As we reported, the buses came from far and wide from all six districts, and so did the boats from Belize Rural South’s Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker. And the supporters took up a significant space in the seating gallery at the Belize City Civic Centre. An interesting twist to the event was that while Moses Barrow’s aunt, Queen Square Standard Bearer, Denise “Sister B” Barrow, was a no-show, Godwin Haylock, who is the U.D.P.’s new Standard Bearer in Queen Square, did show up to support the Alliance. Haylock pointed to Barrow’s abstention in the House to vote on Belize celebrating thirty-five years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, something that he considered ridiculous.
Godwin Haylock
Godwin Haylock, Standard Bearer, Queen Square
“When I saw that unconstitutional acts were being committed, standard bearers being removed, the latest one being that you go to the House after that and you say that we cannot support Taiwan, an ally of Belize with a straight “yes” vote. That abstaining was really ridiculous. I watched it again as we went to the House last Friday. You saw that the House Committee members were changed in a most malicious way. The truth is Dean Barrow, Sister B, the entire UDP of Queen Square will never support such as act.”
Reporter
“You’ve been known to be supportive of the Barrows and they are supportive of you. So for us you’re a young figure but a huge figure, but for you to go against Shyne Barrow on a personal level people will see that you’re a traitor.”
Godwin Haylock
“I feel that while the Barrows have the luxury of not coming out vocally against Shyne because they’re family members, I don’t have that luxury to go to the division and say I’m a Barrow and I can’t get into this. I must make a stance for my community and I feel deep down that the principles, the values that Dean Barrow brought to the Queen Square Division are the same values that he would want me to stand for today.”
Geraldine Tillett has been a long-standing resident of the Mesopotamia Division and a stalwart supporter of the United Democratic Party. She presented the motion for the recall of her Area Representative, Moses “Shyne” Barrow, as U.D.P. Leader at Sunday’s Alliance Convention. And she told News Five that while she voted for Barrow in the last election, there was no way she could support him in the next one, so she transferred her vote out of the constituency.
Geraldine Tillett, Resident, Mesopotamia
“Basically, I was a big supporter of Shyne, but then I realised that Shyne is destroying this party because of his attitude, his dictatorial ways. And I refuse to have him destroy a party that I have been working for since I was eighteen years old. I will not allow that to happen.”
Marion Ali
“So, come the next general election, when you get a chance to vote for him..”
Geraldine Tillett
“Not voting for him, not voting for him.”
Marion Ali
“Will you vote against the party this year?”
Geraldine Tillett
“No, I’m not voting against the party. I’m not in the division again. I transferred. I transferred my vote because I refuse to vote for him. But I will not go against my party, so I prefer to go somewhere where I know my vote will be counted because I will not…”
While the U.D.P. status quo has remained unfazed by the Alliance for Democracy’s convention on Sunday, the Alliance members are moving forward to ensuring that the outcome of their convention motions and voting is implemented. Area Representative for Collet, Patrick Faber, said that the U.D.P. will be a stronger and a more unified party now.
Patrick Faber, Area Representative, Collet
“Belize deserves a UDP that is strong, that is unified, and ready to lead with compassion and conviction. This is not just a time for reflection; it is a time for action. The work we have begun here today will echo across Belize in every district, in every community, in every home. We are sending a message, loud and clear, the UDP is back. And we are stronger than ever. We are ready to fight for the rights of every Belizean, to protect our democracy and to ensure that no one, no one can take away what belongs to the people.”
Sunday’s event saw Attorney Jacqueline Willoughby elected as interim chair of the day’s events, and she conducted the verification of the quorum for the event. Thereafter, Taegar-Panton addressed the supporters and promised them that she will fight on their behalf to rebuild the U.D.P. She told them while they prepare to restore unity and strength, the work is only just beginning to prepare for the election ahead.
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Area Representative, Albert
“You, the delegates of the United Democratic Party, all three hundred and forty-seven of you who voted in today’s convention, those who voted for me and those who voted against me have spoken for the people. You have spoken for the fifty-nine thousand Belizeans who voted for the United Democratic Party in the last elections. And you stand here today to say to this nation, we are ready. We are ready to heal, and we are ready to restore, and we are ready to rebuild this great United Democratic Party from the ground up. We are ready to lead this nation, and we are ready to win. Mi gente, mi gente; my people, my people, this is our time. This is the time for the people. Today, you won. The voices of the people won. The voices of the delegates made clear our path. The voices of the United Democratic Party have come together as one voice. And now, my friends, and now you, the members of our UDP family, you, the members, the work has just begun.”
