout the course, as well as learning basic measurements, that’s also when it comes to knowledge, building those math skills and so forth. And also, whenever they are finished within the course, they will be able to make their own outfit, for example. They will be able to produce not only for themselves, but also for the children that they have, and also maybe at the end, they will be able to vendor some uniforms for the school children especially. And from here, after they graduate, which is going to be sometime in the ending of September, first week of October they’re gonna give back to the community in the sense that we want to empower not only women as well, but our children.”
H.E. Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize
“Talking about partnership. The most important one is the local partner. So, to implement the project, we need to collaborate with local partners in this program. I’m particularly pleased to have such a like-minded partner, the tumble who women’s group. I learned that this group was established by 16 dedicated women committed to empower underprivileged women in the community who struggled during covid. And this is the exact reason. Why the Taiwan government initiated this women’s empowerment project. We want to help those women, those underprivileged to support themselves because they were the one who been hit most hard, the hardest hit hard during the pandemic. And we want to help the women to recover and through the women, because women is the agent of change. Through women, you can change the community.”
Oscar Requena
“I want to say to you, find the time to meet, to work together, to share together, to laugh together, to enjoy the successes of your project. And today, this is the beginning. for joining me. We want you to build on this success. And I hope that in the coming years, we are going to see that coming out of Pueblo Viejo, coming out of this training that you are receiving, that you are going to participate, that we are going to see our young people, our young girls, our young boys, you know, benefit from these skills that you are going to learn. And that one day, we can see that the products that you produce are can be out there for sale for the tourists, you know, for the export market, the opportunities are endless.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
Toledo East Gets Ready for July 17th Bye-election
The People’s United Party has chosen Doctor Osmond Martinez as its standard bearer in Toledo East where he will face Dennis Williams of the United Democratic Party in an upcoming bye-election. The vote, restricted to that constituency only, will see a new area representative taking office ahead of general elections in 2025. While the prime minister has been reserved in a sharing a date for the bye-election, he told reporters this afternoon that it is now set for July seventeenth.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I’ve asked for the writ to be prepared and the date that I have set after consulting with the Elections & Boundaries Commission to see when they could get ready the voters list, I would want to have it as early as possible. The date is going to be July seventeenth, which is going to be on my birthday. So I’ll be working on that day in Toledo East.”
M.L.A. Conducting Damages Assessment Amidst Toledo Wildfires
The Maya Leaders Alliance is assessing the damage caused by wildfires in the Toledo District. The M.L.A. has not been very vocal about the impact of the fires on the Maya villages. So today when reporters caught up with the M.L.A.’s spokesperson, Christina Coc, in Belize City, she was asked about the associations’ response.
Christina Coc, Spokesperson for M.L.A.
“With regards to the wildfires, clearly you have seen the devastation. A lot of our communities have been impacted. We are in the process of completing the assessment of that damage. Our focus is on relief and recovery ensuring that for the next three to four months those who have lost their corn and milpa will have food, traditional food that their communities will provide through the aid as we are organizing to provide that relief. The association is funding and leading this relief effort and we are going to, fundamentally our priority is to provide food security within the next three to four months until we can have another crop of corn.”
Dr. Osmond Martinez Triumphs at PUP Convention in Toledo East
On Sunday, the People’s United Party held one of the largest conventions Toledo has seen in decades to decide upon a standard bearer for the upcoming bye-election. After the passing of former Toledo East Area Representative Mike Espat, three P.U.P. candidates offered themselves up for the post. These candidates were Nicanor Requena, Doctor Osmond Martinez, and Melhem Espat. The convention was deemed a success as an unprecedented number of voters made their way to the polling stations in Bella Vista village and in Punta Gorda Town, with three thousand, five hundred and fifty-six voters. After hours of voting and counting, Doctor Osmond Martinez emerged victorious. News Five’s Britney Gordon was there to detail the days’ proceedings. Here’s more on that.
On Sunday, what typically would have been a quiet morning for residents of Punta Gorda Town and the Bella Vista community, was a flurry of activity as voters and supporters crowded the streets, readying themselves for the PUP convention. Even before the stations opened at nine a.m. swarms of supporters, dressed in royal blue t-shirts with their candidate of choice, were camped just outside the stations. First to make an appearance at the Bella vista polling station was Doctor Osmond Martinez, who certainly had the loudest supporters of the day.
