Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, many Belizeans are relaxed after Tropical Storm Sara did blow over "like wah lee breeze" - but for those in flood prone communities, the ordeal is just beginning as flood waters start to roll down.
Today, the Prime Minister made a damage assessment flyover of the Cayo district along with area representatives - and, in Cayo, he told us what he saw.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I flew all the way up to the Chalillo dam all the way by caracol actually and went into the Belize river valley all the way by Maskall that area. We saw the Chalillo dam is overflowing lots of water more and more water is going to be coming down the Macal and onto San Ignacio Santa Elena and to the villages in these areas. Our hope is that it does not rain because if it doesn't then the waters are still running out so hopefully the flooding will not be as bad and it becomes serious when you have lots of rain and all of the water is coming down we have to take into account that we have waters coming in from Guatemala the concern about the waters coming in from Guatemala is that the lot of these villages most of these citizens are very very poor and they have their latrines right next to the river and there has been cases that once the Latrine gets full and the river is overflowing with water then you know the feces and everything comes into the river and that water is going to run into Belize into the Cayo district and some of our villagers get water from those, that's their water source so we have to be on the look out to ensure that no one gets cholera or gets sick from the water being contaminated so we are going to be having more and more water running down and we hope that it does not rain but here in the planes in Cayo where Santander where hundreds or acres of cane lands are under water lots of small farmers have lost their crop, the vegetables in Cayo central by La Gracia also by mile 7 that area we have a lot of our farmers that grow vegetables and their crops are under water so overall what we are seeing is a lot of infrastructural damage like what we are seeing here at this small bridge that connects to San Martin Primary school and agricultural crops that small farmers are losing we have to see how we can fix the infrastructure and also the infrastructure that can now hold the kind of water that is running down and to also work with our small farmers and see how we can help them."
And aside from the time it will take to restore the roads, bridges and culverts affected by the heavy rains and floods, the PM says that they have also taken into account the funds they will need to do so. He expects it to be costly:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "As you know the government has limited resources and so we are going to do everything that we can we just approved in the budget for NEMO in the last supplementary budget I think we had 1.5 million so we have to make that available and I'm sure that when we speak with minister Espat from MIDH and their team and they come to tell us the level of damage that our highways and in the north Sugar roads roads for our farmers Village roads Village Street the amount of damage that they have had that we are not able to rebuild. I feel that it is going to be substantial here today with Hon Alex Balona and Hon Micho Chebat and Hon Landy Habet on what they are telling us is that even the villages they have been doing a lot of work in upgrading these streets in the villages and because of the amount of rain and the current that have been washing off the streets so we will have to go back and do it again."
"We work closely with the mayor we respect him and he is quite active in the work that is taking place here certainly in the twin towns and we are here to serve the people."
While the PM has made note that the San Ignacio Santa Elena Mayor Earl Trapp will be included in the damage relief funds, Trapp gave us more insight today on some of the observations he made while cleaning up the market this afternoon.
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio "Well, I can tell you that when it comes to infrastructure, the streets, drains, culverts, I think it's going to be something very high. And hence, the reason I've called on the CEO and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and, of course, the Minister responsible for this area to pool the resources with the Council and to see how we can restore our towns to where it was before the storm started about two months ago."
"But certainly, many of our streets are broken up, culverts got washed away, streets need to be rebuilt, so it certainly will require a big support. And we are hoping that the Prime Minister will support the different municipalities because it's not only San Ignacio and Santa Elena, but all the other municipalities that have been suffering from water over the past eight weeks."
Coming up in our next segment - we'll show you the situation in flooded communities further west than San Ignacio.
But we turn now to the disaster response from Sara. Belize is fortunate that it was a minor storm - though the after effects will be trying on those thousands in flood prone areas.
However, the public was not impressed with NEMO's National Coordinator Daniel Mendez. His performance in the live press briefings was less than stellar - and, if you listen to the radio or social media, the public was unforgiving. One caller to LOVE FM said "Fire NEMO!"
Today the PM took up for Mendez, who is the Governor General's husband:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "It is unfortunate that it would take people something like this to be able to criticize. I have great respect for captain Mendez, Captain Mendez has been on the ground along with minister Andre Perez who from the minute that he took over the emergency response has been on the ground literally has been taking a lot of his effort so it's unfortunate but that is the work that we do you know people are going to criticize you can help 99 persons but all you need is one person and now with social media you know a lot there was a lot of misinformation this time and I have to urge the media and one in particular exaggerating and creating panic and this where especially like yourself channel 5 and love Fm and channel 7, the local media should work with us to be more responsible and to inform not alarm people and sometimes trying to be alarmists and trying to make a sensational story you know."
And the Prime Minister also took criticism - at least on this channel - for attending a COCESNA meeting in Mexico City when a storm was approaching. It's not a meeting at the level of heads of government, so why was he there?
