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
Tonight, the Senate is meeting to wrap up deliberations and debate on the vexing public transportation investment bill.
The meeting started 90 minutes ago via hybrid format and will likely go deep into the night.
They are currently in the Committee of the Whole reviewing proposed amendments to the legislation.
But before the meeting started, the Belize Bus Association demanded a delay and an urgent "closed meeting" prior to final amendments and voting on the bill.
The statement was issued earlier this morning after a meeting with the Union Senator and the President of the PSU yesterday. Today, that Union Senator, Glenfield Dennison, told us they need to listen and he is open to hearing from them:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "Those people have the institutional knowledge to know what could and can work in the bus industry. The government would do well to listen to them. They can speak for themselves, but I think that's the message I want to resonate, that you must listen to them people because them people done try this song and dance already."
"They know why it failed and why it couldn't work, why it didn't work. They are sure that their experience can teach the government how to fix the issues in the transportation industry."
Reporter: "I know that they want to speak to the Senate. Are you all open to speaking with them?"
Glenfield Dennison: "I wouldn't be able to answer that. I know I saw an email this morning that they wrote to the Senators. I don't speak for the Senate. The President of the Senate or the Leader of Government Business would have to address whether they would allow them to speak."
Reporter: "Why do you think they should be given the opportunity to speak?"
Glenfield Dennison: "Because they have a lot of institutional knowledge. The people that I spoke to educated me tremendously on what we need to consider and the things that the government isn't considering in relation to making the public transportation system work. I find it curious that the very thing that the NBC is doing, which is applying for the concessions and the duty exemptions, has been one of the things that these people have been saying for decades. So if it is that the NBC is now saying that they need the duty exemptions and the concessions to work, and they have such big economies of scale, then why wasn't these things being done and these exemptions being given to these smaller operators from a long time ago? Because clearly that's what the government needs for it to succeed."
But what exactly did the Belize Bus Association want the closed meeting for? Well, the Public Transportation Bill went before the Senate last week Thursday; however, the session had to be suspended after midnight and is scheduled to resume this afternoon. But today, the BBA demanded urgent input before those final deliberations.
That's after yesterday afternoon in Belmopan, the BBA met with Tony Novelo, Labour Senator Glenfield Dennison, and PSU President Dean Flowers.
In a lengthy letter to the President of the Senate circulated this morning, the BBA is urging the lawmakers to grant equal tax concessions across the board rather than exclusively to the National Bus Company.
The BBA is also demanding an independent audit of NBC's current finances and that senators disclose any financial conflict of interest, while calling for an end to preferential road service permit approvals and formal BBA representation on the Transport Board.
But bottom line? The BBA was not granted the meeting and the session proceeded as normal.
And with the BBA no doubt up in arms, a new bus association has emerged. It is called the "United Bus Operators," and they claim to have 70% of the BBA's membership.
The group was formed on Sunday and they fired off their first press release today.
While the press release is dated November 11th and features a logo that isn't quite the map of Belize, we spoke with founding member Michael Frazer, who said that they want their needs to be communicated to stakeholders properly:
Voice of: Michael Frazer, Founding Member, United Bus Operators Association "Many of us felt we were not properly represented, and we weren't getting what we have requested, in particular from stakeholders from the Government of Belize, so we decided to depart and form our own association."
Jaleeza Roberts: "Why didn't you all just address these issues within the BBA instead of forming your own association?"
Michael Frazer: "On several occasions, these things were addressed through WhatsApp messages, through text messages, through phone calls, and even through meetings. And, um, I don't want to get into the nitty-gritty of everything, but the then-president, um, for some reason or other didn't address our concern."
"We decided to meet in Belmopan Sunday, where approximately some thirty-odd bus operators attended from the north, from the south, from the west, from Belize, and we had a meeting there, and, um, we decided to...to... to... to, um, form our own association. Everybody joined, or who have joined already, have done so at their own free will. I guess those are the same people that were... were not satisfied with the... with the... with the outcome of being a member of BBA."
"When I, or we, were members of the BBA, uh, we didn't actually know what message was carried for us, and the approach to... to... to the government was not the right approach in getting what we wanted, and that is the basic reason why we... we felt it necessary to... to... to form our own association. It is new, and there are many work to be done. We plan to meet with the Minister and others sometime next week to get the... get things done that we need to... to... to do."
Senator Dennison is also bringing other issues to the forefront with what he calls an "educational campaign"-basically a one-man protest holding up a placard with different messages every day.
