The Reporter Remix

THE REPORTER

Volume 52, No. 8

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Sunday February 24th, 2019

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Price: $1.00

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER To the Referendum We Go!

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Thursday, February 21, 2019

rime Minister Dean Barrow said he is not willing to entertain the idea of delaying the upcoming referendum for any reason. This despite public concern and a protest on Monday by the Opposition due to the backlog and difficulty many Belizeans have faced trying to get their birth documents from the Vital Statistics Unit, leaving many unable to vote in the critical

Pg. 3

Priest Hell-bent on Clearing His Name

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FIRE DESTROYS HOME

Thursday, February 21, 2019 s we go to press, Fire Service personnel have just extinguished a fire which destroyed a two bedroom wooden house located next to the block factory on Mahogany Street.

Residents tell the Reporter than nobody was in the structure when it went up in flames at around 7:00 tonight.

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$164M Stake Bank

Leaked Video Sparks Protest Project Breaks Ground

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Pg. 3

By Michelle Sutherland

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exually explicit local videos, among them one of a 15-year old female student of Wesley College, has this week sparked important discussions about the need for urgent legislative measures to be implemented. On Monday a group of concerned residents

Pg. 2

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t is deeply distressing to learn that there are many Belizeans who will not be able to receive their voter registration cards on time for April 10 because their birth certificates cannot be found!

This is a grave situation because the Belize Constitution guarantees to every Belizean man and woman the right to vote.

If a Belizean man or woman is deprived of this right for whatever reason which is not his own fault, he has the option to sue the government in a court of law for violation of his constitutional right.

The problem first came to light when Mr. J. Alexander Bennett, a distinguished educator and senior officer of the Ministry of Education (now retired), found that the official record of his birth could not be found.

Since then hundreds more have discovered that they also have been disenfranchised because the Ministry of Immigration and Nationality can provide no record of their birth.

We invite the Prime Minister to consider appointing a Commission of Inquiry to investigate this failure, to determine who or what is responsible for the breach, and to recommend what is to be done to remedy the situation. << >> The Department of the Environment appears to have lost its way, causing many to question the soundness of its leadership.

The merry-go-round with the Zabaneh family over its right to recover lost property from the sea is ridiculous!

Zabaneh may be a loud-mouth, obnoxious in many respects, but as a Belizean he has his rights. He has the right to own property and he has the right to recover that property if it has been chewed away by sea erosion.

The function of the Department of the Environment is to make sure that he does not recover more than his due!

The Department’s dispute with the Turneffe Atoll resort by Canadian developer Karim Hakini seems equally vacuous and small minded.

The investment at Turneffe Island is not only impressive. It will be of immense value to Belize because it has the ability to attract high end tourists on a scale not seen in Belize before.

The Department’s displeasure with the Turneffe Island development, to be known as Hakimi’s Dive Haven, stands in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm with which the same Department welcomed and supported the Harvest Caye Project off Plaencenia, to the extent that (in association with the Forestry Department), it donated one of Belize’s most iconic birds - the Macaw, Big Red, to be a Harvest Caye mascot.

The Iranian-Canadian millionaire, Karim Hakini, has poured more than a hundred million into this magnificent island resort. He has paid his way, providing for water, electricity and sewerage disposal, all from his own resources, without asking for any favours, and without paying any money under the table to leechers.

This is the kind of high-principled investor that Belize needs to attract - investors who can bring real progress to the lives of the people of Belize.

Here again, the function of the Department of the Environment is to make sure that visitors observe conservation rules and do not take away anything that might damage the eclectic environment of the reef system. The sports fishing which is likely to take place will have no adverse impact with the catch & release procedure.Game fish which are to be taxidermed as trophies should carry a premium tax.

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Getting Port Loyola on the Map

Dear Editor, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” -Muhammad Ali

With the support of the residents of the Port Loyola Division and the business community, starting in the last week of March next month I will head a group of concerned individuals from the area in affixing 80 signs with street names on houses in the division. Forty of those signs will be in the Jane Usher and Curl Thompson areas of the constituency. The remaining 40 signs will be placed in the Faber’s Rd. and Arlington Drive areas of the constituency.

When the initiative is completed, it will end over a decade of challenges pedestrians, taxi operators, delivery vehicles, postmen and election officials among other persons have experienced daily in locating addresses in areas of the division where dozens of streets with the same house numbers are referred to with common names such as Jane Usher Blvd. This has happened because the assigned names for the individual streets are almost totally unknown.

This unfortunate situation causes the affected persons to spend anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour or more trying to locate addresses. This long delay in locating an address also causes affected persons to miss meeting relatives, receive mails weeks late, lose business or pay more in the case of persons who are using a taxi service to locate a particular address.

It is also difficult to reach an address in these particular areas of Port Loyola by inquiring about it with area residents, because in these communities with close to 800 persons, many residents do not know each other by name.

The street name signs for the specific areas will be 18” x 4” from long lasting galvanized backing and vinyl print similar to those on Regent Street.

Belize Signs Ltd. which has years of experience in making signs has been contracted to make the street

signs, including the logo of any interested sponsor, for $30 each. At that unit price, installing eighty street signs will cost a minimum of $2,400.00. Concerned businesses and individuals are therefore invited to sponsor the making of one or more of the street signs by contacting us at Tel: 207-0970 or 615-8522. Once the street signs are installed, sponsors will receive years of publicity 24/7 throughout the community which requires a wide range of services.

With access to public funds, Anthony “Boots” Martinez, the Area Representative for Port Loyola or previous Belize City Councils, especially the UDP City Councils from 2006 to 2018 should have addressed the lack of visible street signs in the Port Loyola Division from the streets were named in the particular areas over a decade ago. Unfortunately, they all chose to ignore this important need in the division, as they squandered thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money on bogus contracts for housing or bloated contracts for concrete streets with their political cronies.

When the task of installing all the street names is completed, it will once again prove that when area residents, the business community and community leaders work together a number of small but nevertheless important things can be done for the benefit of local residents and the public in general.

For maximum benefit from the soon to be installed street signs in the Port Loyola Division, all children and adults in the designated areas as well as members of the general public are encouraged to use the assigned names of the streets in relevant conversations and whenever they are required to give their addresses. Once that is done, with time everyone including new residents in the community will use the correct names for each street naturally and that will make life easier for everyone.

Sincerely yours, Gilroy Usher Sr.

Leaked Video Sparks Protest p

Cont’d from pg. 1

eaceful demonstration to drive that point home.

Well-known attorney Audrey Matura has planned a "Demonstration of Solidarity" all white affair to be held in front of the Wesley College compound in Belize City at noon on February 25th.

Matura and participating members say that apart from showing support and standing up for the minor, they will be denouncing sexual abuse and violence. They will also be demanding laws to protect against revenge porn, cyberbullying and the use of electronic medium to attack, violate and belittle women. The event will also serve as an opportunity to stand up for other women and girls that are silently suffering from sexual abuse, exploitation and other forms of violence.

At the event, the group will be signing a letter which will be delivered to the minor to let her know that she is not alone.

According to Matura, she is not condoning the actions of the minor - "For the people who might be saying that she must have known what she was doing - at the moment you might think that you know but dealing with peer pressure and doing mischievous things at a young age is normal. It does not mean that we condone the behavior but it could be a teaching experience for her as well as others."

Matura told the Reporter that via her demonstration she would like to see legislative changes be made as well as bring attention to the whole culture of violence, and indecent exposure committed against women in Belize.

Contrary to reports made, the Reporter was informed that the student in question was not sus-

pended from school, but that her family had asked the institution to grant her a short leave of absence to cope with the trauma. In the interim, the student has been assigned a trained therapist to assist in the recovery process.

The family is also seeking to pursue criminal charges against the perpetrator in the video who was allegedly extorting the minor to keep the video a secret. In his comments on the matter, Minister of Education Patrick Faber says that he does not condone the act of sharing nude pictures, especially

THE REPORTER

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THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

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COME HELL OR HIGH WATER To the Referendum We Go!

Cont’d from pg. 1 eferendum.

“We are poised and ready to go and nothing short of a natural disaster ought to detain the holding of that referendum,” Barrow told the media when speaking on the matter on Thursday.

Barrow conceded there have been institutional problems which have plagued the Vital Statistics Unit but said he was confident that changes made within the unit by the Attorney General have been sufficient for all citizens to access whatever documents they may need before the March 12 deadline for registration to participate in the April 10 referendum.

Barrow noted that the Attorney General has even agreed to make exceptions in the case of

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people who are unable to provide any kind of legitimate documentation by accepting affidavits signed by credible witnesses positively identifying the applicant. He added, however, that there are indeed some cases in which no documentation can be sourced to prove the applicant’s Belizean nationality.

“I’m not going to dismiss anyone’s arguments and contentions,” Barrow said, acknowledging that the discussion on taking Guatemala’s territorial claim on Belize to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has devolved into political posturing with the UDP taking an official ‘Yes’ position and the opposition PUP taking an official ’No position. “There is a degree of politics which has come into this thing, which I regret but I don’t want to play that particular game.”

Barrow also addressed criticism that the public education campaign leading up to the referendum has not effectively reached ‘grass roots’ people. “I think there’s been more than enough material out there for them to understand and I think they are understanding,” he said, adding that he has no doubts about proceeding with the referendum.

The PUP staged a protest on Monday in front of the Vital Statistic Unit complaining of the difficulty many residents from southern Belize have faced in getting their birth certificates. The party also claimed that the rural residents were being blackballed from receiving their documents because the government believes they are more likely to vote against taking the claim to the ICJ.

Priest Hell-bent on $164M Stake Bank Clearing His Name Project Breaks Ground O

Thursday, February 21, 2019

n We d n e s day, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte explained that anybody who has sexually assaulted a minor in Belize, would be pursued and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, not matter who that perpetrator is. And since the allegation surfaced this week about an incident involving Catholic Priest Father Oliver Smalls and a minor in Richmond, Virginia, USA in 1970, the accused has also begun to pursue vindication with as much vigor.

The priest's attorney, Leeroy Banner, told the Reporter today that Father Smalls has been abroad on other matter not related to the allegation, but that as soon as he returns to Belize, they will discuss how they will proceed, with what legal action and against whom.

But the person most

likely to face a lawsuit is Bishop Lawrence Nicasio and the Catholic Church for publishing the contents of a letter from the Richmond Catholic Church, which accuses Father Smalls of sexually assaulting a minor in that US state.

Banner said that while the Church brings up the matter of an alleged assault, Bishop Nicasio, as well as the Richmond Police and the Catholic Church in Richmond are also aware of the results of a polygraph test, which indicated that Father Smalls was innocent of the offence.

But Attorney Audrey Matura, a human rights activist, has since opined that the Catholic Church would not publish the names of its members if there were not some convincing material against those accused.

Banner told us that

there is no criminal charge against Father Smalls in Belize nor in Richmond.

But while that might be the case, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte warned everyone, including clergy members that once there is evidence in Belize against someone, regardless of their profession, vocation or status in society, the law will seek them out, but only on the premise that there is credible evidence in Belize against them.

"We would go after anybody who would commit any crime.

However, like everybody else, we can't just recklessly and irresponsibly cast aspersions on people against who we have any evidence that they have committed any crime but I assure you, if anybody, including a priest were to commit a crime in this country, it wouldn't matter that that person is a priest," Peyrefitte cautioned.

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Thursday, February 21, 2019

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he long-anticipated Stake Bank Cruise Port project officially broke ground this week before developers, designers, members of Cabinet and the media with rare bipartisan glee and an expectation that the development will propel Belize’s already expanding tourism product to the dizzying heights of new opportunities.

Stake Bank, a 25acre island just off the coast of Belize City and reachable by just a 10-minute boat ride, is set for construction to begin on a world class docking facility capable of accommodating four large cruise ships simultaneously. The island at its completion will feature areas and facilities for tours, tender dispatches, retail, cultural attractions, beaches and passenger and crew services. The entire project will cost some US$82 million.

The years leading to Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony

were filled with obstacles, bureaucratic yellow tape, controversy, environmental concerns, financial hurdles, questions from international cruise lines and uncertainty about whether or not the project would eventually get the green light. On the island on Wednesday, however, developer Michael Feinstein was joined by members of his team, tourism industry stakeholders, and government representation including Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber and Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte, who expressed the government’s whole-hearted support for the project.

According to Feinstein, the plan is for Stake Bank and the business interests on the island to remain 95 percent Belizean owned and staffed. He also said Stake Bank’s proximity to Belize City has reduced the cost of tendering by 40 percent. He noted that previous plans to

construct a causeway over the sea to facilitate travel by vehicle to the island were no longer necessary, saying the tenders would suffice.

Stake Bank Project Coordinator, Troy Gabb says the project is expected to be completed and ready to accommodate the new cruise vessels in 18 to 24 months. He said this will benefit all the cruise passengers, many of whom are currently not able to access Belize’s mainland for varying reasons.

Peyrefitte said, “…the time has come for Belize to stop thinking small…we have the ability to do anything on a world class level”. He also expressed Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s support for the project and the government’s excitement for the impact it is expected to have on Belize’s tourism sector, which already account for 30 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The project is expected to be completed by the start of the high season in 2020.

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

AG Says GOB Working On Cyber Bullying Law

Senator Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General t has subjected countless women and a few men in Belize to shame and public embarrassment when nude images of them are circulated by malicious people who want to destroy their lives.

But now the Government of Belize is seeking to amend the Constitution in such a way that will hold the perpetrators of sexual cyber bullying legally responsible for their actions.

Attorney General, Senator Michael Peyrefitte told

the Reporter that Belize is now looking at Jamaican legislation - the finer points of which he will examine more carefully and then discuss it with the Solicitor General and the Attorney General Ministry's drafting team. Along with that will have to be an internet-cyber world policy to be able to track, prosecute and convict the perpetrators of sexual cyber bullying. In other jurisdictions where these laws already exist, Peyrefitte pointed out, the laws are not effective. "We don't want to have a law just to have a law and then it's weak, the perpetrators walk and then you hear the judicial system is corrupt. We want to make sure that whatever laws we have in place, if a person is guilty, they are going to jail."

Peyrefitte advised that the law as it currently stands, puts the full responsibility or the burden of such an exposure on the person who poses for the image to be taken. And while he agrees that there should be protection for people who voluntarily pose for these images and who later become victims when they are exposed, he also feels that the best protection is not posing for them at all.

"There is a need for cyber legislation. We're looking at some templates to create one, but as well... people need to stop making those types of videos.

When you make those videos and there's a digital footprint somewhere, it can come out in many ways - accidentally, through repair on your phone and you

Belize City, February 21, 2019 he government is ing “Let him who is moving full speed without sin cast the first ahead to reduce the cost stone.” of doing business, and The new digitization speed up licensing, reg- of government processistration and revenue es had already borne collection, by bring- fruit by increasing reving more and more e- enue collection of fees government processes for land transactions at online, Prime Minister the Lands Department, Hon. Dean Barrow as- P.M. Barrow noted sured business people smugly, and he relied and other private sector on Minister of Trade and partners, at a business Investment Hon. Tracey forum hosted by PM Panton to corroborate Barrow at the Belize him, when he affirmed City Center on Thurs- that as a result, “new day morning, February multi-million dollar in21. vestments are coming Of foremost concern in thick and fast!” to the business sector, is Other ways the tax reform, and Barrow government is reducassured his audience ing business costs is that the government through utility costs; is in the process of in- Barrow noted that the tegrating the General publicly owned Belize Sales Tax regimes with Electricity Ltd has drasIncome Tax. Mrs. Mi- tically reduced the cost chelle Longsworth, for- of connecting the homes merly head of the Cen- and businesses to their tral Information Tech- energy supply. When nology Office (CITO) challenged on the matter has been charged with of a recent hike in rates, the modernization of the Barrow admitted that we Tax Department, to take are not entirely “masters it into the digital age. of our own destiny” in The digitization of tax that a large part of the collection is expected power is supplied by to make revenue col- the Comision Federal lection more account- de Electricidad (CFE) of able, transparent and Mexico, and that there free from human misap- were additional transpropriation. As to those mission costs with this nay-sayers who accuse imported energy, and the government officer the cost of buying this and even ministers of power. To solve this, being corrupt, Barrow Barrow said Belize must harked to the Bible, say- seek to move increas-

ingly toward renewable energy sources – Hydroelectricity from BECOL, bio-mass utilities such as BELCOGEN, and even solar power.

