There Will Be A New Commissioner Of Police, Dr Richard Rosado

Untitled Document He's had a historic run in the chair of the top cop and now Commissioner of Police Chester Williams is getting ready to move up to the CEO caucus. And who's gonna take his place atop the government's biggest department? Well, that would be Deputy Commissioner, Dr Richard Rosado.
Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa today confirmed that once Compol Williams agrees to move over to CEO, it is the intention for Rosado to replace him.
As we reported last night, Commissioner Williams has been offered the post of CEO in the Ministry of Transportation, Constitution and Religious Affairs, and Indigenous Affairs. And while it is a promotion
In the governmental hierarchy, it's also an exit package - since government, it seems, has already decided that there will be a new commissioner. So, indications are that Williams will take it - with just the timing and other details such as years of continuous service to be fine tuned.

Neither Williams nor Rosado would comment today.

Chester's 6 Years Were Historic

Untitled Document And so as Compol Chester gets ready to move on - we can't say we won't miss him in this newsroom. Williams has provided a mega-amount of news content - and even when we disagreed with him - he never took it personal.

Jules Vasquez looks back at his 6 years in the limelight:

He took over the Police Department in January, 2019 -

Chester Williams
"I know that the Belizean people hold me in high regards and they are expecting a lot from me. I'm not going to say that I'm going to fulfil every expectations but I can assure the Belizean people that under my administration, we will ensure that we do our best."

And in his 6 years in the post of top cop, there's not much arguing that Chester Williams did do just that. He may have operated at times with impunity and more autonomy than his office allowed, but he also broke every record, including longest service in the commissioners seat, and can claim one of the lowest murder rates in two decades.

He can also claim to be the most frequently interviewed public official in the last 6 years - making himself a model of public accountability -even when he told us off:

Jules Vasquez:
"I know he's a friend of yours, sir."

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"No, no, no, no, no, no, please stop yoh rrrrrrrr. No, I don't even. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. pat your brakes."

"You should be charged for spreading false news"

Chester Williams, ComPol
"I am Commissioner of Police, I am not any common **obscenity** out there, so get your act together."

Chester Williams, ComPol
"Whether you know or you don't know Jules, you are going to say that because you strive on negativity, okay that's what you feed on."

Jules Vasquez:
"Sir I strive on facts, you to tell me how you feel, I don't feel the man do this..."

Chester Williams, ComPol
"If negativity were to be done with tomorrow, you would be dead."

Chester Williams, ComPol
"You you constantly listen to those wannabe commissioners in the department who consistently feed you with a bunch of nonsense and you take these rubbish that you have been fed and digest them. It is not doing you well."

Chester Williams, ComPol
"I really and I truly will adapt what my good mother told me, not to tell cow good morning."

And now that he's leaving the office after a record run - he's a man keenly aware and not ashamed to self promote of his own history.

Chester Williams, ComPol
"I'm not going to say that I am the best but I can say to you that since I became Commissioner of Police, I have worked tirelessly, and you know this, to guide my officers, work with the public with a view to reduce crime."

He hands over to the relatively soft spoken Dr Richard Rosado - a man of an academic bent - who did strive mightily and jockey himself into position for the job - but has big shoes to fill in the outsized personality of Chester Williams:

Dr Richard Rosado
"In my way to success or in my path to success I will encounter many challenges but in accordance with the regulations 26 of the public service regulations I'm the senior deputy commissioner of police and as the senior deputy commissioner of police and the Co pilot of the police department I will continue to help hold the wheel and the sail to keep the ship on track and in unity."

The co pilot is now the pilot - and takes over at a time when gang tensions are high - we'll see if he can sail the seas of chance and change as successfully as his predecessor did.

We note that yesterday's listing of 19 CEO's did not include any for the Ministry of Constitution and Religious Affairs, Indigenous Affairs, and Transportation - which has been offered to Williams. It also did not include any CEO for the ministry of Public Utilities, Energy & Logistics. That is now rumored to be designated for Leroy Almendarez - though that is unconfirmed.

