2025-06-19 - Greater Belize Media

Teen Killed by Bus: Road Safety in Spotlight After Hattieville Tragedy

Tonight, heartbreak grips the Hattieville community following the tragic loss of a young life along the George Price Highway. Sixteen-year-old Tyrel Cardines, a student of Gwen Lizarraga High School, known for his faith and love for his community, was struck and killed by a Floralia bus while riding his bicycle. The impact threw him onto the pavement, causing fatal injuries. Tyrel’s sudden death has left his family and neighbors in mourning, and it’s also reignited public concern over road safety and the responsibility of drivers on our highways. News Five’s Britney Gordon has more on this devastating incident and the growing calls for accountability.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Tragedy struck just before eleven this morning near mile sixteen on the George Price Highway. Sixteen-year-old Tyrel Cardines, a young student riding a bicycle, lost his life in a devastating collision with a Floralia bus. The impact threw him onto the pavement, causing fatal injuries that have left a community in mourning. As the police continue their investigation, Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith shares more details about the heartbreaking incident.

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police have issued a notice of intended prosecution Salazar the driver of a U-Town bus belonging to Floralia Bus Company that was involved in a fatal traffic accident, which claimed the life of sixteen-year-old Tyrel Cardines. A student of Hattiville Village, Belize District, the accident occurred at approximately 10:30 AM today, nineteenth of June, 2025, between miles sixteen and seventeen on the George Price Highway. Initial investigation revealed that Cardines was riding a bicycle from the direction of Hattieville to Belize City and it is alleged that he abruptly made a left turn onto the highway into the part of the bus that was traveling to Belize City when the fatal collision occurred. Police investigation continues.”

Tyrel Cardines was on his way to the store when he was hit. Long-time family friend, Therese Jacobs, was one of the last people to see Tyrel alive.

Therese Jacobs, Family Friend

“He said Nana, I’m going to the store. Go buy something. I said, okay, we’ll buy something for me. And he went to the store. So I was here, didn’t expect, you know, someone going to my gate and he said, Ms. Therese do you know Tyrel? I said, yes. I said he just went to the store and he just did his hand. When I went out there, I see the crowd, and I said, no, no, no, no. You know, but I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect it.”

Just hours before the fatal accident, Tyrel was spending time with friends from church, enjoying the kind of carefree moments every teenager deserves. He was expected home later that day to attend a graduation with his family. But sadly, he never made it. His mother, still reeling from the loss, says Tyrel was adored by everyone who knew him, a kind soul whose absence is already deeply felt.

Marilee Cardines, Mother of Deceased

“My baby kind, loving, humble. Da wa loving person. Dat da why everybody love ah. Cause he sweet. Everybody da aunty and uncle. So when he see you do come he di come with lotta love and kisses. Mi love, da he name for me, mi love.”

As the Hattieville community continues to mourn the tragic loss of sixteen-year-old Tyrel Cardines, his mother is speaking out, not just in grief, but in a call for change. She says Tyrel wasn’t a reckless rider. He was careful, always looking both ways before crossing the highway. Now, she’s urging the traffic department to step up enforcement of road safety traffic laws, hoping no other family has to endure the pain she’s now facing. Her plea adds to growing public concern over accountability on our roads.

Marilee Cardines

“Traffic need fi get down pan ney buses and ney bus driver cuz ney no got wa care. You know how much people life ney have inna ney hand everyday? Lotta people. This da no di first time. My son da no the only one weh get knock down there. Bout five more people from Hattieville get knock down right da dat same spoke sake of careless driver. When ney come round dat curve ney come and da and da speed so ney no got time fi stop.”

The third-form student was an active member of his community and church. Jacobs described Tyrel as having an overflowing amount of love to share.

Therese Jacobs

“He joined me after with devotion, and he said, nana, I have two mother. I said, aha?. He said, I have my mom. And I have you, I said, nuhuh, you have your mom and you have your nana. And he laughed and he put his hands around me and he kissed me. And that brings back strong memory to me because of who he is and words. Some of his last words was, Nana, I love you.”

Although Marilee is grieving, she is determined to be brave for her two small children and work through the heartbreak together.

Marilee Cardines

“It just hurt. You back your baby inna your belly fi nine months. You go through the pain fi have ah, you go through the pain as a single mother fi raise your baby. And somebody just cime tek a weh like that, It hurt, But I have to be strong fi mind my next two baby cause da no only he one. I have to be strong fi the next two.”

