2024-02-19 - Channel 5 Belize

Amnesty Program Applicants Receive Permanent Residency Documents

The Department of Nationality and Passports and the International Organization on Migration handed over the first batch of permanent residency documents to persons who applied under the government’s Amnesty Program. With their legal standing and immigration status now regularized, the recipients are one step closer towards receiving full Belizean citizenship. We heard from Diana Locke, the Head of Office at the International Organization on Migration Belize.

Diana Locke, Head of Office, IOM

“Today, we had the ceremony for the handing over of the amnesty permanent residents cards. This is the end process for those recipients today who applied in the amnesty. We partnered with the Government of Belize back in 2022 and 2023 to execute on the ground applicants and preparing applicants for the amnesty application process. And so, today the approvals are beginning to come out, cards have been printed and persons have received their permanent residence cards for Belize. It allows them to live, work, function in Belize as any other permanent resident. Five years from today, they are eligible to apply for nationality through this process. But very important for us today was the fact that we did this in the middle of what we call our identity and integration hub, so that these persons who picked up their card today can actually come to the social security desk that we have here today at the hub and they can actually make an application for their social security cards. So it’s kind of like a one-stop shop today. This is our intention across the country, we’re going to be having about eight to ten hubs like this across the country where we’re taking all of the identity services that the government has, bringing them in one location, bringing social security along with it and maybe others. We have labor, we have a private sector entity. We might be bringing in more private sector entities as we go along and we see how it’s functioning. We might improve on it because it’s proven to be very effective. People who live in rural communities find it very difficult to come on a regular basis into a government office during the day and then you go from one office to the other and you’re moving around. Today, you can do everything in one location.”

UN and G.O.B. Hold Third Joint National Steering Committee Meeting

The Government of Belize and the United Nations held the third Joint National Steering Committee meeting today. Currently, there are nineteen U.N. agencies operating in Belize, aiding in the nation’s efforts towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These meetings give G.O.B. and these U.N. agencies an opportunity to review their achievements and realign their goals for the future. The meeting was held in Belmopan, where the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Belize, Raul Salazar, and the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amalia Mai, were both present.

Raul Salazar, UN Resident Coordinator, Belize

“We have continued leveraging the collective strength of the UN to continue pursue opportunities through joint programming. We have recently an example when I had the opportunity to participate in the closing ceremony of the Spotlight Initiative which was led by the UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA that made significant achievements to end violence against women and children in Belize. There are other initiatives under the Resilient Belize joint program funded by the secretary general specifically to support the advancement of the 2030 agenda. This was support by UNICEF, ILO, and WFP to continue developing the social protection floor.”

Amalia Mai, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“Some key accomplishments since our last encounter is the development and execution of the SDG dialogue which supported the prioritization of the commitments expounded on by the prime minister at the SDG Summit in September. The continued work across the UN system, the planning and execution of Social Protection Summit held in October and the execution of a workshop on the development of an integrated national finance framework which we held this year.”

UNDP and G.O.B. Partners to Improve Belize’s Poverty Assessment Strategy

Belize is among a list of eleven countries across Latin America and the Caribbean that has developed and implemented a Multidimensional Poverty Index to assess and address poverty. This morning, the United Nations Development Programme and the Ministry of Economic Development, along with the Statistical Institute of Belize, signed an agreement to develop a Monetary Poverty Measure. It will serve to complement Belize’s Multidimensional Poverty Index in measuring the prevalence of monetary deprivation in Belize, allowing for a more comprehensive assessment of poverty. A government release following the agreement signing says, “being able to use this powerful tool to diagnose the condition of poverty and identify changes over time can lead to innovative and articulated actions within and across the government and civil society organizations that will better address the specific needs of the country’s population”. The agreement comes with six deliverables that are expected to be completed by July 2024.

G.O.B. to Announce Greater Investments in Sports for New Fiscal Year

In January, we showed you the deplorable state of the Marion Jones Sporting Complex’s race track. And the Marion Jones Sporting Complex is not the only sporting facility that is in dire need of upgrades. Across the country, athletes are subjected to training and competing in less than optimal sporting facilities. To the National Sports Council’s credit, we have been sent photos and videos of ongoing repairs to the Russell Chiste Garcia Auditorium and Carl Ramos Stadium in Dangriga. But Minister of Sports Rodwell Ferguson agrees that greater investments are needed. This morning, during his appearance on Open Your Eyes, Minister Ferguson noted some changes to the government’s sports strategy and budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports

“As the Minister of Sports, about a month ago, I took a comprehensive document to Cabinet that involved the entire country in terms of facilities and how we can support sports. Cabinet looked at it very fruitful and the prime minister appointed a subcommittee headed by myself, includes Minister Coye, Minister Mahler and Minister Fonseca. We hope to announce to announce to the nation at the budget presentation debate what we are going to do to upgrade our facilities across the country. Beside that I like to be innovative and I came up with an idea for an application to raise money through the app for sports, both nationally and in the Diaspora and the app should be launched sometime in April. We are asking a minimum of a dollar a month. If every month a one hundred thousand people give a dollar that is a hundred thousand locally. And if a hundred thousand give a dollar in the U.S that is two hundred thousand for us because it doubles. I strongly believe the app will work because there are many Americans and organizations in the states that are Belizean led who wants to contribute. But, they want to make sure their money is being spent wisely. So we are committing to them that they are going to get a monthly report of the revenue and expenditure.”

