2024-05-21 - Channel 5 Belize

San Ignacio Man Murdered in Victor Galvez Stadium

Tonight, police have another murder on their hands to solve. This time, the incident took place in San Ignacio. That’s where the victim, Jose Mejia, also known as Kocho, was stabbed overnight. The crime scene is a popular sporting facility – the Victor Galvez Stadium. Mejia was last seen with a friend socializing at the location on Monday night. His body was found with multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest. While Mejia’s friends are gripped by the news, police are trying to close in on who’s responsible and why he was killed. Mejia, an errand man who liked to drink, was not known to trouble anyone. The area where the incident happened is on a main road. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

Marion Ali, Reporting

The body of Jose Mejia was found early this morning in the Victor Galvez Stadium in San Ignacio. Mejia had been stabbed to the neck and chest and left for dead. A pool of blood near a bench in the middle of the stadium showed where he took his last breath. A friend of his, Sahib Espat, told News Five that he saw Mejia earlier in the day, but nothing seemed awry.

Voice of: Sahib Espat, Friend of deceased

“I know him quite some years since I’ve been working with my dad. This is his place to be. He was working here with the neighbor, and I know him on the streets. All in all, he was a respected man, respectable person, always hailing people, a fun person, always full of jokes and stuff. And he used to come here in his free time, he used to come here smoking cigarette, come for lunch. My stepmom used to invite him for lunch and he used to be our friend here, family friend. Every day he used to pass on the street there, always giving us the time, and always a friendly person.”

Marion Ali

“And the last time you saw him?”

Voice of: Sahib Espat

“The last time I saw him was yesterday around this same time – around midday, maybe 1 or 2 pm. He passed there. I remember he hailed me. He was like, hey, yeah, Tuls, he tell me. And he crossed the street and ih seh I di come back, but from then, I never seen him again.”

Espat said Mejia indulged frequently in alcohol and thought that he had some undesirables as friends, but he did not expect to hear of his murder.

Voice of Sahib Espat

“In the night I never hear anything and two of my friends saw him and told me that they saw him drunk with another friend. And then in the morning I woke up to the bad news that it was him that who got murdered.”

Marion Ali

“Do you know if anybody was threatening him?”

Voice of Sahib Espat

“For the moment, I don’t know if he was being threatened or anything. But I know that with the friends and his company he had, they were not good company.”

Marion Ali

People known to police?

Voice of Sahib Espat

“People known for using drugs. And I think anybody under the influence of drugs are bad company, you know.”

So far, police have not detained any suspects for the murder and are investigating. Marion Ali for News Five.

Gun Proliferation Plaguing the Caribbean

In his capacity as First Vice President of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police, Chester Williams says the proliferation of guns has been plaguing every country in the Caribbean. During last week’s A.C.C.P. conference held in Belize, ComPol Williams called out the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobago, Firearms and Explosives over the increased number of firearms coming into the region from the U.S. ComPol Williams says that he has been advocating for stronger legislation to crack down on the importation of illegal firearms at commercial ports.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I almost got into trouble with ATF because I am saying to them that the same way how the U.S. blacklisted us when drugs passed into our country and go into the U.S., even though they know we are doing our best to prevent it from occurring then who blacklist the U.S. when their guns are coming in from the U.S. into our countries and these guns are being used to kill our people? It is a fair comparison. But, I give them credit for the fact that I know that they are doing what they can, but I believe they can do more. One of the issues for me is that when we had the intersectional meeting in Maya last year we had the opportunity to visit the port in Miami and we were given a briefing in terms of what the port expects from persons who are sending packages abroad and there is little to nothing. I can go to the port today and send a package in a name, go back this afternoon use another name and go back this evening and use another name. So there is nothing there to ensure that the persons who are sending these packages are real people. What I am saying to them is they need to have some law within the U.S to regulate these things to ensure that persons cannot use fictious names to send packages abroad. Since the U.S is reluctant to do that we will have to do something in Belize and the Prime Minister has said to us that the Comptroller and I need to sit down to see how we can come up with some draft legislation in terms of how we can address this issue. Even in Belize we had this same issue. We have the candies that came in. Recently we have barrels that came in with guns.”

