The Government of Belize is purchasing fifteen acres of roadside property for almost seven million dollars to construct of a new tertiary hospital in Belmopan. While the Briceño administration is on record stating that the final figure is well below the initial price sought by Annie Zhu and Kenny Zheng, the acquisition still comes with a hefty price tag. The proposed site, from the initial location where it was suggested, is causing quite a stir since the facility will no longer be built on property belonging to the University of Belize. That piece of land which was set aside for the university hospital is a little over five and a half miles away from the George Price Highway and access to the undeveloped acreage proves to be a challenge. Last April, approval was given for a modern national referral hospital to be built at a cost of forty-five million U.S. dollars in the nation’s capital. One year later, the Cabinet approved the transfer of that facility based on a technical report presented by officials from the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Earlier today, Director of Hospital Services Dr. Jorge Polanco and Chief Nursing Officer Lizett Bell outlined several reasons why the U.B. property was not suitable for the project.
Dr. Jorge Polanco
Dr. Jorge Polanco, Director, Hospital Services
“Mrs. Bell and myself and other senior officials visited the site that was proposed which is part of the property of U.B. and indeed that visit really called our attention, the distance was very significant. It was far, to put it that way. From the highway, it was about nine kilometers. It was an area that currently has no infrastructure, no water. To reach that area we had to move through the adjacent area, Maya Mopan which is adjacent to a major part of Belmopan. We immediately recognized that that is not the best site, simply because of the distance. When we reached to the area, we noticed that there was no other access to get to that point. There was no access from the Hummingbird Highway, there was no access from the Western Highway. We had to pass through a depression which is a creek that would normally get flooded when the rains are significant. So we said, if there could be another site closer to the highways that would be of much benefit.”
Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere in the media, the initial property that was recommended for the university hospital does not sit next to the U.B. Gym. According to Nurse Lizett Bell, the government would have to purchase private property to build a road to the hospital. As it stands, to get to the existing location, one must drive through residential neighborhoods.
Lizett Bell
Lizett Bell, Chief Nursing Officer
“What we would like to dispel is that the area has been allocated or the university would have provided to us is not adjacent to the existing university. So this property is not beside the gym. Even the university students would have had to come out of the campus to access this area. So this area is all the way in Maya Mopan Extension. So it’s at the south end of the hundred acres that the university owns. So, in addition to that, being of the distance, we also had to consider the issue of the infrastructure, as Dr. Polanco mentioned. So it doesn’t have any access roads. For us to be able to provide services at the tertiary level and the secondary level which this facility will provide, we need to ensure access to the highways. In doing so, we, or the government would still have to procure private properties for us to gain access to the Hummingbird Highway.”
Dr. Jorge Polanco
“And to the Western.”
Lizett Bell
“Exactly. So we would also have to put in additional funding for road structures on both ends; meaning, for us to access the Hummingbird and for us to access the George Price Boulevard and into the Western Highway. So that is something that we had to consider. The project has already started even though we had the issue of the relocation of the land, we still work towards the component of the design and supervision. So we are at point at his time along with the Central Execution Unit of the Ministry of Economic Development, we are finalizing those proposals or bids that were submitted to them with regards to the design and supervision. So I don’t foresee or I would not say that this has caused any delays in the estimated timeframe for the completion of the project.”
A release issued by the Government of Belize today states, quote, Cabinet’s only objective in supporting the recommendation to relocate the hospital remains its commitment to providing universal health coverage and ensuring the highest standards of healthcare delivery for all Belizeans, end quote.
As a public sector investment, the construction of the new Belmopan Hospital also falls under the purview of the Ministry of Economic Development. Prime Minister John Briceño heads that ministry. So today, when reporters caught up with Narda Garcia, the Chief Executive Officer in the Office of the Prime Minister, she was asked if the project funders were informed of the decision to relocate the hospital’s construction site. She says that she does not know much about the process because her ministry works with private sector investments.
Narda Garcia
Narda Garcia, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Investment
“I do investment, but I do private sector investment. That is public sector investment. So, I am not very intimate with the process. I do know it is a Saudi loan and it is led by the Saudi people. I know the design of the hospital and all of that is through the Saudis that they are going to start the process for bidding for contractors. But, that is as much as I can tell you, because I do more private sector investment. Public sector investment is done by the Ministry of Economic Development.”