Britney Gordon
“Do you feel that your team has done the work to ensure that people come out today? Do you anticipate the turnout will be good?”
Doctor Osmond Martinez, PUP Standard Bearer
“Well, I think you should just look at the crowd and the energy. They are reenergized, ready for a change, ready for new vision, ready for new leadership. So we are here, ready to work.”
Britney Gordon
“And that vision, talk to me a little bit about that vision, what you’re hoping will come out of your possible success.”
“The Communities have different needs. But one of the things that we cannot do is to take advantage of the poor people. We need to take care of the poor people, and that’s what we will do
The activity in Bella Vista subsided around midday, but picked up with the arrival of Nicanor Requena, who said that the abundance of voters bodes well for the success of the convention.
Nicanor Requena, Political Candidate
“It’s been really good. I think that we are up to seeing an unprecedented turnout in this convention. I think a lot of people were excited about this convention and so this morning got off to a very busy start it was a bit hectic in PG this morning, I must say, but very grateful that our people were coming out and casting their votes. I feel that our people are going to speak today, and they are going to choose the best candidate. I am hopeful that they’re going to choose Nick Requena because Nick Requena is about working with the people and for the people. But at the end of the day, it is the people’s choice.”
Of this large turnout, a few voters were willing to share what informed their vote. Many of them were simply anticipating a change.
Voter
“The change that I hope to see that change can come into the smaller communities and don’t be like before that the people that come into power don’t care about the smaller communities.”
Juan Requena, voter
“Well we want change. We want a minister [area representative] because the one we had gone. We have to put another one.”
Henry Usher, Chairman, PUP
“And receiving one thousand seven hundred and sixty-two votes, doctor Osmond Martinez, the new standard bearer for the People’s United Party. And a standard bearer that is going towards victory in the by election next month. Congratulations, doctor Osmond Martinez. A well-deserved victory.”
We caught up with the newly-elected standard bearer to hear how motivated he is going into the upcoming bye-election. Martinez told us that the work has only just begun.
Doctor Osmond Martinez
“It was a lot of work, a lot of sacrifices but we haven’t won anything. This is just the start. We need to win the bi-elections.”
Britney Gordon
“But it was a remarkable turnout today. Do you think this is a good signal going into the bye-elections?”
“Of course. I think it’s the people who are energized and I must say that both my colleagues Melhem Espat and Nicanor Requena did an excellent job. So the outcome of this convention is because We are one team, one PUP and we did we did bring out the people.”
Britney Gordon
“And so are you confident going into the bye-elections now that you will be able to continue on this trend of success for your party?”
“We will continue to work hard and harder.”
Usher attributed the success of the day’s turnout to the hard work put in by the candidates. He is confident that the momentum of the event will carry over into the upcoming bye-election.
“I have to congratulate the teams the candidates and their teams for really being on the ground since we announced the convention here in Toledo East, it was ramped up because of, of course, the unfortunate passing of the Honorable Mike Espat, and I’m sure he’s looking down right now and saying he’s happy to see so many of his people here in Toledo, he’s coming out and supporting the People’s United Party. I think that the energy today will spill over. There’s a lot of momentum going into the bye election. It has, it’s going to be about a month away before the bye-election because the constitution calls for vacancies in the National Assembly to be filled ninety days from when the vacancy was created. Of course, as I mentioned, the Honorable Mike passed away April twenty-second. So we’re looking at around July twenty-second, July twenty-third for this vacancy to be filled. So it’s about a month away but this is a lot of momentum. I’m very encouraged to see the turnout. Of course, as the winning candidate said, we have to unite, we have to work together. We are a united party, and we have to go into the by election united to secure that victory.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
Up to 400 Families Affected by Fires in Toledo
It’s been several weeks of continuous heat and widespread flames ripping through the country. Thousands of acres of land have been affected, as well as hundreds of families. With a dry season so uncharacteristically long, environmentalists are calling this one of the most severe heatwaves the country has ever experienced. With fires so intense, it took a collaborative effort between the government, N.G.Os, and private companies to battle the flames. Today, a joint press conference was held to provide details of how the fires grew out of control. The stakeholders also provided an assessment of the damage caused. Here’s Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator with those figures.
Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator
“We noted that continuous high temperatures and low rainfall across the country increase the likelihood of fires across the country. In the Toledo district in particular, we saw there were localized fires which developed near the San Pedro Columbia area, and these increased significantly during the period of May fourteenth to seventeenth. There were also significant increases in central and southern Toledo throughout that period. On the board, on the screen, you will see the temperatures for the period from the first to the twenty-seventh, and in particular, I want to highlight to you that this the peaks the peak temperatures. It’s actually when we saw most of the fires starting to develop. You will see that there were high, record highs of one hundred seven degrees in the central farm area. And this of course, was a similar trend across the country. That in combination with the low rainfall, really created that condition. So our damage assessments have been ongoing because you understand that this is a situation that is, has not stopped. There are continuing fires across the country and we have been responding to these issues for the past three weeks. We also have people who responded to fires as of last night. And so it’s an ongoing operation. But what we have been able to gather so far in the Toledo district, there are upwards of four hundred families which have been impacted by this fire. This is a spread across a space of twenty-eight communities across all across the district. And up to now our assessments continue, but we noted that there are a there is a minimum of six thousand acres of farmland which have been damaged. There has been also great loss to damage to the environment, and there is a lot of loss to livelihood. We also note that ten houses have been destroyed in two communities. There were eight in the Grand Creek Village and two in San Pedro, Columbia. In the Mountain Pine Ridge, we also noted that approximately thirty-two thousand acres were affected in that area. However, we have not yet been able to begin the assessment of the Cayo district to determine the totals the total impact so far. We will be doing that in the next few days.”
Ya’axche Records Worst Wildfires in Toledo District
According to Estevan Asi, the increased temperatures and changes in climate, are the worst he has ever seen in all his years in agriculture. Asi also works with the Ya’axche Conservation Trust.
Estevan Asi Jr., Ya’axche Conservation Trust
“We responded to communities in Trio, San Miguel, Silver Creek, Columbia. We had community leaders approaching us because we do have some capacity in fire management, so we were able to also send out a team out there. We had adequate resources such as the bladder bag, the flappers that helped us in controlling these fires. Of course, everything was togetherness, we worked collectively to ensure that at the end of the day we controlled most of the fires that were spreading. So, for this year, the fire was really devastating. I’ve worked in agriculture for some time but I can say, because of the increased temperatures and changes in climactic conditions, this year was really devastating. We even have a number of farmers within our farmer network that have lost their farms. So we’re talking about cacao, corn, beans and other diversified crops within their farms. Also, you had some farmers that lost their animals, small animals and a few homes were burnt.”
Belize Council of Churches Offers Prayers to Fire Victims
The Belize Council of Churches a few minutes ago issued a press statement regarding the forest fires that continue to devastate certain parts of the country, particularly the Toledo and Cayo districts.
In its release, the Council says, “The Belize Council of Churches offers its prayers of solace to the victims of the fires in Cayo and Toledo. We also offer prayers of gratitude for the dedicated many who have fought, and continue to fight the fires.”
The release continues, “The Council of Churches has initially sent cases of life-giving water to Toledo with enclosed prayers for the firefighters, as they spend day and night not only in the heat of this dry weather but also the heat of the fire.”
Man Chopped in Toledo After Fight
The violent nature of the weekend extended to southern Belize where a man was chopped in Toledo District. He is Benancio Pop, the victim of an armed assault in San Marcos village after he had engaged in an altercation with another individual earlier that evening. We asked A.C.P Hilberto Romero for more information and he told us that Pop is in a stable condition.
A.C.P Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division
“On Saturday first of June 2024, around eleven thirty p.m. police responded to a report of a chopping at San Marcos Village in the toledo district. Upon your well, they found Benancio Pop with chop wounds to the body. He was taken to the Punta hospital where he is presently in a stable condition. Investigation revealed that been had an altercation with one Jorge Mocu in San Marcos. Mocu inflicted the chop wounds to him. Mocu is in custody and will be charged today.”
Reporter
“The two knew each other before the fire?”
Hilberto Romero
“Yes, they knew each other.“