On Monday, the Government of Belize kicked off the Fourth High Level Advocacy Forum on Statistics with an opening ceremony. The event brought together representatives from across the region in Placencia to celebrate the impressive milestones achieved by the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians. It was a gathering of minds and a celebration of progress in the world of statistics.
Diana Castillo-Trejo
Diana Castillo-Trejo, Director General, S.I.B.
“In a year during which the regional and international statistical communities celebrate a number of major milestones, including the fiftieth milestone of the standing committee of Caribbean statisticians and the sixth anniversary of the endorsement of the regional strategy for the development of statistics, as well as the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations fundamental principles of official statistics, and the tenth anniversary of their endorsement by the United Nations General Assembly. The Statistical Institute of Belize is equally delighted to have our colleagues, our partners, join us in this setting. Far removed from the hustle and bustle of our everyday routine for a week of collaboration, delegation, planning and coordination. Today’s high level advocacy forum, as well as the week’s various meetings being held under theme, “Improving lives through statistics, strengthening and innovating together.” It provides a unique opportunity to bring together an array of officials from across the region, representatives of various international agencies, regional experts and heads of national statistics offices, with a view to strengthening the partnerships that are among the most critical to the development of statistics in our region.”
In a pre-recorded message, Prime Minister John Briceño spoke to the gathering, emphasizing just how crucial the work of statisticians is across the region. He highlighted their efforts and the significant impact their data-driven insights have on shaping policies and driving progress.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Our Caribbean National Statistics Office has faced numerous challenges in their efforts to operationalize it. These were even further exacerbated in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak when national statistical systems were required to provide date to support government’s response in almost real-time. You all had to work with significantly reduced budgets and hundreds or even thousands of lives depended on the accuracy of the data your office produced. To their great credit, data systems around the world were able to adopt and innovate, supporting the largest ever data-driven response to a global crisis. This is nothing new for small countries with limited resources by necessity, adoptability and resourcefulness at all levels.”
Today, San Narciso Village in the Corozal District received materials for a brand-new water system. This event is part of an ongoing partnership between the Ministry of Rural Transformation and UNICEF Belize. Minister of State Ramiro Ramirez and UNICEF Country Representative Alison Parker were on hand to mark the occasion. It’s a significant step forward for the community, ensuring better access to clean water for everyone.
Ramiro Ramirez
Ramiro Ramirez, Minister of State, Rural Transformation
“Down south when we started, I was chatting with Dr. Angela the good momentsthat we had there and the worst moments that we had there. The first time that we went to Macahakil Ha, we had to walk couple hours in bush on a harsh trail, but now today, thanks to UNICEF, thanks to the Government of Belize, for rural transformation, we have a nice road, you can take your Prado or Lexus or anything you desire to go and visit that beautiful village now.”
Alison Parker
Alison Parker, UNICEF Country Rep, Belize
“We have been together, both in the southern part of Belize, as well as the north, where we recognize that persons especially in the rural areas do not have access to safe water.”
San Roman Village is completely underwater, leaving residents unsure of what to do next. The flooding has made the road into the village impassable without a boat. To help, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has been ferrying villagers in and out safely. Today, News Five’s Britney Gordon visited the area to get a firsthand look at the situation.
Britney Gordon
Britney Gordon, Reporting
“It’s been three weeks of consistent flooding on the road to San Roman and according to NEMO operatives, there are no signs of it receding any time soon. From six a.m. to six p.m., NEMO is on the ground, assisting villagers with getting in and out of the village. With the use of the villager’s boats. But after that, the villagers depend on their own skills to get out of the village. There is currently a bus, waiting to pick up villagers, just on the outside of the flood. With help from NEMO, villagers are being ferried on boats equipped with life vests, keeping the passenger limit to ten at a time. However, with no end in sight, many villagers are starting to feel hopeless. On Sunday, Mesopotamia Area Representative Moses “Shyne” Barrow, along with the San Roman Village Council and other UDP representatives, visited the area to assess the flooding challenges. Barrow highlighted the need for more boat trips, access to clean water, and grocery assistance as key concerns among residents. Jose Carballo, Northern Regional Emergency Coordinator, mentioned that within NEMO’s designated hours, the boats are transporting villagers as frequently as possible. Britney Gordon for News Five.
