2024-07-08 - Channel 5 Belize

Boosting Agriculture Through Real-time Weather Data

Today, the Ministry of Economic Development, through its Resilient Rural Belize Program, handed over ninety-three thousand U.S. dollars’ worth of equipment to the National Meteorological Service. The donation will enhance the work of the Agrometeorological Section, allowing them to provide real-time weather information to rural farmers. News Five’s Britney Gordon was there to learn how the equipment will be used to assist the farmers.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Over the past few months, Belizeans have endured a spike in the cost of fruits and vegetables. This increase in price was due, in part, to the climate-related damages farmers have been struggling to manage. Now, with help of the National Meteorological Service, farmers will be able to better monitor weather conditions and plan accordingly to preserve their stock. Today, an array of equipment was donated to the NMS by the Ministry of Economic Development for this purpose. Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon explains this strategy.

Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist, MET

“In this particular case for twenty weather stations across the country, we have a network of over eighty weather stations but these are targeted to certain specific communities under the RRB project. So what that will do, it will enhance the capability of these stations to monitor what we call agri-med variables. Those are variables that are important for the agricultural sector, including rainfall, of course, temperature, humidity. They want to know the soil moisture and the soil temperature. And just to name a few, once you have that information, farmers will be able to plant better and be able to know what type of weather conditions are occurring in their areas.”

According to Acting C.E.O. of the Ministry of Economic Development Carlos Pol, this project was put together with the objective of addressing food insecurity. By assisting farmers with preserving their produce, the public will have access to more food at lower prices.

Carlos Pol, Acting C.E.O., Ministry of Economic Development

“So in that thinking, the government decided to put together a project that will help us with that security, addressing the farmers needs, addressing the needs of farmers to be able to remove their products from their location to the market. So this project encompasses that rehabilitation of food, assistance of farmers for them to protect their products, provide them with refrigerators and other outputs that will be able for them to store their products because we have seen how much farmers have lost in products. There’s a lot of losses. When they don’t have the proper equipment or the proper tools for them to be able to have their products and then move it to the market for it to be sold.”

The MET service will also be launching a weather app meant to offer real-time data for farmers. They will also be able to access for other risk such as pesticides and potential tropical systems.

Andre Perez, Minister of Disaster Risk Management

“If you look at the figures right now, especially the SIB reports came out for the month of June, that the price of special fruits and vegetables was very well substantial, substantially higher than last year, June. So there are many causes for that as well. But the type of services that the MET service offers is to offer information to the farmers so they can be more informed to plan when it’s time to plant when it’s the best time to plant, when it’s not the best time to plant, especially during dry season. But also, we’re talking about efficiency in terms of production. And of course, in any way to become more efficient and reducing costs because the agriculture is always something that is high risk. You have all the different risk factors coming in, not only weather, but pests and all of these things. So this is what the Met Service is offering today, especially geared to the rural farmers.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Two Shot in Cotton Tree; One Dead, One Critical

We start off tonight with a report of a fatal shooting incident that left a man dead and another in critical condition and paralyzed. The attack happened on Saturday night in Cotton Tree Village, which is one of the communities that the State of Emergency covers. The incident was sparked by an argument among friends and quickly escalated into gun violence when the deceased went out to see what was taking place. He was the first to be shot, then the other man, who attempted to run away. The shooter and the men were reportedly having a few drinks when the altercation happened. News Five’s Marion Ali visited Cotton Tree Village and brought back this report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

The bloodstained spot on the dirt road is where thirty-nine-year-old Clint Castillo collapsed and died after he was shot in the face shortly before eleven on Saturday night. He was asleep on a sofa in one of the homes when he heard a ruckus outside and went out to investigate what was happening. A group of friends who were drinking on the street got into an argument and Castillo stepped in to deescalate the situation. But it didn’t.

One of the men produced a handgun and shot Castillo at close range, before turning the weapon on the man with whom he had the dispute, Andrew Muns. Andrew Muns is reportedly paralyzed and in a critical condition in the K.H.M.H. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero shares what the police have gathered so far.

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

“On Saturday, the sixth day of July 2024, about 10:50 p.m., police responded to a shooting incident at Cutting Tree Village. Upon the arrival, they learned that two persons had been shot. They were identified as Clint Castillo and Andrew Muns. Information is that these persons were along with other persons in the area when an argument started between them. One of the persons then pulled out a firearm and fired shots towards him. Causing the fatal injuries to claim Castillo. Andrew Muns remains at the hospital in critical condition. They were hanging out drinking together and at some point, an argument began between them. Uh, we are not sure what the argument was about.”

Castillo’s sister, Anna Middleton, tells News Five that gun violence and tragedy have revisited the family just four months apart.