Reporter
“I thought since that falls under the Prime Minister’s portfolio you would know.”
Narda Garcia
“I know some. I know where it is, how much it is. The part of the process that have started, but I don’t know more than that.”
Reporter
“Obviously, people are questioning how is it justified that you spend four hundred and fifty thousand dollars per acre of land to move this hospital when you have free land.”
Narda Garcia
“I understand that Dr. Sabido was on Channel Five this morning and he is more technical to comment on the move. I learned the move from the media. So, that it as much as I can tell you.”
Queen of the Bay, 2023-2024, Kendall Morgan has been stripped of the title and crown. The announcement came from the Association of Former Queens and The National Queen of the Bay Committee in the form of a press release. The association and the committee cite instances of alleged bullying and general discourteous and disrespectful behaviour on the part of Morgan. The decision was also made to name the First Runner-Up in last year’s pageant the new queen for the remainder of the time. News Five’s Marion Ali has a report on this development.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Controversy surrounds the Queen of the Bay franchise yet again, as the title and the crown have been taken away from reigning queen, Kendall Morgan. With only ten days left before the 2024-2025 queen is selected, the Association of Former Queens and The National Queen of the Bay Committee have announced that last year’s first runner-up, Keely Faux, is the seventy-eighth Queen of the Bay.
The Association and the Committee, in this Facebook press release, point to several infractions by Morgan over the course of the year that she has held the crown. The violations include quote, bullying, cyber-bullying and general discourteous and disrespectful behaviour, end quote. The release states that the decision was unanimous and that the two bodies attempted numerous ways to allow Morgan to complete her reign.
The release did not state specific details, but it mentions that Morgan was written to, informing her of violations she has committed, which are not in tandem with the terms of her contract. Prior to the letters, the release states, Morgan was given verbal warnings of her behaviour. The release also quotes sections of the contract, a portion of which deals with the way the Queen of the Bay is expected to carry herself. This includes posts made on social media.
Furthermore, the release also quotes other sections of the contract that speak to the scope within which the Queen of the Bay is expected to carry herself when engaging the public, raises concerns or queries, or in sharing plans or notices when leaving the country.
The joint press release reveals that in July, a meeting was held to discuss the infractions, as well as a meeting that Morgan had with a delegation of former queens to raise her concerns over the allegations that were made against her. It was decided in July, that to allow her to keep the crown and title, Morgan would be limited in her interactions with the candidates, a decision to which she had reportedly agreed to by attaching her signature to the written decision.
The release concludes by stating that Morgan will remain with the prizes she has won, which include a bachelor’s degree scholarship to the University of Belize and a title property in the Belize Rural area.
News Five has attempted to get comments from Morgan’s manager, who has indicated that they have attained the services of an attorney to review the matter. We’ve also tried to reach the Director of the National Queen of the Bay Committee, Sherima Guity, but our efforts were futile.
Several years ago, controversy had surrounded the Queen of the Bay pageant when two individuals were named queen, one officially and the other by an official of the Committee who had believed there was disparity between the scores for the actual winner. That matter was settled when the person who was initially named Queen of the Bay was officially crowned on September tenth of that year.
Marion Ali for News Five.
Late this evening, the Director of the National of the Queen of the Bay Committee, Sherima Guity, messaged saying that she was in meetings all day and will avail herself on Thursday for interviews.
Earlier today, the Office of the Prime Minister, the CARICOM Development Fund and BELTRAIDE officially launched the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project, an initiative aimed at assisting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises with access to affordable financing. Outgoing Executive Director, Dr. Leroy Almendarez and Prime Minister John Briceño were on hand for the ceremony.
