A Captive Jaguar Escapes In Southern Belize

There’s a jaguar on the loose in South-western Belize tonight – and the Forestry Department is hoping it can trap the cat before the night is over. The jaguar is domesticated and was kept as a pet by the Pollack family in the Ringtail area of the Cayo district. Ringtail is a village at mile 40 on the Hummingbird Highway near the Blue Hole.
The Polacks were authorized by the Forestry Department to keep the animal as a pet – but it escaped “several days ago.” According to Chief Forest Officer Wilbur Rosado, it has been spotted foraging in the area where it had been held. Sabido says that because it is domesticated, the jaguar cannot hunt and won’t wander far; they expect it to come back to its home area looking for food.
Multiple traps have been set, and the Forestry Department has called on the same persons who helped re-capture Max the Jaguar to catch this one. Viewers will recall that Max escaped from the Fosters in the Belize district near Democracia in October of 2010, and was caught and put down – only after he killed a neighbor.
Well, in this case, Sabido says the public risk is minimal because the location is remote, and it is a large, privately held area “fairly far removed from any urban or rural population.” Still, he stresses that they need to have it trapped as soon as possible and relocated to the Belize Zoo.
The conventional wisdom on the big cats is that there’s greater risk to the general population with a domesticated jaguar because it is accustomed to human contact, and because of that, it has no fear of humans, whereas wild jaguars avoid human contact as much as possible.

Sabido says that he hopes examples such as this can lead to the eventual discontinuation of the practice where permits are granted to private persons to hold wild animals when they don’t have the infrastructure to contain or the training to handle them.

Man charged For Jeremy Baptist Murder – Body Still Not Found

Last night we told you about the worrying disappearance of Jeremy Baptist. Well, tonight, he is presumed dead and police have charged a man for his murder – even though his body hasn’t been found. We’ll tell you about that shortly, but first with the assistance of the San Pedro Sun, Daniel Ortiz has the story from San Pedro.

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Tonight, Police continue to look for clues which could lead them to find the body of 25 year-old Jeremy Baptist, the San Pedro resident who went missing on Sunday. But for San Pedro Police, this they are not optimistic that they will find him alive. Baptist was last seen at a party in the San Juan area with his common-law wife and baby. He dropped them home at around 10:30 p.m., went back to the party , and later that night, police had to respond to a shooting report.

Voice of Supt. Luis Castellanos - OC, San Pedro Police
"Police responded but they didn't find anything at the time and there after information started to come in that someone had been shot and as a result we started to investigate. We have not recovered the body of Baptist but the information is more suggesting that there is a possible murder."

With the fact of the missing person’s report from Baptist’s common-law wife, and strong eyewitness reports, police believe that he was killed in that shooting, and then taken away by his assailants to be disposed of.

Voice of Supt. Luis Castellanos
"We have impounded a boat and where we believe may be traces of blood but we're getting forensic experts to guide us in their technical field. We have a person in custody."

Daniel Ortiz
"What leads you to believe that this gentleman can assist, sir?"

Voice of Supt. Luis Castellanos
"Well we're getting information and statements that is suggesting that he is somewhat involved."

Daniel Ortiz
"In what fashion?"

Voice of Supt. Luis Castellanos
"The information we're gathering is that there was an altercation between himself and Jeremy and as a result Jeremy was shot. He was placed in the boat that we have here presently in detention and he's body was pulled up."

According to the family, whatever the people saw him as, he didn't deserve such an end, especially because he wasn't troubling any one at that party.

Voice of Denisha Vallerio - Common-Law Wife of Deceased
"When I am around as bad as Jeremy Baptist may be everyone knows he behaves as long as I am around. He wasn't hanging with his friends that he usually hangs with, he wasn't with anybody. He was someone that nobody would have been able to take advantage of. Nobody can tell me that only one man did that, it was more - they 'chanced' him out of his life. He used to always tell me 'D when they kill me they will have to 'chance' me, I won't go down like that'. And that is what they did to him, I will leave everything in God's hands and He will deal with them."