Briceno - who is the first Belgian leader in that maximum post to hold the civil aviation portfolio - cut his trip short to return on Friday. Today he deflected the criticism and said his attendance was important:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't know who is Criticizing it only Mr Vasquez is criticizing it so I don't think he is everybody he is just one person and I have certain responsibilities to act upon and there is this very important meeting with Cosessna in Mexico City and one of the most important ones is that they are trying to see how as a region we could set up an investigative unit for, God forbid whenever there is a accident. Each country needs to have it but we don't have the personnel we don't have the monies to do that so what COCESNA is trying to do is as a group we are trying to see how the countries of Central America from Costa Rica to Belize and Guatemala to see how we can form one unit and serve all of us."
"But I need to point out to you that I don't only go to heads meeting, I am also the minister of finance I have been to many meetings for finance where it is not a heads meeting, I am the minister of immigration and I take my work serious. I was watching on the storm and Mexico is right next door to us so when I was there in the night when I saw it was going to be affecting us even more, it did not affect us as bad as thought, I decided then to leave early in the morning and by midday I was here at home so what's the big deal?"
And in what may be the first ever release from the press office about a civil aviation meeting, it has been described as generating, quote, "critical discussions".
And in crime news, on Sunday, police recovered over 4 million in pesos - which is over 400 thousand Belize dollars - after a heist in the Corozal Free Zone was thwarted by police. The Commissioner of Police said that the burglars were working in conjunction with a security guard, but the quick response of the cops, and the use of drones, helped them to capture two of four suspects.
ComPol told us more today about this high stakes operation.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "They conducted searches utilizing drones and they were able to locate two individuals who are suspected to have been a part of that burglary. Police also found a bag containing some pesos, Mexican pesos along with a few Belizean dollars and a few US currency. The bag of money was taken to the Corozal Police Station where it was counted and it amounted to 4-point-something million pesos. i think just over 200-plus US dollars and a small amount of Belize currency. The two individuals are currently detained and we're not aware of the total amount of money stolen during the burglary. I think we're still trying to ascertain that figure. But so far we have two of the suspects in custody and an additional two more persons, we're hoping that we'll be able to find them quickly and see where we go from there."
"From what we gathered, it's in collusion with the security guard who worked at the establishment so that security guard is also in custody as a part of our investigation."
Courtney Menzies: "Are these people, they're Belizean?"
But while police were able to recover some of the cash in that incident, they haven't been able to locate any of the cargo from the suspected drug plane that landed on Friday morning. In fact, the ComPol said they weren't even aware a plane had landed until about 9 hours after the fact. According to him, they received no information from JIOC. It was actually a farmer that happened upon the plane and reported it.
The ComPol also added that a female police officer has been detained while the cops investigate this landing. Here's what he told us.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Friday morning, sometime around 9am, we received a call from a farmer who was on his way to farm in the Frank's Eddy area and he stumbled upon a plane. He called us and we responded to the area. upon getting there, the police observed a single engine aircraft. A search of the aircraft revealed nothing, but the back seats were removed, the only two seats were that of the pilots. Searches were conducted in the area, police found some lights that we believe were use to align the landing strip for the plane along with other fuel items that we believe were used in facilitating the plane landing. We are still trying to ascertain exactly what cargo came on that plane but as usual we suspect that it could be cocaine. We are looking for one individual likewise who we believe will be able to provide some information to us as it relates to that plane landing. And I can also say to you, I don't want to hide nothing. we have detained a police officer, a female police officer because we believe that she facilitated a person, the person we believe landed that aircraft, in signing in at the police station outside the hours stipulated by the court. This person is on bail for a previous plane landing and as a condition to his bail, he was ordered to report or to sign in to the Belmopan police station, every Friday between 8am and 5pm. Surprisingly, the same night the plane landed, he came to sign into the police station after 12 midnight. That would be around the same time the plane would be landing. And this female police officer facilitated him to the extent that she took the diary from inside the station and took it outside the station for him to sign. That for us is an egregious breach. I'm not going to say that she is involved in the plane landing, but her actions in facilitating this individual, knowing who he is, to have signed in at that particular moment is extremely questionable."
But what happened to the cargo, and why wasn't JIOC tracking the flight? We asked Williams.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "JIOC would be in a better position to explain why they were unable to provide to us at tracking on that particular night in question. As you know, we're not the ones who work or manage JIOC. We would normally be fed with information coming out of JIOC as it related to the tracking and once we get that information then we activate our operational teams to go into different areas that we would anticipate the plane may likely land. But in this case, that did not occur."
"We have searched the entire area using drones and we have not been able to do so. The Sibun River is not too far away from the area where the plane landed so we believe if there was any cargo on board the aircraft, it may have left the area via the Sibun River."