Dr. Leroy Almendarez
Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE
“One of the biggest challenges faced by MSMEs is access to, and I always put in the A, affordable finance. In this case, access to finance, finance to induce your growth, your transition through that ecosystem. And so, the benefits here will be great because there are those who just need that inducement. These are some of the things that the government is doing, in this case, through BELTRAIDE, for MSMEs. And there are quite a number of other initiatives, but as we focus on BEEP now, as a matter of fact, we didn’t have the P before and so it was BEE and I think someone asked me who was going to fly. So we added the BEEP rather than B and so with this project now, honestly, I must also say here that the government has been focusing quite a lot, in fact in BIS 2023, that’s Belize Investment Summit, we spoke about the orange economy. Too often, the creative industry, etc… and those things that fall in there, but we spoke about the fires of the mind and those fires are orange, the intellectual property. And so a large part of this concentration, the funds available will be for the orange economy and that is something great. That tells you the diversification of blue, green and orange and how much focus the government places on entrepreneurial development.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“MSMEs contribute to more than fifty percent of our Gross Domestic Product or GDP. My government is fully aware of the great contributions MSMEs make to our economy, stimulating local investments and diversification of our economy with a push to enhance community resilience. All essential components that will create an environment that fosters both rural and urban development as the matrix of locally produced goods and services prevails. The continued injection of innovation through enhanced digitization efforts must not be overlooked because this allows for even greater efficiencies in service delivered. Today you join us to unveil the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project, BEEP, a project developed to address one of the greatest development challenges faced by MSMEs, that is access to finance. This initiative represents a significant shift from the original intent of the Belize Enterprise Revolving Fund, or the BRF, which utilizes a blended approach to provide much needed financial support. The BRF methodology used a blended loan and grant approach. This revolving aspect meant that forty percent had to be repaid as a loan with a fixed rate of four percent. Recognizing that challenge, I wrote to the CEO of CARICOM Development Fund, Rodinald Soomer, making the case that the funds be repurposed as grants only which would stimulate greater economic activity and uptake by MSMEs.”
Ishmael Quiroz, the former Executive Director of the Economic Development Council, has been given the green light to fill the vacant post left by Doctor Leroy Almendarez at BELTRAIDE. As we reported, Doctor Almendarez left his post as executive director to become the Chief Executive Officer at the Social Security Board. According to Narda Garcia, the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Investment, Quiroz is a good fit for the position at BELTRAIDE because he collaborated with the agency on numerous projects in his former capacity.
Narda Garcia
Narda Garcia, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Investment
“Ishmael Quiroz has been with the E.D.C. for seven years and he has resigned. It was happening in tandem. He had resigned for another, I think he was going to the National Bank, because as a young professional he was looking for new areas to work. But, at the same time he knew that Doctor Almendarez was applying. He asked me what I thought. I said, go for it. I think you can do the work, go for it. As a professional you should always pursue growth. I knew he was going to do well. When I heard from Quiroz that he was leaving I said we are going to have a bakery at BELTRAIDE. They worked so closely together. I have the investment policy and compliant unit at the investment ministry, we have the economic development council and BELTRAIDE, as you have witnessed, I have them working as a team in everything for investment, the Investment Summit and MSME Road Show and that is how it works. I told them it is going to be a very easy transition. You know the staff, the vision, the mission, what we do at BELTRAIDE. He applied and the board has approved his application for it.”
The Port of Belize needs an operational upgrade, according to business owners and brokers that say it has been running at a sluggish pace. Reports are that cargos have been backing up at the port leading to a delay in exporting and clearing goods. Narda Garcia, the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Investment, says the government is looking at what can be done to upgrade the port’s cargo facility. She also revealed that a cruise port at the location is not off the table just yet.
Narda Garcia
Narda Garcia, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Investment
“From what I understand, Marisol, the port is being looked at by the government to see what they are going to do with the port. There is no doubt there must be an upgrade in the cargo side of it. I think there is still a proposal to do cargo and cruise at the same location. But again, we have some environmental issues there any which way you put it, so I don’t know. I can find out and see what stage they are at to be able to comment. Maybe minister Mahler is more in tune with what is happening. I know he wants the cruise port to come on stream. But it is also extremely important that our cargo side of it comes on stream and technology takes over a lot of what is happening there. It is only the right thing to do.”
