Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
From St Thomas Street to Southside Meats to Charter House - the Belize Communication Workers for Justice aren't sitting still. Their protest action continued today - first in front of BTL's office - and then they… took a walk near the PM's office. But that wasn't their main target - they've now taken the fight to Balderamos Arthurs LLP - the law firm of Melissa Balderamos Mahler, the corporate secretary of BTL.
Why? Well, they say they want to see BTL's legal fees, since they've plastered what was allegedly paid to Senator Glenfield Dennison.
It's a messy war but the BCWJ says it's not going to stop them. Our news team was on the ground with them today and Courtney Menzies has this story.
The BCWJ were back out on St Thomas Street this morning, keeping the fire burning.
But since their last protest a week ago, the BCWJ has been attacked by advertisements in what they refer to as a smear campaign. Those advertisement allege that Senator Glenfield Dennison is receiving over $183,000 in legal fees from the BCWJ, and that the members are being asked to pay the leaders of the group a commission.
Their rep, Emily Turner, disputed those claims and added that she's ashamed BTL would stoop so low.
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep "I'm very upset about them because this movement is a workers movement, these are former employees of BTL, the PUP and BTL, whoever is doing the smear campaign against us, should be focusing on the opposition party. Why would they expend that amount of energy on fighting workers which is upsetting because this group has always made it clear that we want to maintain that we are here to fight for our rights as workers and that's it. We have not ventured out in having any kind of political involvement, we have made it clear, there's a mandate from this team that we will not make any political statement, involvement, because we don't want to politicize it."
"And I want to make it very clear that they need to stop that smear campaign, they need to stop, we will not stand for it, especially those attacks against Senator Dennison, we are not happy about those comments and those things we have not put out there. I'm so ashamed of them, I'm so ashamed of this company that I worked for, that they would stoop so low to do something like that. They know that we are very honorable people. They must remember that some of us recently left BTL, they are many things we know that we would just not disclose because that's not who we are."
So where did that figure allegedly paid to Dennison come from? Well, according to Turner, it was all part of their strategy after they learnt the legal fees paid to the former workers that went to court. She claims that it was more then 20 million paid, which includes the fees paid at the high court, the court of appeal, and the CCJ.
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep "That was a strategy of ours. It was a ploy to get them to focus on legal fees because we had heard about the 20 million dollars and they fell right in it. Like you know you get the mud dirty? They got the mud dirty and stink up because we wanted them to have a discussion about legal fees because we wanted to see who are the people who are collecting this money. Is it people that are on the board that are making decisions about us not getting this severance that are the ones that are saying no we don't want to pay them? Is it that their corporate secretary that is representing them on the board that goes to CCJ that writes letters to workers about severance? Are those the people that are there why they don't want to pay us this money?"
"So I want to make it categorically clear, since we want to talk about legal fees, just like how they took out invoice, they need to take out the rest, that's what we want to see, the big ones."
Reporter: "So there's no $138,000 legal fee from Mr Dennison?"
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep "No no no. it was never- if we are to ever get into an agreement with somebody, every single person has to sign on a document that says that they would agree to that and that was never a part of any discussions. As a matter of fact, our assistance from Senator Dennison has always been point blank it's for free, he feels for BTL employees and I'll say this, because his father was a BTL employee."
But for today, their protest didn't just remain at St Thomas Street. At around 1:00, they went to Charter House, which contains both the law firm for Balderamos Arthurs LLP and the Prime Minister's office.
But, if you asked them, they were just there to get some of Primo's Pizza. Still, Senator Glenfield Dennison explained what they learnt about the law firm.
Courtney Menzies: "Are you collecting these exorbitant fees that a certain advertisement says you are collecting?"
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "Absolutely not. Anybody who knows me would know better than to ask that question. It is, in fact what it is being dubbed, a smear campaign, and I say categorically that the people of BTL really are miscalculating. The strategy was and has always been to get value for the BCWJ workers."
"I'm here because behind me is the law firm of the corporate secretary. And it is those invoices that the public needs to start to see. Since BTL wishes to talk about invoices, let's talk about all your invoices. Let's talk about how much wealth of tax payers is being transferred to the few faithful law firms that are collecting fees from BTL."
"This law firm acts for BTL both in the CCJ and in the negotiations with counsel for severance payments on behalf of BTL. That is not in dispute."
Reporter: "So why respond to that letter if there was no serious intention of collecting on it?"
