On Friday, a family of thirteen in Trio Village was left without a home after a fire destroyed the building completely. That afternoon, around two-thirty p.m., thirty-three-year-old Yuri Choc, her sister, mother, and ten children were at home when a burning fly repellant started a fire somewhere in the house. Yuri Choc, who was inside at the time of the fire, spoke with us today about the incident.
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
On the Phone: Yuri Choc, Fire Victim
“You see when they start to burn the thing I think like Sabana. It just ketch fire and then we see the. We deh inside that da when we see the ashes inside. And then my mom and we run outside and we see the house done ketch fire.”
Britney Gordon
“Did anyone get injured?”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“No, ma’am.“
Britney Gordon
“Nobody got hurt? Okay.”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“No.”
Britney Gordon
“And what about, you know, all of your belongings? Were you able to save anything?”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“No. We never save nothing. And only we kitchen stuff and nothing. We never save nothing. But only paper we try take that important. We documents.”
Britney Gordon
“So how many people were in the house at the time?”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“Only ten.”
Britney Gordon
“Ten people, and you all made it out safely.”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“And the kids they with my mom because they can’t get in with the fire because they could get burned. Da dih house we need because I cya stay with my kids with no house and I cya stay with no people. It hurt. We noh got house. And I no have nobody to help me. If my pa mi alive maybe he could help we out brt we noh have nobody fi help we because my pa pass away and my husband pass away. What I need da my house,”
Choc and her family can be reached at the number six-six-five-eight-five-five-seven.
For years, adolescent pregnancy has been an issue that Belize has been trying to reduce in vulnerable communities. Despite attempts made to increase use of contraceptive methods, Belize continues to have one of the lowest usages, with a high adolescent birth rate. This year, a new program is being implemented to counteract the issue. The Leave No One Behind, the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in the Afro Descendant, Creole, Garifuna, and Miskito Peoples of the Caribbean Coast of Central America is being implemented in Belize through the United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency. Today, a workshop was held with various organizations to bring attention to the data and discuss theimplementation of this initiative. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Belize’s adolescent pregnancy rate continues to be one of the highest in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Despite the Ministry of Health’s efforts to provide contraception, adolescent usage is the lowest among Belizean women, and they have the highest unmet need for family planning. Around eleven percent of Belize’s adolescent girls, age fifteen to nineteen years, have had a baby. As concern over this issue increases, the need for intervention became more apparent. Thus, a program was launched to proactively reduce the numbers. Head of office for the United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency in Belize, Tisa Grant, spoke to us about the integration of the program.
Tisa Grant
Tisa Grant, Liaison Officer, UNFPA in Belize
“This workshop is a part of one aspect of a regional project being implemented in Central America. The project is funded by the Duchy of Luxembourg. It’s called Leave No One Behind, the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in the Afro Descendant, Creole, Garifuna, and Miskito Peoples of the Caribbean Coast of Central America. So it’s a very long name, but essentially the project aims to reduce adolescent pregnancy in select countries in Central America. Belize is one of the recipients of funding for this project. And so here in country we are implemented in three districts, Toledo, Stann Creek and Belize districts.”
According to data from the United Nations Population Fund, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, live in poor housing conditions, and be unemployed or in low-paid employment. As a result, their children are more likely to live in poverty, become involved in crime, and abuse drugs and alcohol. At the workshop stakeholders were able to gather and discuss the impact of teen pregnancy, analyze data and discuss the roadmap for implementing solutions in country.
Tisa Grant
“We felt that it was important to have a wide cross section of stakeholders. particularly those who work in the response, um, to, um, reducing adolescent pregnancy, but also organizations that work with young people in general. So we’ve invited the ministry of health. We have, um, civil society organizations like BFLA, we have POWA, we have YWCA, we have a long list of civil society organizations and government representatives from the ministry of education, ministry of health, and. If I start listing, I may miss one of them. It was really about having a wide cross section of stakeholders that would be able to learn about this tool that was developed by UNFPA, by our Latin American and Caribbean regional office. The tool is called an Impact Evaluation Goal Model, and what it aims to do is to assess the impact of policies on the reduction of adolescent pregnancy and alternatives that would allow for access to services, but also access to information such as sexuality education and so forth.”
Southern Belize is highly affected by adolescent pregnancy. Vice President of the National Garifuna Council, Ifasina Efunyemi, said that the goal is to increase access to resources, sexual education and guidance for young women. The project emphasizes a proactive approach to preventing these unplanned pregnancies.
