Representatives from government departments that work with wildlife joined forces with the Crocodile Research Coalition earlier this week to capture a crocodile in Belama Phase Three. As we reported on Tuesday, a large croc spotted in the canal raised concerns among residents. These reptiles are known to inhabit the canal, but the size of the animal captured on video that day was enough for residents to call on authorities to capture and relocate it. Well, the team that set out to capture the crocodile was unable to locate it. They did, however, agree on one thing, the garbage pollution in the canal is leading crocodiles to venture closer to the properties of residents in the community. We spoke with Doctor Marisa Tellez, the Executive Director of the Crocodile Research Coalition.
Marissa Tellez
Dr. Marissa Tellez, Executive Director, Crocodile Research Coalition
“When that video of the crocodile from Belama first went on Facebook, I was immediately contacted by colleagues, residents, other concerned citizens and I think a lot of people that were commenting on the Facebook page, nailed the real issue. The issue is not the crocodile, the issue is the trash in that area. And we must understand, pollution overall, if you want to look at the statistics and science, pollution us much more of a safety issue for the public than a crocodile, especially if it’s a species that is, according to experts across the world, not considered a “man eater”. Everyone knows there are crocodiles in the city, but if you want to make sure that a crocodile doesn’t get too close to the street, if you want to make sure the crocodile doesn’t start habituating to humans, clean up the trash. What happens is the trash starts attacking racoons, the street dogs, you are pretty much baiting the crocodile at this point. So, if the trash is cleaned up, it is most likely that large crocodile is not going to be in the area anymore. This is a concern where sure if you want to relocate the crocodile that is putting a band aid on the situation, the real situation here is the pollution in that area. This is where education comes into play, and I know there is so many great organizations and communities trying to clean up because they understand the concern about trash. Buit this is also about where the government can step in to assist with improving the waste management system.”
The Prime Minister said that the country is experiencing power outages because of the rapid rate of the country’s growth. He described it as being victims of our own success.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“BEL projected the level of energy that we’re using, we would have been using it in 2028. We are a victim of our own success. The economy has grown so fast that we’re consuming so much energy for 2028 in 2024 and that is why we’re caught in this, but no excuses. We have to make sure to fix the problem.”
On Friday, a family of thirteen in Trio Village was left without a home after a fire destroyed the building completely. That afternoon, around two-thirty p.m., thirty-three-year-old Yuri Choc, her sister, mother, and ten children were at home when a burning fly repellant started a fire somewhere in the house. Yuri Choc, who was inside at the time of the fire, spoke with us today about the incident.
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
On the Phone: Yuri Choc, Fire Victim
“You see when they start to burn the thing I think like Sabana. It just ketch fire and then we see the. We deh inside that da when we see the ashes inside. And then my mom and we run outside and we see the house done ketch fire.”
Britney Gordon
“Did anyone get injured?”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“No, ma’am.“
Britney Gordon
“Nobody got hurt? Okay.”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“No.”
Britney Gordon
“And what about, you know, all of your belongings? Were you able to save anything?”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“No. We never save nothing. And only we kitchen stuff and nothing. We never save nothing. But only paper we try take that important. We documents.”
Britney Gordon
“So how many people were in the house at the time?”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“Only ten.”
Britney Gordon
“Ten people, and you all made it out safely.”
On the Phone: Yuri Choc
“And the kids they with my mom because they can’t get in with the fire because they could get burned. Da dih house we need because I cya stay with my kids with no house and I cya stay with no people. It hurt. We noh got house. And I no have nobody to help me. If my pa mi alive maybe he could help we out brt we noh have nobody fi help we because my pa pass away and my husband pass away. What I need da my house,”
Choc and her family can be reached at the number six-six-five-eight-five-five-seven.
Since September 2022, the Belize Tourism Board has undertaken the task of making Belize City a beautiful municipality. The beautification project involves planting greenery throughout the city and creating spaces that are attractive for residents to socialize in. While it was estimated that the project would be nearing completion by now, there have been an overwhelming number of setbacks for the team; mainly, theft and vandalism. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke to Elena Usher, one of the lead consultants on the project for more details on the situation.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
The Belize Tourism Board’s City Beautification project is in dire need of an intervention. For nearly two years, a team has been diligently planting greenery across the city to cool the atmosphere and create a more pleasing aesthetic. However, the team has been discouraged and angered by people stealing and destroying the plants. Elena Usher, one of the two lead consultants on the project, aired her grievances with us.