Notably absent from Sunday’s Alliance for Democracy Unity Convention was the only elected U.D.P. mayor, Earl Trapp. He has been quite vocal over the last couple of years about his desire to see the party unified. We caught up with him in San Ignacio while the convention was happening in Belize City. We pressed him on where his allegiance lies. Here is what he told us.
Earl Trapp, Mayor, SI/SE
“I will tell you what and it is obvious, our party is divided and it is difficult for me, but what I did is that as an independent minded person I believe in the best interest of the people of this country, in the best interest of the country, I don’t believe this convention should have taken place. We already had an agreement and an understanding that we would have gone into the next general elections with honorable Shyne as the leader. So, I just believe that would have been the best way forward. Thereafter, depends on what happens, either or, we need to do a general reform. If it is not done then we are not going anywhere.”
Paul Lopez
“So where does your support lie?”
Earl Trapp
“For this moment I will tell you that I am just, I am not shying away from the question. At this moment I will say yes, I am in favor, I am in support of Shyne, because he is the current leader of the party. If Shyne should say alright, you, you and you, unu guh, I will replace you with Jack and Tim, that is a recipe for disaster because we would cancel ourselves in those areas. For example, Albert and Collett, those are winnable seats. So, if he decides to say, Tracy you going and Faber you gone.”
Paul Lopez
“But it is not if he has decided, he has decided.”
Earl Trap
“If the two factions is to stay apart then it is a sure seat for the PUPs that should have been a UDP seat.”
Tropical Storm Nadine roared to life overnight, transforming into a formidable force by Saturday morning. By 10 a.m., it slammed into Belize just south of the city. Winds clocked in at a blistering 50 miles per hour. Heavy downpours were most evident on Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker and in the Corozal District. In Belize City, despite heavy rains, several streetside vendors were operational. Meanwhile, over in the west, the storm left its imprint in different ways. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Amidst the pounding winds and torrential downpour of Tropical Storm Nadine, it was business as usual in Belize City. Streetside vendors were out selling their products.
Street Side Vendor #1
Street Side Vendor #1
“I decided to come out because money need fih mek and if I don’t come out no money nuh mek. So, I need fih the out yah to make sure I create this service fih customers weh need it most. Reasonable stuff check.”
Street Side Vendor #2
Street Side Vendor #2
“I got people, customers weh notice I come out. But I bring out only hald of what I usually bring out. This is the last amount weh lef out ah the half. I didn’t evenbring out pork. This is the last amount left out of that half.”
Despite Tropical Storm Nadine making landfall, the Belize City market next to the bus terminal remained bustling on Saturday. Vendors carried on with business, even as NEMO strongly advised halting all operations due to the storm.
Daniel Mendez
Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator, NEMO
“Our messaging had been clear in regards to taking this seriously. We strongly recommended that businesses closed. We cannot take it for granted that this is a small storm. We don’t know what the impact will be.”
According to the National Hydrological Service of Belize, the Macal River, out west, rose approximately fifteen feet above normal levels, while the Mopan River continues to rise tonight.
Tennielle Hendy
Tenielle Hendy, Chief Hydrologist, NHS
“Recalling from memory, I believe the Macal has reached about fifteen feet, five point one two meters, which is about fifteen feet from normal flow. For Mopan right now, it is about six to ten feet above what is normal. But this system is still rising. So, that is still not the peak of this flood event we are going through.”
The Macal River runs through the Twin Towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena. The low-lying bridge that connects the two communities became impassable on Saturday afternoon. By Sunday morning, floodwaters had started to recede. Mayor Earl Trapp of the Twin Towns spoke to News Five about a riverbank project along the Macal River that had been inaugurated just eight days prior, only to be swept away by the floods. Trapp clarified that he had no involvement in the project.
Earl Trapp
Earl Trapp, Mayor, SI/SE
“All of a sudden, the minister and area representatives came up with this of which I was not a planned. I am for the sidewalk and for the stage. I am not for the beach, because one little terential rain and it washes away.”
Paul Lopez
“So now the beach has washed away.”
Earl Trapp
“Yes, it was right in front of that stage. That is gone. So, now it means if you have a flood every month every month you will have to put back sand. I think we can do better if we can analyze the situation properly and yes with residents, I think we could make better informed decisions.”
Flood waters also destroyed a pedestrian bridge in San Ignacio. The low-lying bridge that connects the Twin Towns remains impassable. The Iguana Creek Bridge was also flooded, and that remains impassable tonight. One resident in that area visited the bridge on Sunday morning to assess the flood waters. She owns a farm near the river. Her farm was devastated by flood waters in 2020.
Denise Gordon
Denise Gordon, Resident, Blackman Eddy
“For now it doesn’t look really bad when compared to other years. So, for now to me it looks ok and it seems like it is going down fast.”