Reporter: "How was this plane disposed of because we came to the understanding that it was burnt, why was this the case?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Yes, that's a directive that the plane be destroyed. It's the trend that we do now. Instead of putting these planes out for auction and sold to the highest bidder, it's the policy now that we destroy them so as to not have these planes reused. We have seen instances before where the planes were auctioned off and then the next thing we know, the plane ends up right back in Belize with another set of cargo so to eliminate that from happening, these aircrafts are now destroyed on the spot."
Courtney Menzies: "Is this the first suspected drug plane to have landed since the one in Corazon Creek last December?"
Another teenage motorcyclist was killed in an accident last week. 19 year old Carlos Romero was close to his home in Belmopan when he crashed into a ten wheeler truck. He held on for about three hours before he was pronounced dead.
But his family says he wasn't out for a joyride, speeding through the city's streets. He was operating his own business and was working when the incident occurred.
Courtney Menzies spoke with his father and has that story.
19 year old Carlos Romero was a motorcyclist who made a living from his delivery service. But on Thursday afternoon, he collided with a ten wheeler truck and his bike stood no chance.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Upon their arrival, they saw a ten wheel truck and a motorcycle with damages. Information received is that the motorcycle collided with the truck causing the driver of the motorcycle to be trapped under the tires of the truck. The person was removed and he was identified as Carlos Romero, he was taken for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries. An NIP has been served on the driver of the truck and an investigation is ongoing and at the end we will determine if any charges will be levied."
Romero's father was at work when he got the call his son had been in an accident. Only an hour and a half after he arrived at the hospital, his son took his final breath.
It was shocking for the family since he knew his son to be a careful driver.
Jorge Romero, Father of Deceased "He was a runman, he did deliveries, and this was his station. When they called him, he goes to do the run and then he comes back home. He was operating from home. His business was delivery, what they call a runman."
Courtney Menzies: "So he was riding motorcycles for a while."
Jorge Romero, Father of Deceased "Yes, he was riding motorcycles for a while."
Courtney Menzies: "And he's usually a careful driver?"
Jorge Romero, Father of Deceased "Yes. He was a… guy that he thinks about the others and he takes care of himself on the streets and his mom was always telling him to be careful and I see him several times around, I never saw him speeding. He was responsible guy."
"According to what I heard, the vehicle, the truck was going down to St Jude's Street and he was coming from St Peter's Street. St Jude Street is a street that you have to stop. There's a stop area, the signs are not there but as a driver, we know that you need to stop and whosoever is coming from St Peter, St Joseph, they have the right of way. But going down to St Jude's, you have to stop. We're supposed to stop as a driver. What I heard was that the truck was going down through St Jude's and it didn't stop. And it's a heavy truck so you can't just lash brakes and it will stop."
And Romero says before this, he never had to worry about what his teenage son was up to:
Jorge Romero, Father of Deceased "My son was a nice guy. Very responsible, hardworking. He was just 19 years old. He had dreams, he wanted to be something in life, do something in life. yes, he would socialize, drinks, goes out with his sisters. I never heard that my son caught in a fight, never they arrested him at the station. At 19 years old, to me he was a nice guy. He didn't give us headache like in those situations that we have to leave home at midnight to see him at the station. He was a nice guy, not because it's my son I will talk like that, but he was a nice guy, he never gave us that kind of worries."
And in San Pedro, a woman has been left traumatized after she had to escape her ex-husband, who she believes was trying to kill her. 30 year old Sabela Brakeman was at home when, around 2:30 in the morning, her ex-husband broke into her home, beat her, and forced her on a jet ski heading to Caye Caulker. He threatened her life and to save herself, Brakeman had to jump into the water and swim to shore in Caye Caulker to get help.
ACP Hilberto Romero gave us more details.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "She reported that she was in San Pedro inside her bedroom when she was attacked by her ex-husband, Kenny Brakeman who broke down the door and hit her and a roommate with a piece of stick. Brakeman did placed her on a jetski and headed towards Caye Caulker. Somewhere near Caye Caulker, she managed to jump on the water and she went to seek help. An investigation was carried out, she was then transported to the KHMH for treatment where she remains in a stable condition. We are still looking for Kenny Brakeman as he has not been found."
Courtney Menzies: "Have there been previous reports of domestic violence in this household?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Not that we know of."
Reporter: "Where do we believe that he's hiding?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "We're not sure, the last area he was seen was in the Caye Caulker area but he has not been found."
Brakeman was forced to leave her three kids behind at home after she was abducted.
Heading west, two firearms - a 9mm pistol and a .223 rifle - were destroyed in a fire at Tan's Store in Valley of Peace. Jing Tan told officers that he saw the smoke shortly before the flames engulfed the house.