The practice of child marriage has been on a global decline in the last decade, but progress has been uneven around the world. In developing nations, with large populations of women and children living in poverty, young girls remain vulnerable to gender-based violence. In this week’s edition of our Five Point Breakdown, News Five’s Britney Gordon examines why child marriage remains prevalent in the Caribbean and Latin America and how Belize is working to put an end to it.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a country to protect one. Young girls remain among the most vulnerable populations, susceptible to abuse, poverty and teenage pregnancy. Melanie Barnes, a Child Protection Officer at UNICEF, says that in Latin America and the Caribbean, there are roughly fifty-eight million girls who were married before the age of eighteen.
The Prevalence of Child Marriage in Belize
Melanie Barnes
Melanie Barnes, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF
“So when we surveyed women aged twenty to twenty-four, we found a lot of them were married Before the age of eighteen and the data is five percent versus one point four boys. So we know that in terms of Belize, there’s a large group of women who experienced early unions. In terms of the region, Belize thirty-three. Belize has thirty-three percent prevalence, which makes us rank in terms of Latin American and Caribbean as fourth. But for the Caribbean, we are first with thirty-three. The closest country to us is at thirty percent. So we have a lot of work to do in terms of addressing the age of marriage, but more so the issue of consent.”
The region has made little progress on ending child marriage over the last twenty-five years and stands to become the second highest when it comes to child marriage by 2030. This is partly due to challenges regulating the rate of minors engaging in intercourse. Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children, Rossana Briceño, explains that education is key in driving down the numbers.
The struggle to police sex hinders the end of Child Marriage
Rossana Briceño
Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy for the Development of Families & Children
“That’s a hard one because we can’t police everybody. and girls, boys, they will be in relationships because it’s a part of growing up. It’s a natural process. We can’t stop anybody from having sex. Because it will happen. Whether you want it or not, it will happen. We can pretend that it’s not happening, but it is happening. What can we do? Educate them. Let them understand the consequences of having sex at an early age. The consequences of getting pregnant without protection or not being ready to get into a union or a marriage because there’s so many consequences. Health issues. A young girl is not even developed properly. You get pregnant. No, you, a child is having a child.”
But the laws are changing, last year at the National Children’s Parliament, the call was made to raise the age of consent to marry from sixteen to eighteen years old. Today, consultations are being held to bring this change into legislation. The Executive Director of the National Commission for Families and Children spoke with us about the initiative.
Curbing the numbers through a change in legislation
Shakeera Sutherland
Shakeera Sutherland, Executive Director, NCFC
“It is extremely important especially from the standpoint from NCFC because the whole objective of the National Children’s Parliament is a platform to allow the children’s voices to be heard. And so it is important for us to continue when I say us stakeholders in this case we have Special Envoy, and as well as the National Women’s Commission, that supports us to allow our children to have their voices heard. And so not only to just listen to them at the parliament, but to act and to assist because that is what we are here for.”
Poverty and a lack of education continue to be two of the main drivers in child marriage. Executive Director of the National Women’s Commission, Eleanor Murillo stressed the importance of both parents providing support for their child financially and emotionally.
How do girls end up in child marriages?
Britney Gordon
“So how is it that so many women enter into these unions at such a young age?”
Eleanor Murillo
Eleanor Murillo, Executive Director, N.W.C.
“Wow. It’s historical. It’s cultural. It has been normalized, historically, as I said, when it comes to relationship family history, we’ve always had this issue where grown men seems to be attracted to younger women. And they usually prey on the most vulnerable families, so the very poor families in most cases. And so, if this household is poor, and there you have a man who have money or have some asset and saying, I want to take care of your daughter. In many cases, they would give up their daughter for money or so that somebody else can take care of them and that is what poverty does.”
In many rural communities, child marriage exists as part of the culture. One in five women, ages fifteen to nineteen, is married or in a union. Minister of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia says that despite the ties to culture, child marriage needs to go.
The Role of Culture in the Practice of Child Marriages
Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development
“Not because early unions are permitted in certain traditional communities does that mean that it is a good thing. Because How can a twelve year old, how can a thirteen or a fourteen year old really have a child and bring up that child in a proper way? They are children themselves. And clearly a thirteen-year-old or a fourteen-year-old would not have gone to high school to finish up. And you need your education to be able to have a good life. And a good job and then be able to contribute back to society. So we want to end the child marriages and the early unions.”
