| San Pedro Daily |  |
Wednesday,
January
13,
2010 Belize's Daily- 7 Days a Week |
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ISLAND
SUPERMARKET "Best Prices - Best Quality - Best Service" Phone: 501-226-2972 or 501-226-2973 FREE DELIVERY IN TOWN |
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Lighted Boat Parade donates
to island organizations Lighted Boat Parade committee members
presented checks to community
organizations this morning. Donations were handed out to the San Pedro
AIDS Commission in the sum of $1,500 while Holy Cross Anglican School
and the Calendar Girls committee received $750 each.
 The donations were made possible by the Boat
Parade committee based on
monies remaining after all the bills had been paid. It is a way of
giving back to the community that made this year’s Boat Parade a
success, commented Chairlady of the committee Jan Brown.
San Pedro Sun Constructive criticism at Central
Bldg Authority quarterly meeting
Representatives from the Local Building
Authorities gathered today
for the first quarterly meeting in 2010 with the Central Building
Authority. The group convened to discuss their plan for the year as
well as the safety hazards that are often overlooked in the design of
buildings. Philip Waight, the chairman of the Central Building
Authority, explained some of the areas that need to be addressed and
the steps they plan to take. Waight says there are plenty shortfalls in
the design of buildings in Belize, but there are new standards to be
established with the use of International Building Codes.
Philip Waight, Chairman, Central Building Authority In terms of the buildings, it’s mainly not the building or the actual construction of the buildings, it’s actually what they are constructed for; the use. Many times, because we are used to doing things without standards, rules, etcetera, we find that we don’t always put in the adequate entrances, the adequate exits, proper lighting. Sometimes the tiles are not appropriate for the floors—indoors or outdoors. So there's a number of different areas in people movement; you will find that the place might be designed for occupying two hundred and fifty people but the exit door is relatively small so if there's a fire you can’t really come out and there's not enough exits. So there's a number of areas throughout the buildings, past and present, that need to be addressed from the design and usage point of view. Delahnie Bain Do you have kind of guidelines or anything like to address these areas? Philip Waight Yes, as I said, the professionals, the engineers, the architects and the country knows that the International Building Codes (IBC) is a set of codes that we’re using to determine the standards by which we will be constructing in Belize. This is tied close to the rest of the Caribbean. The rest of the Caribbean, under a project called Cross Q, is using the same international building codes, but we’re sort of localizing it where we are making amendments to make it specific to the respective territories in the Caribbean. We want to improve the reporting between the local authorities and the Central Building Authority. While we communicate verbally, we need to have that data gathered. Another big aspect is to upgrade our level of inspection. There are two inspections at least that we want to accomplish. One of the most important is the occupancy certificate and we need them to go out and inspect before people start occupying the property. Another area that we would want to accomplish is again to get some training of inspectors between now and our next meeting in March. The quarterly meetings are attended by representatives from Local Building Authorities in each of Belize’s municipalities.CH5 Has Belize Natural Energy
found new oil field? 
Has there been a new source of black gold,
sweet crude oil being
found in Belize? An online report from the Belfast Telegraph, a news
outlet in Ireland announced that Susan Morrice of Belize Natural Energy
(BNE) has found a new source of the most sought after natural resource
in the country. The Belfast article said that investors shared a pot
of ten million pounds and received payouts of up to seven hundred and
fifty thousand pounds. And to cement Miss Morrice's belief that there
was a rich source of oil in Belize, BNE declared its second oil field
last month.. News Five made several calls to BNE to confirm the oil
find but our calls went unanswered. If this is so, it could only spell
good news for the stuttering economy. However, the well may be the one
that Prime Minister Dean Barrow referred to at his quarterly press
conference last October. Two wells were expected to be dug within the
seven hundred and fifty thousand acres of the Gallon Jug area behind
Blue Creek in Orange Walk. At the time the P.M. was hopeful that the
second one would bring in much needed oil revenues.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow (October 30, 2009) I’ve been told that the second well that is to be dug, which is fairly close to the first well, has in terms of the data, an even higher potential than the first well which causes me to say two things. Well, it better be higher because since the first well showed nothing. And then if that is so, why unnu neva dig deh first? But I am not an expert and they have their own reasons. When the first well was dug and the data was retrieved, the data was analyzed abroad and there was a suggestion that perhaps something had been missed and that some pockets of pressure might well have contained oil and gas. They went back and I believe what they found was salt water, which was a hell of a downer. So now it appears that that chapter is closed where it concerns the first well. What has held up by little, the digging of the second well, is the fact that the rains had messed up the terrains and they needed the ground to dry out before they could do their thing. Drilling of that second well is supposed to start very early next month or by the middle of next month and as I’ve said now that you’ve brought all this to light, all of us will be keeping our fingers and toes crossed that the data doesn’t fool us and that in fact, the kinds of large reserves that that data suggests might be there, do materialize. Currently, BNE is the country’s only successful petroleum producer and is pumping five thousand barrels of oil per day from ten wells at Spanish Lookout. The latest statistical report says that there has been a twenty-five percent increase in oil production. CH5 POLICE PROPOSES FORMATION OF A
PROPER MARCHING BAND
Taiwanese Ambassador Joseph Shih has made a
generous donation of
marching band instruments to Governor General His Excellency Sir
Colville Young. According to a release the bulk of these wind and
percussion instruments will go to establish a proper Police Band.