In the end, $150,000 worth of items from the store and $50,000 in cash in different denominations were destroyed in the fire.
Here's what the cops know so far:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Jing Tan reported that he was at home when he saw smoke in the kitchen area. Thereafter the building caught fire. Several items were damaged including two firearms. An investigation is being carried out to try and determine the cause of the fire."
Courtney Menzies: "Those firearms were licensed?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Yes they were licensed firearms."
Courtney Menzies: "Was he home alone?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "There were other persons there, but he was home at the time."
Reporter: "Any injuries?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "No injuries were reported."
The CEO in the Ministry of Natural Resources accidentally knocked down and killed a man. It happened on Friday evening around 6:00 in Cotton Tree Village while the victim was reportedly walking in the middle of the highway.
ACP Romero told us more details, but refused to name Thompson as the driver, despite the fact that those involved in road traffic accidents are routinely named:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Police visited the area where they saw a GMC vehicle with damages. The driver of that vehicle reported that he was driving when suddenly a male person crossed his path and he knocked down the male person. The male person was taken for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries. He was identified as Zacharias Tesucum and an investigation is ongoing at this time. The driver has been served with an NIP and samples were taken from him."
Reporter: "The name of the driver?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "The driver has not been charged so I won't say the name."
Courtney Menzies: "But we usually report the name of drivers who are in accidents even before they're charged."
Reporter: "And especially if they're served with an NIP."
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "I'll get back to you on that."
An officer's house was fired upon in Corozal. And while many comments on social media made light of the situation, the ComPol defended his officer, saying that he works hard to keep citizens safe. He condemned the public's comments, adding that the officer's life could have been in danger.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We do have a home of a police officer who is assigned to the Corozal QRT that was shot at sometime last week. Again we take this very seriously. We have a basic idea who are those persons behind it. Police have been going after these individuals and contrary to what I saw on social media, and again I want to day to the Belizean people that we cannot be insensitive to issues, especially where the potential loss of life existed. We can't be too harsh on the police officers who are out there everyday making sure you are safe. I saw some of the comments where people were saying, that good for the police, the police are chancey, the police are this, the police are that. Those comments are very disgusting. At the end of the day, we cannot live in a society where the police is not respected because if the criminals don't respect the police, then how do you expect as an ordinary citizens, the criminals are going to respect you? We have to be careful what we promote and what we encourage. Again, the police officer in question whose house was shot up, he's an extremely hardworking police and I can say a very decent one as well. You don't hear his name out there involved in any criminal activities but certainly he goes after the criminals and perhaps that's the reason why he was targeted because he's extremely tough on those persons in the Corozal district who are hellbent on committing crimes so this is an officer who is out there everyday doing his best, going above and beyond ensuring the safety of people of Corozal Town and I think that he ought to be commended and in a time like this, where we saw that he was targeted, we need to sympathize with him and at the same time extend whatever support we can to make him feel comfortable in continuing to discharge his duties as a police officer."
42 year old Matthew Moses was shot and killed earlier this month in San Pedro Town. Police have not classified this as a murder just yet and today ACP Romero said they are waiting on the DPP's directives.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Reference that investigation the file was sent to the DPP and we're awaiting directives."
Courtney Menzies: "Is the police suspecting self defense or anything...?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "Again, the file was sent to the DPP with all the relevant statements, what was found at the scene, and we will await directives from the DPP."
Courtney Menzies: "Can you confirm whether the victim had been threatening the gunman?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED "They had previous incidents where threats were passed and eventually that led to the shooting."
After four days of heavy showers, bridges, culverts and a number of roadways remain flooded in the Cayo district. From San Jose Succotz north to Bullet tree, these flood waters will not recede overnight, and the damage left behind will take some time to restore and repair as well. We visited the Cayo district today and here's what we saw. Jomarie Lanza reports.
The sun may be out after days of non stop rain across the country, but for those out West in the Cayo district it marks the beginning of what may be weeks of cleaning and attempting to restore what was lost to the Macal rivers aggressive flood waters. Though Tropical storm Sara did not make landfall in Belize until Saturday, Mayor Earl Trapp told us today that they started receiving distress calls days before when the rains began.
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio, Santa Elena "The calls began to come in on Thursday evening. The rain started about 3, 3.30 and about 6.30, 7 the calls began to pour in on people needing help to clear the drain, the culvert heads and I think one family needed to be evacuated. So that's when we started since Thursday evening and up to this point we are still working."
The images and videos that spread across social media from the flooding in the Cayo district became such a concern even to the prime minister, that he also toured today to see it for himself.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "After looking at the record rains that we had over the weekend and looking at some of the images of the flooding that was taking place especially here in San Ignacio and Santa Elena, Bullet Tree and then some other villages I think it was important for me to come and take a first hand look as to what has happened and the amount of damage and see what it is that we can rebuild and try to assist the people in this area."