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "We knew they would leak it. We knew they would leak it."
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep "They need to now be transparent and start telling us what are the legal fees of this law firm because this law firm the person is their corporate secretary, the person was their attorney at the CCJ, and she's writing the letters on behalf of BTL to come to other attorneys that represent other workers. We know this. We need them to start to be transparent. We are telling the public that BTL prefers to spend these high amount of money on legal fees than to pay us."
And while BTL says negotiations are over and anyone who wants their severance and 6% interest accrued from November can email them, Turner says this fight is far from over.
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep "Like I said, we will fling that door back open, nobody can't close the door on us. This has to be about dialogue. Anybody that tells you that they finish negotiations and feel like, no man, what's that? We're professionals, we dialogue."
Earlier this evening, Balderamos Arthurs LLP issued a letter to media houses advising, quote, "While we have no problem with authorized peaceful protest... Balderamos Arthurs LLP has had no dispute with BCWJ and as such are perplexed as to why a protest would be staged at the doorstep of our office… we write to request that all media houses exercise caution in reporting." End quote.
Our news room also reached out Melissa Balderamos Mahler and she told us that she is the corporate secretary of BTL, not a director on the board, and thus she has no voting powers and no say in decisions. She added that she also does not provide legal services to BTL like other corporate secretaries in the past. She also explained that her firm is only one of several used by the company and she also assisted the other 2 senior counsels who were leading the case.
Additionally, she clarified that in regards to the severance case, the fees paid to her office for that assistance is, quote, "significantly less than the $180,000 Senator Dennison seeks to charge BTL for negotiating and advising members of BCWJ." End quote.
But as you heard, Senator Dennison rejects the claim that he is receiving those fees for his services. So why is he out there with the BCWJ for every protest? And what ramifications does it have on his career?
Well, he says its simple: he's there to fight for his father, who was a former BTL employee.
Here's what he told us today.
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "My dad worked at BTL for over 10 years. He passed away in 2014. My dad was the grunt worker for BTL, he was a linesman, an assistant linesman was the post. My dad used to climb lamppost, that's what fed me, that's what sent me to school, that's what educated me, in fact I won a Digi scholarship for high school so this is for the love of a son to his father. I don't know that you need more motivation than that. But I will say this, Emily and I strategized very clearly about the implications this could have on my job and Emily is here to tell you that I resolve to tell her this, Emily if they fire me over this, it is a worthy cause."
And most likely he'll be there for their next protest. But where will that be?
Well, the PM, the labor minister Kareem Musa, and Minister Julius Espat have all said that BTL needs to pay the former workers. However, the last time the PM spoke about it, he told the media that the BCWJ should accept the 6% interest accrued from November, but also suggested that BTL pay 3% interest from when the severances stopped - which was 31 years ago.
While it's not what the BCWJ want, they see it as a win - a step towards their full 6%. And so they're taking their next protest to parliament.
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep "I was happy to hear that the prime minister came out and said that the board was prepared to give 3% so we are moving in the right direction and we are now preparing to make sure that we engage with the legislators which is why we intend to go protest next week Tuesday when there's a house sitting."
And while they've already targeted the chairman of the board's home, and the corporate secretary's law firm, they say they plan to find the rest of the board and bring their protests to them as well.
The intersection between Dean and Amara Avenue turned into a murder scene yesterday and police have begun operations to prevent the violence from escalating any further. They believe there is a possibility that the murder of 26 year old gang figure Edward Saldano Jr may lead to retaliation.
And as we took a look into our archives today, an interview we did with his mother a year ago begs the question if Saldano's days were indeed numbered.
Police have arrested and charged 49 year old Owen William Cadle after he was accused of raping a child.
A 12 year old girl accompanied by her mother reported to police that during the first week of October 2024, she visited Cadle's business in southern Belize and he touched her inappropriately, after which he gave her $20. The minor then reported that in mid October 2024 and November 2025, Cadle forced her to perform oral sex, giving her $20 on both occasions.
Yesterday Cadle was charged with two counts of rape of a child and two counts of sexual assault.
Today the Belikin La Ruta Maya River Challenge began in San Ignacio Town. The annual race stretches across the Belize River from San Ignacio and this year, it will end at the Haulover Bridge, instead of the Belcan Bridge.
