A jury of six women and three men deliberated only for about half an hour before delivering a guilty verdict in the case of BDF Sergeant Alejandro Chi, 42, charged with carnal knowledge of a child, 13 at the time.
Chi?s face was expressionless when he heard the verdict.
Dr. Victor Lizarraga, the chairman of Universal Health Services (UHS), spoke with Amandala this afternoon about recent reports that suggest that the UHS might become the next Novelo?s, due to non-payment on its $30 million debt.
?It was a mistake from the outset for agreeing for a one-year grace period; that was a little bit ambitious. We want to restructure for a next year?, said Lizarraga, a private general and vascular surgeon who has worked in the profession for the past 25 years.
Over 960 high school educators close their classrooms tomorrow, Friday, December 10, with a grave concern on their minds?the possibility that they may not receive the salaries due them on December 15, in advance of the Christmas season. Our newspaper received reports today that the Government of Belize (GOB) has not paid some of its salary and tuition grants for some secondary schools nationwide. These reports came from secondary school educators, who said they were made aware of this in staff meetings held this week.
The Ministry of Education maintains that the late payments to high schools in previous months were largely due to delays at the GOB?s Treasury.
Yesterday, Wednesday, a male teenager, 17, of a North Creek Road address, was in the Belize City Magistrate?s Court #2 to answer to charges of attempted murder, dangerous harm, and the use of deadly means of harm.
The court was presided over by Magistrate Dorothy Flowers, while Edward Juarez served as prosecutor.
While customers are still unable to get their claimed refunds from the national telecommunications giant - the Belize Telecommunications Limited, the cash cow company?s money reserves continue to be at the disposal of private companies.
Last week, we reported on the disputed BZ$30 million ?loan? from the Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL) to the Belize Bank Limited (BBL). This week, we received news of another multi-million-dollar bond?this time between BTL?s new owner, Innovative Communication Corporation and BTL, under an vaguely characterized ?lease agreement? between the two.
By all indications, November 30 started out as a normal Tuesday morning for Leonard Arnold, 20, who was inside his friend?s yard on Far West Street, between Prince and King Streets, patching a bicycle tire at around 10:15.
Without warning, a masked killer approached him from behind and shot him once in the back of his head. Arnold did not have the opportunity to see his killer.
Tomorrow, Friday, could be ?D-Day? for at least 130 stevedores who may find that come 7:00 a.m., they have no jobs, a rough proposition anytime, but disastrous in the approaching Christmas season.
The unresolved dispute between the Christian Workers Union (CWU) and the Port of Belize Limited (PBL) could come to a head again tomorrow when the PBL plans to take over full responsibility for the loading and offloading of ships from the Belize Waterfront Employers? Association (BWEA), an association of shipping agents.
Today, Tuesday, Brian Willis, 40, a bar janitor, was in the Belize City Magistrate?s Court to answer charges of aggravated assault and harm in courtroom #1, presided over by Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord.
Willis pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 3 years for aggravated assault and 1 year for harm. He was subsequently remanded to the Hattieville Prison to serve his sentences, which are to run consecutively.
?Cisneros? paint garage is detrimental to my health,? says Joan Matus Avelar.
?She has a personal vendetta,? says paint garage owner, Cesar Cisneros.
On the surface, it seems like a classic case of ?he said, she said? dramatics.
On one hand, there is Joan Matus Avelar, a Port Loyola resident who, medical certificates attest, is now suffering from a swollen lung. On the other hand, there is her opponent, businessman Cesar Cisneros, who says that after he has invested in equipment that most other spray paint garages do not have, he would like to operate his business in peace.
The battle between these two Freedom Street neighbors, Avelar and Cisneros, has been going on since July, 2002, only a few months after Cisneros moved to the area.
At approximately 7:50 tonight, Thursday, a young man was reportedly shot whilst standing in front of a Chinese shop, located on Neal Pen Road.
The victim, Andrew Gilharry, 21, a resident of a Norris Brooks Street in Belize City, told Amandala after the incident that he was standing in front of the Chinese shop when two young men on bicycles pulled up, and one of them fired a shot at him.
The nation?s premier workers? and business sector organizations have all come out strongly against the threat of imminent tax increases.
Reacting to the talk of another wave of tax increases, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB)?the umbrella organization of the trade unions in Belize; the Belize Business Bureau (BBB); and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) say that Government has ?grossly mismanaged public sector finances,? and must first clean house before it attempts to tax the Belizean people any more.
Despite several attempts to speak with him today, we were told that the Governor of the Central Bank, Sydney Campbell, was unavailable to take our phone calls regarding allegations being made by the current management of the Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL) that former executives of the company, under Carlisle Holdings Ltd., had undertaken an illegal transaction when they approved a $30 million ?loan? from BTL to the Belize Bank Limited (BBL).
The bottom line appears to be that BTL, now under the control of a financially challenged company, wants its money back from the bank. Under the terms of the loan, the earliest time BTL would be able to get back its money form BBL is late 2006; however, BTL has written to the Central Bank, asking the authorities to prod the bank to release the cash.
Tanya Pitts, 35, a housewife and mother of two daughters, had a frightening experience about 2:30 this morning when she was attacked and beaten by a man attempting to rape her.
She told Amandala that she was walking on Cemetery Road coming from off Partridge Street and was near the Plum Tree Taxi Stand, located behind Gwen Lizarraga High School, when her assailant emerged from out of the restroom of the deserted taxi stand, she said.
Child molester Jason ?Blackout? Flores, 30, was sentenced to a total of 30 years by Justice Simeon Sampson in Dangriga Supreme Court on Thursday, November 18, after a jury of 9 convicted him of carnal knowledge of a child 10 years old, use of deadly means of harm and grievous harm.
Flores, who had fled the country while on remand, was sentenced to 15 years for carnal knowledge, 10 years for use of deadly means of harm and 5 years for grievous harm. Justice Sampson stipulated that the sentences should run concurrently, so Flores will only serve 15 years.