And one of those areas most affected was further out West in San Jose Succotz. Their chairlady told us that they have not seen flooding like this since 2008 where the water came all up onto the highway obstructing traffic and causing MIDH to step in and assist. Chairlady Sherel Cocom says that they had to open their shelters, not only to cater to those affected in the village but also because they will be receiving dozens more from Calla Creek.
Sherel Cocom, Chairlady, San Jose Succotz "Well, at the moment we do have a family of 10 and based on what I have heard from Mr. Jimmy Leslie is that yes, we are having more people from Calacreek. Calacreek is in the worst condition at the moment with the flooding and we are expecting at least 50 more people to come to the shelter."
Reporter "You can cater to that, you have enough room and you have enough supplies?"
Sherel Cocom, Chairlady, San Jose Succotz "Well, at the moment, as I stated on my own, I don't have the support, right? Everything that even fuel, it has to come out from my pocket. Food, anything, it comes out from my pocket, right? So I'm not very rich, but whatever I have, I do give it back to the community. As I stated, I reach out to the community and they are very responsive. That is one thing I do love about my village, San Jose Succotz."
And back in Bullet Tree the only bridge used to enter and exit the village was completely closed off by flood waters, leaving those on the other side with no other option but to wait it out, keeping residents like Roberto Perez, a Tacos vendor from making a living.
Robert Perez, Bullet Tree Resident "Well, to my experience, this is a couple years that I'm living here in the village, so to me, it's the first time I'm experiencing this here. Well, to me, the water rises, and then it goes down, and then like in a few hours goes back, and then from last night to this morning, last night it went down all the way almost by the entrance of the bridge, but by this morning, around seven to eight o'clock, it's already by that sign there that says Road Close, and then by this afternoon is where we are already seeing that the water has coming more, yeah, rising even more higher."
"Well, it's affecting me big time because we are tacos vendors. We sell across the bridge, and we are not being able to do our sales as normal, and then also I have my child that I haven't returned home because I can't cross the bridge, so it's do affecting me, and I'm sure that's affecting all the neighbors as well. As you can see here, a lot of houses are already underwater, well at least one foot at least underwater."
The flood waters surely have wreaked havoc out West, which is nothing out of the ordinary for those living and working in low lying areas. Every time it rains the Macal will rise and flood out the market, which now leaves the question as to why not have the market moved elsewhere. Mayor Trapp says that it's easier said than done.
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio, Santa Elena "The only good thing with being here, we have the nice Macal River view, you know, but in terms of keeping the market open and the services are always available, and yes, I think it's a good idea to begin looking for an area that we can relocate in the very near future. Because with global warming and climate change, I don't see it getting better."
"So you're right. We can have a lot of freak storms and water rising, and people have to be inconvenience with their goods back and forth. So I think it's an excellent idea, and it is something that I will take up as the local leader and maybe put it in a consultation with the general public. But first of all, we need to look for an area that is adequate for our market."
And while the waters are descending on the west - they still have not receded in the Albion Islands of the north - and now - those areas are facing another wave of flooding.
But when the village of Douglas flooded along with the "Albions", the PM criticized residents for choosing to stay and live in a flood prone area, stating quote, "They expect the government to help them, it's not fair to Belizean tax payers to go out every year to go out and bail out." End quote.
So does that also go for the people in Bullet Tree and Paslow falls, who experience similar flooding whenever the river rises. We asked the PM today whether he would suggest they should move from the area like those in Douglas. Here's how he responded.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't think that they are as bad as Douglas, I mean Douglas is a particular case that every year pretty much every year they get flooded, bullet tree and some of these other areas is just when you have these excessive rains and thankfully it's not happening every year but it is something that we also have to take into consideration when we are building when we are working with the communities to ensure that not because the land looks pretty it's adequate especially that climate change is upon us we have to understand that the weather patterns have changed the way it rains have changed at one point you know you have a moderate rain for an hour or two or it goes on for much longer but it's not that heavy showers you get for an hour or two sometimes you have two or three inches of water in an hour or two hours and the culverts we have are not designed to be able to take that amount of water so we have to start to think about climate change and the reality we are facing especially here in the Caribbean and Central America and Belize certainly being no exception."