Today, Union Senator Glenfield Dennison took to Albert Street with a sign reading "Zero Born Belizean High Court Judges," and he also protested on Chetumal Street at the roundabout this morning.
He told us about the pop-up protests:
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "I'm continuing my educational campaign. I promised the Belizean people that I'm going to start a citizen education campaign where I'm going to be in the streets, raising awareness to issues that are affecting our country."
Jaleeza Roberts: "Do you feel as though you will be threatened in the coming times? Do you think you can possibly be arrested during this time?"
Glenfield Dennison: "That's a good question, Jaleeza. I will say, if they think they can arrest me for doing this, they better start arresting the Jehovah's Witnesses, because they do it in groups of two and three. This is a constitutional freedom of expression. This is a constitutionally protected freedom of expression that I am doing here. They might not like the message, but they have to leave the messenger alone."
Jaleeza Roberts: "What exactly do you hope to convey by doing this, and how long can we expect to see you out here?"
Glenfield Dennison: "I'm committed to doing this until the March 2027 municipal elections. I hope that gives you an idea of what I'm trying to achieve."
Jaleeza Roberts: "Are you calling on anyone to join you, or will you do it alone?"
Glenfield Dennison: "I am calling all Belizeans who are like-minded to do your own protests. Get your signs, get your placards, get your message out. Speak your truth. Get awareness raised for all issues that concern you, because that's one thing they can't stop, is you speaking your truth."
Jaleeza Roberts: "How do you feel right now? How has the response been from the public?"
Glenfield Dennison: "I don't know. Young people say I'm going viral. I don't know. I don't have social media, Jaleeza, so I really wouldn't know, but so the young people say it's going viral."
Four men burglarized Top Gadgets Store on Coney Drive in Belize City early Sunday morning, making off with ten gold chains valued at $36,000, $1,000 in cash, and an undisclosed number of iPhones.
Police say the store's manager discovered the break-in around 11:00 a.m. on November 1st, after securing the business the previous evening.
Initial investigations indicate that around 2:30 a.m., four men arrived in a dark grey or blue Chevrolet Equinox on Marble Cone Avenue.
Two of them used a bolt cutter to damage the shutter's locking mechanism and pry open a metal door on the eastern side of the building.
Three men then entered the store and smashed the glass display cases containing phones and jewelry, while the fourth remained outside.
The men then fled along Marble Cone Avenue toward Seashore Drive, where they boarded the waiting vehicle and escaped. The value of the stolen iPhones has not yet been determined.
Reports say the MO of the robbers matches that of a burglary at Northern Shops some weeks ago-which again, police did not release despite our request.
Tonight, 52-year-old Victor Arana, a customs broker, is clearing his name after it was reported on Breaking Belize News that he was being detained for questioning in connection with a recent murder investigation in Belize City.
His name came to public attention after he went to court yesterday accused of assaulting two women police officers.
He pleaded not guilty, but court reports said he was detained after that and escorted over to the CIB office in connection with one of the city's recent murders.
Arana explained that the allegation has put a target on his back-and he was eager to get it off:
Victor Arana, Wrongfully Reported On "I am not with this, this is pure stupidness."
Reporter: "How does this affect you?"
Victor Arana: "Well I'm here, I just come off of plastic bottle pillow, cement mattress, and feces toilet. When you go use the bathroom, you use it on whatever you can. I would never give up my life of going to work 8:00 to 5:00, if I have to do overtime to go and do that, sleep with 15 man. So I would advise you all, I can talk to camera, killing isn't benefitting me, I don't know if it's benefitting you all, but it's definitely not benefitting the country, the city, Belize, nowhere in the surroundings, nowhere in the world is it benefitting."
Reporter: "Are you disturbed that this kind of report is out there about you?"
Victor Arana: "Well, ma'am, I will say I am glad that I can come to talk to you right now.
"I am not into killing and none of we shouldn't be into killing. If we want to kill, let's kill ourselves-that is all we need to do, kill ourself and life will be better. Because you can't kill everybody, you will kill 5 man, not even 5 man-you shoot a man and you will end up dead."
The Senior Courts of Belize held an opening ceremony today for a two-day training session on management of civil cases.
Not exactly the most exciting assignment, but the Chief Justice told Jomarie Lanza that it will enable them to get rid of the backlog of civil cases:
In 2025, the Supreme Court rules were revised for the first time in twenty years. Since then, new procedures have been introduced, and new approaches to tackling the backlog in civil matters.
And to bring everyone up to speed, the Senior Courts of Belize is holding a two-day refresher training for practitioners and new members of the bar to familiarize them with case management rules for civil matters.
