2024-05-15 - Channel 5 Belize

Friends Murdered While Hanging Out

On Tuesday night, residents of the North Creek area of Belize City were stunned when six gunshots interrupted the quiet of the night. Little did they know that their community was the scene of the country’s second double murder for the month of May. The first was in Roaring Creek on May fifth. It was well before eight o’clock when a pair of men on a motorcycle drove up to where two friends were sitting on a bench near a basketball court on North Creek. One of the attackers got off the bike and walked through the entrance of a yard to where the unsuspecting men sat. He opened fire on them and got back on the bike and sped off. One of the victims died at the scene, while the other died on the way to the K.H.M.H. Police say the attack may have been the result of a fight earlier on Tuesday. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Twenty-year-old Marvin Pook and thirty-year-old Anthony Young were lifelong friends who hung out every night in the North Creek neighborhood. On Tuesday, the pair was executed. They were sitting here on this bench facing a basketball court when they were ambushed. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero shared what investigators have gathered so far.

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

“On Tuesday the 14th of May, 2024, around 7:39 p.m., police responded to a shooting incident at North Creek, Belize City. Upon their arrival, they found two persons with gunshot injuries. The persons were immediately rushed to the KHMH for treatment but they succumbed shortly thereafter. Information is that they were sitting on a chair near the basketball court when a motorcycle arrived with two persons. One of the persons got off the motorcycle and came close to them and fired several shots towards their direction, causing their fatal injuries.”

A resident told News Five that he was at home watching TV when he heard about six shots. When he looked outside, he saw a commotion and people trying to help the wounded men. Pook’s grandmother, Sherlette Lamb, said that her grandson visited the court every night because his girlfriend lives at a house nearby.

Sherlette Lamb, Grandmother of Marvin Pook

“He normally goes there because his girlfriend family is there. And that’s the reason why he go over there. Literally, my grandson was not a person that affiliated any gang or he was not a person that being in the street or a member of police to be said like being a problem like things like that. He’s not a person like that. I have no idea that I would have even heard when I pick up the phone from my daughter that if I heard Marvin got shut up. That was so devastating for me. It happened, I said, drink some water, pray, and let’s see what’s work out. Unfortunately, I got the sad news he didn’t made it because he died on the spot.”

According to A.C.P Romero, the likely motive for the deadly attack may have been a fight that happened earlier in the day. Police have since detained several persons for questioning. Romero said that Pook and Young were the only two persons sitting on the bench at the time, but that investigators are not sure whether they were the actual targets.

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“Only two of them were sitting there at the time.

Reporter

“So it was likely that one of them or both of them were the intended target?

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“We are not certain if they were the intended target, but they were the only two persons there at the time of the shooting. The information we have got so far, there was a fight yesterday involving these persons and that is information we’re getting: somebody came after them. We are reviewing video footage and later on we will know exactly what this fight was all about and who were the persons involved.”

But the alleged fight involving the pair of friends is news to the family and Sherlette Lamb maintains that her grandson was not a troublemaker.

Sherlette Lamb

“He has not been in problems with people. He’s not a person like to say, go and create problems with nobody. We always raise him in a great manner for said Marvin, you know what happened, you are a boy, you have to raise up the right way. Keep your head up, do the right thing, and that’s what my grandson was doing.”

ACP Romero says that both victims are known to police. Pook’s grandmother says that he was arrested only once for a common assault that he was eventually acquitted of. Anthony Young had no known relative in Belize City. Marion Ali for News Five.

Man Shot Monday Night in Ladyville

Meanwhile, police investigations into a shooting on Monday night in Ladyville Village remain ongoing. ACP Hilberto Romero told us today that they do not have any suspects for the shooting of Frank Young. The incident happened on a busy thoroughfare near a gas station.

