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With good news in very limited supply, we are happy to report tonight that BERT, the Belize Emergency Response Team, has received some much-needed help in its efforts to provide ambulance service during the current civil strife. Following our story on Tuesday night outlining the problems of summoning emergency medical help when the phones are […]
Written on April 22, 2005 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on BERT receives welcome donation of radios
Whenwe signed off on last night’s newscast, it was with the sun setting and tyres burning amidst a restless crowd on the Belcan Bridge. What happened next was not pretty as a day of political protest morphed into a night of indiscriminate looting. News Five’s Rick Romero and Stewart Krohn ventured into Belize City’s chaotic […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on Looting and protests in Belize City
When the sun rose on an exhausted and anxious Belize City, it became clear the downtown area was not the only part of town hit by vandals. News Five’s Patrick Jones made the rounds this morning as business owners began the sad and sober task of cleaning up their property and assessing the damage. Patrick […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Shopkeepers assess damage
In the wake of a long night of looting in the streets of the commercial capital, approximately one hundred people detained by police for vandalism and other acts, and the threat of more industrial action from Belize’s educators, this morning Prime Minister Said Musa addressed the nation. Taking a hard line stance against the events […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on P.M.: Opposition responsible for violence
But as the Prime Minister pointed the finger of blame at the Opposition, the Leader of the United Democratic Party, Dean Barrow, was pointing right back. Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition ?I think he really is in denial and I think he came across as being disrespectful, as unwilling or unable to assume any […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
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Members of the Belize National Teachers Union this afternoon had what was called a solidarity meeting at their headquarters on Coney Drive with the Belize Communication Workers Union. General Secretary of the National Trade Union Congress, George Frazer, told News Five what was discussed during the gathering. George Frazier, General Secretary, N.T.U.C.B. ?We are engaged […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on Union leaders concerned over arrests
The men and women on the front line of this crisis, the members of the Belize Police Department, are tonight recovering from hits sustained during the clashes with demonstrators. According to officials, ten officers were wounded, several with serious injuries including a fractured skull, broken limbs, cuts, bruises, and blows to the head. This morning […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Defense |
Comments Off on Police make arrests, sustain injuries
The police were not the only ones under pressure on Wednesday night. As officers worked to maintain law and order on the city’s southside, on the northside the nurses and doctors at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital were busy tending to the wounded as they started arriving at the Accident and Emergency Ward. Dr. Fernando […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on K.H.M.H. deals with casualties
Amid all the excitement surrounding the looting, protests and B.T.L. dispute, you might start longing for the peace and quiet of the countryside. But as our next story shows, sometimes life in a village can be just as hazardous as life on Belize City streets. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting Five-year-old James Ford, student of St. Edmond […]
Written on April 21, 2005 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Child caught in Teakettle crossfire
For those who are old enough to remember, it was a tactic lifted directly from the Heads of Agreement protests of 1981. Today cameraman George Tillett and I were in the thick of the latest political turmoil that bubbled through Belize City’s poshest part of town. Janelle Chanona, Reporting This afternoon, students of the University […]
Written on April 20, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on Students take to streets against government
If you have been tuning in to live radio, you may be aware of a violent confrontation taking place on the Belcan Bridge in Belize City as protesters clash with police. News Five?s Patrick Jones is just back from the scene. Janelle Chanona ?Patrick, what can you tell us is happening there?? Patrick Jones ?Janelle, […]
Written on April 20, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on Confrontation expands to Belcan Bridge
Our cameraman Brent Toombs is just back with us. He was stationed at the Belcan Bridge this evening, and he is going to bring us up to date on what is happening at the Belcan Bridge. Janelle Chanona ?Brent, what?s the latest?? Brent Toombs ?Well Stephen Ferguson, our driver and tonight my bodyguard, big up […]
Written on April 20, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on As night falls riot intensifies
At the same time that students and Opposition politicians were expressing their dissatisfaction in the streets, government officials were trying hard to put their best face forward. For the P.U.P. that face belonged to Minister of Education Francis Fonseca. This afternoon Fonseca was asked by News 5’s Patrick Jones how he thought the drama would […]