For yet another year, Channel Five and its team of reporters, cameramen and editors have made the company and the country proud. This year, Channel Five’s team won eight awards and two special mentions at the Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s thirty-fifth Caribbean Media Awards on Tuesday night. The awards in the television category for which we won include Best News Story, Best News Item on Poverty Reduction and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups, Best Sports Story, Best Magazine Program, Best Investigative Item in the Digital Content category, Best Climate Change News Item, Best Commercial Spot, Special mention for our Open Your Eyes Morning Show, Special mention for Best Investigative Item in the digital category. We also received the award for Best Director and Best Sound Engineer. News Five’s Marion Ali put together this story on the award winners.
Marion Ali, Reporting
It was a momentous occasion in Placencia on Tuesday night, as the name Great Belize Television was repeatedly announced. It was the Caribbean Media Awards ceremony for excellence in journalism. The reporters and videographers who submitted excellent news stories in 2023 to the CBU were announced. Adding to the team’s success were winning categories in sound engineering, producer and digital content. Reporter Paul Lopez walked away with three of those awards, including one in Health Education Journalism with a story titled “Bridging the Gaps of Mental Illness Treatment” with videographer, Chris Mangar.
Paul Lopez
Paul Lopez, C.B.U. Award Winner
“When I heard my name called for the first time, I was definitely surprised. I think the first one was Best News Item and I could recall now walking up on stage and getting a bit emotional because when you’re there it’s completely different than when you watch it on a live stream like we have been doing for years. To be there and to actually receive this award on stage and having all those reflections and flashbacks of my journey, career journey, as well as my personal journey, I don’t think there’s anything like it and no other feeling, at least up to this point in my life, no greater feeling.”
Lopez also won the Best News Story for Television with a story titled “A Competency-Based Approach to Education in Belize” with Darrell Moguel and Kenroy Michael as videographers, and George Tillett as editor. Lopez’s third winning piece was in the Best Sports Story for Television with George Tillett as videographer.
Hipolito Novelo won the Best Climate Change News Item, along with videographer Darrel Moguel for a story titled “Cultivating Hope: Belize’s Seaweed Farming Industry Takes Root.”
Hipolito Novelo
Hipolito Novelo, C.B.U. Award Winner
“In this particular story, we focus on TNC’s aim to empower women down south, so what we did is we went down south, we saw the women and the participants participating in how to create their own seaweed farm and the benefits that come along with seaweed.”
Marion Ali
“What kind of challenges did you have, if any?”
Hipolito Novelo
“There weren’t any challenges, per se. I mean, the sun mi hot, you get sunburn up, so I think that was the only challenge we had. I can’t swim, so I remained in the boat. I couldn’t see. I, we couldn’t dive to see exactly what they were doing underwater, but we got some footage on T.N.C. and the women explained to us what exactly they were doing in terms of trying to tie the rope and in terms of planting the seaweed branches there.”
Novelo also received a special mention for the Best Investigative Item in the Digital content category. In the Best Magazine Program for Television, Open Your Eyes received a Special Mention for its “Easter Special” with hosts, Sabreena Daly and John Palacio and producers, Viannie Reyes and Brianna Bennett. The videographers for this show were Rick Romero and Joel Wesbey. Great Belize Productions Ltd and producer, videographer, Rick Romero also won in the Best Commercial Spot with a piece called “UNITEX: No Worries With A Spark Beach Cruiser”
Rick Romero
Rick Romero, C.B.U. Award Winner
“The commercial for this year was for a company called Unitex Belize, so we did a commercial on the beach cruiser that they are advertising. It’s a little boy, you know, riding a bike in traffic and saying he gets to school on time because he rides a beach cruiser, right? So it’s a cute little commercial. It’s a challenge, you know, in this business, to top your previous work and to come up with new ideas, whether it be for a story, a commercial, a documentary, you know. After all these years I’ve been doing this, it’s easy, but it’s also very challenging because you have to find new ways of telling stories.”
Romero also won the award for Best Director for television. The award for Best News Story on Poverty Reduction & Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups went to Duane Moody, who is no longer with us. He won that award with videographers Darrel Moguel and Rick Romero. And the Best Sound Engineer for television went to Luis Sosa.