Anna Middleton, Sister of Clint Castillo

“We’re just getting over mourning our brother that they killed March 4th, 2024, Cruz Castillo. We are trying to get over him and they did this to us. Clint Castillo, within four months, I have to be here planning another brother’s funeral. Clint was a sweet, funny dude. He – the only thing we had with him was the drinking, and I wa miss ah. Clint wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t; just the drinking. They had problem with him.”

Middleton says the family advised Castillo to be careful after their younger brother, Cruz Castillo, was killed in March.

Anna Middleton

“From the time we buried Cruz Castillo, we have always told him, I said, Clint, find somewhere else to live, move out of that village. They’re coming, they will come out to you. They will come out to you because of our brother’s reputation. So every two weeks they be calling me, Anna. Clinton get into and I’d be like, Oh my goodness, my brother when I, when we check into it, he’s not in the wrong. People is always attacking him when he’s drunk. I’m hearing they had an altercation two weeks ago when that same, I think they said the said dude end up punching my brother in his mouth.”

Police have detained one man and are seeking a second in connection with the incident. Clint Castillo would have turned forty next month. Marion Ali for News Five.

Man Retracts Guilty Plea After Breaking Down in Court

Tonight, a father who claims he was keeping a loaded gun for the protection of his family is on remand at the Belize Central Prison. He is forty-five-year-old Ernie Zelaya, who was charged with keeping an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. Reports are that on Friday, July fifth, at around twelve thirty a.m., police were conducting mobile patrol on the Phillip Goldson Highway between Miles seven and eight in Ladyville Village when the officers encountered a taxi with no lights on the highway, belonging to Zelaya. The officers instructed the vehicle to pull over and upon search, they discovered a rusty, three-eighty pistol and three live rounds of ammunition, for which he failed to produce a license. Today, in court, Zelaya, who appeared unrepresented, initially pleaded guilty to the offenses, stating that he only kept the gun for the protection of his and his family’s life, which he claims is under threat by a gang member in his neighborhood. Court proceedings were put on pause after Zelaya broke down crying and his family members phoned to calm him. The sitting magistrate asked Zelaya if he understood the offenses he was pleading guilty to. Zelaya was informed that a fine would not be imposed and that he would be going to jail. After the break, Zelaya changed his guilty plea to not guilty. However, due to the nature of the offenses, no bail could be granted and Zelaya was remanded into custody at the Belize Central Prison until August twenty-fourth, 2024.

Man Arraigned for the Rape of 60-Year-Old Woman

Tonight, a thirty-three-year-old man is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after being charged for the rape of a sixty-year-old woman inside her home. He is Samuel Bernardez, who appeared in court today and was read a single charge of rape. Allegations are that on July third, 2024, at about four a.m., a resident of southside Belize City heard a noise outside her window and upon investigating, spotted a man she recognized to be Bernardez. She further told police that he pretended to leave her residence, however, after she exited her home to seek help, she was dragged back into her home, attacked and raped. Bernardez appeared unrepresented in court today where he was arraigned. Due to the nature of the offense, no plea was taken. However, Bernardez was allowed to plea for bail to be granted to him, to which he stated that he would like to report to work. Unconvinced by his reason, the magistrate upheld the prosecution’s objection to bail and agreed that the safety of the victim must be considered. Bernardez was denied bail and remanded into custody at the Belize Central Prison until September seventeenth, 2024.

Cop Physically Abuses Man with Pistol in San Pedro

A police officer is tonight facing heavy public scrutiny after he kicked and hit a man over the head with his service weapon this weekend in San Pedro. The entire incident was captured on camera by a bystander. The officer identified as Devon Makin is said to be the son of a police officer and a close associate of the Commissioner of Police. Makin took to social media following public the backlash to say, “everybody knows me, I am a cool person but don’t get me the next side. Police got shot the other day and nobody said anything. Another mother cried; another son buried. I am sorry, I will do my job the way I think it is best for me to stay safe. Let them say whatever they want to say.” Police are yet to issue an official report on what preceded the events shown in the clip, and what consequences the officer will face, if any. Makin is also heard in the video commanding the individual with the camera not to video him. Contrary to Makin’s command, the Commissioner of Police has stated that it is not a crime to video record a police officer in the conduct of their duties. We will continue to follow this story.

Daring Rescue of Canadian Couple Stranded in Flooded River

On Saturday afternoon, a Canadian couple was enjoying a day swimming at the popular Rio On Pools in Mountain Pine Ridge when the river started to rise suddenly. They found themselves stranded on a rock in the middle of the turbulent body of water. They were stranded for almost five hours, well into the night, until they were finally brought back to dry land by a multi-agency team. Among the team of responders were members of the Belize Institute of Search and Rescue Training (BISART), the Spanish Lookout Fire Rescue E.M.S., the Belize Defense Force, residents of San Antonio Village and the National Fire Service. According to Wendy Garcia, the Director of BISART, this was the most technical operation they have ever undertaken. It lasted several hours with little to no margin for errors.

