??the government?s decision-making ability and political capital have been severely impaired due to the loss of public confidence.?
?If the Government [of Belize] fails to resolve the current conflict in a peaceful and swift manner, the escalation of unrest could undermine both the economy and social stability and possibly lead to a debt default,? said a release from the international ratings agency, Standard and Poor?s, dated today, April 27.
The report, titled, ?Belize: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back,? noted that while there has been some improvement on Belize?s economic scene, with more US dollars available after GOB received US$93 million from recent bond placements with Bear Stearns, our reserves remain ?dangerously low.?
Robert Foreman, 22, and Roman Petzold, 18, charged; 1 suspect at large
Two Belama residents - Robert Foreman, 22, a fisherman of #2458 Phase 2, and Ronald Petzold, 18, a student of #351 Phase 1, on Monday, April 25, appeared in Belize City Magistrate?s Court #4, where they were jointly charged with rape.
Foreman and Petzold were charged in connection with an alleged rape incident that occurred on Wednesday, April 13, sometime around 7:00 a.m. A 17-year-old girl, a student of Saint Catherine Academy, reported the incident to police.
A young naturalized Belizean student, Rishi Cummins, who is said to be 17, who was born in Barbados and had recently left Belize to study in Trinidad, apparently committed suicide on Monday, April 26, at about 3:00 p.m., at the University of West Indies campus.
It is alleged that he jumped off the 150 foot high building where he was attending classes.
Information reaching Amandala via the Internet from the Trinidad & Tobago Express Newsletter said that Cummins, a physics student at the St. Augustine campus, was apparently depressed about not doing as well as he had hoped in his examinations.
Amandala spoke with Anthony Ferguson, Sr., a carpenter of Gill Street today, who said that he is not to render vengeance, as the Lord saith that vengeance is his. Anthony said that God also promised that the war is his, and not that of mankind. He said that was his reason for placing everything in God?s hands, before the trial.
Ferguson said those words with regards to a ?not guilty? verdict that was handed down to a man accused of killing his son, Dylan Ferguson, 21, of an Antelope Street address. Dylan was killed on September 21, 2003.
Today, doctors and relatives at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital have not given up hope on shooting victim Jermaine Francisco Hernandez, affectionately known as ?5 cents? to family, and also known by friends as ?1 cent,? who was shot last night sometime around 9:00 at the corner of King and West Streets.
According to police, sometime around 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, police visited an area near the corner of King and West Streets, where they saw a male person lying on the ground with what appeared to be a gunshot wound behind the ear.
The residence of Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, at the corner of Princess Margaret Drive and ?E? Street in Belize City, was observed under heavy military guard today, and the downtown of Belize City had a strong security presence.
In fact, dispatched to various hot spots of the city currently are teams of both police and Belize Defense Force officers, most of them armed with guns, rifles, or batons.
Today, Wednesday, April 20, at the peak of the evening rush hour, a crowd of angry students staged a first-time blockage at both advances to the Belcan Bridge, which connects the Northside and Southside of Belize City and is the most convenient conduit to the Northern Highway suburbs outside of Belize City.
At about 4:30 p.m., the gathering started with about 300 people, and by 6:00 p.m., it had swelled to at least 800 after other young people, as well as workers?visible among them workers of the Belize Telecommunications Limited?had joined them, staying their ground even during a couple downpours of rain.
Ninety-eight people?mostly young men of the Southside of Belize City?were taken into police custody tonight, Wednesday, April 20, after a major riot broke out on Albert Street, Belize City, and several major stores were vandalized and looted, leaving the downtown area in shambles.
Brodies, Venus, Hofius, Gaylords, and Miami Fashions in downtown Belize City, the Shell gas station at the Western Highway roundabout and the Texaco gas station at the foot of the BelChina Bridge were broken into and looted.
Funeral directors threaten strike over grave space ?lease?
There is a mystery at the Belize City Council. Funeral directors say they saw it, our reporter said she saw it, but when the Mayor checked, he said he saw nothing.
Four undertakers and members of the Funeral Director?s Association visited Amandala this morning, voicing their concerns on what they say is eventually going to ?take food from their mouths.?
Cyclist Andy David Hall, 27, was found dead yesterday, Tuesday, at about 6:00 p.m., hanging from an electrical cord tied to the ceiling in the living room.
Andy was found by his foster father, Raymond Hall, 67, at the family?s two-storey wooden house, located at #8-1stStreet Avenue, Corozal Town.
A San Martin wife and mother of 3, Yesenia Orellano, 24, is today crippled and unable to do anything for herself after she mysteriously became ill about a year ago.
Today, Yesenia?s family is in desperate need of a complete MRI for her, and they are appealing to the public for help in getting her to Guatemala for an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) that will be able to tell doctors exactly what is wrong with her.
?Bring St. James and let them answer the questions?? This was the challenge that the chief executive officer of the Social Security Board, Mrs. Narda Garcia, gave today to the 4-member Special Select Committee of the Senate at the end of her almost 3-hour long grilling at the Committee?s third public hearing to investigate the SSB?s loan and investment program.
The public outcry for the hearing came after Belizeans learned that the SSB had paid $6 million for the defaulted debt of Glenn Godfrey, who had gotten funds through the SSB under a Government-guaranteed securitization program.
Yesterday, Wednesday, two men who had received a nine-year prison sentence on Tuesday, March 29, in the Orange Walk Magistrate?s Court, pleaded guilty in the Corozal Magistrate?s Court to charges in connection with robberies that occurred in Corozal Town.
The men, Robert Hill, 28, a mechanic of Cotton Tree Village, Cayo District, and Mark Massam, 18, a laborer of a Baracat Street address, Belize City, jointly received a seven-year sentence in connection with a robbery that took place around 11:00 p.m. at the Sky Blue Restaurant, located on 5thAvenue.
Yesterday, 18-year-old Sherwin Locke, a student of a Mile 8 address, appeared in the Belize City Magistrate?s Court #4, where he was arraigned on charges of aggravated burglary, burglary, handling stolen goods and keeping a firearm without a license and keeping firearm ammunition without a license.
