Belmopan hosts Lions Convention

The Belize Lions Zone 59 held their 33rd National Convention over the weekend of April 9th & 10th in Belmopan City. Lion members from all clubs across the country were present to witness the several matters tabled and discussed during the convention.

As part of the convention, a resolution was passed for all clubs to raise as much money within 90 days to assist victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Also on the agenda was the election of a new Zone chairman and a new Zone queen. The new chairman is Lion Dr. Glenford Espadas, while the new Zone queen is Chancae Guy - they take on their responsibilities as of July 1st, 2011.

The convention was celebrated under the theme: "Lions, many faces, many races, one goal: service".

The venue for the next convention in 2012 is Belize City.

Tropic Air Announces non-stop service between Placencia & Belmopan

- Press Release - San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize - Monday, January 24, 2011 - Tropic Air announced today that it will be inaugurating daily non-stop service between Placencia and the nation’s capital, Belmopan on January 31, 2011. The service will also allow easy connections in Placencia for passengers wishing to travel between Punta Gorda and Belmopan, and provide for efficient cargo services to and from the nation’s heartland.

The new service is a direct response to requests from its valued customers, and carries through on the airline’s stated commitment to the people of Belmopan, Cayo and Southern Belize.

“When we inaugurated Belmopan in April 2010, we promised the people of Cayo to increase our service levels in the coming years. Belmopan is an integral part of the growth strategy for Tropic Air and as such we feel it important that we link the expanding areas of the south with our nation’s capital” said John Greif III, President of Tropic Air. “Tropic Air is continuously seeking new and innovative routes that promote tourism, business, domestic travel and cargo within Belize”

The flight schedule for the new route is as follows:
Flt# DEPARTS TIME ARRIVES TIME
900 Belmopan (BMP) 08:30AM Placencia (PLJ) 09:00AM
350 Placencia (PLJ) 12:00PM Belmopan (BMP) 12:30PM
DAILY (Effective January 31, 2010)

An introductory fare of BZ$99 each way will be offered on the new route through February 28, 2010 and is bookable via the web at www.tropicair.com, via e-mail at reservations@tropicair.com, by phone at 226-2012 or by contacting any of our stations.

Tropic Air operates a fleet of 11 aircraft (including the lastest generation, G1000 “glass cockpit”, air conditioned Cessna Caravans) to 11 destinations in Belize and Guatemala. With over 250 employees, Tropic Air carried 200,000 passengers in 2010.

For more information on the new service, please contact Dora Gonzalez DoraGonzalez@tropicair.com or Julie Kee JulieKee@tropicair.com.

Michigan State University (MSU) Students Visit Belize

Press Release - January 4, 2010 - National 4-H Youth Development Center - On December 26th, 2010 twenty students and faculty from MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources arrived in Belize as part of the first of its kind study abroad program. The team will be in Belize up until January 9th, 2011 during which time they will be visiting several areas of interest as outlined below to learn and develop a deeper appreciation for Belize’s Culture, Agriculture and Tourism Industries. Mr. Matthew Miller of Monkey Bay Wild life Sanctuary is the local coordinator of their visit and Mrs. Dixie Sanbord is the MSU Faculty in charge of the group. The areas include:

• The Belize Zoo
• The Taiwanese Farm Village/Market
• Aquaculture Tilapia farm
• TBS Citrus and Cacao farm
• Sibun River guided canoe paddle
• Spanish Lookout Farming and Food processing community
• UB Central Farm
• Chaa Creek Resort Natural History Center
• Trek Stop and Xunantunich Maya Site
• Tobacco Caye

From January 2 – 4th, 2011 they visited with Staff and Trainees of the National 4-H Youth Development Center. The main purpose of their visit was to foster positive interaction with trainees and to complete a service learning project. On the first day they were teamed up with individual trainees and facilitated a full afternoon of recreational sessions. The following day they painted five (2) of the front buildings with the official 4-H colors; renovated a green house cover structure that was destroyed by hurricane Richard and constructed 300 ft of foot path to connect the upper and lower part of the compound. On their final day with 4-H trainees they travelled to Duplooys’ Jungle Lodge and Botanical Garden for a day of educational and fun-filled activities. To conclude their visit with 4-H the group donated several board games and sporting equipment to the centre.
The team now travels to the Cave branch area and Marie Sharp. Followed by visits in the Toledo district under the guidance of Mr. Will Mehia before returning to Monkey Bay Wild Life Sanctuary to wrap up their tours and visit to Belize.
The National 4- Youth Development Centre under the Youth for the Future Secretariat and within the Ministry of Education and Youth expresses its appreciation to the MSU team for their visit and contributions.

Tropic Air adds new Cessna Caravan to fleet!!

This week, Tropic Air received yet another new Cessna (208B) Caravan. It arrived in San Pedro, directly from the Cessna factory in Wichita, Kansas, on Wednesday, November 17th, and represents an investment of over $4 million dollars in the future, economy and people of Belize.

