Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Last night we told you that police found another live grenade in the
city. It was found in the Port Loyola area while police were on a special operation.
No one has been arrested and police say there is no evidence to indicate this
discovery is linked to the previous two grenades. Police say the batch number
is different but the real worry tonight is that there may be a lot more where
that came from. Assistant Commissioner of Police – and the Commander of
Police Operations – Crispin Jeffries told us what he knows.
Crispin Jeffries, Commander of Operations “I do know that it was found in a yard somewhere in the Port Loyola
area. I have a specific yard but I don’t want to give the information
at this time. We are continuing that investigation, we believe that this is
one of many hand grenades in the city. Information may spook other persons who
may want to assist us to find other grenades. We consider the heinousness of
the injuries caused by a hand grenade to be a new thing and we want to attempt
to prevent that.
The problem we see is that the grenades are coming in and we are getting
rumors. We don’t even know how many are in the country but in fact there
is in Belize City several persons claiming to have or to know where grenades
are. We saw what happened and we know that these are very terrorizing situations,
it is frightening for just the thought of it. The security forces are very much
concerned about the safety in the streets of Belize City and it is a very serious
situation when we look at persons throwing grenades.”
Keith Swift,
Are the police somewhat helpless when it comes to grenades because how do you
fight grenades?
Crispin Jeffries, “The weapon is a serious weapon. The grenade, the ones we have taken
off the streets are known to be fragmentation grenades, they have a very wide
radius, they can kill a large amount of persons who are in close proximity but
it is worrying because we believe that hand grenades, the person or persons
who have it in their possession don’t know the magnitude of the damage
it can cause.”
Again the batch number is different than the previous grenades, one
of which was detonated in May. The other was turned in a month ago by Raymond
Gentle. Those two grenades were identical. The grenade was found during a special
operation which Jeffries says will continue over the weekend. He says it is
an intense version of operation cycle breaker.
Accused killer Denvoy Domingo was a free man yesterday – but only for
a very short time. The murder charge against him was dismissed but he was re-arrested
for the same murder before he could leave the courtroom. And late this evening,
he was taken back to court and arraigned again for the killing of Jerry Smart
that happened on August 31st of 2007. When the DPP withdrew the charge yesterday
it was with the understanding that he would be re-charged along with the second
man accused of the crime, Aaron Pavon.
But when Domingo re-appeared in court today, he told Magistrate Sharon Frazer
that Pavon is a dead man, so there’s no way they can be co-charged. While
Domingo expressed his dissatisfaction with the system, Magistrate Frazer told
him he should display his concern then to Senior Magistrate Dorothy Flowers
when it goes before her.
Last week Tuesday, August 26th 18 year old Ryan Alvarez came to our newsroom,
showing his injuries and telling us that police had brutalized him. And the
case was, as it is always said to be, for no good reason. But yesterday police
had good reason to string up Alvarez again.
A police mobile patrol on Castle Street just after midday saw him riding very
fast to elude them. The tracked him down – and when they did, officers
claim he threw something into a nearby yard. That something turned out to be
an unlicensed .380 pistol. Police recovered it from the yard, and charged him
with keeping an unlicensed firearm.
He appeared in Magistrate’s Court today where he pleaded not guilty.
Still, he was denied bail and remanded to prison.
When government changes, there are many postings that have to change
too, and it happens everywhere, all across the board, and in each government
department. It’s a political reality – but ask the Teachers Union
and that reality shouldn’t affect schoolchildren. And that’s why
in the past few weeks, there’s been an uproar about 43 transfers of teachers,
the re-composition of school boards, and then the sudden firing of two vice
principals at Toledo Community College. Those issues were taken up in outrage
by the Belize National Teacher’s Union. And that’s why today it
was a surprise to see the union and the Ministry representatives sitting together
at a Ministry press conference. We found out about the respectful, if still
brittle truce.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
They sat at the front table shoulder to shoulder, Union and Ministry assuming
a peaceable position after talks yesterday.