And speaking of exceptions, the Compol. Says his police were EXCEPTIONAL during the storm. While you were hunkered down in your home, the police were out in full force ensuring that criminals weren't out in the streets. They were also out making sure that the NEMO's directives were followed.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I need to commend the members of the police department. I believe that our officers were out there doing the best they could have. They were adhering to instructions as the advice was coming out of NEMO and other than that they were also doing their day to day policing work, conducting patrols in various hotspots, business areas, all with a view to ensure that they minimize the amount of criminal activity that may occur. As you would know, criminals tend to take advantage of these natural disasters to be able to commit their crimes so the police have had to look at tropical storm duties as well as the ordinary duties. And as much as we had flooding in almost every part of the country, our officers did not use flooding as an excuse not to come to work. They showed up with their raincoats, their rubber boots, and they were willing and ready to deliver for the Belizean people and so I want to, on behalf of myself and the minister, extend a heartfelt thank you to the men and women of the police department, as well the coast guard and the BDF who worked alongside us during the storm watch. And in terms of the directive coming out of NEMO to close down businesses, again the police had to enforce that and I don't think that we had much pushback, I think for the most part, Belizeans were compliant. Many of them did not open, and the few that opened, when the police went to them and told them to close, they closed down without any issue. And so we are also thankful to the Belizean people for adhering to the instructions as they came out of NEMO."
Turning now to politics, as we told you last week - the Mayor of San Pedro is under accusation that he demanded a personal payment from a hostel owner trying to get a permit approved for her construction.
Tonight, Jules Vasquez looks at allegations from both sides of what really is a most un-neighborly dispute between neighbors:
To understand our story, you have to understand the relationship of these three buildings. Father of the Mayor, Wally Nunez owns this one to the right - that's parcel 1214, and the two lots to the left, 1213 and 1212 are leased and owned by his neighbors, August Tabony and Brittney Odaniel.
That's the Sandbar hostel and an extension to it currently being constructed.
And then there's the pier, built in front of parcel 1213 - used by Odaniel for the guests of her Hostel.
These are the sources of the entire dispute between Mayor Nunez and his neighbor Odaniel.
She demolished an old building that used to be on parcel 1212 to put up this new iron framed one. But, the process of getting the permit for that is where she claims Mayor Nunez, her neighbor abused his office - by, she says, blocking the permit for the new construction.
In response, the mayor says "I don't issue any construction permits. That's granted through the building unit."
But Odaniel says she got a meeting with the Mayor in August to complain about the delay in issuing a construction permit.
In her lawsuit, she claims that Nunez, quote, "made clear that the Town Council's Building Unit would only grant a permit for the construction on parcel 1212 if (she moved the pier from Parcel 1213, which (Mayor Nunez) claimed hindered construction of his own pier on parcel 1214." Her suit claims that "he used his power to withhold official permits until she removed her pier for his personal benefit."
Still, she says she agreed to relocate the pier twenty-five feet to the south to make room for his pier- and with that she alleges "he agreed and promised to deliver the construction permit the following day."
But Nunez did not deliver that permit - and this is where things take a turn. Her suit claims "Then, on 12th August…(Mayor Nunez) sent word to the First Claimant that he required payment to him personally of thirty-six thousand eight hundred Belize Dollars before he would grant the construction permit." She says she paid him the money.
The mayor claims first that he took no money from Odaniel. He says that what he did deliver was this, a "no objection" letter which we note is allegedly backdated to June.
Nunez says that letter was for the Central Building Authority and that the council had an issue about Odaniel not leaving adequate space for parking. Odaniel claims that along with the letter, the Mayor gave them verbal approval to proceed with foundation works.
The Central Building Authority gave the go-ahead for the construction and brought in Cayo Steelworks to set up the mainframe of the new construction. But when they tried to bring in the crane to the island, town council employees refused it entry.
Five days later, their attorney Dean Barrow sent this letter threatening suit - and the crane was then allowed on the island.
Then - days later - came these two stop orders from the town council ordering them to cease construction and to dismantle any structure already built. Odaniel claims this is an an act of malice but the mayor shared this letter from the island building unit which cites specific violations of the plan approved by the Central Building Authority. There is an October 10th letter shared by the Mayor's attorney where Odaniel is accepting correction from the CBA and pledging to rectify irregularities.
But the town stop orders were not withdrawn until she paid the council $BZ900.00 - which she calls another act of blackmail. The Mayor's attorney notes that it was a legitimate payment made into the council's account.
And that brings us to the other point of dispute - that of the pier. Odaniel claims that weeks after she agreed to relocate her pier- but hadn't yet, employees from the San Pedro Town Council entered the property and began removing planks from the pier. She claims they had no order from the Ministry of Natural Resources' Pier Unit.
And even though she claims town council employees were doing the work, the mayor told us "the Ministry of Natural Resources sent a letter for the removal of the pier. That has nothing to do with me or the SPTC." End quote. And he showed us that letter, but its dated in September, weeks after town council workers were dismantling the pier.
In a statement posted today, Mayor Nunez says "I understand very well the distinction between personal matters, business ventures and the mandate of mayorship. This lawsuit seems to confuse the public about a dock situation between neighbors with claims that are not within my purview as mayor."
