news5assistant - Greater Belize Media

Belmopan Residents Caught in Political Rift Over Dead End Streets

The 2024 municipal elections are upon us and across the country infrastructure works are being undertaken ahead of March sixth. But, one project in Belmopan is causing a stir among residents. Not only is it revealing how deep the divide has been between the P.U.P. area representative and the P.U.P. city council, there is also the likelihood that due process was not followed. Area Representative Oscar Mira and Mayor Sharon Palacio sat down to discuss upgrades to five streets in the Maya Sites area. In the execution of the project, workers began connecting existing dead-end streets to the George Price Boulevard. Residents in the area say they were not consulted on this and Mayor Palacio says she did not agree to that aspect of the works. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Since its inception, the Maya Site in Belmopan has had five dead-end streets. And now, a decision has been taken to connect those cul-de-sacs to the George Price Boulevard. Residents in the area are pushing back and the mayor says she had no part in that decision.

Anthony Chanona, Maya Site Resident, Belmopan

“cul de sacs lend to ‘neighborhoodness’. It lends to citizen security. Children can recreate on a street. it allows elderly people to take walks because it limits the flow of traffic. Only the people who live on the street do business on the street. That is the idea of cul de sacs, it helps citizen security and it builds ‘neighborhoodness’.”

Anthony Chanona, a former Belmopan Mayor, and a resident in the area for twenty-eight years, says the project will increase security risks. He further contends that the proper processes were not undertaken in the execution of the project.

Anthony Chanona

“What it does, it opens up our neighborhood to all and sundry. Any motor vehicle can now enter and exit these streets that were the private domains of only the residents. That is what the cul de sacs gave us. And therefore the neighborhood will get nosier. It takes away or citizen security because now we don’t know who is entering and who is leaving. The children on these streets riding their bicycles are now exposed to two way traffic. It doesn’t add anything to what we had. It takes away our rights. And I am saying that you cannot ram this down the throats of the neighborhood and don’t ask us whether we agree.”

The city’s municipal leader says that she objected to the project when Area Representative Oscar Mira first made the proposal during a meeting in her office. She says the only agreement she entered into was to have the streets paved.

Sharon Palacio, Belmopan Mayor
“I decided I don’t have the money but I know the area rep has access to funds. I called him and said I would like for us to partner on the streets. My job was to prepare the streets for paving. So we spent a sum of money to prepare the streets. Recently Mayor Chanona called me upset about the opening of the cul de sacs. He asked me if I gave permission. I said no I did not. I made it categorically clear to the area rep. cause he said around the table, I am going to burst them open. I said, why and he said because it is good for development. I said look, Mayor Palacio is not in agreement with bursting them open.”

Mayor Palacio has since issued a cease and desist order to the ongoing works. Today, no further developments were being done in the area. Concrete culverts lay along the George Price Boulevard awaiting a final determination, while at least one intersection has been completed.

Sharon Palacio

“When my mayor Chanona stood up I said ok this is my time to stand out and make sure that my point is clear. That is where I sent a cease and desist to the company.”

Paul Lopez

“How is it that as the mayor these works would have been able to go ahead without your approval, consent, some sort of agreement from you. You are at the municipal level the head of the city.”

Sharon Palacio

“In this case a lot of things have happened in this city by the same persons we are speaking about and I see it as development anyhow and I would have loved to be a part of those works. But when I would pass by and see certain things happening I say ok, it is for the best interest of all of us. So I never reacted I kept quiet. By right all these streets should have come through me. I never sent a cease and desist any at all. This is the first I have sent and I know the parties involved are very unhappy but all I am calling on is speak to the residents.”

With the cease and desist order in place, works that were ongoing to pave the streets have also come to a screeching halt.

Anthony Chanona

“I was happy to hear that he has conceded to not proceed but they should continue with works on the streets. That was never stopped. So, why did we have to get to this point? Just follow the rule of law and do what you were hired to do.”

Sharon Palacio

“Right now I am calling on the area representative to go and pave those streets as we agreed. I was there earlier today and that is the reason why I went live because I wanted to see if the paving has started, and it hasn’t.”

