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
There was a major accident on the Hummingbird Highway this afternoon; so far, one person is confirmed dead. It happened around 4:30 p.m. near Armenia Village when an 18-wheeler truck filled with sand and gravel toppled onto its side, killing one man who was removed from the wreckage. There are reports that another person may be crushed underneath. Crews are using an excavator to offload the truck before attempting to pull it back onto its wheels.
The accident shut down the highway and caused traffic blockage for miles on both sides.
We will provide updates and details as they become available.
SmartStream leaks-a few months ago-those were making headlines nightly. It gave the press and the public their first insight into the Mira Millions and then the Kukulkan Scam-leading to the exposure of thousands of related party supply payments in the Ministry of Defence, 99% of them below the $10,000 threshold. The string of exposures led ultimately to the suspension of two ministers from Cabinet and triggered an emergency audit from the Auditor General's Office.
It emerged as a compelling form of radical transparency-but tonight, Government has pulled the shutters closed.
The information about those payments to politically favored companies were some of the most important and impactful exposes in Belize's history, and they all came through screenshots stolen by whistleblowing public officers.
Well, it looks like Government just took that whistle away.
The Public Service Union reports that, "Finance Officers throughout the public service have had their access to the SmartStream financial management system curtailed. Finance Officers are now able to view transactions only within the ministry in which they are posted. The ability to view payments and transactions in other ministries, and across Government as a whole, has been withdrawn."
Tonight, the PSU is condemning this decision and demanding its immediate reversal.
They say, quote, "Restricting Finance Officers to their own ministry therefore does not simply reduce transparency in the abstract-it removes the very line of sight that exposed the conduct now under investigation."
In closing, the PSU concludes, quote, "Finance Officers do not work for ministers. They work for the people of Belize, and the money they account for is not the Government's money. Restore the access."
Over a month ago, an environmental disaster unfolded in the Belize River Valley as residents woke up to dead fish and marine life floating down the waterway.
Five weeks later, have they isolated the cause?
Today, we followed up with the Minister of Sustainable Development on the fish kill and what their findings are. He explained what was in the report:
Jomarie Lanza: "On Friday, the Department of the Environment will meet with residents of the River Valley in Double Head. What will you all be telling them?"
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development "We will be making a report as far as we have currently on the status of the investigation on the river kill, the fish kill. They have done the investigation; the department has also secured assistance from other entities who have now confirmed that the results of what the department has picked up from the different tests and analysis is the same thing that they are also reporting."
Jomarie Lanza: "What has the investigation found, and what is the cause or the culprit for the fish kill in the river?"
Orlando Habet: "So the main culprit is organic material that flowed down into the river along with some incidents of pesticides or fertilizer that came from the different farms, including Santander, the rice farm, and other small farms that are around. But the flooding event that occurred weeks before, where the entire area was flooded with ten and a half inches of rain in twelve hours, caused the movement of all of this organic material into the river."
On Friday night at the Double Head Cabbage Village Community Center, the Department of the Environment will be hosting a Public Information Session to present the findings from environmental monitoring conducted in relation to the fish kill.
It might take a while for the environment to heal, but there are also steps that the Ministry can take to ensure that those agents don't end up in the river again and impact the fish population.
Habet says that they are discussing solutions at all levels and they are also taking a look at implementing a new EIA:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development "Yes, certainly the department is looking at these companies, reviewing their ECP, looking at one, whether or not they are complying with what is in the ECP, if needs to be, to strengthen the ECP so that we can prevent as much as possible a recurrence of the same incident. Just to mention though, to recall that the fish were dying way down the Belize River Valley; fish were not dying immediately where the source of the problem was or coming from. And so it lends itself, and even when speaking to the other specialist, well, it does not necessarily mean that they will die there; it could be here, the accumulation of the agents that caused the kill further down river. But it also begs the question as of what is also happening further up river-if you come from San Ignacio, what are the effluents going into the river in San Ignacio? Because it is the second largest municipality after Belize City.
"So we have to look at what is happening there. And in Cabinet, what has been discussed is that we are looking, along with the Ministry of Natural Resources, the implementation of the land use policy. There might be very little we can do now because people are established along the river, but for any new land or for any type of... that kind of development, we might be able to look at requirements for EIAs to be done in smaller areas-not only 300 acres or more, but less if it is along a river stream or a water flow like a stream or a river."
