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  • Transport Department Sends New Pickup Trucks to OW and PG

    Transport Department Sends New Pickup Trucks to OW and PG

    In a formal handover ceremony held April 20, 2026 at the Department of Transport’s Belmopan parking lot, two brand-new Nissan pickup trucks were officially transferred to the department for deployment to two regional districts. The new assets are part of a broader ongoing government initiative to upgrade road safety infrastructure and streamline daily operational capacity across Belize.

    Once assigned to the Orange Walk (OW) and Punta Gorda (PG) districts, the trucks will directly support local transport wardens in carrying out their routine and targeted traffic enforcement duties. Prior to this deployment, regional enforcement teams often faced operational limitations from outdated or insufficient vehicle resources, which slowed response times and hindered regular patrols across the large, spread-out districts.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Transport Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh emphasized that the upgraded equipment is a critical investment in improving national traffic law compliance. “Hopefully with these new vehicles we will be able to get even higher compliance for our laws,” Dr. Zabaneh said, noting that consistent, accessible enforcement is one of the most effective tools for reducing reckless driving and preventing road traffic accidents.

    Deputy Chief Transport Officer Peter Williams expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Transport for its sustained commitment to upgrading frontline operational resources. Williams stressed that the addition of reliable new vehicles would deliver an immediate, visible improvement to daily work for regional wardens, eliminating common barriers like vehicle breakdowns that previously pulled officers off patrol routes.

    Department CEO Chester Williams further outlined plans to preserve the new assets for long-term public service, noting that structured maintenance protocols will be put in place to keep the trucks in optimal working condition. “I am sure that the officers who are going to be utilising them from both Punta Gorda and Orange Walk are going to make good use of these vehicles and maintain them in an acceptable standard,” Williams said. The deployment is expected to be completed within one week of the handover ceremony, with the trucks already cleared for active patrol duty.

  • Public invited to town hall meetings on weather-resilient housing project

    Public invited to town hall meetings on weather-resilient housing project

    Over the next three days, three consecutive public town hall meetings will open a channel for community input on the draft designs of climate-resilient housing units developed under Saint Lucia’s landmark Green Affordable Housing Project (GAH).

    First launched in 2021 by the Government of Saint Lucia, the GAH initiative was created to address a critical gap: making sustainable, climate-adapted housing accessible and affordable for the country’s low- and middle-income households. To advance this goal, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has partnered with two leading global climate and development bodies—the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF)—to support the government in mobilizing $7.5 million in funding for a flagship pilot project.

    Under this pilot, 450 fully green-certified, climate-resilient homes will be constructed in the Balata district of Castries, the island nation’s capital. The planned residential units are designed to withstand the extreme weather events that threaten small island developing states like Saint Lucia, with proposed features including integrated rainwater harvesting systems, on-site solar energy generation, energy-efficient LED lighting, and hurricane-resistant building infrastructure. If the pilot is successfully completed, an estimated 1,800 local Saint Lucians stand to gain safe, sustainable affordable housing through the initiative.

    To ensure the project aligns with the needs of the community that will ultimately call these developments home, organizers have scheduled three town hall sessions across different regions of the country, each designed to accommodate local attendees. The first session, set for Monday, April 20, will be a virtual gathering open to stakeholders in the Castries area, running from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The following day, Tuesday, April 21, an in-person meeting will be held at the Human Resource Development Centre in Gros Islet from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The third and final session will take place on Wednesday, April 22 at Babonneau Secondary School, running from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

    During these public sessions, project teams will present the finalized proposed community layouts and housing designs, then open the floor to collect feedback and suggestions from residents, future prospective homeowners, and other local stakeholders. In an official statement, GGGI emphasized that public input is a core part of the project’s development process: the feedback collected will be integrated into final design adjustments to ensure the completed housing solutions directly reflect the needs and priorities of the people who will live in them, while also advancing the country’s broader goals for inclusive, sustainable national development.

  • BREAKING: IShowSpeed to Visit Antigua and Barbuda as Part of Caribbean Tour (VIDEO)

    BREAKING: IShowSpeed to Visit Antigua and Barbuda as Part of Caribbean Tour (VIDEO)

    In a breaking development that has sent ripples of excitement through online creator communities and Caribbean travel circles, prominent American internet personality and live streamer IShowSpeed has announced that Antigua and Barbuda will be an official stop on his upcoming regional Caribbean tour. The announcement was accompanied by newly released teaser video that offers fans a quick preview of the creator’s plans for the visit, building anticipation among his global fanbase ahead of the trip.

    Known for his high-energy live streams, gaming content and millions of loyal followers across major social platforms, IShowSpeed’s decision to include the twin-island Caribbean nation marks one of the highest-profile creator visits to the country in recent years. Travel and tourism stakeholders in Antigua and Barbuda have already noted the potential for the visit to boost the country’s visibility as a top tourist destination among younger, social media-savvy audiences worldwide.