PUP Names 6 Senators, 3 Of Them Are Attorneys

But 6 names that are confirmed are those of the PUP Senators. They are Eamon Courtenay, Chris Coye, Linsford Castillo, Rozel Arana,. Brittney Galvez, and Hector Guerra. Prime Minister BriceÃƒ±o will advise the Governor-General to appoint these persons to the Senate.
In a note sent to his party colleagues, PM Briceno outlined the rationale for each selection.
He says Eamon Courtenay will continue as Leader of Government Business and serve as Special Representative for the Prime Minister for International Legal Affairs, Diplomacy, and Strategic Engagement- which, to this newsroom, sounds a lot like the job of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
It also announced that Chris Coye will return and continue to serve as Min. of State for Finance - which was still up in the air until a few days ago.
Next is Linsford Castillo - who is the PUP Secretary General.
He is followed by a representative from the south, Roselle Arana, a former Orange Walk Town Councilor and educator who now lives in Barranco.
After that it's Brittney Galvez. She works in the Special Envoy's Office and the PM notes she is a member of various party organs and holds a Masters in Public Health.

And, though there are already two attorneys, the Prime Minister adds a third: Hector Guerra Ã¢â‚¬" described to party members as "a strong PUP supporter and a young man with leadership potential." Guerra is from Marine Parade Law Chambers. We note that lawyers from two firms comprise half of the 6 government appointees to the senate.

UDP Senators Rumored But Tracy Says Not Yet

Untitled Document On the UDP - or opposition side, it has been rumored that Patrick Faber, Beverly Williams and Jamal Swazo would be the choices, but Party Leader Tracy Panton today told us, quote, "There has been no appointment of UDP Senators as yet. As soon as our senatorial candidates have been confirmed we will advise."

OMG Cafe Not Backing Down From City Hall

Untitled Document Yesterday we told you about the commotion at OMG Cafe, when the city council's enforcement department along with police officers removed the establishment's banner, which is normally tied onto the front railing.
According to a release from CitCo, they are implementing new regulations to maintain the aesthetic of the building, so they have asked the businesses to use metal signs, and to not hang anything on the railing.
But after the cops left yesterday, the proprietors of OMG Cafe replaced the banner, and though it was gone by the evening, they put it right back up again today - in open defiance of the council's wishes.

CitCo has said that it will introduce a directory that all tenants will have to abide by.

Chocolate Festival Will Go On Despite Concert

Untitled Document The Chocolate Festival is back on after it was suddenly canceled on Monday. As we reported, the issue stemmed from the town council co-opting the festival's brand and planning a concert for the same weekend. The BTIA felt the small town wouldn't be able to host two successful major events in one weekend and decided to cancel the festival.
However, they held a meeting yesterday with the area rep, Dr Osmond Martinez, and the mayor, Carlos Galvez and decided that both events could move forward on the weekend of May 16th. The festival is 3 days and the concert itself is on May 17th. Dr Martinez has pledged to mitigate any risks that the festival might have faced since, as we told you, the gala funds the rest of the weekend's activities. It's not clear what "mitigate" means in this context - but in political speak that usually amounts to donating some money to offset any losses.

A press release from the BTIA says the Chocolate Festival, quote, "remains a significant attraction for the region, promoting sustainable tourism and economic growth. Despite the competing concert, organizers say they are committed to delivering an authentic and unforgettable experience for attendees." End quote.

14 Outstanding Women Recognized

Untitled Document The National Women's Commission held its Annual Outstanding Women's Award Ceremony this morning at the Biltmore. It's a main part of women's month activities and recognizes women in uniformed services, education, human rights, and other sectors. Jomarie Lanza was there:

14 women from numerous civil society organizations, industries and sectors across Belize were recognized today for their contributions within their field of expertise, for creating long lasting impacts that have paved the way for future generations of women. The Executive Director for The National Women's Commission told us that often women go unrecognized for their silent yet significant work within society and as career professionals, which is why over the past 2 decades they have given some of these women a platform to be celebrated.

Eleanor Murillo, Executive Director, National Women's Commission
"The Outstanding Women's Award has been going on for 20 years and so, during women's month we honour women across the country in specific fields using the Beijing Platform for Action. So we have like the girl child here today a young woman who will get an award, women in the media, women for human rights and women in poverty so we have 14 ladies who will be awarded here this morning as I said from a wide range of backgrounds and its a part of the empowerment it is a part of celebrating the achievement of women in Belize."

"We have women who do a lot behind the scenes. They don't do it for clout, they don't do it for recognition, they don't do it for money. Many of them have their regular jobs and then they do all these extra things behind the scenes, working with different organisations to support communities and especially women so we think it is fitting that these women from across the country are recognised."

One of these women who served as a keynote speaker with an impactful testimony, was Monique Lamb, the first international female captain in Belize to captain a 200 ton vessel. Lamb says she hopes her story will not only inspire others but encourage more women to make their mark in male dominated fields.

