2024-06-06 - Channel 5 Belize

Asian Businessman Gunned Down in Santa Elena

The nation’s latest murder victim is an Asian businessman from Santa Elena Town. Sheng Wen Wu, the proprietor of Allan’s Restaurant, was gunned down a stone’s throw away from his place of business. Wu arrived home at three a.m. on Thursday, inside his grey Toyota Forerunner. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of gunmen lurked in the area. When he got out of his vehicle, they pounced on him and demanded that he hand over the money. He was then shot twice. As he fled the scene on foot, the men pursued him on a motorbike. He was shot three more times and left for dead on the shoulder of the George Price Highway. According to business owners in the area, this is not the first robbery that has occurred in the area recently. Unfortunately, this one proved to be fatal. So, what has led to the uptick in crime, business owners believe that criminals are taking advantage of the fact that the Hawksworth Bridge is closed for renovations. The police station sits at the foot of the bridge on the other side of the Macal River. News Five’s Paul Lopez report.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

A Santa Elena businessman was gunned down near his establishment in the early hours of Thursday morning. Reports are that just after three o’clock, Sheng Wen Wu arrived in front of his restaurant, just across from the Social Security Board, when he was approached by two gunmen on a motorbike. The men reportedly attempted to rob Wu and he tried to escape. He was shot twice in front of his restaurant. He then fled on foot towards the Hawksworth Bridge. About one hundred yards away, the gunmen caught up with him and shot him dead. We spoke off camera with someone who told us that crime has increased in the area since the Hawksworth Bridge was closed for renovations a month ago.

Voice of: Santa Elena Food Vendor

“The main thing is that things the happen mostly now because the bridge close and now we don’t have the patrol unit like that the pass like how they use to pass. They are on foot but it takes a little while for them to come around. That is the main one right there. After nine most of the businesses they close and whosoever are left open to continue working through the night, we are the ones that have to look out for each other.”

Reports are that gunmen have targeted at least three businesses in the area recently, a supermarket, a meat shop and a vegetable vendor. With the uptick in crime, this food vendor is considering leaving her business behind for the sake of her safety.

Voice of: Santa Elena Food Vendor

“Yes, I even the think about give up, because you have to the watch your back and people may think you the make money, but at this time of the year you are not making money. And with the bridge being closed, you nuh the make no kind of money and you just the struggle and the little bit you make you are just investing it back again and people will come and hurt you for the little bit of money you have.”

Beyond the safety concerns is another challenge, one that has left a significant dent on their pockets. According to the woman, businesses in the area, including the restaurant owned by the murder victim, have taken a huge hit in revenue since renovations began on the Hawksworth Bridge.

Voice of: Santa Elena Food Vendor

“I just know he as a nice person, but I never really get to know him like that. I just purchased some stuff from him and that’s all.”

Reporter

“Ok, but he was a struggling businessperson as well.”

Voice of: Santa Elena Food Vendor

“Yes, just like myself, he was struggling as well. All of us, from the time the bridge closed down all of us have been struggling, big time. You could ask anybody and all of us the struggle. We even tried to plea with the town council to see if they could do anything about it so that the bridge could open faster than the time they say, because they said six to seven months. But I don’t know if it will happen.”

We reached out to Mayor Earl Trapp who informed us that contrary to what the business owners may be observing, police patrols have increased in the area. Mayor Trapp says that he believes the time the incident occurred may have contributed to the brazenness of the killers.

On the Phone: Earl Trapp, Mayor, Santa Elena/ San Ignacio

“To be honest, according to the O.C., police patrols have increased in Santa Elena because of that said reason, because the bridge is closed and one of the reasons why I sought to ensure that the low lying bridge would be a two way is for the said reason, to ensure that vehicles would be able to traverse along that path, crossing the low lying bridge into the George Price Avenue and the George Price Highway. So, for that said reason I went the extra mile and convinced the other parties we must allow the low-lying bridge to be two way, especially for smaller vehicles. When you look at the time that happened, that is three o’clock in the morning, so there is very little that maybe police could have done or people could have seen.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Two Men Walk Away from Murder Charges

Two men are free tonight after the prosecution’s murder case against them collapsed in court. Camryn Lozano and Albert Gill, both of Ladyville, were given the benefit of the doubt after the court could find no other piece of evidence to support the victim’s dying declaration. Twenty-two-year-old Egbert Baldwin had told police after he was shot that Gill and Lozano were his killers, but Justice Candace Nanton upheld a no-case submission by their defence attorneys, Senior Counsel, Hubert Elrington and Norman Rodriguez.

