Ministry of Security advice for home protection
Raphael Martinez
And to beat the heat during the Easter holidays, just about everyone will be flocking to the beaches, rivers and other watering holes across the country. Martinez also has some advice to be safe while swimming as well as tips on securing your homes while you’re away.
Raphael Martinez, Acting Police Press Officer
“We will be having people going into neighborhoods that they are not familiar with in terms of rivers and streams and I would like to appeal to people who live around there to mark where the deep spots are. Even if it’s a sand pit, some water still accumulates there; know exactly where the deep spots are because sometimes it’s very shallow and there’s a steep drop. So try to mark it so that people who are not familiar with the area know exactly where the deep spots are. Again, God forbid that you are trying to rescue somebody who is drowning, please approach that person from the back. There are some ways and means to go about dealing with it. Practice your first aid, refresh your memory on your first aid tips because the life you save might just be your own. And finally, I want to appeal to everybody that lets hold it down, let’s hold it down. You may be leaving your house unattended; the best thing to secure your house is to have what I call the mark one eyeball; to have somebody there: a friend, a family member, a neighbor. Tell that person you know what I need you to look after my house, I won’t be here, I’ll be going somewhere. Please look after mi house fi mi. if you are lucky enough to have cameras on your house and you can access those cameras via internet, that is also good. But always try to be community spirit, community oriented to have somebody be there for you whenever you are not in your home as such. And lastly, I want to share that let’s have a very safe and blessed Easter and remember the true meaning of what Easter is all about.”
‘�R We�K x U ans want to travel to Mexico there are two ways. One of them is to travel with their passports and these Belizean passports entitle them to travel anywhere in Mexico. Another way to travel to Mexico is using the border card that is called FMVL. It is important to remember that these cards allow them to travel within Quintana Roo up to three days. With these FMVL cards you cannot stay in Mexico more than three consecutive days, you cannot travel to other parts of Mexico you can only travel within Quintana Roo and it is also important to know that you cannot travel intransit to another country using your FMVL. If you go to Cancun for example and you are planning to travel to another country, you have to take your passports and it is important that you register that at the border with your Belizean passport when you are traveling intransit. You need the passport definitely when you are traveling to Playa del Carmen, to Cancun or any part of Mexico, if you are not using your FMVL, you need your passport. That is something that you need in order to travel to Mexico. And for all Belizeans, it si important to remember that with your Belizean passports, you don’t need Mexican visas to travel anywhere in Mexico.”
Jose Sanchez
“And are you limited to the three days?”
Marcelino Miranda
“With your passport normally, the immigration officers give you one hundred and eighty days to stay in Mexico. But it is up to the immigration officer to provide or to state the number of days that you are allowed to stay in Mexico. But with your Belizean passport normally as I said you can travel several days within Mexico.”
The embassy will be closed from the sixth of April and re-opens until the ninth, therefore, the issuing of visas and passports will be suspended during those days. Miranda says while passports allow you to travel as far as Cancun, if you intend to drive beyond that destination, you will need to register your vehicle at the border with a redeemable deposit.
