Bush fires seem to be on the increase lately and the San Pedro Fire Department has had its hands full tending to all the calls. Just yesterday the Fire Department was called to a small fire next to the Ambergris Stadium. The firemen encountered land fill in an empty lot that had caught on fire. Next door neighbors immediately called in before the fire got any bigger.
And just last week, residents extinguished this small fire that was apparently ignited by a discarded cigarette. Passersby were quick to out the fire before the fire department arrived; this was south of San Pedro Town next to Royal Palm Villas.
Two weeks ago, the San Pedro Fire Department responded to another bush fire that was reported in the Escalante Subdivision. A resident took these pictures of the fire that could have posed a threat to neighboring homes. Carelessness is the leading cause of these bush fires as people discard their lit cigarettes into the side of the road or are too careless when burning waste as they clear empty lots. The San Pedro Fire Department urges residents to be more careful and contact the department for any assistance when cleaning out and burning waste in empty lots. Source: Ambergris Today
Tropic is announcing the appointment of Alberto Wade to become the new Manager of the San Pedro Terminal effective March 1st, 2010. Alberto has worked for Tropic for over 20 years, 12 of which were in the San Pedro Station, as Assistant Manager and the last eight years in the Operations Department.
“We are pleased and fortunate to have Alberto as our new Manager. He comes with a wide range of experience by working in the San Pedro station and then in our Operations Department”, said Johnny Greif, Tropic’s President.
“Alberto brings a tremendous amount of knowledge that he has gained from the various departments throughout Tropic. He is widely known throughout San Pedro and will definitely be an asset to our employees and especially our customers”, concluded Greif.
Mercedes Requena, A Do the Right thing Award Winner
Caye Caulker’s Ocean Academy held a ceremony on Tuesday to honor outstanding students in their institution who have been recognized for their academic accomplishments and for their contribution to the safety of the island.
Two outstanding Ocean Academy students were honored to win the community policing Do the Right Thing Award. Mercedes Requena (November) is a top student who is passionate about marine biology, conservation work, and Environmental Club and Jaison Hernandez (January) is a young man who has overcome difficult circumstances (tropical storm destruction of his home, missing a year of schooling, health challenges) and pursued his educational goals with grace, determination and strength of character.
‘Do The Right Thing’ aims at encouraging youths by reinforcing socially desirable behavior among our young people. It will also serve as a means of demonstrating that “good kids” are newsworthy and will go a long way in fostering a positive relation between the Belize Police Department, youths and the community. This is an exceptional program that specifically targets in-school youths that have made a positive turn around in their lives and are role models to the other youths around them.
During the ceremony, semester one honor roll students were also honored, along with the newly formed volunteering Interact Club. It was a day of applauding great achievements with Mercedes Requena winning yet another award, this one for National Youth Award for Environmentalism.
Ocean Academy joined parents, media representatives, Board of Governors, education officers in congratulating the outstanding students. Source: San Pedro Sun
General Situation: High pressure ridge over country continues to support fair and mostly dry weather. 24hr Forecast: Variably cloudy and mild with light isolated showers over the sea and to the south. Winds: East to Northeast at 5 to 15 knots. Sea State: Choppy. Outlook: Through Sunday: Similar weather conditions prevail. Highs: 27°C/80°F – Lows: 21°C/70°F
Island Apparel is opening it’s doors at 9:00 am today. Located across from Sundancer on Middle Street in downtown San Pedro, Island Apparel features clothing and accessories for the entire family, and specializes in plus sizes and stylish childrens clothing. Stop by for their grand opening this morning to see what the fuss is all about!
The James couple arrived on Ambergris Caye for a nice Belizean vacation on Thursday, February 25th. However, March 1st proved to be one of the most tragic days for Dianne James, who now returns home to St. Peter’s, Missouri, USA, a widow.
The couple decided to visit the great Blue Hole, it was one of 54-year-old Richard James’ and his lifelong dive buddy, Dennis Baker’s dream to dive the site. Dianne accompanied the group and snorkeled the famous sinkhole while Richard and Dennis dove. The day prior to their Blue Hole dive, Richard and Dennis had enjoyed two great dives outside the reef of Ambergris Caye. The two eagerly discussed their dive plans scheduled for the following day.
The James’ had visited Belize in two separate occasions prior to this February trip. However, in both those occasions, they had visited the country on board a cruise ship which had a stop in the country. They both knew they wanted to return and spend a few days on the island, enjoying the sights while Richard indulged in his love for diving. For the past 13 years, the couple had been accompanied to various trips by Dennis and his wife. For approximately 12 of those 13 years, the two men had enjoyed a lovely kinship stemmed from each other’s love of the great underwater world.