ComPol Proposes Belize Ban on Musicians That Promote Violence

There is also the issue of gangs in the Caribbean, a plague to most CARICOM nations. In an interview with the President of the A.C.C.P., Atlee Rodney, he stated that there is a direct correlation between music that promotes violence and the establishment of criminal organizations. ComPol Williams says that he agrees with President Rodney’s analysis. Taking it further, the commissioner of police proposed that certain musicians be banned from performing in Belize.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We can find that more in Jamaica and Trinidad. I think those are the two main areas we are seeing occurring. It is not far away from reaching our shores. We are lucky we don’t have that volume of musicians that Jamaica and Trinidad do have. But when we look at for example, Trinibad, even though Trinibad is not an artist, they are a group of DJs that goes around the Caribbean and perform, but when you look at the type of music they promote, they promote violence. And, in many instances when they do in or through the music, they promote say something, it happens. And I was shocked to see that we brought Trinibad to Belize during the Agric Show. While I do understand that promoters want to make money, there are other ways to make money without putting our country at risk. When you bring those type of people to our shores it is just to influence our young people to do certain things that we don’t want them to do. Here we are trying to say to our young people that there is a need to walk certain lines, to be law abiding, but yet we are going to bring people into the country who are going to be influential to influence them to be negative.”

Sabreena Daly

“What can we do about that though?”

Chester Williams

“We need to do what some for the countries in the Caribbean do, there are certain artists that can’t perform in the Caribbean. They are banned because of the type of music they promote.”

ComPol on Viral Video: “No child should be subjected to such abuse.”

The Commissioner of Police as weighed in on a viral video that captures a Belize City man physically assaulting a child. The shocking footage shows the individual slapping, kicking and punching the infant multiple times on two separate occasions. The perpetrator has since been arrested and charged with common assault. ComPol Williams had a few choice words for the culprit. He also noted that further measures would have been taken against the individual if police were in possession of the video before he was taken to court. Here is what he told us.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I cannot say what I want to say publicly. But when I first saw the video the first thing that came to my mind is this really Belize? And then the next thing that came to my mind is this actually a person? Is this person a man? I do not know. But the level of abuse that that “thing”, I don’t event want to call him a man, put on that child, is disgusting and it should be condemned in its greatest term. No child should be subjected to such abuse. And to make it worse, the child seemed so mannerly, seemed so compliant and as much as the child was mannerly and compliant this thing continued to beat the child, for what? What was he trying to achieve? What did that child do to him for him to beat the child in such a way? It is disgusting. As I saw the video I communicated with Mr. Romero, and I was happy that he told me that we have already dealt with the matter and the man has been charged. The only sad part about the whole story is that we did not see the video until after he had gone to court, because if we had seen the video before he had gone to court, we would have objected to bail. So that is the only sad part about it, by the time we saw the video he was already in court and had already gotten bail. I don’t believe a person of his magnitude should be out in public, he should not be. He should be around no child, absolutely none.”

Birds and Monkeys Dying from Severe Heatwave

Across the region, people have been suffering from the effects of a severe heatwave. The extreme weather conditions have led to exhaustion and dehydration, as well losses in agriculture, as brush fires are made worse by the rising temperatures. Also forced to cope with these conditions are the thousands of animals that occupy the affected areas. In recent weeks, Mexico’s southeastern tropical forest has observed the sudden deaths of monkeys, parrots and toucans as they succumb to the soaring temperatures. As Belize has also been experiencing record high weather conditions the question of how the extreme heat has been affecting our native species is being raised. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with those answers.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Across the region, birds and monkeys are dying at an alarming rate. Every year, as temperatures rise, wildlife conservationists have worked to combat the effects on animals. However, as this year continues to see severe weather conditions, they have had to double their efforts. Jamal Andrewin-Bohn, Conservation Program Manager at the Belize Zoo, gave us some insight into the issue.

On the phone: Jamal Andrewin-Bohn, Conservation Program Manager, Belize Zoo

“Typically we, obviously we’ve been in a position where we’ve had to respond to animals in distress for a variety of environmental, risks of disaster and heat and fire are among those. So yes, we do get reports of animals seeming to be disoriented dehydrated, exhausted from exposed, prolonged exposure to heat and also lack of access to water simply because the natural ponds and creeks that they would typically access do eventually dry up in the winter. in the peak of the dry season and so they have to move further afield looking for water looking for food sources and of course this itself is a pressure on the animals but then it also puts them at a higher chance of encountering humans and coming into conflict with human.”

