NATIONAL NEWS

Toledo Cacao Festival May 18-20 2007

Cacao - or cocoa as many people know it - has played a dominant role from ancient times, when the Maya first discovered the 'magical' process that transformed it into chocolate, right through to the modern day. The Toledo District - Belize's southernmost district - is home to the organic cacao orchards where the pods are grown and harvested, and later processed into the world - renowned Maya Gold chocolate, which is itself based on the ancient Maya "kukuh" drink, flavored with spices and sweetened with rainforest honey.

Punta Gorda plays host to the first Toledo Cacao Festival, held over the Commonwealth Day holiday weekend, form the 18th to the 20th May. The festival will be opened by the Governor General, HE Sir Colville Young, at the wine and chocolate evening on Friday 18th May. Held at the rooftop terrace of PG Sports Bar, with music by the Pallotti Chamber Group, visitors can enjoy a selection of international wines, and exciting new cocktails using Belizean wines - try the Cosmopolitans made with Craboo wine! Although traditionally used for desserts, chocolate also works surprisingly well in a number of savoury dishes, and a range of chocolate themed hors d'oeuvres are available, from chocolate chicken satay to vodka chili chocolates, cacao-dusted shrimp tostone, and spicy sausage bites with mole sauce.

The chocolate-theme continues at the Taste of Toledo cookery and craft fair in PG's Central Park on the Saturday, with chocolate-making demonstrations, chocolate soy ice cream, and a new-recipe chocolate seaweed drink, as well as a new range of embroidered Maya bags an a range of other craft items. Whilst parents enjoyed browsing the craft fair children can take part in the supervised Cacao for kids activities, with the opportunity to win a number of prizes including boat rides, and a swim'n'lunch package at the new Machaca Hill Lodge. Sea Toledo offer the opportunity for visitors to get a taste of Toledo's Port Honduras Marine Reserve, with snorkeling trips to Frenchman's Caye for just Bz$45. per person, and shorter bay view rides to the Rio Grande and Moho Rivers for just Bz$5. per person.

Well known for 'off-the-beathen-track' jungle activities, Sunday's Cacao Trail takes visitors inland to Toledo's chocolate country to visit the organic cacao plantations and learn how the pods are grown, harvested and processed, and then on to one of Toledo's Many attractions including Blue Creek and Rio Blanco Falls, jungle hiking from Pueblo Viejo Village, and Maya cultural tours of Lubaantun and San Jose Village.

Toledo is home to a surprising number of musicians, and the "Culture in Harmony" music events on Saturday evening showcases some of the new musical talent in the District, and PG legends Paul Nabor and "Lee-Laa" Vernon will perform at the Festival Fireworks Finale on the Sunday evening, which also features the grand raffle with a host of prizes.

Committee Chairperson, Darla Mallory, commented, "Toledo is known for so many things - our wide range of cultures, our of-the-beaten-track jungle adventure, our marine environment, and of course out chocolate! The Festival aims to provide something for everyone, with many free events, and we want to highlight the many flavours of the District. This is the first of an annual community even which will establish Toledo as the chocolate capital of Belize!

None of the Committee has undertaken anything on this scale before, and we've obviously had an incredible amount of help in organizing the event and wide-ranging community support. One of our aims is to complete a community project as part of each year's festival, and we have started this year with the re-painting of Central Park, as the first stage of a longer-term planting project. We couldn't have done this without the help of the BDF and several local sponsors, including Belize Minerals who pressure-washed the structures, and many, many local business who donated paint in addition to Benny's.

We're seeing server al guest snow choosing Placencia and Punta Gorda for two-centre holidays, and with our proximity to each other, the unspoiled and friendly natures of both communities, we believe it's an ideal partnership. We hope that many people from the peninsula will visit the CacaoFest, and help make this first year a sweet success.

For more information, e-mail info@ToledoChocolate.com, call the Festival office on 667-2483 or visit www.ToledoChocolate.com .

The Revitalization of Punta Gorda's Central Park is this year's Toledo Cacao Festival's Community project. Photo courtesy of the Toledo Cacao Festival Committee

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BELIZE CITY, Belize (April 20, 2007) – The Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) would like to share our concerns after finalizing our investigations with regards to Larry Yarmus - “recruiting young Belizean women to work as prostitutes within the tourism Industry”.