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

“On Monday, the 13th of May, 2024, around 11:45 p.m., Ladyville police responded to a shooting incident in the vicinity of the 24/7 Gas Station. Upon their arrival, they found one Frank Young, 26 years, with a gunshot injury. He was taken to the KHMH for treatment. He reported he was walking on the highway in that area when he heard gunshots and then realized that he had been shot. He has since been treated at the KHMH and has been released.”

Kenrick Longsworth Stands Trial for Murder of 3-year-old Boy

On January tenth, 2020, a three-year-old boy died inside a house on Lovely Lane, here in Belize City. He was reportedly beaten to death and sexually assaulted by his stepfather. The child’s siblings, ages two and four, were also badly beaten and left inside the building. News of the horrific incident led to public outrage and a manhunt ensued for the capture of Kenrick Longsworth, the alleged perpetrator. Earlier today, the thirty-one-year-old suspect appeared before the High Court where is standing trial for the murder of Mark Francisco Teul. This evening, the child’s mother, Zema Requena, was called to the witness stand by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Under oath, she told the court that on the day in question, she left home and went with a neighbor. Upon returning home, she saw Longsworth sitting on a bucket and he appeared visibly upset. When she inquired what was wrong, he reportedly told her that the next time she leaves, she should take along her children. Requena proceeded towards the house and made the grisly discovery inside the bedroom. Under cross examination Zema Requena became very emotional when defense attorney Andrew Bennett suggested that she was the one who physically abused the children because Longsworth had broken up with her earlier that day. Requena subsequently stormed out of the courtroom before Justice Sylvester called her back. She was cautioned that her behavior was disrespectful to the court. The murder trial by judge without jury will continue on Thursday.

Uncle is Sentenced to 19 Years for Sexual Assault of Minor Niece

A sixty-four-year-old uncle who was convicted of sexual assault and incest against his thirteen-year-old niece will serve a nineteen-year sentence at the Belize Central Prison. During his sentencing appearance this morning, the uncle had nothing to say and in mitigation plea, he did not call on a character witness to speak on his behalf. On March eighth, 2024, the elderly man was found guilty of all four counts following a full trial before Justice Candace Nanton in the High Court. The crimes for which he was convicted were committed in 2019 and 2020.

Kaya for Albert?

Professional cyclist turned rising politician, Kaya Cattouse has her eyes set on Albert Division, several months after being voted in for a second term at the Belize City Council. The P.U.P. councilor has expressed a formal interest in running against incumbent Area Representative Tracy Panton in the next general elections, that is if Cattouse is selected from within her party as a standard bearer. This afternoon, we caught up with Cattouse and asked a couple questions regarding her future political ambitions at the constituency level.

Kaya Cattouse, P.U.P. Candidate, Albert

“I think that working at the local government level for the past four years has definitely motivated me to want to represent a smaller group of people on a larger scale.”

Reporter

“Now what made you choose the Albert constituency?”

Kaya Cattouse

“So, the Albert constituency has a lot of potential and, like I said, working at the local government level and walking around in that area, you can identify the needs of the people and so I identified opportunities that can be made possible to these people. I’m a city girl, coming from Belize City, not necessarily from the Albert constituency, but this is the largest downtown area in the largest city in the country and there’s a lot that can be done, physical infrastructure and social infrastructure for the residents of the constituency.”

Isani Cayetano

“How would you respond to any detractor that says you’re not from Albert to begin with and that’s one of those constituencies where you have to have some kind of roots on the ground.”

Kaya Cattouse

“Who said that? Who made that rule? I don’t believe that you have to be [from] or were born in a constituency to be able to link and relate to the residents of that constituency. I believe people in general have the same needs, regardless of the constituency that they come from.”

Isani Cayetano

“Who did you consult with, perhaps in your family or within your party for you to arrive at this decision to run in Albert?”

Kaya Cattouse

“Family and friends, I would say, and some of the of the ministers in the party. I won’t get into calling any names as yet.”

Reporter

“But you do have allies, one assumes.”

Kaya Cattouse

“Definitely.”