Louise Blenman, Chief Justice of Belize "Previously, the rules are driven by the lawyers, so the lawyers determined the pace of filing of documents, filing of procedures, when submissions were to be filed, and as a consequence, generally across the Caribbean, it took longer for cases to be completed. Under the revised rules, the cases are driven by the judges, and the judges determine when are matters to be filed, when documents have to be filed, and also assisting lawyers in narrowing the issues so the litigation is far more efficient. Case management will augur well for Belize because while we have done excellently, there is always room for improvement and we can always do better. And investors look at our court system to determine whether to invest, so the more efficient court system you have, the more efficient justice system you have, the more persons are inclined to invest in Belize. So we are happy to be able to bring Justice Ricky Rahim from Trinidad to sensitize the experienced judges and to train the new lawyers and practitioners of the new methods of case management with a view to improving further our civil justice system."
The Chief Justice hopes that, with continued progress, the court will be trying civil cases within a year of filing by next year.
Facilitating the training is Justice Ricky Rahim of Trinidad and Tobago:
Ricky Rahim, Justice of Appeal, Trinidad and Tobago "As the old adage goes, justice delayed is justice denied. In that regard, it will not surprise you to learn that throughout the Caribbean, one of the pressing issues remains delivery of justice within a reasonable time. This is the constant challenge in providing true justice. My own view is that we are all aware of the issue as judges, so I am preaching to the choir, as it were. But we are often restrained by several other factors, such as caseload-two major ones: caseload and limited resources-but there is a third factor. And that third factor is our reluctance to administer and deploy sanctions-that is my view, and we will be treating with that during this session."
"We must pause, sit back, and reset our goals and aspirations for the delivery of justice. Effective case management, as set out by Justice Sylvester, enables us to deliver justice that benefits all of the stakeholders in the legal system."
Chief Justice Blenman says that today's turnout is a testament to a shared commitment to improving Belize's justice system:
Louise Blenman, Chief Justice of Belize "We have had a really great turnout today. We have had Court of Appeal judges, we have members of the inner bar, Senior Counsel, Silks-we have had about eight Senior Counsels, which is really good, that have come out to support us. We have had a lot of members from the outer bar, the Attorney General's Chambers are represented, the private Bar Association, we have registrars, the judicial system, and all civil justice stakeholders were invited. So we are really happy and pleased with the level of support we have gotten and continue to get."
Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, Oscar Sabido, has provided the press an update on the long-delayed national redistricting exercise.
In response to a query from XTV, he says that technical preparations continue as the electoral landscape evolves, with September 2026 data recording 212,000 registered electors across the 31 divisions.
Key tasks remaining include finalizing the legal and technical methodology under the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, establishing technical support, analyzing updated voter data, and presenting finalized proposals to the National Assembly.
With no fixed completion date in sight, Chairman Sabido can offer only vague assurances that the timeline will spill into next year, relying on recent commitments from the Prime Minister that constitutional amendments will eventually be introduced.
Moreover, because Section 91 of the Constitution dictates that any new electoral boundaries only take effect at the general election held after full legal enactment, Belizean voters face an even longer wait before this already delayed exercise yields any real change at the ballot box.
The Bankers' Association of Belize is warning the public about an increase in telephone and messaging scams targeting customers, with fraudsters posing as representatives of legitimate financial institutions to obtain sensitive banking information.
According to the Association, scammers are manipulating caller details, using recognizable corporate logos and deceptive phone numbers or email addresses to make their communications appear authentic.
During these unsolicited calls and messages, individuals are being pressured to disclose account credentials, passwords, card information, and password reset codes.
The Association is reminding customers that legitimate banks will never request confidential security information, including PINs, online banking passwords, or one-time verification codes, through phone calls, emails, or text messages. Customers are being urged not to click on suspicious links, to activate multi-factor authentication where available, and to verify unexpected banking communications by contacting their financial institution directly using its official customer service number.
For over three decades, our news cameras have documented the state's answers to outbreaks of gang violence.
The threat to public safety in Belize City has been a constant, and tonight, it remains clear and present-but across thirty years of coverage, one trend stands out above all: predictable repetition.
From 1994's "Targeting All Gangs" operation to 2026's Southside State of Emergency, the playbooks mirror each other, and sadly, so do the results. In an analysis piece, Jules Vasquez looks back at thirty years of history repeating itself:
But if one thing has changed this time around, it's that police say the violence is fueled by intra-gang violence as much as by inter-gang violence.
