San Pedro Daily
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Ambergris Caye, Belize Friday July 13, 2007 Belize's only Daily- Seven Days a Week |
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DFC Commission of
Inquiry Splintering
The DFC Commission of
Inquiry was
appointed two years ago and now, Commissioners Merlene Bailey-Martinez
and Herbert Lord have reached a fork in the road. 7NEWS has learned
that Commissioner Herbert Lord, government's
appointee, has written to Bailey-Martinez to tell her that he is going
ahead to write and submit his own report, without her input.
Apparently, the unilateral decision comes after the Cabinet Secretary wrote a letter to the Commissioners at the end of last month on behalf of the Prime Minister. It basically demands that the Commissioners submit their findings to the PM immediately. And our information says that Lord responded by stating he will be submitting his report independently. He advises Bailey Martinez that she can do the same on her own timing. What will Bailey-Martinez do? Well, she declined comment when we spoke to her today. But what we will venture to say that it would be very irregular, possibly unprecedented for two separate reports to come from one commission. Read More SP Police
prosecute one of their
own
Dia de San
Pedro festivities are days of religious festivities and fun. However,
to a certain individual, Saturday, June 30th was spent behind bars.
What’s more ironic is that the individual in question is a police
officer himself.
Roger Jaime, officer stationed in San Pedro Town, was off duty, wearing civilian clothing and allegedly under the influence of alcohol. For hours, he had passed along Nancy’s Store, located on Black Coral Street, allegedly looking for a man who lives in said building. “Around 10:30 p.m. he arrived at Nancy’s, parked his golf cart on the middle of the street, stopping traffic on both sides. He jumped off the cart and started asking for the person he had been looking for. He was told that this individual was not at home. He started to go up the stairs to the house when the daughter of the owner of the house told him that he was on private residence. She warned him not to go up,” stated Pamela Zetina, witness to the incident. Zetina alleges that Jaime got irritated and started spewing obscenities at the crowd. “The people in the crowd were not pleased and started screaming back at him. That is when he threatened everyone. He allegedly said that he was going to go back and get his gun to shoot everyone,” Zetina states. Zetina got on the phone and called the San Pedro Police Department. “I explained to the person on the other line what was going on. I heard them say, ‘Someone is complaining about Jaime.’ That is when Myles [Sergeant Dennis Myles] got on the phone. Meanwhile Jaime realized what I was doing and got on his golf cart and left. I continued explaining the situation to Myles,” Zetina continues. Shortly after receiving the complaint, Sergeant Myles arrived at the scene of the incident and did not find Jaime. Jaime was later found and apprehended. “I personally put him behind bars,” stated Sergeant Myles. Jaime spent the night in jail and was released the next morning. He later went to Nancy’s Store and apologized for his behavior. In an interview with Officer-in-Charge Humberto Patt, The San Pedro Sun found out that disciplinary measures are being taken against Jaime. “It is a very grave issue that will be handled by us at the department,” he explained. Sergeant Myles reiterated Assistant Superintendent Patt’s comment by stating, “We will no longer tolerate police wrong doing. We can’t afford to do that because we want to have a good relationship between the police and community. Only by working together will we be able to have a safe community.” Jaime will appear before a Disciplinary Tribunal with Sergeant Myles as the arresting officer. On July 20th, when the court is called to order, witness will be available to testify against Jaime and his alleged actions. Read More In-country
rabies diagnosis now available in Belize
Belize now has the
capability to identify the source of rabies virus.
The in-country facility is capable of diagnosing rabies in animals and
pinpointing the source of the virus causing rabies. This has been
accomplished through the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA).
Belize has a long history of rabies. The Annual Reports of the Ministry of Agriculture report cases in cattle in the Cayo District in the 1930s. Rabies has also been reported in other animals: horses, pigs, dogs, cats, raccoons, foxes and man. The rabies virus has been sourced from dogs, foxes and vampire bats, with the vampire bat being the most common source of the virus, particularly in cattle. Records show that the vampire bat was the source of the rabies virus in a dog from the Orange Walk District in the mid 1980’s. Given that rabid animals can transfer the disease to people and people have been affected in the past in Belize, there has always been a great need to diagnose rabies. Suspect samples used to be sent to Guatemala, then Panama and, recently, Guatemala again. Though BAHA can now diagnose rabies, samples will continue to be sent to regional laboratories for quality control. The strengthening of BAHA’s laboratory capability was initiated by PAHO in the late nineties, when they donated a fluorescent microscope to the veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Mexico, through a bilateral project, completed the process through training of laboratory technicians, both in Mexico and Belize. In the last month, Mexico transferred the technology to Belize, sending three scientists from SAGARPA and INIFAP to conduct diagnostic testing for the rabies virus and the source of the virus. Thus, BAHA’s veterinary diagnostic laboratory at Central Farm, Cayo District can report that its testing in Belize has shown that the vampire bat is responsible for the rabies cases reported in cattle in Cayo District in 2005 and 2006. BAHA’s veterinary laboratory, with continued support from government and partners in development, will further strengthen its diagnostic capability for rabies, as well as for other animal diseases. BAHA has committed to ensure that animals in Belize will routinely vaccinated for rabies. Read More NOTICES/LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
San Pedro Town Library
Needs Volunteers for Summer Program
San Pedro Town Library is
about to start its summer program for children. This runs for
three weeks, five days a week with an educational field trip at the
end. It starts on Monday the 16th of July. If you have the
time to help, please contact the Senior Librarian, Iracela Acosta on
206 2028.
#####
Church
services will be
held at Holy Cross Anglican School on
Sunday, July 15th 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
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves Abraham Lincoln |
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