    The teaser video released alongside the breaking announcement shares quick hints about the activities IShowSpeed is expected to take part in during his stay, though full details of his itinerary have not yet been revealed to the public. Fans both local to Antigua and Barbuda and those following the streamer internationally are waiting for further updates on scheduled public appearances, meet-and-greets and content that will be filmed during the tour stop.

  • Police Looking for One Man For Recent Murder

    Police Looking for One Man For Recent Murder

    A wide-ranging manhunt is underway in southern Belize for a suspect connected to the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Steve Lewis, a delivery worker from Dangriga Town whose decomposing body was found days after he went missing for a fake delivery job.

    Lewis was last seen alive on the morning of the previous Monday, when he left his home to complete what he believed was a standard, routine delivery. The following day, his common-law wife filed an official missing person report with local authorities after he failed to return home.

    Several days after Lewis disappeared, searchers located his remains along a rural feeder road branching off the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway, close to the small community of Silk Grass Village. Investigators recovered an expended bullet shell at the scene, which has helped detectives narrow down the cause of death.

    Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith confirmed to reporters that forensic evidence points to a gunshot wound as the likely cause of Lewis’s death. “Given that an expended shell was found on the scene, we suspect the cause to be a gunshot injury,” Smith stated in an official press briefing.

    Prior to his disappearance, Lewis received a phone call requesting a delivery to Silk Grass Village, and investigators are now deep diving into all communications linked to that fatal request to identify the caller. “We are following up on the level of communication that he had during that time to see how that can assist with the investigation,” ASP Smith added.

    Lewis’s mother, Suceli Lewis, shared new chilling details of her son’s final hours with local outlet News 5. She explained that an unknown young man contacted her son from Lake Land to arrange the delivery, and specifically instructed Lewis to bring a covered helmet with him for the job. “So my baby went to look for a cover up helmet and gone pick up the person and shoot out of Dangriga,” she said, confirming her son never made it back to town after leaving for the appointment.

    Local law enforcement has not yet released a description of the suspect they are seeking, but have urged residents of the Dangriga and Silk Grass Village areas to come forward with any information that could help speed up the investigation and bring the perpetrator to justice.

  • 36 Police Officers Complete Drill Training with BDF Support

    36 Police Officers Complete Drill Training with BDF Support

    A historic five-week specialized drill training program, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Belize Police Department and the Belize Defence Force (BDF), has concluded with 36 officers successfully earning their graduation credentials, officials confirmed.

    The initiative, crafted to develop the next tier of junior leadership within the police ranks, launched in mid-March at the National Police Training Academy. Forty officers originally entered the rigorous course, which combined military-style discipline with police-specific leadership skill building, and 36 participants met all the program’s demanding requirements to cross the finish line at the end of the training cycle.

    Titled the Junior Non-Commissioned Officer Drill Course, the program was built around a core set of training objectives: refining officers’ proficiency in parade drill procedures, teaching them to identify and correct technical errors in formation movement, and ingraining precision in coordinated group maneuvers. Beyond technical drill skills, the curriculum also prioritized cultivating on-the-job confidence and foundational leadership capabilities that officers can bring to their daily community policing and operational duties.

    Training organizers structured the curriculum to blend practical, hands-on field drills with in-depth classroom instruction. This hybrid approach ensured participants built not only the physical discipline required for high-standard drill work but also the theoretical knowledge to lead drill sessions and apply learned discipline to their regular roles. Officials repeatedly emphasized the intensity and transformative impact of the course, noting that the partnership with the BDF brought unique military expertise and structure to the training that elevated the entire experience for participating officers.

    This joint program marks a new step in inter-agency cooperation between Belize’s national police and defense forces, aimed at lifting professional standards across the country’s law enforcement sector.

  • Tsjaad stuurt 1.500 troepen naar Haïti als onderdeel van VN-veiligheidsmacht

    Tsjaad stuurt 1.500 troepen naar Haïti als onderdeel van VN-veiligheidsmacht

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI – As Haiti grapples with a spiraling humanitarian and security crisis fueled by powerful gang coalitions that control most of the capital, the central African nation of Chad has formally committed to deploying 1,500 additional troops to the UN-endorsed multinational security mission tasked with stabilizing the Caribbean country. The announcement, made public Monday via a letter from the Chadian presidential office to the country’s national parliament, marks a major boost to the understaffed mission, which has long fallen short of its personnel recruitment targets.