The government is also offering tax incentives for any business which invests in energy efficient technology.

Technology improvements are also coming to the fight against crime, Barrow, affirmed, with the building of a new crime investigation laboratory – funded by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The lab will have full DNA testing capability, to support the Police in their forensics investigation.

Barrow said this was part of regional security cooperation programme that will also see Belize Police databases linked to regional databases and full integration with the data systems of other law enforcement agencies, for the swifter identification of suspects and weapons.

In terms of citizens’ security, Barrow complemented the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnering with BTL to implement a “smart cities” network of surveillance and public security camera systems. All in all, Barrow said his government is doing everything to improve the business

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

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GOB Speeds Up Economy with e-Government

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climate through dynamic transformation for more growth.

thought you had deleted it and it wasn't. Wouldn't it be a good approach to put in that cyber legislation that it's illegal also to purposely take (pose for) those images? If you believe it's so offensive and you don't want those videos out there, then don't do videos like that," Peyrefitte chided.

The appeal for an amendment to the legislation took centre stage on talk show platforms early this week after what appeared to be images of Channel 7's News Anchor, Indira Craig, and in separate instance, a student in her school uniform, engaged in compromising situations, were circulated on social media. In similar fashion in December, images of a Muffles High School teacher were made public.

In the past, a number of Belizean women and, to a lesser extent, men, have become victims of sexual cyber bullying at the hands of people who faced no legal responsibility for doing so.

Former Ambassador for Women, who is also the former Minister of Human Development and Women, Dolores Balderamos Garcia, also condemned the act of violating people's privacy with the intent to harm and humiliate them. Also chiming in on that concern this week were Attorneys Lisa Shoman and Audrey Matura.

In the case of the student, the school has reportedly suspended her from classes, and have advised her guardians to get her professional help. Minister of Human Development, Anthony "Boots" Martinez has said that his Ministry is pursuing the matter to ensure that criminal charges are brought against the adult male who was engaged in the act with the minor. Peyrefitte added that there is no statutory limit to a felony, so the male can be arrested and charged and tried years from now if the student chooses to give testimony against him, if at this point in time, the pressure she may be going through forces her to remain silent.

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

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American National Pleads Guilty to Placencia Airport Scam

Thursday, February 21st, 2019 n American national, 48-year-old Brent Borland, pleaded guilty to a count each of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy in a New York federal court on Wednesday for his role in a scheme which defrauded investors out of US $21.9 million for an airport in Placencia which was never constructed.

When asked about the matter, Financial Secretary Joseph Waight told the Reporter - “Unfortunately we have no authority or control over what kind of business people do in Belize or abroad.” He said it was purely a private affair and had no official consent from the government. Waight said this project was not connected with any Belizean institution or bank and said GOB was unaware of the situation. He also said even if GOB were aware, it would have been powerless to do anything about it being that it was handled by private

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investment firms.

Borland, the owner of Borland Capital Group LLC., faces a hefty prison sentence since each count of fraud carries a maximum 20-year prison term. Prosecutors said Borland promised incredible rates of return for providing temporary “bridge” financing for the project.

With the funds Borland secured from investors, however, he supported a lavish lifestyle by diverting roughly $6 million to himself and his family, paying for expenses including credit card bills, mortgage payments on a Florida mansion, a beach club membership, a Mercedes-Benz SUV and private school tuition for his children.

Prosecutors said Borland’s scheme ran from 2014 to March 2018, and all of his known investors lost money. Borland was charged by authorities in early 2018. He will be sentenced to prison on June 21.

Brent Borland

Financial Secretary Joseph Waight

Eamon Courtenay

GOB Swamped by Litigation and Millions in Debt Thursday, February 21st, 2019

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inancial Secretary Joseph Waight updated the Reporter recently on a number of cases pending against the government of Belize with far reaching implications on the country’s economy and international financial standing including the pending $90 million UHS award owed to Belize Bank, a case against the Income Tax Commissioner by tour operators and another brought against the government by Choice Bank.

Several weeks ago the Supreme Court handed down a ruling in the Belize B a n k ’s f a v o r i n a case against Belize’s Income and Business Tax Commissioner.

The case, though not directly related, is connected to the $90 Million UHS debt as ruled on by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The

Tax Commissioner had tried to enforce a collection of business tax on the bank, which requested that the tax be deducted from the sum of the award owed to it.

The Commissioner refused and the matter was taken to court, with the Supreme Court barring t h e Ta x C o m m i s sioner from collecting taxes from the bank until the debt is settled.

The government, as well publicized, has refused to honor the judgement at every turn. Waight said the government is still awaiting a written judgement on the matter. He noted the government still intends to appeal the ruling and believes it has solid grounds to do so.

In another case brought against the Tax Commissioner, tour operators are seeking to collect tax paid to GOB,

which the CCJ rule l a s t O c t o b e r, t h e companies are not legally required to pay. The decision was handed down last October after tour operator David Gegg had successfully argued his case. GOB then amended the GST law to avoid having to make the payment to Gegg. Since then four other tour operators have come forward demanding repayment for the taxes which they had paid during the time.

Wa i g h t s a i d t h i s matter is being heard

by the court but said the government is hopeful for a positive outcome in its favor. He said GOB is defending its case vigorously. He also noted that the figure being demanded from government in total is below $10 million. He also spoke on the government’s decision to amend the GST law retroactively to avoid making the payments noting that GOB sought extensive legal counsel before doing so and

saying the law stands and failure to make payments has consequences for the tour operators.

Waight also updated us on the case with Choice Bank, after G O B h a d a b r u p tly revoked the offshore bank’s license, explaining that the matter is before the court. He expressed that GOB maintains its position that it was within its right to put the bank into receivership at this time and will continue to defend its

case in court.

Attorney Eamon Courtenay represents interests in each of these cases and told the Reporter in regards to the Belize Bank case, GOB had indicated it would appeal and has 21 days in which to file it. The case involving the tour operators will be heard on March 27. The Choice Bank proceedings were done in closed chambers and are not public , Co u r te n a y e x plained.

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

PUP: GOB Intentionally Disenfranchising Belizeans

Wednesday, February 20th, 2019

By Marion Ali

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he entrance to the Vital Statistics office which used to house Wellworth Store two decades ago on Queen Street became the venue of a PUP protest on Monday afternoon for what that political party describes as gross incompetence that even borders on an "orchestrated attempt" to disenfranchise born Belizeans, particularly rural citizens, in the April 10th Referendum.

The PUP is upset because they say that several thousand born Belizeans, and more specifically, between 6,000 and 8,000 of its supporters countrywide have been unable to acquire the necessary documentation from the Vital Statistics Office in order to register at the Elections and Boundaries Department in time for the April 10th Referendum. Citing individual accounts of some of the people who they say have tried to get copies of their documents, the PUP relayed to the media what some of the applicants told its members.

PUP Leader, John Brice単o said that the Opposition has brought its concerns about the inefficiencies at the office to the Government, but there has been no response. He said that

the Government has fired or transferred every person who worked at the Vital Statistics office the moment it found out those persons were friendly with a supporter of the PUP. Brice単o questioned why there have been no concerns raised from any member of the Government on these same concerns, stopping short of suggesting there is corruption occurring at the office.

But Attorney General, Michael Peyrefitte, told us quite the opposite this week. He said that the PUP's problems with the Vital Statistical Unit is that there is no longer any corruption at the office!

"Previously, agents of the PUP used to be all up in the office, in the vault, going through books that they were not authorized to do. All of that has stopped."

But Area Repres e n t a t i v e f o r To l e d o We s t , O s c a r Reque単a told us on Monday that several hundred born Belizeans from his constituency have been taken off the voter's list because there are no records

of their existence in the system. In other cases, there are errors are made with people's names and sometimes even their gender, he said.

"They can't find her in the system," Reque単a said impatiently, referring to Rebekah Shol, a school teacher of Laguna Village who was born in 1988 and who has been previously registered and who claims she has voted before as well.

"They're telling her to re-register her birth," Emilio Zabaneh, one of the protesters, stated in disgust, pointing out that many of the applicants sometimes have to travel to Belize from the day before and pay for boarding accommodations in order to arrive at the office in time to be issued a number up to 40, and still don't get their birth certificates.

Peyrefitte explained that the system is being upgraded at the office but because the registers there are so old, some of the documents might be missing, but can always be found in some other document. "Wherever we find you in one of those four or five books in the system, we will issue you your birth paper." He spoke of instances when people go to apply for

their birth paper but have language barriers because they don't speak English or Spanish and their records are nowhere to be found in the system.

Peyrefitte felt so impassioned about granting Belizean documentation to non-Belizeans that he said he would prefer for it to come to a grinding halt

before a non-Belizean is issued a Belizean birth paper. And until the computerization and technical securities are embedded in the system, these are the possibilities that can still happen.

"If you have a birth paper, you don't need fi buy passport - you have everything, so where you go to get your birth paper - it

has to be not an easy p r o c e s s . We h a v e to make sure that you're a Belizean and I make no apologies for that."

The Attorney General's ministry is currently preparing the budget to upgrade the system, he said and the proposal will then go to Cabinet and the Minister of Finance for approval.

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 7

Action Needs to Be Taken Against Clergy Who Commit Crimes

By Marion Ali

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Michael Peyrefitte

Hon. Patrick Faber

he shocker this week turned o u t t o b e , s o f a r, only an allegation made against one of the Catholic faith's most revered priests in Belize, but in light of that allegation, the Council of Churches and two senior Ministers of Government have weighed in on what measures and actions need to be taken when sexual offences involving clergy members and children surface.

President of the Belize Council of Churches, Philip Wright told the Reporter that because of the role the Church plays in the community and the respect given to its leaders, something of this magnitude would have a nega t i v e e ff e c t , e v e n though it is just an allegation. " Ye s , i t â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a t t h e stage of allegation but whether or not it is proven to be true, one has to admit that some damage has been done....When it comes to the Church, it does seem revolting, seeing that the very ones we follow have some of the strongest warnings against those who abuse children. We have to have zero tolerance for abuse of any kind, but particularly when it has to do with children and the vulnerable. ...If it turns out to be true, it would be outrageous what it does to the Church.

When matters of this nature emerge, there is a justifiable outcry and rejection," Bishop Wright said.

The Council does not yet have a policy in place to guide it on how to deal with matters of this nature but the Bishop said that this week's revelation might very well prompt it to formulate one. He added that the matter will likely be discussed during the Council's meeting t h i s F r i d a y. W h i l e the Council is governed by a Constitution, at this point, it is left to the respective denomination to deal with matters of this nature.

Meanwhile, Attorney General, Michael Peyrefitte said that as far as the law is concerned, if the crime did not happen in Belize's jurisdiction, the system cannot require for the provision of any e v i d e n c e o r i n f o rmation. If, on the other hand, there is evidence to suggest that anybody, including a priest, commits a crime in Belize, including a sexual o ff e n s e , h e o r s h e will be brought to bear, he warned.

Minister of Education, Patrick Faber shed some light on how his Ministry has reinforced its regulations when it comes to people who are involved in the education system. He said there is a mechanism in place to keep everyone who deals with children in the education system in check. He said that even temporary visiting missions from abroad must now get temporary licenses, though this is a system that was put in place relatively recently.

Page 8

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Briceño Alleges Corruption in Hernandez Contracts Thursday, February 21st, 2019

By Marion Ali

T

he People's United Party (PUP) was irate this week over more than just the inefficiencies at the Vital Statistical Office or the hiccups with not being able to successfully re-register on the voters' list; it also scoffed at the awarding of another infrastructure contract to Imer Hernandez - the nephew of former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega.

The gripe of the PUP is that Hernandez’s past roadworks have deteriorated long before they were expected to.

The Ministry of Works informed on Monday that rehabili-

tation work that will be conducted on the George Price Highway will be carried out by Hernandez' company. Almost as quickly, PUP Leader, John Briceño fired off his views about it, pointing to previous works that Hernandez's company did in Orange Walk that did not stand up to the test for very long. "I want you all to go to Orange Walk on the highway that he built in Orange Walk Town. It is sinking in many areas; it is breaking up all over the place and now you are going to give them another $19 million?

Something wrong there; somebody di get something,” Briceño

charged.

But Minister of Works, Rene Montero assured that his Ministry satisfied all the requirements set out by the lending agency. "First it involves the design phase and after that it has to go through tender and the tender process is done by consultants, international consultants. It is not the Government of Belize who decided this. We published it and we got about seven contractors that bid and after reviewing all the contracts, Mr. Hernandez won

the contract. He was the one most qualified. He presented all the requirements that the bank needed, engineers and experience."

Briceño warned that if and when the PUP gets into office it will investigate every contract given out by the Ministry of Works under this UDP regime.

The work will stretch over some 10.3 miles of road from Blackman Eddy Village to the roundabout in Santa Elena Town and will include the upgrading

Signing of $19M contract of drainage, the placement of culverts, the construction of safety barriers, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and bus stops, and line markings.

It will be done through a loan from the

Inter-American Development Bank, and a grant from the European Union. Work will begin immediately and will be supervised

by IMC Worldwide on behalf of the Ministry of Works.

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 9

Weed Goes Up in Smoke H

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

eavily Police presence stood guard at an undisclosed location in Western Belize on Tuesday morning as personnel from the Belize Police Department, the Prosecution Branch, the Magistracy and the Forensic Service and others witnessed the destruction of a year and a half ’s worth of seizures of drugs.

While the estimated cost of the drugs was withheld, Sr. Supt.

Ralph Moody, Region Three Commander and overall exhibit room keeper, explained that the confiscated drugs were from either found properties in Belize City or from seizures that have been concluded in the Courts in that jurisdiction.

S r. S u p t M o o d y explained, "We have cannabis, crack and we also have some substance that was found with some per-

son that is suspected to have other chemicals within it and drugs. The person did not have any license to import it in the country."

In order to preserve the integrity and transparency of the process, the department summoned witnesses including personnel from the media, court representatives, Justices of the Peace, forensic and prosecution personnel, as well as the exhibit keeper to observe as each parcel of drugs was inspected, and their particulars taken down before they were thrown into the fire.

In his interview with the media Sr. Supt Moody explained that usually routine drug destructions are done every six months in every jurisdiction. In this case, Moody explained that the paper

Drugs being thrown into the fire works took longer than anticipated and as such the activity could not be carried out prior to Tuesdays date.

According to Moody over the past few months there has been an increase in the number of drug seizures in Belize City and the stockpile that kept growing in the exhibit room was causing discomfort among officers. As such the department saw it fit to execute the exercise.

In speaking on the heavy Police security presence, Moody claimed that whenever drug destructions are carried out the depart-

ment in an effort to safeguard the products and prevent any sort of surprise always has maximum security accompany them.

Moody estimates that another exercise of a similar nature will be carried out in the next six months.