Jaime Panti, BNTU President “We met with Ministry of Education on Wednesday to finally address
our concerns and to finally address the issues of transfers, the state of school
boards, and the issue at Toledo Community College. We presented eight cases
of these transfers for the Ministry of review and consider and I must gladly
say that almost all the cases have been or are about to be resolved. On the
issue of school boards, we maintain that all efforts must be maintained to have
genuine credible and people of integrity to form these boards. We may need to
review the selection process and to have people accountable. We cannot afford
to have any principal or any school board to have our education system hostage.
On the issue of TCC, it is our understanding that the vice principals have been
reinstated to their respective positions. No principal has any right to remove
any vice principal, it is the school which has that right.”
And while those matters have been or are being resolved, the Minister admits
politics does play a role in how things are run.
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education “Yes I am a politician, yes there are political pressures, and yes I will try to do things in terms of getting benefit for sake of politics but
I will not do it when it comes at the detriment of our children, I will not
do it when it comes at the detriment of our education system. So once we can
get away with politics, yes, fine but let us not do it at the cost of reducing
the quality of education of the children of this nation.”
Jaime Panti, “It is time that we join together to ensure that education influences
party politics and not party politics influencing education.”
George Frazer, BNTU General Secretary “We want to see the political tribalism ended and as educators we
have to take the lead.”
Hon. Patrick Faber, “If there is this belief that political interference is there let
us bring it out, let us suggest that it be put in the rules, that it be put
in the Education Act so that this can not continue in the future.”
But it is not politics that is causing Mahogany Heights school children to
be left without a bus to attend school in the city, that’s economics.
Hon. Patrick Faber, “Our policy is that where there is a school in your area, that is
the school you should send your children. It is not fair nor practical to expect
that if you choose to send your child to school elsewhere, especially thirty
miles away, that the Ministry of Education and the government of Belize should
be responsible for this. Imagine what would happen if everyone decided to do
so. What we’re saying here is basically that there is a school in La Democracia,
a primary school that is short of numbers if you will, that people can send
their children to. Instead what is happening is that people are deciding we
want to send our children to Belize City and there are forcing the government
to provide transportation to Belize City and it is unfair to the government
that we should find another bus to accommodate.
So you’re right, the problem came up when people started clamoring
that the Ministry of Education needs to do something. As long as it was serving
the purpose, we would have closed our eyes to it and say okay fine but now there
are clamors for the Ministry to do more, far more than what is required of us.
So we had to say, hey, listen the buses are being overcrowded and if you don’t
have space for the children to ride on the bus then those who don’t belong
on the bus need to get off.
If you choose to have your children attend a school in Belize City then
it should be your responsibility to get them to school.”
The Ministry declared that a bus run will be provided to enable Mahogany Heights
students to attend school in La Democracia.
One sticking point between both sides is that the union wants to have
a meeting between itself, the government and the opposition. Education Minister
Patrick Faber says he doesn’t see that as productive.
Tens of millions of dollars went up in flames today in Spanish Lookout.
That’s where police destroyed the more than ten million pseudo-ephedrine
pills that were illegally imported into the country. Last week Friday night
at around 10pm bandits tried to steal the pills from the Port of Belize but
that was foiled. As we said the pills were worth the risk because they are the
main ingredient in crystal meth and are worth millions of dollars on the streets.
And that’s why today’s destruction was conducted at a secret location.
7NEWS went to the location in Spanish Lookout and Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting, 7NEWS was there as the gang of prison inmates ripped
open the boxes containing thousands of these white bottles. Inside each bottle
is a thousand of these pills. They are called pseudo-ephedrine and they are
illegal in Belize – and that’s why the bottles were thrown into
the incinerator and as you can see – destroyed. Customs and police oversaw
the operation. Crispin Jeffries was the commander.