    According to the official document, the first contingent of Chadian troops – roughly 400 service members – already arrived in Haiti on April 1, and is now operating under the command of the newly restructured UN mission leadership, which was reorganized late last year. Chad’s full deployment will consist of two full battalions of 750 troops each, with the entire force serving a 12-month tour of duty starting this month.

    Prior to Chad’s commitment, the multinational mission counted approximately 1,000 international personnel on the ground, most of whom are police officers from Kenya, supplemented by small specialized units from several Central American and Caribbean nations. The voluntary mission originally set an initial target of 2,500 troops, but as of early 2025, it had only reached 40% of that goal. That figure prompted UN security officials to raise the overall official target to 5,500 personnel by August this year, a milestone that Chad’s contribution will go a long way toward helping the coalition meet.

    The deployment boost comes as security conditions across Haiti continue to deteriorate, despite incremental efforts by international forces to push back against gang control. Over the past years of escalating conflict, the number of Haitians displaced by gang violence has skyrocketed from just over 133,000 to more than 1.4 million, with thousands of civilian lives lost to rampant attacks, sexual violence, and territorial clashes between rival factions. Once confined to the capital Port-au-Prince, gangs have now expanded their influence into rural areas surrounding the city, and the dominant gang alliance Viv Ansanm maintains de facto control over most of Port-au-Prince’s northeastern neighborhoods.

    In a small sign of incremental progress earlier this month, notorious gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier ordered his followers to withdraw from several northeastern Port-au-Prince districts and called on former residents to return to their homes. That move allowed hundreds of displaced residents to go back to the Delmas 30 neighborhood, though widespread insecurity persists across much of the country.

    The ongoing chaos has also derailed Haiti’s political transition: general elections have been repeatedly delayed, with the last national vote held a full decade ago. Compounding the crisis, a recent UN internal report has documented allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation committed by some members of the international security mission, adding another layer of challenge to the already fraught stabilization effort.

  • PM Browne Highlights Women’s Role in Politics, Backs Female Candidates at Manifesto Launch

    PM Browne Highlights Women’s Role in Politics, Backs Female Candidates at Manifesto Launch

    As campaigning enters its final stretch ahead of Antigua and Barbuda’s April 30 general election, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has positioned expanded female participation in national politics as a core pillar of his administration’s agenda, highlighting the transformative role women already play in the country’s leadership during the official launch of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) election manifesto.

    Addressing a crowd of party supporters on the island of St John’s, Browne wove women’s leadership into his government’s forward-looking vision for the nation, arguing that greater inclusion of women in political office directly drives more robust, equitable national development and more responsive governance. He specifically highlighted two female candidates running on the ABLP ticket — Kiz Johnson and Maria Browne — as concrete examples of the party’s commitment to elevating women into decision-making roles ahead of the polls.

    Browne framed the growing representation of women in Antigua and Barbuda’s political sphere as a key marker of the country’s evolving, modern democratic landscape, framing expanded female inclusion as a central component of the ABLP’s broader push for truly inclusive governance. The call for greater women’s participation formed just one section of the full manifesto rollout, where Browne also outlined the party’s key policy priorities if re-elected, including accelerating sustainable economic growth, advancing critical infrastructure projects, strengthening national public safety frameworks, and expanding impactful social programs that support working families and vulnerable communities across the twin-island nation.

    With less than two weeks remaining until voters head to the polls, campaign activity across all parties has ramped up significantly. Political analysts and party insiders note that the ABLP’s explicit focus on elevating female candidates and centering women’s leadership will remain a key talking point in the party’s voter outreach efforts as it works to secure a renewed mandate from the electorate.

  • Two Wanted for Questioning in Young Man’s Disappearance

    Two Wanted for Questioning in Young Man’s Disappearance

    It has now been 21 days since 23-year-old Lidahni Martinez of Dangriga Town was last spotted, and law enforcement officials have issued a public call for two people to come forward for questioning as the missing person investigation enters its fourth week.

    Martinez was officially reported missing to authorities on April 7, 2026. According to official police records, the last confirmed sighting of the young man occurred just after 3 p.m. on Friday, March 27, when he left his residential address and got into an unregistered sport utility vehicle. Since that day, there has been no contact from Martinez, and no confirmed sightings have been reported to investigators.

    Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith confirmed in a press statement that investigators have already collected dozens of witness statements as part of the active probe. “We have recorded a number of statements in connection with this ongoing investigation and are now seeking two individuals who we believe may be able to assist with the investigation,” Smith said.

    Investigators are also looking into a potential link between Martinez’s disappearance and that of another local resident, Deborah “Bree” Arthurs, who went missing on the exact same day. When asked about a possible connection between the two cases, Smith said the connection has not been ruled out, but investigators have not reached a definitive conclusion. “We have not been able to conclusively come down on a position as it relates to that,” Smith added.