The Belize City Council is the newest member of the Global Covenant of Mayors, the largest global alliance of over twelve thousand cities from over a hundred and forty countries with a commitment for city climate action. The focus of these cities are mitigation, adaptation and energy. Today, representatives of G-CoM met with Belize City Mayor, Bernard Wagner and City Administrator, Albert Vaughan to discuss how Belize can actively take part and benefit from the partnership. News Five’s Marion Ali was present and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
A new partnership between City Hall and the Global Covenant of Mayors is set to provide Belize City with invaluable technical support, enhancing our ongoing efforts to combat the devastating impacts of climate change. This collaboration positions our city to make significant strides in sustainability and resilience.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“What this mission will seek to do is to help work along with our technical people here at the City Council to develop our Climate Action Plan. For many cities, if you don’t have a Climate Action Plan, there is no clear direction on how you want to go and you speak about it. The flooding of streets, all the coastal erosion that is occurring, but all of these are as a result of the impact of climate change. And what this Climate Action Plan does is focus on your mitigation strategy and your adaptation strategy in clear goals, clear objectives that will contribute to the reduction of those same things.”
Daniela Monteiro is an International Relations Assistant for the Global Covenant of Mayors in America’s Helpdesk. She highlighted that Belize City’s membership could open doors to opportunities through “bankable projects,” which offer significant potential benefits for our community.
Daniela Monteiro
Daniela Monteiro, International Relations Assistant, G-CoM in America’s Helpdesk
“Once you get a climate action plan, once you get project, and once you get recognized as an important city, as a city that has, you know, relevant local actions in climate change. We do facilitate the access to, you know, funding opportunities. We give visibility to the city, and we usually try to invite, as we have invited before, uh, the city’s representatives to international events. So you get that coverage, you get out there that you are interested in climate change, you are interested in doing the work, in putting the hours, so, you know, the chances of getting a project funded are a little bit better.”
G-Com collects progress reports from its member cities every two years. However, this timeframe is flexible, if cities demonstrate their commitment to taking meaningful climate action. This approach allows for adaptability while ensuring that efforts to combat climate change remain a priority. For Belize City, Mayor Bernard Wagner says we’ll need to start looking at how we’re doing things with a view to improve them rapidly, and it will take everyone’s effort.
Bernard Wagner
“We have to be doing something different. We have to begin to take ownership of climate change. Even in our own little local communities, how do we treat our environment? How do we put in place mitigation and adaptation in respect to how we dig our drains? So in our own communities, it can’t be that you wa sit there as a resident, knowing that climate change is here and do not participate in the cleaning of your drains right in front of your own property. What sort of structures we build in respect to streets? Will it be concrete? Will it be hot mix? Will it be chip and seal? All of this will be captured in our climate action plan; these are the priorities.”
Wagner reports that the technical team at City Hall has already completed a status report on the streets damaged by recent rains and floods. The estimated cost to repair these streets is a staggering one point six million dollars. Meanwhile, Daniela Monteiro said that Belize City can look to other cities that have improved upon the same challenges that we now have, in areas of infrastructure, transportation emissions, water treatment, and waste management. Marion Ali for News Five.
Belize’s single-use plastic ban kicked in at the end of March 2022, but the battle against plastic pollution is far from over. The Department of the Environment has given everyone some time to switch to more eco-friendly packaging for food, groceries, clothing, and appliances. However, despite the ban on certain plastics, there’s still a lot of plastic pollution, especially when it comes to managing garbage. Today, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner emphasized that the D.O.E. has the authority to enforce these laws and crack down on violators.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“We still have the problem with plastics. Plastics create a lot of environmental hazards, causing fires, many of the fires that we saw in the past, this past summer, was due to many of those plastics overheating. Again that will have to be a long-term look, based on the Department of the Environment – how stringent they will be in really policing the legislation that was passed.”
There’s a new speed bump in downtown Belize City, and while it might slow down traffic a bit, Mayor Bernard Wagner hopes it will save lives. The bump is located on Regent Street near Brodies. Today, Wagner explained to the media that it was necessary to install it there to help drivers safely access the newly rebuilt NICH parking lot without causing accidents from impatient drivers behind them.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“To ease speeding and the parking facility, having people access the parking facility. You have to have some measure of slowing down for people to access the NICH parking facility that was recently constructed. And so the traffic committee decided to install that speed bump there. I hope it saves some lives.”
On November 4, 2021, Belize signed the Blue Bonds agreement with The Nature Conservancy to restructure debt and enhance marine conservation. The deal mandates that twenty-five percent of the country’s ocean space be protected, with roughly twenty percent already designated as Biodiversity Protection Zones. To meet the November 4, 2024, Milestone Four target, Belize must designate an additional five percent as Medium Protection Zones. However, concerns from fishers and experts regarding data reliability and inclusive planning highlight the need for transparency in fish stock assessments and balanced conservation efforts. Digital Editor, Hipolito Novelo, has the following report.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
The government’s latest conservation proposal includes regions like Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Glovers Reef Atoll, and areas east of Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve. However, some local fishermen and other stakeholders are concerned that they haven’t been properly consulted in these decisions. As Belize approaches a key deadline for its Blue Bonds commitment to protect thirty percent of its waters, tensions are rising. Fisherfolk express concern that the push to meet these conservation targets may overlook their livelihoods, highlighting the need for a more inclusive approach to marine protection. Career fisherman Dale Fairweather missed the Belize City consultation while out at sea. Fairweather believes consultations should be more than procedural steps and stresses the importance of firsthand knowledge to avoid misunderstandings.