Cripsin Jeffries, Assistant Commissioner of Police “What we are destroying is the formulas that are a part of the list
of items that were banned as a part of a piece of amendment to a legislation
passed on the 18th June of this year which prohibits the importation of ephedrine
into Belize. We made an application for this to be destroyed and it was granted and we are in that process. In this process there is the presence of the police,
members of the judiciary, a Justice of the Peace, our police exhibit keeper,
people from the forensic unit, and the other agencies as well as the case officer
in charge of the investigation.”
Magistrate Harrison Huelett kept a watchful eye on the process. His job was
to ensure that all the pills, numbered at over ten million, were destroyed.
Harrison Huelett, Magistrate “My role as Magistrate here is to supervise and see that the drug
is properly destroyed so that everybody and the John Public can see that this
drug will not be placed on the street so I am acting as a judiciary officer
to see it is properly destroyed by fire. When the Customs and Police Department
received the drugs for investigation purposes, they had numbered the boxes one
by one. So we made a copy of the list that a Justice of the Peace, the Customs
officer, and the Commissioner of Police will have a copy. And as soon as box is destroyed we tick it off the list so it is accounted for.”
And while the pills are going up in smoke, this isn’t the end of the
story because they are still the subject of a police investigation.
Cripsin Jeffries, “There is an ongoing investigation and there is a company in the Free
Zone. We understand that the owners have changed and we’re looking at
those persons as having direct contact with the importation or direct responsibility
for the importation of this.”
Keith Swift,
Do foresee the arrest of any Customs officer or any evidence of collusion?
Cripsin Jeffries, “At this time we have nothing to indicate that.”
Keith Swift,
What message do you hope this will send to the people who continue to try to
import this illegal stuff thinking that they could get it through Belize?
Cripsin Jeffries, “Well certainly I think the message will be that they are now aware
that that loophole that was there is being closed. In the past this may have
been a part of what has transited through Belize just like in the past cocaine
and other things transited Belize and we are finding our way around getting
to stop it.”
The destruction began at 1 and was expected to be completed by 5. During that
time there was a heavy presence of armed Police and BDF at the location in Spanish
Lookout. Because in the new drug order, these pills valued at between 50 cents
and $3 each – have a street value many times that – and it wasn’t
unthinkable that the owners might have tried to come for it. It didn’t
happen today, but with such a great demand for this drug in the region –
and Belize being the weakest link in terms of security – Customs and Police
will have to remain very vigilant.
71 boxes of pills were destroyed. Each box contains 160 bottles and
each bottle has 1000 pills – a total of eleven million, one-hundred and
thirty-six thousand pills. The face value is about $19 million, but because
its importation has been illegalized in Mexico Guatemala and now Belize, the
street value is believed to be many times that. Again no one has been arrested
but as Jeffries noted – the investigation is intense and they are closing
in on suspects.
As we reported earlier this week, last Friday night surveillance cameras
at the port caught about 5 men attempting to break into the port compound. Jeffries
says there are other shipments of pseudo-ephedrine presently in the country
and those too will be destroyed. For some background – the pills themselves
aren’t bad – in fact they are used in cough medicine – the
active ingredient in Sudafed. But in the new drug culture, that same chemical
is used to cook up crystal meth – a popular and highly addictive drug
in North America.
Twelve year old Belize City student Kenya Lucas should have been in
school since classes started on Monday but tonight the young girl remains missing.
Three weeks ago Kenya Lucas packed a bag with clothes and left her family’s
home on her father’s bicycle and has not returned. The child’s mother
Janice Palacio visited our studios this evening to appeal to her daughter to
come home and to anyone who may know where is her child to contact the family.
Janice Palacio, Mother “I don’t know where she is right now. I don’t know where
she is, which house she is.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What is it you want to tell your daughter?
Janice Palacio, “If anybody finds her please bring her home to me because I need her
to go to school and I don’t want her to be out there and have no education
in her head. I need her back. If anybody has her, please bring her for me.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
You said that your daughter took a bag with some clothes, so you believe she
has run away. Do you know why she wanted to leave home?
Janice Palacio, “No ma’am, she didn’t tell me why. She just left and gone
with her father’s bike and she hasn’t bring it back yet, her father
has to walk to go to work.”