On Sunday, ASP Stacy Smith characterized it as an internal implosion:
Jules Vasquez: "Is it a spinoff of the other gang activities-gang implosion, as you called it, that has been happening-has that created a more volatile state of gang rivalry generally that has triggered other gangs to act more rashly or murderously?"
ASP Stacy Smith, Police Staff Officer "It has not been conclusively determined, but what I will say, and what history has proven as it relates to the climate that is attendant to where there is rivalry: it could be that two gangs are going at each other, but because this incident happened, the culture is present when it comes to gang and gang activity, it somewhat sends the message to other gangs who may not have any particular triggering event for them to get busy, because according to them, the streets are hot and it is time for them to prove themselves that they are a gang as well to be reckoned with. And that is why we, as a department, having observed this, we are committed to ensuring that what has stood as the norm in relation to these incidents does not take into effect."
Jules Vasquez: "You said you are committed, but are you all capable of stemming this kind of gang violence? Because all indications are this has been steadily ratcheting up for weeks now, and it seems that the police are always at least a step behind. If we look at the incident on Orange Street, it happened right where a checkpoint is, and the officers were outgunned, overwhelmed, and from what I am told, reluctant to fire back-perhaps for public safety, that is fine-but I am just saying that it appears that the police are incapable of responding adequately to this level of gang escalation."
ASP Stacy Smith: "And that is the very reason why we are where we are today, and that is the very reason why the proclamation has been made. The usual resources and policing operations have been exhausted. We have come to the position that the normal policing operations are not capable to address the conflict and the rising tensions that are being raised, and this is why a State of Emergency is in effect."
"This State of Emergency will enable the intent and intense investigation of the incidents that have happened, because what we have noted is that investigators are becoming overwhelmed, because as one incident happens, shortly thereafter there may be another, and that takes them away from being able to divert as much time that is needed. So this State of Emergency will provide somewhat of a pause button to enable investigators to conduct thorough investigation, because we have a technology system in place that pretty much picks up everything, but it takes time to be perused and go through and to follow each and every lead."
If you are a smoker thinking about quitting, the Ministry of Health and Wellness might be able to assist you.They are currently holding training sessions with technical and hospital staff on smoking cessation: a treatment designed to help smokers kick that habit.
The service falls under the recently passed Tobacco Control Bill 2025, and here's what we learned from that training today:
Esner Vellos, Director, NDACC, Ministry of Health and Wellness "This is a follow-up of a training of a capacity that was conducted a year ago where we facilitated a trainer-of-trainers exercise, and today we are now fulfilling that mandate in ensuring that we would be able to have 100 frontline workers within the Ministry of Health and Wellness to be able to provide cessation services,which not only includes the medical components of it, but also other areas where individuals who are consumers of tobacco products would be able to access quitting services through the mainstream public health system at their nearest health center and health facility in our country. This is one of four other training sessions that we are having countrywide, and that is the goal: to ensure that the Ministry of Health and Wellness through its public health system would be able to offer free cessation programs to the people of our country."
Karen Roberts, Advisor for Non-Communicable Diseases, PAHO "We are also the office of the World Health Organization here in the Americas, and as the WHO office here in the Americas, we have a responsibility to support countries, meaning providing technical support to countries for the implementation of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Now, you might be wondering, what is that? But it is the first global treaty that was implemented by WHO in 2003 that committed countries to implement interventions to protect their population from tobacco and nicotine use. You would know also that the WHO FCTC, as we call it, has various articles,and this intervention is geared directly to support and foster the implementation of Article 14, which focuses on treating tobacco dependence, accessing cessation services for people who may want to quit. So because Belize is actively in a process of accelerating implementation of the WHO FCTC in the form of their local tobacco bill, we anticipate that preparing for implementation of cessation services would be helpful to the population."
The 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, officially concluded last night with a final closing reception and a notable celebratory toast.
Footage from the event shows the Prime Minister and his wife Rossana greeting Belize's head of state, King Charles:
His Majesty King Charles, Head of the Commonwealth "Looking around this room, I am struck once again by the remarkable diversity of the Commonwealth. It is difficult to think of another association whose members have so little in common in theory, and so much in common in practice. Indeed, the Commonwealth remains one of the world's most improbable organizations. It includes some of the largest countries on Earth, and some of the smallest nations on every inhabited continent. Our family stretches from Caribbean beaches to Pacific atolls, from African savannas to Canadian forests. It is one of the few organizations able to unite countries famous for snow and countries famous for deserts, and, most of all, whose citizens are utterly convinced they enjoy perfect weather all year round."