Justice Nanton noted in her ruling that the court was unable to conclude that the evidence was reliable, and that the blood found on the slippers was there long before the murder. She further added that while one of the Crown’s witnesses placed one of the accused men in the vicinity of the shooting, it did not necessarily mean he is the shooter. The judge concluded that she could not safely convict the men after careful consideration of another case used as reference. The judge could find no evidence of identification, no evidence of what the lighting conditions were on the night of the shooting; no evidence of a joint enterprise for an exception of the D.N.A., which suggested that two firearms were used. Earlier Justice Nanton went over key elements of the prosecution case in determining whether there was a case before the court. The evidence came from the first responder to the murder, a police officer, Patrick Gennity. He testified that when he arrived at the house where the shooting happened, he recognized the person who had been shot and that the victim named the two accused men as the shooters. The judge also noted that the autopsy report certified that Baldwin was shot from behind. Another witness for the Crown testified that at around seven on the night of the incident, Baldwin went to her house to borrow money and shortly thereafter, she heard about the shooting. The accused men were on remand for almost four years. Attorney Hubert Elrington explained the details of their submission.

Hubert Elrington, Senior Crown Counsel

“This is a case the commission brought relying upon what we like to call the rule in Turnbull’s case. It is a very difficult case. And, very important legal principle. The last time the court was faced with evidence as thin as this against defendants, was in 2012. in the case involving Tybalt and this, is a ruling which lawyers in this jurisdiction are going to rely on for the next hundred or so years. It has developed our law to the point where it needed to be developed so that the D.P.P. within her wisdom be guided. in future when she has these very, difficult decisions to make. Okay, so give us an idea of what those particular elements that made the case reach to this point today that are unfolding. The deceased called the name of the two accused. When asked who shot your hege, he replied that It was the two of Jews calling their names, and he did that about three or four times, but self corroboration is no corroboration in law. Okay. The court had to look for other evidence. Okay. The court said it conducted a meticulous search for even an iota of additional evidence, and it was unable to find anything to come up with it, that if it had found an author of helping evidence, it would have ruled in another way. But this was one of those cases where the court in the following turn had to look for additional evidence, had to find additional evidence. It could not just rely on the statement of the Cicelo’s.”

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.”

Belize Loses Millions of Dollars in Carbon Credit to Wildfires

Across the country, wildfires have been wreaking havoc across thousands of acres of farmland and forests, leading to a loss of millions of dollars in agriculture. Another significant loss is in the loss to the carbon credit market. Carbon credits are a mechanism used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating a market in which companies or governments compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere. For years, Belize has been a trailblazer in the carbon offset market, with the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area being one of the first carbon offset projects in the world. However, due to the recent fires, the protected area, among others, has suffered a significant loss. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more details.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Thousands of acres of land have been lost to the fires that tore across the country over the past several weeks. As the characteristically long dry season ends and the rainy season begins, the government and environmental organizations are assessing the damage, which they estimate is in the millions. Jose Perez, Executive Director of the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations provided some insight into what those figures look like.

Jose Perez, Executive Director, APAMO

“The destruction of these pristine forests when you enter a protected area, what you will find is pristine, broadleaf trees, vegetation. And that is what has been burning in mostly Elijio Panti in the Rio Bravo conservation and management area and some protected areas down in the south up to now without the figures. Of those in the south, we estimate that it’s over ten thousand acres of pristine forests that had been burnt and are still burning. In Tapir, if you try to put a figure to the environmental damage and ecological damage at four hundred acres that were burnt earlier this week, it was just emitted about two million dollars. So do the math, for over ten thousand acres.”

One area that has been heavily affected is the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area in northwestern Belize. Edilberto Romero, Executive Director of Programme for Belize, which manages the area, told us that while the team has been dealing with fires for several years, it has gotten progressively harder to manage.

Edilberto Romero, Executive Director, Program for Belize

“We’ve been dealing with fires ever since we started. We have seen a shift in 2011 after Hurricane Richard, where the fires have just grown exponentially. Summarily, we used to be able to manage fires with sixteen thousand Belize dollars. Now it’s costing us seventy, eighty thousand Belize dollars to manage fires. And this is because you need to have your fire lines. You need to plan before the fire season. You need to do education. You need to meet with the communities, sensitize the communities, sensitize the fires. You need to compartmentalize your area. And that’s a lot of heavy equipment work. And then when you have to be actively monitoring using different ways of monitoring.”

