Inspector Christopher Martinez, who pleaded guilty to wounding a businessman while detained at a police station, must remain incarcerated. The High Court dismissed his appeal, meaning that he must serve the remaining three months of the five-month sentence handed down by Chief Magistrate Jayani Wegodapola in September. The appeal hearing, led by Justice Candace Nanton, skipped the appellant’s stay of execution and dove straight into the substantive arguments. After more than an hour, Justice Nanton dismissed the appeal, stating there was nothing wrong with the original sentence. She noted that the five-month sentence was not excessive and could have been longer. Martinez should consider himself lucky, as sentences can increase on appeal. Representing Martinez was Senior Counsel Hubert Elrington, with over fifty years of experience. The appeal ended with some tension between Elrington and the judge. In an interview, Elrington explained that he felt ambushed, believing the hearing was for a stay rather than the appeal itself. He requested more time, but this was denied. The crown was represented by DPP Cheryl Lynn Vidal.
Hubert Elrington
Hubert Elrington, Attorney-at-law
“The learned judge of appeal sitting at the High Court level, felt that the magistrate had observed the legal requirements and [that] the sentence was not unduly harsh and would not cause the ordinary Belizean on Albert Street, say in the Brodies area, to be startled or alarmed by the harshness of the sentence. So she decided that she was not going to interfere with the sentence. She also gratuitously that a sentence appeal can be increased, as well as decreased, and she wanted to know from the DPP whether she was applying to have the sentence increased. The learned DPP indicated to her that they had not appealed the sentence, and she would not be jumping into that at this stage. She would remain at the stage that they had begun, they were not going to challenge the length of the sentence.”
Court Reporter
“So in the end, Inspector Martinez has to continue his five-month sentence. He has three months remaining.”
Hubert Elrington
“The sentence imposed on him by the Chief Magistrate in September, I think it was the thirteenth of September was upheld.”
Inspector Christopher Martinez admitted to wounding businessman Aaron Flowers back in 2022.
The Ministry of Education is still figuring out how to best support students in the areas hardest hit by the floods. For the past two weeks, we’ve been reporting on several communities left partially underwater following the passage of Tropical Storm Sara. Residents have had to wait for the waters to recede or find alternative ways to get in and out of their communities. Earlier this week, we shared the story of students in Crooked Tree Village who woke up at 3:30 in the morning to catch a boat out of the village. Today, we asked the Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca, about the efforts being made to help these students. Here’s what he had to say.
Britney Gordon
“For students that are living in these areas affected by the floods like Crooked Tree, there is some concern with residents of how early they have to get up to go to class and the struggle they’re having to pay attention and get back home and do their studies. Is there any assistance that’s being provided for them or any talks of possibly moving classes online?”
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“Yeah. There’s an ongoing discussion about that matter. As the ministry, when it was required, we cancelled classes, we postponed classes. But yes, we’re looking at all of those alternatives. In those cases, we work very closely with the management, we work with the principals of those schools. But we don’t want to do anything, any general policy. It has to be targeted certain schools are affected in, in one, in a manner, in a much more substantive way than others. So we address it on a school-by-school basis. But yes, we are working with all of those affected schools in those communities. Especially in the River Valley right now. To try to address those wherever students are not able to go to school. To come up with an alternative plan.”
Assessments are still ongoing to determine the extent of damage Tropical Storm Sara’s recent flooding has caused to the agricultural sector. Prime Minister John Briceño has already hinted that the numbers will be staggering. Meanwhile, reports are coming in that some products are being smuggled into the country and sold on the local market. In San Pedro, for instance, there’s been an influx of contraband watermelon, likely due to the impact on local supplies. Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai was asked about this issue.
Jose Abelardo Mai
Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“That is one of the problem we have when we have very porous borders. If you have a problem with your production, with your supply then there will be illegal importation. But, San Pedro has always been a problem for us in contraband. Always. That does not surprise me that they have contraband in the market. But again, whenever you have bad weather and you lose you crop, your sweet peppers, your tomatoes, I mean they will try to find a way to import. Our officers go out in the field and ensure that there is no carrots, cabbage, tomato and then they will import. You will find that you give a small license to import cabbage and then a farmer in Valley of Peace have cabbage and then the railing up begins, who never report this. So, it is a constant challenge for us and sometimes farmers don’t report, and sometimes our officers slip up, but if there is no product somebody have to supply it. That is the challenge we have at this time.”