As Minister of Sustainable Development, Habet is also responsible for the Forest Department-which is emerging in the public view as a possible hotbed of corruption.
For the past few nights, we've been showing you Forest Department drivers transporting confiscated mahogany-at night-to a private commercial lumberyard. That lumber was privately sold the next day.
So what does the Minister think of those questionable moves? Well, Habet went back to the seizure of the unpermitted mahogany with police support on July 1st. Here is how he unspooled the whole episode from there:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development "It is an old video that came out some two months ago, more or less. Recall that we have a Compliance Unit, and the Compliance Unit has to be out there, but many times when the Compliance Unit gets out there, it is because somebody has called or received some information. It might be that if the place is close enough and it is during the day that they can deploy right away; sometimes it happens at night and they can't go at night, but they might have to go in the morning. Additionally, they have to try to see if they can get the escort of police officers. In this case, they got a call, they went out there, and the Police Department sent out the MIU unit along with them. They had a warrant, so they had to cut a lock to go in to look at some of the equipment that was within that property. And that was because the day before, when they went in the evening, they saw the tractor, they saw the vehicle, they saw lumber, but they could not take it out-it was night. So when they went back the next day, it was gone, so they got the warrant, they got the police, and they went out there and they got to get into the property. When they got some of the lumber, because not all the lumber was taken out, they decided to set up something. So they wanted to see who would claim the lumber, so by exporting the lumber, supposedly, as was told to the officer, to see if they can sell the lumber and somebody will follow them. And that is exactly what happened. As soon as they arrived close to where they were supposed to sell the lumber, then the illegal logger came up and made the claim that it is his lumber, and they were sent to court, and I think they are being charged. But of course, the public will have their own opinion based on what they are seeing in the video, but there is always more than one story."
So, he frames it all as a kind of sting operation-even though that same so-called illegal logger was allowed to sell the lumber.
And what about the role of the two drivers who transported the lumber to the lumberyard? They're described in a release as Forest Officers. How did that happen? Here's Habet's explanation:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development "Yes, so we have information from notorious illegal loggers, and the most notorious ones are those same two who were taken to court. However, it is difficult for the department to pick up somebody and take them to court if there is no evidence. So we have had information that they have been in the Pine Ridge, they have been down south in the Armenia area, they are tearing the forest apart, but we just can't get them. On this occasion, it was good because even though they didn't catch them on-hand cutting the logs, they claimed the lumber was for them, and it was from illegal logging."
Jomarie Lanza: "Would you be able to confirm if the drivers were named Jorge Galvez and Walter Padilla, simply operating on instructions?"
Orlando Habet: "Yes, even if they are not forest officers, the Chief Forest Officer, Acting Chief Forest Officer can give them the authority to go out and act on behalf of the department."
Jomarie Lanza: "Galvez said he received instructions from Victoria, presumably Victoria Chi. What is your response to this?"
Orlando Habet: "Victoria Chi is, or at least then was, the compliance officer, Director of the Compliance Unit."
Tonight, 25-year-old Roderick Burns, a driver at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, has been charged with attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm, and dangerous harm. The charges stem from a dispute that resulted in 23-year-old Jaheim Thomas being shot on Monday, September 7, in Belmopan. Tonight, Thomas is in a stable condition at the Western Regional Hospital. We spoke with Thomas' sister, who gave her version of events:
Tamayia Neal, Sister of Gunshot Victim "So when my brother come out back, a car that was out there... like he was trying to open the car door and it couldn't open, and then Roderick Burns Jr. come-and he came and he point the gun and he shot my brother two times. It's three shots in all, but he shot my brother two times, and a police that was still lost in the bush that was there shoot one. So Roderick Burns come from close range and he shot him two times, and that's why made my brother drop. So after that, I turned around and I looked at him and said, 'You really shot my brother?' And after that, when he shot him, a police came directly from behind him, got the gun, and he and a police walk toward the vehicle when he came.
"We made a statement yesterday, but we didn't get any information about what they're doing or, you know, I don't know if they're looking into it or what, but yesterday we did go give our statement. My brother is in the hospital as I'm speaking, recovering. Can't really move and thing like that, but..."
Reporter "So what is like the outcome you want from this entire situation?"
Tamayia Neal: "I just want the truth. I just want them to be honest."