Since this climate shift in 2011, fires are more frequent and becoming more difficult for the team to manage. The Rio Bravo Area has lost over three thousand acres from fires just this year alone.

Edilberto Romero

“We’ve lost approximately three thousand acres this year in eight fires. It’s a lot, but it’s eight fires. This is since the season in February. Since the fire season up to last weekend where we detected a fire in Friday and by Sunday morning that had been outed. But if we would not have been prepared, one fire would have been two thousand, three thousand acres if we didn’t do the work the timely response and put the resources in it.”

The vast wilderness in Orange Walk District was among the first of seven protected areas in the world to join the carbon offset market, making Belize a world leader in the movement. However, with these losses, the reserve has lost millions of dollars in potential revenue, as the area affected was at the final stages of preparation before it was to be traded for carbon credits. Carbon credits are used by cooperations and government entities to allow them to emit a set amount of carbon into the atmosphere. By purchasing a credit, the emission is offset by the preservation of a forest reserve.

Edilberto Romero

“You cannot generalize because every type of forest has different amount of carbon that they store. But if you use an average figure, it’s like one hundred fifty, two hundred tons of carbon per acre that you may be able to claim from carbon credits. Having one ton of carbon as one credit. Those credit have different prices depending on the market, you sell it the lowest. For us, It has not been lower than ten dollars but if you put that lowest figure you’re talking about millions of dollars that’s been lost. In our 2011 fire, we were talking one point six million tons of co2 equivalent and if you put that at ten dollars then you’re talking about sixteen million dollars.”

Romero attributes the difficulty with managing the fires to the low funding NGOs receive and the hoops that they must jump through to receive assistance.

Edilberto Romero

“The problem with fires is that NGOs, I’m talking about protected areas here, NGOs do not have money to deal with those fires. And for you to control the fire, you have to have quick response. You have personnel, but that’s not sufficient for large fires. You need heavy equipment and other things. And if you don’t have the monies for that, then you try to figure out where to get it. And by the time you get confirmation, two days have passed, three days, the fire is now huge. It becomes more, more expensive.”

He recommends that a contingency plan be set in place so that protected areas like the Rio Bravo can have the capacity to counteract and respond to fires before it gets too late, and millions of dollars in carbon credit are reduced to ash.

Edilberto Romero

“My recommendation is at a country level, we, for Rio Bravo, we have contingency of ten thousand to quickly respond as soon as possible. But for the country, all protected areas now should have a fire contingency fund and their plan. For the country, we need to look at Belize as the entire country under fire threat and we need to put a contingency fund that is there ready to respond that you don’t have to get no kind of clearance because if you take one day to get approval, that’s a lot. If you take three days, that’s too much, much less a week and then it becomes more risky and it becomes problematic to the health of the people and everything that comes along. And then you have more expense having to support the community’s damage, the farmer’s damage and everything.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Can Slash and Burn Fires be Outlawed?

The damage caused by the many fires across the country has been detrimental to the livelihood and wellbeing of hundreds of families. These fires are due, in part, to the prolonged dry season that came with record-high temperatures. However, according to environmentalists, several of these fires were manmade by farmers using the slash-and-burn method. These fires were then exacerbated by the heat and escaped containment. Although the rainy season is now upon us, fires are still burning in some areas. NEMO Minister Andre Perez says despite this, the farmers will not be issued a stop order.

Andre Perez, Minister of Disaster Risk Management

“Not too sure if you want to answer a question on why we would want to put a stop order. It’s something that we have to look at the bigger picture. It’s impossible to say a stop order. We’re talking about a north where cane farmers are working. That’s where they traditionally have been doing it, to burn their canes so that it can be taken off to the factories. And the traditional slash and burn done so, that is done. We it’s the time around that where the farmers prepare their lands in preparation for the rains that are coming. No, for looking for the future, certainly we have to look at other alternatives in terms of education. And not only that, but providing alternatives by way of the Agriculture Department on how to best deal with preparing the land. I don’t see any way how putting a stop part is going to make any difference.”

