2024-07-17 - Channel 5 Belize

Kevin Bernard, “Belizeans Need to Learn to Respect the Rules.”

We broke the news on Monday that the medical staff working the night shift at the Southern Regional Hospital came under threat of physical harm when relatives of victims of a road traffic accident barged into the triage area and attempted to enter the Emergency Department. It is an incident that’s eerily reminiscent of what took place at the San Ignacio Community Hospital several weeks ago when family and friends of the now deceased David Galindo stormed the facility and demanded prompt medical attention for their loved one. In a release from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, both incidents are described as, quote, continuous aggressive and threatening behavior by the public towards medical staff, which cannot be countenanced, end quote. Earlier today, we caught up with Minister Kevin Bernard in Punta Gorda where we sought a comment from him on the latest incident.

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“It’s quite an unfortunate situation. I’m very much appalled at what is happening and the recent trend of events that’s happening. It started in San Ignacio where, as you know, that was very uncalled for. We had the situation in Corozal, minor issues there, but then what happened in the Southern Regional Hospital, again… You see, Belizeans, and people need to understand that yes, there might be an emergency but you must respect our medical officers. We must respect our health professionals, they have a job to do to protect their patients, to ensure that, for example, at that moment, there was a pregnant woman. There were two pregnant women, there was one approaching the emergency room, they had the issue of the people that had that accident, terrible accident. And so, but you cannot just barge into facilities like this. We must respect the rules, hospitals also have certain regulations, it’s about patient safety, patient security and the sanity of the persons that are in there, because remember, we have to look at infection control. All of these things have a key factor to play, especially when you are not the patient. So you have to ensure that people understand, you just can’t go into a hospital just like that. You can cause other infections to other persons who are there with other issues. So we have to, and I am calling out those persons who did this, they are wrong and we are already looking at other measures that we are going to be putting in place and I have said to my colleagues in Cabinet, if we have to come to the House and make laws to put further restrictions and to put penalties to persons who do these types of things then we may have to do so. Belizeans need to learn to respect the rules.”

Department of Transport to Increase Road Security

It was a tragic weekend across Belize after a series of road traffic accidents claimed the lives of eight individuals. In the north, two families lost a parent and a child in a collision, and several were critically injured, while in southern Belize a five-year-old and two family members were killed while driving back from celebrating the child’s birthday in Punta Gorda. These unfortunate events have raised concerns with the public about the safety of the roads and highlighted issues regarding their upkeep that need to be addressed. We asked Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer, what the department is doing to address these concerns considering the recent accidents. Here’s what he had to say.

Britney Gordon

“We had a very tragic weekend with several accidents across Belize. Can you speak a little bit about, how the department is responding to that?”

Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer

“Well, the department has started, we have increased the number of patrols, both for the areas that are hot spots. as well as for doing normal checks along the highways. It is also important that we highlight the collaborative effort that we should have between the police and the Department of Transport, especially during the after hours, because majority of these accidents normally happen when the sun goes down, for lack of a better term. But the idea is that we want to collaboratively work along with the police department to have at least some sort of security with us when we do those patrols within the, within the nighttime.”

Britney Gordon

“So there has been some criticism, especially, in the southern region about, poor lighting on the highways and a lack of markings on the highway. So how is the department addressing these issues?”

Leon Gentle

“In my opinion, it’s important for us as well, collaborate with the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing because they’re primarily the persons responsible for And that is also about improving the roads and infrastructure within the country, and so it’s is a wider discussion not only from the Department of Transport, but also with the ministry of infrastructure, development and housing, and primarily because of that there has to be that conversation that we have before we can produce a timeline as to how to improve that. But we do agree that there is need for markings on the road. As well as for increasing in lighting or reflectors within the road. So it is a conversation that we intend to have with the Ministry of infrastructure, development and housing.”

Public Advised to be Cautious when Overtaking on Roads

Recent traffic accidents across Belize over the weekend have prompted the Department of Transport to once again advise the public to exercise caution while travelling on the highway. According to Chief Transport Officer, Leon Gentle, the Department of Transport is working towards increasing security on the roads, however, there are several practices that can be taken by the public to limit the number of accidents recorded. We spoke with Gentle earlier today to hear how drivers can avoid a collision on the roads. Here’s what he had to say.