Ifasina Efunyemi
Ifasina Efunyemi, Vice President, National Garifuna Council
“If you were able to be a part of some of the data that was shared, we know that a lot Garifuna, young persons in districts specifically are among the highest when it comes to the rates of adolescent pregnancies in the country. And so all the ripple effects of that, all the issues we have in terms of nutrition, uh, maternal health, when you look at dropout rates, you look at other social issues that are related. to children having children or young people having children. We are impacted by those in our communities. And so it’s important for us to know what the data is saying so that that can inform the activities that we do, the kinds of interventions that we can have as an organization, because we know that when it comes to educating our community, we have an important role to play as an organization, as the National Garifuna Council.”
She said that that through the spread of data, organizations will be able to accurately determine how much resources are needed in each community.
Ifasina Efunyemi
“I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity to be in this gathering to get this information and also to learn of the information system that’s going to be implemented because it means that we can input that data and get some feedback on what are the projections if we’re able to provide contraceptive methods to our population so that we don’t have young people having children anymore that they are able to delay that Until they are adults, until they have already established themselves and can actually take care of themselves in a family, then we need to know what all we need to do, how many IUDs or how many implants, whatever it is that they need as a contraceptive method. What do we need to use so that we don’t have fifteen- to nineteen-year-olds having children?”
Gilda Mackenzie, of the Productive Organization of Women in Action, said that sessions like these assist organizations on their mission to ensure the safety and wellbeing of women in the country.
Gilda Mackenzie
Gilda Mackenzie, Representative, Productive Organization of Women in Action
“The purpose that I’m here today, a part of the Impactful Estimation Model is to basically learn more about the project as we are here to advocate for our community. We work along with women and girls advocacy programs. We do community outreach. So it’s really nice to be a part of today’s session. We also talk about pregnancy within the age group as well. We wanted to ensure that we are spreading awareness about the situation. We also want to ensure that we are properly educating our women and girls in our community as well.”
This morning at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, members of Rotary Club Sunrise, Courts Belize, and K.H.M.H. staff were present for the opening of a lactation lounge where mothers and their newborns will be able to breastfeed in comfort. The room was renovated by members of the Rotary and furnished with various appliances by Courts. Baby-friendly hospitals are essential for supporting breastfeeding and promoting the health of newborns and their mothers. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Breastfeeding is not simply a lifestyle decision, it is an investment in health for both the baby and the mother. Breast milk contains the perfect balance of nutrients, is easily digested, and its composition changes to meet the baby’s needs, especially during the first month of life. At the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, a room has been furnished with all the amenities necessary for a mother and her newborn to bond.
Chandra Cansino
Chandra Cansino, C.E.O., Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital
“In a lot of cases, depending on the type of deliveries that the mothers have, they breastfeed their babies in the bed or at their bedside. However, some are not new mothers, some are already lactating mothers, and we have staff that are lactating mothers, so it’s really to provide an environment where anybody that comes to the hospital needs to breastfeed or to extract milk, they have a safe space to do that. And so, this is what the lounge will serve as.”
Baby-friendly hospitals allow for early initiation of breastfeeding and encourage immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact after birth. Breastfeeding benefits mothers by reducing the risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer. As part of its community outreach initiative, Rotary Club of Belize (Sunrise) saw the importance of creating a lactation lounge at the KHMH based on a particular need.
Misty Michael
Misty Michael, President, Rotary Club, Sunrise
“One of our fellow Rotarians, Dr. Selma Bermudez, is actually an epidemiologist here at the hospital. She was aware of the situation with the room at the time and that the hospital was in need of assistance in renovating it. She brought the project to the club, our service projects committee evaluated the potential project. One of the areas of focus for Rotary is maternal and child health, so we saw it fitting that it was a project that our club should partner on.”
Rotary Sunrise, in bringing the project to life, turned to Courts Belize for assistance. Its parent company, Unicomer, took advantage of the opportunity and donated furniture and appliance.
“We have recliners. We want mom to be very comfortable and this is the ideal time, it’s Mother’s Day and I am so happy that this is launched during Mother’s Day. We have recliners. Our new moms just went through a whole lot. They went through nine months and their bodies have gone through a lot. We want them to be comfortable so we have some comfortable seating arrangements with the recliners. We also have a fridge that we donated as well. We want to keep the breast milk cool because they will have more breast milk. And then we have baby gear. We see the need for it, for new moms and the importance of breastfeeding in the formative years of a child’s life and we said, definitely, we’d like to be a part of this.”
Baby-friendly hospitals are essential for supporting breastfeeding and promoting the health of newborns and mothers. The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative was launched by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital was officially recognized as a baby friendly hospital in 2008.