Belize Making Efforts to Avoid EU Blacklist Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Joseph Waight, Financial Secretary h e E u r o p e a n revised ‘tax havens’ Code of Con- blacklist, which will duct Group (CCG), be completed later i n f o r m e d B e l i z e this year. According among several other to Waight, the CCG financial jurisdic- said after reviewtions last week that ing Belize’s amendsteps would need to ments to the Income be taken to update Tax Act and the Inthe country’s prefer- ternational Business ential tax measures Company (IBC) Act, or risk being black- it determined the relisted. Financial Sec- gime was still harmretary Joseph Waight ful concerning tax t o l d t h e R e p o r t e r matters. that the government Waight said GOB has been contacted has committed to furby the CCG and is ther reviewing the already taking mea- tax regime and make sures to avoid being changes to remove blacklisted. the potentially harmBelize, along with ful elements. AccordBarbados, Curacao, ing to Waight, the M a u r i t i u s , S a i n t government has until Lucia and the Sey- the end of the year chelles were asked to to make the necescommit to replacing sary changes. Waight ‘harmful’ tax practic- noted, however, that es and seek alterna- t h e C C G ’s d e f i n i tives to avoid being tion of ‘harmful’ tax placed on the CCG’s regimes, includes ju-

T

risdictions whose tax rates are lower than their own and as such attract business away from their financial markets. Waight also said the CCG’s definition of ‘harmful’ is very broad and said in terms of what changes they are expected to make there have been no specifics.

He added that Belize would not be added to any blacklist or grey list because the government is cooperating with the CCG to ensure that does not happen. The CCG had compiled a previous blacklist based on concerns regarding tax transparency and fair taxation, however, the new list will include concerns about preferential tax measures. The European Union (EU) has also come under fire itself for not including any of its own member states on either of the black or grey lists.

Page 10

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

No Charges Yet Following Three-Vehicle Fatal Crash Wednesday, February 20, 2019

T

Marcia Lopez, deceased

By Marion Ali

he investigation into last Thursday evening's fatal traffic accident that claimed the life of Marcia Lopez near the Airport junction has still not yielded any charges against any of the men who were driving and whose crashed vehicles barreled into Lopez, killing her.

Lopez had just landed a job at Global Village Hotel at 8.5 miles on the Philip Goldson Highway a month ago and had completed her shift

around 5:00 on Valentine's Day evening as a room organizer.

She checked out to catch a bus to go to her children when she was knocked unconscious. She died within hours at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Reports are that Lopez was standing on the side of the highway near Sky City Gas Station compound, shortly after 5:00 pm, waiting for a bus to go to San Pablo Village, Orange Walk when a silver Cherokee

Lord's Bank Man Executed in Belize City Wednesday, February 20, 2019

By Michelle Sutherland

L

ord’s Bank Village residents are this week grieving the callous murder of one of their own who was brutally taken out by bullets that ripped through him in Belize City as he took his usual route to pick up his girlfriend from a nightshift.

Roy Gilbert Lord, 31, sustained a gunshot

Roy Lord

Roy Lord, still alive after shooting wound to the left side to the scene to render of his forehead, two to assistance, Lord made his back and another one last unsuccessful to his right upper chest attempt before he was while walking on Wil- gently scooped up by son Street just after officers who placed 11:45 p.m., on Febru- him in the rear of a Police mobile and ferried ary 18th.

In a video which him away for emercaptured the aftermath gency care at the Karl of the shooting, Lord Heusner Memorial could be seen sprawled Hospital.

Though efforts were face down on the cold pavement attempting to made to save Lord's move his hands in an life the Reporter was effort to push himself informed that he sucup. As officers flocked cumbed to his injuries

at 5:00 a.m., on Tuesday inside the Intensive Care Unit.

A report issued by Police states that the father of two had just left from his girlfriend's residence on New Road and was heading to Tropicana Casino on foot to pick her up when a lone gunman approached him and fired several gunshots in his direction resulting in the fatal injuries.

One resident reported hearing about five gunshots going off in close proximity to her house.

The woman reported that when she looked through her window she saw what appeared to be a body lying on the side of the street. She explained that after waiting a couple of minutes for officers from a neighboring checkpoint to respond, she went outside to where the body was and called the 911 hotline for assistance.

While Police have failed to verify reports that Lord's murder could have been triggered by a robbery, family members confirmed that none of his personal items, including his cellular phone, was found on his dead body.

One of Lord's close friends, Albert Flowers, told the Reporter that Lord was not involved in any gangs and was a caring person to family and friends - "We call him Blacks. He loved dogs and fishing and from time to time we would go on fishing trips. His death really hurt me because he is a good young man who was just trying to make it day by

day. The person who shot him was probably just looking to make a name of himself because Blacks didn’t do anybody nothing."

Police are yet to brief the media about whether they have detained any suspects or have identified a motive for Lord's murder.

Jeep, driven by Walter McCullock Jr., 38, of Ladyville, allegedly stopped suddenly in front of a blue and white freight liner 10-wheeler dump truck, driven by Errol Garbutt, 31, also of Ladyville.

Garbutt later told the media that he could not stop in time to avoid hitting the Cherokee, and kept blowing his horn to u rg e t h e d r i v e r i n front of him to move out of his path. That did not happen and the truck slammed into the back of the Cherokee, and both vehicles, which were wedged together by the impact, careened off to the side of the road where Lopez was standing, knocking her several feet away with severe head and leg injuries and breaking the fence barrier to the gas station. The vehicles came to a stop just feet away from the gas station’s fuel pumps. They also ran into a Toyota RAV 4

that was park inside the compound.

Garbutt, who was delivering his last load of sand for the day towards Belize City, has blamed McCullock, who then blamed traffic that would not let him through in the other lane, apparently to r e a c h th e g a s s ta tion compound. The matter does not appear to be so clearcut to Police, who still have not brought any charges and have only served both drivers with Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) and taken urine samples from them. The area where the accident occurred has two solid yellow lines in the middle of the road, which means that no one should drive through those lines from either lane.

Global Village Hotel today described Lopez to the Reporter as "a great worker who was always on time, and very hard working."

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 11

Police Trying to Secure Arrest in Brutal Home Invasion Wednesday, February 20, 2019

By Michelle Sutherland

A

ut h o r i t i e s i n Corozal have confirmed that they are following up on several credible leads that they hope can assist them in unraveling the murder of retired American national, Elizabeth Rousseau, 74.

Since Rousseau's murder at her home in the Oasis area of Consejo, Corozal on February 13, authorities have failed to make an arrest but say that they are pursuing leads which

Elizabeth Rousseau suggest that the unknown intruder was someone who was familiar with the layout of the property.

During the dead-

ly home invasion which later spiraled into cold-blooded m u r d e r, a p u r s e containing personal items and cash was taken by the fleeing culprit as he escaped under the cover of darkness.

That detail ties into reports that the couple might have b e e n t a rg e t e d a n d tailed by someone who suspected, or knew, that they had made a substantial withdrawal from the bank earlier that day.

Reports that emerged from out of Corozal following the inci-

dent confirmed that the deceased and her husband Gary Hakes, 84, had visited the bank to complete a transaction earlier that day.

On Monday when the media met with ACP Joseph Myvett, Head of NCIB, he stated that he could not comment on those reports since that angle is also part of the ongoing investigation.

O n Va l e n t i n e ' s eve, the elderly couple was watching television inside their living room when the power to

their home was cut.

According to Police, when Rousseau went inside her bedroom she was attacked by an intruder who inflicted multiple knife wounds to her body.

Alerted by the commotion, Hakes went to check on his wife and he too was attacked but luckily escaped with superficial wounds.

Rousseau was not so lucky and neighbors who flocked

to the scene rushed her to the Corozal Community Hospital where she was stabilized and then transferred to the Northern Regional Hospital, but died in transit.

While processing the scene, investigators learned that the intruder cut the power supply from outside the home and breached the building through a bathroom window located on the lower flat.

Suspected Robber Shot Upon Escape

Monday, February 18, 2019

By Marion Ali

A

robbery suspect was shot shortly after he is believed to have held up a store at gunpoint in Belize City on Saturday night, and while Police have recovered some of the stolen money, they are also looking for his partner in crime, who may have gotten away with more of the loot.

A s s is ta n t Su p e rintendent of Police, Alejandro Cowo told the media today that just after 8:30 on Saturday night several Police mobiles were dispatched to Kum Hua Chinese store at #25 Daly Street, where the robbery was in progress. When Police arrived on Daly Street they spotted two suspects running towards Eve Street. Cowo said that based on the description which the victim provided, Police set chase after the two, which

we understand, took them to Marine Parade and back on Eve Street. The chase ended there, where one of the men, Keron Miguel, 21, was shot in his leg and taken into custody. The other was also apprehended and Police recovered $44.45 in coins, believed to be a portion of the $350 stolen from the store. Cowo could not say if the men fired at Police but confirmed that they are known criminals from the same area.

T h e p r o p r i e t o r, Shaohua Ma, 49, said that the whole incident unfolded when one of the robbers distracted her by ordering a gallon of water and that while she was serving him the other one entered and forced her outside.

The culprit who was inside then pointed a gun at her and took the money from the cash register.

Page 12

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Pick Sense

NIGERIAN RHAPSODY

Assad Shoman - A column by Citizens for the Defence of Sovereignty (CDS)

R

hapsody, n., a piece of music written without a formal structure that expresses powerful feelings and emotional excitement.

(Cambridge English Dictionary) O, how good are the people pushing the “no to ICJ” narrative at stirring up powerful feelings and emotional excitement!

On 15 February, Channel 7 revealed that the “Belize Peace Movement” circulated a video of a woman claiming to be a Nigerian and who is friendly with a BPM member, delivering a rehearsed “statement to the people of Belize.” She laments the fact that Nigeria went to the ICJ to resolve a territorial dispute with neighbouring Cameroon, and the Court decided to take away the Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria and give it to Cameroon.

She warns Belizeans of the danger of submitting the Guatemalan claim to Belize to the ICJ, suggesting that just as Nigeria lost its land, Belize will lose hers.

The fact is, however, that the Bakassi Peninsula was never a part of Nigeria, but of Cameroon. That puts the “Belize Peace Movement” posting of that video in a totally different light, because they know what we are about to reveal here. They know the truth.

The Bare Facts of the Case In the late 19th century, several European powers undertook a “scramble for Africa,” competing with each other to colonize parts of it. The countries that later became Nigeria and Cameroon were carved up between Germany, Britain and France.

Britain had Nigeria.

Since before 1800, and through wars and treaties throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, Britain controlled several parts of Africa that it later consolidated into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. Nigeria gained independence from the

United Kingdom on 1 October 1960.

Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun. After Germany lost World War I, the territory was divided between France and the United Kingdom as League of Nations mandates. In 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun.

The British part of Cameroon was divided in two parts. In a referendum in 1961, the northern part became part of Nigeria, but the southern part opted to join the Republic of Cameroon.

might have led Nigeria to believe that the plebiscite which took place in the Southern Cameroons in 1961 under United Nations supervision did not include Bakassi. The Court further observes that this frontier line was acknowledged in turn by Nigeria when it voted in favour of General Assembly resolution 1608 (XV), which both terminated the Trusteeship and approved the results of the plebiscite”.

Referring to maritime delimitation discussions between both countries in the late 1970s, the Court found that“it is clear from the ensuing discussions and agreements that the Parties

ited by Articles XVIII to XX of the AngloGerman Agreement of 11 March 1913, and that sovereignty over the peninsula lies with Cameroon”.

That surely is crystal clear, and the only honest parallels that can be drawn with the BelizeGuatemala case is that Belize is in the position that Cameroon was in, and is sure to win the case based on treaties, and that Guatemala, like Nigeria, knows it has recognized Belizean sovereignty over our land, like Nigeria had recognized Cameroonian sovereignty over Bakassi, but, perversely, simply insists on making false claims

es who presided over the matter at the World Court. Apart from the 15 sitting judges, each country appointed an ad hoc judge (one appointed by a party to the case to represent that country in that case alone). Nigeria appointed its own Prince Bola Ajibola, who had in fact been a regular Judge of the Court from 1991 to 1994.

Years later, he commented on the case.

[See the Nigerian magazine PUNCH, 29 October 2016, online at https://punchng.com/ ceding-bakassi-cameroon-saved-nigeria-major-war-ajibola-formerworld-court-judge/] Nigerian Judge

The Actual Judgment of the ICJ The ICJ found that "Bakassi was necessarily comprised within the [British] mandate… [and] for the entire period from 1922 until 1961 (when the Trusteeship was terminated), Bakassi was comprised within British Cameroon. The boundary between Bakassi and Nigeria, notwithstanding the administrative arrangements, remained an international boundary.”

“Equally, the Court observes that it has seen no evidence that Nigeria thought that upon independence it was acquiring Bakassi. The Court notes in particular that there was nothing which

took it as a given that Bakassi belonged to Cameroon. Nigeria, drawing on the full weight of its experts as well as its most senior political figures, understood Bakassi to be under Cameroon sovereignty”.

“Accordingly, the Court finds that at that time Nigeria accepted that it was bound by Articles XVIII to XXII of the Anglo-German Agreement of 11 March 1913, and that it recognized Cameroonian sovereignty over the BakassiPeninsula . . . The Court accordingly concludes that the boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria in Bakassi is delim-

for “patriotic” reasons.

And What is More . . .

There were 17 judg-

Ajibola:“All the documents and evidence before the court were

all pointing to the ownership of that place as being part of Cameroon . . . “It is all nonsense to say that Nigeria lost to Cameroon. What did Nigeria lose to Cameroon? According to the Latin phrase, ‘Nemodat quod non habet,’ meaning you cannot lose what you don’t have. Bakassi was never yours,” he told his Nigerian interviewer.

The Nigerian government at first said it would refuse to obey the judgment, but the UN stepped in, UN Secretary General Kofi Anan held talks with the parties, and in 2008 Nigeria formally accepted that the Republic of Cameroon had sovereignty over Bakassi.

Will the BPM Please Explain?

All that you have read about the Nigeria v Cameroon case above is known to the members of the BPM, one of whose members shared a post admitting that Nigeria lost because of a treaty. The case is clearly important for showing how Belize is sure to win, and, even more, that Guatemala, like Nigeria, will be obliged to obey the ruling of the Court and recognize that the entire Belizean territory is under the sovereignty of Belize.

So why is it purposely putting the case upside down and asking Belizeans to draw the exactly opposite conclusion, that we will lose territory at the ICJ? Will the person(s) deliberately perpetuating this deceit please stand up?

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 13

Marie Sharp Launches New Game-Changing Product

Monday, February 18th, 2019

By Michelle Sutherland

I

co n i c B e l i z e a n businesswoman Marie Sharp has once more added another hot sauce to her successful line of products on the market, and this time is doing so in an effort to combat gender-based violence in Belize.

On Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day, Sharp in collaboration with the United States Embassy in Belmopan officially held the launching of the first of its kind pineapple habanero pepper sauce "Pure Love" under the theme, "End Gender Base Violence Now.â&#x20AC;?

The new product is now available for sale both locally and internationally. Proceeds from its sale will go to Haven House, a non-profit domestic violence shelter directly benefiting vic-

Iconic entrepreneur, Marie Sharp in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Belize, launches new pepper sauce to combat domestic violence

Marie Sharp at the launch of new pepper sauce product tims of gender-based it. Sharp said that last year while she violence.

At the launching was stationed at the of her new product, Show Grounds, she Sharp explained that was approached by she had crafted the personnel from the new recipe for the U.S. Embassy who pineapple pulp based asked her for ideas on sauce some time ago what could be done in but did not market a collaborative effort

to fight gender-based violence.

Sharp went on to explain that she decided that she would dedicate her recipe for a worthy cause - "Everybody loves Marie Sharpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pepper sauce, right? So I thought if we use it in a pepper sauce we could get much more funds available because all this is going to the

Haven House in Belize. I thought it was one way to generate money fast enough.