Isani Cayetano

“What is the sentiment of Mayor Wagner? I’m certain he has some kind of weigh-in on this decision or the outcome of this decision of yours.”

Kaya Cattouse

“Mayor Wagner fully supports me, one hundred percent. He stands behind me fully and he’s a good man to have on your side. I am very grateful and appreciative of the support of not only Mayor Wagner but all the ministers around us and the other councilors who are giving me that push.”

Kaya Aspires to a Seat in Central Government

On March sixth, Kaya Cattouse was elected, along with ten other P.U.P. candidates, for a third consecutive term at City Hall. But is her attempt at running for a seat in the House of Representatives a disservice to the masses of Belize City voters who cast a ballot in her favor during the last municipal elections? Kaya began by sizing up her political opponent in Albert, before speaking of her plan to transition to central government.

Kaya Cattouse, P.U.P. Candidate, Albert

“Going into a constituency or choosing a constituency, you don’t do this based on the opponent and while she may be a formidable opponent and is a two-time [area representative], I believe that I can come into this constituency with what I bring, the knowledge and the experience working at the local government level and for me it’s about a new drive, a new perspective, you know, wanting to give the people what we see they need and we believe that under a PUP banner, with a PUP minister, we can do this. My main goal is service to the community, service to the residents and I want to do this to the best of my ability and I want to make a commitment and dedicate to the residents whether it be at a local government level, at a municipal level or at the constituency level. So, the bottom line is service to the community, regardless of the level that we’re doing it. Working at the Belize City Council at the municipal level, I have been able to work across ten different constituencies, yes, the results were resoundingly reassuring at the polls both times. However, I believe that there is a transition period that everybody goes through and you come into local government with aspirations to move on to central government.”

Isani Cayetano

“Nonetheless, you would still be shortchanging the residents of Belize City who voted for you for a three-year term. If elections are called in 2025, that’s only one year into the term. They will say, well, look, we voted for the entirety of the term and not necessarily for one-third of it.”

Kaya Cattouse

“Belizeans, or the residents of Belize City will definitely not be shortchanged. We have a well-rounded team at the Belize City Council. Should I be successful at my bid for the Albert constituency, I believe that our city will be left in very capable hands.”

Three Months Later, Still No E-Buses Running

It’s been three months since the first e-bus arrived in Belize and the fanfare that accompanied that arrival has not followed through with the scheduled rollout of the pilot project. Since then, a second e-bus has arrived in country. The Belize City Council will oversee two buses running city routes and, prior to the municipal elections, was planning those routes, as well as a media tour. But there’s been no finalization of that plan and the forty-seven-passenger maximum capacity buses are still parked today. This morning, News Five asked the Minister of Transport, Rodwell Ferguson for an update on the e-buses. He said that the Belize City operations will begin shortly, and that more e-buses will arrive for the long-awaited western and northern routes.

Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Transport

“Operations will start early in June. As a matter of fact, I’m having a management meeting tomorrow to decide exactly what date. Operation will start in Belize City in particular. It will be a special route for the E-buses to run in Belize City, and then hopefully by July, August, three more will come in to run on the Northern Highway and likewise on the Western Highway. That is the beginning of E-buses in the country of Belize. We are now negotiating with the European Union through the UNDP. Hopefully within a year or two we should get another 46 EV buses to run across the highway. So I’m quite sure that this is the beginning, and while we have some buses on the highway that are inadequate, now I have to have a little bit of caution and be conscious of the people because if I put pressure on them to get brand new buses now, then by 2030 the world is going EV. So we’re hopeful that we can facilitate them through grant funding and partial payment by them to be able to participate in this new dimension.”

Reporter

“What do you know about customers being able to reserve seats on the bus? Is this allowed?

Rodwell Ferguson

“I know Floralia has a system in place, I think James also has a system in place, and hopefully, once the ministry gets its ticketing system, then customers will be able to reserve seats across the country, and buses, when the bus come, they’ll have your seat for you.”

