Home » April, 2017
You are currently browsing entries posted in: April, 2017
As we reported on Wednesday, retired Immigration Officer Therese Chavarria confirmed that in at least two or three cases, with permission from senior officials, she was able to fool the passport system into accepting a picture of someone who did not appear to take the photograph in person. Her method was basic: she simply printed […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Why the ‘Picture of a Picture’ Was Necessary in Special Cases
The Senate Special Select Committee has been soliciting most attendees of the public hearings for their ideas on how the Immigration Department can be improved. While it has become clear that a culture of corruption and hustling pervaded the Department, the will to remove it has been absent. As a public officer for more than […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on More Training & Monitoring Needed at Immigration Department
A Canadian woman and her boyfriend are reported missing in the north. On Wednesday midday American national Joseph Milholen reported that earlier that day he went to pick up his friend fifty-two-year-old Francesca Matus from Serenity Sands on the Consejo Road in Corozal. Milholen reported that he was to take Matus to the P.G.I.A., but […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on American Couple Missing in North
There is a rape conviction to report tonight. In January 2015, a Dangriga man met a woman walking on the road side heading into the town to pick up a package. He offered her a ride to the Benguche area, but things went awfully wrong. The woman said she thought the vehicle hit something so […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on Man Convicted of Dangriga Rape
Police officers from El Salvador were in Belize to take part in the GREAT program. They joined up with local police officers for a two-week training program that concluded today at the Radisson Hotel in the City. GREAT has had considerable success in gang and violence prevention. It has been implemented in Belize for years. […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Belize and El Salvador Officers Conclude GREAT Training
Rural Eastern Division of the Police Department is making changes to their headquarters in Ladyville, Belize District to allow for greater space for officers to do their work. Both Government and the private sector are contributing to building an attachment to the building currently hosting the commander’s office as well as a new detention center […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Rural Eastern Division Works on Office Upgrades
On Wednesday, you heard South Side Commander ACP Chester Williams talk about the progress community policing has made on the south side. Last weekend his division held a family day in the Conch Shell Bay area and he says that more activities like that are on the horizon. One of the areas he wants to […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Crime,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Gangs Getting Along on Jane Usher
Earlier this week, we asked C.E.O. George Lovell of the Ministry of Home Affairs about the transfers of some of top cops in Belize District. One in particular is the transfer of Chester Williams. So will the move affect the peace established over the last few days? In the interview, Lovell appears to take a […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Crime,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Home Affairs C.E.O. Gets ‘Antsy’ on Chester’s Record
Government has secured financing from the Caribbean Development Bank to expand the Youth and Community Transformation Project to at risk communities in Dangriga, San Ignacio and Santa Elena. These communities are challenged by increasing crime and violence, anti-social behavior and limited access to social services. The new project called Youth RISE is funded through a […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Youth to RISE in Dangriga
Today, the Embassy of Mexico and the Mexican trade and investment agency, ProMexico, organized a Commercial Mission to Belize where seven companies from Cancun and Merida brought products and services to meet with local entrepreneurs. Officials from the Mexican trade team were joined by representatives from BELTRAIDE as well as the Belize Chamber of Commerce. […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Economy,
Foreign Affairs,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Mexicans Trade Mission in Belize
Art is being used as a means to bring communities together. In the south side of Belize City, the Department of Youth Services has turned bare walls into colorful pieces to promote peace in the community. Three generations of men and women came together to create murals that are not only pleasing to the eye, […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Art & Culture,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Murals – Communities Brought Together Through Art
For the first few years of a child’s life they are totally dependent on their parents and caretakers for all their basic needs. There have been successful strategies implemented in Belize to improve immunization coverage, exclusive breastfeeding and other child centered programs to ensure the best health for young children. But young babies, need more […]
Written on April 27, 2017 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Healthy Living and Child Care Development