Every product that I put out there is good and the market will accept it."

Dr. Sharmane Saunders, President of the Board of Directors for Haven House expressed her appreciation for the new partnership which will

directly assist the institution in its work to provide emergency accommodations and counseling for battered women and their children.

Speaking at the launch in Belmopan, Charge d' Affaires of the United States Embassy Keith Gilges announced that women's empowerment and ending genderbased violence are the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy and its Embassy's priorities here in Belize.

Since its inception in 1993, the shelter has provided services to over 1,300 women and their children.

Their adult residents range in age from 1860 and child residents range from 3 days old to 17 years old. The shelter works by referrals via the Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit or f r o m t h e Wo m e n ' s Department.

Page 14

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Who Is on the Voters' List? Who Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t?

Doug Singh, Chairman, Elections & Boundaries Commission Monday, February 18th, 2019

I

By Marion V. Ali

f you want to know whether or not you were included on the new voters' register and will be eligible to vote in the April 10th ICJ Referendum, all you need to do is to visit the Elections and Boundaries offices in the constituency where you applied and check the list of approved names there.

Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, Doug Singh shared with the Reporter recently that the Department has published the list of all the people whose applications were approved and whose names were registered on the new voter's list up to the end of September, 2018.

Singh said that the names of those who were disallowed have also been published at all Elections and Boundaries offices in every constituency throughout the country. Those who were not approved were also sent letters, specifically to the addresses that those people provided. The Elections Commission official added that while not getting a letter can mean that your application has been approved, it can also mean that someone else has received your letter, based on the address that you provided.

Singh said that people who have been disallowed during the re-registration process due to problems with the verification of their records are still allowed to reapply under the continuous registration process, on the condition that those people provide the necessary documentation to prove their legitimacy.

And for those who have been waiting patiently to collect their cards, it is not as easy a process as one might think, Singh informed.

"You can't start the production of cards until you've gone through a legal process. Remember the cut-off for re-registration was September 30. The names have to be processed at the Courts, be subject to challenge, accepted, gazetted and so on - which occurred around the latter part of November. And so you are not even able to commence the process of printing the cards until December."

Singh said that even after that point, there is another time-consuming process to get the budget approved to acquire the necessary card stock and other materials to get the cards printed and to identify the companies that will print them. But having almost completed all these processes, he said that by the end of this month, all those whose names have been added to the new register will be able to collect their cards.

Chief Elections Officer, Josephine Tamai told the Reporter recently that because a significant number of voters do not go to pick up their cards, the Elections Department will have those cards available at the respective polling stations on Referendum Day to make it easier for those electors to collect their cards. This is to avert what happened at the last re-registration process when there were thousands of voters' cards that Singh said were never picked up from the Elections and Boundaries offices.

On the contrary, Singh assured that even those last-minute applicants whose names have

S U D O K U Medium Puzzle

Sudok u rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 3x3 box.

Tip. Use a soft erasable pencil. Start with the easy puzzles, then move on to the harder ones. Make small pencilmarks to show which numbers are allowed in empty squares. This will come handy when analyzing techniques are used.

Never guess! Only make moves based on logical deductions.

been approved will be able to vote in the April 10th Referendum and that their voters' cards would have been printed and issued by that date.

If you have not yet applied for your new voter's card, you have until March 12th (because of the Pan American Holiday) to visit the Elections office in the area where you live and present your birth paper or a valid passport. If you do not have any of these documents, you need to visit the Vital Statistics Unit at the old Wellworth building on Queen Street in Belize City from now and apply for a copy of your birth certificate in order that you may receive that document in time to take to the Elections office in your area to apply to register before March 10th.

Women who have not registered their marriages at the Vital Statistics Department and people who have been registered under previous names different from the one they currently use need to also update their names at the Vital Statistics Department in order that the names they now go by can be found in the system. A deed poll (name adjustment or name change), which costs a bit more than a copy of a birth certificate, might be necessary.

Answer to Puzzle

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 15

Serial arsonist in Punta Gorda?

Monday, February 18, 2019 first suspect who was

By Michelle Sutherland caught on surveilolice in Punta lance footage perpeG o r d a h a v e trating an act of arson stepped up their sur- over the weekend. veillance efforts and On Monday, ACP patrols at night and J o s e p h M y v e t t , are seeking the pub- Head of the National lic's full cooperation Crimes Investigation in an effort to nab Branch, provided dea s u s p e c t e d s e r i a l tails of the latest inciarsonist that might dent that the departhave been responsi- ment is investigating ble for torching mul- - "On Sunday, Februtiple vehicles in that ary 17th sometime jurisdiction over the after 1:00 a.m. Punta past couple of days.

Gorda police were While there is no on patrol when they clear cut pattern or observed a Volkswaevidence to suggest gen Amarok that was that the incidents are parked beside Tim's linked, authorities in Store. The inside was that jurisdiction have engulfed in flames. their hands full in try- As a result, the Fire ing to stitch together D e p a r t m e n t w a s evidence collected called and the fire from separate scenes w a s e x t i n g u i s h e d . where a total of four During an inspection vehicles were torched of the scene a plastic within a time span of bottle with liquid was eleven days. found. So far surveilThis week inves- lance footage viewed tigators are one step has not been able to c l o s e r t o c r a c k i n g determine the identhe cases and are in tity of the person." the process of tryAuthorities have ing to identify their not given up and say

rate automobile fires in Punta Gorda. The first resident of a Joe Taylor Creek address reported that he parked his Ford Fusion inside his yard and when he woke up around 5:00 a.m., he discovered that his vehicle was on fire. The second victim of a Jose Maria Street also reported that he parked his Ford F-150 pickup truck inside his yard

P

Weh Wi Ga Fi Seh

that they are pursuing multiple leads to establish the suspect's identity. Authorities have also re-strategized and stepped up their patrols and are encoura ging r e side nts to report suspicious activities, suspicious persons and suspicious movements mostly at night.

Similarly, on February 6th, Police were called out to inspect three sepaPoblish evri week, fahn di Nashanal Kriol Kongsl a Bileez: bai Silvaana Udz

Da Hoo Ga Makoabi?

Da Hoo Ga Kabanka?

Da Hoo Ga Krisisisilo? kabanka n. lovesickness. Jan loan ga kabanka sins ih gyal gaahn lef ahn da Stayts.

John is suffering from lovesickness since his girl left him and went to the States. See: makoabi, krisisisilo.

Silvaana Udz

krisisisilo n. extreme lovesickness. Jan hihn mi ga krisisisilo aaf a Agnis til ih mi feel laik kil ihself.

John was so lovesick over Agnes that he felt lik killing himself. See: kabanka, makoabi. makoabi n. lovesickness. Poa Joa mi ga bad makoabi wen di gyal lef ahn.

Poor Joe was really lovesick when the girl left him. See: kabanka, krisisisilo; miskoabi. makoabi seed n. parched pumpkin or squash seeds. If yu waahn kyoar yu makoabi, yu hafu eet kinel waata ahn makoabi seed.

If you want to cure your lovesickness, you have to eat canal water and pumpkin seeds. See: pepeetos. miskoabi n. love sickness; female version of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;makoabiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. See: makoabi. pepeetos n. pumpkin (squash) seeds. Dehn seh fi get oava makoabi yu hafu eet pepeetos ahn jrink kinel waata. It is said that if you want to get over a heartbreak, you should eat pumpkin seeds and drink water from the canal. See: makoabi seed.

Valentainz Day Don Gaahn Lang, Bot Noh Mek di Lov Don!

Silvaana Udz, Ed.D da fahn Bileez. If yu waahn tel shee bowt sohnting speshal fu put eena dis Kriol aatikl, eemayl: sudz142@ gmail.com Vizit: www.nationalkriolcouncil.org

and about 5:00 a.m., when he woke up, his vehicle was already on fire.

The third victim of a Cerro Road address was a bit luckier and woke up to the sounds of dogs barking. When he made checks outside in his yard he discovered that the back tire of his Kia Sportage vehicle was on fire. A lighted rubber tube was also found near the burning vehicle.

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Belizean-American Dies in RTA

Monday, February 18th, 2019 tained during a moBy Michelle Sutherland torcycle accident on e l l - k n o w n the Phillip Goldson B e l i z e a n Highway.

American businessTriminio died just m a n f r o m O r a n g e before 9:00 p.m., on Walk, John Triminio, February 17th, while 54, lost his life over u n d e r g o i n g t r e a t t h e w e e k e n d d u e ment at the Northern to severe head and Regional Hospital. body injuries he susPolice sources say

W

John Triminio

Two suspects in Custody for Alleged Rape of Minors Tuesday, February 19th, 2019

By Michelle Sutherland

T

wo male suspects are in Police custody pending a thorough investigation and the possibility of charges leveled against them for the alleged rape of two female minors in separate cases which occurred over the past couple of days.

In the first instance, a 13-year-old minor of a Benque Viejo address is alleging that she was raped on Valentine's Day and that she knew one of the suspects by his first name.

The minor, in the company of her mother, visited the Police Station and reported that sometime around 7:00 p.m., on the said date she was inside her yard when she was approached by the suspect who entered the

premises and allegedly had sexual intercourse with her.

The second case under investigation is one involving a 15-yearold minor from Orange Walk who reported that she was allegedly raped on February 17th.

The female, accompanied by her mother, reported that around 6:00 p.m., while she was at home alone, someone known to her entered the residence and forcefully pushed her into a room where he had sexual intercourse with her against her will.

On Tuesday, the Reporter confirmed with authorities that the men were still in Police custody but were not charged as yet.

that around 8:30 that night Triminio was socializing along with friends in Corozal and departed on his motorcycle en route to his home in Orange Walk.

According to authorities, the deceased was accompanied by one of his friends who was riding on a separate motorcycle, and that individual reported that upon nearing the pedestrian ramp near San Roman Village, Triminio lost control of his motorcycle, causing him to fall to the pavement where he was severely injured.

While police have confirmed that the Boundary Road resident was socializing

prior to the crash, they cannot establish whether alcohol was a factor in the accident and will be awaiting a test result to determine whether that was the case.

In light of the rising statistics in

THE REPORTER the number of fatal and non-fatal motorcycle accidents, ACP Joseph Myvett, Head of the National Crimes investigation branch commented "Most of the districts have implemented or continued with their highway patrol programs. Many of us who traveled the roads at night would s e e th e n u mb e r o f

motorcycles on the highway and some are not properly lit.

Much care is not being exercised by these motorcycle drivers, hence putting other drivers in danger. So, yes, it is a serious concern a n d w e a r e ta k in g steps by implementing additional patrols.â&#x20AC;?

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 17

YOUR WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

BCS Girls Win National Football Championship San Ignacio, February 16th, 2019

T

he girls of Belmopan Comprehensive School won the football championship in the tournament organized by National Secondary Schools Sports Association (NSSSA) and hosted

by Mopan Technical High School at the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio on Friday and Saturday, February 15-16.

The Belmopan girls had to go to overtime and penalties to edge out the Northern regional champions, the girls of San Pedro High School: 4-3 in the championship final Saturday afternoon. Roshanny Narvaez and Jeili Corado led the capital offensive, supported by Yessica Galicia and Tiana Rowley on the wings, and Briah Ho and Ashley Rodriguez at midfield. The pressure of their attacks won seven free kicks and three corner kicks.

But Normalee Gomez anchored the island girls’ defense with the help of Aura Lopez, Natranny Perez and Jairy Acosta to help goalkeeper Dennisa Mairena keep a clean slate through half time to the end of regulation.

Abrianna Sierra and Tanya Teul led the Sanpedranas’ attacks with the help of Aaliyah Pilgrim and Dulce Leiva on the wings and Sophie Guan and Samira Sorto at midfield. But they made little impression on Stephanie Barrientos, who led the Belmopan defense along with Mikayla Munro, Marleni Rosa and Alliyah Tello to break up the island attacks, returning the ball to their forwards to renew the attack and dominate play in the island girls’ half of the field. Best Goalkeeper Jaleeny Belisle handled the island girls’ shots on goal to keep them scoreless to the end of regulation.

Normalee Gomez was forced to abandon the field after a hard contact with Roshanny Narvaez and was replaced by Mailin Garcia. Myranie Hyde relieved Sierra in the second half, and Genesis Ramirez and Dailnay Galdamez came off the BCS bench to relieve Briah Ho, but the match remained scoreless after 10 minutes of overtime.

In penalties, Ashley Rodriguez’s first try for BCS hit the crossbar, but Best goalkeeper Jaleeny Belisle stopped the island girls’ first and

third tries, and only Samira Sorto, Myranie Hyde and Aura Lopez scored for San Pedro. BCS’ Mikayla Munro, Tiana Rowley, Yessica Galicia and Roshany Narvaez all converted their tries for Belmopan to win 4-3.

The Central regional champions, the girls of St. Catherine Academy, also had to go to overtime to prevail 3-2 over the Southern regional champions, the girls of Delille Academy, in the consolation match for third place Saturday morning. Aaliyah Herbert and Carlene Tillett led the SCA offensive supported by Alyssa Martin and Ailani Gonzales on the wings and Wareyni Gillett and Rianna Chebat at midfield. SCA won a corner kick after nine minutes of play, and Carlene Tillett’s service found Caylie Rodriguez, who launched a long shot at the near upright. Delille’s goalkeeper Mary Lucas fumbled what should have been an easy save, and the ball rolled into the net: 1-0. Three minutes later Aaliyah Herbert also found the back of the net with a shot through Lucas’ legs to the far left corner, to lead 2-0 at intermission.

Bernadine Sebastian and Taryn Arnold led the Delille counterattack with the help of Deshawn Acosta and Marla Hyde on the wings and Michelle Estero and Antoinette Marin at midfield.

Saudy Rivera led the SCA defense, along with Nisa Reyes, Davan Rudon-Nelson and Skylar Guerrero, but Sebastian escaped their marking to score Delille’s first goal seven minutes after the break. SCA’s goalkeeper Mahoganie Ellis came off her line, when speedy Taryn Arnold escaped the SCA defenders, but Arnold nimbly sidestepped her to equalize 2-2 five minutes before the end of regulation.

SCA’s coach Henry “Pulu” Gillett refreshed his attack line-up with Mia Gonzalez and Aleah Hunter replacing Martin and Gonzales, but the score remained 2-2 at the end of the first overtime period. Aaliyah Herbert escaped Shadette Lino’s marking to score SCA’s third winning goal in the first minute of the second overtime: 3-2 final.

The Belmopan girls also won 1-0 over the St. Catherine Academy girls in the second match Friday evening. Yessica Galicia exploited a de-

fensive error to embarrass goalkeeper Mahoganie Ellis with the winning goal in the second minute of play.

The San Pedro girls advanced to the finals when Normalee Gomez scored the winning goal after nine minutes of play for their 1-0 win over the Delille Academy girls in the opening match of the tournament Friday afternoon.

Former NSSSA president Deon Sutherland and SCA principal Salome Tillett joined the NSSSA executive committee in presenting team trophies and individual medals to the champions, subchampions and third place winners in the awards ceremony after the finals. SCA’s Aaliyah Herbert won awards for Most Goals and Best Striker. BCS’ Jaleeny Belisle won awards for Best Goalkeeper and the Most Valuable Player, while her teammates Ashley Rodriguez won Best Midfielder and Stephanie Barrientos won Best Defense.

SCA’s Aaliyah Herbert won Most Goals & Best Striker

Belmopan Comprehensive girls win national football championship Sports 2 REPORTER

February 24th, 2019

YOUR WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE OWTHS Boys Win National Football Championship

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

San Ignacio, February 16th, 2019

T

he boys of Orange Walk Technical High School won the national football championship organized by the National Secondary Schools Sports Association (NSSSA) and hosted

by Mopan Technical High School at the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio on Friday and Saturday, February 15-16.