Burns was subsequently arraigned and remanded to custody until December 11, 2026. We reached out to one of his relatives who explained that this arose from a dispute earlier in the day where Thomas made threats to a Burns family member. The Burns family claims that he was using a licensed firearm and was defending his family when the incident happened.
The broad daylight murder of highway worker Kareem Garcia on his job site last week Monday was shocking. And now, police have charged a Belize City resident for the killing.
Police have formally arrested and charged 19-year-old Leon St. Claire with murder. There is believed to have been an ongoing gang-related rivalry.
Tonight, eight months after our initial report, the fallout from the collapse of American Northwest University's medical program in Belmopan is becoming clearer. For the Belizean students who invested years of their lives and thousands of dollars into the institution, the consequences may extend far beyond the school's closure.
The situation became even more troubling when the Ministry of Education disclosed that ANU's charter had actually expired in June 2024 and was not renewed because the institution failed to meet the required terms and conditions.
What some thought would be a seamless transition from ANU to the University of Belize School of Medicine was merely wishful thinking. Jaleeza Roberts looks beyond the horizon of the offshore medical school known as ANU:
7News first reported in January that ANU students had been left in limbo after American Northwest University stopped operating, leaving students uncertain about what would happen next: would their transcripts, their credits be accepted at another school-or was it years invested in study and thousands of dollars spent down the drain?
One student told 7News she had spent nearly three years at ANU, including tuition, rent, food, transportation, and utilities, only to face the prospect of starting over.
Dr. Lisa Johnson, Dean of the University of Belize School of Medicine, says the credits are not transferable to the University of Belize School of Medicine. The issue is compatibility.
Dr. Lisa Johnson, Dean, University of Belize School of Medicine "The offshore medical school system that exists in this country is not for this country. The University of Belize is for this country. The University of Belize School of Medicine is for this country. I don't even want to waste the breath to talk about the offshore medical schools in Belize because their presence has not made it easy for us to establish ourselves, simply because the rest of the world sees us as a location for these types of institutions.
"Because that was not at any standard of a medical school. So that's the first thing-they can't. And we... I spoke to a number of those students and unfortunately we weren't... they were not in a position to be transferred to us. For many of them, we recommended that they apply for the pre-medical program in the Faculty of Science and Technology, and I don't know if they had the qualifications to get in to that. Some of them did, some of them had done some work already, but they needed to go back and complete the associates in pre-medical sciences."
So starting all over-but it raises the question of how students got to the point where they could spend years and substantial amounts of money pursuing a medical education at an institution which was-as Johnson put it-"not at any standard of a medical school." But yet it was still sanctioned by Belize's Ministry of Education.
And even after ANU's charter was not renewed in 2024, students and parents were left in the dark-they continued attending and paying.
Some were as far along as third year and some even took out student loans to afford tuition. At the time, we spoke with an anonymous student who said this:
Voice of: Anonymous "I'm a bit frustrated and confused because I have nothing, no degree, you know. People my age have an associate's degree by now, but because I went straight to ANU, I have nothing. And then it's like I have to start over because they're telling us that no school will even accept the transcript, not that they even want to provide a transcript for us. So I always wanted to be a doctor. But because of this pushback, it has me thinking if I still want to pursue medicine because I really have to start over. That was like three years of my life. Well, I haven't completed the three years, but two years that I wasted."
The ANU students are therefore left confronting the grim reality that their time and money were wasted: no refund, no stepping stones to continue; they had invested in an educational dead end.
And that is precisely why the issue of chartering and oversight of offshore medical schools is brought into sharp focus.
In January, we asked the Minister of Education, who said he does not know on whose advice Belizeans were attending this school:
Reporter "What would happen to these students who are mostly Belizean? We have at least one parent complaining to us that it's a waste of their time and money. Her daughter was going into her third year."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education "Yeah, well, I mean, listen, I know one of the institutions has some students, has Belizean students. For the most part, all of the others have foreign nationals who are their students. These schools were really not set up for Belizeans. So, you know, I don't know when Belizeans started attending these schools and on whose advice they started attending these schools. We certainly provide no support to any students attending these schools, and that is the policy of the Ministry of Education. But yes, when these schools have a charter, there are certain obligations that come with that charter. And if those terms, the terms of the charter are being violated, we have a duty and responsibility to address it. And that's what we're doing."