And they will not be able to get any closure unless the body is recovered.

Voice of Denisha Vallerio
"That is the only thing that hurts us, we want the body so that we can give him a proper burial. At least I want to see that this is what happened to him so that all of us can get over it and accept the fact."

23 year old fisherman and San Mateo resident Lucio Salazar, has been arrested and charged with murder on the DPP’s directive. So how can they do that without finding a body? Well, precedent cases state that, quote, “The fact of death is provable by circumstantial evidence, notwithstanding that neither the body nor any trace of the body has been found".

Here’s what police have in terms of circumstantial evidence: an eyewitness account saying he saw Baptist shot to the back of his head, and saw his body being hauled into a boat headed to the lagoon. There are also bloodstains in the boat.

Salazar was arraigned this afternoon before Magistrate Sherigne Rodriguez who remanded him to prison until June 26.

Despite Alibi Claims, Man Charged For Castillo Shooting

Last night, Kareem Gillett’s family came on the news to protest the fact that he was about to be charged for the attempted murder of 33 year-old Peter Castillo. They had alibi’s and claimed that he had been beaten by police. But none of that mattered to investigators who marched him to court today.
Gillett was taken before the Chief Magistrate, Anne Marie Smith who read him the charges of attempted murder, dangerous harm and use of deadly means of harm with a firearm upon 33-year-old Ministry of Works employee, Peter Phillip Castillo.
No plea was taken from Gillett, and due to the nature of the offenses, he was denied bail and remanded to the Belize Central Prison until June 21, 2013.
Castillo reported to police that, on Saturday Morning, he left his house on Jane Usher Boulevard, and while walking on Faber’s Road, he was approached by two men, one he knew as “Fifty Cents”, the other as “Patchen”.
He said that from about a foot away, Fifty Cents pulled out a .38 revolver firearm from his pants waist front and fired a single shot hitting him at the back of his head.
Castillo then threw himself towards Fifty Cents in order to take away the gun from him, but that’s when he came face-to-face with his attacker for about 40 seconds
Fearing for his life, Castillo then tried to hit the gun with his hand, and he ran away towards his friend’s house. That’s when his shooter fired 3 more shots in his direction, two of which caught him to his right upper back and the other to his right leg.

Castillo was rushed to the KHMH for treatment, and police later visited him there where he positively identified one of his attackers as Kareem Gillett from a photo gallery showed to him.

Former KHMH CEO Criticizes Successor

Last night, you heard the CEO of the KHMH say that he found out about the rash of newborn deaths in the Pediatric Intensive care Unit from watching the news. And that’s why an internal investigation is underway to find out what went wrong that could have caused so many successive deaths without a decisive response. But, according to the former CEO, his successor’s explanation just won’t cut it. Dr. Alvaro Rosado says that the shutdown of the unit came way too late, and to find out what went wrong, the hospital needs much more than just an internal investigation.

Dr. Alvaro Rosado - Former CEO, KHMH
"Well first of all I must state that the media had approached me before asking me for comments and I had refused because I said it was unfair to the administration for me to comment before they did their investigation. Now that the investigation has started although with all fairness to the Chairlady she said that it would continue. I get the impression that this is the beginning of the end and that this is almost the begin of the end of the investigation and it bothers me because I don't think that the answers and the information that was given was really information that is pertinent. I think the first thing that needs to be answered is - How did the bug get into that Neonatal unit? NICU is supposed to be most secure, sterile area of the hospital. It's cleaned twice a day, should be cleaned, swabbed, they take cultures regularly so how did that germ/bug get into the hospital. It can be traced there is no big secret about how these things happen. The second and the most disturbing to me is to hear the CEO and the Chairlady say that they were not aware of the situation until they heard it on the media. It's unbelievable that you have the bosses at a hospital not aware of what is happening in there for three weeks.