The Belize National Teachers’ Union has had enough. In a press release on Thursday, the union expressed its frustration over the government’s lack of progress in delivering the overdue increments to teachers nationwide. We asked Minister of Education Francis Fonseca how the government plans to respond to this outcry. He acknowledged the issue, saying the government shares the teachers’ frustration. Here’s more on that.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“It’s a frustrating issue. And As I have repeatedly said to the BNTU, everyone at the ministry of education. In fact, everyone in the government of Belize is committed to resolving this matter We don’t get credit for it, but this is a matter that goes back to 2018, 2018. We, our government, our ministry of education, working along with the treasury department and the accountant general, have brought back all of that from 2018 up to 2023. So what we’re dealing with now is 2023 and the current air trying to deal with those issues. Now we’ve almost resolved everything for 2023 So there are other issues in terms of 2024, but we are working tirelessly. Everyone is working and BNTU knows this because we have regular meetings with them to discuss this matter. So we’re trying to address and resolve this matter as quickly as possible. Obviously, we know that teachers want and deserve their increments, their allowances. So everybody’s focused on getting it accomplished. And we certainly hope that it will be resolved at the earliest possible time.”
Britney Gordon
“They asked to have it paid tax-free. Is this a feasible option?”
Francis Fonseca
“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t want to speak on that because that’s something I would have to discuss with the Ministry of Finance. They’re the ones who would have to make that decision. But I’m certainly willing to have that conversation with the Ministry of Finance.”
Belize is still free from the New World Screwworm, but for how long? Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai has been holding weekly meetings with his technical teams to stay updated on the rising cases of New World Screwworms in the region. Today, one of these meetings took place in Yo Creek Village. After the meeting, we caught up with Minister Mai and BAHA’s Managing Director, Zoe Robinson-Zetina, for the latest update. In short, new cases are popping up in neighboring countries, and experts think it’s only a matter of time before Belize sees its first case. Meanwhile, strict surveillance measures are being put in place. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the story.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
A single case of the New World Screwworm in Mexico recently prompted the United States to ban cattle imports. Now, cases are cropping up in larger numbers in neighboring Honduras and Guatemala. During a technical meeting in Orange Walk, BAHA’s Managing Director, Zoe Robinson-Zetina, discussed the issue with Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai.
Zoe Robinson-Zetina
Zoe Robinson-Zetina, Managing Director, BAHA
“First I want to confirm that we do not have screwworms in Belize and we are going through active surveillance to ensure we know the health status of our country. In our surrounding countries, we pay special attention to Guatemala, because they are the closest to us. And we know that Guatemala right now is reporting twenty-six cases and the closest case to us is in the far western area of Peten. And in that region they have only on reported case. The next closest to us is Honduras and Honduras is reporting just over seventy cases. And we believe that Honduras has been maintain or controlling the spread in that country.”
When the New World Screwworm burrows into an animal’s flesh, it can cause serious, often fatal damage. Studies show that the rise in reported cases is largely due to the illegal movement of cattle. Interestingly, Belize doesn’t import animals, which adds a unique twist to the situation.
Jose Abelardo Mai
Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“There are about five important thing that you do to keep screw worm out or suppressed. The first one is education and awareness. Are we doing it? Yes. Are we doing it to the right people? Yes. Those that live on the periphery and the borders to the country of Guatemala. The second one is control point. Do not move animals form infected areas or do not move animals if you suspect it is. The third is treat wounds. Are we treating the wounds, yes. We are telling the farmers now you cannot have animals wounded on the farm then treat it. If there are no wounds then the fly cannot bear eggs. If the cannot bear an egg it dies. The fourth one is report all cases fast. And the last is the dispersal of sterile flies.”
The New World Screwworm poses the greatest threat to the local cattle industry, which is now valued at one hundred million dollars, according to Minister Mai. The risk of Mexico and Guatemala banning the import of Belize’s cattle is real. Minister Mai recently returned from a working trip to Mexico.
Jose Abelardo Mai
“As a matter of fact the Mexicans have been stopped from exporting cattle to the U.S. this is a serious matter. The U.S.D.A has banned Mexico from exporting cattle into the U.S.A for one screw worm in southern part of Mexico. So this is how serious they look at their cattle industry and the Mexican associations that represent eight hundred thousand cattle farmers wrote to their ministry of agriculture asking him to ban us and I said to them, we are the only country that has a program in place. The ministry of agriculture is a screwworm veteran. He knows what it is. So we quickly moved, as a matter of fact, the resources that government has put towards screwworm control right now is more than we get from the region. This is how serious the government is looking at this.”
Regarding the measures BAHA has put in place along the border, Managing Director Zetina mentioned that they’ve ramped up surveillance at both official and unofficial border points.