Belize’s tourism product has been successfully branded as a nature based adventure destination. Our largest growth segments are destination weddings, honeymoons, and the family adventure niches. Clearly these are not the type of tourist seeking the type of tourism that Mr. Yarmus has advocated.

BTIA stands firmly against any threat that could harm the best interest of our dynamic tourism industry and the dignity of our citizens working within our sector.

Since the official launch of our “Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism” on August 3rd, 2006, the BTIA has embarked on cross training programs in collaboration with ECPAT U.S.A. and our industry partners, The Belize Hotel Association, Belize Tourism Board, Belize National Tour Guides Association, Programme for Belize, and Rainforest Alliance.

As responsible tourism leaders, we implemented the Code of Conduct in Travel and Tourism. Consequently, we took the necessary actions:

1. To establish an ethical policy against commercial sexual exploitation of children

2. To educate and train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations.

3. To introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating the common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

4. To provide information to travelers by means of catalogues, brochures, etc

5. To provide information to local “key persons’’ at the destinations.

6. To report annually.

Maria Vega – Project Coordinator, explains that “As the largest private sector tourism membership organization the BTIA is obliged to lead the way in protecting our children from sexual predators. We have pledged to continue our broad based trainings countrywide, and will work diligently to strengthen our networks so that episodes such as these are reported and not repeated”.

For more information about the ongoing campaign on our Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, please contact the BTIA at telephone 227-5717 / 1144, E-Mail: info@btia.org or visit our website at www.btia.org.

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Judy Sheinbaum is the artist that created this year’s Placencia Lobsterfest 2007 t-shirt design. This beautiful watercolor received the highest number of the votes during the Placencia Peninsula Arts Association 4th Annual Sidewalk Festival.
Judy and her husband Ivan came to Belize nearly eleven years ago. They actually drove to Belize from Toronto, Canada, in a motor home- through the States and Mexico and then down to Belize City and barge over to Ambergris Caye! They parked the motor home on their lot and lived in it for three years until they had completed construction of their first two monolithic domes which eventually became Xanadu Resort.
The buildings at Xanadu are hurricane proof monolithic domes- one piece round concrete construction from the foundation up and can withstand almost anything Mother Nature can throw can them! They are extremely strong and well insulated and all have thatch palapa roofs to give them a truly Caribbean look! www.xanaduresort-belize.com
Shortly after they arrived in San Pedro Judy met another artist and they started getting together once a week to paint. Their group has grown to nine members and still meet once a week. They enjoy painting together and find that they inspire each other to experiment with new techniques and mediums.
Ivan and Judy are originally from South Africa and have lived, sailed and traveled to a number of different Countries including Israel, France, Greece, Turkey, and Canada before coming to Belize. Judy has always painted in watercolors, pastels, acrylics and also collages and really enjoys mixed media.
Judy has sold a number of paintings and also has them at Orange Gift Store and Isla Bonita Gallery in San Pedro. A lot of paintings have been sold to guests at Xanadu where they are displayed on the wall of the suites!
Stop by the Placencia Tourism Center to check out Judy’s painting and look out for this year’s Placencia lobsterfest t-shirt-scheduled to be on sale early June.
Who’s on this year’s shirt???? Mariposa Beach Suites, Barefoot Rental, A.L. Construction, Barefoot Beach Bar, Miramar Apartments, The Placencia Hotel & Residences, Wallen’s Market Ltd., Scotiabank Placencia, Placencia Adventure Tours, Paradise Vacation Hotel, The Inn at Robert’s Grove, Caribbean Treasures, Chabil Mar villas, Maya Beach Hotel, Wendy’s Restaurant & Bar, Moorings Belize Ltd, Crow’s Nest Café, Bar and Grill, Seahorse Dive Shop, Tipsy Tuna Sport Bar, & Calico Jack’s Village and this year’s sleeves belong to The Peninsula Club of Belize and South Belize Platinum Design & Development!!!!

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1. Considering that most climate models are projecting a possible cold phase of ENSO to evolve during the trimester May-June-July, 2007;
2. Considering also that most models are maintaining warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean and the tropical North Atlantic Ocean;
3. Considering that the April 3, 2007 projection are indicating an above normal 2007 Hurricane Season for the North Atlantic Basin;
4. Considering also a normal onset of the 2007 Rainy Season for Belize based on analysis of analogous years for the MJJ 2007 trimester;
5. Noting also that Contingency Table analysis with climate indices such as Niño1+2, Niño 4.3,  the Multivariable ENSO Index and the North Atlantic Index for FMA correlated with the MJJ rainfall for Belize, resulted in a higher probability of normal rainfall for most stations:

     
The outlook for the northwestern Caribbean and Belize is for a higher probability that rainfall accumulation for the May-June-July 2007 trimester will be within the normal range, with a tendency for above normal rainfall in the hilly interior and southern districts.