Ministry of Sports Commits $4000 Monthly to B.E.B.L.

Minister Ferguson also announced that his ministry is committing four thousand dollars monthly to the Belize Elite Basketball League. This is in response to the league’s complaint over the five thousand dollars price tag attached to the use of the Belize City Civic Center for games. It is less than a host team pays to use the Civic, but Minister Ferguson says his ministry is strapped for resources.

Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports

“We have semi-pro basketball going on right now and the group complained about using the CIVIC about the amount of funds that they get from the game might not cover their expenses for the game. From the Ministry of Sports we tried to figure how we can support them with the little resources we have. So we committed two thousand dollars from the sports council every month to them and the Department of Youth Services, I am also the Ministry of Youth, because we are dealing with young people likewise, then you can contribute two thousand likewise. So every month the semi-pro should be getting four thousand dollars from the ministry to support their bid and their cause. I noticed they opened a Pandora box because now every discipline will want the same. But we have to figure out what we can do as the minister of sports.”

Explosive Weekend in Belize’s Sporting Disciplines

Good evening and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. From an entertainment point of view, the Belize City Defenders spared no expense in giving fans a show on Friday night inside the Belize City Civic Center. A thirty-foot monitor was hoisted inside the venue for the first time. Fans were able to view replays and see themselves. But, everyone was there to watch the game between the Belize City Defenders and the Dangriga Dream Ballers.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Dangriga’s Delvon Henderson over the rim with a hot start to the game. Five minutes left on the clock in the first with Rebels up six points to four, Defenders’ Nigel Jones puts up the ball over three bodies under the rim. The first quarter ended with the Belize City Defenders on top, fifteen to fourteen points. Baller Brandon Rogers over Devin Daly at the start of the second quarter. Daly, on the other end, responds from the three-point line. Up, thirty points to twenty-seven, Henderson makes a basket from deep to give his team their largest lead of the game.

The first half ended with Dangriga on top, thirty-seven to thirty-six points. Right out the gate in the second, Lorenzo Dillard finds Jones over the rim. Dillard, this time with the three-point shot off the assist from John Kelly Devon Campbell from just under the arch gives his team the largest lead of the game with forty-six to thirty-nine points. Richard Smith, the Third, showing muscle under the rim with this play. The Defenders outscored their opponents by twelve points in the third, maintained their lead in the fourth, and went on to win the game. Here is more from Dillard and Jones.

Lorenzo Dillard, Belize City Defenders

“We finally figured out what we are playing for and that is each other. We went in the locker room, we were down one, we talked. We came together; see what we could do to bounce back and we did just that.”

Nigel Jones, Belize City Defenders

“I feel like tonight they had a couple problems adjusting to the way we switched up in the second half, they tried to go man and when they go man it opened it up for us and that gave me a chance to find the lane to cut and my teammates were able to find me.”

Let’s jump into some football action. We continue with our coverage of the William Dawson Peace Cup. Tonight, we bring you highlights from the match between Westlake FC and Kelly Street. Thirteen minutes into the game, Kelly Street’s Francis Andrews sprints ahead of two defenders. The referee does not call an offside. In front of the goal, he fires with his left foot and makes it count. At the twenty-six minute mark, West Lake’s Dylan Jones beats three defenders inside the penalty box to put his team on the scoreboard. Ten minutes into the second half, Kelly Street’s goalkeeper collided into one of his opponents’ knee. He fought to maintain consciousness on the ground and left the field with an injury to the face. West Lake went on to seal another victory, with a pass all the way from midfield that landed in front of the goal for the finishing touch.

In cycling, Derrick Chavarria was crowned the champion of the 2024 Annual DigiWallet Valentine Tour. In the Individual time trial on Friday night, Derrick Chavarria topped the scoreboard in the Men’s Elite category, finishing the two-mile ride with a time of three minutes and fifty-seven seconds. In the second leg of the tour, riders raced from Belize City to Dangriga through the Coastal Road, for seventy-three miles. Chavarria was among a large group of riders that was the first to make it across the finish line. And on Sunday, the circuit race in Santa Elena Town ended with a photo finish between Chavarria and Oscar Quiroz. Chavarria was declared the champion with his final times for all three stages combined.

Well Folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.