In 2004, specifically, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was the pride and joy of KHMH - that was our show case, when anybody came from abroad that's where we went. In the region it was considered the best Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, people marveled at how the doctors and nurses there were able to keep 90% of Neonates alive - that's a very high percentage. It's not a question iof is there the medical knowledge or expertise - it's not a question if there is a nursing expertise, the nursing staff and medical staff of KHMH are the highest trained medical personnel in this country. There's no shortage of medical knowledge and expertise - there was a breakdown somewhere and I think what needs to be done is for an investigation to be carried out to find out how it happened and why it happened so it doesn't happen again."

Rosado says that the hospital should not focus on who is to blame, but on what went wrong because the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will need to be reactivated. He also believes that energy expended on damage control due to the legal issues which may arise is wasted at this critical time.

We should note that the babies who were in the unit when it was shut down have been relocated to what is described as a safe place within the hospital.

Man Left Critical, Nurse/Sister Alleges Medical Malpractice

Tonight there are bold allegations being made against a Southern Regional Hospital physician. The family of 62 year old Joseph Kuylen is accusing the surgeon of negligence – after Kuylen underwent a surgery which they claim was not properly completed.

Joseph Kuylen was hospitalized on the 8th of May after experiencing an intestinal rupture. A colostomy was performed and his family says it was left unfinished, which caused a massive infection. Since then Kuylen’s health has deteriorated and he was transferred to the Karl Huesner Memorial hospital – where he is presently on a respiratory machine after undergoing 3 other surgeries. Two of his sisters spoke to us – one of them is a licensed intensive care nurse and they told us of the many cautions that were ignored.

Voice of Alva Rosado - Sister of Joseph Kuylen
"He was taken in to Dangriga Hospital by his wife around 9:30 on May 8th and they did an X-ray and found out that he had ruptured something in him and they took him to surgery after 11 and he stayed in surgery till about 2:00. Unfortunately I was not in Dangriga and when I got back in the night around 7 i stopped at the hospital and I stayed there until visiting hours was over with his wife. The following day Thursday night - my brother called me telling me that he doesn't think he will be there when I go to the hospital the following morning and he was calling to say goodbye. Later in the night his wife called and told me that the other doctor in charge, not Dr. Pott that did the surgery - he said that they were going to send him to Belize the following day after Dr. Pott did his round after 8 because Belize had better facilities because his wife asked him if he was dying. That night he had rapid heart rate and they had to call in some of the doctors that deal with that and they massaged him and gave him some medication to bring it down. So I went to the hospital the following morning where they said they were going to send him to Belize only to find that Dr. Pott said that he wasn't aware of it."

Cecilia Parker - Sister of Joseph Kuylen
“When I got to the hospital I noticed that my brother was running a consistent low grade temperature. They got him out of bed and sitting on a chair, nothing else. I ambulated him and walked him. He was very short of breath with walking, they weren't monitoring his oxygen status and I inquired about that. I stayed that entire night and in the morning I asked Dr. Pott if we could have done a chest X-RAY to see if my brother had a little bit of Atelectasis (Collapsed Lungs) which happens post operatively and which would be why he is running a low-grade temp. He told me 'no' and that they would just monitor the temperature and if it continues to go up that we may have to do an ultrasound to see if he has an abscess. Stann Creek doesn't have a good ultrasound machine - he would have to go to Belmopan or Belize City hospital. Then the following day Joseph's wife and myself met with Dr. Pott and I again asked about a chest X-RAY and he said it wasn't necessary that they are just monitoring. The following morning he came again, short of breath again, confused, needed oxygenation, I again then asked 'please let's do a chest X-RAY just to see what's going on with the lung'. He said 'No it's not necessary'. I told him it was to satisfy my curiosity and he can prove me wrong. He said that he wasn't going to do any unnecessary chest X-RAY to satisfy me. My brother's temperature then went to 101.8 and an irregular heart rate because the matron in Stann Creek actually left me a portable pulse ox and I monitored his heart rate and it was very erratic, irregular. I knew he was in atria fib and I spoke to the doctor that was on call for Dr. Pott and when she checked him he had converted to sinus rhythms so she said nothing needs to be done. I again asked about the temperature which was at 101.8 and she said she would give him a Tylenol. I told her 'No' and that at this point we need to know what's causing the temperature and treat it. Immediately we called BERT ambulance and paid for him to come there then I spoke to Dr. Castillo who is the Chief of staff in Stann Creek hospital and he said that he was going to send him to Belize City hospital. Initially the surgery in Dangriga was an exploratory lap meaning they opened his stomach to see what was going on and try to correct it. Because they found a perforation of the intestines, the descending colon they did a colostomy initially on the wrong side of the abdomen because the sigmoid colon comes down on the left side of the abdomen. He should have had a colostomy on the left side of the abdomen and they gave him it on the right side. This might have been why it re-perforated and of course he did not finish the colostomy so the whole procedure was better off not being done really, he would have had a fighting chance if they hadn't done anything and just left him alone and brought him to Belize City hospital."