Britney Gordon

“And how do we encourage drivers to take more precautions on the road? What are some of the practices you discouraged them from doing?”

Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer

“Well, on the roads, especially for road users, it’s important to understand the laws as it relates to moving, overtaking a person in front of you. I want to also try to discourage persons who are on these motorcycles for overtaking on the wrong side of vehicles. That seems to be a practice that these motorcycles have been using for some time, especially within the city limits and on town limits. It’s also important for us to stay within the speed limit. And to ensure that you indicate when you’re intending to overtake the vehicle in front of you and to ensure that all your lightings on your vehicles are working properly. Take precautions of the road conditions. Ensure that you are familiar with the roadways and just be safe while you’re driving. Ensure to buckle up as well.”

Department of Transport Says License Plates are Coming Soon

It’s been over a year since the Department of Transport experienced a shortage that halted the issuance of license plates and insurance stickers. The scarcity has been an inconvenience to Belizeans for several months, particularly those who are seeking to travel outside the country’s borders. As a result, some have taken to forging license plates in the absence of the plates issued by the Department of Transport. We spoke with Chief Transport Officer Leon Gentle to find out how much longer the public is expected to wait for the issue to be resolved. Here’s what he had to say.

Britney Gordon

“Can you speak to me a little bit about the issue going on right now about people making fraudulent license plates? How are we addressing that issue? What could have led to this?”

Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer

“Again, what could have led to it would have been the shortage of plates and stickers within the national transport system. The main reason for that is primarily because after taking over the position earlier this year, I decided that we should go through an audit to ensure that all of our information is as clear and as correct as possible. We’ve gone through that process. We are currently in the procurement process where we that, of course, takes another time to be able to complete, but we are near the end of it, and hopefully in the month of August, at least the first week in August, we should have a set of plates that we can start ensuring that we get back to its normal operations for.”

Britney Gordon

“So what can you say to deter people from making these fraudulent license plates? What are some of the dangers and risks of that for on their end as also for you guys?”

Leon Gentle

“It actually is a fraudulent act and of course being a fraudulent act it is also arrestable and so it’s important for the public to understand that just bear with the Department of Transport at least a little bit more patience for us to clarify that everything is up and running and smoothly and we should have the plates hopefully by the first week in August. So, I want to do encourage persons to not produce any of license plates or stickers and those who are actually producing it to the cease from doing so.”

Britney Gordon

“And you said the license plate you’re hoping for it to be by August. And what about the stickers?”

Leon Gentle

“Both are within the same timeline.”

Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Belize’s Maya Golden Landscape

The Ya’axche Conservation Trust has joined forces with various stakeholders, including the Government of Belize, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Global Environmental Facility, to implement a four year project in the Maya Golden Landscape of Toledo District. This initiative integrates biodiversity conservation, protected areas management and sustainable livelihoods at the landscape level. Executive Director Christina Garcia tells us more.

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

“It is a project that was formulated four years ago with support from the Government of Belize, particularly the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change. So yesterday, we had a project launch with the government officials and other state actors, just basically outlining hat the project is going to be and the level of support for what is going to be needed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, but also the Government of Belize. So the project focuses on various aspects and it will be implemented in ten indigenous communities in the Toledo District and it looks at the development of certain plans, particularly for key biodiversity areas that we manage which is the Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve. We’ll be developing a thorough plan for that area. We’re encompassing the feedback from stakeholders, particularly the Trio community. The project also looks at developing a policy guideline for non-timber forest products and this is something that we have going on in the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve for quite a while and so it’s just the formality and making sure that a policy is established, of course with endorsement by the relevant agencies, regulatory agencies such as the National Biodiversity Office and the Forest Department.”

Ya’axche Says Project Launch is Very Timely

According to Garcia, the project launch and implementation are both timely, in the wake of devastating wildfires that ravaged farmlands, destroying agricultural crops.

