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The number of COVID-19 cases sets a new record; we will have that coming up including the death of the first female due to the virus; we’ll talk to her grieving family. First we go to a late evening story. An immigration officer and a customs officer were today arraigned in the Belmopan Magistrate Court […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Public Officers Charged with “Abetment to Exiting Belize Illegally”
The charges brought against one of its own, Customs Officer Dion Castillo, did not sit well in the department. This evening, Comptroller Colin Griffith publicly registered his discontent about the charge brought against his officer. Griffith told the press that the officer didn’t do anything wrong while he was on duty and so the department […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Customs Department Rails Against Charge of Officer
So to dispel any notions that Customs Officer Dion Castillo may have been negligent to give clearance to the AJ Ellis tugboat for a purpose outside of the S.O.E. regulations, this afternoon Comptroller Griffith outlined the situation. He explained what transpired and how the tugboat was cleared. According to Griffith, while the Port remained open […]
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Comments Off on Customs Says Tugboat Didn’t Declare Purpose of Trip
Early this morning, an elderly woman succumbed to the coronavirus at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Seventy-two-year-old Iris Rose Barillas is the first female locally not to survive the virus. She slipped in and out of coma at the K.H.M.H. and caved in today. Barrillas is believed to have been infected at a private facility […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Fifth COVID-19 Patient, an Elderly Woman, Passes Away
Late this evening, News Five spoke with Iris Barillas’ caregiver and family friend. She explained how it came about that Barillas and her husband ended up at the Belmopan Medical Center where staff members have been tested positive for the virus. According to Jones, the elderly couple was taken to the facility by her adopted […]
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Comments Off on Iris Barillas’ Caregiver Describes Her Hospital Visit in Belmopan
So a fifth person, who is an elderly female, has died due to the coronavirus. But there were reports this morning that a sixth person had succumbed overnight. In speaking on the death of Iris Barillas, DHS Doctor Manzanero confirms that the death of the purported sixth person was not due to COVID-related complications. […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on DHS Manzanero Confirms 5th COVID Death
A record number of positive cases of COVID-19 was confirmed overnight putting the number of positive cases for the country at an alarming five hundred and fifty-three. Stann Creek District recorded an extra case, while Corozal went up by seven. There were a total of fifteen new cases in the Cayo District, eight of which […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 78 New COVID-19 Cases Brings Total to 553
Well-known mental health therapist Jennifer Lovell has tested positive for COVID-19 after being exposed to the virus during a workshop that she was administering on the sixth of August. Lovell, who is a regular on Channel Five’s Open Your Eyes, says that she was informed of her status on Tuesday night after several days of […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Bruk It Dong Jenny Tests Positive for COVID-19
According to Lovell, she began experiencing flu-like symptoms, as well as other signs of COVID-19 in the days following her exposure. She describes her battle with the disease so far. Isani Cayetano “How are you feeling and what symptoms, if any, are you exhibiting at the moment?” On the Phone: Jenny Lovell, COVID-19 […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Jenny Describes Ordeal with Coronavirus
Law enforcement officers here in Belize for months have been having difficulties in successfully securing the porous border to the west and north. Scores of borders jumpers have been caught, arrested, and quarantined. These persons are often contrabandistas to bring in contraband goods primarily from Mexico to retail on this side. But there have been […]
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Comments Off on G.O.B. Approves Central Quarantine Facility
The Senate today passed the amendment to the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Bill. The amendment seeks to restrain a magistrate from granting bail for persons charged with contraband offenses, including those being found in possession of contraband goods. The legislation aims to arrest the increasing problems with border jumpers and contrabandistas. Those persons who […]
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Comments Off on Crime Control Bills Amended to Deal with Border Jumpers
The second piece of legislation that seeks to curb border jumping activities was passed today in the Senate. The amendment to the Customs Regulation Bill 2020 aims to remove the imposition of a fine as a penalty for certain offenses and replace it with mandatory imprisonment. Before the legislation, persons caught with contraband were charged […]
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Comments Off on Contrabandistas Will Serve Mandatory Jail Time
The state of public emergency was today extended for a further period of fourteen days. Statutory instrument one hundred and ten was to expire on Thursday after it came into effect on August seventh. The government is satisfied that a public emergency persists given the COVID-19 outbreak across the country. Senator for N.G.O.s, Osmany Salas […]
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Comments Off on State of Emergency Extended by 14 days
The amendment to the Labour Bill was also passed today in the Senate. The amendment has attracted major opposition from several unions, including the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. The bill looks at providing employers the ability to reduce wages where the working hours of an employee have been reduced in special circumstances. It […]
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Comments Off on Senate Debate Gets Heated Over Amendment of Labor Laws
Today, a small group of residents from Guinea Grass protested against the lockdown measures which they say is bringing further hardships. The village has been on lockdown for two weeks and according to Village Chairman, Benito Uck close to twenty villagers gathered to stage a small protest and send a message to government because they […]
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Comments Off on Guinea Grass Residents Protest Lockdown
First, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, which is the umbrella organization for the unions, and now the Public Service Union is lodging its discontent with the amendment to the Labour Law, which was debated and passed in the Senate this afternoon. The P.S.U. issued a statement on Tuesday concerned that the consultative process […]
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Rejects Amendment to Labour Law
In respect of the government’s wage bill and the need to cut costs incurred by government departments, First Vice President Dean Flowers says that a meeting is to be convened to discuss austerity measures that can taken across the public sector. Dean Flowers, 1st Vice President, P.S.U. “The Public Service Union does in fact […]
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Engaged with Cost-Saving Committee
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Workers Union says that last week they were able to reach common ground on the cost cutting efforts at the K.H.M.H. as a result of budget cuts that have been proposed for similar statutory bodies. The K.H.M.H. Workers Union says that the biggest compromise was a freeze on increments, but […]
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Comments Off on K.H.M.H. Workers Union Agrees to 3 Million-Dollar Cost-Cutting Exercise
On Tuesday, we covered the risks that sanitation workers are exposed to when disposing of biohazardous material from COVID-19 patients. While it falls within the responsibility of the Central Health Region, we were informed earlier today by Regional Manager Melinda Guerra that the respective hotels and facilities being used as quarantine centres are responsible for […]
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Comments Off on Who’s Responsible for Collecting COVID Garbage?
A public notice of investment was published in the local newspapers by the Social Security Board where it proposes to lend three hundred thousand dollars to a private school, the Belize Elementary School. The loan facility is for fifteen years at an attractive interest rate of six percent per annum. The timing of the proposed […]
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Concerned about Proposed S.S.B. Loan to Belize Elementary School
This week, we have been reporting on the issues brewing at the University of Belize between the senior administration and the UB Faculty and Staff Union. The Board of Trustees issued a stern letter this week to tell the faculty to go back to teaching or else they may face terminations. While the U.B.F.S.U. has […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on National Student Union of Belize Comes Out in Support of U.B.F.S.U.