The Orange Walk boys completely dominated the Western

MVP Dawinson Williams won Best Goalkeeper

Zone champions, the Belmopan Comprehensive School boys: 5-1 in the championship final Saturday afternoon. Best Striker – Rigoberto Cardenas and Jaheim Augustine led their attacks, with the help of Elmer Blanco and Izael Flores on the wings, and team captain Andir Chi and Michael Cruz. Jalen Budna led the Belmopan defense with the help of Kevin Alas, Jeison Medrano and Joshua Corado, but they could not stop Rigo Cardenas from driving in the first goal after five minutes of play.

Isaiah Reyes and Justin Kalu led the Belmopan counterattack, supported by Darnell Cruz and Morgan Pickett on the wings and Freybin Pagoada at midfield, and Reyes soon drove in the equalizer past goalkeeper Dawinson Williams. Belmopan’s goalkeeper Kenyon Lawrence managed to stop Andir Chi’s shot on a free kick, but he deflected the ball to the feet of Rigo Cardenas, who booted it back into the net, to lead 2-1 at intermission.

Tr a v i s M o n t e r o

came off the Belmopan bench to reinforce their attack after the break, but the Orange Walk boys asserted their dominance of the game as Michael Cruz scored a third goal and Jaheim Augustine set table for Rigo to complete his hat trick, rifling a shot just inside the left upright: 4-1.

Elvis Espejo came off the bench to relive Augustine, and he soon scored a fifth goal to complete the 5-1 win.

The Southern regional champions, the boys of Julian Cho Technical High School, dominated the Belize City champions, the Maud Williams High School boys: 3-0 in the consolation match for third place Saturday morning. Andres Miranda delivered the first goal to lead 1-0 at intermission. Jaheed Gomez and Alex Henderson led the Maud Williams counterattack, supported by Keifer “Beefy” Perteau and Glenford Gillett on the wings, and by Micah Baltazar and Jaheel Gomez at midfield.

They made no impression on the Julian Cho defenders Nedie Garcia, Eulogio Mes

Page 19

and Denver Yatz, who served the ball forward to their midfielders Roderick Parham, Matthew Rash and Aaron Choco to renew the attack. Goalkeeper Leonel Robinson watched helplessly a s M i r a n d a ’s n e x t shot from the right flank drained across the goal, to Aaron Choco who darted in to rocket a shot just inside the left upright into the back of the net: 2-0. The city defenders Lebron Robinson, Jaheem Thomas, Denzel Estrada and Clifford Thomas were caught flat-footed; as Miranda drilled home a third shot to seal the 3-0 win.

The Orange Walk boys also dominated the Julian Cho boys: 2-0 in the opening game Friday afternoon. Izael Flores struck the first winning goal after five minutes of play, and Jaheim Augustine scored a second goal, a minute after the break: 2-0.

The Belmopan boys qualified to the finals by a 4-2 win over the Maud Williams boys in Friday’s nightcap.

Keifer “Beefy” Perteau struck first for Maud Williams eight

minutes after intermission, but Isaiah Reyes equalized 1-1 for Belmopan four minutes later, and he added a second goal four minutes after.

The Belmopan boys’ elation was shortlived as Alex Henderson equalized 2-2 for Maud Williams two minutes later. Only a minute of regulation remained when Reyes completed his hat trick: 3-2, and Justin Kalu scored Belmopan’s fourth goal in the second minute of injury time: 4-2 final.

Former NSSSA president Deon Sutherland and SCA principal Salome Tillett joined the NSSSA executive committee in presenting team trophies and individual medals to the champions, sub-champions and third place winners in the awards ceremony after the finals.

Rigoberto Cardenas won the Best Striker award, while his teammates Andir Chi won Best Midfielder, Jason Cowo won Best Defense, and Dawinson Williams won awards for Best Goalkeeper and the Most Valuable Player. BCS’ Isaiah Reyes won the award for Most Goals: 4.

Orange Walk Tech boys win national football championship February 24th, 2019

REPORTER

Sports 3

YOUR WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE Jewel Fury Drills Altitude FC in NAWL Football

Page 20

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Fatima Romero scored 4 goals for Jewel Fury Belmopan, February 16th, 2019 Denese Glenn could league, the Rumberas

he defending champions Jewel Fury held football clinic for the Altitude FC ladies of Placencia: 6-0 in the third week of the National Women’s Amateur League (NAWL) football tournament at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium in Belmopan on Saturday afternoon, February 16.

Honduran import Fatima Romero, formerly of Club Deportivo Olimpia Feminino, was the sparkplug of the Jewels’ offensive, along with Mexican import Suswany Martinez, supported by Jayda Brown and Anijay Quiros on the wings, and by Anisa Nah and Jiselle Conorquie at midfield. Zulma Ortega anchored the Altitude defense along with Cristy Cardinez, Sylvia Cabral and Libni Mojica, but they could not contain Fatima Romero who

drilled home the first winning goal after six minutes of play.

Speedy Jayda Brown outran the defense to score a second goal 15 minutes later to lead 2-0 at intermission.

Julie Ponce replaced Brown, who was suffering malde-mer, but the Jewels’ attack continued unabated, as Kursha Pollard brought the ball up the left flank and centered the ball to Fatima Romero to score a third goal nine minutes after the break. Romero got away from the defense on a solo drive to the top of the 18-yard box, where she unleashed another cannonball shot into the net: 4-0! Four minutes later Suswany Martinez completed her hat trick with a fifth goal from the right corner of the 18 box to the far left corner of the net, and there was little goalkeeper

do about it.

Sabrina Eiley and Jelissa Foreman tried to get an attack going for Altitude FC, with the help of Karisha Coe, and Diana Vega on the wings, and Tamara Baptist and Julia Puerto at midfield. But the Jewels’ defenders Mariela Moralez, Jennisha Scott, Kursha Pollard and Zandra Whittaker held them scoreless the entire game.

Romero drilled home her fourth goal of the match to complete the 6-0 rout, some 19 minutes before the long whistle. Veronica Figueroa, Stephanie Barrientos and Marinita Gomez came off the visitors’ bench to replace Baptist, Vega and Foreman, but the Jewels refreshed their defensive line with Sara Rosa, Sandra Samoyoa and Trecia Coye to secure the 6-0 win.

Elsewhere in the

enjoyed their second win: 4-0 over the Ladies Freedom Fighters at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium on Saturday. Kelsey Polanco scored the first winning goal 11 minutes before intermission, and Naomi Gamboa scored a second goal two minutes before the break.

Quinaiah Caliz scored

THE REPORTER

Jayda Brown scored Jewel Fury’s 2nd goal a third goal 16 minutes before the end of regulation, and Caliz added a fourth goal in injury time: 4-0 final.

The Dangriga Pumas mauled the Santa Elena Strikers: 4-1 at the Santa Elena Sports complex on Sunday, as Michelle Maldonado struck the first goal after 10 minutes of play. Shendra Casimiro drilled

home a second goal five minutes later to lead 2-0 at intermission. Rosivel Guevara struck back with a goal for the home team three minutes after the break, but Jaelin Cacho scored the Pumas’ third goal three minutes before the long whistle, and she added a fourth goal in the final minute: 4-1.

Suswany Martinez scored Jewel Fury’s 5th goal Sports 4 REPORTER

February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 21

YOUR WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE Verdes Rebels & Black Orchids Draw in NAWL Football San Ignacio, February 17th, 2019

Maricela Hernandez scored Verdes’ 1st goal

T

he Verdes Rebels of Benque Viejo held the Black Orchids FC of Belize City to a 1-1 draw in the third week of the National Women’s Amateur League (NAWL) football tournament at the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio on Sunday afternoon, February 17.

Jamilet Alargon and Maricela Hernandez led the Verdes’ offensive with the help of Florine Vasquez and Shantel “Rice” Robinson on the wings, and by Serdi Corado and Flor Garcia at midfield. Sara Arzu led the Black Orchids’ defense with the help of Shanelle Gentle, Sheryann “Baby” Tracy and Leslyane Lucas, but Maricela Hernandez outran them to take on goalkeeper Shereen Vasquez one-on-one.

Vasquez came off her line, but was outfoxed when Maricela lobbed the ball over her head

to sail in just under the crossbar: 1-0 after 13 minutes of play!

The Verdes’ fans did not have long to rejoice; as four minutes later Shardee Lozano rocketed in the equalizer from 30 yards into the left corner of the net, and there was little goalkeeper Deysi Paiz could do about it! The Black Orchids were without the services of Aaliyah Herbert, who was out nursing an injury. But Ada Cordova pressed the attack for more goals, supported by Jinnelle Pott and Carlene Tillett on the wings, and Twila Castillo–Tuyub and Cindy Flores at midfield. Kimberly “Brazilian” Perez led the Verdes’ defense, with the help of Leonella Chuc, Gisele Baeza and Shanice Harris to concede no more goals.

Tamerlyn Escobar came off the Verdes’ bench to replace a bruised Flor Garcia,

and Jessica Orellana and Adriany Manzanero replaced Hernandez and Perez, as they sought to regain the initiative. But the redoubtable Kara Kisling replaced an injured Leslyane Lucas on defense, Araceli Lambey relieved Tillett, and Britney Miguel and Saudy Rivera reinforced the defense to secure the 1-1 draw.

Elsewhere in the league, the San Pedro Invaders came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw out of the jaws of defeat against the Maya Hill Royals at the Ambergris Stadium on Saturday night. A scant four minutes of play had elapsed when Janet Gonzalez struck first for the visitors to lead 1-0 up to intermission. Allyson Rubi struck back for the island girls 20 minutes after the break: 1-1 final.

The Orange Walk Gladiators also played catch-up with the

wings, and Welcome’s countrymen Kevin Vicente Guevara and Jefrie James at midfield. The Police defenders Chris Gilharry, Byron Usher, Ricky Ricketts and Dale Pelayo Jr. tried to contain their attack, but they were bamboozled by the pinball effect of the Bandits’ rapid passing. Welcome shunted

the ball forward to Jefrie James who crossed the ball to Humberto Requeña on the right flank, who then shunted the ball to Danny Jimenez for the finish. Goalkeeper Ethon Wagner had no chance as Jimenez’s shot rocketed into the back of the net: 1-0 after eight minutes of play!

Harrison “Kafu”

Roches and Marlon Meza led the police counterattack, with the help of Carlton “Fubu” Thomas and Hasan Lucas on the wings and Andres Makin Jr. and Amin “Tacos” August at midfield. They made little impression on the Bandits seasoned defenders Dalton Eiley, Ian Gaynair, Trevor “Burger” Lennan and Humberto Requeña, who held them scoreless up to intermission Humberto Requeña served a long pass across the field to Welcome, who met the ball in midflight with a right-away right foot shot into the net.

Wagner had no chance: 2-0 four minutes after the break.

Carlton “Fubu” Thomas finally got the Police on the scoreboard four minutes later, but it was to be their only consolation goal. Honduran import Jerry Palacio came off the bench, replacing Jerome James, and he put the final nail in the Police coffin by converting a penalty five minutes before the end of regulation: 3-1 final.

The San Pedro Pirates have moved to the top of the PLB standings with

Corozal Scorpions for a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Ricalde Stadium in Corozal on Sunday afternoon. Nora Ramirez struck first for the Scorpions after six minutes of action, but Katie Jones equalized for the Gladiators three minutes before intermission.

The tournament continues on Saturday, February 23, when Altitude FC hosts the Dangriga Pumas at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium, while Black Orchids await the San Pedro Invaders at the MCC Grounds.

On Sunday, Jewel Fury travels to the Victor Sanchez Union Field to challenge the Freedom Fighters; while the Maya Hill Royals take on the Gladiators at the Norman Broaster Stadium, the Santa Elena Strikers host the Rumberas at the Santa Elena Complex, and the Scorpions meet the Verdes Rebels at the Ricalde Stadium.

Bandits Arrest Police United in PLB Football T

Belmopan, February 17th, 2019

he undefeated Belmopan Bandits have clambered over Verdes FC into second place in the Premier League of Belize (NAWL) rankings in the closing season football tournament, as they enjoyed their third victory

in six outings at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium in Belmopan on Saturday afternoon, February 16.

Honduran import Georgie Welcome and Jerome “Jaro” James led the Bandits’ attacks, supported

by Danny Jimenez and Rilwaan Salawu on the

Georgie Welcome scored Bandits’ 2nd goal February 24th, 2019

12pts from four wins, after a defensive error by BDF goalkeeper Tevin Gamboa gave the Pirates the 1-0 win over the Belize Defence Force at the MCC Grounds on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the league, Verdes FC of Benque Viejo held theAltitudeAssassins FC to a 1-1 draw at the Norman Broaster Stadium on Sunday evening. A scant three minutes of play had passed when Andres Orosco struck first for the visitors, but Elroy Smith equalized by converting a penalty 11 minutes later, and so it remained to the final whistle.

Wagiya FC struggled to a scoreless draw with the Freedom Fighters at the Carl Ramos Stadium on Sunday.

The tournament continues on Saturday night, when the Pirates host the Bandits at the Ambergris Stadium, and the Freedom Fighters challenge the Assassins at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium.

On Sunday, BDF does battle with Police United at the MCC Grounds, and Wagiya awaits Verdes FC at the Carl Ramos Stadium.

REPORTER Sports 5

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

YOUR WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE Holy Redeemer & St. Joseph Girls & Boys Win

T

St. Joseph’s RC girls win vs Grace Primary Belize City, February 15th, 2019 by the National Sports

he girls and boys of Holy Redeemer RC and St Joseph’s RC School

all enjoyed victories when the primary schools volleyball competition organized

Council continued at the Stars gymnasium in Belize City last Friday, February 15.

The St. Joseph’s RC girls enjoyed their first win: 25-7, 25-11 over the Grace Primary School girls.

The St. Joseph’s RC boys also posted their first victory: 25-9, 2514 over the Grace Primary boys.

The Holy Redeemer RC girls enjoyed their second victory: 25-13, 25-15 over the girls of James Garbutt Seventh Day Adventist School.

The undefeated Holy Redeemer RC boys enjoyed their third win: 25-12, 2518 over the James Garbutt boys.

The Trinity Methodist girls also scored their first win: 25-11, 25-23 over the St. John’s Anglican Primary girls last Thursday afternoon. Their schoolmates enjoyed their debut win: 2515, 25-17 over the St. John’s Anglican boys.

The Salvation Army School girls had to go to three sets to enjoy their first win over the

Queen Square Anglican girls: 25-18, 2125, 15-9 The St. Mary’s Anglican boys also enjoyed their first win: 25-15, 25-21, in their second outing against the Salvation Army boys last Thursday.

The St. Martin de Porres RC girls scored their second win, dominating the Queen Square Anglican girls: 25-12, 25-6 last Wednesday.

The Queen Square Anglican boys debuted with a 26-24, 25-10 win over the St. Martin’s boys.

The St. Ignatius RC girls triumphed 25-13, 25-20 over the girls of James Garbutt Seventh Day Adventist last Wednesday.

The St. Ignatius RC boys also enjoyed their first win in their second outing 25-20, 25-22 over the James Garbutt boys on Wednesday.

DigiNet Defenders Upset SMART Hurricanes T

Belize City, February 15th, 2019

night. Daniel Conorquie and Devlon Henderson both struck thrice from outside the arc; Conorquie for 21pts, and Henderson for 17pts. Team Captain Edgar Mitchell and Jamal Kelly both struck twice from outside the arc to add 14pts each, taking over the lead 46-33 at intermission and 62-48 at the end of the third quarter. Quinton Bowen put up 10pts and Nayib Casimiro netted three points to clinch the win.