The race, founded by brothers Richard and Orlando Harrison, was formed to raise environmental awareness on the rivers. Jaleeza Roberts went out West to the different Day 1 stops and filed this report:
Just after 5:00 this morning, paddlers, team managers and servicemen made their way to the bank of the Macal River for the start of the 2026 Belikin La Ruta Maya Race. After weeks of continuous controversy, race day finally arrived and 58 teams participated across all 8 categories - Some for pleasure, some for sport, some for community, but whatever their motivation was, one thing was clear, they were ready to paddle.
At 7:00 sharp the horn was blown and the paddlers sped off from the starting line. some unfortunately flipped in the first few minutes while others successfully started their race. Co-chair of the race said that this is always an exciting feeling:
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair La Ruta Maya "It's always exciting to be out here in a morning like this, you start to see people coming in, paddlers coming in so we registered 58 teams. We are quite excited with that number, we had hoped that we would have had atleast 65 teams registering but nonetheless, it's a good show by the teams."
"There are 8 categories so all of them were represented there, there's male, female, mixed, pleasure, masters, you have c2, you have family."
But the number of spectators were not as high as previous years. We could not pinpoint what was the exact reason for the low attendance, but it was clear that something was keeping the normal numbers from coming, expressed by Mayor Earl Trapp:
Earl Trapp, Mayor of SISE "Well when I looked at the crowd while walking across the bridge this morning, the low lying bridge, that was almost 6:30, and the crowd for sure have been cut down from what I saw last year."
"If it's the controversy I'm not sure, people have their little dips and rise at times so I'm hoping that unity will prevail and this event that many people look forward to, international and local, something that helps to stimulate the local economy, I hope that it will be here for generations to come."
But these numbers are not distracting these 58 hopeful teams from winning the title - or at least some awards in their category.
Managing an event of this magnitude requires a lot of moving parts. Commissioner of Police, Dr.Richard Rosado, spoke briefly on his moving part - policing.
Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police "Throughout the event we have been meeting with the organizers to ensure that we police all the different stops, our main role is to maintain peace and order within the different stops and to ensure that we have a peaceful Ruta Maya Race."
"It requires a lot of resources, a lot of manpower but thankfully, we have brought all of our police officers who are on leave, who are on short leave and those who have staff duties to assist us in policing the event so I'm confident that we'll be able to maintain the peace throughout the event."
"Any national event like the ruta Maya require a lot of planning, a lot of of resources, and a lot of man power to ensure that we maintain the peace."
The race saw the PACT on Trak Team forge a lead early on in the race, creating an over 2 minute gap between them and their second place competitor. The team, being led by 26 Year paddler Amado Cruz, managed by CEO Francis Usher and funded by PACT was out in full force. Employees were decorated with t-shirts and fan gear, showing that they take supporting their team seriously. The team successfully crossed the finish line at a little after 12:00 in the afternoon, Bringing the first leg of the journey to an end. We spoke to the paddlers and reps on this win.
Amado Cruz, PACT On Trak Paddler "We managed to get a lead and we maintained that pace until those guys dropped off the wave and we kept on that pace all the way."
Reporter "What's your strategy for the rest of the race to be able to continue this first place."
Amado Cruz, PACT On Trak Paddler "Well from here, we have like over 4 minute gap so we just gonna play safe the rest of the days but if we get a break again, we are gonna take it."
Francis Usher, PACT On Trak Team Manager "The guys, hard work pays off and the guys have been working hard for months so I'm proud of them. It's easy to be a team manager when you have a team of professionals."
Abil Castaneda, Executive Director, PACT "Pact is celebrating 30 years anniversary this year so team pact! So also it indeed is more than just a race, it's about the paddlers, the people and also about our environment so we ask everybody to please take that into consideration keep the riverside clean and let's make sure that we continue this race for next 30 years."
The race continues tomorrow morning and ends on Monday. The first day typically dictates how the remainder of the race will look like but with the cohort of talented paddlers on the water, it's more than just your average race. Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
The race will continue tomorrow at 7:00 in the morning.
And after weeks of silence regarding the criticism about where this year's race will end, a member of the La Ruta Maya committee and representative from the Harrison Family has finally spoken out.