Zoe Robinson-Zetina
“We are doing active surveillance, and we are stremghtening our border points, both official and unofficial. We know it is no secret that we have agriculture goods going through Jalacte and Bullet Tree. What is good for Belize is that we are not importing animals in Belize. It is exportation that we do. But we are strnething those two check points for BAHA. We are manning them twenty-four hours to ensure there are no animals coming into this country. And also, for any vehicles that are passing through those points. To ensure that they are free and clear of any material that can transport the pest.”
Paul Lopez
“Can BAHA monitor pastures that have been cleared illegally by Guatemalans that have incurred on Belizean lands?”
Zoe Robinson-Zetina
“As long as that property is on Belizean terrorist then BAHA has jurisdiction to do surveillance and we are doing that at this time.”
The Ministry of Agriculture has already drafted an S.I. to quarantine a particular area in Belize wherever the New World Screwworm is detected. And, the experts believe that it is only a matter of time before Belize reports its first case.
Jose Abelardo Mai
“The worst case scenario is we have a case in Toledo. Plan, block off Toledo, control points in place which we have already, we have the S.I. ready, we have everything ready, block of Toledo, put the control in place. Twenty-four hours and work that area backwards to the border. Pump the area, saturate the area with sterile flies.”
Paul Lopez
“What is your response to the notion that it is an inevitable.”
Zoe Robinson-Zetina
“It is more than likely true. It is spreading so rapidly in Central America that we believe yes ti will be introduced in Belize. Like I said, it is people who are moving it. But people can move it through cattle, but they can also be brining their pet, dogs, pet cats, but it can come on people themselves as well.”
One solution the Ministry of Agriculture is considering to tackle the rise in screwworm cases is setting up a slaughterhouse in Belize. Minister Mai believes that exporting live animals isn’t the best approach. Instead, he thinks Belize could benefit much more from exporting premium cuts of meat.
Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“We have to look at what are the options on our table. As I explained today, this could be an opportunity. We can convert this challenge into an opportunity. Exporting cattle is not the best thing to do. Exporting a raw product is not the best thing to do. We export cacao beans and we import chocolate. We export corn and import corn chips. We export raw sugar and import Tate and Lyle refined sugar. That is nonsense. We export beef and some people in Belize wants to import cuts from American sources. So this challenge can be converted into an opportunity. It is time for us to look seriously at a slaughtering facility, certified that we can export to these other slaughtering facilities, our cuts, maybe whole cuts, shoulders, the quarters, we can begin with that. The argument is we don’t have enough volume to sustain it. Well, lets partner with the same company. Carne has a slaughtering facility in Nicaragua. As a matter of fact, we have a meeting today at one thirty, it is almost one-thirty now, with a company that wants to speak with us about that.”
The Central Bank recently announced that inflation is now mainly driven by the rising cost of domestic goods, especially the foods we produce. Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai explains that there are several reasons for these increasing and persistent costs, but the biggest culprit, he says, is climate change.
Jose Abelardo Mai
Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“There are a number of reasons why costs go up right. Last year the same time we had the inflation spike again. The weather patterns, not only in Belize, but in Mexico. Excess rainfall has caused loses to the farmers. So you have loses, less product, supply and demand. And so the farmers right now. I got a call moments ago that the farmers in San Carlos, carrots are not doing goo. So the farmers that take a thousand pounds will take five hundred pounds. So his carrots gone up. He have loses. So, the little carrots that he has he will try to get a better price for it. But it is a natural reaction. Again, you hear the term climate change over and over. The soy beans, we have fifty percent lost right now. The millers jump up quick and say minister give us the license to import soy beans. I say, wait. Buy what the farmers have first. Obviously the farmer wants a little more, because he lost. WE live in the humid tropics. We subject to some of the worst diseases, worst pest, worst conditions to grow crops in. So, last year was the same exact thing.”
Paul Lopez
“What sort of relief can the ministry think about issuing?”
Jose Abelardo Mai
“One of the things discussed is crop insurance, but it aint cheap. There is nothing cheap nowadays.”
The cost of living in Belize has been steadily rising, even as it declines in other parts of the world. While the COVID pandemic initially drove up prices on supermarket shelves, those prices have been dropping globally—just not as quickly in Belize. Today, Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde clarified that the government isn’t to blame, as they haven’t raised a single tax on grocery items. He pointed the finger at the merchants instead. We asked him about the government’s efforts to discourage merchants from hiking up their prices.