Monique Lamb, Captain, Belize Aggressor
"Women in life we go through a lot and at the end of the day we are the ones who have to thrive to keep our head above water and being able to celebrate this entire month or be recognised I think it is a very positive movement just to show appreciation that we are doing great we are doing excellent and with the position that I hold and being the first international female captain in Belize woman a 200 ton vessel if young girls are out there and they are not seeing role models like myself then they are not going to be able to dream to become a captain so I want to make myself visible out here so they are able to dream big and don't be afraid to accomplish anything that they want to accomplish in life and some of these roles have been historically dominated by men but they don't have to be afraid anymore because we are out here and women are doing an incredible job breaking barriers and trail blazing."

One of those trailblazers in the environmental field is none other than Elma Kay who serves as the managing director for the Belize Maya Forest Trust. She expressed her deepest gratitude for being chosen among all her other peers within this diverse field.

Elma Kay, Managing Director, Belize Maya Forrest Trust
"I am super honoured to be receiving this outstanding women of Belize award in the women in environment category its a real honour and I feel touched that they thought about me and awarding me but what I really feel is huge inspiration just drawing from all of the other awardees you know one of the things that strike me is we like to say in Belize you know we know, everybody knows everybody but one of the things that I found as the work that I do in environment but also working through the Belize network of NGO's and interacting with more women in other spaces that work on human rights and you know different walks of life is that I keep meeting these inspirational and remarkable women. And so I think today is just a real celebration of what women can achieve because women are intelligent, they are powerful and there are so many roles that they can fulfil that if we had a just society in which everybody had equal opportunities the world would be just a much better place because you know women are about families and are about communities, about service to country and so I think more than anything I just feel inspired."

New "Bombera" To Help Mahogany Heights During Fire Season

Untitled Document We're a month into the 2025 fire season and the Belize District is gearing up for the wildfires that are to come. The Mahogany Heights community is one that is affected every year, and with no fire station close by, many residents have suffered. But through a combined effort from the villagers, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the UK Government through their Biodiverse Landscape Fund, Mahogany Heights is now equipped with a new water pump and 1,300 gallon tank. According to the WCS Country Director, it's a part of a larger project.

Nicole Auil Gomez, Country Director, WCS
"This project began two years ago and we have another 5, 6 years to go before closing. But really, its intention is to really have impact on the ground and the intention is to have the communities, in this case, the communities develop what would work for their benefit. So that's one of the unique natures, the long duration of the project and the collaborative nature because this project, across Belize we're working with Friends for Conservation Development, Belize Maya Forest Trust, Program for Belize and Julian Cho Society Maya Leaders Alliance so we're working across different forested areas within the Belize forest across the country."

Jermaine Sanchez, Chairman, Mahogany Heights Village Council
"Fires have been very prevalent in our community, as you know the dry season is now upon us. We have had instances in the past whereby residents have lost homes, all their belongings, their lifetime savings because of small fires. We know that the ability for the fire department to respond to us quickly, maybe my definition of quickly may be 10, 15 minutes, they're all the way in Belmopan, however, this bombera as I call it will assist our community in allowing us to help ourselves. The ability to have water when there's a small fire, it does not necessary have to mean a home. We have had forest fires, we have what we call bush fires, that has led into larger things, and that in itself gives us a sense of security we can at least hold over until the really firefighters are here."

"As I mentioned, I recalled on of the moments we had what I call the bucket brigade. The bucket brigade were residents who came with buckets whenever there was a fire and we would full buckets of water together, form a line, and yes that helps a bit however you know when it comes to a bucket, fatigue comes in, the ability to move the water to the exact location so when the community heard about this and actually the community was an integral part of this consultation. There were many ideas that came up such as for example, providing medicine or doing a cover over the basketball court because it all related to climate change and climate resilience. And then the lightbulb hit that, hey, we need something to protect us against fires."

2025 Will Have A "Wet" Fire Season

Untitled Document And during the handing over ceremony, the first fire of this season broke out in an area near the Belize Zoo. It was quickly extinguished and there was no infrastructural damage. And the fact that this fire came so late in the season indicates that this year's one won't be as fiery as last year's. WCS' Maya Forest Corridor Site Manager told us more.

Yahaira Urbina, Maya Forest Corridor Site Manager, WCS
"This fire season as you may think, it's a bit wet, as we've seen. Usually we start to see fires since February and in earlier years you would see fire in January so they're predicting a little bit more wet fire season but we have to be alert as we saw this morning, we had our first fire for this season, we manage to extinguish it during this handover so we're hoping that it is not as active as last year but still we do promote for everyone to be vigilant in case a fire starts."