Reporter

“So you can reserve seats?”

Rodwell Ferguson

“Yes, you can reserve seats.”

Ferguson Advises to Halt Work on Will Bauer Falts

In early February, the Government of Belize ordered a suspension of the dredging operations being conducted at Angelfish Caye by the company Angelfish Caye LLC. The island, popularly known as the Will Bauer Flats, is located off the coast of Placencia. This suspension order came because of the protest made by the fly fishermen on the island who say that that their livelihood depends on being able to catch bonefish in that area. However, recently, the suspension was lifted, once again, sparking outrage from the fly-fishing community. Area representative Rodwell Ferguson, of Stann Creek West, was asked what is being done about the situation. Here is his response.

Rodwell Ferguson, Area Representative, Stann Creek West

“I don’t even know who is Angel Fish, I think, the name of the organization. And again, the Fishermen, because I’m the area rep, contacted me about two or three years ago and said we are not satisfied with the dredging of the area because they have filled up a shovel with material right from the seabed, which is a fly fishing area. It came up in cabinet yesterday, and I think cabinet will have to enforce and give a notice to the Department of Environment to put a hold into this thing until we can satisfy that what they are doing is the right thing. And the fly fishers are appreciative and accept what they want to accomplish. What was suggested that they can maybe move their material from a further distance to that location if they want to fill to do some development Because at the same time we cannot stop development.”

Public to Anticipate Change in Health Sector Phone Numbers

As of May first, the Ministry of Health and Wellness officially made the switch from Belize Telemedia Limited to Smart. This switch will result in a change of the existing phone numbers used by various departments in the public health sector. When asked, Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard, said that the switch from the public to the privately-owned company came down to saving the ministry’s money. Here’s what he had to say.

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“Over a year and a half, we had asked both companies to submit proposals to the Ministry. One in terms of looking at cost-cutting measures that we needed to do. And so both companies had provided their bids to us. When the review was done, we saw where in the case of Smart we would have been, we would be saving quite a significant amount of money in terms of the service that they provide and the accessibility to the equipment that they are providing. So, It is in that context that we made the proposal to the Ministry of Finance gone through its necessary processes I think we were starting at the main headquarters and then see if we could expand that out. However, we are not completely going away from BTL, we are still utilizing some of the main lines that BTL offers, but we are trying to ensure that we could cut on the telephone bills at the ministry and that was a decision we made.”

Rebuilding the Hicatee Population in Belize Through Captive Breeding

Twelve years ago, one non-profit organization began working on a project to rehabilitate the population of a critically endangered animal in Belize. Today, the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education, BFREE, is leading the charge across the region to prevent the Central American River Turtle or hicatee from going extinct. Culturally, hicatees are hunted by Belizeans for their meat. But studies have shown that overhunting has pushed the species to the brink of extinction. BFREE has established the only hicatee captive breeding facility in the region, and it has proven to be a huge success. News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled south to Toledo District to find out more about their work. He filed the following report.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Did you know that it is illegal to buy or sell the Central American river turtle or hicatees in Belize? Also, a single person can have up to three hicatees, and any female caught must be between fifteen to seventeen inches in size. Hunting this much-sought-after species can only be done outside of the monthlong closed season in May. Hicatees have only been found in three countries, Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. In Belize, it is a traditional delicacy that is highly sought after, especially in rural communities.

Yamira Novelo Fuentes, WCS

“Belize is really the only country out of the three that allows legal hunting and consumption of the species. It is critically endangered and that is some of the things people don’t understand or think about when they are doing their hunting practice or consumption.”

Over hunting has led to a significant decline in the hicatee population within Belize. One non-governmental organization has been working to replenish the hicatee population for the past decade. The staff at the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education or BFREE, located next to the Bladden Nature Reserve, are referred to as hicatee heros. Jacob Marlin, the Executive Director of BFREE. An expedition into the Bladden Nature Reserve, thirty years ago, was the inspiration behind the establishment of the organization.