Cordel Hyde
Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister
“There’s a time of the year when they collect a lot of money, and there’s a time of the year when they don’t. And then usually, they have problems meeting their bills in the times when they don’t, but if you’ve had the contract for as long as you’ve had the contract and there’s no other business in town., there’s no other game in town. Then you have to be able to sit down and reason and work through these things. Like, you shouldn’t get here. And then, I mean, the city’s dirty as it is. Even with the garbage being picked up on a regular basis. So, something’s gonna have to give. So, I think central government is going to have to sit with local government and find out exactly what is the situation and see what we can do from here.”
Reporter
“Will you advocate or suggest a garbage tax?”
Cordel Hyde
“We’re not there. We’ve not been there for the last six years. I don’t see why we would have to go there now. We just have to figure out how to pay our bills and make sure that we’re consistent with that. I mean, they’ve been doing it for the last six years. I see no reason why they shouldn’t, why they can’t continue to do that. So, I am not advocating for the garbage tax at all.”
Earlier, we mentioned that the Ministry of Agriculture is working hard to keep Belize free of screwworm. However, there’s another issue at hand—a fungal disease called fusarium has led the ministry to declare a state of emergency in the sugar industry. This disease is reportedly affecting forty thousand acres of sugar cane. So, how will this impact the start of the 2024/2025 sugar crop? We asked Minister Mai for his insights.
Jose Abelardo Mai
Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“We declared a state of emergency. We had an S.I. signed two weeks ago declaring a state of emergency. Under the previous act, there was no provision for that. So, we had to amend the act to include plant and animal diseases to try to draw down resources from our neighbors, partners in development. I was at COP 29 for the first time in my life, and I went there not to profile or take picture. My message was very clear. Our farmers are suffering from the effects of climate change. What are we going to do about it? While I was there I spoke to my team and they presently formally requests from ICA. It has been approved in principle. So what we are working on is the details of the resources that will come to us to help us find a way to mitigate the effects of fusarium. It has to be a program. It is not a silver bullet. It is a whole program that will include biologi9cal control, different cropping systems, integrated crop management, new varieties, bringing in varieties from Brazil that that are resistant to fusarium. ICA will provide money for that.”
Paul Lopez
“What is the implications of the state of emergency for the start of the sugar crop?”
Jose Abelardo Mai
“The crop will begin, as soon as weather improves. If there is enough cane out there to start, we will start. We have to continue. The fields that have fusarium will eventually die out.”
Today, the Belize City Civic Center buzzed with excitement as owners and managers of micro, small, and medium enterprises gathered for BELTRAIDE’s seventh entrepreneurship convention. This event marked the grand finale of a year-long celebration of entrepreneurship month. Dubbed EntreCon 2024, the convention focused on the theme “Powering Small Businesses with Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.” News Five’s Marion Ali filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Today, BELTRAIDE wrapped up a year full of activities for micro, small, and medium enterprises. It all kicked off with a countrywide roadshow that connected small business owners with the formal sector, banks, and the advantages of using artificial intelligence (AI). BELTRAIDE’s Executive Director, Ishmael Quiroz, explained that the convention aimed to bring together everyone involved in micro, small, and medium businesses, along with public and private agencies that support business development.
Ishmael Quiroz
Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE
“The idea is to come together and share information, provide knowledge and a networking opportunity and have a space to reflect on a specific topic relevant to small business development. BELTRAIDE can always be contacted at www.BELTRAIDE.bz and we have continuous training support services on offer and please feel free to contact, become a client of the Small Business Development Centre and access the services that are available.”
Wilana Oldham, the owner of Hot Mama’s Belize, spoke at EntreCon today. She shared how her company has expanded over the years, adding more hot sauces and condiments to their lineup, all with the support and guidance of BELTRAIDE.
Wilana Oldham
Wilana Oldham, Owner, Hot Mama’s Belize
“Over the years they have really helped me in so many different ways – going to trade shows, taking my product to trade shows, getting training, just opening up a lot of avenues for me, so I totally recommend any entrepreneur out there that’s considering, they must get involved with BELTRAIDE because they do bring a lot to the table.”
One of the hottest tools in concept and design development right now is artificial intelligence. Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde stepped in for Prime Minister John Briceno at today’s event. Hyde highlighted that AI can significantly boost small businesses, and the government is all in on promoting its use for this purpose.
Cordel Hyde
Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister
“There’s so many things the government is doing where AI and big data is concerned for small businesses, and to give these businesses an opportunity to succeed, like, you can’t be left behind, you have to participate, you have to get with the program, so we have to embrace it, we have to navigate it, but we have to try to manage it too, because it can go wrong in a lot of ways, but it can do so many good.”
Individuals who want to start their own small business can contact BELTRAIDE for technical advice and guidance at www.BELTRAIDE.bz. Marion Ali for News Five.