While that correction comes too late for the impacted students, a critical question remains: Does Belize possess adequate regulatory safeguards to guarantee that medical institutions meet recognized standards of quality and transferability before they are permitted to market programs, recruit applicants, and collect tuition?
For the students stranded in the wake of ANU's collapse, the answer is an emphatic "no."
Jaleeza Roberts, 7News.
Students wanting to enroll in the UB School of Medicine can contact them via the UB website.
At the time when we first aired the story on the collapse of ANU, it included an intimidating voice message sent to students by Dr. Shah Helmond, who was the Director at ANU.
Well, yesterday we saw that he was the emcee at the UB White Coat Ceremony.
This might raise concerns for some, given his past history of antagonistic behavior toward students.
We asked Dr. Johnson as Dean of the UB School of Medicine, who explained that they are aware of the incident and Dr. Shah had been assessed:
Dr. Lisa Johnson, Dean, University of Belize School of Medicine "Yes, we had extensive discussions with the individual that you're speaking about. I can say that since he has been a member of our faculty, he has been assessed as any other member of faculty is, and he has come through all of his assessments with flying colors.
"Since that person joined our faculty, his activities-teaching and related activities, his service activities to the medical school-have all been of commendable standard.
"We have a very strict system-the University of Belize has a very strict system of assessing its faculty and the interactions of its faculty with its students. As a Dean, I walk into any class at any point in time to see what's going on. That's also the role of the Associate Dean, that's also the role of every member of faculty. We are aware of what goes on in our classrooms; we are aware of the interactions that occur between our faculty and our students. We're very, very strict with that, and so as it relates to that, no complaints."
Yesterday, you heard from the Senators on the Millennium Challenge Account Bill, the Education Bill, and the TVET Bill.
Passing the latter two bills would mean repealing and replacing their acts to include necessary amendments for Belize to receive the $125 million U.S. dollar grant from the MCC.
The bills were passed in haste and with material defects, since the Government had until September 18th to get it done.
It's a move that the UDP and the independent senators did not approve of, and they could have blocked the bill-if the Senator for the churches had joined them. But he didn't.
Courtney Menzies has this story of how the bill was passed with a razor-thin majority:
Yesterday's Special Sitting of the Senate had one main goal: debate and-ultimately-pass the Millennium Challenge Account Bill, along with the Education and TVET Bills that accompany it. It was important for the Government that these bills get passed immediately, since they were faced with a 10-day deadline in order to receive the MCC grant.
But many senators felt the bill was being rushed through despite many flaws, with over 20 proposed amendments. The independent senators, like Glenfield Dennison in particular, criticized the move:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "Respect where respect is due, it's $125 million that we didn't have, and despite what we would hear of how good the economy is doing, we need it. Proof of that is that we are passing through pieces of legislation that we know are not ready to pass the scrutiny that is usually done by the Senate. We have a letter which suggests that amendments will be made to the Education Bill, so we are conceding now before we pass the bill into law and make it an Act, we're conceding that it is flawed in these ways and we will need to change it later on-I have a fundamental problem with that. I recommend what ought to have happened is in the 10 days we meet in committee, we pass our amendments, including the one that is envisioned by the Minister of Education, and we send it back to the House so they can have a House meeting before the 18th so they could pass that into law. That's what ought to have occurred, but we don't have time and we need the money and we have to do it and just pass it blind. I won't vote for it."
Even the Churches Senator, Louis Wade Jr., explained that it was a big request being made of the members, but he conceded that it would be passed regardless.
Louis Wade Jr., Churches Senator "This is a big ask. It is a very big ask, coming with the energy, experience, education having spent, as I said, about 75 active hours to get a request that says pass it with the amendment of the lower House but hold your amendments until after September the 18th. I am saying that because I hope that this is the first and last time that such an ask be made.
"If we want $125 million, then we need to do things the right way, expeditiously, the technical staff, do the proper consultations, move the bill properly through the Lower House into the committee, into the Senate, etc. So the ask will be granted, but I think it needs to be clear that it is a very difficult ask."
And when the time came for voting, Senator Dennison requested a division, but the bill had an overwhelming majority support, with Senator Wade being the only independent senator who voted in favor.
President "Honorable members, 13 votes have been cast: 10 votes are yes, 3 abstain, the ayes have it."