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair of the committee said that they factored in several things before making the final decision:
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair La Ruta Maya "Well clearly, there's several factors that played into changing from the traditional Belize City because we have done several locations in the city, knowing that the couple of the bridges will be demolished next year, we anticipated that would of caused some searching on where we would want to end the race so we looked at several options and we decided that perhaps the first option would have been at Grand Resort and it's a test, I mean if it works out well then we want to maintain that at least in the next 3 years, because those bridges will not be finished, or at least the Belcan 3 maybe 4 years to be completed."
And you'll recall that at the Belize Canoe Association meeting held last week Saturday, his nephew, Sadani Bong Harrison said that in 2027 Love FM would be removed from the race. Well today, his uncle is saying that is not entirely true, adding that perhaps his nephew should have consulted with him before making premature statements:
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair La Ruta Maya "I think it's unfortunate that he made that statement without perhaps looking at me as being the oldest person in this committee, to say that we have to honor an agreement that we have with Love Fm/RSV. So to make a premature statement like that was perhaps not the best at the time."
Reporter "And so you can confirm that that is not true?"
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair La Ruta Maya "I can't say it's not true because that was his position at least my position is you know there's dialogue to be had if there's any change of leadership quote unquote for this race."
We have received information from other teams that they were consulted about new finishing point of the race back in October and November of last year but there was no follow up before the final decision was made.
The Commissioner of Police also weighed in on the issue, saying that even though he would prefer that there was unison, there will still be police presence if the paddlers continue to the Belcan Bridge.
Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police "Honestly I wish that the association, the organizers and everybody would work in concert so that we have one stop rather than multiple stop cause then it stretches the police officers, it stretches our man power."
Reporter "And so how do you guys plan to address the paddlers that say they will still go to Belcan and finish at Belcan."
Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police "Our intent is to police the events no matter where it stops and our role Is the safety of the spectators, they're the citizens and the paddlers and we will police the event, no matter where it stops."
And while both bridges will be manned by police officers, we asked the CEO in the Ministry of National Defense, Francis Usher, about the security of Belize's border, especially given the incursions we have seen in the Sarstoon by the Guatemalan Armed Forces. He explained what they have been doing differently to reduce these tensions.
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense "By being proactive instead of reactive, what we have is we have to have, there is an old saying that they taught us in school having an aviation background and being a pilot, flexibility is the key to air power we have to be flexible in our approach in our strategies. We have to be able to adapt and be resilient when things change and that is what we have been doing. We have changed our strategy we have increased numbers where we need to increase them, in the past and I am not criticizing anyone but various leaders throughout Belize I would say were stuck in their ways in terms of this is the way we have always done it and so this is the way we will continue to do it. We are not doing that, we are adapting and we are changing the way we do things, the way we patrol, the way we conduct our operations that has yielded a lot of success there are several instances where, agitation rom our neighbors to the west and south will never stop but we are really, our BDF soldiers and our coast guard that are in the maritime sector that are encountering them, they have done a lot to kind of slow it down and to ensure that they know that we have a presence here we are conducting deterrents and when the deterrents do not work and they still try to persist hat we are there to detect and defeat any threat."
And with the new change of command in both the BDF and the Belize Coast Guard, we asked Usher about his relationships with his commanding officers. He says things have been going well with his new commander and commandant.
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense "Well it has been going great both the deputy commandant, the vice commandant and the deputy commander of the BDF ascended to be the commander and the commandant so it is no strange process to them, they were prepared they have been ready to succeed or to be the successor for the predecessors for many years it has been going great you know with every new commander, with every new CEO, with every new minister there are differences in terms of the way to do things but we all sing off the same song sheet in terms of the desired end state and what we want to see done it is just you know minor things done differently and I think so far they have been going well."
We also asked the CEO about the recent intake of BDF soldiers. He explained how and where these new soldiers will be deployed.
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense "Well 152 I believe soldiers passed out in that intake and we have another intake going in the 15th of March where the intent is to have at least another 150 passing out. So I don't, I like to read comments to get a feel of what the people are saying out there because you cant talk to everybody so I go on 7 news's comments on their page and see what people are saying. A lot of the comments were saying oh you cant put new soldiers on the border, that is not what we are doing so what we do is we replace the existing infantry soldiers which you go through infantry training in recruit training, we put them to take the place of the infantry soldiers that have the experience from another training and then we use those experienced soldiers to deploy to more tense locations. We are continuing to build the BDF the plan is to have 2 intakes a year for 3 straight years and that will get us what we believe is the necessary, the man power necessary or the necessary man power to conduct all of the operations, currently going on and what we foresee in the future."