Ya’axche Continues to Fight Wildires in Southern Belize

In the south, wildfires have also devastated huge tracts of land in a protected area managed by the Ya’axche Conservation Trust. The organization has been busy over the past few weeks fighting these fires that have destroyed crops and displaced wildlife in the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve.

Christina Garcia, Exec. Dir., Ya’axche Conservation Trust

“We’ve been battling with fire in the Maya Golden Landscape for the past month. First fire that affected the preserve, the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve, our rangers and fire management crew have been battling fires in the preserve that have destroyed a little over two thousand acres of forest within the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve. So we’ve been battling in terms of controlling that fire so that the fire does not reach the field station, an investment that we have here for over twenty-five years. Apart from the fire in these protected areas, we’ve also been assisting communities in controlling fires within their farming landscape. So a lot of the work that has been carried out over the past weeks is with the beneficiaries that Ya’axche works with, controlling fires and ensuring that those fires do not completely destroy all the farmscapes and the different agro forestry systems that we have created jointly with the farmers over the years, although that has been very difficult because as you can see from images that the news has reported on, there has been a lot of damages in these communities, especially the farms, especially the destruction of cacao and different fruit trees, timber saplings and this is actually food that the farmers depend on.”

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.”

G.O.B. says Fires Crisis is a Learning Experience

The fire crisis relief efforts have been a partnership between government agencies, private companies and N.G.O.s. According to environmentalists, without the effort of these teams, containing these fires would have been impossible. Today, an update was provided on the situation and details were shared on how the fire relief missions were conducted. Earlier today, they told us that this experience has opened their eyes to the fact that Belize’s Disaster Risk Management Plan needs to be updated.

Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator

“We have already started the research to do this. We know that we are now facing multi hazard. And so actually, our plan is not just is a multi-hazard plan. We know that there are principles that must be applied to every hazard. We also know that there are things that we are we may not even be have heard of, such as the fires of this magnitude. So we are a learning organization. We are going to continue to do the research and to continue to update this plan as necessary. It is important because as we move into the next phase, We’re looking at flooding. We’re looking at other things which need that kind of attention as well. So it’s clear that we, our plans need to always be updated continuously. In disaster management, it, we never stay still. We never write a plan and leave it there forever. It must constantly be updated and it must constantly be changed to address the needs of the times.”

Andre Perez, Minister of Disaster Risk Management

“If I may add, if I may add on this N.E.C. is that I think our emergency response has been test tested to the max right now, what we can consider that as the most, but I’m certainly I think we from a government standpoint, there are lessons to be learned and we take it seriously, very seriously in how to improve. So other than that, as I said earlier, is having a master plan, but also it is evolving. It is ever changing. It’s not something that you have a master plan there that’s twenty years. It’s a new era. We’re dealing with climate change is real. Nobody’s expected these kind of thing with forest fires. So now certainly it’s lessons learned and we are taking very seriously.”

Turmeric and Its Many Uses

The turmeric root has been touted as a medicinal plant that boosts the immune system and wards off minor infections, liver ailments, and healing wounds. But this wonder plant from the ginger family is also ground into a powder and bottled as a tasty seasoning in the East Indian culture. In today’s edition of Belize on Reel, News Five’s Marion Ali and George Tillett travelled to Toledo where turmeric is harvested and used as medicine and seasoning. Here’s that report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Derrick Guy makes a living off the turmeric root. He uses a portion of his farmland at Yemeri Grove to plant and harvest a few thousand pounds each year. Some of it he sells to a factory several miles away, and the rest he grinds into what is called yellow ginger. This is a powder that can be added to almost any pot – a meal that is then called takari.

Derrick Guy, Turmeric Farmer, Toledo

“We usually harvest it in dry weather and when we harvest it, we usually put back the seed back under the earth. But we usually harvest it on full moon that ih last long and ih nuh ketch weevil when you process it, noh. We wash it like two, three times, we boil it, we put it out in the sun let it dry. No rain enough to catch it because it can spoil. You got to crack it first with the mill and from there you grind it, then sieve it, and grind it again till it comes to come to lone powder.”

Guy says there are other methods of harvesting and processing turmeric, but the end product doesn’t last long.

Sherene Garay-Usher owns and manages Garay’s Restaurant in Punta Gorda. Her establishment caters largely to customers who want takari food, which is any meal that is cooked with yellow ginger. She agrees that the way turmeric is processed makes all the difference. Even though she processes the root for her own uses, when she needs to buy, she says she prefers Guy’s method of processing over the others.