And with the bills passed, the Leader of Government Business assured the Senate that the bills will be opened up for debate and subsequent amendments.
Eamon Courtenay, Leader of Government Business "We are all acting in good faith in a difficult situation. The public interest, the national interest of Belize requires that we pass the bill today on the firm commitment of the Minister that we will open up the bill for the amendments, and as I indicated to my colleagues, when the bill comes to the Senate, it is the entire bill that will be opened for debate."
And today, we spoke further with Labour Senator Glenfield Dennison, who explained that he simply could not support pushing the bills in their current state. He said that while it was a strong "ask" from the Government, it was, in his view, regressive and a bad look for Belize as it approaches Independence Day:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "The difficulty is that we had an information session on two of those pieces of legislation where we identified numerous gaps. The letter from the Minister of Education was very clear that, you know, there were technical issues that... it was just a failure of the Government to have marshaled the piece of legislation properly through the House of Representatives. This is a House of Representatives failure. Because the people who were still lobbying for changes at the Senate-the amendments that were still trying to be made at the Senate-were already lobbied for in the House of Representatives, right. But I think it was a last-minute effort to try to know, 'Oh gosh, the money's slipping away.' It really became, 'The money will slip away.' And in principle, having already acknowledged that the pieces of legislation are flawed, they're flawed, Courtney, like, admittedly, they're flawed. The task of the Government was to not do our job, to not legislate for money. I don't agree with senators that know. I think it's an insult to prostitutes to have said that that's what they asked us to do. But that was too much-like we were asked to not legislate in the manner in which we usually legislate: 'So rubber stamp this bill.' And I think it's regressive, and I think it's not what as a country we should be doing, especially not on the eve of our 45th Independence. And so I was very blunt to the Leader of Government Business that I cannot do that. I simply cannot do that. It was obvious to me they would not have asked us that if they did not have the numbers going into the Senate meeting. So I thought it's important to call a division because everybody is acutely aware of what was being asked, being too much to ask, and it was being asked by our Government, but it wasn't our Government asking for it."
So why abstain rather than vote a firm 'nay' on legislation he openly criticized as flawed? We asked Union Senator Dennison for his rationale:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "I abstained and not voted no, if that is your question, fundamentally because the principle of improving our education, not improving our... up and getting a grant, is a principle I support; the principle of not doing our job is a principle I definitely do not support. And so in my mind, Senator Chanona's mind, and Senator Herrera's mind, the appropriate course of action would be to register our protest against doing this by abstaining, and preserve our ability to support the TVET and education improvements."
Courtney Menzies: "So then, what do you make of Senator Wade voting yes?"
And before he went into yesterday's meeting, Senator Dennison was asked by security to remove his licensed firearm and leave it with them. He told the police officer he was not going to do that, and that the officer did not have jurisdiction over him in that moment as a parliamentarian.
Dennison explained that the officer was cordial and in the end, he was allowed to keep the weapon. But the bigger issue, he said, was that he was the only one who was searched:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "The police did not take my firearm yesterday, and I would not surrender my firearm to any police, especially in Parliament. Just out of a sense of citizen security-we're a year after the kidnapping, I am a public figure publicly attacking the cost of living issue, and I'm being attacked because of it. So I have a heightened sense of security. I myself have already been shot. It's not a nice feeling. It's especially not a nice feeling if you can't defend yourself. So it's not something I was open to, just surrendering my firearm to the police, and I told them no.
"The President and I had a chat about it after, and we discussed possible solutions, but that was very amicable. That was one of the moments I was proud to have been in a discussion with President Sandiford. But other than that, the police cannot stop a parliamentarian to or from the Parliament or a Parliament meeting; they can't interfere with the legislative process. I'm not sure how news got wind of it, but I thought it was an internal parliamentary thing. But my say on that is this: unless we are prepared to search every parliamentarian going into that building, don't treat me differently. There's no reason to treat me differently, and I think that's what happened yesterday. We don't know which other parliamentarian, whether any other parliamentarian, had any arm of any type going into the Parliament because they didn't search everybody. So the Standing Orders are silent in relation to that. I am not a member of the gallery, so I reject any attempt to treat me differently than any other parliamentarian."
And while he was in Parliament, Dennison discovered that the Government had created ads attacking him. It stems from Dennison's comment that anyone who doesn't pay their own fuel bill can't relate to everyday Belizeans.