Chandra Cansino
“Since then, we have been evaluated externally, every two years to make sure that we are meeting the international standards and one of those is to make sure that we have a lactation area. We did have one before but it was not as nice as this and so we are extremely grateful. This is very comfortable and it will facilitate both patients and staff if they need to either extract milk or breastfeed.”
This initiative is not just about improving breastfeeding rates; it’s about ensuring that all aspects of care for mothers and babies are optimized to promote health and well-being from the start. Isani Cayetano for News Five.
During his visit with the President of Mexico, Prime Minister John Briceño also discussed the possibility of the Tren Maya project including a closer stop to Belize. PM Briceño says this would increase the number of tourists coming into Belize, while establishing a more efficient mode to transport goods. Here is what he told us.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“That is what we are working on. That was a part of the meeting yesterday. On Saturday we are going to meet one of the, Tren Maya is not only by the government. The army is a part of it and sections are being built by the private sector. There is a group that is working in this area and the freezone in the Chetumal. The CEO of that company will also be at this meeting. That is one of the meeting we are going to have with them to see how we can get the Tren Maya a little over three miles to be able to connect to our border. Ideally what we want to do is connect it to our border, build the facilities and get the tourist to come to Belize and also products. We no longer have to depend on transporting by ships. WE can transport by train and the Tren Maya goes all the way to Canada. It is a whole new area for transportation of goods and products for Belize, so and then after that the next step is to see if we can get it into Belize City or somewhere in the country.”
The Ministry of Finance is yet to locate the funds needed to replace the Belcan Bridge, though it remains in a state of disrepair. A study done on the bridge by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing found that the bridge needs urgent replacement. So, what is the hold up? Well, the Minister of Infrastructure Development, Julius Espat says it is now out of his hands. On Wednesday, he told us that that he has no clue what the plan is.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development
“Again you are dealing with another ministry. I have no clue as to what is in their plans as it pertains to giving us the budget. We have done our job. Our job is to analyze the structures, to alert them as to the urgent need of replacing it. We have done the feasibility study. WE have done the design. We have secured the loan. It is up to the ministry of finance to make the final decision and I have no real input in that.”
Paul Lopez
“This cant be news to you. I am sure you will get updates as times passes.”
Julius Espat
“That is gossip. I don’t deal with gossip. I deal with what decisions are made in Cabinet.”
Paul Lopez
“So you are waiting for a response.”
Julius Espat
“From day one I have been waiting for a response. But it is not our decision. Remember we are service providers and if the allocation is given to us the work will start immediately if they believe that they are other priorities then I have to respect?”
Paul Lopez
“Who pushes and presses this as a priority given the current state of the bridge?”
Julius Espat
“I do, because I depend on the technical expertise given to me by our professional staff, by international lending institutions that also have seen the need. So we are doing our job. So if you fault me for that and want to call me emotional, or that I lobby to much or too passionate about it then that is fine. But I do what is given for me and the Prime Minister has given me an opportunity to serve as the minister of infrastructure development and I do that to the best of my ability.”
On Wednesday, the Government of Belize celebrated the full completion of the Philip Goldson Highway and Remate Bypass Upgrading Project. According to the Briceño administration, the project has positively impacted the lives of approximately forty-five thousand Belizeans in the Corozal, Orange Walk, and Belize districts. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing is being hailed for saving fifteen million dollars on the project, while completing it before its deadline. The inauguration marks the end of a three-year, ninety-three million dollar project. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Remate Bypass Upgrading Project has been completed. The ninety-three-million-dollar road was officially inaugurated at a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon. Prime Minister John Briceno was present at the event.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Why is this road important? Well first of all it connects us internationally to Mexico. Secondly it is about agriculture. All the products produced in the north, now that they can use this road. But also because it connects to Mexico and we are now importing more and more into Mexico, cattle, coconut, shrimps. WE are looking at exporting other products. It plays a significant role for us to be able to compete internationally. Most importantly for the people that live in this area, San Pedro and Patchakan and the rest of the villages, these people for decades and decades have been suffering the dust and the mud and it has made their lives extremely difficult, so I am very happy for them, and I know they are very excited about it.”
PM Briceño was accompanied by six other ministers who were there to cut the ribbon, declaring the bypass officially opened. Among them was the Area Representative for Orange Walk South and the Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai. He spoke on the benefit of the road to the sugar industry.