He concludes:
"we are a free country and all persons have a right to make allegations, no matter how outlandish." Only a court can now determine if indeed they are outlandish.
The San Pedro Town Council also chimed in with a statement of its own saying. "The San Pedro Building Unit and the Central Building Authority continue to liaise with the Principals of the Project to ensure adherence to the approved plans…" End quote.
And while the prime minister will eventually have to say something about the allegations against the San Pedro mayor, today we asked him about the man who's on a press tour saying he will replace Briceno. That's the leader of the opposition Shyne Barrow who was on a media tour all of last week in advance of the release of his documentary the Honorable Shyne which premieres tonight on Hulu. And the Prime Minister says he is one of those who will pull up a chair and a bag of popcorn and watch Shyne Barrow.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Unfortunately for him he is not running in the United States he is running in Belize and I doubt he is getting any kind of coverage, the coverage he is getting in Belize let's put it this way is not coverage any leader would want to get. But again timing, it just so happens that P diddy has been arrested for a lot of alleged crimes, sexual and drugs and that kind of stuff and Shyne was apart of that world so I don't know if he was a part of that but it just so happened that he according to him I don't he said it back then during that time that he took the fall for P Diddy it is good marketing for him he is taking advantage when a man is down, P Diddy is down and now he is stepping on him and trying to lift his profile. You don't usually do that I could have been doing that to him everyday and I don't but it's good theater for him and I'm happy for him and he can continue doing that in the United States because that is the life he wants he does not want to be here in Belize he wants to be in the United States of America and the minute he got and became the least of the opposition the first thing he did was ask the black caucus in congress was to ask them if they would support him in getting a visa and as soon as he got his visa he pretty much is more in the US than here and good for him I have no envy for him I don't envy him I am happy for him because Belize is my home and this is the only home I will ever have and I don't plan to go anywhere. Will I see the documentary when it becomes available of course I'll look at it and then see how they have spinned things and I'm sure that if the producers were to come and interview the people that were praising him back then I'm sure you would get a different picture but they probably know that by now."
Shyne Barrow is planning a local premiere for this weekend.
The evening at 5:30, Tropic Air received a brand new plane to add to its fleet. We have footage of that, and last week Jomarie Lanza spoke to the CEO about the gradual change in the airline's fleet:
He's the chef who came to Belize from PG just to follow his dreams, Chef Ainsley is highly rated and known for his exquisite cooking, but his true passion comes out when he prepares cultural meals. Today, he did that with an added touch, which was an offering to the ancestors including Hudut, Sahou, and Darasa.
19th In The City Will Be Hype
And despite the storm that passed through this weekend, the activities for the 19th are full steam ahead. If you can't make it to the south, well, you won't be missing out on much here in the city. The Belize City branch of the NGC has a packed 24 hours for you, starting tonight at the Civic Center. The president, Raphael Martinez, told us all about it.
While Belizeans Party, Cops Patrol
And the police will be there to ensure that everyone has safe fun. The ComPol told us that officers will be deployed all over the country, but he is also asking for the public's cooperation.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We are actively involved in the policing of the 19th celebration activities. In Belize City, in Belmopan, and down south, I think those are the areas we are seeing activities. Our specialize units will be deployed to these activities to assist the local police in ensuring the safety of people. I just want to encourage or call upon our citizens who are going to these events to celebrate the 19th, to please do so in such a way that you don't expose yourself to harm and if you're going to enjoy yourself do so in such a way that you don't infringe on the rights of people. If you're going to drive, don't drink, if you're going to drink, don't drive. At the end of the day, we want everyone to celebrate and when the celebrations are over, we want everyone to go home to their families safe, that's the important thing and so making sure that we are civil in how we celebrate is important and so I just want to ask everybody who are going to be a part of this 19th celebration to always consider the other person who is around and try not to do anything to hurt or harm anybody, and once that is done I think we should be able to come on Wednesday to say that we had a good 19th celebration."
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Tonight, many Belizeans are relaxed after Tropical Storm Sara did blow over "like wah lee breeze" - but for those in flood prone communities, the ordeal is just beginning as flood waters start to roll down.