Sherene Garay-Usher, Owner and Manager, Garay’s Restaurant

“If yoh goh buy it da the stores the yellow ginger taste different. Some of them don’t even have color. Soh ih yellow in the bottle, but when you cook it, the stuff doesn’t come out yellow.”

Marion Ali

“Why is that?”

Sherene Garay-Usher

“Because they’re not dry, good. The processing is different.”

Marion Ali

“And now, you have a famous kitchen in PG, and everybody knows this kitchen or know about your cooking. And that taste of that yellow ginger. It’s traditional to you, it’s unique to you, and you’re saying it’s because of the way it’s processed?”

Sherene Garay-Usher

“Yes, it’s because of the way it’s processed, and for me, when I buy yellow ginger, most of the time I try to buy from Mr. Derrick because they do it almost the way how we grow up di do it, the traditional way.”

Garay-Usher attests that this yellow ginger powder can be used in almost any pot.

Sherene Garay-Usher

“The split peas yoh just sprinkle a little bit in it when it start boil up and thing. But, when I cook the cohune cabbage, I fry up my yellow ginger before I put in the cohune. The pork, I have to fry the yellow ginger a little bit and that is because the yellow ginger nuh processed the way how I would do it for myself.”

Marion Ali

“I see, yes. If you had done it for yourself, how would you have done it?”

Sherene Garay-Usher

“If I had done it for myself, I would have made my paste and have it ready for when I ready to cook. I could just season the meat with it.”

Garay’s Kitchen is so popular for its unique takari dishes that Garay-Usher says she gets orders not only from the Toledo District but sometimes from as far away as Belize City, Belmopan and Corozal.

Sherene Garay-Usher

“Most people da PG basically follow the East Indian or the Creole when it comes to the food. On a daily basis most people look forward to eating something takari. People would da just call or just message and say, please send this or please send that, and they just pay online and then I just put it on the plane. Most of it da the Takari or if I cook cohune cabbage, like today I had an order to send by the plane.”

While turmeric is ground into yellow ginger and takari dishes are popular East Indian cuisines, it is also used for medicinal purposes. Guy said he uses it as a booster.

Derrick Guy

“They have it in capsule too for medicine and when I go on YouTube, they say it has 54 different benefits.”

Marion Ali

“Do you use it as medicine?”

Derrick Guy

“Of course but I cook with it a lot and I also boil it and drink it for tea.”

Marion Ali

“What does it do?”

Derrick Guy

“They say it helps the immune system, noh. It fights against different sickness and things. Ih good for joint pain too also.”

The internet suggests that turmeric has several health benefits for which the product can be used as well. Marion Ali for News Five.

G.O.B. Attempts to Revive Dying Citrus Industry in Southern Belize

The Government of Belize earmarked fifteen million dollars to pump into the citrus industry through the Development Finance Corporation. But citrus industry stakeholders did not take advantage of the funding. Minister Jose Mai says confidence is low among investors in the industry due to citrus greening and low yields. But he also noted that the tide seems to be turning, as the industry tests a variety of citrus trees that are proving to be more resilient to H.L.B., or citrus greening. Furthermore, global citrus prices are at a record high.

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“We allocated ten million dollars, fifteen million, but if it was a hundred million they still wouldn’t take the money. The farmers didn’t go for the money. One, i think the price has to be good. And there has to be some kind of confidence in investing. You ask me right now, you want to invest more in sugar cane? I would tell you no period. You ask me to invest in citrus and I would tell you no until I see how the new varieties are doing and how the industry is managed and structured. The industry has gone through a lot in the past. From 2008 we had the disease. There were no major attention given to the industry until when we won and we said let us go and inject fifteen million dollars and nobody went for it. It means that they are saying hold on I am not sure if this thing is being managed in the right way. Now, we are seeing that new varieties are looking good and the prices are going up. So there are only two things that motivate, one thing that motivate a producer it has to be profit led, not money making, because you may be making a lot of money, but not profit. Up to now, four hundred to five hundred thousand boxes have been delivered which is better than last year. Two is that we have exported forty containers of fresh fruit to the CARICOM. And the third is that the new varieties which we believed has a level of tolerance of resistance to the disease are performing well today. So that is a silver lining.”