And if you can envision yourself joining the force, your educational background is a major asset when it comes to moving up the ranks. CEO Usher explained what the requirements needed for this new intake.
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense "So the BDF went through various iterations of changing the academic requirements so we went, so in the past it used to be only primary school if you come in from high school or junior college great, but it used to be only primary School. Then we instituted high school but you have to contend with the BPO sector with other organizations typically, it wasn't what we found was that recruiting slowed down a bit when we instituted that so what we say is that we actively go out and we recruit at different high schools at different junior colleges but we don't put it as a formally requirement to enter the BDF however we put it as a requirement for the promotion down the road or the opportunities that we say are that if you come in with primary school we have MOU's with CEMJC we have MOU's with Galen and we are about to enter into relationships with the university of Belize where we provide formal educational opportunities for those who want to continue so you can serve your country you can develop yourself personally it is a win win if you ask me."
Municipal elections are coming up next year, but are there reports that the UDP was looking to boot 3 time Mayor Earl Trapp? Well, we asked him today and he told us, "why fix something that is working?"
Earl Trapp, Mayor of SISE "Yes I heard certain things but like I say, I would say to the people, everybody have a difference of opinion but at the end of the day, it's not what one or two people want, it's the majority. You know and I would say to the people, why fix something that is working. You know and the reason why I'm relaunching my candidacy is because of the many accolades that I've been receiving and the many good acknowledgements from the people and I see everything looking good at the moment but again, I remain firm focused and the works continues I from the moment I got into office, almost 12 years ago, I've been working. That has not stopped, that has not changed. Ive been working Monday to Monday so the people have seen it, the people have seen the changes in this community and I believe that the people are enjoying the developments that have come to this community."
Trapp first became the Mayor of San Ignacio/Santa Elena in 2015.
And SISE PUP Town Councillor, Aaron Mai has announced that he will be seeking Mayoral candidacy in the 2027 Municipal elections. But Mayor Trapp doesn't seem too threatened. He says that it is anyone's right to pursue it but his name will definitely be on the ballot too.
Earl Trapp, Mayor of SISE "I always believe in democracy and everyone has a right to choose and move forward in life, you know and if he believes that that is a call for him, I mean he has a right to put his name on the ballot, you know and at the end of the day, the people will decide but I want to publicly state that I will be seeking re-election. This will be my fifth running for an election as mayor and I feel very good about myself but at the end of the day the people will speak."
Reporter "What has your relationship been with the councillor they have selected to run against you?"
Earl Trapp, Mayor of SISE "We have been very good friends. I cannot remember one day we had any disagreement or altercation no we are good friends. Like I said, I mean, everyone is entitled to make that decision that they believe they might have a calling for."
And while Trapp is sticking to politics, what about CEO Francis Usher? We he venture to put his name on a ballot too? We asked him.
Reporter "It has been rumored that you might be entering politics next year can you confirm that?"
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense "No I cant confirm that, I cant, it has been rumored that in what municipal? No right now I am focused on being a CEO and I am focused on further developing the ministry of national defense and border security."
And earlier you heard Usher talk about the new BDF intake. But he also underscored the importance of ensuring that there is a significant concentration of women in the force as well. He says they make up roughly between 20-30% of the BDF population, and their contributions to the force are highly valued.
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense "Well women are the back bone of society, and by virtue of being the backbone of society are also the backbone of the different military organizations and women in service provide a divergence of opinions, a difference of opinions in terms of what are the better ways the more efficient effective ways of tackling problems so it is important that we continue to recruit women in the security services, the BDF, the Coast Guard and the police department, the parade on Monday is a showing of strength if you ask me in that we are proud of the women that we are serving and we want to recruit more women to serve."
"I think in the BDF, I think in both it is another between 20 and 30% female, don't quote me on that I will get back to you with some numbers but it is about 20-30% female."
The STEM U foundation is a pilot project that was established in 2023 as a welding and NDT program in partnership with St Ignatius high and NDE institute of South Carolina. The program focuses on 4 key areas in STEM education ranging from Agri STEM to engineering, healthcare and infotech. But their welding program has been the most promising so far. 7 of their students will be taking an international trip to attend a STEM training exchange in the US. Their Business Development Coordinator told us more about it today.