Tyrel’s death dealt an indescribable blow to his loved ones, but his family is finding comfort in Tyrel’s dedication to his faith and the years he spent spreading kindness and love to all who knew him. Britney Gordon for News Five.

Several witnesses provided reports of the incident.

Nine Unions, One Message: Respect Our Voice

It was a powerful show of unity today in Belize City, as the National Trade Union Congress of Belize brought together a coalition of voices not seen in years. At least nine unions packed the room, and seven took the mic, each one laying out the challenges their members face, from stevedores and university staff to teachers and public servants. But before the individual concerns were aired, NTUCB President Ella Waight set the tone, delivering a strong message to the Briceño Administration: stop the attacks on union leaders. It was a press conference that made it clear—Belize’s unions are standing together, and they’re ready to be heard.

Ella Waight, President, NTUCB

“ The government of Belize must immediately cease the politicization of actions taken by union leaders and put an end to the personal attacks on their integrity. Union leaders are elected representatives of working people, not political pawns. The attempt to undermine their character for political gain not only weakens the democratic voice of workers. But also erodes public trust in fair labor practices. This pattern of scapegoating is a dangerous distraction from the real issues facing our workforce and our workers, and an attempt to put an afront to the principles of justice, dignity, and collective bargaining. Responsible leadership demands respectful dialogue, not character assassination. If this, if this does not stop immediately, NUCB will be submitting a case to the ILO Standards Application Committee that is enough.”

BNTU President Shuts Down New Retirement Age Proposal

The proposed four percent salary adjustment from the government isn’t sitting well with the unions, and now we know why. President of the Belize National Teachers Union, Nadia Caliz, is raising red flags over the fine print. According to the union, accepting that four percent bump would also mean agreeing to a contributory pension scheme and pushing retirement to age sixty-five. It’s a package deal the unions say they simply can’t accept. Here’s more on what’s fueling their firm rejection.

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“ I want to say to educators in this room that early retirement is fifty, voluntary retirement is fifty-five, and mandatory retirement is sixty and I’m touching the educators for right now. Now, if this rule changes, then you’re looking at that voluntary retirement being removed to everything being mandatory at sixty, but one of the reasons why we disagree with the blanket sixty-year-old that they are proposing is because different employment or different jobs require certain physical and mental capabilities. So imagine a, a soldier, sixty years old, they need certain stamina. And what exists in Belize today ,what currently exists in Belize today is that our military personnel, our military personnel, they have a different retirement rate or age. They have a different pension act, so it differs. So what we need to need government to say to us, are we going to put everybody at sixty. What is going on, and this is the reason why we object to contributory pension being the condition under which we are going to accept any salary, advance or adjustment, I must say, salary adjustment. Now, as sister Sharon said, we don’t know if it’s a scheme. We don’t know if it’s a fund we don’t know. What we do know is that if we’re talking about contributions, we don’t want our monies in the government. Consolidated revenue fund.”

Dean Flowers Reveals Government Rent Expenditure

At today’s NTUCB press conference, Public Service Union President Dean Flowers came ready, with receipts. Ahead of the event, Flowers did some digging into government spending, and what he found is raising eyebrows. From building rentals to vehicle purchases and even housing and entertainment allowances, the numbers tell a story that’s hard to ignore. While he admits some of these costs are necessary, Flowers says the amounts being spent raise more questions than answers. And when it comes to office space rentals—he’s calling for transparency. Here’s what he had to say.

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“Topping the list for the highest monthly rental is the Immigration and Nationality Department, which falls under the Prime Minister’s Ministry and they’re paying twenty-two thousand to a certain landowner. And we must ask ourselves, is that the office in Belize City? Is that the office in Belmopan? And if it’s the office in Belmopan I believe that we would have already, which is a much more beautiful building if I can say that, compared to the office in Belize City. I can tell you that building, the price of that building, the monthly rent for that building was never twenty-thousand under the previous administration. The Ministry of Health and Wellness, I thought, I know we have to pay a little bit of house rent for the Cuban brigades and so on, but they are renting a building somewhere for eighteen thousand dollars and we need to know who’s getting that money. The Ministry of Public Utilities, seventeen thousand dollars a month. This is monthly. Ministry of Finance and Home Affairs, I guess they’re combining there. We see a contract here for fifteen thousand eight hundred dollars. Ministry of Human Development, they’re paying fifteen thousand dollars. Blue Economy, they are paying fourteen thousand dollars for one of their buildings, fourteen thousand dollars, Ministry of Rural Transformation fourteen thousand dollars. And this is the shocker, the Ministry of Youth also has one here for fourteen thousand dollars. I’m trying to figure out which building house the Ministry of Youth, that is worth fourteen thousand dollars. And there are others for some twelve thousand dollars, and ten thousand dollars. I see the Attorney General here for twelve thousand dollars. I assume that’s the one in Belmopan which is a very beautiful building and very spacious. A blue economy again for another ten thousand dollars.”