Reporting for News Five I am Paul Lopez.

Oscar Mira Says Decision to Remove Dead Ends Aren’t Arbitrary

We also heard from Oscar Mira, the People’s United Party Area Representative in Belmopan. He contends that based on registered and authenticated street plans from 2006, those dead ends in the Maya Site area should be connected to the George Price Boulevard. He says that the decision was taken to connect the streets based on those plans. Here is more from Mira, courtesy of our colleagues at Plus TV.

Oscar Mira, P.U.P. Area Representative, Belmopan

“We met in her office and she called her city administrator and the city engineer. We went through the plans of what she wanted to do. She suggested again that she would prepare the streets for paving and I would do the rest. I thought it was a good initiative and project. Unfortunately when we were putting in the culverts we had another meeting and she came back with a stop order. Perhaps I believe that if the mayor had done her homework and check on the official map for Belmopan, I have a plan from 2006 showing ten lots being a subdivision of a portion of open space in Belmopan. Those were the areas we are talking about, because in the past there was nothing else after those streets there was a cul de sac. I think most of us remember those days. However with the new plan, this was in 2006 which is registered and authenticated it now shows that the area has been opened unto the George Price Boulevard. That is when the boulevard was also surveyed. So we decided to do the streets and if you notice the maps it all leads on to the boulevard.”

Mira Says Maya Sites Area Streets Will be Paved

Mira also responded to the calls from residents in the Maya Sites area and Mayor Palacio to have the paving of the streets completed, despite the cease and desist order. Mira says that the streets will be paved in the coming days.

Oscar Mira, P.U.P. Area Representative, Belmopan

“I think he have it wrong. If they want to return it to a cul de sac, because it has already been opened. This map is from 2006, registered, authenticated and all the signatures are there so if they want to revert it back I think that is where that process needs to be done by the Belmopan City Council. But, for now the official map shows that it is an open street. Should they want to return if back before 2006 that is where that process needs to be done. I believe that those residents that live on those streets are deserving of proper streets and we will continue to work on paving those streets. We will get to that issue of the culverts later. I believe the residents deserve to have their streets paved and that is what we will be working on in these coming few days.”

4 Years Later, Families of Fallen B.D.F. Soldiers Still Not Compensated

Four years ago to date, a crew of Belize Defense Force airmen, including majors Adran Ramirez and Radford Baizar, along with corporals Yassir Mendez and Reinaldo Choco, perished in a helicopter crash in Belize District. They were reportedly conducting aerial surveillance near the location where a drug plane had landed sometime earlier that night. The accident happened in the wee small hours of February 27^th, 2020 as the men set out from the B.D.F. Air Wing in Ladyville and were flying over Western Lagoon. In the wake of the tragedy, the Government of Belize, under the Barrow administration, promised to compensate the families of the deceased men. For the wives of Yassir Mendez and Reinaldo Choco, who opted not to settle with G.O.B. and proceed with civil claims in the High Court, they are yet to receive anything.

Audrey Matura, Attorney-at-law

“The point where we are is that we finally got a court date again and that date is sixth of March at 9:30 a.m., before a new judge, Justice Tawanda Hondora. Now this is good news in that finally it’s assigned a new judge. It’s bad news in that it’s the third judge we have and it’s good news and bad news in that the notice says it’s a mention. A mention means that you’re not going to try any issue that day which in fairness to the judge, you can’t. I mean, here’s a new judge being given this file, the judge has the right to go through everything and manage it.”

Isani Cayetano

“Explain to me how the two families have been holding over. I assuming that they were waiting for this settlement for them to be financially able to handle their affairs. What has happened in the interim?”