According to the Governor General throughout the Caricom and Central
American Region, the Police have excellent marching bands that play an
important part in boosting music to various national festivals and
cultural events. Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries and Minister
Carlos Perdomo has pledged to see that the proposed Police Band
achieves high standards of which Belize can be proud. Both Minister
Perdomo and Commissioner Jefferies joined the Governor-General in
thanking the Republic of China Taiwan for its continued support for so
many aspects of Belize’s development, including music and the fine
arts.
Love FM Coping with the
Cold
A powerful cold front continues to
affect our weather tonight.
Since Sunday, night time temperatures have been hovering around record
lows. In fact on Monday morning, the record low at 12 stations was
broken. Baldy Beacon in Cayo was the lowest at 44 degrees. That though
is still not as cold as the 38 degrees recorded in the 1960’s! But it
is colder than it has been in years and according to the weather
forecasters it will remain cool.
Keith Swift Reporting, Belizeans have pulled out their sweaters, warm caps, jackets, and extra layers of clothing to cope with the cold. Woman #1, This is the worst cold I have ever seen. Woman #2, The cold is very cold very very cold. Man #1, It is very cold for me because I have to wake up soon in the morning to go to work but I still have to deal with it. For some it has been punishing. Woman #3, The cold the treat me bad. I live dah Caye Caulker and Caye Caulker feels like hell right now. Not hot, cold. Woman #4, Where I live it feels like ice age.I live dah Hattieville. Keith Swift, When last you experienced cold like this? Woman #4, Never. And while it is cold, forecaster Francesca Wellington says that Belize has seen colder days and colder nights. Francesca Wellington, Forecaster Belize Met Service Overall records have not been broken because the coldest temperature that we have recorded in the 1960s was 38 degrees Fahrenheit in Punta Gorda and 39 in the Sibun Hills. But yesterday the 11th of January we had records broken in most or several stations with outstanding, that was in La Milpa and the Baldy Beacon and they recorded 46 Fahrenheit at La Milpa and 44 in Baldy Beacon. Those were records broken for the month of January and for the day. The cold front is as a result of this high pressure system, seen here as this clouded area, which has basically been sitting over the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean since Saturday night. It is now slowly moving east. Francesca Wellington, The high pressure system was extremely strong, 1040 millibars, that is extremely strong, and we usually associate during this time cold air with these high pressure systems. Now this high pressure system is encompassing the entire United States and it is bearing down as far as Central America, encompassing the Gulf of Mexico, Northwest Caribbean, and as far down as Costa Rica. It has been moving very slowly eastwardly and that is why this cold air has been lingering over us. Temperatures will be warming up gradually and we will be experiencing some light rain and light showers on Thursday. But don’t put away those sweaters just yet. Wellington says another cold front will arrive on Friday. Francesca Wellington, Another cold front will be entering the Gulf of Mexico Friday and it should be crossing us Saturday. But also I observe that the high pressure system behind the cold front is not as strong as this one that has just crossed us. So temperatures overall will remain on the cool side but it won’t be getting as cold as this previous cold front. And more bad news: Wellington says we can expect a repeat of this week’s frigid temperatures before the cold season ends in April. Francesca Wellington, In the past we have gotten cold fronts like this but what I have observed over the past couple years is that the temperatures have not been dropping as low as this present cold front and it is quite possible that for the remainder of this winter season, we could another blast of cold air as this one. It is quite possible. Keith Swift, Do you think that this year we will break the record? Francesca Wellington, It is quite possible because this winter across the US has been extreme and just for your information, we are just getting the edge of this cold air. Can you imagine being in the center of this? And that is the absolute worst news for Belize’s most vulnerable like Rosa Garcia who is paralyzed and homeless. Rosa Garcia, Paralyzed I feel cold yes a lot of people last night were giving me blanket. We found no shortage of suggestions on how to cope with the cold. Woman #1, You have to drink your fever grass tea. Woman #2, Put on a sweater to keep you warm. Woman #5, Besides staying inside out of the cold, I have a pan which we light and keep a fire in it to keep the house warm. Francesca Wellington, I advise them to stay warm and this will sound strange but drink a lot of water because a lot of people tend to say I am not thirsty but your body can still become dehydrated and that causes your lips to become dry, cracked, and people even get blisters. So I would advise them to drink water, stay warm, and also use a lot of moisturizers on your skin, especially the older people.CH7 NOTICES
&
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Please
note
we
have
the
first
SACNW
General
Meeting
of
the
year
scheduled
for
today,
Wednesday,
13
January
2010.
The
meeting
will
be
held
at
Mr.
Joes
Grocery
and
Grill
at
7:00pm.
Please
attend
and support your
Neighborhood Watch!
AC CofC Meeting tomorrow, Thursday - Noon at Blue Water Grill
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© SAN PEDRO DAILY, PO Box 45, San Pedro Town, Belize. Inquiries to editor@sanpedrodaily.com |
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