Courtney Menzies:
"The fire this morning was a manmade one?"

Yahaira Urbina, Maya Forest Corridor Site Manager, WCS
"So that's what we're going to do after this, we're going to do a proper map up and investigate if it was man-made or if it was natural and all of those things so investigations need to happen right now. It is extinguished but we need to do our map up if you say what is a map up it's when we go into the area and making sure that everything is extinguished and seeing evidence if it was lit or what happened there."

Boledo Draw Being Moved To Belmopan

Untitled Document Belize City Boledo purists don't like it - but after decades of being drawn in the city, Belize Government Lotteries today announced that effective the last Sunday in April, the live drawing of the Belize government lottery games, including Boledo, Ordinary Lottery, and Jackpot Lottery, will be relocated to the City of Belmopan.
They explain that the administrative office and all staff of the Belize Government Lotteries Ltd. are located in Belmopan, so, it's being relocated to make it more efficient and, quote, "reduce the risk for the suspension of any future drawings due to the vulnerability of hurricanes and flooding in Belize City."
They say that all protocols will continue as usual.
The new drawing office will be located inside the Emporium Plaza located at Cor. Rio Grande & Nim Li Punit Street. It's open to the public for viewing.

And while traditional Belize City Boledo fans may not be happy about it - they can't complain after Said Musa gave them a winning number last night for his birthday. His age of 81 played - but "backway." The number 18 came up in the nightly draw - and as any good boledo buyer will tell you - every hopeful number is purchased "back and front."

$100k For Two Organizations Courtesy PACT

Untitled Document The Belize Nature Conservation Foundation today awarded 100,000 dollars in grants to two terrestrial co-management organizations, The Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation Development and the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

For the SACD, it's their first time receiving the grant, which will be used to better manage the Bacalar Chico National Park. For the MBWS, this is their third grant, which will be used to build on the first two that they received. We spoke to representatives from both organizations today.

Samuel Barrett, Development Manager, SACD
"We are the newest grantee of the Belize Nature Conservation Foundation so they're going to be supporting us with a 9 month project that we're going to be implementing in Bacalar Chico National Park which is one of the protected areas we manage along with Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary."

"We signed a co-management agreement with the government in 2023 for Bacalar Chico National Park and since then we've been working on developing a management plan and engaging stakeholders to see how they want us to manage the protected area because as a organization we manage the protected area on behalf of the people who benefit from it. And we're now at a point where we need to launch a permanent presence, 365 days a year within the park so this project is going to be supporting our rangers with the training that they need and also providing them with all of the resources and provisions that they need on the side full time as well as upgrading some of the slightly tired infrastructure in the park to make sure that they have somewhere safe and secure to have as their base as well as demarcating some key areas within the site with some tourism signage, some boundary signage and clearly demarcating where the rocks point Unesco World Heritage Site is within the national park."

Hannah Knab, Secretary, Board of Dir., Money Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
"The grant that we just got was for our protected areas management. We're going to use that money to get an ATV for our rangers to make it easier for them to mobilize in case there's illegal, hunting, poaching, logging or anything like that within the sanctuary or if there's any natural disasters like wildfires or hurricane reforestation projects or anything like that that needs to happen, we'll have that available for them and we're also going to hire an education and outreach person for us so that we can educate our local communities about how to be more proper in terms of like managing fires or poaching and things like that."

Eli Miller, Managing Director, Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
"We were lucky enough to get one ATV through the PACT project CIS Investment 2, that was last year. But we have a ranger team that is bigger than the amount of people that can fit on the current ATV so in order to effectively mobilize the entire team, we found the need to have a second one available, not only for mobilizing the team but also for responding to natural disasters such as wildfires or incursions into the park, illegal activities and so forth."

Preschoolers Play At Festival Of Arts Opening

Untitled Document And, from conservation to kids getting their first taste of the limelight, the pre-schoolers Festival of the Arts started today at the Bliss Center.
They started strong, dancing, reciting with hand movements and vocalizations they have been practicing for weeks.