He said that mammals and birds are some of the most affected animals, but reptiles such as iguanas and snakes have reacted poorly to the heat as well, as they struggle to regulate their body temperature. Nikki Buxton, Executive Director of Belize Bird Rescue, told us how birds are coping with the heat.

Nikki Buxton, Executive, Belize Bird Rescue

“I think they’re probably all struggling, but the beauty of birds is that they can fly and they can get away from these situations, which definitely gives them an edge over every other species that’s not flighted. And the migrants are struggling. I think they’re totally confused as to when they should migrate. And what they’re migrating into and what they travel through at that time as well. And it’s not, you know, we’re talking about fires, but it’s not just that there’s extreme weather all year round, and they encounter a lot of that during the migration patterns. But the birds that make Belize their home and the ones that rely on certain environments and have niche environments, they’re the ones that are going to suffer the most.”

Buxton said that due to the recent fires, the air quality has been especially poor for birds, affecting where they choose to build their nests. She said that there are limited resources to combat fires and that the addition of fire beaters and hoses would assist the fire service in making fires more preventable. Andrewin-Bohn says that the team at the Belize Zoo has been hard at work trying to aid the animals in beating the heat.

On the phone: Jamal Andrewin-Bohn

“So this is not new. This is over several decades where we’ve been advocating for a more mindful application of fire and utilization of resources. And so what we have done the zoo as an entity with its partners, and that’s one of the biggest. Efforts we’ve taken on to address this is we have for the last We have been part of a working group that specifically deals with fire management issues in central Belize. And it is a coalition of not just non-governmental entities, but with input and support from the Belize Forest Department. But most importantly, from communities within our area, communities that are in fire prone areas like the savannah, that have to deal with wildfires threatening their homes, their properties, their livelihoods, their health and wellbeing until it’s a collective effort to reduce the impact of fires.”

He explained that the zoo has taken additional measures to ensure that the animals survive the heatwave, such as the addition of a new pond and trucking in over two thousand gallons of water daily. Buxton said that we should try to assist the animals in any way possible.

Nikki Buxton

“I think we’ve got to think of the birds and the animals in the same way as we think of other selves. We know that that heat drives thirst. The moisture that we have in our bodies evaporates so much faster. So it would be really nice if people could think about other species on this planet and maybe provide a water source for them. We’ve got some really amazing families that are putting out drinking bottles that they’ve created from old plastic bottles, which is absolutely fantastic and also think about the domestic animals that we have. It’s not enough now just to tie a dog with a little bottle of water in this, in this temperature, we need to make sure that they have a lot like a bucket full. So I think we’ve got to be more thoughtful”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Opposition Leader Visits Fire Victims in Toledo

Brushfires continue to wreak havoc across Toledo District where farmers from several communities, including San Pedro, Columbia, are directly affected. The National Emergency Management Organization has responded with firefighting and relief efforts, however, the opposition is calling on the Briceño administration to introduce a supplementary to the House of Representatives. The additional funds would be used to provide assistance to families that have lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the devastating fires. Over the weekend, Shyne Barrow, the Leader of the Opposition, visited several communities in the south and saw firsthand the damage that has been left in the wake of these forest fires.

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“It’s very heart wrenching to visit families that have lost everything due to these wildfires. So I was able to find some resources to help at least four families in the rebuilding of their homes on behalf of Dennis Williams who is going to be the next area representative of Toledo East, by the grace of God. But certainly it brings into sharp focus the role of NEMO and the role of the Ministry of Housing in these types of emergencies. I know I have been extremely critical of the government when it comes to them bringing supplementary after supplementary to the house, but if the Ministry of Housing cannot find within the current budget the resources to help these families, the opposition would certainly support a supplementary in this instance which is the true intent of the supplementary. It is for the emergencies that could not have been anticipated when the budget was being forecasted, and this certainly counts in that. It also brings into sharp focus the fact that we need to look at investments in our apparatus to deal with these wildfires as far as planes that could fly over to release water to put out these fires.”

