Turning now to a festering land dispute, the Valley of Peace Farms had their cane fields set fire in the cane field. It happened over the weekend following tensions between the company and the farmers in the area. While arson is suspected, the police could not confirm that today.
ACP Joseph Myvett, Head NCIB
"Sometime shortly after 4pm he was alerted by one of the farm workers that one of the can fields located on the Valley of Peace Road was on fire. As a result the area was visited where some 9 and a half acres of cane was observed to be burnt. He actually made a future reference report but the matter is still under investigation and if it is that anyone is found to be responsible or if the can fields were intentionally lit on fire thereafter he will proceed in requesting court action in the matter."
The Fire This Time In VOP
This morning, we spoke via teleconference with Gilbert Canton Jr., the Manager of Valley of Peace Farms Limited, the company which was targeted for this arson.
He told us that while his company does not want to point fingers at anyone for it, there was no way for this fire to have started spontaneously; someone had to light it. He said that there is a plan to save the cane that was burnt in those 10 acres of their fields:
There was another fire which was started yesterday on the company's fields, but it was all grass. The company has increased its security staff with the intent of guarding its assets.
Ministry Comes Through For KHMH
Earlier in the news, we showed you our interview with the Minister of Health and Wellness. That opportunity to speak with him materialised today when his ministry handed over a million dollars' worth of equipment to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The Ministry is attempting to better equip the national referral hospital's much trafficked COVID isolation unit.
The Managing authority had made a request for all this equipment 10 months ago, and today, the Ministry was finally able to deliver. We got a chance to speak with the donors and the recipients about it:
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"Behind us we have some ventilators, patient monitors and we have some high flow machines and these are equipment that we acquired through the ministry of health and it is to help us with the fight against Covid. As you all know the ventilators are critical for us and so are the high flow machines. As a matter of fact the use of the high flow machines in many instances help to obviate the need to use the ventilators. The equipment you see here are critical in the fight against Covid."
Reporter
"What is the value?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"Overall you are looking at over a million dollars Belize."
Michelle Hoare, C.E.O., K.H.M.H.A.
'We are quite please with the donation. It was a part of a list that was submitted previously to the ministry of health and so we are now in the position where this current minister had went ahead and concluded on the requisition that was submitted prior. These were outstanding for us for sometime and so we are very pleased that we are now able to get the quantities of ventilators and patient monitors that we need to efficiently and effectively manage our patients in the Covid unit."
Reporter
"You said that this was a part of a list."
Michelle Hoare, C.E.O., K.H.M.H.A.
"It's a part of the plan, in terms of the COVID isolation management, it was planned for a ten-bed response. Of course we had to implement a surge plan and with the surge plan, there were additional beds allocated for COVID response. So we are at a total of twenty-three COVID beds and thirteen beds for suspect cases. For the Covid beds we needed to have at least a ventilator secured for each of those beds in the event of surge and of course patient monitors for each of those beds that will assist staff members with the management of these patients. It does the monitoring of all the vital signs for the patients; blood pressure, pulse, cardiac rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation - the staff members it provides them with additional capabilities to manage patients more effectively."
Dr. Andre Sosa, Chairman, K.H.M.H.A. Board
"Our efforts over the last couple months December has been to try and change the trend, the mortality rate that we were seeing in the Covid area which was reasonably high. I think that we manage to make the changes necessary both in terms of improving the physical infrastructure, utilities in the area and also by making the changes so that the medical personnel would be better organized and better able to do their jobs."
The KHMH CEO tells us that they are waiting on additional beds to improve the redundancy features of their isolation unit's surge capacity.
Henry Reeves Brigade, Havana Homecoming For Heroes
The Henry Reeves Brigade is back in Cuba after spending 10 months away from the families. President Miguel Diaz Canel gave them a warm welcome and the Cubans hailed them as selfless heroes. As glad as the professionals were to render aid where needed, they were also glad to be back home. And YouTube video by Canal Caribe details their arrival in Cuba, including interviews from some of the health care workers. Here is a snippet.
The Brigade left on January 20.
The Next Cuban Mission
And while that brigade of Cuban medical officers is returning home, another landed in the country over the weekend. Today, the Minister of Health and Wellness discussed their arrival with the press:
GOB Falls Behind On Road Repairs
Last year's floods, especially those caused by the outer bands of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, has badly damaged the country's roadways. And so, the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing is asking for the general public to have patience while they fix the damage based on priority.
This is a picture of one sugar road, which blocked farmers from getting their cane to the mill. And there are a lot more like that - with the Minister struggling to keep up.
In a Facebook post Ministry officials say that they understand the frustration of Belizeans, since, more than likely, you have to travel on a few badly damaged streets and roads.
They are asking for the public to continue sending concerns about which roads they should address. They say that will not happen overnight, but they will eventually repair them. In other words, hope for the best, but don't hold your breath.
Another Lawman Charged
Earlier in the news we told you about the BSAG 8 that will be rearrested for the crimes of murder and attempted murder. We also told you that so far, only one police officer was arrested. We can tell you now that earlier today, a BDF soldier was also taken into custody. He is 24-year-old Bladimir Escarraga of San Jose Village. He too was arrested for the crime of manslaughter.