Elena Usher
Elena Usher, Consultant, BTB Beautification Project
“When we started, everything was going very well. And then the hurricane came, which was the first hurdle. But that was nature, natural, so that was not a problem. After that, we started to have people stealing the plants. Tremendous amounts of plants have been stolen. And it has been frustrating because to have to replace all of these plants, we cannot see the progress that we need to make. That we should have been seeing at this time of the project. If it’s not the stealing of the plants, people just vandalize them people just root them out leave them there or people school children high school children just walk and just, tear out the plants from where they are. They just destroy them. That is one of the most frustrating thing is the theft of the plants. The job is not a problem it’s just the people that don’t appreciate what it is that BTB is trying to do for the city, besides the aesthetics of it being very nice, it will cool down the city. It will create new environments, beautiful areas to sit, to walk. To be able to just move around the city and be in a very nice atmosphere”
Usher said that the team had plans to finish in about two and a half years, but due to the hurdles, they have been pushed extremely behind schedule. She explained that some of the smaller plants range between ten to fifteen dollars while large plants can cost five hundred dollars or above.
Elena Usher
“We wanted to do basically palms and big trees to make it really shady and cool in the city, but that could not happen. And then underneath all of this, we wanted to do ground covers that would eliminate. The Belize City Council having to send their people out there to do cutting and weeding.And so we wanted to do beautiful ground covers and have the over big trees to cover the area to make it cool. The smaller plants are what people are just stealing. It’s easier for them to just pass and route it up or drive by in a car and just take amounts that they want.”
Usher explained that he team has been working on some areas since it was launched and although there have been setbacks, she anticipates that the BTB will expand it to other areas upon completion.
Elena Usher
“We are still working on the Central American Boulevard. That’s the first area we started. We have redone Constitution Park, and we have also done the Mahogany Street project marketplace. We are now working on the Memorial Park, and then we have the other areas like the Albert and Regent Street, which is the next project we’re going to do. Princess Margaret Drive, the New Tongue Barrack area, Marine Parade, and um, Cemetery Road.”
She said there have been attempts to hinder acts of theft and vandalism, but it remains difficult to prevent them entirely.
Britney Gordon
“Have the BTB taken any precautions to prevent people from stealing or vandalizing?”
Elena Usher
“Yes. For example, in the Constitution Park when that park was being redone, they stole the windows, the doors, the plants, they destroyed. What has happened is the cameras have been placed in these areas and burglar bars have been put on the building. The wire fence have also been put in because people were also using the park as a bathroom. So these are some of the things that have been done, other than that, It’s hard.”
Despite the challenges, Usher says she is determined to see this project completed and hopes that Belizeans can enjoy the benefits of the endeavor.
Elena Usher
“At the end of this project, I would like to see the city very green. I would like to see great green spaces parks that can be very healthy and soothing for all of us. That would be enjoyable for everybody to come and sit, to have a good time, to just relax. And the cooling of the city. To make it so green that When you’re walking or driving, it’s, there’s not that tremendous air of heat just surrounding you, with the greenery, it should make it feel a lot cooler. That’s my main goal.”
A massive crocodile lurking in a canal in Belama Phase Three has residents worried. One resident shared a video on social media of the enormous reptile, while calling on the relevant authorities to visit the area and relocate the animal. We visited the area this afternoon and numerous residents told us that this is the largest crocodile they have ever seen in the area and that many dogs have been killed since it showed up a couple weeks ago. The community now fears for the safety of its children. We spoke with Kyra Young, a resident of Belama Phase Three. Here is what she told us.
Kyra Young
Kyra Young, Belama Phase 3 Resident
“I posted a video because my neighbor was alarmed. They actually woke up to that crocodile in their yard. It was in the yard. So, they sent me the video to show me and at first, I was taking it lightly because people always try to make things bigger. When I went to see it for myself, did you guys see how big that crocodile is? That is why I call it “crocodilious eatorous”, because I have never seen one in that regard. That took the dogs, ate all the four five pot licker them and the puppies. One of them actually took the puppy out of the child’s hand, because they were playing in the yard and the dog went to drink water from the canal and the crocodile took the puppy out of the baby’s hands. What if the crocodile took the baby and I have kids and my kids always play in the yard. So, I saw that very alarming. There are small ones, we always see the small ones, they always come up to the bridge, that is why they are not afraid of us. They come all the way up here, they wait for us and the animals. This one I saw is the biggest crocodile I have ever seen in my life and I have seen crocodiles in San Pedro, I have seen them at the crocodile sanctuary and this is the biggest one I have ever seen in my life and I believe we need to sought this out together as a community and we don’t want one day they say it took a child or a man or woman, because you see how big that is? That is bigger than you and I combined. That will take me easily. I dah bones. I am pleading that the community could get together to see how we could remove this animal. I know you trap them with hooks and bait, so see how we could trap this animal and take them out of this area and put them in another area where they won’t be around humans. I understand this is their habitat, but this is my habitat as well and how will I be afraid to traverse my area because of a crocodile? I don’t think that makes sense. This feels like dinosaur ages, we need fih tighten up.”