Man Falls Off Rooftop on Stump and Dies

Forty-four-year-old Ronny Sierra was working on the rooftop of a house in Esperanza Village when he slipped and fell. Sierra, a resident of Benque Viejo del Carmen, had just started working with a construction company three weeks ago. According to a relative, the incident has left the Sierra family in grief over the loss of their youngest sibling who had just left a voice message on Monday, wishing an older brother well. This morning when he fell, he landed on a wooden stump that had a sharp edge at the top. The stump penetrated Sierra’s right upper chest, causing his death. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

Marion Ali, Reporting

This piece of stick protruding out of the ground wouldn’t be considered a hazard, but this morning, forty-four-year-old Ronny Sierra fell on it and lost his life. The construction worker was on the roof of this house in Esperanza Village when he slipped. It stabbed him in the right upper part of his chest, killing him. Sierra’s older brother, Carmito, told News Five via phone that Ronny took his job seriously.

Via phone: Carmito Sierra, Brother of deceased

“What we learned from him was that he needs to be punctual at work, and he needed to be at work every day. He was very responsible, not only with his immediate family, but with also his brothers and sisters. Whenever we needed help from him, when it comes to helping the family, he was al always there.”

Carmito Sierra said that he spoke with his younger brother only hours before he lost his life.

Via phone: Carmito Sierra

“I spoke with him only last night. I sent him a message because I was doing some construction work – getting someone to go to do construction work, and so I told him to recommend someone to me. The last words that he said was he wished me the best, and may everything go fine, and then God’s blessings. And just last night, he did that recording and sent it to me.”

Carmito Sierra said that the family will remember Ronny as a hard-working person who was selfless and thoughtful, and someone who always looked out for them, even though he was the youngest one. Marion Ali for News Five.

Connecting with East Indian Culture Through Dance

Although making up less than four percent of the population, the East Indian community is coming forward to remind Belizeans that their culture is alive. In this week’s episode of Kolcha Tuesday, we take you to Punta Gorda Town, where we met with a group of girls who are sharing their heritage in the way they know best: dance. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

From Mayans to Chinese. From Garifuna to Creole. Many of the diverse and rich communities that gave the country the title, “melting pot of cultures” can be found in southern Belize. It is here, in Toledo District that we find the heartbeat of the East Indian community, fighting to preserve its culture. At the 2024 Chocolate Fest of Belize, held in Punta Gorda Town, several cultures were highlighted through music and dance. The East Indian community was represented by three girls who wanted to find a way to connect with their heritage since they do not know the language and felt that dance would be the perfect medium to do so. Venice Parham, one of the dancers at the event, explained this desire to us.

Venice Parham, Dancer

“The kind of dance that we were doing is our cultural dance. It’s an East Indian that descends way from India. We practice almost every time when there is events. We try to keep our culture alive because our East Indian culture in Belize doesn’t really show so we try to keep it alive through dance and our food.”

The trio of dancers has been practicing together since primary school, having grown up watching family members and friends attempt to preserve the culture in the same way. Giselle Parham, older sister of one of the dancers explained how they navigate the disconnect with the culture.

Giselle Parham, Former Dancer

“So for the East Indian culture, one way that we would preserve it as young youths, because growing up, I started when I was about ten in primary school. We represented our primary schools. I also represented my high school but, again, how we preserve and try to keep the cultures alive is through dancing. We don’t know what these songs are saying, what it means. We don’t really know what the move means in these dances. But we just try to look at these YouTube videos, these dances that these Indians do. And we basically just do the same thing and portray it through dancing.”

Fourteen-year-old Arceli Parham was the lead choreographer for the performance, she explained that she put together the routine through YouTube and with the help of her sister.

Arceli Parham, Lead Choreographer

“I get choreographed from like, some of the dances, like the dance songs. Sometimes the choreographer is in there, and I just pick up some of the dances from that. Since my sister, she danced, when she was younger, so I also got some ideas from her. There’s two dances that I remember. There’s Nainowale and Aaja Nachle .”

Arceli and her family carry their desire to embrace their East Indian heritage into their love for pageantry. She explained that the dancers were able to source the dresses from her sister, Arelee Parham, who represented Belize at the Miss International Council of India Culture in Trinidad and Tobago in 2019. Dancer, Viaani Mangar, said that she is honored to take up the mantle and set examples for other young girls.

