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A brewing public controversy over private land transactions has forced long-simmering questions of public safety, governmental ethics, and national security onto Belize’s policy agenda, with Prime Minister John Briceño leading calls for urgent intervention to address a potentially lethal hazard.

The site at the center of the dispute is Baldy Beacon, a scenic stretch of territory that for decades served as a live-fire training ground for both the Belize Defence Force (BDF) and the British Army. Decades of live ammunition exercises have left the landscape littered with unseen, buried unexploded ordnance – explosives that remain active and capable of detonating if disturbed. Even as the area still retains its official status as an active BDF training zone where live fire drills continue to be held, large parcels of this high-risk land were transferred to private interests by the previous administration, and are now being actively marketed to international real estate investors as prime scenic property.

In remarks to local media, Prime Minister Briceño drew a direct line between this controversial land transfer and an earlier, widely publicized national immigration scandal, saying the handover of the training land to private actors bore all the markers of the same suspicious, improper dealings that rocked the previous government. “These lands should never have been sold, let alone advertised to unsuspecting international buyers,” Briceño said. “Investors see the natural beauty of Baldy Beacon and purchase a plot with no idea they are buying a property that could hold hidden, life-threatening bombs under the surface. This is not just dangerous – it is fundamentally unethical, and this situation never should have been allowed to develop.”

When asked by a reporter whether the area remains officially classified as a BDF training area despite the private parcels embedded within its boundaries, Briceño confirmed that the active training designation still stands. The BDF continues to conduct live-fire exercises in the zone, meaning even casual civilian movement through private plots puts unsuspecting residents and visitors at severe risk of injury or death. “If the BDF can no longer safely operate in the area because of the private development, we will need to find a new training location elsewhere,” Briceño added.

The prime minister made clear that the current administration is exploring all possible policy avenues to resolve the crisis, including the option of reclaiming the contaminated land and converting it to a protected conservation area. He acknowledged, however, that the path forward faces major financial hurdles: the private owner, developer Penner, and his investment backers are already demanding multi-million-dollar compensation in exchange for transferring the land back to public ownership. Still, Briceño stressed that urgent action is non-negotiable, arguing that the government cannot afford to wait for a fatal incident to occur before intervening to protect innocent civilians.

In a sharply worded rebuke delivered on May 29, 2026, Belize Prime Minister John Briceño has publicly condemned former minister Elvin Penner over what he calls an unacceptably dangerous and poorly coordinated explosives operation that put multiple lives at imminent risk of catastrophe. Briceño’s criticism is rooted in official reports from the Belize Defence Force (BDF) and verifiable video evidence documenting the operation, which he says lacked critical oversight and safety protocols required for handling explosive materials. According to the prime minister, even a minor error during the operation could have triggered an uncontrolled catastrophic explosion with fatal consequences.

Briceño emphasized the severity of Penner’s actions in direct comments to reporters, noting that BDF assessments confirm the operation came perilously close to disaster. “I think that Elvin Penner from what we have seen with the videos and what we are told, was reckless,” Briceño stated. “What I was told by the BDF is that if he would have travelled some miles down that could have exploded and he would have been dead. And he should have known better.”

In response to the prime minister’s accusations, Penner has pushed back, arguing that the only notable negative outcome of the operation was nearby wildfires sparked by flying sparks from the detonations. But Briceño says this explanation does not excuse the fundamental failures of the unregulated operation. The prime minister stressed that Penner’s choice to proceed without coordinating with all relevant government agencies created an unacceptable public safety hazard that could have resulted in mass casualties, regardless of whether a major explosion was ultimately avoided.

The incident has prompted Briceño to call for immediate stricter oversight of all future explosives operations in the country. He outlined a new mandatory framework that requires participation from all key stakeholder agencies before any such work can begin, including the Department of Environment, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), national fire services, and the BDF. Briceño acknowledged that even well-planned operations can face unforeseen challenges—such as sudden shifts in weather conditions that fan wildfires—but emphasized that coordinated multi-agency planning is critical to minimizing risk.

“Sometimes you plan and they are telling you there is going to be no wind and all of a sudden the wind comes. There is always room for improvement,” Briceño said. “But it does not remove the fact or negate that what Mr. Penner did to remove things. This was dangerous and could have created havoc and killed a lot of people.”

This report is a transcription of an evening television broadcast, with Kriol language statements rendered using a standardized spelling system for accessibility.

When unexpected leadership changes at Belize’s newly launched National Bus Company (NBC) sparked widespread public speculation earlier this week, former chief executive Susana Vanzie has stepped forward to set the record straight, confirming her departure was a pre-planned interim arrangement rather than a sudden exit amid internal or political turmoil.

Vanzie explained that from the moment she accepted the CEO position, the role was explicitly agreed to be temporary with relevant government ministers. The veteran bus industry operator and current NBC shareholder stepped into the leadership role at a critical juncture, when the newly nationalized bus operation needed an experienced hand to build the project from the ground up.

“From the start, the minister publicly stated this was an interim appointment – a lot of people simply missed that detail, which is why my exit came as an unexpected surprise that led to all kinds of rumors,” Vanzie shared in a public address broadcast this week. “When I was asked to take on the role, I jumped at the chance even though I knew I couldn’t stay long-term. I already had other professional responsibilities, but building a national public transit system from scratch is the kind of challenge that needs full commitment, no half measures. So I dropped everything to see it through.”