Today schools from rural Belize for their turn to showcase their talents. Here are highlights:

Kim Vasquez, Director, ICA
"Today is the opening of the preschool festival of arts and it Is starting with the Belize district festival of arts but it is also the opening of the entire season for 2025 for the festival of arts and so this is a time of excitement for us it is my favourite time and we are just here in support of the Belize district education centre this is Belize rural happening here simultaneously out in San Pedro as well its underway already and then tomorrow we will be back for the city schools and then it takes off from there, Toledo, on Monday and there after that Stann creek and then they go west and then up north and then we are straight into the secondary festival of arts at the ending of the month taking a couple weeks break and then continuing with primary in April and then we expect to be back here of course for the exciting golden showcase at the end of the month of May".

"Its so important as I just said in there that it starts right here with the preschool festival of arts. This is the nursing and the fun and enjoying introduction to the arts that we want for the young students and we want to see this continue and we want them to have the support and the recognition even with this young age we know that along with their teachers they have put in the work and the preparation and they are passionate and they are so vibrant and creative when you see them on stage you can't help but get cold seed and so it is really important that we have this national platform for all our children from preschool all the way up until secondary and beyond because this is the festival of arts and it is the garden, the grounds where the institute of creative arts can see the talent emerging and we need to be able to identify that talent and to give it support."

Sebastian Cab, Principal Education Officer
"The theme remains the same for the month of march, small steps big skills lacking early potential that is the theme throughout the entire month. Again the festival of arts for the students and for the preschoolers commences today and that includes 4 categories, music, dance, drama and arts and craft so they will display their crafts out here but what is happening here is different performances you will hear poetry you will hear singing and dancing and that is being adjudicated by the adjudicators there so those are the performing arts the three categories that will be happening there this morning."

"Its self expression and this is an opportunity for kids to express themselves and its about celebrating culture its about celebrating the heritage and this in itself is really like what the theme says unlocking early potential so the talent that we have this is what we want to harness from our students and our teachers and parents have worked so hard to prepare them so we are very grateful for that so this is the culmination of that an opportunity to showcase their skills and their talents in the performing arts."

The festival continues tomorrow.

Belizeans By Boat To Ceiba For Aurelio's Funeral

Untitled Document A delegation of Belizeans, consisting of musicians, fans and representatives from NICH and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are enroute to La Ceiba Honduras tonight to pay their respects at the funeral of the musical and cultural icon Aurelio Martinez who was once of 12 persons who died earlier this week in a plane crash in Roatan.

They left Independence village by boat at 10:00 this morning and one of the organizers for the excursion, Audrey Matura spoke to us via phone about an hour ago. She told us that they are hoping to make it to Ceiba in time for the traditional wake set to be held tonight. She shared more details with us while on the road.

Audrey Matura, Aurelio Martinez Fan
"What happened. We have 31 persons who came and it seemed a bit last minute. But my understanding from the organizers is that they were looking for a way to get people to come to this event to come to this funeral but the sad reality is, that it's hard to get passage. We tried plane, boat, bus, everything, and we ended up with boat and bus, so we had to come from Malacate Beach to Puerto Cortes by boat and then we hired a bus and the bus is now driving us to La Ceiba."

"So it would be a total of about almost 8 hours, probably if not more, because the traffic is really hectic here right now. So it had to be a bit last minute because the options are just so limited but the thought and the organization was going on before. Finally, the parties that came together that really paid for this event is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"And NICH. So the idea is that we wanted to come in this evening because tonight there is a third nigh wake, which is a lot of singing and celebration and tribute. So that's what we were doing. And then after that we would then attend the funeral tomorrow, which is at 10:00. Many Belizeans would have wanted to come."

"But as you notice, it's a Friday, a lot of logistics go into it. But the ones who could have made it came. And it's important for us to be here because whether we want to accept it or not or whether we debate it or not, the reality is that Aurelio was like a Belizean. He is a household name and it's a way of Belize paying respect and tribute to him."

"So I am glad to see that NICH has a representative here. Am glad to see that Ivan Duran, who is one of his collaborators, is here, Members of the collectives are here and one or two of the general public that I just people who came along and, you know, took the time off from work and said they want to come along."

"Like I met two ladies who are real fans of Aurelio and the sacrifice that we went through to get on that boat and be here with us today is amazing. And they said that they've always followed him, his music, and they felt it was important to come and see him at his burial."

Funeral Goers Memorialized Aurelio With His Song As They Headed To Honduras

Untitled Document And, we leave you tonight with images from the journey across the Gulf of Honduras to Ceiba. On the boat, the funeral goers played music and sang Martinez's music, including his homecoming classic, named Landini.

We leave you with that, as led by his son, 18 year old Newani Martinez.

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