Tropic now has eight Caravans in its fleet with five more on order. This new aircraft is part of Tropic's commitment to providing its customers with the most comfortable and technologically advanced aircraft. It also continues with the fullfillment of the airline's pledge of constant fleet renewal.

The new Caravan comes complete with the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit system and air conditioning which will ensure that its customers fly in safety and comfort. It will provide the additional airlift needed for the tourism industry and for new destinations such as Belmopan.

So on your next flight, be sure to see if you are on their newest baby. Look for the tail number V3-HHK.

UB host First Multicultural Fair

Press Release - November 10th, 2010 - University of Belize - Hundreds of students at the University of Belize (UB) Central Campus, Belmopan City today participated in the First Multicultural Fair 2010 at the University’s Central Campus, Belmopan City.
The fair, organized by students of the History & Anthropology Department of the University who are enrolled in classes of Multiculturalism in Belize and Introduction to Belizean History included a variety of multicultural presentations and displays celebrating Belize’s diversity.

Lecturer in the History & Anthropology Department, Ms Ritamae Hyde explained that the aim of the fair was to increase awareness of Belize’s multiculralism.
“It was designed to highlight the various cultural contributions and patterns of cross-cultural sharing in the multicultural nation of Belize,” remarked Ms Hyde.
Highlights at the fair included; Music and Dances of Belize, Foods of Belize, Practices and Rituals of Belize, Languages of Belize, Folklores of Belize and Cultures of Belize.

Students were also dressed in various cultural dress traditions depicting the rich and vivid diversity of Belize.


WE ARE BELIZE!

U.S. Embassy Is Open Today

U.S. Embassy Belmopan
Press Release
Belmopan, October 25

The U.S. Embassy in Belmopan informs the public that the Embassy’s Consular section is open today, Monday, October 25, 2010. Visa applicants with appointments who can arrive by 11 am will be interviewed today. For those who cannot make their appointment today, the appointment will honored on Tuesday October 26, 2010. If applicants with appointments on Monday, October 25 cannot make their appointment on Tuesday, October 26, please schedule a new appointment using the online appointment system.

Please visit the U.S. Embassy’s website at http://belize.usembassy.gov.

U.S. Embassy Announces Visa Fee Increases

Press Release - U.S. Embassy in Belize - May 27, 2010 - The United States Embassy in Belmopan, Belize wishes to alert all visa applicants that the United States Government will be increasing visa fees worldwide, including Belize, effective Friday, June 4, 2010.

All persons with interviews on or after June 4, 2010 must pay the new fees. Applicants with appointments after June 4 who have already paid the old fee must pay the additional amount at the Embassy’s consular cashier on the day of their appointment in order to be interviewed.

New fee schedule:
• Visitor and Transit (B1/B2, C1) - BZ$280
• Crewmember (C1/D) - BZ$280
• Student visas (F1, M1, J1) - BZ$280
• Temporary workers (H-1B, H-2B) - BZ$300
• Intra-company transferees (L1) - BZ$300
• Performers (O and P) - BZ$300
• Fiancé-based visas (K) – BZ$700
• Treaty Trader/Investor (E1 or E2) - BZ$780

The Department of State is required by law to recover the cost of processing nonimmigrant visas through the collection of visa fees. Periodically, independent contractors conduct a Cost of Service Study to determine direct and indirect costs to the U.S. Government of providing consular services, such as nonimmigrant visa processing. Such a study was completed in June 2009 using an activity-based costing model, which is standard for estimating the cost of government services.

The study determined that the cost of accepting, adjudicating, and issuing nonimmigrant visas will be greater than US$131 in Fiscal Year 2010, which began October 1, 2009. Also, since the last fee increase in 2008, there have been new security-related costs, new IT systems have been put in place, and there is a new mandate from Congress to charge nonimmigrant visa applicants $1 to support programs to combat trafficking in persons.
Although the treaty trader (E1) and treaty investor (E2) visa classes are not petition-based, they will now be set at US$390 to reflect the real cost of processing document-intensive visa categories.

For more information please visit the US Embassy website at http://belize.usembassy.gov

Fatal traffic accident claims one life

Early this morning at approximately 6:30 a.m. a collision between a truck and a golf cart claimed the life of a 21-year-old resident of Belmopan City. Vidal Escalante was driving Captain G's cart number 17 from the Mosquito Coast Area to town. The San Pedro Town Council dump truck was coming in the opposite direction heading to the dump site. Edmir Dominguez, 32, resident of San Pedro Town was the driver of the truck at the time.
Reports claim that Vidal fell asleep while driving and the cart swerved into the back wheel of the truck. Vidal was transported to Ambergris Hopes Clinic where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body has been transported to Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where it awaits a post mortem examination. Allegations are that Vidal had been drinking the night before but that has not yet been proven. According to Officer in Charge Dennis Arnold, that will be revealed during the post mortem. Dominguez has not yet been charged with any crime since police investigations continue.