The founding CEO acknowledged the project has faced a rockier start than many anticipated, outlining a series of structural and operational hurdles that have slowed momentum. When NBC took over the national bus network, it inherited an aging, fragmented fleet made up of buses from more than half a dozen different manufacturers, with some vehicles 20 to 30 years old. This mismatch has created persistent mechanical and maintenance challenges that have disrupted service from day one.

Beyond equipment issues, Vanzie also admitted that internal communication missteps during the transition left some frontline staff feeling excluded from decision-making processes, a gap that new leadership will need to address to improve morale and operational efficiency.

Despite these early growing pains, Vanzie remains a committed backer of the national bus project, both financially and ideologically. She and her brother, fellow NBC shareholders, chose to retain their stakes rather than cashing out when she stepped down as CEO, a decision rooted in their long-term belief in the initiative’s core mission. Vanzie’s vision for NBC centers on building a modern, efficient national transit network that will eventually transition to a fully electric fleet of new buses – a goal that she stresses will take time to achieve.

She is now calling on the Belizean public and political stakeholders to give the new leadership team space to implement changes and deliver on the project’s long-term promises, warning that sweeping changes to a critical public service of this scale will always be fraught with early challenges and competing demands. As for her own role, Vanzie will remain an involved shareholder, continuing to support the project from outside the top leadership position.

This report is adapted from a full evening television newscast transcript published online.

A developing public integrity scandal in Belize took a notable turn this week, as Prime Minister John Briceño publicly stepped forward to accept institutional responsibility for the disappearance of public funds from the Belize City Immigration Department. The case, which has been the subject of an ongoing law enforcement investigation, has drawn heightened public scrutiny over systemic gaps in government financial oversight.

In comments during a recent on-air interview with local outlet News Five, Briceño emphasized that as the nation’s head of government, ultimate accountability for all government operations rests with his office. “At the end of the day as the prime minister I have to take responsibility for everything that takes place in government. So yes… it is my responsibility as prime minister,” he stated.

The scandal centers on a currently unnamed employee implicated in the missing funds, who Briceño says used a scheme of falsified and cancelled receipts to conceal irregularities. The prime minister declined to share additional details about the ongoing investigation, noting that law enforcement is still building a solid prosecutorial case to avoid procedural missteps that could lead to the case being thrown out, given the strength of defense representation in the country’s judicial system. “It takes a long time to investigate and make sure you have a good case, because if you don’t you know they have these good defense lawyers and they find one misstep and then you have to throw out the case. So, we need to be careful,” Briceño explained.

When pressed by reporters about his own prior connection to the portfolio — Briceño previously served as the minister overseeing the immigration department — the prime minister acknowledged that regardless of when the irregularities began (he noted the discrepancies likely emerged in early 2025, ahead of the March 2025 general election), institutional accountability falls to the sitting prime minister.

Beyond accepting responsibility, Briceño sharpened criticism of departmental supervisors who failed to detect the financial irregularities earlier. The prime minister pointed out that existing checks and balances were already in place to prevent this type of fraud, but frontline supervisors failed to enforce them: “They have a supervisor and the supervisor should be checking every day and if the supervisor was checking and saying hold on, why does this person have so much cancelled receipts. That alone should be a red light.”

To address the systemic gap that allowed the scandal to unfold, Briceño announced planned reforms, with a key shift being the migration of all immigration department services to digital online platforms. The change, he argues, will create a permanent, immutable digital trail of all transactions, making it far easier to track activity and strengthen ongoing oversight of public funds. The prime minister added that the core priority moving forward is to learn from the institutional failure and put stronger accountability safeguards in place to prevent similar misconduct from occurring again.

A major internal investigation is underway at the Belize Police Department after more than $21,000 in case-related cash went missing from a locked evidence facility in the nation’s capital of Belmopan, leaving officials grappling with uncomfortable questions about security gaps and procedural failures within one of the country’s most guarded law enforcement spaces.

The missing funds were originally held as evidence connected to a court case dating back to 2023. Their unexplained disappearance was uncovered during a routine internal audit conducted earlier this week, and investigators have so far been unable to find any official documentation or chain-of-custody paper trail that can account for where the money went.

In an on-camera interview with local reporter Britney Gordon on Wednesday, Belize’s current Minister of Home Affairs Oscar Mira acknowledged the ongoing probe, but acknowledged he had not yet received updated details on the case’s progress. “The investigation is happening and I don’t have the recent updates as yet, but investigators are ensuring that we follow through and that we find out what happened,” Mira stated. “And whoever needs to be charged will be charged.”

When pressed on whether closed-circuit surveillance cameras were installed and operational in the evidence storage area when the funds went missing, Mira admitted he could not confirm basic security arrangements for the facility. The disappearance of the money occurred before Mira took office, leaving him without direct knowledge of pre-existing protocols. “I am not sure because this happened before my time. I’m not sure, but I know that we are learning from these mistakes, and we want to make sure that whenever there is any evidence, that the custody of this evidence is done the proper way,” Mira explained.

When asked what proper evidence management protocols should look like, the minister outlined the standard procedural requirement: an unbroken chain of custody documenting every transfer of evidence between personnel, from initial collection all the way to secure storage in the exhibit room.

Per official updates from the Belize Police Department, the force’s Professional Standards Branch has taken the lead on the inquiry. Investigators have already collected multiple witness statements from personnel as they work to trace the missing cash and identify who may be responsible for the breach.

This report is adapted from a transcript of an evening television newscast originally published online. Original Kriol language remarks from on-air speakers were transcribed using a standardized spelling system for accuracy.