Luis Sosa
Luis Sosa, C.B.U. Award Winner
“I feel very honored and very happy to have won my first award as a TV song technician, as you know, that you could have good video, but not good song and that don’t go together well. I do it every day, so it wasn’t that difficult, just a matter of, you know, getting the sound right on the TV, mixing board, you know, and I did it with the steel pan with Alex Evans, and he’s a professional, so it wasn’t that hard.”
The winners were selected from among four hundred and forty-four submissions in several categories in print, radio, television and digital media. Channel Five’s CEO, Marleni Cuellar puts the fierceness of the competition into perspective.
Marleni Cuellar
Marleni Cuellar, C.E.O., Channel 5
“There were over four hundred entries into this year’s CMAs and the awards submissions, the numbers just keep growing and growing and the competition keeps getting tighter and tighter. And so the pressure is definitely there to be able to keep up to standard with what we have always been capable of achieving. I am incredibly proud for my team that Secure these awards and for the extended support team at Channel 5 that works to be able to keep the environment conducive to creating these types of awards.”
Climate and Environmental Journalist from Trinidad, Kalain Hosein, who won several awards in 2023, said on Open Your Eyes today that he was happy that the Caribbean Broadcast Union decided on creating an award category for environmental journalism.
“We heard yesterday at several of their panels about how the media landscape has changed and how editors should be prioritizing environment, weather climate stories as well, especially when they impact so many people across the region. It doesn’t come as a surprise to me because if you have been following, a lot of the CARICOM Heads of Government meetings, they have been putting climate change at the forefront of many of their discussions and it seems to be a topic that has gained regional prominence.”
The awards ceremony for the 2024 winners will be held in Barbados next year. Marion Ali for News Five.
The Belize Music Project is officially here. Created by the ministries of Culture and Tourism, the initiative seeks to connect Belizean youths to their cultural roots through a love for music. The project was officially launched today at the House of Culture in Belize City. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
For centuries, music has remained one of the strongest ties to culture that a person can have. Playing instruments, singing and dancing together, music connects people. And the Belize Music Project is seeking to connect Belizean youths to their forebears. Music activist, Bilal Morris explains the significance of the project.
Bilal Morris
Bilal Morris, Music Activist
“The Belize Music Project is a documentation and celebration of Belizean music, both past and present. It’s placing Belizean music into a historical context and timeline so that present and future generations of Belizeans, students and non-students alike, Belizean musical enthusiasts, entertainers, and the Belizean community at large can hear, see, experience, and feel the Belizean soul. We can even play back this rich history of Belizean music through various musical technologies and medium today to enjoy the song of a people and their musically creative history that have not only developed a nation but globalize this rich and cultural heritage.”
The project is based on three main principles: research, education, and innovation, with the goal of unlocking Belize’s musical soul. Over the course of several months, the experts will attempt to create a digital archive of musical creations across Belizean history.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“The Belize Music Project focuses on preserving Belize’s rich musical heritage while fostering innovative expressions that bridge past traditions with future artistic endeavors, instilling cultural pride and identity. It involves comprehensive research, including interviews and historical recordings to create a narrative of Belize’s musical journey culminating in a multi-format music box set titled one hundred years of Music in Belize which features significant historical recordings and detailed publications.”
Belizean favorites such as Mister Peters, Lord Rhaburn and Sam Hamilton will be featured but as the project progresses, researchers will also attempt to archive the works of still-undiscovered artists of the past. Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler says that by doing so, the world will be able to look back for generations to come and appreciate the talent concentrated in the small country of Belize.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Ministry of Tourism
“Why can’t we have the next Bob? Why can’t we have the next Rihanna? Why can’t we have the next Marshall Montano or whoever it is, we have talented people here. And that’s why we’ve invested in the music studios that we’ve invested in and we’ll continue to do more. And that’s why we are investing in the music and food festival. I think art has a crucial role to play in our education and believing in what we are as Belizeans. It is important for far too often we take these things for granted but if you listen to the video and you listen to the talent that we had, and we have right now, I think we have to create that environment.”