That led to ads showing Dennison's salaries and allowances as both a senator and a Crown counsel. But he told us today that it's no secret-and in fact, they should be ashamed to publish what legislators are being paid.
He said he wasn't offended; he was amused:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "It's funny. Like I saw it in the Parliament, I was laughing. I think it's miscalculated to attack, to do an ad hominem attack against such an important message. I think it's just conclusive of the out-of-touchness of the party in power, and it's very unfortunate. I would like to address how embarrassed I felt that we would publish that a legislator is paid $8,000 U.S. a year, and it's not a proper rebuttal to say or will only meet once a month. The Standing Orders say you're supposed to meet every Tuesday. The Standing Orders envision a Senate that is an actual job and actually doing the work of lawmaking and setting aside, at the very least, the Tuesday of every week to legislate. And I think that is a part of the broken governance system that we don't do what the legislature is meant to do, and that is analyze the policy that is coming out through laws and critique it and try to make it better. And that is really like a full-time job. It should be. It's embarrassing that we would publish that as a senator, you get paid-I think it's $1,365 a month, which was like $16,000 a year-like, is that what you will make an ad about? I thought it went to show how out-of-touch the Government is."
Reporter "And outside of your duties as a senator, of course, you also have a job, an actual job. And they're saying you're not being transparent about how much you make or allowances you get as part of your day job?"
Glenfield Dennison: "That's not a state secret. That is absolutely... that's why I laughed at it. I was actually beside Senator Chanona when I saw it, and she was asking me if I was okay, and I said, 'Janelle, that's public information.' All lawyers who work for the Government are on a certain base salary. Admittedly, I earn a little more because of my years of service in the Government and how I would have been promoted to becoming a lawyer in the Government after having gone to school for five years, and so, but that's an allowance for everybody."
And we also asked Senator Dennison about the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Today, GOB issued a press release saying it was enacted and now introduces workplace safety standards, strengthens worker protections, and lays the foundation for safer workplaces.
Senator Dennison explained that it is a sigh of relief and a celebratory moment for the NTUCB:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "I hope that the Government does more than just put out a press release, but actually put the funds that are needed to set up all the structures that the bill calls for, and to do the proper technical training and recruitment that is necessary so that workers would be able to tap into the inspectorate that they're going to do. Please monitor for us who they are... appoint as the inspector or the Chief Inspector, because that's going to, in my mind, show how serious a Government is about occupational safety. I'm really mostly happy for domestic workers. And that was a big win in the Senate where the law had had a carve-out excluding domestic workers initially. And we got a workaround for them to be included while still trying to preserve the privacy of people in their household. It's a great balance, and that is, to me, up to this time, my time in the Senate is a function of how we can improve legislation when we work together to try to understand the good we're trying to do and find the appropriate workaround for the mischief that is being seen that could come from it."
Reporter "But how difficult do you think it will be to enforce? Because, you know, we have a lot of little construction, for example, and we have people working with all the proper gear... we have, you know, on these big farms, we have a lot of undocumented migrants and human trafficking situations happening. So how difficult do you think it will be to really enforce the OSH Bill?"
Glenfield Dennison: "Okay. So that's a very, very good question. I think it starts with the fact that in the bill, we actually made an amendment to include like anonymous reporting. And so what I think helps with the ability to enforce is first, ability to identify breaches or to flag breaches or possible breaches, right. So I want to start at the mechanism where you can create the report against your would-be employer, or a third party is able to create a report against what they would see could be a possible violation.
"I think enforcement will also come from a mindset shift of safety being a top priority. So on top of the fact that we have these little ways we can do the enforcement, I think when workers begin to recognize the benefits of safety as I envision it, I think we will, as a country, just help to move forward."
The provisions of the act will take effect in phases. The Labour Department will coordinate this through what they call strategic initiatives. It first begins with establishing and operationalizing the Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate, followed by developing regulations, standards, and codes of practice; conducting nationwide public education and awareness campaigns; delivering capacity-building programmes for inspectors, employers, workers, and safety representatives; and finally developing reporting systems and compliance procedures.
You can expect the Garden City to look a little greener in a year or two. That's after the UNDP, in partnership with UB students and the Ministry of Sustainable Development, planted 50 trees together in public areas all across Belmopan.
