Last week, a teenager was severely injured while scuba diving in Belize, resulting in the loss of her leg. Today, she turns to the public for support following the traumatic incident. According to reports, fifteen-year-old Annabelle Carlson had completed a dive between Halfmoon and Hat Caye when she decided to return to the water for a final swim. It was at that point that the teenager was violently attacked by a shark. Carlson was flown to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where she remains in pediatric intensive care and is scheduled for at least one more surgery on her leg. To lighten the financial load, a family friend has launched a GoFundMe campaign for Carlson’s treatment. The page for the campaign reads, quote, the quick action from the emergency response team in Belize saved her life. They were able to stabilize her, at which point she was medically flown to the United States and is currently receiving care at the top trauma center. Annabelle will have a very long road of recovery ahead of her, end quote. The GoFundMe page aims to raise two hundred and fifty thousand U.S. dollars of which over one hundred and fifty-five thousand has been met.
Author: news5assistant
Belizeans Warned of Doing Business with Neglectful Animal Owner
The Belmopan Humane Society is warning Belizeans to avoid conducting business with people who pose a potential risk to the wellbeing of animals in the country. Recently, U.S. national Abigail O’keeffe was flagged by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for owning over one hundred animals that were either dying or critically ill. O’keeffe then abandoned the animals and relocated to Belize, where she is seemingly attempting to purchase animals for a new farm. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with the Belmopan Humane Society today for more details on the dangers of this practice. Here’s that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Upon encountering a hungry or injured dog, there are many people who would take the time to care for the animal, offering food, shelter and possibly a home. But can the same be said for a wounded chicken or an abandoned horse? Often, livestock animals are not afforded the same sympathy as domesticated animals and Diamne Habet, Vice Chair of the Belmopan Humane Society, says that organizations often struggle to find resources to rehabilitate them.
Diamne Habet, Vice Chair, Belmopan Humane Society
“There aren’t many resources for livestock in Belize when it comes to horses that you see on the side of the road that are that should be watered daily but are left there for two to three days without water and grazing on nothing but grass and not getting the full nutritional aspects that an adult horse requires when you’re seeing horses where you can see their ribs. They are reported to the Humane Society, but the Humane Society doesn’t have the resources to give aid. So we tend to report them to our municipal council To see if they can render aid. The most aid we can do legally is offer feed and water to an animal left in that kind of conditions.”
“That’s how this person came on our radar in the first place, media sources that covered the incident that happened in the U.S. and knowing that this person fled to Belize and had the plans to basically reopen a farm here in Belize was very concerning to us because while there is an R.S.P. C.A. where she is from that was able to rally the community and was able to save these animals, the consequences, if that were to happen to Belize would, they would be far more devastating. We simply would not have the resources available to save a hundred farm animals. In particular, humane societies and rescue groups in Belize tend to focus on domestic animals. So having the resources to rescue a hundred goat, chickens, sheep, anything in that range, I can’t even foresee something that, like that being possible for a community in Belize to do.”
“If she could remain under the radar for that long, to the point where it got to such horrifying conditions and still advertise to have people go to her farm, still make money off of it, in our country, it would just, it would be absolutely devastating.”
The Belmopan Humane Society encourages the public to do its part in ensuring the wellbeing of animals by staying current with vaccines and spaying and neutering animals in their care. Britney Gordon for News Five.
Climate Change Fuels Coral Bleaching
Climate change and the environment are taking center stage at the Fifty-fifth Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s Annual General Meeting in Belize. In collaboration with the regional organization, the Caribbean Climate Change Community Center is hosting a group of journalists from across the region to discuss the importance of climate reporting. News Five’s Paul Lopez has been in Placencia since Saturday. On Sunday, he joined the delegation on a trip to Laughing Bird Caye where he saw firsthand how a non-governmental organization is fighting back against the impact of climate change on one of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, coral reefs. Here is that report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Coral reefs play an important role in many aspects. They provide coastal protection from storms and floods. Coral reefs also contribute to economies across the world, particularly through the tourism industry.