Tonight Kuylen is critically stable and still on a respirator. His family says he is doing better, but it’s still too early to tell.

7news contacted Dr. Peter Allen -CEO in the Ministry if Health who stated that he was verbally informed by Kuylen’s family about the situation and is aware of the allegations being made against Doctor Greg Pott. Allen says he has since alerted the Chief of Staff at the Southern Regional Hospital about these allegations and is now awaiting a formal complaint from the family in order to proceed with a formal investigation. He did note that Doctor Pott has the reputation of being an excellent surgeon and stressed that there are two sides to every story. We avail ourselves to get that other side, but we were told by the Ministry that it would speak on behalf of Doctor Pott.

Crocodile Craziness On Castle Street

From time to time on the news we’ve reported on crocodiles turning up in the outlying areas of Belize City, such as Collet or Belama, places that used to be swamp 20 years ago and where all the swampland critters still haven’t moved out. And that’s why we were surprised early this morning in Belize City when we got a call at around 6:00 am, saying that a crocodile had turned up on Castle Street. That’s just off Douglas Jones, where the memory of any swamp was erased almost a hundred years ago. So what’s the croc doing in that neighborhood? That’s probably the same thing he was asking after an unforgettable morning of croc craziness on Castle Street. 7news was there.

Monica Bodden reporting
This croc had every reason to be angry he was tied up inside a backyard on Castle Street. That’s after he squirmed through this drain – you can still see the disturbed area where the broad bellied reptile struggled to get through.

Derek 'Mighty' McKoy - First stumbled upon Croc
"It came out the drain, it came from the left side across the street and it went into the smaller ditch but he couldn't under the bridge so that is where he got stuck. We pulled him back way and threw a rope around it and pulled it up."

They took twenty minutes to subdue the 8 foot croc.

Derek 'Mighty' McKoy
"We just cast it around it's mouth and pulled it up."

Daniel Ortiz
"As quick as that?"

Derek 'Mighty' McKoy
"Yes it took the two of us to move it."

His able assistants, though senior in age, showed no fear.

Gilbert Sebastian Nunez - Castle Street Croc Catcher
"Well we're not really afraid you know because life goes on. Those things can't hurt men just like that because men have brains, we have more sense than these things. We won't take any chances though but we can't let any animal fear human."

Doroteo Zetina - Castle Street Croc Catcher
"Well I'll tell you what I used to hunt jaguars for five years long before they start preserve them. This is no threat to me, I have seen these in the wild a lot."

And today, Castle Street was worse than the wild as the croc had to be hauled to another property which meant being dragged down the street and issued a few gratuitous kicks - just for kicks, apparently. By then, the spectacle had drawn a crowd of ogling spectators as the croc was tied up waiting for some authority to come. About three hours later the team from ACES did come and properly tied the croc.

Will Moreno - Belize Wildlife Conservation Emergency Response Team
"What we need to do is actually protect the species that we have here in Belize so it's very important that we don't even mess with the crocodiles. If you find one and you're able to see one it's best for you to call the proper authorities for them to come and pick it up."

And then it was time to cart him away with Sebastian Nunez anchoring the tail, into the Nisan X Trail.