Union Leader: Fairness Over Figures

We also heard from Sharon Fraser, President of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, who laid out a timeline of the Joint Union Negotiation Team’s talks with the government. According to Fraser, the unions have never been rigid about the eight-point-five percent salary cut. But what they can’t accept are the conditions tied to the government’s latest proposal. She says it’s not just about numbers; it’s about fairness. Here’s more from her remarks at today’s press conference.

Sharon Fraser, President, Association of Public Service Senior Managers

“They indicated that after this long speech about being responsible and we need to look after everybody, not just public sector workers, we got to the point where we were offered four, four, no, it increased by one to four percent for October this year. And the other four and a half in the following two years. So three years, nothing changed. Well, that’s what was the offer. And the issue with the increment remained the same. But what caught our eyes was the fact that in the letter and in bold capital letters, it said subject to, and I heard, and I have respect for the Minister of State, and I heard him on another media, in a media house saying that, in fact, I got it wrong because if you are putting “subject to” in capital letters, it is to catch my attention and it’s to tell me that everything that follows, it depends on. But maybe, it was different law school I gone. Maybe, because he said that is not the case. It was subject to pension reform. So, to get any of the things above, which was the four and the four and a half and the increments, it was subject to pension reform.”

KHMHWU Rejects GOB’s Initial Pension Proposal

The call for pension justice continues at Belize’s flagship hospital. The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers Union is once again urging the government to establish a pension scheme for its members, over three hundred of whom face retirement without one. We’ve been following this story closely, and tonight, there’s a new development. The union has officially rejected the government’s latest proposal, delivered just hours after their June fifth meeting. Now, all eyes are on a second letter from the government, one that could determine the next steps in this ongoing fight for financial security.

Andrew Baird, President, KHMHWU

”Immediately the night of June fifth, our union met with our membership. We tabled what was presented to us. Right after the meeting, we wrote a letter to the chair, copied to all the government officials that was a part of the meeting, to state or dissatisfaction with the letter written by the chairman and that and our condemnation to such letter. It was promised to us that they will go back to the Prime Minister and the other counterparts of the government to reconsider the four percent and come back to us June twentieth, which is tomorrow, with their reconsideration of the four percent. So, we are waiting for tomorrow eleven fifty-nine p.m. Now ,let me make this clear. At no point in time did our members give us a mandate to remove our plan, tier action, industrial action from the table. We still continue our work to rule at this time and wearing our T-shirts. Tomorrow can determine whether we move forward with the other affairs.”

Cabinet to Review New Union Proposals

Former Minister of Education Francis Fonseca says the unions have rejected the latest offer, but there’s still hope for a resolution. With new proposals heading to Cabinet next week, Fonseca is urging a return to the table—and a move away from disruptive actions like airport closures, which he says hurt everyone, from public officers to the tourism industry. Here’s more on what he had to say.

Francis Fonseca, Former Minister of Education

“The unions, as you know, have rejected the last offer made by the Government of Belize. Our negotiating team, the cabinet subcommittee, met earlier this week to discuss certain proposals that we want to make to Cabinet. We will be making those proposals to Cabinet on Tuesday next week, and based on that discussion with Cabinet and whatever instructions we are given by Cabinet, then we will be scheduling a meeting with the JUNT for us to move the process forward in terms of whatever instructions we are given by Cabinet. So we are very hopeful that, based on our own discussions, that those proposals will be well received, that they will be met with good faith, and that we will have an opportunity for an early resolution of this matter. I’ve always maintained that we have in place a structure and a mechanism for the resolution of these disputes. We have always been able to dialogue around the table. In my view, it is very unfortunate, very disappointing that the unions have moved away from the table and are not, you know, resolving these issues in good faith, in a respectful way around the table. So, I think, certainly the efforts to close or disrupt activities at the airport, that cannot be acceptable to anyone and that is not in the interest of anybody, not in the interest of the teachers, the public officers and not in the interest of the tourism industry.”

