Belizean

Belmopan, Belize 2 May (Belizean.com) The Deputy Director of Health Services in Belize Dr. Jorge Polanco has today confirmed that there are no confirmed cases of the H1N1 flue virus in Belize. Dr, Polanco said that there are 4 "cases of interest" but so far laboratory tests have come back as negative,

Belize has reacted aggressively against the virus by closing down the Free Zone and casinos at the border with Mexico and implementing a ban on all mass events within Belize including the National Agriculture and Trade Show.

Belmopan, Belize 30 April - (Belizean.com) - The Government of Belize reacted to the threat posed by the Swine Flu Virus and has today ordered the closure of major public events including the National Agricultural and Trade Show which was to have started tomorrow 1st May.

The closure of the National Agricultural and Trade Show (NATS) is unprecedented. The postponement of the annual general meeting of the Holy Redeemer Credit Union and several other weekend events planned for a long Labour Day weekend have flummoxed most Belizeans.

Belmopan, Belize, 20 April 2009 - (Belizean.com) - Prime Minister Dean Barrow stated in a radio interview in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Saturday, that U.S.A. President Barrack Obama will visit Belize. The Belize Prime Minister who was attending the Fifth Summit of the Americas In Trinidad, was interviewed by  KREM radio reporter Adele Ramos. The Prime Minister's interview was broadcast in Belize yesterday Sunday April 19th.

Prime Minister Barrow stated that over dinner on Friday, President Barack Obama had expressed an interest in visiting Belize. According to Barrow, President Obama indicated that he will put forward to congress within the next month or six weeks, his nomination for a new U.S.A. ambassador in Belize. "After this we will be in a better position to start to make arrangements for ths logistics of the President's visit," stated Mr. Barrow.

Belmopan, Belize 11 April - (Belizean.com) Mexican rider Carlos Lopez has won the 81st running of the prestigious 140 mile Belize Cross Country Cycling Classic. Lopez who hails from the Mexican state of Chiapas won the race in a time of six hours, one minute and forty one seconds beating out 99 other professional cyclists representing 22 teams from various countries incuding Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Cuba and the U.S.A.

Second place was taken by fellow Mexican Carlos Manuel Hernandez and third place by Cuban Frank Travieso.

In a broadcast interview Carlos Lopez said that hard work, the strategy of fellow rider Carlos Manuel Hernandez - and good luck - helped him win the race. "This is my first visit to the beautiful country of Belize and I am so happy to have been able to place first," he said. Second place winner Hernandez suffered a punctured tyre near the end of the race but determinedly rode in on his rim close behind his compatriot.

Lopez broke away from the main peloton of riders in a small group of about twenty riders eight kilometres into the race which starts at sunrise in Belize City, goes by the capital Belmopan, on to the town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District, and then back to Belize City.

The race is traditionaly held on Holy Saturday and is the top cycling event in Belize. Thousands of Belizeans turn out and line the Western Highway to view the event which includes numerous station prizes along the route. The prizes range from cash up to $1,000. and even includes livestock such as a bull.

Belmopan, Belize 7 April (Belizean.com) An F.A.A. certified pilot has called for the closure of the Belmopan (capital of Belize) airstrip following the erection of elevated concrete structure and water tower 300 feet from the threshold of the runway.

Mr. Stuart G. Young Airline transport pilot LIC# 223-0464 Federal Aviation Administration U.S.A. wrote this week in a letter to the editor of the Amandala Newspaper that: "About one year ago, I wrote a letter to the Editor of the Reporter. The letter was concerning the Belmopan airstrip and construction of a bar. The letter was heavily edited, so that the first three paragraphs were omitted. It had no technical merit and made little sense. I now will try your newspaper as I will sign and reveal my name as I did in the Reporter.
 
"My concern is the construction of a bar approximately 300 feet from the threshold of the runway 11 (110 degrees) on the north side of the highway. The bar and property are owned by Mr. and Mrs. Botes. He works at the Ministry of Natural Resources and his wife works at the Belmopan Market (self-employed). The Botes family have the right to open a bar, but not there. "

1 April 2009 - (Belizean.com) Former Belize Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dr. Manuel Esquivel is airlifted today to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida U.S.A. for medical treatment following serious injuries he suffered in a road accident on Monday March 30.

Mr. Esquivel will undergo maxillofacial reconstructive surgery for fractured facial bones, a broken jaw, and treatment for broken ribs and fractures to the foot after the Nissan Pathfinder vehicle in which he was traveling overturned several times between miles 31 and 32 on Belize's Western Highway between Belize City and the capital Belmopan.

The deteriorated condition of the Western Highway is believed to had led to Mr. Esquivel's driver losing control of the vehicle. Mr. Esquivel overturned in almost the same spot 13 years ago when he was prime minister but did not suffer major injuries. His driver, police constable Leslie Staine, died later from complications arising from a broken neck in that accident in 1996.

The two-term Prime Minister and now current senior adviser to the Belize government with ministerial rank, was visited by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega at the private Belize Medical Associates Hospital prior to his departure for medical treatment in the U.S.A.

There are no maxilloficial surgeons in Belize, a former British colony in Central America. Belize is a little over twice the size of Jamaica at 8,866 square miles and borders Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west and has a small population of a little over 300,000 inhabitants. Its prime economic activities are in tourism, sugar, bananas, fish and lobster exports, citrus and offshore banking.

30 March 2009 - (Belizean.com) The former Prime Minister of Belize Rt. Hon. Dr. Manuel Esquivel age 69 is in a serious but stable condition after being involved in a traffic accident between mile 31 and 32 on the Western Highway between Belize City and the capital Belmopan. Mr. Esquivel as leader of the United Democratic served as Prime Minister of Belize from 1984 to 1989, and again from 1993 to 1998. He is currently a senior adviser with ministerial rank in the government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

Mr. Esquivel was on his way to work in the capital Belmopan when the driver of the Nissan Pathfinder in which he was traveling lost control of the vehicle. Eyewitnesses say the vehicle ran off the road, hit a culvert, went up into the air and rolled over several times.

Belmopan, Belize 22 March 2009 - The Belize Government has officially announced that it does not intend to to honor the BZ$ 77 million dollar awarded by the London Court of International Arbitration this week in its dispute with Belize Telemedia Ltd. The decision  by the Belize government has raised serious concern among investors who have for some time now been worried about the validity of contracts and legal certainty in this former British colony located in Central America.

Belmopan, Belize 12 March 2009 - (Belizean.com) The Belize Supreme Court has today handed a significant victory to former Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Said Musa in granting him leave for judicial review against a charge of theft lodged by the newly installed United Democratic Party government.

Belmopan Magistrate Earl Jones had comiitted Rt. Hon. Musa to the Supreme Court for theft but Chief Justice Hon. Abdulai Conteh agreed with the defense that magistrate Jones' lower court order was rife with fallacies, inconsistencies and errors in law and jurisdiction as to warrant a judicial review.

The current Belize government has been engaged in what is widely regarded as a politcal witch hunt against its political rivals since it took office a little over a year ago.

To date the U.D.P. government has not been able to employ a Solicitor General following the resignation of the substantive official appointed by the U.D.P. - a highly regarded professional trained in the U.K. - and the subsequent flight of two imported crown counsels from Canada who abandoned their appointments amidst allegations of a politicised executive legal branch.