On that fateful Monday, the men carried out all their precautions for the 130 foot dive. “We made sure our equipment worked properly. We reached our maximum depth of 130 feet for eight minutes and had our safety stop prior to surfacing. Everything in the dive went well,” explained Dennis. However, shortly after resurfacing, Richard who held on to the ladder of the dive boat, removed his first fin and, “that is when I glanced at him and saw that he was having trouble removing his second fin,” stated Dennis. That is when personnel aboard the dive boat realized that Richard was having serious problems and worked on getting him out of the water and unto the boat. (Continue Reading)
The San Pedro Tour Guide Association (SPTGA) held a general meeting last Thursday at the San Pedro Lions Den where issues impacting the Tour Guides within the community were dealt with. However, the two biggest issues were the explanation of the Sport Fishing License law and the proposed Sardine Statutory Instrument.
Present for the brief explanation of the Fishing License was Colin Gillet of the Coastal Zone Management Authority Institute (CZMAI). During his brief presentation, Gillet explained that anyone who wants to catch a fish must first obtain a fishing license which bears a cost of $20 per week, $50 per month and $100 per year. In an interview with Billy Leslie, President of SPTGA, there was much opposition to the Fishing Act for two important reasons: The Pricing System and the fact that all Belizeans are being charged the fees. During the meeting, many made their displeasure visible through their comments. Many believe that only sports fishermen should require a license to fish and not the ordinary Belizean fishing off of the end of a dock.
According to Leslie, the economic crisis will affect those that are unable to purchase a license. Leslie explained that the $20 a day fee is higher than what is collected for the same license in other neighboring countries. Under the law, anyone, Belizean or tourist, who attempts to catch one snapper for dinner is required to have a license. This was corroborated by Gillet during an interview, explaining that anyone that throws a line at sea in an attempt to catch fish needs to have a license. However, he further stated that exemptions will be carried out, for example, based on age and location of fishing. “These are still being worked out,” he explained.
The Dutch show is one of Europe’s major travel shows, attracting around 20,000 visitors on each of the five days. Nick Davies, Chairman of BHA’s Marketing Committee, explained that BHA’s ongoing work in Europe, and particularly Holland, had raised awareness of Belize to a level where they could now afford to target people more effectively.
“We took a booth this year in the long-haul destination area of the show, close to the Nicaragua and Panama booths, creating a “Central America” section which allowed us to concentrate on quality enquiries, and generating strong sales prospects for BHA’s Global Marketing Initiative participants.”
BHA representative, Sandra van Noord, also took the opportunity to attend a TUI party in Amsterdam. She said,
“TUI is Europe’s leading travel group, operating in 180 countries worldwide and with 30 million customers. We’ve met with them several times at various travel events, and their interest in Belize is steadily growing to the point where they are now ready to visit Belize with a view to expanding their range of holidays. This is a particularly exciting development for us, with the prospect of accessing the huge potential the European market offers.”
In Canada, Robin McCutcheon and Steve Christensen represented the BHA in Toronto at the Toronto Ultimate Travel Show, and enticed visitors to the booth with maps, bookmarks, and the wonderful “Hot Mama’s fudge” give-aways.
Robin commented
“Belize had a great presence at the show, and we benefitted from a prime location opposite a huge tank with non-stop diving exhibitions from a dive club which is visiting Belize in March.
We find that many Canadians still associate Belize with diving, so this was a great opportunity to educate them in the diverse range of inland activities, and our banners featuring Maya sites and fishing really helped reinforce the message that Belize offers something for everyone.”
BHA’s representatives distributed over 1100 brochures at the two shows to high quality ‘prospects’, and generated 50 sales leads for GMI members. This brings the total brochures distributed to over 4000 and over 500 travel trade sales leads for participants since the start of the Global Marketing Initiative in November 2009. Source: Portofino.bz
General Situation: High pressure ridge over country continues to support fair and mostly dry weather over the next few days. 24hr Forecast: Sunny skies with some cloudy periods today. Partially cloudy and cool tonight. Winds: North to Northeast at 5 to 15 knots. Sea State: Choppy. Outlook: Through Saturday: Similar weather conditions prevail. Highs: 27°C/80°F – Lows: 18°C/65°F
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Ambergris Daily is your source for News and Information about San Pedro, Ambergris Caye and the rest of Belize. Do you have an event that needs publicizing, a news tip or question? Contact Ambergris Daily by email: info@ambergrisdaily.com
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Great Commercial Spaces available in the Vilma Linda Plaza (the purple building downtown). Available (1) Huge space on the ground floor over 800 sq ft and (2) spaces on the second floor. Phone now and get a great deal on your first months rent. Leases for more than a year get a discount.
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