Jomarie Lanza attended the tree planting ceremony this morning and has this report:
Tonight, one of Belize's most beloved performers, the General, Supa G, gets honored in the "Living Legends" Concert Series at the Lord Rhaburn Plaza in Belize City.
The event put together by ICA features an all-star lineup including Belizean artists Bernadette Gillharry, Britney Starr, Chico Ramos, Hubee, Lloyd Augustine, Missy B, TR Shine, Sweet Pain Band, Punta Generals, and the Martinez Brothers.
We spoke with the Director of ICA and the General about the event:
Kim Vasquez, Director, Institute of Creative Arts, NICH "We are so excited for tonight, let me tell you! We were out at rehearsals out there at Memorial Park and the energies are really high, as we look at the lineup of performers that are getting ready to take the stage tonight, including the General himself, Supa G. So once again, we are inviting the public to come out and enjoy-it's completely free, you don't want to miss this one. What's different about this concert is that it is part concert, part documentary. And I'm not just talking about dry documentary talking; it's a really entertaining documentary chronicling his music, his history, his journey. You'll be able to see that up on the big screens, as well as enjoy a full evening of music from the extensive catalog from the General, Supa G."
Reporter "Supa G is one of those artists who has a wide selection of music. How were you all able to really compress it and choose what you would be performing?"
Kim Vasquez: "It was insane, and at the same time, just a joyful experience. We had several creative sessions here at ICA, including one with the General himself. And I remember we started off with so many songs, and it's like when you're editing and you want to put every song in-so narrowing it down so we could get truly a good flow for this show was not easy. It hurt us to leave out some of the songs, but you can never tell-I think we might get a little braata."
Supa G, Artist "It's a great feeling to be honored or to be noticed or recognized by your own people. It's a great feeling, of course."
Reporter "How old were you when you started?"
Supa G: "Probably 12, so it's been many years. I started off very young."
Reporter "Since the inception, did you ever envision that this is the route your career would have taken?"
Supa G: "Oh no, not at all, because in the beginning, I always wanted to be a radio announcer. Then, you know, when I started high school, I saw Andy Palacio, I said, 'Now I want to be just like this guy when I grow up... yup, grow older.' But I didn't think about it to this level, probably just as a part-time... something on the side, but not as a profession."
Reporter "What can persons expect going to the concert tonight?"
Supa G: "Definitely a lot of energy. Tonight, you will be hearing some things about Supa G where first time you will be hearing that! So you need to come out there later on and be surprised, as well as be entertained with some great music by great artists."
The concert begins at 9:00 p.m. and it will be aired live on Channel 7.
And to get you in the spirit of the Tenth tomorrow, we close tonight with our little friends from neighboring Wesley Lower School, who did their own 10th parade on Albert and Regent Streets this afternoon.
Enjoy, happy Tenth, and join us tomorrow for the official ceremony and citizens' parade. It all starts at 8:30 a.m.-right here on Channel 7.
Good night and have a great holiday-we'll see you back here on Friday...
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There was a major accident on the Hummingbird Highway this afternoon; so far, one person is confirmed dead. It happened around 4:30 p.m. near Armenia Village when an 18-wheeler truck filled with sand and gravel toppled onto its side, killing one man who was removed from the wreckage. There are reports that another person may be crushed underneath. Crews are using an excavator to offload the truck before attempting to pull it back onto its wheels.
SmartStream leaks-a few months ago-those were making headlines nightly. It gave the press and the public their first insight into the Mira Millions and then the Kukulkan Scam-leading to the exposure of thousands of related party supply payments in the Ministry of Defence, 99% of them below the $10,000 threshold. The string of exposures led ultimately to the suspension of two ministers from Cabinet and triggered an emergency audit from the Auditor General's Office.
Over a month ago, an environmental disaster unfolded in the Belize River Valley as residents woke up to dead fish and marine life floating down the waterway.
"We will be making a report as far as we have currently on the status of the investigation on the river kill, the fish kill. They have done the investigation; the department has also secured assistance from other entities who have now confirmed that the results of what the department has picked up from the different tests and analysis is the same thing that they are also reporting."
As Minister of Sustainable Development, Habet is also responsible for the Forest Department-which is emerging in the public view as a possible hotbed of corruption.