By Ángela Blanco, Emergency and Resilience Officer at FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean Marion Khamis, Specialist in Resilience and Disaster Risk Management
The forecast of the La Niña phenomenon for the second half of 2024 revives the urgency of strengthening the resilience of agri-food systems against extreme weather events in Latin America and the Caribbean.
After a year marked by El Niño, which brought droughts, heatwaves, and floods, we now face a new phenomenon, the potential effects of which we must understand to act and protect agriculture, a pillar of our economies and livelihood for millions in the region.
From FAO, we warn about the increasing risk to global agriculture from multiple threats, including extreme climate events like El Niño and La Niña and pests and diseases affecting animals and plants.
Currently, agriculture and its subsectors absorb 23% of the total economic losses caused by these events, i.e., almost a quarter of the losses caused by disasters globally are concentrated in the agricultural sector. In our region, this represents an average loss of 975 calories per capita per day, directly impacting the population’s food security.
Marion Khamis, Specialist in Resilience and Disaster Risk Management
In this context, it is imperative not only to respond to current emergencies but also to prepare for future ones, strengthening our capacities to prevent and mitigate their impacts through a holistic approach. This includes profoundly understanding the consequences of climate phenomena on agri-food systems and developing targeted strategies to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities.
Today, we face significant challenges in identifying and measuring how these phenomena affect agri-food systems. This requires methodologies to capture the differentiated effects of threats and consider ethnic-racial, gender, age, and geographical variables to ensure inclusive and effective responses. Moreover, the results of these measurements must be used operationally to formulate public policies and social assistance and protection programs.
In this scenario, the Emergency Data Information System (DIEM) from FAO emerges as a crucial tool, acting as a thermometer for the situation of the agri-food systems and offering key input for assessing the potential impact of adverse climate events on agricultural production and livelihoods. DIEM identifies particularly vulnerable areas and communities, such as those that have already suffered losses in their livelihoods and food security in previous records and are located in areas exposed to the new threat.
Additionally, DIEM can measure immediate impacts through its DIEM Impact version. A successful example of this tool is the use by FAO in assessing the impact of fires in Colombia during 2024 on agriculture and livelihoods through the Southern Oscillation Index (El Niño). This allowed a precise allocation of resources and recovery efforts toward the most vulnerable areas and communities, demonstrating the importance of assessment tools for effective emergency management and impact mitigation on agri-food systems.
Ángela Blanco, Emergency and Resilience Officer at FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean
As we prepare to face La Niña, it is essential to recognize the importance of advancing in the generation of impact data, implementing anticipatory measures such as reinforcing infrastructure, and distributing agricultural inputs resistant to adverse conditions to minimize the scale of damage. It is also important to establish rapid response systems in emergencies that allow the agile distribution of support and provide direct financial assistance to affected families to meet their immediate needs.
This requires close collaboration between governments, international organizations, donors, academia, and civil society organizations, as well as the participation of family farmers, rural women, youth, indigenous peoples, and Afro-descendants.
As we progress, the goal must be to improve and increase the assessment of disaster impacts. DIEM is a step forward in this direction, and the information it provides will help us commit to continuous improvement and collective action to face the challenges ahead.
Only in this way can we adequately prepare for La Niña or other events that may impact food security and agricultural livelihoods, ensuring a safer, sustainable, and resilient future for all and guaranteeing better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
The Sargassum onslaught over the years has left the communities it has impacted with less beach and more expenses, requiring the transportation of the smelly seagrass to dumping sites in remote areas of the town. But there is a collaboration between San Pedro Town Council and the Belize Rural South constituency office to replenish over a mile of eroded beachline, caused mainly by sargassum.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“Indeed, the mayor and I, we had discussed about beach reclamation. We have been working to get on that one about extending the beach from Boca del Rio all the way and just reaching before Ramon’s. That’s just over a mile, but the reclamation – I don’t want to call it beach reclamation. I think the word that the person said is beach rehabilitation – I want to say because beach reclamation sounds rough, but it’s the same thing. The point is this: working together with the dredging company, making sure we get the clearance of the DOE – everything, Fisheries Department, Mining, everything. We want to extend it forty feet. It’s going to be starting soon. I was reaching out recently to the mayor on that one as well and he just expressed to me that they’re willing, ready to sign. I think the down payment needs to be made. We don’t know the figure as yet, but we need to work together. We are working with the company because dredging the sand to reclaim means that we have to work with them. It’s going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that. So we have to collaborate with him also to provide sand that he can sell to other places that can do the refilling. And that is how he gets his money from the natural resources that we can offer. But we do it in an environmentally sound way that can be a win. I can tell you this: the support of the community says beach reclamation is a must. Climate change is real. Beach erosion is real.”