Dale Fairweather
Dale Fairweather, Fisherman
“To me, it was basically a consultation just to meet their obligation to the Blue Bond. Well, I think that fishermen should attend all of these things so that they know what happened. I don’t think it’s a waste of time. I think it’s for the fishermen to attend because if they don’t attend, then they will be blind to what’s going on. Under the Managed Access Program, you’re allowed to fish two areas. So, if I don’t have a license for Lighthouse Reef, I might get pushed out and can’t go fish the deep water around like those reef later on then down the strip They might bring in rules because right now they say there’s no rules Say maybe here to down the road inside to put expand the inside rules all the way out to the boundary then I won’t be able to go and fish around like those reef, you know the blue water because Did this law come into effect now? But right now they say there is none. So basically, I don’t know, to me it’s like a double edged sword, you don’t know. Are you worried about that? Yes, I am worried because I’m investing in going into the deep, deep sea fishing.”
Nigel Martinez, Executive Director of the Belize Federation of Fishers (BFF), criticized the recent consultations as poorly organized and lacking essential information. According to Martinez, the Belize City meeting had minimal attendance and didn’t adequately represent those fisherfolks who are directly impacted by proposed marine zone expansions. He questioned the use of “public consultation,” suggesting it was misleading due to limited transparency, the absence of a detailed management plan, and insufficient participation from the fishing community.
Nigel Martinez
Nigel Martinez, Executive Director, B.F.F.
“When you talk about public consultation, there was no public consultation there. They did not even meet a threshold, you know, so that was alarming to me. And that’s why I came to that conclusion that it was poorly organized. I would have wanted to see a management layout of the new expansion area. Each zone should have a management plan. What are the new requirements for these expansions? How will these impact the area? What is the fisheries management of that specific area? None of those were explained. They came and they made a presentation and because the government have to meet milestone four based on the blue bond commitment, they outright don’t care whether you agree or don’t agree. At the end of the day, the SI is going to be implemented.”
Despite the Fisheries Department’s assurances that consultations are inclusive and involve diverse stakeholders, critics argue these sessions lack genuine engagement, suggesting that decisions may already be predetermined. Acting Fisheries Administrator Rigoberto Quintana points to efforts like community outreach in key coastal areas and good turnout in places like San Pedro and Caye Caulker but acknowledges limitations in reaching the full spectrum of impacted fisherfolk.
“ I must also say that this process, we have the, at the highest level, we have the Fisheries Council, that some of this work has been, the Council has been updated as this work was being done through the Coastal Zone and the Fisheries Department. And we have in that Fisheries Council, we have four representatives from fisherfolk organizations. We have Northern Fishermen, National Fishermen, the Chairman of Chunox Fishermen’s Association and we have the chairman of Hopkins Fishermen’s Association in the Fisheries Council. With this expansion based on the meeting yesterday, I can speak to yesterday and today that they are in support. The area will be open to those fishing activities that fishers are carrying out, and we’re not restricting fishers or any other activities that happen in the general rivers area. I expect that, this meeting with stakeholders will be successful because, fishers right now the sentiment is that once will not be restricted, we can continue to have access to the traditional fishing activities, then we will support this process. And the blue bonds is a legal agreement that the government of Belize signs off. Those conservation commitments by Belize is binding to the nation.”
As Belize advances its plans to expand Biodiversity Protection Zones (BPZs), local fishers and experts question whether these initiatives rely on robust data and inclusive planning. Critics are concerned that baseline data transparency issues and limited stakeholder input might overshadow the needs of fishers and accurate assessments of marine health. Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
Earlier today, a delegation from Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration wrapped up a productive visit to Belize. Over the past two weeks, they conducted thorough site inspections at various shrimp farms nationwide. Belizean producers are keen to export shrimp and other fisheries products to Taiwan. Acting Director for Food and Safety, Natalie Gibson, noted that the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) has been instrumental in facilitating the Taiwanese team’s visit.
Natalie Gibson
Natalie Gibson, Acting Director, Food Safety, BAHA
“Our shrimp production sector was very interested in accessing this market and it’s one of the products that’s included in the agreement with Taiwan. We have been exporting lobster, historically, to Taiwan, so this is an effort to expand the scope of products that we can export.”