Monique Vernon, Coral Reef Practitioner, Fragments of Hope
“Without the barriers reef the storm in the area would devastate the corals. So, for us it plays and important role, because we know they absorb carbons. They also slow down the storm, wave actions and so forth. They provide food and livelihood to many of the people on the coastlines. We get a lot of tourists coming out here to view the corals we have.”
Belize has the largest barrier reef or the largest coral reef system in the western hemisphere. It is under threat from coral bleaching.
“The way how coral bleaching works is first of all, corals are animals. And there is an algae which is a plant that lives inside the animal. Because they that allows corals to get the colors they have. When the temperature gets too hot for the corals and the algae, the algae say I got to go, because it is too hot, and I can’t stay. They expel themselves from the coral and the coral loses its color and that is what the coral bleaching is. But when corals lose their color, they are not technically dead. We at Fragments of Hope say they are dead when it is white, but you see other algae’s goring on top the coral.”
Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC
“Ironically you ask because this year has been one of the worst year for coral bleaching across the world, why because ocean temperatures have been one of the hottest it has bene since recorded history. But more importantly we are working with organizations like Fragments of Hope, looking at how you replant corals with climate resistant variety of corals. While this is a small example it is a pilot that once it is successful it can be scaled up across the region.”
One non-governmental organization is fighting back against the effects of climate change on corals. Fragments of Hope works to restore corals destroyed by natural disaster and impacted by coral bleaching. The organization’s largest and longest standing nursery exists just off the coast of Laughing Bird Caye. A media trip to the island gave reporters a firsthand look at their work.
Natasha Gibson, Coral Practitioner, Fragments for Hope
“What you will see personally today is sixteen-year-old standing elk horns out here surviving from tremendous devastation, climate change, natural disaster caused by humans, it is still standing. After sixteen years we have standing out planted corals out here. We have tiny, small baby fragments that we planted just before the bleaching session last year. That is looking alive as well. When we choose genets to plant, when we go and collect from our mother coral, whether it is closer to the reef or in the reef whereby we take stuff from nearshore simply to see how these coral genets and species are working with the different climate temperatures when we move them around.”
Dr. Colin Young
“These impacts are small, and the scale is tiny. And if you think about the size of the reef, not only in Belize, but across the world there is no better way to stop this deterioration than for us to stop putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We cannot adapt our way out of climate change. It is too costly. It is happening to face and these species have evolved under a set of stable conditions, stable climate over a long period of time.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
“Climate Change is the Single Greatest Threat to Humanity”
Doctor Young also spoke about the global impacts of climate change and the immediate actions that must be taken. He contends that Earth is on a trajectory to not only exceed the one point five degrees outlined in the Paris Agreement, but to potentially exceed three degrees within the next eight decades. As a result, the current effects of climate change would be significantly magnified. Here is how he puts it.
Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC
“The U.N. has called climate change the single greatest threat to humanity. Our leaders across the region, pick your country. They will tell you that climate change is an existential threat. It is undermining our ability to meet our S.D.G.s and we are paying for it in lives and livelihoods and worst of all it is something we did not cause. So, it is a socially unjust situation and the truth of it is, the absolute truth the world is heading in the wrong direction despite all the public commitment we heard from those who are responsible for causing climate change. The science is very clear when to come sot climate change. We know that in order for us to keep one point five alive that we have to cut emissions by forty-five percent in 2030. So we have to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We have to look at transitioning food and food production from fossil fuel energy. We have to electrify and move away from coal and go to things like wind and solar. But when we look at all the pledges and promises countries have made, COP twenty nine Is coming up, COP twenty-eight past like eight months ago, we came back with some sense of hope that the world will do more fast. Ironically and unfortunately for us they are not.”
Bridging Climate Change Knowledge Gap Through Journalism
Five Cs has entered a strategic partnership with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union to sponsor C.B.U. awards and host regional journalists in climate change workshops. This week, the organization is engaging a group of journalists from across the Caribbean in climate change related topics, ahead of the Caribbean Media Awards. Doctor Young spoke on the importance of this partnership.
Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC
“The Five Cs have based on the research we have done in the region we have found out there is a tremendous knowledge gap between those who work in climate change and the regular persons on the ground, the farmers, fisherfolks and those who work in areas affected by climate change. So, the events of the C.B.U. is intended to help bridge that knowledge gap by helping to build knowledge gaps of the Caribbean public towards climate change. The stores and reporting we will tell are important to build that knowledge, whether print, digital, TV, news, it is important for journalist to effectively communicate the stories to understand the science of climate change so that they can engage audiences in an effective manner.”
Hurricanes are 2024 B.E.B.L. Champions
The Benny’s Belize Hurricanes are your 2024 B.E.B.L. Champions. The organization secured its fourth chip on Friday night inside the Belize City Civic Center. They are now the organization with the most championships in Belize. The Hurricanes defeated the Belize City Defenders in a controversial five-game series that saw six games being played. Depending on who you ask, the series ended in a tie with both teams winning three games. But technically, the third game was replayed and even though the Belize City Defenders won that game it was their second and last win in the final’s series. Hurricanes fans showed out in numbers for a win or go home match that resulted in the Defenders’ season-ending defeat with a score of six-nine points to the Hurricanes’ eighty-nine points. We spoke with members of the championship team immediately after the victory. Here is a clip of that story.
U.D.P. Power Struggle Continues
Tonight, we bring you another episode of the U.D.P.’s political drama. Tonight’s installment features U.D.P. Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow and his challenger, Albert Area Representative Tracy Panton. Panton fired off a letter to the chairman of the U.D.P.’s Ethics and Integrity Committee, Aldo Salazar, when she saw this flyer circulating. The flyer calls for interested persons to submit applications to become the next standard bearer for Caribbean Shores. In her letter, Panton tellls Salazar (quote) “As far as I am aware, the decision to remove of the current Standard Bearer is unconstitutional and, therefore, illegal. There must be a convening of a National Party Council Meeting for such a decision to be taken by its membership.” She continues, quote, “I urge you to look into this matter post haste so that this decision can be rescinded with immediate effect.” Sources within the U.D.P. tell News Five that this is the latest move from the party’s leadership to have Panton removed for leading the charge against Barrow. And, Panton has been throwing a lot of shade on Facebook. Her most recent post states, quote, “I stand in solidarity with ALL women who are abused, bullied, disrespected, disregarded or threatened by insecure men who would do just about anything to ensure she does not have a seat at the table”, end quote.
Dr. Leroy Almendarez on Being S.S.B.’s New C.E.O.
On Thursday night, we told you who the new chief executive officer of the Social Security Board will be. That person is Doctor Leroy Almendarez, who is leaving his position as executive director of BELTRAIDE to head the S.S.B. He replaces Deborah Ruiz who decided not to renew her contract. Doctor Almendarez is expected to officially take up the post on August nineteenth. Today at the annual, S.S.B. Connect Forum, Doctor Almendarez spoke to the press.
Deborah Ruiz, C.E.O., S.S.B.
“When I submitted my notice that I did not intend to renew the board former search committee an open advertisement was made, and we had several persons respond. So we had a short list and we had interviews being done. So he was selected through an interview process on the recommendation of the committee table to the board and a discussion. Had on the recommendation was supported. So we have an incoming C.E.O. in the person of Doctor Leroy Almendarez we also have a deputy C.E.O. coming in the person of mister Jerome Palma.”
Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Incoming C.E.O., S.S.B.
“In terms of transition, I must say that understanding the role that social security is supposed to play in our society. The United Nations really basically said it’s a human right when it comes to social protection, when it comes to creation of employment and skill building and those kind of things, and the fact that you should be able to participate. So for me, it’s really moving into a situation where I think I have an understanding, but it’s until you enter the organization, then you get a full understanding. But for me, like I said, one of the major things where it’s concerned, S.S.B. is concerned, is the fact that it’s contributors money. It’s employees, it’s employers and employees money. If you work for yourself, it makes it even more challenging. And so the security of that fund The fact that the fund must continue to grow.”