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

“This project comes at a very handy time because, as you know, the devastation that we suffered in the Toledo District has been of mass, I would say, destruction because we never thought that fire would have raged with all these agro-forestry farms. So the project comes in very handy because agro-forestry is a tool that we utilize for restoration of these lands and I think that the farmers are going to be very grateful for having the implementation of these systems within their farmlands so they’ll have the opportunity to restore what the fire has destroyed. For example, some of the agro-forestry farms, farmers have lost cacao, coffee, timber, and other fruit trees. So the project will basically help these farmers to restore these farmlands, but at the same time, you know, making sure that there are best practices that are implemented in the prevention of these fires. Of course more going towards adopting the sustainable agricultural practices and moving away from the traditional slash and burn that is utilized for crop cultivation.”

“Herbs Man” Spits in Mans Face Over Biden vs Trump Debate

A heated debate over the U.S. presidential election has landed two Belizean men in court. They are thirty-eight-year-old Joshua Rivero and sixty-three-year-old Leroy Young, who is accused of common assault for allegedly spitting in Rivero’s face. Allegations are that on June twenty-eight, Rivero was at his business located in the Michael Finnegan Market when Young began perusing stalls in the vicinity. Rivero claims that Young initiated a conversation about the U.S. presidential candidates, which quickly turned heated, causing Rivero to say, quote, if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen, end quote. Rivero said the man began to walk away, but while doing so, stopped in front of Rivero’s stall from outside the fence and spat in his direction. Rivero said the spit hit him on the left side of his face, so he informed the market security guard about the incident and the police were called in. Young, who is well-known for selling bottled on herbs on Albert Street, appeared unrepresented in court this morning. He was read a single charge of common assault, which he plead not guilty to. There were no objections to bail being granted so he was offered bail to the sum of two hundred dollars, plus one surety of the same amount.

Boyfriend Jailed for Stealing from Girlfriend’s Purse

Tonight, a man is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after he was accused of stealing from his girlfriend’s purse while she was in the shower. He is thirty-six-year-old Albert Perez, a Belize City resident and call center agent. Allegations are that on Tuesday, Perez’s girlfriend, thirty-eight-year-old, Kimisha August, went into her bathroom around six ten a.m. to take a shower and took her purse containing one hundred and fifty-two dollars with her which she hung on the knob of her window. According to August, a few minutes later, Perez entered the bathroom and took her purse before exiting the room. August claims that she followed him out of the room, begging him to return it to her. Upon checking the purse, August saw that forty dollars was missing from inside it. She went to the police for assistance and upon searching Perez, the police found the forty dollars on his person. Both parties were escorted to the police station where a statement was recorded from August who requested court action against her boyfriend. Perez appeared unrepresented and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was offered bail in the sum of one thousand dollars, plus a surety of the same amount. Before his arraignment concluded, the court record revealed that Perez was in debt to the court from 2020 in the sum of one thousand, five hundred dollars of which he was ordered to pay at least two hundred dollars by end of the day. Perez could not make the payment and late this evening he was escorted up to the Belize Central Prison until he can do so. His next court date is set for August nineteenth, 2024.

Belizean Diaspora Gives Back to the Community

This summer, at least sixty children are being provided with the resources and guidance to enhance their learning experience through the Rogers Stadium Physical Cultural Sporting Club. For three weeks students across Belize City participated in supplementary classes and extracurricular activities funded by community members in Belize and the diaspora. Today, News Five’s Britney Gordon stopped by the camp at Gwen Lizarraga High School to learn more about the initiative.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

For many Belizeans living abroad, the desire to assist their loved ones at home is shown one way or another. Whether sending a barrel of clothes or school supplies, or providing groceries for those fallen under hard times, there are many ways to give back to the communities that raised them. At the Rogers Stadium Physical Cultural Sporting Club, this is achieved by funding the annual educational summer camp hosted in Belize City. Mike Gentle, the education director who has been teaching for almost thirty years, tells us why he makes the journey from New York every year to participate in the program.