Audrey Matura

“Well it’s interesting. The two families, although I represent both of them, each has their own circumstances. In the case of the Choco family, the good news was that Mrs. Choco is still a teacher. She was a teacher and she still is a teacher. Financially, she needs to still be working and seeing how she can put her way through school. But she’s still in a better position in that at least she has a career. In terms of the Mendez family, that’s far more difficult because Mrs. Mendez has always been a stay-at-home mom. Her work, her full-time work was looking after their three children and all children are minors, so her husband was absolutely the sole breadwinner, sole breadwinner. So she has had to find a way to figure out how to make ends meet. So it’s hard for them personally, compounded now about the financial setback. It is, and no matter what the settlement is, just having this case hanging over, you want some finality and that finality is not there. Every year, when the twenty-seventh of February comes around, it just opens back those wounds.”

Attorney Says G.O.B. is Acting in Bad Faith in B.D.F. Settlement

According to Audrey Matura, who represents the wives of two of the deceased airmen, the widows chose not to agree on a settlement with the Government of Belize which would have amounted to one hundred thousand dollars each. Instead, they opted to pursue a civil claim at the High Court.

Audrey Matura, Attorney-at-law

“They wanted me to express how disappointed they are, how they feel that the government has been acting in really bad faith and on that point, I want people to know that we have written several letters to the government before trying to reach settlement. Thereafter, complaining why it is difficult for us to reach settlement, then imploring them to give an advance, an interim payment which the law allows. And when all of that have fallen on deaf ears, we have an application that we made for urgent interim payment, but there was no judge. The judge that was hearing the matter has left the jurisdiction, so we have to wait for a new judge. So all these factors, some beyond our control have created the undue delay and four years later, the family, these two families have still not had the closure in that area of this matter. The truth is, my clients opted not to settle for a hundred thousand dollars because a hundred thousand dollars would not get them through. How could Mrs. Mendez have a hundred thousand dollars to raise her three children up to primary school, much less high school. That’s nothing in the scheme of things. Had her husband been alive, she would have been getting more than that in terms of money and more so in terms of his actual support there. They opted for full compensation because in their hearts of hearts, they know, one, [that] the life of their loved one is worth more than that. They know, two, there is absolutely no way those two gentlemen were in any way responsible for that accident. Three, taking legal advice under the law of negligence, they knew, based on advice given to them, that there is a formula that looks at how young they were, what would have been their prospects of promotion and increased salary, how many years they would have lived to be in the military and even looking at possible retirement and we look at possible retirement based on what the BDF allows in law.”

Policeman Remanded Following Pistol-whipping Incident in Hattieville

Tonight, a police officer is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after being charged with serious criminal offenses involving the use of a firearm inside the Hattieville Police Station. Corporal Lawrence Jerome Martinez, a thirty-six-year-old resident of Belize City, appeared in the lower court this afternoon where he was arraigned on a pair of criminal charges before a senior magistrate. It is alleged that on January sixth, the policeman drew a firearm and inflicted injuries upon Patrick Tillett inside the police station. Martinez has been charged for aggravated assault and wounding. Due to the nature of the offenses, bail was denied and he was placed on pretrial detention until April thirtieth. Additionally, Corporal Martinez also saw the cancellation of a bench warrant that had been issued for his arrest, as he also has a traffic case before the magistrate’s court. He failed to appear on two previous occasions, in October 2023 and February first, of this year. The traffic case has been adjourned to March twenty-seventh, 2024.

Chinese Businessman Slapped with New Charge; He Remains on Remand

A Chinese businessman, who ran afoul of the law a week ago, finds himself in more hot water tonight, despite a virtual complainant requesting no further court action against him. Twenty-nine-year-old Wenjing Lei allegedly shot Reno Castillo in the leg during an argument inside his uncle’s store in Belama Phase Two last week. Castillo has indicated to the court that he does not wish to proceed with court action against his alleged assailant; however, the Belize Police Department has brought another charge against Lei. Despite being granted bail in the sum of eight thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same amount for the initial offense, Lei has been charged additionally for discharging a firearm in public. It is alleged that on February eighteenth, Lei wantonly and without reasonable excuse discharged a firearm in a public space on Albert Hoy Street. While he pleaded not guilty, bail was denied due to the nature of the offense. He has been further remanded at the Belize Central Prison until March first.