Will Moreno
"Well the crocodile is going to go to ACES which is a Crocodile sanctuary - it's a special place where they take care of crocodiles. Right now he needs some rehabilitation - he was actually bashing himself against the concrete there so it's very important that they make sure that he's okay. He's definitely very exhausted and very agitated from all the people that were around it. That's the reason why it ended up bashing himself up against the concrete various times."

And now that it has been carried away, everyone wants to know, what caused a crocodile to end up on Castle Street?:

Will Moreno
"It's hard to say how it actually got here but from what I've been told is that from the Bel China there's a canal that comes through the culverts all the way to here and that's probably one of the ways that it got to the location that it got here. It's certainly a threat to public safety, any Crocodile can hurt a kid or an animal that's out there - it is certainly a threat and I'm glad that whoever saw the Crocodile actually called the proper authorities for us to come pick it up."

Doroteo Zetina
"I believe he went with a dog because a lot of dogs were barking around here last night and his belly looks fat like he just ate."

And while that folk tale will live on in the memory this neighborhood, this Croc probably won’t forget this sad encounter anytime soon

For context, we should note that this is the first time in a while we’ve seen a croc caught in the city that actually survived. Most times, they are killed, and sold to Chinese restaurateurs – so much so, that the capture of a croc is seen as an instant neighborhood “come-up.” But not in this case, because no reward was offered for its safe handover. But, those who captured and save it can be consoled that they didn’t break the law.

It is against the law to kill, capture or sell a crocodile for consumption. The Morelet and American crocodile are protected under the CITES convention.

This one was taken to the ACES rehab center in Ladyville where it will be rehabilitated and release back into the wild.

Man Shot In House In Unitedville

Early this morning –just after 2:00, a house in Unitedville Village came under fire and Oswald Young was shot to the chin. Young was in the living room sleeping in a chair facing the door, when three shots ripped through the door. And though he was injured in the chin, Young’s injuries were not serious; he was treated and released and his injuries were classified as wounding. Police have detained two Belize City men pending investigation.

Conch Season Closes

Conch season was declared closed today and all conch fishing activities are to legally cease until it re-opens on 1st October, 2013.
The advisory for Restaurant owners and the General Public is that they have a grace period of 8 days to consume and dispose of all Queen Conch in their possession. So that’s until Friday 31st May, to consume or sell all the conch ceviche, soup and fritters that you presently have.

Anyone found with Conch after next week Friday will be criminally charged. If you know anyone violating this, you are urged to call the Fisheries Department at: 224-4552 or 223-2623.

New Members OF E & B

The new, and old members of the Elections and Boundaries commission were sworn in today by the Governor General in Belmopan. They are returning member and Prime Ministerial appointee, Phillipa Griffith Bailey, new member and Prime Ministerial appointee, Naima Barrow, returning member and opposition representative Derek Courtenay, and another returning member and opposition representative Mr. Orlando Habet. They have been appointed as members for a period of five years with effect from 1st May, 2013.
Their appointments were approved by the Senate on the 7th May.

The Chairman of the Commission is B.Q Pitts Sr, who was appointed in May 2012 for five years.

Belizean Chairs Commonwealth Book Prize; Laments Decline In Caribbean Writing

In a society where reading is a fast-fading past-time, and there are less than a handful of bookstores, news of the Commonwealth Book Prize probably doesn’t tank very high.

Except that this year, a Belizean has been chosen to chair the selection committee. He is Godfrey Smith, who’s written only one book, the well-received George Prize Biography – which won a regional prize. That caught the attention of Commonwealth Foundation and they gave him the nod to hold the prestigious chair.

His work started in January and ended in April where he read through over 20 novels that had been shortlisted. Bearing in mind that the prize is only for first time novel writers, he said it was an eye opening experience.

