Photo: Badra Coleman
by Kory Leslie (Freelance Writer)
BELIZE CITY, Fri. Dec. 30, 2022
This weekend, His Majesty King Charles III published his first New Year’s Honours List since ascending to the throne at the end of 2022. Per tradition, the Honours List recognizes hundreds of individuals in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for outstanding performance in the public service and in their fields of expertise. The 2023 list features seven Belizeans who have been inducted into the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
The first Belizean to be acknowledged in the Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) category is Mr. Antonio Habet for Services to Entrepreneurship relating to his brothers Habet Ltd. enterprise. brothers Habet Ltd. is one of Belize’s most prominent wholesale and retail hardware stores and has been serving Belizeans for over 30 years.
In the Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) category, two Belizeans were listed: Badra Helwa Coleman For Services to the Community and Juanita Lucas For Services to Education. Ms. Coleman is known for her years of volunteer and advocacy work to support cancer victims, while Ms. Lucas has been a long-time educator and served as the principal of Escuela Secundaria Technico de Mexico in San Roman in Corozal.
Other newly named Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) category include Francis Simon Flores, who is a known community activist, for Services to the Community; Troy Donahugh Gabb, a talk show host and former Commissioner of the Belize Basketball Association Semi-Pro League, for Services to Sport and to the Community; Clinton “Pulu” Vincent Lightburn, a Belizean basketball legend and one of the greatest athletes of the 1970’s, for Services to Sport; and Benedicto Ramos, former president of the National Secondary Schools Sports Association and an educator at the Belize School of Agriculture, for Services to Education.