Viaanie Mangar, Dancer

“To be honest, I wasn’t really nervous because I really love this cultural dancing that I am a proud East Indian. And it really means a lot because the culture in Belize is dying. So, we as young youths have to encourage younger youths when they get our age to be able to do stuff like that.”

Britney Gordon

“How did you girls get the chance to dance here today? Who approached you about this?”

Viaanie Mangar

“We got our chance through her sister, Giselle Parham, which works at Copal. Her sister was the queen once, and they continued dancing, and right now she gave it up, so she passed it down to us, and we are currently dancing at Copal Lodge.”

Giselle believes that if people in the community continue to encourage youths to engage with the culture in fun ways, then it is possible to reclaim other aspects such as language. She hopes that through passing on the love for dancing, a new wave of support will be ignited for her people.

Giselle Parham

“We try to pass this now on to my younger sister and my other little cousins for them to also be advocates for other children’s out here who are East Indian descent, that they can be able to proudly represent their culture through dances, to maybe one of these days, learn the languages. Our culture is one of the cultures that lost their language. It’s most of their traditions, music dances many, many years ago, and we really don’t know what it’s all about. And so us as the younger generation have to come out and try to preserve it, try to learn about it, try to learn the history so that we could be able to spread the word because is really three percent of Belize’s population and that’s a very little amount tpo say that we have a huge support.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

David Gegg Returns to Senate Special Select Committee’s Public Hearing

The Senate Special Select Committee’s public hearing resumed today inside the National Assembly. The committee is tasked with looking into the Portico Definitive Agreement. And, this morning David Gegg, the principal of Portico Enterprises Limited, was once again called to testify before the committee. Gegg, unlike other individuals who have been called before the committee, has been candid about the company’s affairs and signing of the agreement. The four-hundred-million-dollar project remains in limbo. Viewers may recall that former U.D.P. minister, Tracy Panton, who served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Investments, was the first person to testify before the committee back in December 2023. She told the committee that she did not see, nor did she read the definitive agreement. Today, Gegg asserted that Panton never supported Portico Enterprises Limited for any reason other than her allegiance was elsewhere.

David Gegg, Developer, Portico Enterprises Limited

“She would never have supported our project Senator, you know that. She was firmly committed to the other one. She was out there with a shovel digging dirt at the time they had groundbreaking. Totally committed to the other one and did everything she could to prevent our project from materializing.”

Kevin Herrera, Senator

“So you don’t believe there was anything you could have done to satisfy?”

David Gegg

“I couldn’t compete with Mr. Feinstein.”

Kevin Herrera

“What do you mean by that?”

David Gegg

“His resources for support were far greater than ours and besides that we had commitments through our relationship with Boskalis that we could not provide any money to any minister for anything whatsoever. That was written in our agreement with them.”

Kevin Herrera

“I know the letter that was written to the prime minister was also copied to Ms. Panton, do you believe she may have seen that letter?”

David Gegg

“I believe she tore it up.”

Kevin Herrera

“Why did you say that?”

David Gegg

“Because she did not want our project to proceed.”

Portico Developer Says Contreras Signed Agreement with Conditions

As we have reported, the Portico Definitive Agreement was signed in 2020 by Erwin Contreras, the former U.D.P. Minister of Economic Development. During today’s session Gegg noted that he met with Contreras after receiving word that the project’s environmental clearance would not be approved because the National Environmental Appraisal Committee did not have a quorum when the matter was deliberated. Gegg says the former minister informed him that he would sign the agreement if certain conditions were included in the document.

David Gegg, Developer, Portico Enterprises Limited

“That we certainly felt was necessary to get the Definitive Agreement and when I was told after the August twenty-eight meeting, I felt really good about that, and then a few days later we were told no quorum, so we don’t have it. It was after that in sheer frustration and disgust that I went to meet with Mr. Contreras to share with him what had happened, and he said clearly that we don’t have an environment clearance so he doesn’t think he can accommodate the signing of a definitive agreement. I pointed out that the Harvest Caye agreement had been signed without them first getting environmental clearance. The long and short of it is that Minister Contreras got back to us and said if we are prepared to implement certain conditions precedent, including that in the absence of environmental clearance, documents is not enforceable then he would sign it and that is what he signed, the document he signed really was of no value to us because without environment clearance we had nothing to stand on.”