The Tigersharks’ man-mountain Martevius Adams led their attack with 16pts, Kurt “Chengo”

Burgess and Keith Pollard each posted 11pts, and Douglas Valley threw in 10pts. The Tigersharks have dominated other opponents with their long range shooting, but their 3-pointer game was not working that night. Winston Pratt hit one 3-pointer to add nine points, Francis Arana hit a single 3-pointer and Ashton Edwards, Doug Penland and Kyle Young each chipped in a basket.

Devin Daly struck 19pts

Darwin “Puppy” Leslie for 17pts

he DigiNet Defenders of Belize City handed the defending champions, the Mirage SMART Hurricanes, their second, consecutive loss: 76-72, when the National Elite Basketball League (NEBL) tournament continued in its fifth week at the Belize City Center on Friday night, February 15.

Defenders captain Darwin “Puppy” Leslie was on fire, striking twice from outside the circle for 17pts; and last year’s MVP Nigel Jones jammed in another 12pts, seven boards. Farron Louriano punctuated the victory with a monster dunk, to add 11pts and Elvis Olivera was dominant in the paint, grabbing nine boards and scoring 10pts on the put-back to take over the lead 36-34 at intermission.

Devin Daly struck thrice from outside the circle to lead the Hurricanes with 19pts for an 18-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Tyrie Orosco posted another 15pts, six boards, Glency “Coope” Lopez struck twice from outside the arc for 13pts, and Akeem Watters jammed home a monster dunk as he posted 12pts for the Hurricanes to take over the lead 54-53 at the end of the third quarter.

The Defenders defined the game in money time with Shaquile Crawford posting eight points, Matthew Young put up five points, and Lincey Lopez and Greg “Chippy” Rudon threw in four points each. Auburn Rivero drained in a long 3-pointer, and Ty Bradley chipped in a basket to clinch the win.

The Hurricanes’ Brian “Beso” White and Raheem Thurton scored a disappointing three points each, while American import Jordan Daniels, Eyan Rene and Keith Acosta were limited to a miserly 2pts each! Akeem “Timmy” Trapp scored a single free throw.

The Griga Dream Ballers delighted their home fans with their fourth victory to maul the San Pedro Tigersharks: 79-66 at the Russell “Chiste” Garcia Sports Complex in Dangriga on Saturday Sports 6

REPORTER

February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 23

Life Really Is Harder for Night Owl

“Night owls” — people who naturally stay up late and wake up well past sunrise — have different patterns of brain activity compared with “morning larks,” a new study finds. And these differences can make life more difficult for night owls, if they’re forced to stick to a typical 9-to-5 schedule.

When the researchers scanned the brains of people who were classified as either night owls or morning larks, they found that night owls had lower “brain connectivity” — a measure of how “in sync” different brain regions are with each other — compared with morning larks.

What’s more, this lower brain connectivity in night owls was linked with poorer attention, slower reaction

times and increased sleepiness throughout the hours of a typical workday, the researchers said.

The findings suggest a possible reason why night owls may have problems with attention and sleepiness when they try to conform to a typical 9-to-5 schedule — something that doesn’t match their internal clock, the researchers said.

“This mismatch between a person’s biological time and social time — which most of us have experienced in the form of jet lag — is a common issue for night owls trying to follow a normal working day,” study lead author Elise Facer-Childs, of the Monash Institute for Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences in Melbourne, Australia, said

in a statement.

“Our study is the first to show a potential intrinsic neuronal mechanism behind why ‘night owls’ may face cognitive disadvantages

when being forced to fit into these constraints,” said Facer-Childs, who conducted the work while a researcher at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health

in the United Kingdom.

The study is published Feb. 14 in the journal Sleep.

A “night-owl” brain A growing body of research suggests that

being a night owl could have negative effects on health, including the possibility of increasing a person’s risk of early death. Many of these effects may be attributed to a misalignment between a person’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, and the socially imposed timing of work and other activities. But few studies have examined whether there is a link between circadian rhythm and people’s brain connectivity.

The new study analyzed information from 38 healthy volunteers who filled out a sleep questionnaire to determine their “chronotype,” that is, whether they were a night owl or morning lark.

The participants also wore activity trackers and underwent tests to measure their levels of certain hormones in order to confirm their chronotype.

Then, participants

had their brains scanned while in a “resting state,” meaning they weren’t doing any particular task and could let their mind wander.

Brain connectivity in a resting state (somet i m e s known as the brain’s “default mode network”) is thought to be involved in a number of brain functions, including the maintenance of consciousness and self-reflection, as well as attention and memory, the researchers said.

Finally, the participants performed several tasks to measure their attention and reaction times at different times of day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Participants were also asked to rate how sleepy they were at those times.

As might be expected, morning larks did best on the early morning tests and performed significantly better than did night owls at this time. In contrast, night owls did best on evening tests, but their performance matched those of morning larks on the evening tests. These findings highlight the particular disadvantage that night owls experience in the morning, the researchers said.

Brain scans show that while in a resting state

(not performing any specific task), morning larks had higher brain connectivity than night owls, and this predicted better performance and reaction times during the tasks, as well as reduced sleepiness. In contrast, the lower brain connectivity seen in night owls predicted worse performance, slower reaction times and increased sleepiness.

The researchers note that they only found an association between reduced brain connectivity in night owls and worse task performance, and cannot prove that reduced brain connectivity actually caused worse performance on these tasks.

The researchers called for more studies to further explore how chronotype may affect brain connectivity.

The findings also suggest that society in general should be more conscious of how a person’s internal clock affects their productivity and health.

“A typical day might last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but for a night owl, this could result in diminished performance during the morning, lower brain connectivity … and increased daytime sleepiness,” Facer-Childs said. “If, as a society, we could be more flexible about how we manage time, we could go a long way towards maximizing productivity and minimizing health risks.”

- Livescience

Page 24

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 25

Social Media is Hell and WE are Its Inhabitants

E

By: Renee Trujillo (Contributed)

very day I get to know what’s happening around our little Belize. I hear of productive programs, of robberies, domestic violence, crime and national security. Every story is different; every story is the same.

Different, because of the victims and beneficiaries; the same because they most times yield the same result which is heartbreak.

A few years ago when I was a reporter, going into the yards and homes of mourning families, I used to cry with some of them when I heard how much they have lost and endured; my heart ached for the children who were abused, burnt up in fires, physically or emotionally crippled by some misfortune.

One fellow reporter who had just joined the profession asked me at the scene of a fire where a baby was burnt up: ‘How do you look so calm and collected?’ The truth is I wasn’t; the truth is that my heart sinks at every scene and it takes every fiber of strength to not just shriek in agony.

Today is perhaps one of the worst days for me in this profession. The thing is that I myself am not too sure why it is so bad. My heart is heavy and I’m so angry. Am I angry

at the sex videos being leaked? Am I angry that the animal farm analogy is now showing in super high definition? Am I angry that the high school girl needs a hug right now and the world seems against her? Am I angry that many people were more concerned about whether Indira Craig would show up for news at 6:30pm than they were about the teacher in Orange Walk who is on administrative leave for a leaked sex tape? Or the $19m contract given to Imer Hernandez, yet again....or the upcoming ICJ referendum…or the children who went to school with nothing to eat?

Maybe it’s all these things coupled with my very own personal parenting problems.

Perhaps the anger stems from my role in all this and yours too. How did we not see this coming? How did my generation and the one before mine allow our society to fall into such a mess that we ourselves have no clue on a way out other than the inevitable death? At what point did it become okay to video a man on the ground gasping for his last breath?

Social media is hell and we are its inhabitants. A platform that could be used for good has been taken for granted, abused and misused. It has become a place to hurt people, condemn people, judge people and ridicule

people, with absolutely no repercussions. We get to hide behind any mask and name of our choice and we get to sit back and watch as others jump on our bandwagons of jealousy, hatred, recklessness and evil. And then we justify our behavior by saying it is human nature for us to be drawn to the negativity.

Full stop…punto final. No thought to change the norm; no thought to break the cycle - let us just go by our ‘human nature.’

I know many will scoff at my ideas and ask what world I am living in, but the truth is that I believe in love; I believe that love and perseverance can conquer all. I believe in forgiveness and loyalty. I am no saint and we all sin in varying degrees and colours (a sin is a sin is a sin) but we are all put here to live, not to just merely get by or survive. I believe there is strength in unity and I believe in God. I want to see more posts of fathers loving their children; mothers teaching their daughters about self-respect and love for others; politicians lobbying for the voiceless in a world where the noise has drowned the weak and suffering.

I want to see more of what the Belmopan Nazarene Church does by bringing men together to share their ideas, their pain and their thoughts on how to change the status quo. The truth is we are all suffering in our own way and we all know what it is like to put on that smile for the world to see while our inner beings are in turmoil because of our own personal trials, our insecurities and shortcomings. It would take less energy to be a friend than a sideline critic.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not forcing any beliefs of God or spirituality on anyone although I can attest at how much I have overcome because of my relationship with my Father. The truth is I’m just venting because this is my outlet. I haven’t been inspired to write in a very long time but the noise on social media became so loud over the last forty eight hours that it drove me to my computer to ‘pen’ my thoughts. Maybe you draw something from my writing; maybe not. I don’t expect this to take us back to an era where civility and love were once in abundance.

Page 26

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Fun at the Belize Zoo! O

Page 27

-

HAIL THE SNAIL!!

ur beautiful and diverse land snails are the important ‘building blocks’ for some of the most dynamic animals sharing our Belize. Who would think? These pretty invertebrates are not all that visible.

They really must be searched for with diligence. Hiding under logs and leaves, their ‘hidden away’ nature makes it a fun challenge to look for them, and of course, admire their beauty.

Not much is known about our interesting land snails. Thanks to Dan and Judy Doorson, who have dedicated their adult lives to uncovering the mysteries and unique qualities of these little animals, Belize has a very real approach about the interesting knowledge and profile of land snails. Can any other country in Central America make that claim? No. Why are they important members of our biodiversity image?

Land snails are significant food sources for animals we are

C O L O R

M E

quite familiar with here. Rats, mice, bats, otters, and both the Morelets and American crocodile, depend heavily on snails for their dinners. Ever spend time on a river in Belize and see a pile of snail shells covering a rock? That signals the leftovers from a hungry river otter.

Even our monkeys eat snails. Following the food chain, the social coatimundi enjoys munching down on snails.

And the more snails a “quash” eats, the happier and healthier the fella is. And also, the “quash” is a vital part of the diet of our beloved remaining Harpy Eagles.

H e y, w e c a n n o t leave out birds. Curassows, tinamous, ocellated turkeys and falcons, all key to the birding experience in Belize, love munching down on these gastropods.

In the beautiful Bladen Nature Reserve, home of BFREE, field research has definitely found snail remains in caves which

Highly alert plants!

Well behaved readers!

tell that bats enjoy snails for a meal, too. The snail diet can get very specific.

Certain species of snakes ONLY feast upon land snails.

T h e p r e d a t o r- p r e y relationship between so many animals and these unusual little beasts truly is one to be marveled. Yes! HAIL THE SNAIL!!

• The collective term for these birds is “peafowl.” The males are “peacocks” and the females are “peahens.” The babies are called “peachicks.”

• A group of thebirds is also sometimes called an “ostentation,” a “muster,” or even a “party.”

• The male peachicks don’t start growing their showy trains until about age three. In fact, it’s hard to tell the sex of a peachick because they’re nearly identical to their mothers. At around six months, the males will begin to change color.

• Luckily, the peacocks shed their train every year after mating season, so the feathers can be gathered and sold without the birds coming to any harm. The average lifespan of a peacock in the wild is about 20 years.

• A peacock’s tail feathers can reach up to six feet long and make up about 60 percent of its body length. Despite these odd proportions, the bird flies just fine, if not very far.

• Thanks to selective breeding, it’s common for captive peafowl to buck the iridescent trend for all white feathers. This is called leucism, and it’s due to a genetic mutation that causes loss of pigmentation.

These peafowl are often mistaken for being albino, but instead of having red eyes, animals with leucism retain their normal eye color.

• The birds were plucked, roasted and then re-dressed in their feathers to appear in their original live state on the dinner table.

• The birds may have looked beautiful, but they reportedly tasted terrible. “It was tough and coarse, and was criticized by physicians for being difficult to digest and for generating bad humors,” writes Melitta Weiss Adamson in her book Food in Medieval Times.

• What makes the peacock’s feathers so brilliant? Microscopic “crystal-like structures” that reflect different wavelengths of light depending on how they’re spaced, resulting in bright fluorescent colors.

Hummingbirds and shimmering butterflies have mastered a similar visual effect on their own wings.

Page 28

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 29

Sober Reflections

I AM SORRY

Mike Rudon Jr.

T

his will be my last column for a while. I’m sure this will be unwelcome news to my seven faithful viewers, and I’m not sure how I feel about my decision. I think my writing allowed me to become much more aware of myself. You may think that is a good thing.

And maybe it can be.

But I truly hated what I found. You know, it is one thing to exist in an alcoholic fog where most weekends are a vague blur of embarrassment and guilt. It’s quite another when week after week you deliberately allow that

fog to fade and you are faced with yourself – what remains of yourself.

I hurt a beautiful friend, very badly. She was my rock during my darkest times, and sometimes without saying a word, with just her presence, near or far, she got me through hell. I was a wreck for much of 2018. I was battling alcohol, depression, the loss of my marriage, financial difficulties, family problems, feelings of insecurity and anxiety and hurt and anger and guilt. And through her kind and harsh words, tough and tougher love, I made it through – not unscathed, but alive.

Friendship like that is something of a myth, like the Loch Ness Monster. I owed everything to that friendship. It was precious to me. And because of alcohol, I destroyed it.

It’s something which lives with me now, and it will live with me for

a long time. I destroyed it without malice or intent. In fact, even now it is somewhat of a blur, careless words not fully remembered. I want to say to that friend how sorry I am. And ask her to not allow the monster I became to mar her shine.

We are a destructive breed, we alcoholics. I can’t speak for everybody, because we are different. Some of us appear near-functional.

Some of us seem normal. We hold down jobs, and we get things done. Some of us can’t get through the week without a drink. Some of us drink only one day for the week, but on that day we are lost.

Some of us need to take a drink in the mornings to stop our hands from shaking. Some of us can be seen in dark corners of bars every weekend, or every night. Others can be seen staggering down highways in the dark.

Others can be seen

huddled in groups on street-sides or parks, sharing a flask. Still others sleep on the streets in an alcoholic stupor, having lost everything that means anything.

But there is one thing that binds us all together. We destroy.

There are people who care about us. I know there are people who care about me still. But we destroy. The things we do, the things we say under the influence hurt people. And that is absolutely wrong.

We can’t continue to believe that it is okay to drink because we hurt, and that is the only thing that takes away the pain, if only momentarily. We can’t let our problems hurt others, and let our pain become their pain, when all they did was care enough to allow us to get close.

Are my words reaching you? Do you understand? It is not okay to think that the only

person you are hurting is yourself. It is not the truth. We cry and moan and wail and weep because we say nobody understands, and nobody cares, and we are scorned and ridiculed and condemned – yet we hurt those who care. It is wrong. I was wrong.

Would you believe that even as my marriage ended, I told my now ex-wife that she was playing the victim, when my drinking hurt me more than it did anybody else? Of course, I was under the influence, but that does not excuse my abject stupidity, and recklessness.

