San Pedro Daily
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Ambergris Caye, Belize Wednesday July 11, 2007 Belize's only Daily- Seven Days a Week |
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SAN PEDRO TIGERSHARKS IMPRESSIVE IN
SEMIFINAL ROUND CLOSE-OUT WIN OVER EAGLES
Even the unexpected
appearance of
AC Augustine in the Orange Walk Eagles’ line-up on Saturday night could
not stop them from being swept out of the playoffs by the recently
recharged San Pedro Tigersharks. Ironically, in a strange twist of
events, the game time decision by Eagles’ management to insert
Augustine into their line-up may have hurt them more than aid them;
for, while he (Augustine) may have put up decent numbers offensively
(18 pts 15 rebs) in the game, his end of season sudden return in a
critical do or die situation affected team chemistry tremendously,
resulting in the team committing a whapping 37 turnovers, while
shooting a woeful 26% from the field. In addition, it also had an
adverse effect on the play of other key players such as Sheldon
Williams, Dale Turner, Leith Paulino and Roscoe Rhys, who had, during
the course of the season, made a name for themselves by performing
adequately. On Saturday night, the quartet could only muster a
mere 19
pts collectively, a sharp decline when compared to game one of the
series, when they combined for 45 pts among the four of them.
In any event, the Tigersharks are now riding a four-game winning streak, following the 84-75 win. They were led by Jamaican Damion Staples, who had 24 pts, and who is now leading the playoffs in scoring at a 24.5 ppg clip. He was assisted by Greg Rudon 20 pts and Doug Pendland 13 pts. Meanwhile, for the Eagles, Lester Cadle had 34 pts, followed by AC Augustine 18 pts. Read More RATING
AGENCY SAYS BELIZE'S DEBT BURDEN STILL CAUSE FOR
CONCERN
Moody's
Investors Service has said that Belize's debt
burden is still a cause for concern. A-F-X News Limited has
quoted
Moody’s as saying that even though the debt service profile has been
substantially alleviated, Belize's debt burden is still quite
burdensome. In its annual report on the nation, Moody's said
Belize's
foreign currency government bond rating and stable outlook reflect a
very high risk of default despite the substantial liquidity relief that
was provided as a result of this February's restructuring. This
rating and Moody's assessment of a low risk of a payments moratorium in
the event of a government bond default are the basis for the B2 foreign
currency country ceiling for bonds. On the other hand, Moody's
noted
that Belize has been able to navigate through a very challenging crisis
without severe macroeconomic dislocations. It said that Belize
is a
small, very open economy that is extremely vulnerable to external
shocks, leaving little room for slippage, as the government's ability
to adjust is very limited. The agency said there are
considerable
concerns regarding the government's ability to sustain a very tight
fiscal policy in the context of a pegged exchange rate over the
medium-term. Read
More
Fire Service prepares
for annual Olympiad
 Which team will top this
year’s fire fighting Olympiad? This weekend
fire fighters from across the country will converge on Punta Gorda to
display their skills in competition with each other and the clock.
Michael Middleton, Operation Mgr., National Fire Service “We go with time. We have about ten drills and overall it’s the team with the least time which wins the overall event.” “We have pump drills, we have hose drills, we have we have breathing apparatus drills, we have rescue drills; those are the four drills that we have in the Olympiad.” According to Operations Manager Michael Middleton, without the support of businesses like RFG Insurance, they would not be able to reward the men and women for their accomplishments. By the way, this year’s trophies were designed by the fire fighting crew themselves. But as the National Fire Service prepares for this weekend’s challenge, they are also observing fire safety week. Michael Middleton “This is our second Fire Safety Week. The first was held some twenty years ago, the theme for this year’s Fire Safety Week is: Fire Safety is Everybody’s Responsibility. The reason for having this Fire Safety Week is to sensitise the general public on the risks and hazards involved when dealing with fires.” Read More Making Health Less
on Intuition,
More on Data  The Ministry of Health signed service contracts with health providers including the KHMH yesterday. That means that those providers will be expected to provide care in line with certain verifiable targets and indicators. It may sound jargon-istic, but it's part of an initiative to change the culture of health management: making it more efficient and accountable to make sure that you get better health care. Following up on those contracts, today international facilitators were in Belize showing health managers how to run a system that relies less on intuition and more on data. Peter Allen is in charge of policy and planning at the Ministry of Health and he told us about the change. Peter Allen, Policy and Planning Unit - Ministry of Health "Much of the management of the health system in Belize over the last 20 twenty years, which is my personal knowledge of the health system, has been largely intuitively, even when I was a manager myself. Often you don't find you have the real evidence but you make decisions based on what you perceive around what. What we're really aiming at is to move our management system towards managing based on results. The health budget as you know is I think the second largest budget of all the line Ministries and approaching $60 million a year now or even more. We have a responsibility I think to all the Belizean people to make sure that we use that money in the most effective and efficient way to get the best possible results. And how will people know if you're getting the best possible results if we fail to measure our progress towards those results." Read More Green Reef
announces training on Bacalar Chico
San Pedro
Town, July 10, 2007
Green Reef Environmental Institute announced today that it is seeking applicants for specialized tour guide training about Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve. The 8-day course will be provided free of charge. The training will be held in late 2007 or early 2008, but will be scheduled only after the selection of successful applicants. Space will be limited. “Bacalar Chico has many unique features,” said Mito Paz, Green Reef Executive Director. “The specialized training will cover its geology, flora, fauna, marine resources and cultural history. Our funding comes from a grant from COMPACT (the Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation Programme), an organization seeking to protect and enhance appreciation of the Belize Barrier Reef System – World Heritage Site.” Applicants must have completed the National Tour Guide Training. Additional information and applications can be obtained from the offices of the San Pedro Tour Guide Association, Caribeña Producers Cooperative Society or Green Reef Environmental Institute. NOTICES/LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Church services will be held at Holy Cross Anglican School on Sunday, July 16th at 11am. Guest preacher will be the Rev. Don McNichol from Charlottesville, Virginia. The entire community is cordially invited to attend! #####
Holy Cross Anglican School
will hold Summer School for
entering
Standard III, IV, V students who received less than 75% in Math and/or
Language Arts for the previous school year and for ALL entering
Standard VI
students starting on Monday, July 16 at 8:45am. Classes will run
for
two weeks and are designed to provide a basic review in core
subjects. Cost is $40 per
student. For additional information, please call the School at
226-3456.THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. |
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 www.grandcaribe.bz debbiewade@gmail.com
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