The American Crocodile Education Sanctuary on Wednesday night relocated an American crocodile. The feisty young five-foot croc got lost on the grounds of a developing resort on Ambergris Caye. According to Chris Summers of ACES, the croc was taken for a health inspection and data collection before it was released into the wild. Summers says […]
Since the start of 2020, we’ve all been focusing on COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only health issue you should be concerned about. There’s another potential outbreak that may be coming and we find out more in tonight’s Healthy Living. Marleni Cuellar, Reporting COVID-19 has captured the world’s attention as the […]
The once booming tourism industry has been hardest hit as COVID-19 continues to wreck havoc to the economy. On Tuesday night, we reported that Tropic Air is cutting staff; today the local airline confirmed that it has informed the Ministry of Labour that it is letting go as much as sixty percent of its employees, […]
The cut backs are not exclusive to the domestic airline industry; every sector has had to make adjustments, including telecommunications. Over at Digi, a tiered approach to cuts in salary is being implemented; general staff are taking a fifteen percent cut, managers twenty percent and Heads of Departments twenty-five percent. This will initially last for three months […]
As you have heard, the economy continues to shrink and with it, hundreds more join the unemployment numbers. Government is struggling with an astronomical monthly wage bill of forty-five million dollars and another forty-five million dollars in operating expenses. The Public Service Union and the Belize National Teachers Union have agreed to forego increments as […]
Still on the economic downturn…last week, Prime Minister Dean Barrow famously said that he intends to borrow and borrow to keep public officers employed. But the PM also warned that the next leader of the country would have to address the issue of the massive wage bill, as high as forty-five million dollars monthly, and […]
Minister of Education, Patrick Faber says that there will be cuts in some of the services that his ministry offers in the days ahead, as a matter of priority to deal with the financial crisis. One of the biggest recurrent expenditures of the Ministry of Education is spent on salaries for teachers. But like the […]
Today marks thirty-seven days straight without any active case of COVID-19 in Belize. And while this is good news for the country as it continues to relax restriction measures, the possibility of a second wave continues to increase as cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in neighbouring countries like Mexico and Guatemala. To crack […]
There has been a turn of events in respect of a huge tract of land on the George Price Highway. The Belmopan Land Development Corporation has come forward to claim ownership of the land being sought by residents of Cotton Tree Village and other interested parties from across the country. The B.L.D.C. is represented by […]
According to Ysaguirre, the land in question had been tangled in the courts for a number of years and a decision was eventually handed down in favour of Belmopan Land Development Corporation. An appeal is presently before the courts over the quantum of the settlement. But the acreage is privately held and Ysaguirre says it […]
The Caribbean Union of Teachers on Tuesday went on the offensive, vehemently registering its concerns over the decision to hold C-SEC examinations in July. The CUT says the decision to do so puts students and teachers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made earlier this month by the Caribbean Examination Council. The regional […]
According to Minister Faber, students and teachers should now be getting ready to sit the exams in July, even though they were not in the classrooms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Faber says that someone fell asleep at the wheel. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education “We have a tendency in our country to believe […]
So while the CSEC exams have been rescheduled for July, the traditional pomp and circumstance associated with graduation ceremonies are not in the pipeline at this time. Most students to now receive or pick up their completion certificates since schools have been unable to plan graduation ceremonies due to the SOE restrictions. But what about […]
Education Minister Patrick Faber was also asked about a timeline for the reopening of schools. In some other countries such as the UK and Mexico, schools have partially reopened. As to the resumption of classes in the classrooms, it is known that at the primary level, the school year ends the last week in June. […]
Since we had the Minister of Education on hand, the media queried about his leadership bid. Faber is one of four persons who have entered his name in the leadership race of the United Democratic Party. As you know, he suffered a political setback when he lost his bid to John Saldivar earlier this year […]
The repatriation process for displaced Belizeans overseas to return home is in the making. Belize has not recorded another positive case for COVID-19 for more than thirty days and the government wants to keep it that way. Government has set up the COVID-19 Controlled Repatriation for Displaced Belizeans Abroad website which is being handled by […]
Belizeans who return home will be required to go into mandatory quarantine at a chosen hotel. They will bear the cost of that quarantine and according to C.E.O. Lou-Anne Burns Martinez; the lowest price is one hundred and ten dollars bringing the total bill for the fourteen-day quarantine to one thousand five hundred and forty […]
According to C.E.O. Martinez, those returning home will need to adhere to strict safety guidelines. The choice to self-quarantine will be given only to a selected few after they meet the requirements, one being if they are deemed to be chronically ill. Martinez explains. Host “Can persons quarantine on their own if they live […]
The repatriation process for Belizeans will not be achieved over night. According to C.E.O. Martinez, the process can take a few days or even a week. Martinez is asking for Belizeans to be patient and to fully complete the application. Lou-Anne Burns Martinez, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs “We respond very quickly. As soon […]
We don’t normally report on suicide, but today a shooting incident brought to light the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic may be having on persons struggling with mental health issues, even as the Mental Health Awareness Month is taking place. A single gunshot resonated from one of the bathrooms at the Ramada Hotel and Casino […]
The month of May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. It is a difficult time as the COVID-19 pandemic is posing unprecedented challenges. There are different forms of mental illness that can manifest as a result of stress of having to cope with different situations. Today, Minister of Education, Patrick Faber wore the colour […]
A hundred selected families are having a little ease tonight coping from the pain of the COVID-19 crisis. The families were beneficiaries of an initiative by the Development Finance Corporation which sought to put food on the table of affected families. The programme named, “A helping Hand, COVID-19 Relief Effort,” reached families countrywide during May […]
The F.F.B. stadium in Belmopan is getting a major facelift. The first phase of a construction project is set to begin shortly. Valued at two point four million dollars, today, the General Secretary of the Football Federation of Belize, Earl Jones and Steven Coleman of Coleman Construction signed off on the contract, which will see […]
The Public Service Union and the Belmopan City Council have buried the ‘Hilltop’ hatchet. They have reached a settlement in the form of another piece of property. Today, the P.S.U. says that they have received a prime location and good value in the agreement that will be signed later this week. As you’ll recall, the […]
Since the start of the state of emergency, the churches have been meeting online for services to prevent any contagion of the novel coronavirus. Stay-at-home orders, the cap on gatherings of no more than ten persons as well as social distancing mean that for now, church pews cannot be filled by church goers. The ease of […]