Mike Gentle, Education director, R.S.P.C.S.C.

“I like to think of it as an enrichment program. I do STEM in the state, so I did a couple of classes in engineering, and have just a freethinking kind of thing, try to get these kids to generate their own thoughts and design; so that’s basically where we start with our engineering class.”

Britney Gordon

“And why do you think it’s important to travel to participate in activities like this?”

Mike Gentle

“It’s important because these kids need to learn how to think. The education system, for the most part, in Belize, and from my experience in the States, is geared to training students. They don’t teach students to think independently or be creative. So education in Belize, especially now that I’m here, is a training system. And we need to start training and start educating.”

The camp was launched in 2019 and provides supplementary classes for children who may not have the opportunity to participate otherwise. Throughout the three-week program, children learn a range of topics, including robotics and sports, and are visited by guest speakers from different walks of life. Children are taken on a field trip for an additional extracurricular experience at the end of the program.

Kawhi Enriquez, Student

“Well the camp program is very fun, and the teachers are very helpful, my teachers name miss Cadle, and she is very helpful to me.”

Britney Gordon

“What kind of subjects do you like to learn about?”

Kawhi Enriquez

“Math, is my favorite subject, language and expressive arts.”

Britney Gordon

“What do you like about expressive arts?”

Kawhi Enriquez

“That you can express your feelings and your thoughts, through drawing.”

Britney Gordon

“What do you want to be when you get older?”

Kawhi Enriquez

“I am still figuring that out, but I think I want to be a doctor.”

Rogers Stadium Physical Cultural Club is made up of Belizeans residing in Belize and the Diaspora and supports the advancement of youth in Belize. Sports Director, Harold Grant runs the camp each year so that children will be exposed to experiences beyond what is taught in a classroom and boost their self-esteem so that they can strive towards a brighter future.

Harold Grant, Sports director, R.S.P.C.S.C.

“And we need to give back to the kids. Our kids is not as educated as the kids in the states. So, we have to make sure that we give back to them and try to in, in some way, let them know that they are somebody to be loved by people love themselves so that they can learn and be educated like the rest of the people in the world. No, our kids here in Belize, they are behind, with education, far. So, mister Gentle, he comes in from the diaspora, and he will teach the kids, and to take them on computers or stuff like that, he will be teaching them. We’re teaching them algorithms. We’re teaching them robotics. Last year, one of the kids took them, put a robot together. You know, so, he have some very interesting things for the kids them to learn here and Belize that we don’t have here, in Belize. So, he’s the man that’s really pushing behind this, this education thing.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Learning How to Assess Suicide

Thirty-three participants from across the public service attended a workshop today where they learned how to conduct assessments on suicide. Every year, as many as thirty-six Belizeans die by suicide. What the Community Rehabilitation Department has sought to do is train the trainers in an effort to detect suicide ideation and provide the necessary resources for persons to get help.

Onando St. Bernard, Counseling Coordinator, C.R.D.

“We are providing a train the trainers training on suicide assessments and safety planning. So the reason why we are doing this is that we want to train as many people as possible to go out there and train people on how to better assess for suicide and creating a safety plan. So the participants that we have today are people from the different government offices, the different ministries and what we’re trying to do is that we’re trying to make sure that we’re looking after our government’s staff. So many of these participants do also include counselors, social workers, doctors, the P.N.P. nurses. What we want them to do is we want them to go back to their offices and train their staff, so that they can provide the support for their staff and also for the public that they serve as well. So it’s twofold in that sense, right. So that they’ll go back, train their staff and then their staff will be better, they’ll have more knowledge on how to better assess and do those safety plans for their staff and then also for the individuals that they serve. So it’s three parts, we’re going to train them on how to do the assessments, how to do the safety plans and then also on how to connect them to the counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists who are the individuals who will then take on the safety plans, things like that and continue on working with those individuals who are showing suicide ideation or suicide intent. All these are very important because if you look at the numbers, the statistics, at about thirty-six individuals on a yearly basis, more or less who commit suicide and so we want to bring that number down.”