On Tuesday afternoon they received notice to leave Belize within seventy-two hours. As it turns out, forty-five illegal Guatemalan settlers in Toledo didn’t need that long. Word from the Ministry of National Security is that as of three o’clock Wednesday afternoon all of the squatters who set up two farming communities in the Columbia River […]
The Red Cross is one of those organisations we think about only when we need them–usually in an emergency. But if we wait for disaster to strike before we build an institution, the effort will invariably come too late. On Wednesday a new Red Cross centre was opened and the community gathered to celebrate. Jacqueline […]
“Keeping the Promise” is what the United Nations International Children’s Fund wants young people to chant at its upcoming children’s forum. UNICEF and its Children’s Advisory Committee is ready to push issues one step further in light of the progress made at the 1998 Children’s elections and 1999’s Forum on Child Abuse. The event, targeting […]
We frequently hear about confrontations along the often-remote frontier between Belize and Guatemala, but there have rarely been any neutral witnesses on hand to corroborate official reports. Last year News Five accompanied one BDF patrol in the Chiquibul Forest, which ended in the discovery of a marijuana plantation and its Guatemalan farmers. On Tuesday we […]
“Progress brings problems” is a slogan used by government long ago to describe the teething pains young countries often go through in the process of development. A typical application of the slogan’s intent occurred this morning at a southside shopping area attempting to make the transition from old to new. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting On July […]
Today, the media was briefed on the construction of the new satellite city at mile thirty-one on the Western Highway. Carolyn Trench Sandiford, the project coordinator says while the work has been delayed by inclement weather, most of the land clearing is complete and they are looking at starting the next phase of the project, […]
This afternoon, Donna Pech walked into the offices of St. James National Building Society and received the keys to her brand new house. Pech won the house on Saturday in the financial institution’s first anniversary grand raffle. A single mother of four children, Pech said the house could not have come at a better time. […]
The Belize Social Security Board is back in the news once again. This time it’s proud to say that it will soon be launching its newly improved Social Security Card to the public. If you have already taken your picture and signed up, then on August first, you can walk right into the Social Security […]
If you’ve traveled the Western Highway between Belize City and Belmopan, you can’t help but notice the neat rows of earthmoving equipment lined up as if they were used cars on sale. Over the next several years those bulldozers, graders, excavators and dump trucks will shape the gently rolling landscape into a place where one […]
A Belize City man has apparently taken his own life. Carmen Hernandez, a thirty-eight year old naturalized Belizean, originally from El Salvador, was found hanging from a rope at a warehouse at mile three on the Northern Highway. Hernandez was employed at the warehouse as a watchman and also did work as a mason. On […]
Police are asking the public for help in locating a man who has been missing for ten days. Donald Roland Sutherland, better known as “Roli” was last seen drinking a beer on New Road on July fourteenth. He was reported missing on July twenty-first by his mother, Valencia Sutherland. Sutherland lives at seventeen Pickstock Street […]
While efforts to put more Belizeans into their own homes continue nationwide, some folks on the south side of Belize City have a different problem–that is, how to get to the homes in which they already live. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting For the past nine years, residents who live behind Police Street in the Lake Independence […]
If you have traveled in downtown Belize City since the beginning of June you would have noticed some construction going on near the Supreme Court. Well, the seventy-five year old building is getting a new face. Renovations on the Supreme Court, which will include restoring the exterior of the building, improving the interior and landscaping […]
This Saturday may be the last day you will have to shop at the old Queen’s Square market as come next week the vendors who occupy the market will be moving into their new stalls. This afternoon official ceremonies opening the new Queen Square market were held at the site on West Collet Canal. Although […]
The National Fire Service is not only charged with the responsibility of fighting fires, but the department also works hard to prevent them from occurring. This they do through educational campaigns. Today News Five visited the fire station headquarters to find out what we can all do to make our homes a safer place to […]
The Loria Family of Santa Clara village in the Corozal district needs your help in trying to find fifteen year old Delene Loria who was allegedly abducted on Sunday morning as she walked to a store on Sarstoon Street. On Monday evening, when we spoke with Patrick Jones, a family member, he told News Five […]
It’s a story that–pardon the expression–refuses to die. Once again a handful of people marched around the Yabra Cemetery, protesting the ongoing construction of a community project in the area. The protestors say they have no problem with the construction of houses in the Albert Division but they do not believe any buildings should be […]
The news reached us late, but the message is no less important. Last week citizens of Punta Gorda held a protest march through the streets of that southernmost town. What they were protesting, according to members of the Toledo Civil Society organisation, was the alarming growth of crime in P.G. and the inability of the […]
Four days after six-year old Myrna Susan Rivera apparently fell into the North Stann Creek River and disappeared underwater, the young girl’s lifeless body was found floating near her family’s house near mile seven on the Stann Creek Valley Road. According to the young girl’s mother, Lourdes Rivera, on Sunday her daughter had gone to […]
In late May we brought viewers’ attention to the case of a little boy named Andrew who had been found on the street with nothing but a few pesos in his pocket. His parents and even his nationality were unknown. And not only was he an orphan, but he was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome and […]
It used to be called “wife beating” but in the era of gender equality it has taken on the more sanitized and less descriptive name of “domestic violence.” But whatever you call it, the abuse of domestic partners in Belize–usually women–has come out of the closet. Faralee Gabourel, Reporting Whether we whisper about it behind […]
We’re not sure whether it’s the time of year or just a journalistic coincidence, but if you’ve been watching this newscast during the last few weeks you might think that the most common creatures inhabiting the Belizean rainforest are British teenagers. Having talked to the trekkers from Trekforce and eaten with the young cadets of […]
Today is World Population Day and Belize joined other members of the United Nations to observe the day by taking a special look at the role of women. We caught up with the director of the Women’s Department, Anita Zetina, who reminded us about the significance of protecting women while examining the issue of population. […]
It is not unusual to see Belizean children as the subjects of news stories on television, radio and in newspapers. But the National Committee for Families and Children is going beyond the concept of young people in the media by sponsoring a project which will have the children actually in charge of their own show. […]
Following our news story last night concerning the Montero family and their extensive purchases of government land, you might be thinking that they were the only ones to benefit from the generosity of former Minister of Natural Resources Dito Juan. Not so. According to public records accessed by News Five, we can offer the names […]