Isani Cayetano
“And what was included in this process, in terms of, perhaps, inspections and what have you?”
Natalie Gibson
“So we started out with documentation, where we had to submit documentation for them to evaluate, our regulations, what authority we have, what are our standards for different fisheries products, the processing, food safety standards, specifically. So we’ve passed that phase now and now we’ve gone to the onsite inspection where we have three FDA inspectors that came in to physically identify, inspecting our facilities. We’ve been to the port and the airport where the exportations happen. And for the last two weeks, they’ve been to the aquaculture farms and in some of the processing facilities, conducting theirevaluation.”
Isani Cayetano
“Do we know when we can either get can get a report or an update from them to determine whether we are export ready, in terms of our shrimp products?”
Natalie Gibson
“YOU know we have been exporting shrimps to other countries, but in terms of accessing the Taiwan market and meeting their food safety requirements, we have received a few findings but they will actually complete their reports over the next three months and then we will have a definitive answer.”
The Republic of China, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Doctor Lin Chai-Lung, is on an official visit to Belize. Today, Prime Minister John Briceño welcomed him with a breakfast meeting in Belize City. Afterward, they headed over to the BelCan Bridge on Central American Boulevard. On Tuesday, Doctor Lin Chai-Lung announced that his government has agreed to fund the bridge’s replacement. The delegation then traveled to San Pedro Town to visit the construction site of the Taiwan-sponsored San Pedro-Caulker General Hospital. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the details.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
This morning, Prime Minister John Briceño and Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca hosted a breakfast meeting with Doctor Lin Chai-Lung. Afterward, they took him to visit the BelCan Bridge. On Tuesday, during a press conference in Belmopan, Doctor Chai-Lung announced that the Taiwanese government has approved funding to replace the BelCan Bridge in Belize City. Taiwan’s foreign minister got a firsthand look at the rapidly deteriorating structure. The delegation then traveled to San Pedro to visit the construction site of the Caye Caulker-San Pedro General Hospital; a thirty-three- million-dollar project funded by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Lin Chia-Lung
Dr. Lin Chia-Lung, Foreign Minister, Taiwan
“One of Prime Minister Briceno’s key policies is to improve health services for the Belizean people. Our president is a medical doctor. He strongly supports this project. So, and after extensive consultations and the preparation by the government of Belize and Taiwan the San Pedro Hospital project was launched earlier this year. Both of our countries understand that health is integral to the quality of life and attack great importance to this project. I am keen to see the construction site myself on this visit.”
In his remarks, Prime Minister John Briceño, noted that Taiwan is one of Belize’s greatest allies. He compared Taiwan’s geopolitical struggles to the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Our support for Taiwan is unshakeable. It is a strong relationship that we have built for the first thirty-five years. But, it is a relationship that is built on a principle of the right to self determination. If we did not have that opportunity as a country, we would not be here today as a country, because likewise we have a big country. It is not as big as China, but a huge country compared to us, we are at four hundred thousand, they are at eighteen million and for over all these years they have this unfounded claims to Belize. But we are very happy that through diplomacy, through building relationships between both countries, the leaders and leadership that even Guatemala is able to say let us settle this diferendum or the borer peacefully.”
Notably, Belize and Guatemala are the only two Central American countries that are diplomatic allies of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Minister of Health Kevin Bernard was also at the site visit this morning. He shared his thoughts on what the new hospital and Taiwan’s support for this project mean for Belize.
Kevin Bernard
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
“This new hospital represents progress and the commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of everyone who calls the island home as well as the many visitors who come here. No longer will residents need to travel long distances for essential medical care. From emergency services and maternity care to routine checkups. This facility will provide high quality, accessible healthcare right here in San Pedro. The hospital will be staffed by a dedicated team of doctors, nurses and medical professionals who will work tirelessly to ensure each patient receives the best care possible.”
Belize Rural South Area Representative Andre Perez emphasized how grateful the residents of San Pedro and Caye Caulker are for the support from Taiwan’s government to construct the health facility.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“This hospital will be serving as much as thirty thousand people here in Caye Caulker and San Pedro and it swells at times for the busy season. I can tell you that this building, I am being kept abreast on a weekly basis, that this building is being built correctly, in tune with climate change, building a building so resilient that it will be able to withstand a hurricane. It will take about three years or so and I am keeping in touch so that you will see we are on the foundation being built . The people are very grateful because as we grow, this infrastructure that is growing so fast, the most important component is a hospital and your government, and my government has done the right thing by choosing something that is critically important for this community.”