Three hydroelectric dams that are managed by Fortis Belize Limited sit along the Macal River, which runs through San Ignacio and Santa Elena. Dams like these are proven to prevent flooding by regulating the flow of water. But over the weekend, following heavy rainfalls linked to Tropical Storm Nadine, two of the three dams began to spill, the Mollejon and the Vaca Dams. We spoke with President of Fortis Belize Limited, Kay Menzies, on Sunday morning over the phone. She gave us a situational update on these dams.
On the Phone: Kay Menzies
On the Phone: Kay Menzies, President, Fortis Belize Limited
“Remember in the whole hydroelectric arrangement we have three dams. The largest is Chalillo which is the reservoir everybody was hearing about earlier this year and that hold back a majority of water that supplies the dams throughout the year. Chalillo has not so far overflowed. It is about five meters below the top of the spill level. We will see how it goes over the next couple of days there. However, below Chalillo, of course you have a river and creeks still flowing throughout the river, so Mollejon and Vaca both spilled in the course of the last couple of days. Yesterday, Mollejon had a slight spill and that is now over. Mollejon is not spilling as of this morning. But, Vaca is fed also by the Rio Hon. That goes through the Pine Ridge. Rio Hon has been at flood stage for the last day. So Vaca continues to spill for the time being. However, the good news is that the spill is slowing down. We don’t see, at the moment, the spills getting worse. We actually see them decreasing at the moment.”
The Corozal district experienced high volumes of rainfall from Tropical Storm Nadine, which led to localised flooding. As a result, several roadways were declared impassable. Also, the Rio Hondo River reached flood stage, compounding the situation. We spoke with Tennielle Hendy, the Chief Hydrologist, about what residents in the north experienced.
Tennielle Hendy
Tennielle Hendy, Chief Hydrologist, NHS
“The flooding associated with the Rio Hondo, the Rio Hondo is not a fast-flowing system, so the time it would take for flood waters to recede might be a bit longer than the ones that have a higher slope. The Rio Hondo doesn’t have that high of a slope that it runs off very quickly. A couple roads are inaccessible in the north. The San Roman Road is impassable. The Yo Creek San Lazaro Road was impassable. There are other areas that would have experienced urban flooding which is just caused by the rainfall where they would be seeing flooding in that area, but it should runoff at a normal pace for them.”
So, what’s the flood forecast for the next few days? The National Hydrological Service is reporting Hurricane Keith-level flooding along the Mopan River and Hurricane Mitch-level flooding along the Rio Hondo River. Flood alerts have also been issued for river systems in southern Belize. Chief Hydrologist shared more.
Tennielle Hendy, Chief Hydrologist, NHS
“The areas of concern that are flooding at the moment. We have a flood alert, which means that flooding is possible. So, you should be prepared. It is for the watersheds off the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains. I know you would say that sound like where is that. We are looking at all these rivers, south Stann Creek, north Stann Cree, Sittee River, Bladden, Swasey, Deep River, all these rivers coming off the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains. We have a flood warning in effect for Rio Hondo, New River and the tributaries to Rio Hondo, the Boots River, Rio Bravo. In the central area in Belmopan we have for the Mopan, Macal and Belize River. To the bottom of the central we have for the Sibun River. The San Ignacio and Iguana Creek low lying bridges are still impassable and we have specifically for the Rio Hondo, severe flood warning. This is because we have been monitoring the levels at our station at Blue Creek. That has exceeded Hurricane Mitch levels. Those are mainly the area we are lucking at. More so the Mopan and the Rio Hondo, we need to be vigilant. You were asking about other rainfall activities. Recall before Nadine developed we were receiving some rainfall. It is in this same western central region that we were getting these rainfall volumes then came tropical storm Nadine and even that Nadine is no longer over us, it is in Guatemala and still raining, we are receiving the rainfall and runoff values through the riverine systems. That is the contributing factor as to why we are seeing levels approaching levels of these historical systems like Hurricane Keith for the Mopan and Rio Hondo for Hurricane Mitch.”
The government announced the public and bank holidays for 2025. There will be fourteen holidays next year. You’ll enjoy seven long holiday weekends, with the first being on March tenth, or National Heroes and Benefactor Day. And of course, you’ll have the long Easter weekend, which begins on Good Friday, April eighteenth. August first, or Emancipation Day, falls on a Friday, while the Independence Day holiday will be given on Monday, September twenty-second. Indigenous People’s Resistance Day will be given on Monday, October thirteenth, instead of the twelfth. And lastly, the Christmas holidays this year will begin on Thursday, December twenty-fifth, with Christmas Day followed by Boxing Day.