I am taking this opportunity, in what will be my last column for a while, to say I am sorry. I am sorry for all the distress I caused, the sleepless nights of worrying. I am sorry for the pain, and betrayal and hurt. I am sorry for the careless and reckless words. I am sorry for the genuine friendships

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I turned away. I am sorry for the stupid, offensive jokes. I am sorry for showing up at your houses drunk, expecting to be entertained. I am sorry for calling you when I was drunk, because I got so needy I wanted to reach out. I am sorry for thinking that nobody cared, and yet time after time after time being toxic to anybody who dared to come close. I am sorry.

I am truly sorry.

I am ever hopeful, as I write this with manly tears in my eyes, that there are those it will reach. We need to fix ourselves. We cannot continue to hurt people. We hurt our families. We hurt our loved ones. We hurt our friends. It is not right.

Stay safe. Stay happy. The next time you see this column, my opening sentence will read – I have been sober for 30 days. Pray for me, and for you, and for all of us.

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Page 30

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

INSIGHTS

O

ver the last weekend somebody made public what was a private recording of a man and a woman having sex.

The person also released a nude image of a prominent news anchor; the release of the nude photo along with the video was designed to Major Lloyd Jones give the impression that (Ret’d) the woman in the video was the said news anchor, if it was that you could not readily identify her.

The weekend would not end before another video appeared on social media, this time reportedly with a high school student engaged in sexual activities. In one weekend two lives were changed forever more.

It is unclear which of the videos awoke the Special Envoy for Women and Children from her slumber but her office issued a press statement on Sunday 17th February calling for the Belizean people to respect the privacy of others. The Statement drew a lot of criticism, the most prominent being what many people thought was the selective support given by the Office of the Special Envoy. Based on the comments that the Statement attracted it would appear that a great many people view the office of the Special Envoy as being elitist and that cannot be good.

There is clearly a pattern that has developed in relation to the release of private images on social media. You create a fake profile, join Buy and Sell and then “blast” your intended victim. Perhaps it is time to begin to hold the owners of that page responsible because Facebook offers a feature that allows for posts to be vetted before they appear on your page. If the owners of these pages with large memberships were to use such a feature it would help to prevent these kinds of breaches of privacy. If the owners refuse to use this feature, for its obviously intended purpose, then they should be held liable.

In August I wrote this piece and I thought that given the events of the last weekend it might be a good time to reproduce a portion of it.

Nudes, Nudes, Nudes!

It appears that almost every day Facebook “lights up” with the announcement that somebody’s nudes have been “leaked.” The typical response seems to be almost predictable: “send please.”

The private photos and videos that are “leaked” are almost always of women, and they come primarily from four different sources: (1) a jealous partner (almost always women) who wishes to “blast” and shame the other woman; (2) a spurned lover (almost always men) who believe that if they expose their Ex’s nude body other men might not find them attractive; (3) unscrupulous technicians (almost always men) who exploit the very trust that their customers place in them and (4) sexual perverts (almost always men) who are thrilled by voyeurism, a’ la Kevin Lee. The foregoing can be classified further into three broad categories: revenge porn, data theft and invasion of privacy.

Let’s get this straight; the unauthorized sharing of private images of women is meant to inflict pain and emotional suffering. The public reaction to nude pictures of men do not attract the same kind of scorn and ridicule, even when the male organ is microscopic as in the case of the gentleman from Belmopan. Since society punishes women more for the same behavior, the “leaking” of private images to shame and demean women should be viewed as a gender-based crime. The national response should therefore reflect this fact by assigning statutory penalties that are proportionate to the harm done, including jail time. Where the leaker is a woman should we consider it a hate crime?

Despite what is clearly an increasing social problem the Government has been slow to respond. We still do not have adequate statutes on the books to sufficiently and swiftly address the issue of electronic data privacy to prevent technicians from stealing women’s images and sharing them. Furthermore

More Nudes!

there is no statutory footing to recognize the unauthorized sharing of private images as a weapon in the ongoing emotional warfare targeting women.

The laws regarding invasion of privacy, according to what I have been told, is a bit clearer but it still does not properly address modern forms of illicit surveillance (where the camera is virtually undetectable) especially in public spaces such as rest rooms.

Regionally, some countries in the Caribbean are ahead of us in relation to this matter. In Trinidad and Tobago Lendl Simmons, a cricketer was ordered by the Court to pay his ex-lover TT$150,000 (~US$22K) for leaking her private images after their affair ended. In Jamaica, Donovan Coley was found guilty of malicious communication under the Cybercrime Act 2015 for sending four nude photos and more than 200 WhatsApp messages to the current boyfriend of his former lover. In Barbados the Computer Misuse Act states that “if you send a message using a computer and you intend to cause or you are reckless as to whether you cause the recipient or any other person embarrassment or annoyance, you are guilty of an offence”. Clearly some of our Caribbean cousins are not putting up with this, so why are we?

In Belize the law remains mostly silent on these matters and where it does speak, it does so in a whisper. Some women however have boldly taken on the fight to preserve the dignity and rights of the victims of this emerging phenomenon. Recently a caller to a morning talk show featuring Lisa Shoman commented that “no decent woman would take such pictures”. He was quickly and viciously put down

by Lady Shoman, and rightfully so. Unfortunately the caller’s view is consistent with that of a great many people which, of course, does not necessarily make it right.

I am sure that everybody will agree that stealing data from somebody’s phone is utterly distasteful and that secretly recording someone in private moments is equally unacceptable. The real issue here then is, in 2018 should a woman be punished by public shaming for sharing images of her naked body with someone she trusted?

In parting let me state categorically that I am not attempting to pick a fight with my holy friends nor am I endorsing the taking of nude images or worst, promoting the removal of garments (public nudity).

I’m just saying that it is time we dealt with this matter once and for all.

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 31

No Excuses

Youth Issues MUST be a Political Priority

Nefretery Marin

O

n Monday, Feb 18, the president of the History Club at the University of Belize, Ms. Aleesi Chun and her friends Sydellie Leslie, Jeremiah Chioc and Abbie Godoy, organized a peace march

with the help of their student government.

The students were protesting violence in our country. This was prompted after they lost two of their friends to gun violence within days of each other.

After the protest, I stayed back a short while to get to know these dynamic youth of Belize. I must thank them as well as congratulate them.

They inspired hope inside of me. As a socio-political activist I know the value of the awakening of youth.

I witnessed the power of university students in 1995 as a student

myself In Los Angeles California, when I too joined in mass protests against gang violence and injustices to immigrants.

In Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1996/1997 again it was the university students that protested strongly and brought change to the city as they rallied behind the then mayoral candidate, Cesar Castellanos, better known by the youth of Tegucigalpa as El Gordito Castellanos. When he won his elections, it was thanks to the students rallying behind him and actively volunteering to walk with

him and campaign for him. Sadly, he died during the rescue efforts of Hurricane Mitch that punished Honduras massively.

Youth participation in the political life and process of Belize is important but I’m not talking about just registering and voting…that will never do. FULL participation is what is required, and our Government must give our youth the opportunity and space to practice leadership. If that is not given, then young people must take it. They must claim their space!

These young people made me aware that

they suffer an obscene number of assaults around the campus and that the security guard is not properly equipped. This I found unacceptable for our national University.

These students are contributing members of society and are our future leaders. We must do all in our power to protect them, foster them and give them space in our organizations and in our government. I was impressed by the intelligence, fortitude and long-term vision these students possess. More than that, however, I was excited to see and hear of the revolutionary seeds that have been planted in their hearts.

“I will not be silent” were the words they chanted, and I could hear in those young voices that they mean it!

As excited and happy as I was to personally witness the first awakening of our students, I quickly realized that it could be very dangerous because we have failed them as a nation, and they got tired of waiting for adults to fix all the nonsense.

We must fulfil our obligations to our youth. They must have full involvement and be allowed to contribute to the development and implementation of all policies affecting them.

This must include polices on education, community development, security, crime, health, job development and industries and all other aspects that are affecting and will affect youth.

It is the intention of the Belize People’s Front to establish a national youth parliament so that we honour our commitment to them and encourage their input in the electoral, democratic and developmental processes of our nation. We intend to increase the financial support in education, and the technical advancements in our schools We believe it is high time that we start con-

sidering their potential, their vision, their ambitions and that we stop demeaning them as part of the problem.

We will only reap what we sow; this is true in our Government, in our churches, in our schools, in our fields and true in our youth.

It is time that as leaders of this great nation, we take responsibility to foster a positive environment for our youth. Our students must feel safe in their communities and their school grounds; as we try to clean out corruption and crime, it is our duty to safeguard the lives and peace of mind of our students.

This country’s future depends on these young people; it is on these grounds that we must demand that a Police booth be built and manned by at the least 3 armed officers on campus at the University of Belize compound.

Youth issues are not taboo. Youth issues are important and are serious and we must allow our youth to exercise their rights and assist them to foster their potential.

Misguided youths are a danger, but a misguided Government with no moral compass is detrimental not just to our country but to the existence of our people.

Our country deserves more. Our youth deserve more and only a people can save a people. It is of utmost importance that we understand what our young students are asking.

They are asking us for respect, for protection, for their rights to a safe environment. They are asking for justice, and they “will not be silent” Belize. Take heed and Government of Belize, tread carefully.

I would however not encourage the People’s United Party to start mentally warming their seats at the National Assembly because these students are not just any students…they are History students and Historians Do Not Forget!

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Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 33

Third Growth Diagnostic study: Time to Improve Business Climate

Dyon Elliot Belize Chamber of Commerce

I

n previous installments of the Business Perspective column, we have discussed the 2007 and 2015 Growth Diagnostic studies, which have identified, respectively, (lack of) access to finance and tax policy as being the major constraints to growth. Naturally, the aforementioned papers considered other variables as significant, but not to the same degree of being “binding”.

Fast forward eight years from the first

and about four years from Martin (2015), the International Monetary Fund (IMF 2019) has now joined the list, having published a third Growth Diagnostic that also seeks to find answers to the question as to why investment is (relatively) low in Belize. The 2019 contribution finds “several growth constraints: cost of finance, public debt/ high taxes, crime, skill gaps, [and] distortionary regulation”. However, like its predecessors, the IMF study also finds that “crime and education [are] not

the most binding for growth.”

Looked at from this standpoint, it is possible to show that the most recent diagnostic agrees with the

as it pertains to the access-to finance, and it concurs with the second Diagnostic as it relates to high taxes. However, unlike the former

Consequently, the way forward, as has been discussed in previous BP articles, has to be on two general fronts: reducing debt towards

Starting a Business, 135 for Registering Property, 132nd as it pertains to protecting minority investors, and 133 on enforcing contracts. Con-

finding of Hausmann and Klinger (2007)

a n d t h e l a t t e r, t h e IMF’s input places the regulatory environment on the major constraints list, a fact that corresponds to the Belize Chamber of Commerce and I n d u s t r y ( B C C I ) ’s continued call for improvements to the business climate.

S p e c i a l l y, t h e IMF working paper, speaking on “streamlining regulations”, states: “Accelerating and modernizing procedures for starting a business would support investment, especially by SMEs.” As was noted in the study, the tax levels are a bit slower to bring down given the symbiotic relation between tax revenues a n d B e l i z e ’s h i g h debt burden. Particularly, the paper noted: “With debt above 90 percent of GDP [Gross Domestic P r o d u c t ] , B e l i z e ’s position is weaker than in a number of other emerging mark e t e c o n o m i e s . To reduce debt burden, Belize has to maintain high tax rates and tariffs. Higher taxes and tariffs inevitably have adverse effects on [the] business environment.”

the ‘best practice’ threshold of 60 perc e n t o f G D P, a n d minimizing the degree of ‘red tape’.

Obviously, considering that debt obligations add another layer of rigidity to tax amendments, the logical priority area would fall to making doing business easier.

On this point, the 2019 working paper adds: “Overall, Belize has higher Doing Business rating than many of its peers.

However, such Doing business rating pillars as starting a business, registering property, protecting minority investors, enforcing contracts point to the areas where streamlining bureaucratic processes could bring positive results.

World Governance Indicators of institutions, regulations, and bureaucracy support this conclusion.”

While the Doing Business Index (DBI), like any other measure, is not without its limitations, the avid reader would recall that out of 190 countries the most recent report has Belize ranked 162nd for

sequently, the room for improvement in these areas is significant. To this end, it is also useful to note that the Economic Development Council’s secretariat, the Department of Public-Private Sector Dialogue (DPPD), alongside other government entities such as the Central Information Technology Office (CITO), has embarked on an initiative entitled “Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve the Business”.

This project is targeted at improving two service areas: starting a business and improving the process of obtaining construction permits.

Clearly, the objectives of this initiative, once achieved, would go a long way towards addressing this particular constraint as identified

by IMF (2019), and is thus viewed as a step in the right direction. In addition to this, it is imperative that both the public- and private sector continue to look for practical ways to collaborate on alleviate the other areas of “binding constraints”.

Page 34

Of This and That

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Phone: President: 650-4300 Secretary: 623-4571 Treasurer: 665-5527

PRESS RELEASE

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF BELIZE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Shrinking Lake Chad 90 % gone.

The Human Rights Commission of Belize - H.R.C.B. invites all past and present members to its Annual General Meeting to be held on:

Date: Saturday, April 27th, 2019 Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Place: Conference Room at Help For Progress No. 2 Slim Lane, Belmopan City (Lane facing Police Training Academy)

I

n June 1998 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave its ruling on the boundary dispute between Nigeria and the Cameroons. Nigeria is a former British colony on the southwest coast of Africa and the Cameroons, her smaller neighbour, is a former French protectorate. Nigeria had been occupying two portions of the disputed land - a piece in the north adjoining Lake Chad, and a piece in the south known as the Bakassi Peninsula.

Nigeria maintained a military presence in both disputed territories, which together were home to some 200,000 Nigerians.Nigeria lost the case.

Even though she had possession of the land and a large populatios of Nigerians, she lost the case because the Cameroons could produce treaties which established her frontiers.

The ICJ gave overwhelming support for the Exchange of Notes of 1931 between Britain and France which defined the boundary around Lake Chad, and the Anglo-German Agreement of 1913 which defined the boundary of the Bakassi Peninsula.

On Facebook and other social Media a Nigerian woman has been berating the ICJ because the court ruled against her country.

But the underlying legal principle of the ICJ remains unchanged. As was the case with Chad vs Libya and more recently Bolivia vs Chile, the countries which can show that they have a valid border treaty will prevail.

Such a treaty in a court of law will have more weight than occupation and it will have greater validity than other historical claims such as Uti Posedetis.

The Geneva Convention, the international Law which governs territorial disputes, says that a border, once established by treaty, cannot be erased, except by the consent of both disputing parties.

This is why the Belize case against Guatemala is so strong. Belize has not one, but two treaties - one signed in 1859 and a second one, the Exchange of Notes, approved in 1931.

Together these two treaties give Belize an invincible suit of armour which the Guatemalan claim cannot penetrate. << >> Speaking about Lake Chad, this inland lake of fresh-water has become the scene of a humanitarian disaster of awful proportions.

The lake is drying up!

It has lost 90 percent of its volumn of water and is becoming dryer with each passing year.

Some 40 million people in Nigeria, iChad and the Cameroons depend on the water from this lake.

The only workable plan it to divert water from the great Congo Basin by way of a canal which would stretch for a 1500 miles to replenish Lake Chad. The project would cost more than $100 billion, and China and Italy, it seems, are the only countries that have shown interest in the plan.

Nomination and appointment of a new Board of Directors will be held at this time.

All H.R.C.B Members and supporters are encouraged to attend this important meeting.

If attending, please indicate by calling one of the following telephone numbers or by emailing:megamero@gmail.com Tel: 650-4300, 623-4571, 665-5527

FOR SALE

37.7 acres of land along the

Philip Goldson (Northern) Highway near Mile 17 1/2 suitable for industrial project.