Flora Usher, Business Development Coordinator "7 students are going to the international exchange program. Of those 7 students 2 of them are going to be fully funded by the STEM U foundation they are the top students and the other 5 are being sponsored by their parents together with other initiatives St Ignatius high school did to help for the expenses for this trip but while we are in Charlotte North Carolina we will also make a trip to Washington where the students will get an opportunity to visit with the Belize embassy to visit with the OAS and to visit with Howard University as well."
"From the 7 students that are going 6 of them are girls can you imagine that? And the top 2 students are girls too."
"The trip is geared to exposing them to hands on programs, its a comprehensive trip in that the students will get to visit welding facilities they will get to tour universities that cater for that type of degree program the American welding society has a huge event planned for them so it is basically like a comprehensive mentorship and exposure to what they are studying and how they can grow further in it."
The STEM U program at St Ignatius has created a vocational pathway for these students, who can later seek apprenticeship at some of Belize's largest industrial companies. Usher gave us more details as to how the program works.
Flora Usher, Business Development Coordinator "Its unique because it is a one of a kind it is a certification program that prepares students for employment, you know it prepares them to complete vocational training and to go towards apprenticeship programs like for example."
"Currently we partner with Cayo steel, Belize natural energy and midwest steel, so students from the program do apprenticeship programs with them and some of them are also employed by some of these companies and we also recognize that there are many industries in the country that can use welding students as well."
"So you see when we are in highs school and they tell us at 3rd form we pick our field of study like business or sciences or you know at the St Ignatius high school the curriculum offers welding and NTD as a program so at the third year the students sign up for that program. During the 3rd year it is practically theory for welding NDT non destructive testing there is a fully equipped lab at St Ignatius high school that was funded by the STEM U foundation and there is a trained, trained instructor that is provided by the STEM U foundation as well together with a circle established through the ministry of education and also through the collaboration with NDE institute and so it is theory and practical. So when the kids graduate from high school they are ready to go into an apprenticeship."
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From St Thomas Street to Southside Meats to Charter House - the Belize Communication Workers for Justice aren't sitting still. Their protest action continued today - first in front of BTL's office - and then they… took a walk near the PM's office. But that wasn't their main target - they've now taken the fight to Balderamos Arthurs LLP - the law firm of Melissa Balderamos Mahler, the corporate secretary of BTL.
Emily Turner, BCWJ Rep 
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator 
Police have arrested and charged 49 year old Owen William Cadle after he was accused of raping a child.
Today the Belikin La Ruta Maya River Challenge began in San Ignacio Town. The annual race stretches across the Belize River from San Ignacio and this year, it will end at the Haulover Bridge, instead of the Belcan Bridge.
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair La Ruta Maya 
"Well when I looked at the crowd while walking across the bridge this morning, the low lying bridge, that was almost 6:30, and the crowd for sure have been cut down from what I saw last year."
"Throughout the event we have been meeting with the organizers to ensure that we police all the different stops, our main role is to maintain peace and order within the different stops and to ensure that we have a peaceful Ruta Maya Race."
"We managed to get a lead and we maintained that pace until those guys dropped off the wave and we kept on that pace all the way."
"The guys, hard work pays off and the guys have been working hard for months so I'm proud of them. It's easy to be a team manager when you have a team of professionals."
"Pact is celebrating 30 years anniversary this year so team pact! So also it indeed is more than just a race, it's about the paddlers, the people and also about our environment so we ask everybody to please take that into consideration keep the riverside clean and let's make sure that we continue this race for next 30 years."
And SISE PUP Town Councillor, Aaron Mai has announced that he will be seeking Mayoral candidacy in the 2027 Municipal elections. But Mayor Trapp doesn't seem too threatened. He says that it is anyone's right to pursue it but his name will definitely be on the ballot too.
And earlier you heard Usher talk about the new BDF intake. But he also underscored the importance of ensuring that there is a significant concentration of women in the force as well. He says they make up roughly between 20-30% of the BDF population, and their contributions to the force are highly valued.
The STEM U foundation is a pilot project that was established in 2023 as a welding and NDT program in partnership with St Ignatius high and NDE institute of South Carolina. The program focuses on 4 key areas in STEM education ranging from Agri STEM to engineering, healthcare and infotech. But their welding program has been the most promising so far. 7 of their students will be taking an international trip to attend a STEM training exchange in the US. Their Business Development Coordinator told us more about it today.
"From the 7 students that are going 6 of them are girls can you imagine that? And the top 2 students are girls too."