The Senate Special Select Committee resumed hearings in public today into the Auditor General’s report, calling three witnesses. One of the witnesses called today was Barton Middleton, the elusive Orange Walk businessman who previously caught a severe case of amnesia over his alleged role in facilitating visas for Chinese nationals, following a purported surgery for […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Barton Middleton Invokes Constitution as Senators Scorn Him
Retired Immigration Officer Therese Chavarria has seen it all in thirty years at the Department, dating back to 1986. She took her leave last year after being transferred to Punta Gorda following assignments in the Passport Section and the head office in Belmopan, which was where she was at the height of the period documented […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on 2 Years Before Kim, Immigration Allowed ‘Double Photos’ for Passports
Chavarria spoke to the issue of shortcuts in the Department to benefit a chosen few, accomplished through bribery. In one instance, a prospective applicant for a passport, accompanied by a woman well-known to the Department, flunked his interview after his particulars were taken. He was not able to identify where he was born or even […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Would-be Belizean Passport Holder Flunked Test But Got Passport Anyway
As to how the passport was caused to be printed despite Chavarria’s investigations, it turns out that former Cabinet Minister Carlos Perdomo was the one pushing for it. He apparently appealed directly to Director Meighan who later belatedly informed Chavarria of the decision. As for the five hundred dollar bribe to look the other way, […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Why You Cannot Bribe an Honest Immigration Officer
At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, fuel prices at the pump went up for a second time in less than a month. As the fiscal year kicked in, on April first, premium gasoline, regular and diesel went up on the heels of an announcement by the Prime Minister during his budget presentation that eighty […]
The prospect of government purchasing the Chon Saan Building in Belmopan is officially off the table, and Cabinet has given the green light to the Immigration Department to scout around once again for a new office space. Well, they aren’t looking very far. In fact, a pretty huge piece of unused real estate is being […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The New Immigration Building in Belmopan Will Not Be Chon Saan Palace
As the Immigration hearings continued into the afternoon, simultaneously in Belmopan, a swearing-in ceremony took place, across the plaza, at the civic center. More than a hundred individuals became citizens of this country after taking the oath of allegiance. The new citizens heard from the Minister of State for Immigration, Beverly Williams. News Five’s Isani […]
Back to the senate inquiry…the final witness called was officer Omar Phillips, who worked the front desk and received the Won Hong Kim application for a passport in 2013. Phillips came face to face with then-Minister of State Elvin Penner when he presented the application, but he said he does not recall any conversation with […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Omar Phillips Tells How He Met ‘Kim’ and Penner for Passport Application
Chairman of the Committee, Aldo Salazar, addressed reporters after the hearing concluded this afternoon. He pointed out that other aspects of Barton Middleton’s situation – the brain tumour surgery; the alleged criminal case for Immigration offences and other matters – were not within the Committee’s purview except as it relates to any interaction with the […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Senate Committee Chair Says Hearings Are Serious, Not ‘Soap Opera’
Since the beginning of the week, there has been disquiet among members of staff at the Immigration and Nationality Department over the promotion of employees whom they consider to be unfit for the new posts. That uneasiness has been bubbling below the surface for several weeks, but was tempered following a meeting with the Public […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on 29 Immigration Officers Get Promoted; Minister Promises No Issues Despite Rumblings
According to Williams, the selection of officers for promotion is vetted by the Public Service Commission and that positions within the Immigration Department aren’t arbitrarily created to promote employees. Beverly Williams, Minister of State, Immigration “We don’t have a reason, we haven’t looked at anybody’s file and say, “Oh, this is a bad egg,” […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on How Promotions Are Being Handled by Department
A woman alleged that she was held hostage, beaten up badly then raped by an attacker who left her locked up in a house. She resorted to a machete, but her attacker used it on her and she was left naked and bleeding when two men rescued her. But today, after two days of trial, […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on Rape Victim Bows Out of Court Hearing
A climate change awareness campaign was launched today following a ‘Knowledge, Attitude and Practices’ study across Belize, which indicated that more needs to be done to sensitize the public about the effects of climate change, as well the practices. The programme is in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, to keep global warming below two degrees […]
Written on April 26, 2017 | Posted in
Environment,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The Push to Promote Climate Change