    Like Martinez, Arthurs was last seen entering a silver SUV on March 27 before vanishing. Her case has seen no major public breakthroughs and remains unsolved as of this update.

    Both missing person cases have now stretched past the three-week mark, with no concrete, confirmed leads released to the public by law enforcement. Belizean police are urging any member of the public with even minor information related to either disappearance to reach out immediately. Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 922, or directly to the closest local police station.

  • Driver Loses Consciousness, Crashes Into Airport Fence on Airport Road

    Driver Loses Consciousness, Crashes Into Airport Fence on Airport Road

    A sudden medical incident disrupted traffic along Airport Road on [date undisclosed] when a female operating a passenger vehicle experienced an unexpected loss of consciousness behind the wheel. The brief blackout caused her car to drift off its intended travel path, leaving the road before colliding with the outer perimeter fencing of the adjacent airport.

    Local emergency response teams including Emergency Medical Services were dispatched immediately to the crash site following reports of the incident. First responders assessed the driver’s condition at the scene and made the decision to transport her to a nearby hospital for further evaluation and mandatory medical treatment.

    As of the latest public updates, no additional details regarding the driver’s current health status, the underlying cause of her unconscious episode, or the extent of damage to the airport fence have been released to media outlets. Authorities confirmed that they will issue new statements to the public as more facts about the incident are gathered and confirmed.

  • Antigua Government Absorbing Fuel Costs While SVG Raises Electricity Surcharge

    Antigua Government Absorbing Fuel Costs While SVG Raises Electricity Surcharge

    Against a backdrop of soaring global fuel prices driven by Middle Eastern geopolitical conflict, tight supply chains, and ongoing market volatility, two Eastern Caribbean nations have adopted starkly different policy approaches to protect their populations from rising cost-of-living pressures. Antigua and Barbuda’s government has committed to shouldering the burden of spiking international fuel costs through targeted subsidies and consumption tax cuts, aiming to insulate domestic households from steep increases in both electricity tariffs and transportation expenses. In sharp contrast, neighboring St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has opted to pass nearly all additional fuel costs directly to end users via a raised electricity surcharge, a decision that has already drawn attention to the trade-offs small island developing states face amid global economic uncertainty.

    Under Antigua and Barbuda’s current cost stabilization strategy rolled out by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, the state provides a $1.67 per gallon subsidy for all fuel, including the petroleum products used to power the country’s electricity generation infrastructure. On top of this direct subsidy, the government has also cut the consumption tax applied to retail fuel to keep pump prices consistent for motorists and commercial transport operators. This dual policy intervention has succeeded in keeping domestic fuel and energy prices relatively stable even as global benchmark prices continue to climb, according to local government reports.

    Despite these near-term wins for consumers, Antiguan officials have openly acknowledged the significant fiscal strain this policy places on public budgets. If international fuel prices continue their upward trajectory in the coming months, the current subsidy regime will not be financially sustainable indefinitely, Browne confirmed in public comments. Prime Minister Browne has also noted that sustained global market volatility could force the government to revisit the policy even amid its commitment to keeping household costs manageable.

    Meanwhile over in SVG, the state-owned national utility St. Vincent Electricity Services Limited (VINLEC) has implemented a measurable increase to its monthly fuel surcharge, effective April 2026. The surcharge will climb from $0.5490 per kilowatt-hour to $0.6650 per kilowatt-hour, representing a $0.116 per kWh jump that will be reflected directly on residential and commercial customer bills. VINLEC officials framed the adjustment as an unavoidable response to two overlapping pressures: rising global fuel costs, driven largely by ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and reduced output from the country’s renewable energy generation facilities. The utility emphasized that the fuel surcharge is a pass-through mechanism designed exclusively to recoup actual fuel expenses, and does not generate any additional profit for the state-owned enterprise. VINLEC has also urged domestic customers to prioritize energy conservation where possible to reduce the overall impact of the higher surcharge on their monthly bills.

    The contrasting policy choices highlight a growing dilemma for governments across the Caribbean region, where nearly all small island economies rely heavily on imported fossil fuels to meet their energy and transportation needs. While consumer-facing subsidies deliver immediate relief and help prevent broader inflation across the domestic economy, economists widely note that these measures carry significant long-term fiscal risks, particularly for nations with limited public revenue streams. Subsidies can strain national budgets, crowd out funding for other critical public services like healthcare and education, and create market distortions that slow the transition to domestic renewable energy generation. Passing costs to consumers, on the other hand, eases immediate fiscal pressure but drives up cost-of-living burdens for working-class and vulnerable households, potentially increasing economic hardship in the short term. For Caribbean leaders navigating global economic forces outside of their control, there remains no universally popular or risk-free solution to the ongoing challenge of volatile global fuel prices.