Unions Say There is Something Sinister About 13th Amendment

Just three weeks ago, Prime Minister John Briceño quietly introduced what could become one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in recent memory, the Thirteenth Amendment Bill. On the surface, it’s about tightening the rules around declaring a state of emergency to tackle crime. But beneath that calm explanation, a storm is brewing. Union leaders are sounding the alarm, and the opposition is calling it downright sinister. Why now? Well, the timing is raising eyebrows, the bill comes hot on the heels of a High Court ruling that slammed a 2020 state of emergency as unlawful. And now, NTUCB Senator Glenfield Dennison is weighing in.

Glenfield Dennison, NTUCB Senator

”One teacher teach me in a primary school that when you lose the High Court, you go to a Court of Appeal and then after Court of Appeal you got a CCJ. They never teach me that when you lose the High Court you’re going to change the constitution to make it suit you. So that’s where we are with the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment is saying we recognize that we failed. We recognize that legal recourse, by virtue of appeal, will not likely be successful because there’s no evidence that you could take to the court of appeal that would convince those people that the SOE was properly in area. And if you do convince them, the law in the Caribbean is very clear about when you trigger SOE and the criteria. So when you go to the CCJ without any evidence, because you can’t add new evidence. No, you can’t change the game. You can’t say, oh, sorry, we need to give you the insight we never gave you at the High Court. So when they would’ve gone to the CCJ, the CCJ would’ve ruled it how they saw it, but I think they don’t see that game. You don’t need law, degree to realize what would have happened there. So they say, we have super majority, let’s change the law. And let’s, and this is, this is what frightens me. This is why I started with that little prose. Because today the proposal is to change the law to ratify the SOE action. But that can be a slippery slope.”

13th Amendment Uproar: Opposition Sounds Alarm on SOE Powers

From the union halls to the halls of parliament, the Thirteenth Amendment is stirring up serious debate. This afternoon in Belize City, Opposition heavyweight Tracy Panton stepped up to the mic, leading a press conference to tackle what she called pressing national concerns. But the spotlight quickly turned to the controversial amendment. Opposition Senator Sheena Pitts didn’t hold back either, accusing the Briceño administration of trying to lower the bar for declaring a state of emergency.

Sharon Pitts, Opposition Senator

“ I said before, government is talentless. They cannot solve the crime problem. Instead, they are codifying the ability to suspend fundamental rights and freedoms, guised as prevention and control of crime. They openly, through this amendment, through legislation, accept that the state of emergencies that they imposed on Belizean people were unlawful and not consistent with the Constitution. So, since the court ruling, they change the Constitution, they say the two rulings are uncertain. You know what you do when you’re unhappy about a decision from the court, you appeal, go through the process that we have for appeal. But what does this bill intend to achieve? Because information is power, the Belizean public needs to know what is in this bill. They are creating new and lower thresholds for what constitutes a state of emergency. That is now the Governor General will need to be satisfied, simply satisfied on advice from the National Security Council on reasonable grounds that for public safety or public order in a specified area and for preventing, detecting or controlling crime in that area, a state of emergency exists. Now, what this bill is saying is that when that is declared, it will be declared for one month in the first instance by the GG but that it can be extended by resolution of the National Assembly for up to twelve months. Now, think of this, it takes a National Security Council to determine whether a state of emergency exists. Go to the GG and present that to her so that she can be satisfied to make such a declaration, but to extend it the National Assembly and the super majority could just say, yeah, it still exists we will extend it to another three months or another six months up to a year.”

Panton Responds to Attacks Over Union Meeting

Back to today’s press conference where the political heat wasn’t just about policy. We asked Leader of the Opposition Tracy Panton to weigh in on a growing controversy: a series of ads aimed at discrediting union leaders. Panton herself has become a target in the latest wave of productions, following a recent sit-down she had with a few union representatives. So, what does she make of it all? Here’s what she had to say.

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“ It in my view, in our view, it is unnecessary. It is uncalled for. It is an attempt to intimidate. It is an attempt to cast aspersions against leaders in our country from political leaders, church leaders, union leaders who seek to defend the rights of citizens. Who forgot when the now Prime Minister put on his green T-shirt and got in the front of the line and marched with the teachers and promised them everything and the kitchen sink when he and his team became the government. And he will tell you oftentimes in the House, if you listen to House meetings, how much he loves teachers because his mother and his wife served in that profession. And so, I think that to use state resources to try and derail and try and to detract from the real issues, this country and people are experiencing really ought to stop. It will not derail the discussions we are having with the unions. They can scream and holler, but we will hold this administration to account.”