Tourist Allegedly Scams High-end Resort

A tourist is in police custody after allegedly scamming a high-end resort of twenty-seven thousand dollars. Reports are that a man who identified himself as forty-year-old American national Nicolas Paula arrived at the It’zana Resort on February fifth seeking accommodations until February eighth. He allegedly presented proof of a ten thousand U.S. dollar online transfer to secure the reservation. However, when the transaction did not come through, Paula was confronted by the resort’s management. Paula reportedly requested a six-day extension to his stay in order to have the transaction processed. He then allegedly provided more falsified evidence showing a ten thousand dollar U.S. dollars transfer. Paula vacated his room on February thirteenth without settling his bills that amounted to thirteen thousand, five hundred U.S. dollars. The resort’s management made a report to police and News Five has been reliably informed that Paula was detained in Placencia today at another high-end resort. He was reportedly discovered with falsified travel documents, cash and other illicit items. It is believed that Paula is actually a Costa Rican named Christopher Marchena. We will continue to follow these reports.

Garifuna Language Included in Education Curriculum

The Battle of the Drums cultural retrieval and preservation initiative, established in response to the decline observed in Garifuna culture, has been working tirelessly since 2006 to retrieve, preserve and promote key aspects of the Garifuna heritage. Recognizing the urgent need to address the deterioration of the Garifuna language, the Battle of the Drums and the National Garifuna Council teamed up to create an initiative to prioritize the establishment of a standardized Garifuna language in schools program across southern Belize.

Darius Avila, President, Battle of the Drums Secretariat

“We have been at this for a number of years now. We, meaning the Battle of the Drums Secretariat, in the midst of COVID, we reached out to the NGC to ask them for us to collaborate on what we termed the Garifuna Language in Schools Program. You would know that the Battle of the Drums has been in existence since 2006 and we have been undertaking various programs, particularly in the Punta Gorda, Toledo area. In 2012, I think it was, we started what we referred to as the Garifuna Language in Schools Program at the largest primary school at the time in Punta Gorda Town, by the name of St. Peter Claver School. We saw where there was significant value in that particular program and we also extended it to St. Joseph RC School in Barranco. Given the success of the program in those two schools, fast-forward to 2020, we reached out to NGC and suggested to them that we should collaborate to extend the program to other schools in the south, namely: St. Alphonsus in Seine Bight, Richard Quinn in Georgetown, Holy Family School in Hopkins, Sacred Heart RC in Dangriga, as well as Holy Ghost RC. We know fully well that Gulisi Community Primary School has been at the forefront of Garifuna in schools education. So all of these other schools that are named were going to be new in terms of this particular framework.”

NGC and Battle of the Drums Join Forces to Introduce Garifuna at School

In a historic meeting on February twenty-sixth, between the Garifuna Language Commission, the Chief Executive Officer, as well as the Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, approval was granted for the use of the Garifuna Language Curriculum in the teaching of the Garifuna Language in Schools Program. This approval comes after years of dedicated effort and collaboration between the National Garifuna Council and the Battle of the Drums Secretariat.

Sheena Zuniga, President, National Garifuna Council

“It has been a journey all in an effort to get to this point. The National Garifuna Council collaborated with the Battle of the Drums. We decided [that] we needed to be on the forefront to try to retrieve our Garifuna language which has been dying over the years. In an effort, we created the Garifuna Language Commission which includes Dr. Gwen Nunez-Gonzalez, Dr. Albarita Enriquez and Dativa Martinez. Those three women have been on the forefront to create the Garifuna curriculum that we have currently submitted to the Ministry of Education. Through that effort, we created the curriculum and we also applied for the professional development plan where we would be able to train Garifuna teachers in southern Belize to be able for those trainings to be part of their CPD hours. It‘s a real historic event for us because we have been working for the past three years to get to this juncture. We‘re glad that we would be able to have Garifuna language being taught in the six traditional Garifuna communities, starting in August and September of this coming year and we are hoping to launch this program in April in collaboration with our Garifuna Survival Day activities.”