Incoming S.S.B. C.E.O. Promises an Era of Dialogue and Transparency
Today, at the annual S.S.B. Connect forum, the Executive Director of BELTRADE, Doctor Leroy Almendarez, was introduced as the incoming C.E.O. of the Social Security Board. Doctor Almendarez is assuming the post amidst tensions between the board, the Christian Workers Union, and the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. In recent weeks, the unions have written to the board expressing frustration over their alleged exclusions from crucial meetings and conversations. We spoke with Doctor Almendarez about how he plans to navigate this transition. Here’s what he had to say.
Leroy Almendarez, Incoming C.E.O., S.S.B.
“I consider the unions, let’s say that remember they represent labor It’s important for them to protect the people, you know that they represent because everybody cannot come to the table I intend, and I say I in this case, to have a next, to have a relationship, to have open dialogue with the unions. In essence, let it not get to the public. The door will be open where we can discuss these things in advance, so it does not have to be escalated. Where we think that, it, it requires a situation where the board needs to intervene, Then it’s for me to listen and take that information to the chair and say, okay, we need to look at this even more closely because there’s a, I believe that for every situation there is a resolution. And so when I saw, for example, the black ribbons on some members of staff, knowing that I was going to take over and say, okay, why, how did we get here? Because where I work now, we don’t get there, right? We resolve internal issues, of course, even in the absence of a union. But they represent the people that they represent even if they’re employees of social security. It is my job working along with the deputy working along with the you know with the management team and in you know really in cohesion with the board to make sure that the work that we do are in fact all for the benefit of those internal let me say this quickly if you do not make the environment conducive for your internal customers where your square employees, then the external customers will be disadvantaged because you will not get the kind of service that they’re supposed to be getting. We build a team, we create an environment where people feel welcome, to perform. But as I said, where the unions are concerned, they are there for a reason. And one of the things I will not do. It’s a close the door from the unions when they say we need to dialogue.”
C.W.U. says ‘Everything Positive’ with the S.S.B.
The Christian Workers Union and the Social Security Board are in dialogue over the conditions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. After the recent announcement that the board would be hiring a deputy C.E.O., the union claims that the post was not adequately advertised, which they maintain is contradictory to the conditions of the agreement. However, Leonora Flowers, president of the C.W.U., says that the parties have since been in discussion about the matter, and she expects positive progress in the future.
Leonora Flowers, President, C.W.U.
“We are getting to those as we speak. We have different meetings set up and we’re going to work to those. Everything’s positive going forward.”
Reporter
“Are there any details you can share with us because I believe the last time we spoke with miss Ruiz, she said she wasn’t aware that there were any issues.”
Leonora Flowers
“Since then, we have sat down with the C.E.O. and her team, management, and we have discussed those issues. Most of them have been reviewed in a positive light, positive form so far and we have others that we have to work on.”
Reporter
“So in light of what you’ve just said do you guys have like maybe an estimated timeline when you’re hoping to have all those discussions wrapped up?”
Leonora Flowers
“Not yet. Because we go back to the table again. The timeline is not yet set. We have more dialogue to do.”
Reporter
“Is the issues, is it that there were problems with what was currently in the C.B.A.? Is there a signed C.B.A. and was it things inside that needed to be changed?”
Leonora Flowers
“No, not really change. It’s just that management needs to be reminded every so often that the C.B.A. says this. And so when you step out the line, the union has to say you’re stepping out the line and we expect you to abide by those. That’s how we did. And that’s how we continue to do every time we sit with SSB, remind them that the C.B.A. stands, that’s like our Bible for our members. So if you step out the line, we have to remind you. There’s a process to do that. So that’s what we did. We sat at the table. You’re not doing this. We don’t believe we think you’re disrespecting our members. We think you’re going and we cannot allow this to continue So that’s what we continue to do every time.”
Trisha Perez, Education Director, N.T.U.C.B.
“I do know that it’s something new to SSB and new to our union members as well. What I do believe I’ve been informed of is that they don’t do promotions in S.S.B. They generally do interviews and lately they did some promotions and that’s something new. Which goes against the C.B.A. Along with that, recently I believe they Change it from promotion to reclassification, which is also something new. And when you’re dealing with terms and conditions of workers that are covered under a collective bargaining agreement, you should be going within the guidelines of that C.B.A. So there is some friction there. I know, but I don’t have an update for you as yet.”