Jacob Marlin, Executive Director, BFREE

“We documented quite a lot and saw this was a completely pristine tropical rainforest that had been completely unexplored and unstudied.”

Since 1995, BFREE has facilitated hundreds of research papers and publications in collaboration with Belizean and foreign students. Of all the current and past conservation projects that BFREE has worked on, its Central American River Turtle or Hicatee Captive Breeding Project is perhaps the most groundbreaking. BFREE has the only hicatee captive breeding facility in the world. Thomas Pop has been managing the project for the past ten years. Barney Hall, a Wildlife Fellow at BFREE, has been working alongside Pop for the past two years.

Thomas Pop, Manager, Hicatee Conservation Research Center

“These turtles are very difficult to work with and as you can see here, we don’t have a natural habitat for them but I am trying to make this pond their natural habitat so these turtles can feel comfortable in this area.”

Jacob Marlin

“Hicatee is very secretive. They spend all their time underwater. They don’t come up on the beaches to lay eggs. They don’t come up to bask. It is a fully aquatic specie, more like a fish and they are very hard to study in the wild.”

The International Union for Conservation of Nature placed hicatees on its red list as critically endangered or facing an extremely high risk of extinction. Studies have shown that the turtle has been virtually eliminated from much of its habitat in southern Mexico. Its status in Guatemala remains unclear and several studies in Belize have shown that the numbers have significantly decreased over the years. These are the only three countries where hicatees can be found. BFREE is on a mission, through its research project, to breed and rewild hicatees in Belize.

Barney Hall, Wildlife Fellow, BFREE

“We target areas where the species once was, and we try to augment those populations by reintroducing these hicatees back into the wild. But before that we need to have veterinarians come in. They have to test blood, parasites, feces, we don’t want any introduced pathogens back into the wild.”

At the facility, the hicatees are separated in three different ponds based on their developmental stage. Studies show that it takes a hicatee up to sixteen years to reach the breeding stage. Even more interesting, hicatee eggs go through a process called embryonic diapause which is a temporary pause in an embryo’s development. Essentially, hicatee eggs take up to six months to hatch. To date, BFREE has rewilded more than five hundred turtles with another three hundred eligible for release this year.

Barney Hall

“We have teams like the Savannah Field Station, they are constantly outfield, setting nets, trying to get a population assessment and they have been recapturing some of our turtles and we are seeing that they have been doing very good in the wild. So that is a very good sign.”

The Wildlife Conservation Society has also been studying the Central American river turtle. For the past three years, they have been doing so in the Maya Forest Corridor in central Belize. According to Yamira Novelo Fuentes, legislative reform is necessary for greater protection.

Yamira Novelo Fuentes

“I think when it comes to legislation and updating and amendment, I think you do need to take into consideration the community and what they want. Because we can put enforcement and legislation, but if you don’t have that community buy-in and that community who wants to be part of it then you wont be able to have compliance. And you want your communities to be stewards of their resources more than anything else.”

BFREE has fully embraced the community component of its conservation efforts. Through research on hicatees, the organization has developed several resources that are distributed in primary and high schools across the country. The Adventures of Herbet the Hicatee is one such book. BFREE also organizes presentations with various groups to spread awareness about the critically endangered specie and what communities can do to make Belize a haven for hicatees. BFREE also recognizes October as hicatee awareness month, a practice that began eight years ago. Heather Barrett is the Deputy Director at BFREE.

Heather Barrett, Deputy Director, BFREE

“One of the material we have and we like to use is this one, which just says take the hicatee promise, it is essentially saying I promise to be a hicatee hero and care about the species. I would say like there is, I do think there is hope and I do think the children are buying into this idea that our wildlife in Belize, it is critical to protect it and it is for us, all of us to take a little action whatever it is.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.