"I flew all the way up to the Chalillo dam all the way by caracol actually and went into the Belize river valley all the way by Maskall that area. We saw the Chalillo dam is overflowing lots of water more and more water is going to be coming down the Macal and onto San Ignacio Santa Elena and to the villages in these areas. Our hope is that it does not rain because if it doesn't then the waters are still running out so hopefully the flooding will not be as bad and it becomes serious when you have lots of rain and all of the water is coming down we have to take into account that we have waters coming in from Guatemala the concern about the waters coming in from Guatemala is that the lot of these villages most of these citizens are very very poor and they have their latrines right next to the river and there has been cases that once the Latrine gets full and the river is overflowing with water then you know the feces and everything comes into the river and that water is going to run into Belize into the Cayo district and some of our villagers get water from those, that's their water source so we have to be on the look out to ensure that no one gets cholera or gets sick from the water being contaminated so we are going to be having more and more water running down and we hope that it does not rain but here in the planes in Cayo where Santander where hundreds or acres of cane lands are under water lots of small farmers have lost their crop, the vegetables in Cayo central by La Gracia also by mile 7 that area we have a lot of our farmers that grow vegetables and their crops are under water so overall what we are seeing is a lot of infrastructural damage like what we are seeing here at this small bridge that connects to San Martin Primary school and agricultural crops that small farmers are losing we have to see how we can fix the infrastructure and also the infrastructure that can now hold the kind of water that is running down and to also work with our small farmers and see how we can help them."
While the PM has made note that the San Ignacio Santa Elena Mayor Earl Trapp will be included in the damage relief funds, Trapp gave us more insight today on some of the observations he made while cleaning up the market this afternoon.
"Well, I can tell you that when it comes to infrastructure, the streets, drains, culverts, I think it's going to be something very high. And hence, the reason I've called on the CEO and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and, of course, the Minister responsible for this area to pool the resources with the Council and to see how we can restore our towns to where it was before the storm started about two months ago."
Coming up in our next segment - we'll show you the situation in flooded communities further west than San Ignacio.
And in crime news, on Sunday, police recovered over 4 million in pesos - which is over 400 thousand Belize dollars - after a heist in the Corozal Free Zone was thwarted by police. The Commissioner of Police said that the burglars were working in conjunction with a security guard, but the quick response of the cops, and the use of drones, helped them to capture two of four suspects.
"From what we gathered, it's in collusion with the security guard who worked at the establishment so that security guard is also in custody as a part of our investigation."
But while police were able to recover some of the cash in that incident, they haven't been able to locate any of the cargo from the suspected drug plane that landed on Friday morning. In fact, the ComPol said they weren't even aware a plane had landed until about 9 hours after the fact. According to him, they received no information from JIOC. It was actually a farmer that happened upon the plane and reported it.
Another teenage motorcyclist was killed in an accident last week. 19 year old Carlos Romero was close to his home in Belmopan when he crashed into a ten wheeler truck. He held on for about three hours before he was pronounced dead.
"Upon their arrival, they saw a ten wheel truck and a motorcycle with damages. Information received is that the motorcycle collided with the truck causing the driver of the motorcycle to be trapped under the tires of the truck. The person was removed and he was identified as Carlos Romero, he was taken for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries. An NIP has been served on the driver of the truck and an investigation is ongoing and at the end we will determine if any charges will be levied."
Jorge Romero, Father of Deceased 
The CEO in the Ministry of Natural Resources accidentally knocked down and killed a man. It happened on Friday evening around 6:00 in Cotton Tree Village while the victim was reportedly walking in the middle of the highway.
42 year old Matthew Moses was shot and killed earlier this month in San Pedro Town. Police have not classified this as a murder just yet and today ACP Romero said they are waiting on the DPP's directives.
After four days of heavy showers, bridges, culverts and a number of roadways remain flooded in the Cayo district. From San Jose Succotz north to Bullet tree, these flood waters will not recede overnight, and the damage left behind will take some time to restore and repair as well. We visited the Cayo district today and here's what we saw. Jomarie Lanza reports.
"Well, at the moment we do have a family of 10 and based on what I have heard from Mr. Jimmy Leslie is that yes, we are having more people from Calacreek. Calacreek is in the worst condition at the moment with the flooding and we are expecting at least 50 more people to come to the shelter."
"Well, to my experience, this is a couple years that I'm living here in the village, so to me, it's the first time I'm experiencing this here. Well, to me, the water rises, and then it goes down, and then like in a few hours goes back, and then from last night to this morning, last night it went down all the way almost by the entrance of the bridge, but by this morning, around seven to eight o'clock, it's already by that sign there that says Road Close, and then by this afternoon is where we are already seeing that the water has coming more, yeah, rising even more higher."
And while the waters are descending on the west - they still have not receded in the Albion Islands of the north - and now - those areas are facing another wave of flooding.
Turning now to politics, as we told you last week - the Mayor of San Pedro is under accusation that he demanded a personal payment from a hostel owner trying to get a permit approved for her construction.
And while the prime minister will eventually have to say something about the allegations against the San Pedro mayor, today we asked him about the man who's on a press tour saying he will replace Briceno. That's the leader of the opposition Shyne Barrow who was on a media tour all of last week in advance of the release of his documentary the Honorable Shyne which premieres tonight on Hulu. And the Prime Minister says he is one of those who will pull up a chair and a bag of popcorn and watch Shyne Barrow.
