General
Judge allows into evidence dying declaration of murder victim Egbert Baldwin
Police welcome record-breaking number of new recruits
The Museum of Belizean Art opens doors
PWLB officially launched
President H.E. Lic. Vicente Fox concludes visit to Belize
Will Mexico?s Pemex mean cheaper fuel for Belize?
Many in the Belize private sector are hopeful that this Tuesday?s visit of Mexican President, H.E. Lic. Vicente Fox, and his entourage of about 45 high-ranking government officials and influential businesspeople, such as leading Quintana Roo businessman, Mario Felipe Rend?n Monforte, could mean good news for the Belize private sector, anxious to tap into Mexico?s huge market.
Cops grab sodomy suspect!
Amandala was told tonight by police that they had captured a suspect, the reported sodomizer of a 15-year-old boy, and impounded his vehicle - a tinted red taxi van.
The suspect, a man of dark complexion in his early thirties, was captured near the Belize City Center on Central American Boulevard late this afternoon. When the suspect was stopped, it was discovered that there were about five children in the vehicle, between the ages of 12 to 14.
Youth, 16, stabbed in the back with 6-inch blade for $1.25
As he walked towards his old school a second time to get a transcript to attend high school, former James Garbutt Primary School student, Maslo Garcia, 16, was the victim of a malicious and dangerous attack by a group of four youths, possibly all minors.
Police say that at around 2:00-2:30 p.m. yesterday, they responded to the report of an attack in an area near the James Garbutt School on Albert Street West, adjacent Lizarraga Meat Shop, where they found Garcia, stabbed in the back.
?I ran off the road!? ? Narda
What was once a comfortable working relationship between Glenn D. Godfrey, the former chairman of the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Mrs. Narda Garcia, the chief executive officer of the Social Security Board (SSB), has evidently gone sour, as was disclosed in the fifth hearing of the Special Select Committee of the Senate.
At the third hearing of the Committee, Narda told the Senators to ?bring St. James,? meaning Godfrey, to answer the Senate?s questions regarding some misrepresentations that were made on two mortgages, valued together at $17 million, that originated from St. James National Building Society?once a housing development agent of the SSB.
4-year-old Rudy Lopez missing for 4 days
Family strongly suspects kidnapping
Today, an intensive search continues for Rudy Lopez, 4, who went missing four days ago from his home in Trinidad Farm, Ladyville.Police visited Rudy?s home, located at Mile 12 on the Northern Highway, around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, June 20. They spoke to Rudy?s mother, Rosalina Zepeda nee Lopez, 44, a Guatemalan domestic, who reported to them that she and her husband, Santos Lopez, Sr., on Sunday, around 5:30, had left their residence and left the youngest of their seven children, Rudy, in the care of their 12-year-old daughter.
2 girls, 14, from Orange Walk went missing
Anesie still missing, Jessica Torres found
Today, police are searching for a 14-year-old girl, Anesie Camara of San Jose Village. Anesie had been reported as missing, as was Jessica Torres of Orange Walk Town, but Jessica, also 14, was found yesterday, Wednesday, around 5:30 p.m.
On Sunday, June 19, Camara?s mother, Sofia Cowo, 37, reported to police that Anesie left their home to go to the Queen Elizabeth Park in Orange Walk Town, but did not return.
Cutoff of Cayo, Benque and Dangriga subventions causes garbage problems
Alfonso Cruz, Jr., the Opposition mayor of the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena, told Amandala this week that the Town Council has yet to receive its June subvention of $31,000, which he told us is three weeks late. Cruz claims that Central Government is withholding the money because of a $3 million garbage disposal contract that was signed by Orlando Habet, the former PUP mayor of the town with Cox Solid Waste Management Limited, owned by Raymond Cox.
?No Town Board can survive without a subvention?? said Cruz, adding that this is the money with which they must pay salaries and upkeep their municipalities.
BEL says – no rate increase, no Mexican power!
Lynn Young, Chief Executive Officer of the Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), told Amandala today that unless the company gets the 14.6% rate increase for which it applied this March, it would be at risk of not being able to pay for the power it is now importing from Mexico.
This would mean that Belize could be cut off from its major power source, forcing indefinite blackouts across the country.
PC Burton Caliz, Jr. manslaughter charge to be upgraded to murder
A little over a year ago, police had arrested and charged one of their own, Police Officer Burton Caliz, Jr., with the shooting death of San Pedro resident Leroy ?Dan? Pilgrim, 23, a young married man and father of a baby girl.
The shooting occurred on Thursday, February 12, 2005 on San Pedro.
Fuel prices headed for the moon
Gas prices have increased again, and according to gas station outlet personnel with whom we spoke, a majority has said that the new prices came into effect on Wednesday, June 15.
The new gas prices coming from the pumps around the country of Belize are: In Belize City, gas prices went up as follows - premium, $8.85 cents per gallon, an increase of .6 cents, from the old price, $8.79 cents; diesel, $6.41 cents per gallon, an increase of .23 cents from the old price, $6.18; regular, $8.52 per gallon, an increase of .8 cents from the old price, $8.44.
15 Cayo and Belize District School Liaison Officers terminated
School Liaison Officers (SLOs)/Truancy Officers play a vital role in preventing children between the ages of 5 and 14, at the primary school level, from being absent or becoming dropouts from school.
On Monday, June 13, the Truancy Department, an arm of the Ministry of Education, which supports the Education Support System Service, in a meeting, told liaison officers from the districts of Belize and Cayo that their services were being terminated.
Santa Martha 4-year-old dies of malnutrition
Amandala spoke with attorney Marcel Cardona Cervantes of Marcel Cardona Cervantes and Company, of Orange Walk Town today, who told us that he is alarmed about the poverty situation in Santa Martha Village, which led to the death, after 4:00 p.m. on Monday, June 13, of a 4-year-old female child, Kimara Rodriguez.
Kimara died of sepsis, which is secondary to malnutrition.
Taxi operator, Rudrick Todd, 39, murdered; body dumped on Western Highway
Rudrick Todd, 39, a father of 3, was found dead sometime around 7:45 a.m. yesterday, Wednesday, near Mile 3 on the Western Highway.
He had been shot once behind the right side of the head, near the ear.
GOB eats crow ? sells BTL back to Ashcroft!
The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet on Friday, June 17, 2005, to discuss some major money matters, including tax increases, the sale of shares in Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL), and possibly the divestment of the assets of the Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
Debt servicing is putting a major strain on the public purse, and GOB is hoping that it can boost tax earnings and revenues from asset sales enough to alleviate that tight strain.