Wendy Garcia, Director, BISART

“On Saturday I received a call from a colleague of mine, a first one from a guy in Monkey Bay and the second one from the Spanish Lookout Rescue Community. So, I got the call about two persons that were stranded at the Rio Hon Pools in the Mountain Pine Ridge area. So, we responded to that incident later on that evening. This rescue was a very technical one as you have seen on videos and pictures the water levels were up and the currants were strong. These were the factors that had to be taken into consideration, no room for errors. However, when we go their we combined with the guys on the ground, the Spanish Lookout E.M.S., also the B.D.F. and the Forestry guys on the ground. In order to pull of this rescue several things had to be done. We had to go to the drawing board and go with some of the ropes and necessary rigs to maneuver down the rapids where the patients were. So, what we did, we set up a line across the river and we used that rope to access them down stream. This is why we train, we train a lot, every day, every week, every time we run different programs for different agencies in the country and the community. At the end of the day once you train and got the skills. This was one of the most technical rescues we have ever done so far because of the challenges we had. For this the main thing is not to get in these positions. You want to update yourself on the weather condition, know what is going on the river, where you are going to swim. Information, prevention is better than getting yourself in this situation. Follow the weather, see what it is doing, where you are going and if it is prone to flashfloods.”

Rescue Teams Risked Their Lives to Save Couple

We also heard from Orvin Rudon, the team leader at the National Fire Service Rescue Team. Rudon explained that when his team arrived on the scene, BISART and the Spanish Lookout E.M.S. were already in action. Rudon thanked the various agencies for their quick response and the courage displayed in risking their lives to save others.

Orvin Rudon, Team Leader, National Fire Service Rescue Team

“I think they were just like regular other people going to visit the pools and standing on the rocks. The only thing I can think about is there was heavy rains further up in the mountains and all the water came together and that was the main path of the water flow and the water just rose suddenly on them and they realized they couldn’t get out because of the rapid flow. If they would have stepped in that water, they would have been surely swept away down further the stream. Being that it was late in the evening and the weather was off and on with the rain as all the teams were trying to assist getting these people out. Nightfall met us in the dark and it was challenging with the darkness, but all the team worked together to get them out safely and that was the main focus on the rescue.”

Paul Lopez

“How long did it take to get them out?”

Orvin Rudon

“From the moment we get the call somewhere around four p.m., I think the rescue was completed about ten minutes to nine somewhere there about. So, they were standing on that rock for a few hours before being rescued. From the Belize National Fire Service and seeing that I am responsible for the National Fire Service Rescue Team I would like to thank the different other rescue teams who came out and responded quickly to the call, Spanish Lookout Fire and Rescue Team, BISART Rescue Team, and San Antonio Rescue Team, the B.D.F. officers that responded as well.”

Hurricanes are Getting Worse and the Caribbean Must Adapt

The Caribbean is two months into the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season and one major storm has already swept through the region. Hurricane Beryl broke records by being the earliest recorded major storm to form in June, causing widespread destruction across the Caribbean. The severity of this storm is attributed to climate change, as it developed faster and earlier in the year than storms of a similar nature. Today, News Five’s Britney Gordon sat down with a few climate change experts to learn why this phenomenon is occurring and how climate change impacts the way Caribbean countries must adapt to hurricane preparedness. Here’s that story.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Every day, the livelihoods of millions of people across the Caribbean are threatened by climate change. Whether in the tourism sector, or the fisherfolks out at sea, the loss of flora and fauna due to global warming has an impact on everyone in the region. However, these impacts are becoming more dangerous as the Earth continues to warm. Hurricanes are becoming more intense, droughts more severe, and those with little to no means of survival are much more vulnerable to these threats. Doctor Colin Young, Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, explains how the climate is affecting the formation of storms.

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC

“The same way the world is warming up in terms on land from greenhouse gases. These are your carbon dioxide and methane and other gases that trap the heat that the ocean is also absorbing the heat. And the warmer the ocean gets, the more likely it is that when hurricanes form, that they get stronger quicker. And so the intensity. Is the issue that you saw with burial. And why is this scary? It’s scary because it gives very little time for people to get ready and for the authorities to warn persons to either move out of the part of the stop of the storm or to do the preparations that that you need.”