And what about the role of the two drivers who transported the lumber to the lumberyard? They're described in a release as Forest Officers. How did that happen? Here's Habet's explanation:
Tonight, 25-year-old Roderick Burns, a driver at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, has been charged with attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm, and dangerous harm. The charges stem from a dispute that resulted in 23-year-old Jaheim Thomas being shot on Monday, September 7, in Belmopan. Tonight, Thomas is in a stable condition at the Western Regional Hospital. We spoke with Thomas' sister, who gave her version of events:
Reporter
The broad daylight murder of highway worker Kareem Garcia on his job site last week Monday was shocking. And now, police have charged a Belize City resident for the killing.
Tonight, eight months after our initial report, the fallout from the collapse of American Northwest University's medical program in Belmopan is becoming clearer. For the Belizean students who invested years of their lives and thousands of dollars into the institution, the consequences may extend far beyond the school's closure.
"The offshore medical school system that exists in this country is not for this country. The University of Belize is for this country. The University of Belize School of Medicine is for this country. I don't even want to waste the breath to talk about the offshore medical schools in Belize because their presence has not made it easy for us to establish ourselves, simply because the rest of the world sees us as a location for these types of institutions.
"Yeah, well, I mean, listen, I know one of the institutions has some students, has Belizean students. For the most part, all of the others have foreign nationals who are their students. These schools were really not set up for Belizeans. So, you know, I don't know when Belizeans started attending these schools and on whose advice they started attending these schools. We certainly provide no support to any students attending these schools, and that is the policy of the Ministry of Education. But yes, when these schools have a charter, there are certain obligations that come with that charter. And if those terms, the terms of the charter are being violated, we have a duty and responsibility to address it. And that's what we're doing."
At the time when we first aired the story on the collapse of ANU, it included an intimidating voice message sent to students by Dr. Shah Helmond, who was the Director at ANU.
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator
"This is a big ask. It is a very big ask, coming with the energy, experience, education having spent, as I said, about 75 active hours to get a request that says pass it with the amendment of the lower House but hold your amendments until after September the 18th. I am saying that because I hope that this is the first and last time that such an ask be made.
Eamon Courtenay, Leader of Government Business
"The difficulty is that we had an information session on two of those pieces of legislation where we identified numerous gaps. The letter from the Minister of Education was very clear that, you know, there were technical issues that... it was just a failure of the Government to have marshaled the piece of legislation properly through the House of Representatives. This is a House of Representatives failure. Because the people who were still lobbying for changes at the Senate-the amendments that were still trying to be made at the Senate-were already lobbied for in the House of Representatives, right. But I think it was a last-minute effort to try to know, 'Oh gosh, the money's slipping away.' It really became, 'The money will slip away.' And in principle, having already acknowledged that the pieces of legislation are flawed, they're flawed, Courtney, like, admittedly, they're flawed. The task of the Government was to not do our job, to not legislate for money. I don't agree with senators that know. I think it's an insult to prostitutes to have said that that's what they asked us to do. But that was too much-like we were asked to not legislate in the manner in which we usually legislate: 'So rubber stamp this bill.' And I think it's regressive, and I think it's not what as a country we should be doing, especially not on the eve of our 45th Independence. And so I was very blunt to the Leader of Government Business that I cannot do that. I simply cannot do that. It was obvious to me they would not have asked us that if they did not have the numbers going into the Senate meeting. So I thought it's important to call a division because everybody is acutely aware of what was being asked, being too much to ask, and it was being asked by our Government, but it wasn't our Government asking for it."
Tonight, one of Belize's most beloved performers, the General, Supa G, gets honored in the "Living Legends" Concert Series at the Lord Rhaburn Plaza in Belize City.
"We are so excited for tonight, let me tell you! We were out at rehearsals out there at Memorial Park and the energies are really high, as we look at the lineup of performers that are getting ready to take the stage tonight, including the General himself, Supa G. So once again, we are inviting the public to come out and enjoy-it's completely free, you don't want to miss this one. What's different about this concert is that it is part concert, part documentary. And I'm not just talking about dry documentary talking; it's a really entertaining documentary chronicling his music, his history, his journey. You'll be able to see that up on the big screens, as well as enjoy a full evening of music from the extensive catalog from the General, Supa G."
"It's a great feeling to be honored or to be noticed or recognized by your own people. It's a great feeling, of course."