Godfrey Smith - Chairman, Commonwealth Book Prize
"It was a grand excursion through cultures, through soaring and even shocking imaginations from some of these writers; I quite honestly was staggered and floored by how great I thought some of these novels were. Remember these are first time novels so I read some of them and I said 'this possibly couldn't have been this person's first novel' but really it was. The styles vary - you could see good writing but within the safe scaffolding of careful architecture, you could see where somebody really worked on structure in the novel. The ones that I think that excelled were the ones that almost effortlessly captured your imagination, that were bold in their narrative style and you could sense there was no real effort, no contriving to create that perfect novel."

Jules Vasquez
"I understand that there was only one entry from the Caribbean Region."

Godfrey Smith
"Certainly there was only one entry from the Caribbean Region that made it in the long list of 70 add, whether there were others, I'm not sure. Yes it was only one entry and it was a self published entry disposable people - a writer from Jamaica."

Jules Vasquez
"Is this some sort of unusual year that you would only have one long listed from the Caribbean Region."

Godfrey Smith
"No, I think it is a downturn and I've said this in conversations that I've had with the leading Caribbean Book Publisher Ian Randle and of course he bemoans the fact that it's going down, not much is coming out. Yes I suppose that would militate strongly against what I said earlier - that there is hope and I think with time it can happen, certainly that time is now and much needs to be done."

Jules Vasquez
"This region which is norm for writers who have won the Nobel Prize is there some reason that there seems to be a downturn in this sort of epic, prolific, imaginative writing."

Godfrey Smith
"If I were to hazard or speculate, the time when the Caribbean was most prolific I think was that period leading it into independence and of course the time of colonialism was an important period in terms of getting people to express themselves in terms of supposed oppression etc and strife as close as the Caribbean could have come to being on a strife ridden time. That period having passed perhaps the peoples of the Caribbean can be considered complacent when you look at region like India and Sri Lanka, there's a lot going on, there are not only millions of people but it creates almost like a pressure cooker effect where people have to compete. Writing then becomes an outlet for somebody to express themselves. Look in places like Bangladesh, I attended a Literary festival there and it's attended by hundreds and hundreds of young people who dream about writing - as seeing as a way out of poverty as a way of creating a career and a life style. It occurs to me that things are too laid back and no great pressure or issue to fight for seems to exist for people to feel deeply about things and want to write about it."

Smith travels to the Hay Festival in Wales next week where the overall winner will be announced. Regional Winners have already been selected.

Books eligible for the prize are from commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Canada, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

As for young, hopeful Belizean writers, the Commonwealth foundation is working with the Caribbean literary festival to organize training for the Caribbean.

PROFILE

Tonight’s profile features a valedictorian, Tajohn Gillett of Nazarene High School. He grew up in Pink’s Alley, which can be a tough neighborhood. He explains how he resisted the urge to become a dropout to become an example for his siblings

Grace Primary Celebrates Roots In Open Day

This morning, a portion of Amara Avenue in Belize City was locked down because Grace Primary was having an open day fair. Students were encouraged to explore the cultures of their parents and grandparents, while displaying their abilities in entrepreneurship.
7News stopped by and took in some projects that the students came up with, which are authentic and artistic in nature:

Mirna Shepherd - Principal, Grace Primary School
"Well we're having an open day and we decided to do a street fest fashion. When we did the entrepreneurship in early part of the school year we did the street fest and it came off as successful so we thought that we would like to do our open day in this fashion too. We're focusing on the past and the present, we entitled it a 'blast from the past'. We're looking at the whole aspect of entrepreneurship right from infants all the way up to standard 6. We look at how things used to be done in the past to how it is done presently and we look at all different aspect, the business, the home setting, social environment - everything we try to cover. We put a lot of effort into it, first it seemed as something that was not connecting but now that it is out there on the street it seems to have connected."

Brianne - Grace Primary student
"Hello everybody my name is Brianne, welcome to our presentation. We will be depicting how washing was done in old time or should I say 'way back then'."

Student
"This is the first washing machine. First you put in water then your clothes."

Student
"Our group is doing clothes naturally made. First we had to buy cloth and sew them then we stuffed them with sponge then we enforced it with the machine so it wouldn't loose."