Young further explains that traditionally, at the start of hurricane season, ocean temperatures reach a peak of around eighty degrees in June, which would not provide enough energy to sustain the formation of a hurricane. However, the past thirteen months have displayed record-breaking temperatures in the Atlantic. At the formation of the season’s most recent hurricane, Beryl, ocean temperatures were on average eighty-four degrees; temperatures that are typically witnessed during September and October. With such high temperatures, the turnaround time between storms becoming major hurricanes is becoming shorter, and more difficult to predict. Michael Taylor, Director of Climate Studies at the University of the West Indies’, in Jamaica, provides additional insight into this dilemma.

Michael Taylor, Director, Climate Studies, Mona

“What we don’t have the greatest of science to do right now is predict the rapid intensification, as you have said, so it’s not that we didn’t get a warning that there would be a hurricane, but the amount of time to prepare for this severity of the hurricane now is reduced, and that has a significant impact because it means, you know, the preparations you’d have been doing for a tropical storm or a tropical depression suddenly have to become preparations overnight for a major hurricane.”

Taylor emphasizes the need to adequately prepare for the storms due to this phenomenon. The rapid intensification of storms has occurred in the past, as was witnessed in southern Mexico with Hurricane Otis in 2023. Within twenty-four hours, the tropical storm intensified into a category five hurricane. As was witnessed with Hurricane Beryl, storms are now strengthening to sustain intensity across multiple countries. For poorer communities, this can mean devastation, as they struggle to prepare.

Dr. Colin Young

“The Caribbean is at the frontline of the war on climate change. Our people are suffering the damages and we’re paying in lives and livelihoods from these hurricanes.”

Climate Change is happening now and the most vulnerable are at the forefront of the impacts. At COP27 in 2022, several countries around the world pledged to contribute to the Loss and Damage Fund, which is meant to alleviate the impact of climate change in vulnerable nations, including Small Island Developing States, SIDS. However, that money is yet to be delivered.

Michael Taylor

“Things that we call, used to call urgent, are no longer urgent. There are immediate needs, you know, so things like, okay, we need to mitigate. So we need to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions so that we can keep the future temperature to one point five or, you know, two degrees. That’s no longer something that’s urgent that we should do. We have to do it. And so we. You know, people like me and you, citizens, we have to pay attention now to the cops, and look at what the countries are pledging in terms of their greenhouse gas emissions, including our own countries, and say, boy, we have to do more.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

PM Briceño Explains Amended Fiscal Incentives Act

A proposed amendment to the Fiscal Incentives Act was tabled in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister John Briceño during the last sitting. The recommended changes seek to replace the definitive agreements that were previously entered into by the Government of Belize and developers of mega projects, such as the Port of Magical Belize. The incentive is offered for investments that exceed five hundred million Belize dollars. According to P.M. Briceño, the piece of legislation that will now become the revised Fiscal Incentives Act will be universal in its scope.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“There is one law that would cover everybody, as opposed to having, you know, for instance we had the Stake Bank law. Stake Bank has a definitive agreement which is almost the same as this one that the U.D.P. was presenting and then trying to make, I don’t know, I still can’t understand what is the issue with our government when it comes to the definitive agreement. We did nothing, we did not accept it. We said, you know, that it’s best that we try to come up with something different and we believe that this was the answer.”

Isani Cayetano

“Here’s a follow-up question. Two hundred and fifty million U.S. dollars is the equivalent of a half a billion Belize dollars. So the natural question is, do we have any project of that scale, of that magnitude, that’s being undertaken in Belize, or perhaps if two hundred and fifty million dollars seems a bit too high a threshold?”

Prime Minster John Briceño

“This is the idea because you only want to do it for these large scale investments that are needed. When you look at the issue of a cruise port, any cruise port that is built in Belize is going to cost over two hundred and fifty million U.S. dollars and the big part of it is because of the dredging that has to be done. We have the Four Seasons, right now. They are building the Four Seasons in Caye Chapel and that investment is going to be about four hundred million U.S. dollars they’ll be investing in there. And it’s not only the hotel, but several very upscale homes that are being built for different people that have already purchased their pieces of land, their parcel of land to be able to develop.”

P.M. Briceño Says Ninety Days for S.O.E. is Necessary

Also coming out of the last house meeting is an extension of the present state of emergency which has been prolonged to three months of jail time for persons who were detained several weeks ago. According to P.M. Briceño, the extension allows for additional time for mediation and investigation, as well as a warning for others who may be considering gang violence.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“They feel that they need ninety days for several reasons, but the most important one is that it gives the police more time to investigate some of the murders that have taken place. Secondly, it gives more time for the people with mediation to be able to talk to them and to calm them down, trying to find, see if you can find some kind of peace amongst them. And thirdly, we feel that it can also act as a deterrent to say that, I noh wahn dehn hold me up fi ninety days, so ah might as well try to walk a straight line as I possibly can. So, like I tell everybody, we believe and we know for a fact that we don’t have all the answers. So for those our critics, give me a solution.”