"Although, I am just thinking part of my role as Head of the Commonwealth is to act as an umbrella for you all. Today, that diversity is one of the Commonwealth's greatest strengths. The Commonwealth is one of those remarkable institutions of which you can say, as the President of Nigeria did recently, that if it did not already exist, we would need to invent it."
Email
Print
Tonight, the Senate is meeting to wrap up deliberations and debate on the vexing public transportation investment bill.
"They know why it failed and why it couldn't work, why it didn't work. They are sure that their experience can teach the government how to fix the issues in the transportation industry."
But what exactly did the Belize Bus Association want the closed meeting for? Well, the Public Transportation Bill went before the Senate last week Thursday; however, the session had to be suspended after midnight and is scheduled to resume this afternoon. But today, the BBA demanded urgent input before those final deliberations.
And with the BBA no doubt up in arms, a new bus association has emerged. It is called the "United Bus Operators," and they claim to have 70% of the BBA's membership.
Jaleeza Roberts: 
Senator Dennison is also bringing other issues to the forefront with what he calls an "educational campaign"-basically a one-man protest holding up a placard with different messages every day.
Four men burglarized Top Gadgets Store on Coney Drive in Belize City early Sunday morning, making off with ten gold chains valued at $36,000, $1,000 in cash, and an undisclosed number of iPhones.
Tonight, 52-year-old Victor Arana, a customs broker, is clearing his name after it was reported on Breaking Belize News that he was being detained for questioning in connection with a recent murder investigation in Belize City.
Victor Arana: 
The Senior Courts of Belize held an opening ceremony today for a two-day training session on management of civil cases.
"Previously, the rules are driven by the lawyers, so the lawyers determined the pace of filing of documents, filing of procedures, when submissions were to be filed, and as a consequence, generally across the Caribbean, it took longer for cases to be completed. Under the revised rules, the cases are driven by the judges, and the judges determine when are matters to be filed, when documents have to be filed, and also assisting lawyers in narrowing the issues so the litigation is far more efficient. Case management will augur well for Belize because while we have done excellently, there is always room for improvement and we can always do better. And investors look at our court system to determine whether to invest, so the more efficient court system you have, the more efficient justice system you have, the more persons are inclined to invest in Belize. So we are happy to be able to bring Justice Ricky Rahim from Trinidad to sensitize the experienced judges and to train the new lawyers and practitioners of the new methods of case management with a view to improving further our civil justice system."
Ricky Rahim, Justice of Appeal, Trinidad and Tobago
Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, Oscar Sabido, has provided the press an update on the long-delayed national redistricting exercise.
The Bankers' Association of Belize is warning the public about an increase in telephone and messaging scams targeting customers, with fraudsters posing as representatives of legitimate financial institutions to obtain sensitive banking information.
But if one thing has changed this time around, it's that police say the violence is fueled by intra-gang violence as much as by inter-gang violence.
"It has not been conclusively determined, but what I will say, and what history has proven as it relates to the climate that is attendant to where there is rivalry: it could be that two gangs are going at each other, but because this incident happened, the culture is present when it comes to gang and gang activity, it somewhat sends the message to other gangs who may not have any particular triggering event for them to get busy, because according to them, the streets are hot and it is time for them to prove themselves that they are a gang as well to be reckoned with. And that is why we, as a department, having observed this, we are committed to ensuring that what has stood as the norm in relation to these incidents does not take into effect."
If you are a smoker thinking about quitting, the Ministry of Health and Wellness might be able to assist you.They are currently holding training sessions with technical and hospital staff on smoking cessation: a treatment designed to help smokers kick that habit.
Esner Vellos, Director, NDACC, Ministry of Health and Wellness
"We are also the office of the World Health Organization here in the Americas, and as the WHO office here in the Americas, we have a responsibility to support countries, meaning providing technical support to countries for the implementation of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Now, you might be wondering, what is that? But it is the first global treaty that was implemented by WHO in 2003 that committed countries to implement interventions to protect their population from tobacco and nicotine use. You would know also that the WHO FCTC, as we call it, has various articles,and this intervention is geared directly to support and foster the implementation of Article 14, which focuses on treating tobacco dependence, accessing cessation services for people who may want to quit. So because Belize is actively in a process of accelerating implementation of the WHO FCTC in the form of their local tobacco bill, we anticipate that preparing for implementation of cessation services would be helpful to the population."
The 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, officially concluded last night with a final closing reception and a notable celebratory toast.
His Majesty King Charles, Head of the Commonwealth