Bordered by the BWS Feeder Road and the Northern Highway. .

High Broken Ridge land only lightly forested

.

Water easily available

. Clear Title to Buyer .

No fancy Price

Call Lawrence at phone 610- 4454

for more details.

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 35

Why I will vote Yes on Referendum Day

Part 1 of 2: Seven weeks from now, on April 10th, Belizean voters will be asked to make one of the most important decisions of their lives – to vote Yes or No to the ICJ. I believe that there is a good chunk of voters that have already decided to vote Yes or No, for a number of fact-based reasons or otherwise, and nothing will change their minds. However, based on my visits across the length and breadth of Belize over the past few months, I also believe that many voters are still undecided. My sense is that the vote can go either way, with the many undecided voters holding sway on how this will end up when the ballots are counted.

We can come up with many reasons why we should vote No on April 10th. In several of his presentations, Assad Shoman listed close to 100 such reasons or “factoids” as he calls them. The proponents of the No vote have also laid out quite a few.

We can narrow these down to two main reasons: 1) Lack of trust in our political leaders, and probably most important of all 2) Fear that the ICJ’s decision may be unfavourable to Belize because, as the line goes, no-one can guarantee that we have an iron-clad case.

I understand those sentiments. I really do.

If I did not have what I consider to be a good understanding of the Claim and the options for resolving it, I would most certainly count myself as one of the undecideds or even one of the No supporters.

Even though I understand why we cannot bring ourselves to trust our political leaders, that is not a reason for me to vote No. My like or dislike of

our current political leadership in government and the opposition will play no role in my decision of how I will vote. I trust my own informed judgment, which is what has made me arrive at my decision.

This brings me to why I will vote Yes: We finally have a chance to put Guatemala’s unfounded claim behind us once and for all, and throw that unfounded claim into the garbage pile of history where it belongs!

What about the fear of an unfavourable ICJ decision? I am not afraid of Guatemala or what can happen at the ICJ. In fact, I welcome the opportunity to go to the International Court of Justice. I acknowledge that the ICJ will be bound to consider the case based on Article 38(1) of its Statutes, which means that the Court cannot decide the case based on what they may consider to be fair and equitable to Guatemala. Instead, the case will be decided based on international conventions (treaties) and principles which are completely in Belize’s favour. That’s what our 2002 Legal Opinion and Guatemala’s 1950 Legal Opinion concluded. Many countries in the Commonwealth have conducted their own legal analysis of the case and have arrived at the same conclusion. I therefore say to Guatemala: Bring it on!

Guatemala has always been a larger country than Belize in many respects, and will continue to be so for a very long time – in terms of its population, its economy, its military, educational institutions, and the list goes on. With all that, Guatemala was not able to prevent us from becoming an independent country with our territorial integrity intact. Guatemala started to lose ground (pun not intended) way back in the 1960s when Belizeans first became involved in the negotiations.

Our younger generations of Belizeans may not be aware of this, but there was a time when we stood alone. Even the British wanted to carve out our land in order to appease Guatemala so that it would relinquish its claim over Belize. They continued trying until a few months before Independence! George Cadle Price and his team did not budge, even though they played the negotiation game for many years in order to buy time to chip away at Guatemala’s international support. And chip away they did until Guatemala stood alone. In the end, not one country in the world voted against Belize’s Independence at the 35th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1980. That was a tremendous achievement!

Believe it or not, back in the 1970s right through to 1981, the UDP and many of its supporters actually opposed our movement to Independence and demanded that a 10-year moratorium be instituted, with Guatemala essentially holding a veto power over Belize’s Independence. If it were left to the UDP of those days, God knows how Belize would look like today. This reminds me of the 25-year deep freeze that the PUP and others are demanding now. What an incredible turn of events!

Belize persevered against all the odds. We launched a successful internationalization campaign the likes of which the world had not seen.

Our team of politicians and diplomats held their own against not only Guatemala, but also Great Britain and the USA. We can and will hold our own against Guatemala again when we take the fight to the ICJ! Some of the key persons who led our internationalization campaign to gain support for our Independence – such as Assad Shoman and Said Musa – are still very much active today. While we can, justifiably or not, lambast these gentlemen for many things, I trust their judgment on how Guatemala’s unfounded claim should be resolved while maintaining our territorial integrity. I also trust the judgment of former Foreign Ministers Dean Barrow, Lisa Shoman and Godfrey Smith as I am highly confident that they understand our legal and just position. I’m proud that they stood together, irrespective of political affiliation, to sign the recent Declaration of former Foreign Ministers. I did not see that Declaration as a charade. To the contrary, that day was a seminal moment in our history that will be seen for what it was – country above party – when the next chapters of Belize’s history are written.

We need to decide whether we want to stand on the right side of history or not. We need to decide if we want to be like the UDP of the 1970s, which tried very hard to stop our Independence movement because of their fear of Guatemala and uncertainty of the outcome. We need to decide if we want to be like the PUP of the 1970s that was not afraid to stand up to Guatemala, Great Britain and the mighty USA in our drive towards Independence with no land cession. We need to decide!

(Read Part 2 in next week’s issue.)

Note: The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of the Belize Network of NGOs.

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Page 36

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 37

Air Pollution in Belmopan Under Control Thursday, February 21, 2019

By Michelle Sutherland

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his week residents living near the entrance of Belmopan City and those that traverse the area are literally breathing a bit easier and inhaling cleaner air as opposed to the pungent air that they were breathing before.

Last week the Reporter shared concerns by residents who were irritated over the quality of air that they were inhaling that they suspected were emitting from nearby industrial sites in the area and which was causing health complications. But this week when the Reporter spoke to Leon Castillo, one of the affected residents, he indicated that the smell is vague, and he is overall satisfied with the outcome.

The Reporter has

been informed that one of the companies believed to be responsible for the terrible smell, Travellers Liquors Limited, secured the assistance of Green Care Products Limited and Eco-Friendly Solutions Limited to administer Effective Microorganism technology in the form of septic aid to treat their wastewater ponds.

Wi l l i a m U s h e r, General Manager and owner of Green Care Products Limited, explained to the Reporter that his company is using their signature technology consisting of "basically a cocktail living micro-organism food-grade bacteria and fungus, which is very safe for the environment and practically consumable to deal with the odor issues."

While Usher ex-

plains that there will still be odor issues, it will be more of a fermenting type fragrance - "What we are doing is re-constituting the bacteria that is decomposing t h e o rg a n i c w a s t e with fermenting bacteria and so with that we are able to change the outcome of what type of odor comes out. Because odor is a matter of the bacteria that is dominating the system and under fermentation oxygen and water are produced. So by controlling the bacteria that is causing the odor, we are able to control the odor.”

The Reporter also spoke to the CEO in the Department of the Environment, Dr. Percival Cho who reported that since last week he met with company representatives to chart out immediate and medium-term solutions to tackle the problem.

According to Cho,

during the discussion, the company agreed that it would take immediate action and substitute microorganisms to reduce the malodor.

Those were tested last week and on February 14th, the DOE again met with the company to examine the results of the test. Another follow up inspection is scheduled for the first week in March.

Williams additionally noted that he is very positive that the treatment will be effective but is calling on affected residents to give their feedback on the state of

the odor within the next couple of days as the technology is being tweaked.

At the same time, the effluent odor is being monitored to see whether it is linked to other odors that could be occurring from a neigh-

boring industrial site and not the one that is currently being treated.

Guest Editorial

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he Reporter is pleased and proud to notice that, particularly on our Facebook page which has grown tremendously, we continue to be held to the highest standard of journalistic ethics. We would like to see this continue.

We note though, with great concern, vociferous criticism by certain persons who have maligned the Reporter for comments made by followers of our page.

These persons insist that we should more closely monitor commentary on our pages, and should delete those comments which they claim are vile.

On February 11, 2019, the Reporter posted the good news of the return home of a young teen, who had gone missing just days prior. Since we had posted the news that she had gone missing, we thanked followers for caring and sharing the post when she was returned home.

The post sparked testy commentary, for which we are being held responsible.

There are those who expressed that the girl was not really ‘missing,’ or in harm’s way.

They generally believe that young girls who are reported missing go on escapades only to return home days later. Those who expressed that view

were ‘attacked,’ so to speak, by those who condemned that thought process.

The Reporter was also taken to task for allowing those comments to be posted, by persons claiming we lowered our journalistic standard and in essence were allowing cyber bullying to take place.

Through this medium we address those comments and state that we don't agree.

We believe in freedom of expression.

We believe that there are parameters to that freedom of expression. Those who post are not allowed to use expletives. They are not allowed the use of vile sexual expressions. They are not allowed to target, demean and ‘bully’ individual persons or groups. They are not allowed to instigate harm or violence on any person or party.

But they are allowed to freely express their general opinions. And if they believe that often times these young girls are not really ‘missing,’ then they have a right to that opinion.

We do not take lightly the criticism aimed our way. We feel that it is unjust and unfair.

We understand that there are persons who are strong in their positions, and unshakable in their stances on certain issues. They

have every right to be that way. But being unshakable in your stance does not turn your opinion into a fact. No matter how strong an opinion is, it remains an opinion.

We encourage readers to express their opinions. The Reporter does its best to empower communication on all news platforms. With that goal in mind, it formulated "Community Standards" which are outlined on the upper right hand corner of our Facebook page.

That said, we note that this is not the first time comments have caught our attention, as well as the attention of others who condemn them.

There have been many posts on many issues which have drawn atrocious and outrageous commentary.

In many cases, we do not agree with what is expressed.

But it is not our responsibility as a newspaper, or indeed our intention, to censor public opinion unless, as we stated, it violates our journalism code. It is our responsibility to report the news. And that we do, responsibly and well.

The rest is up to you.

We encourage readers to be respectful. Be smart. Be human. Add to the discussion, and help to grow our community in constructive ways.

Page 38

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER

Delays at Vital Stats and Elections are Not Sabotage, Say Officials

Thursday, February 21, 2019 his week, the contacted Chairman P U P a c c u s e d of the Election and the government of Boundaries Commissabotaging the vot- s i o n , D o u g S i n g h , ing system to keep w h o i m m e d i a t e l y their supporters off looked into our query t h e v o t e r s ' l i s t b y and explained that creating bottleneck the names that are procedures at the Vi- on the supplementary tal Statistics Unit, by list more than once removing or refusing will be removed in to allow its support- the final stages of the ers from the voters' registering process. list, and by regis- H e s a i d t h a t w h e n tering some people people go to register, their particulars and more than once.

The allegations of pictures are placed sabotage did not go on the supplementary unanswered. Attor- list on the database, ney General, Mi- so if people apply chael Peyrefitte ex- in one area and then plained that people apply again in anare rejected for valid other area, it shows reasons. "If the Elec- on the system. It is tion officer does not at that stage when accept your applica- it is caught that the tion, it must be for names of those persome reason. It must s o n s t h a t a p p e a r be that the Elections more than once are officer believes that removed and left on you don't really live the records with the t h e r e ( t h e a d d r e s s first address that they given), or they be- registered under.

Singh discouraged lieve that there was s o m e t h i n g w r o n g people from trying with your applica- to register more than tion, or in many cas- once because it is an es, some people have offense that can lead only applied for na- to charges brought tionality, have been a g a i n s t t h e m . H e approved, but they i n f o r m e d t h a t t h e h a v e n o t r e c e i v e d department has not their documentation sought to have anyas yet. So the Elec- one charged so far tions and Boundaries because in the cases office does not have w h i c h h a v e c o m e full proof as yet that to light, the departy o u ' r e a B e l i z e a n ment feels they were citizen. ...Voting is done out of ignorance s o i m p o r t a n t t h a t rather than out of tryif I were told that ing to undermine the there was something process.

The Elections wrong with my apC o mmission offiplication I would imcial told us that the mediately go and ask number of persons them what's wrong that the Department to try and rectify it," has rejected from Peyrefitte chided.

A f t e r f o r m e r registering number Minister of Human around 2,000, while D e v e l o p m e n t a n d the number who have Wo m e n , D o l o r e s been registered numBalderamos-Garcia b e r o v e r 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 . a l l e g e d t h a t s o m e He underscored that people's names ap- o f t h e 2 , 0 0 0 w h o pear more than once have been rejected, on the system, we many were because

T

the addresses they gave could not be verified or because the doc ume nta tion they provided did not match the name the department has in its records.

To the concern that people have been deliberately kept off or removed from the voters' list, Singh said that no complaint of such was ever made to the Election and Boundaries Commission, which is made up of representatives from both major political parties. He chalks it up to political mischief being played

Chairman Doug Singh o u t i n t h e p u b l i c who represent both political parties. arena.

"This is a bipar- T h e y o v e r s e e t h e t i s a n c o m m i s s i o n , on-goings and deal so on that commis- with these matters. sion there are people Ms. Tamai (the Chief

Elections Officer), while she falls under the Ministry in terms of budgetary and administrative purposes, she answers to the commission. So, if there's any concern, those concerns can be addressed by the political party at the commission level.â&#x20AC;?

The deadline to register and be able to vote in the ICJ Referendum is March 12, two days after the initial March 10 deadline because that day is a Sunday and the Monday is a public and bank holiday in Belize.

THE REPORTER

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

Page 39

MOH launches 5-year Human Resource Plan

T

he demand for more doctors and nurses is ever growing, and exceeding the existing workforce in the Belize healthcare field, so it has become critical for the Ministry of Health to plan how to increase its manpower to serve every Belizean with topquality health care.

To meet these growing needs, the Ministry launched its fiveyear Belize Human Resources for Universal Health plan, at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel on Wednesday morning, February 20.

Chief Executive Officer in the Mini s t r y, D r. R a m o n Figueroa, explained the five strategic objectives of the plan, and the reasons for them. First, the ministry will strengthen its leadership to consolidate the governance of human resources for health. The ministry will strive to expand the equitable access to high quality healthcare for better coverage of all communities, but developing the human resource capacities, and the conducive environment. This will require more financing, which is the next objective: to increase investment in developing our human resources for health, to increase the number of qualified, well-trained health professionals, so as to improve the overall health of the population; an investment that will pay off in direct returns by contributing to national development. This leads to the next objective: to strengthen collaboration across more sectors to improve the education systems to strengthen the healthcare work force. The fifth obj e c t i v e i s t o f o rg e partnerships within the healthcare workforce; so the health system can respond to the needs of our people, through a transformational

Belize City, February 21, 2019

Health CEO, Dr. Ramon Figueroa. change to offer universal access to topquality health care for everyone!

The preparation and development of the plan began with a situational analysis of the existing healthcare landscape, which identified a number of deficiencies and weaknesses. The healthcare sector is constantly losing qualified professionals who have migrated to greener pastures abroad, often the result of weak staff monitoring processes, which led to a lack of communication and coordination, which has led to poor retention of staff in rural areas. The regulatory mechanism for the system are also weak, and the analysis also identified the lack of a proper health human resource policy within the Education ministry, the lack of a national database of the health workforce, and the need for more investment to fill these gaps.

The survey found many instances of staff burnout among

health workers in the Central region, while the Northern region suffered from a lack of available health-workers, with existing vacancies going unfilled, and an acute shortage of nursing staff for all units. Out West, the health workers suffered from a lack of motivation, while in the South, the growing demand for healthcare indicated that satellite clinics should be hiring more professional staff, and that new job posts should be created; but the region has experienced poor retention of its existing health workers, who are disenchanted by their geographic location.

Achieving the five objectives will help to implement the Ministryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 10-year Health Sector Strategic Plan 2014-2024.

T h e Wo r l d H e a l t h Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization are providing technical support and other resources to help the Ministry achieve these objectives.

Page 40

Sunday, February 24th, 2019

THE REPORTER