Jose Abelardo Mai
Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“It takes us now from here to the outlet, eleven minutes. It takes me eleven minutes. If I was to go through Corozal Town, from here to there is twenty minutes. And from there to the border is another twelve fifteen minutes, so time savings. Our cane trucks leave from Patchakan with fifteen, twenty tons of sugarcane with all lights working, everything the blink, the horn the blow, when you run through that road and get on the highway and the guys in blue stop you and ask to put on your signal and it doesn’t work, and you get a ticket for that. Not to mention you know how much it cost to deliver sugarcane to Orange Walk right now, it cost thirty-one dollars from San Ramon, here it is thirty-five dollars, if they pay you sixty or seventy, half of it goes into transportation. This will significantly contribute to lowering the cost of sugarcane.”
Funding for the project came in part as a thirty-seven million dollars grant from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund and a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank.
Therese Turner-Jones
Therese Turner-Jones, Vice President of Operations, CDB
“What I love most about this project is it epitomizes how CDB likes to work which is in partnership with some of our best partners and one of those here is the United Kingdom Commonwealth Development Office. So we are really proud to be here to be cutting the ribbon and opening this road.”
Kate Reynolds
Kate Reynolds, Acting British High Commissioner
“On behalf of the UK government I express my heartiest congratulations to the Prime Minister and his government, especially those in the MIDH and the project execution unit for their hard work to ensure this project was completed within budget and the time frame.”
Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing, Julius Espat says rural communities are close to his heart, because he is a representative of a rural area. As a result, he understood the need for this upgrade and the impact it would have on these rural communities.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing
“Why rural, well rural communities for the last twenty years have not received any attention and they are as equal as us and any Belizeans and they deserve it and we have embarked on spending a large portion of our budget in rural communities. We share a bit last year with urban areas and we are shifting back to rural communities.”
But with the upgrade of the Remate Bypass, there is a need for increased police and traffic enforcement officers.
Julius Espat
“I am not in charge of the police, that is a different department on their own. I wish them well and I hope they do their job as efficiently as I think they well.”
Paul Lopez
“It does require more policing and the presence of traffic enforcement officers. How is that planned when these road developments are done?”
Julius Espat
“We discuss these things in Cabinet on a weekly basis. Our emphasis is to build the infrastructure and we give the other ministries advice. I really can’t go further than that.”
Manuela Rash and her children are homeless tonight. The family lost their house and belongings in a fire that erupted on Tuesday afternoon in Trio Village, Toledo District.
Rash told News Five “I lost my house and all my kids need and want I am really in need of help. everything was lost in my house with my beds, clothes, kitchenette stuff andetc.“
For now, Rash and her children are residing in the church’s kitchen.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
If you would like to assist, you can contact Rash at 665-8557. Deposits can be made to Belize Bank account number 103741010220001.
Amid escalating gang violence in Haiti, a transitional council tasked with steering the country towards stability is undergoing significant changes. Instead of a single council president, four seasoned politicians will rotate leadership every five months, marking a departure from traditional Haitian politics where power is centralized.
This surprising shift aims to foster shared governance and unity within the council, a rarity in Haiti’s political landscape according to experts.
The four members set to share leadership duties include Edgard Leblanc Fils, Louis Gérald Gilles, Leslie Voltaire, and Smith Augustin. These adjustments come after internal conflicts threatened to derail the council shortly after its inception on April 25. Initial disagreements emerged when four council members unilaterally announced a council president and prime minister, sparking widespread surprise and debate.
The next step for the council involves selecting a new Cabinet, a process expected to involve intricate negotiations with influential political figures.
Against a backdrop of unprecedented gang violence that has ravaged the capital, Port-au-Prince, Haiti grapples with dire humanitarian challenges, including food shortages and escalating crime. The recent release of thousands of inmates following prison attacks has further exacerbated security concerns.
The situation remains urgent, requiring decisive action to address the root causes of violence and ensure justice and security for all Haitians.
Majid Khan, a former courier for Al Qaeda, is unable to open a bank account in Belize, because of his past.
Khan began resettling in Belize in February 2023 after being released from Guantanamo Bay where he was detained for 15 years.
He pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges in 2012.
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Khan joined Al Qaeda, agreed to become a suicide bomber and delivered $50,000 that would be used in a deadly hotel bombing in Indonesia.
According to the NYT, Majid has been unable to open a bank account, because of his past. No bank would do business with him. “Life is a test,” he said, describing himself as a glass-half-full guy.
At Belize’s insistence, the United States paid for his home, car and phone and provided a stipend.
“He has yet to sync with Belizean laissez-faire,” said the leader of his mosque, Kaleem El-Amin.
“I need to get patched up,” he said. “Mentally, physically.”