Janice Palacio says this is the first time that her daughter has left
home. If you know where twelve year old Kenya Lucas is tonight please call the
nearest police station or her family at telephone number 207-8516.
Would you eat a whole pie, toss balls into a bucket and guess the right
price of products to win three thousand dollars? Sounds simple enough but it
was quite a challenge for the five persons who competed in Courts Belize first
draw for the Big Cash Circus Campaign. The contestant who finished all three
games in the least time was declared the grand prize winner. 7NEWS was
there for the announcement including all the fun and excitement.
Gaylene Tesecum, Courts Belize “The winner of the $3,000 Courts cash is Mr. Eulalio Torres. He came
here from Belmopan.”
Eulalio Torres, Winner. “The one I enjoyed the most was eating the pie.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Was that because of the challenge or it was delicious?
Eulalio Torres, “Well both of them; challenging and delicious at the same time. I
am so happy that I have won this because really really it is something that
it is the first time in my life that I am winning something.”
Gaylene Tesecum, “This is just the beginning. We have more prizes coming up for the
following months, we have a show at Expo where we will be showcasing the same
big cash promotion. We have one in October, November, and the biggest one in
December but we don’t want to give away the prize because it is a big
surprise but it is the biggest one in Belize.”
While Eulalio Torres, a resident of Belmopan did walk away with the
grand prize money that does not mean the other four contestants went home empty
handed. They each received a one hundred dollar gift certificate.
We once said that if the road to ruin is paved with good intentions,
then it probably has a Novelo’s Bus in the fast lane. And true enough
the Novelo’s monopoly – sanctioned by the last government has proven
to be one of the most bitter national misadventures we’ve ever seen. But
as the company’s mantra says, ‘Knowing us is Loving us’ –
and while we don’t know if that’s true, it is true that the deathless
and irrepressible optimism of that motto continues to fuel the resurgent company
today.
Still, the transport industry is in disarray, recovering from the Novelo’s
collapse in 2004 there are numerous complaints about bus transportation and
the services provided to passengers who have expressed concerns over the way
the runs are conducted. Well today National Transportation Services Limited,
which is like Novelo’s 2.0, responded to those complaints by launching
a first of its kind newsletter. The publication is to keep customers informed
in an effort to better serve them. In an attempt to clear the air of all the
confusion, the newsletter gives an outline of the bus routes, schedule runs
including the time of arrival and departure.
Phillip Jones, National Transport “There is a lot of concern on the road that buses are not stopping,
where can I take a bus, what time will a bus leave, where do a bus go. We have
launched the newsletter to inform the customer what direction the company is
taking. We have the Ministry of Transport, they had set out some rules and regulations
and National, we are leading in terms of safety and we want to ensure that the
customer gets the best service possible.
It is a newsletter so it is free of cost and in there it entails key personnel,
we have employee of the month, we have puzzles that you can play, we have a
serial number on page 9 that states that it pays to read the national paper.
So if you hold on to your paper, what that will do is you can win a two months
pass, every issue that comes out, and basically it is to educate our customers.
It is a partnership with us, the customer, and the Ministry of Transport.”
Besides the newsletter, National Transportation Services Limited has
also launched its webpage where you can access information on the services provided.
You can also make and check bookings online at NationalTransportBelize.com.
In addition, Operations Manager Philip Jones told 7NEWS that in an
effort to enhance security by the end of the month all their buses should be
equipped with a GPS tracking device and cameras.
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I will try to do things in terms of getting benefit for sake of politics but
I will not do it when it comes at the detriment of our children, I will not
do it when it comes at the detriment of our education system. So once we can
get away with politics, yes, fine but let us not do it at the cost of reducing
the quality of education of the children of this nation.”
and we are in that process. In this process there is the presence of the police,
members of the judiciary, a Justice of the Peace, our police exhibit keeper,
people from the forensic unit, and the other agencies as well as the case officer
in charge of the investigation.”