Written on April 20, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on Government appeals for calm
The plague of sabotage that brought the nation’s telecommunications system to its knees has spread to the supply of electricity. According to a release from B.E.L., around six-thirty Tuesday evening vandals cut down six poles supporting the company’s one hundred and fifteen kilovolt line from Mexico. The result was a series of blackouts lasting over […]
Written on April 20, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on Electricity blackout was sabotage
A Belize City man who was critically wounded in a Monday night shooting has succumbed to his injuries. Twenty-two year old Ordel Duncan died on Tuesday morning after being hospitalised with a gunshot wound to the lower part of his abdomen. Police say Duncan was walking alone through the Pickstock hutments on Monday night when […]
Written on April 20, 2005 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Shooting victim dies, two sought for murder
With the phones disconnected at B.T.L., a contempt of court ruling hanging over its head in Miami, investigations probing misconduct at S.S.B. and D.F.C., a dangerously low credit rating, and the I.M.F. coming to town, it’s pretty clear that the government of the ruling People’s United Party is learning new definitions for the word “pressure”. […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Politics |
Comments Off on U.D.P. plans civil disobedience to force elections
While the politicians plotted strategy the people at the centre of the immediate crisis–the workers at B.T.L.–continued to play haul and pull with the authorities. News’s Patrick Jones reports. Patrick Jones, Reporting For the third straight day, workers of Belize Telecommunications Limited were in uniform but remained off the job as the telecom crisis dragged […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Workers, phones still out at B.T.L.
While students of tertiary level institutions have demonstrated their support for the B.T.L. workers, this afternoon, unionised teachers from the Belize District threw their collective support behind the telecom workers. The activists met in emergency session at B.N.T.U. headquarters this afternoon, after which branch president Elena Smith told News Five’s Patrick Jones that the purpose […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Education |
Comments Off on Teachers will meet to decide on course of action
The Northern Highway has claimed the life of a twenty-six year old man, one week before what was supposed to be the happiest weekend of his life. As News Five’s Jacqueline Woods reports from Ladyville, the tragedy has devastated his family. Kennisha Garbutt, Sister In law ?It is very hard on us. We?re a close […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
Comments Off on Family mourns death in traffic mishap
While the family of Daniel Castillo may speculate on whether a functioning phone system would have prevented their tragic loss, there is no doubt that one of the most troubling consequences of the union’s action is the crippling of emergency medical services. Yvette Burks, National Coordinator of BERT, the Belize Emergency Response Team, says that […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Lack of phones cripples ambulance service
The crime occurred far enough off the beaten path that even under the best conditions, details would have been slow to surface. But thanks to the lack of phone service the story of two deaths in the old Cayo logging village of Augustine is only now beginning to emerge. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods reports. Jacqueline […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Security guard charged in two deaths at Chalillo
Another child has drowned, this time in Cayo. And while police investigate the circumstances, the mother of thirteen-year-old Adela Vansen wants an explanation from her child’s caregivers. Adela and five of her siblings have been in the custody of the Human Services Department at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre for the last two years. […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Disasters |
Comments Off on 13-year-old drowns during outing
Tonight Belize City police are investigating three separate shooting incidents that have left four men hospitalized. According to police, the first shots were fired around eight on Friday night near Pen Road. The victim, sixteen year old Leon Usher, told authorities that he was walking in an alley near Pen Road and Fairweather Street when […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Three attacks leave five injured
While the ongoing political dramas have dominated the headlines, other more routine events continued to unfold. In Belize City, firemen were pressed into action early Monday morning on Pickstock Street in one of the most congested areas of the north side. Henry Baizar, Fire Chief ?When the guys arrived there, where the fire started was […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Disasters |
Comments Off on Three families homeless after Pickstock fire
Everybody has a role to play in food safety. That’s the message being delivered this week as The Belize Agricultural Health Authority and the Public Health Bureau launch a food safety campaign. According to preliminary research conducted by the Pan-American Health Organization, ten percent of Belizeans do not wash their hands after handling foods like […]
Written on April 19, 2005 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on BAHA seeks safer food
