This weekend, AG Marin-Young was in the south with a new cohort of 78 Alcaldes and Deputy Alcaldes, who have been elected to serve for the next two years.
The alcaldes took their oath of allegiance from the AG, and today, we asked her about this traditional leadership structure:
Man Dies In Hit And Run
There was a hit-and-run accident on the George Price Highway last night that has claimed the life of Mauricio Cortez. Reports to the police are that Cortez was walking on the side of the highway in Saint Matthews Village when he was hit by the unknown driver of a car which failed to stop and render aid.
Here's what the police know so far:
The cops are hoping that the public will be able to assist them in identifying the vehicle and the driver that was involved in this hit-and-run.
Police say that the area where this accident happened has poor lighting.
Body Found On Farm, Cause Of Death Unknown
The head of the National Criminal Investigations Branch also discussed the known details about a decomposing body, which was discovered last Thursday in Belmopan.
The cops say that the victim has been identified as Eli Chan, and at this time, they don't suspect foul play. Here's that conversation:
Chester Chides Media
But the Commissioner wasn't too pleased with the weekend reporting on Eli Chan's death investigation, and this morning chided Love FM in particular.
Willams says that only the postmortem can determine the circumstance under which Chan came to be discarded on that Maya Mopan farm.
Lt. Col. Roches Right Or Wrong?
Last week Friday, the BDF soldier Charlton Roches made the news, after his boss, Brigadier General Steven Ortega, told the press that his matter has been handed over to the police department for further investigation.
As we reported, Roches, who currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the BDF, was named in a 2017 audit report, along with his company, Belize Jungle Experience. Several years ago, the Ministry of Defence called in the Auditor General to investigate whether or not there had been any shady money dealings between the BDF and Roches' private company.
An audit report, released in 2017, did raise some serious questions about his and his company's proximity to huge sums of money, namely 168,000 dollars, and a little more than $152,000, which was paid by the German army to the BDF for jungle training. An internal BDF report suggested that he was "untruthful" to an auditor when he said that no money was received from the German Army for training done in 2015.
He was suspected of having a conflict of interest in this matter because, at the time, he was the BDF-Assigned Liaison Officer for the German jungle training in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The BDF suspected that he made use of his private company, Belize Jungle Experience, to his benefit when he allegedly utilized government property, premises, labor, and service for his private purpose.
We have since learned, through an anonymous source, that Roches was subsequently charged 4 BDF internal offenses connected to this matter.
Information reaching 7News is that Roches faced a military tribunal in which he was found guilty on 2 of the charges. The Commander of the BDF, who was the judge in this tribunal, recommended to the Security Services Commission that Roches should be demoted to the rank of Captain as his punishment.
But, in August 2018, the Security Services Commission responded saying that they would not uphold his recommendation because they found faults with the judgment. Among other reasons, they could not establish "the balance of probability" for the guilty verdicts.
So basically, that was Roches' acquittal on these allegations, until recently, when the BDF handed over the case to the police, some 2+ years after the Commission's decision was delivered.
We have received concerns that the reason why this issue has resurfaced is that Roches is one of a few possible candidates who could be selected as the next Commander of the BDF. The suggestion is that these well-publicized allegations are being used to railroad his ascent by once again calling his integrity into question.
New NTUCB
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize reporting tonight that a new executive team was elected at their 54th Annual General Meeting, which was held virtually on Saturday and Sunday.
After the elections, the new executive members are Luis Luke Martinez for President, Miguel Aguilar for 2nd Vice President, Trisha Perez for Education Director, Ella Waight for Assistant General Secretary, Leonora Flowers for Trustee, and Phillipa McDonald for Assistant Treasurer.