On Wednesday, residents of San Pedro underwent a fourteen-hour power outage. This came amidst tourism high season, forcing hotels that were able to use generators to accommodate guests, while smaller hotels made do without. In a press conference today, B.E.L. C.E.O. John Mencias said the most recent outage was caused by faulty equipment. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Amidst the tourism high season, Belize’s premier tourist destination underwent a grueling thirteen-hour power outage. What began at ten twenty a.m. on Wednesday, lasted until the early hours of Thursday morning in some areas. This power outage was not the first residents of the island experienced recently, as just a few weeks ago, power supply to the island was cut. This was caused by a submarine cable, which supplies energy to the area, surpassing its max capacity. To protect the cable, the feed from it was temporarily dropped by Belize Electricity Limited. At a press briefing held by the energy providers, BEL CEO, John Mencias expanded on the events that caused the breach to occur.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd
“So about three or four weeks ago. We had power interruptions. I think it occurred on Saturday. A power interruption in San Pedro. It affected feeder to San Pedro, which is the portion of the feed the system that feeds to the north where most of the resorts are. That lasted for probably an hour to two the most. And the reason for that poor interruption is that the cable, the capacity of the single submarine cable that feeds the island was breached, meaning that demand on the island surpassed the capacity of the cable. The cable is rated for somewhere in the region of seventeen megawatts just above, and the demand in San Pedro went to seventeen point six megawatts. And we move quickly. To protect the cable. And that is why we dropped a feeder to out there. But afterwards, what we did, Is that we got in contact with various resort owners. We asked them if they could go on their standby generators when they did. So that reduced the demand for electricity in San Pedro and we were able to reduce supply below the capacity limit of the cable.”
Mencia said that the high demand in San Pedro continued for about two weeks, causing larger hotel owners to rely on personal generators. Mencias said that eventually the levels normalized, and the company was able to meet the demand once again. Yesterday, however, the power supply was cut off once again. This time, because of malfunctioning equipment.
John Mencias
“However, yesterday early in the morning, we started to encounter, voltage fluctuations at or Mascal substation, which supplies San Pedro. And when we further investigated on site we found that there was leakage and there was smoking of one of the major components of the transformer. And we had to move quickly to protect the transformer. And we had to drop the entire circuit that feeds San Pedro. That is from ten twenty. We realized very quickly that we could not do anything about fixing the transformer in the meantime and we moved quickly to deploy a mobile transformer. That we have in place to the Mascal substation.”
After several hours, BEL employees were finally able to replace the faulty transformer and restore power to the island.
John Mencias
“We started to move right away. It took us about two and a half to three hours to dismantle that mobile substation. I say transformer. It’s actually a full substation. It was by mile eight the George Price Highway. It took us another five hours to transport that because it is huge and wide. It could not go through the normal route to Mascal. It had to go all the way up to Carmelita and then down along the old Northern Highway. And even two of the bushings on that mobile substation broke. Had it not been for that, we would have been able to get back San Pedro online by about nine thirty last night. Remember, from ten twenty in the morning, we up to then, we actually got back online until forty-eight minutes after midnight, which is this morning.”
Mencias said that the company is going to repair the transformer that caused the power outage as the mobile substation used to restore power is just a temporary solution and is at max capacity.
John Mencias
“What we’re doing now, we have brought in some help from a contractor based in Guatemala who specializes in fixing those components. I think he should be here today. One of their representatives is here today. And we hope to get the transformer back in service within the next three to four weeks. But in the meantime, the mobile substation is capable of supplying the capacity out there. I will see the demand out there. I will say, though, that mobile substation is at its capacity limit, too, so we will have to continue to manage the man in San Pedro. So that is the San Pedro situation. We also had a transmission line failure. Go to that before the day before that.”
Among the issues with the equipment, BEL’s largest power supplier CFE has been unable to provide power to Belize, resulting in several power outages across the country. Minister of Tourism and Diaspora relations, Anthony Mahler said that he is hopeful the issue can be rectified soon.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations
“Hotels. The bigger ones do, yes. It is problematic for us, but. We had a discussion in cabinet yesterday about it, and BEL is working feverishly to try to rectify the situation. It’s not the best situation. We’re still in high season right now, per se. We believe that we’ll get the solutions implemented pretty soon.”
