It's 5:00 o'clock somewhere - and at Margaritaville, it's all the time. But you don't have to leave the country to kick it Jimmy Buffet-style, since the franchise has come to Ambergris Caye.
With pools, bars, pristine sand, and crystal sea waters, it embodies everything the late singer exalted - but includes a Belizean twist in this setting. It also brings a globally recognized tourism franchise to Belize.
Courtney Menzies was at their launch today and has this story.
Notably, dating back to the 80's, Jimmy Buffet was a frequent presence on San Pedro where he often vacationed.
The resort can host almost 200 guests, and employs anywhere between 75 to 150 persons depending on the season.
Tourism Minister Absent Again
And while the opening of the resort is huge for the tourism industry, the Minister of Tourism was notably absent. According to the CEO, he's in Punta Gorda today, but, then, he was also missing from Caye Chapel's groundbreaking for a Four Season's Resort in early September - which is another flagship tourism franchise.
Today, we asked the PM if he thinks the minister should clear his schedule for these major events.
PM Confident For Municipals
And we also asked the PM about the upcoming municipal elections, and the endorsement conventions. He explained that the reason they are choosing endorsements in many cases is to keep the party united, and they are confident for another big win come March.
The PUP currently controls 65 of 67 municipal seats.
Dengue At A Record High Globally But Not Locally
In 2019 the Americas saw the highest incidence of dengue ever recorded: 3.1 million dengue cases in a year. Well, that used to be the record. For 2023, 3.51 million cases have been recorded in just the first 9 months of the year!
But, the incidence in Belize has been lower than in neighboring countries. The Director of the Vector Control Unit gave us an overview in Belmopan today:
Dengue Driven By Socioeconomic Factors
But the dengue transmission trends across Belize may be changing and that is due to socio economic factors. Dengue is driven by socioeconomic conditions and climatic factors which affect mosquito development and proliferation.
Bautistsa explained the many conditions that lead to it spreading.
Elders Are Prioritized, Dr Diaz Says
In other news from the Ministry of Health, yesterday we reported that an elderly woman from Concepcion Village Corozal District, had broken four of her fingers after fainting while awaiting a medical check up outside of the San Narciso Polyclinic. Her family was outraged at the fact that the polyclinic did not open on time and their grandmother was left to wait outside in the sweltering heat which they say caused her pressure to drop and so she fainted away. In a discussion today with Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa from the Ministry of Health, she cleared up some of the details surrounding the incident. Here's what she had to say.
Dr Diaz-Musa says that while all their Health clinics do prioritize the elderly the ministry will be working to provide more comfortable seating for those in waiting areas outside.
50 Soldiers Haiti Bound
And finally... We've told you that Belize will be contributing to a multinational force, led by Kenya, to help stabilize Haiti. The BDF have confirmed that they can send 50 soldiers. Today, Minister Courtenay gave us more details about this mission.
But the minister added that Belizean soldiers will be taking a defensive approach, rather than actively seeking out gangs in Haiti.
CUE IN CUEOUT