Reporter
“But we see these constant blackouts happening, and they may continue because of Mexico’s load shedding. Is there anything being done to ensure that tourists don’t have to endure this?”
Anthony Mahler
“We’re talking to Mexico as well. And so hopefully this can be rectified sooner rather than later.”
The inaugural School Gardening Competition concluded earlier this week, ahead of the start of the National Agriculture and Trade Show. Twelve schools from across the country took part in the competition in the primary and secondary school categories. The idea is to promote agricultural education and sustainable farming practices among schools in Belize. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
School gardening is an invaluable educational tool for students at the primary and secondary levels because it provides a hands-on learning experience where students can apply biological and environmental science in real life. They can observe plant growth, understand soil composition, and learn about the importance of biodiversity. The National Agriculture and Trade Show steering committee found it fit to launch a competition to encourage students to engage in practical learning.
Emilio Montero
Emilio Montero, Ministry of Agriculture
“This year, for the first time, the NATS committee suggested if we can do a school garden competition which is what the Ministry of Agriculture promotes a lot, working with gardening in primary school, as well as in high schools. So the proposal was put to me to lead it since we work a lot with schools. So in November, I was tasked to promote the school garden competition. We designed a flier that was posted on our Facebook page for the ministry and very interestingly, a lot of schools countrywide wrote to us expressing their willingness to participate in the school garden competition.”
School gardens are a great way to teach students about nutrition. By growing their own fruits and vegetables, students can learn about healthy eating and benefits of fresh produce.
Emilio Montero
“Countrywide, from all six districts, we started with fifteen primary schools and eight high schools that wrote to us expressing their interest to participate.”
Students develop responsibility, patience, and teamwork as they work together to maintain the garden. They also learn planning and research skills as they decide what to plant and how to care for it.
Emilio Montero
“At the time when we started receiving letters of expression, right away we saw we had to put two categories, the primary school and the high school categories. That also gave us the task of developing what we call a rubric, what would we be looking for in the garden to grade them, to be as transparent as possible, and coming up with the best winning garden. So some of the criterion that we put forth was garden design, the implementation of the garden, a garden that would be showing agricultural techniques, kind of like irrigation systems, tackling pests and diseases, if there would be any, and if the garden was environmentally friendly.”
Gardening helps students understand their relationship with the environment. They learn about sustainability, conservation, and the impact of human activities on ecosystems. In essence, school gardening can enrich the curriculum, promote healthy lifestyles, and instill a sense of environmental stewardship in students.
Emilio Montero
“For primary school, the winner came out of Corozal District, in the name of San Victor RC, a Roman Catholic primary school and second place was San Antonio United Pentecostal out of Cayo District. In the high school category, we had Valley of Peace Seventh Day Adventist which came up with an innovative type of gardening, sustainable agriculture practices which is what the ministry is promoting. And second place, out of Orange Walk District is Belize High School of Agriculture. Now within the recognition, innovation and technology, innovation and research. The technology recognition award is going to be given to Itz’at STEAM Academy out of Belize City, Belize District. And for the innovation research it’s Corozal District in the name of Escuela [Secundaria] Tecnica Mejico.”
It’s a multifaceted educational approach that aligns well with the goals of agricultural education. Isani Cayetano for News Five.
The Belize Territorial Volunteers are raising alarm over the illicit harvesting of logwood in the Columbia Forest Reserve. A release from the BTV says that the organization recently conducted a four-day expedition within the reserve and stumbled upon thousands of board feet of lumber being illegally harvested by individuals from Guatemala. The statement further notes that a road has been established inside the reserve to facilitate this illegal activity. BTV is now calling on the Forest Department and the Belize Defense Force to swiftly intervene and put an end to these actions. We heard from one Punta Gorda resident courtesy of PG TV.
Valentino Tzub
Valentino Tzub, Punta Gorda Resident
“Well we gone hunt and when we gone close to Machakil Ha Area and when we reached there, where the BDF stay, then we were walking there we saw the open road, inside the forest and that road come from Guatemala. When we reach there we see the road open and the tractor come there and we saw on both side of the road they cut the lumber there. They are cutting. That place looked like a hurricane pass there. All the lumber was on the ground. On both side of the road you could see the lumber. It is lone red on both side of the road. They are cutting mahogany, santa maria, sapodilla and the cedar.”