The hot, dry conditions will persist during May, interrupted occasionally by moderate to severe thunderstorm outbreaks generated by heat lows, which may be interpreted as an early start of the Rainy Season.

Most of the rainfall accumulation during MJJ 2007 will coincide with the first peak of the rains in June and July, with the likelihood of generating early floods in the Cayo, Stann Creek and Toledo districts.

Note that the threat or direct impact of an early season tropical storm or hurricane can result in extreme hydrometeorological conditions across Belize which may change this seasonal Outlook significantly.

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You’ve probably heard about the Climate Change effects: rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth’s changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some weird ways. Here’s a list of the Top Ten:
Aggravated Allergies: Over the past few decades, more and more of us have started suffering from allergies and asthma. Research has shown that the higher carbon dioxide levels and warmer temperatures associated with global warming are also playing a role by prodding plants to bloom earlier and produce more pollen.
Animals Moving Up: Researchers found that many animals have moved to greater elevations, possibly due to changes in their habitat caused by global warming. Similar changes to habitats are also threatening Arctic species like polar bears, as the sea ice they dwell on gradually melts away.
Frozen Flowers: Arctic plants usually remain trapped in ice for most of the year. Nowadays, when the ice melts earlier in the spring, the plants seem to be eager to start growing. Research has found higher levels of chlorophyll in modern soils than in ancient soils, showing a biological boom in the Arctic in recent decades.
Lakes? Where? No less than 125 Arctic lakes have disappeared in the past few decades indicating that global warming occurs more at the North and South Poles. Research has shown that probably the permafrost under the lakes had thawed allowing the water to seep through the soil. When the lakes disappear, the ecosystems they support also lose their homes.
Thawing Underground: Not just glaciers, but permanently frozen soil beneath the ground is thawing as well., causing sink holes and damage to homes, highways, rail tracks and even mountain rockslides and mudslides.
Only the Strongest: Because plants bloom earlier in the year, animals that wait until their usual time to migrate might miss out on all the food. Those who can reset their internal clocks and set out earlier stand a better chance at having offspring that survive and thus pass on their genetic information, thereby ultimately changing the genetic profile of their entire population.
Satellites that Zoom: Air molecules create drag that slows down satellites, requiring engineers to periodically boost them back into their proper orbit. Sparser molecules in the upper atmosphere collide less frequently and tend to radiate their energy away, cooling the air around them. With more carbon dioxide emissions, more cooling occurs, causing the air to settle. So the atmosphere is less dense and creates less drag.
Mountains High: The Alps and other mountain ranges have experienced a growth spurt thanks to the glaciers melting. As glaciers melt the weight is off the mountains and the surface is slowly springing upward. The faster the warming, the higher the mountains.
Underwater Wonders of the World?: Rising seas and more extreme weather have the potential to damage irreplaceable historic sites, monuments to civilizations past. Floods attributed to global warming have already damaged a 600-year-old site, Sukhothai, which was once the capital of a Thai kingdom.
Forest Fire Frenzy: Over the past few decades, more wildfires have blazed across countrysides, burning more area for longer periods of time. Scientists have correlated the rampant blazes with warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt. When that occurs, forest areas become drier and stay so for longer, increasing the chance that they might ignite.

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The Ministry of Labour wishes to inform the public that the new increases in the Minimum Wage Rate for Agricultural Workers and Shop Assistants/Domestics come into effect on April 1, 2007.
In May 2006, a Minimum Wages Council was appointed in accordance with Section 6 (1) of the Wages Council Act, Chapters 302 of the Laws of Belize. The Council’s mandate, as reflected in its Terms of Reference, was to make wage regulation proposals and to recommend a revision of the Minimum Wages to determine whether there should be one rate for all categories of workers.
On December 29, 2006, the Minimum Wages Council presented its Final Report and recommendations to the Minister of Labour, Hon. Francis Fonseca and on January 8, 2007, Cabinet approved the Final Report and its recommendations, of which the following two were included:
The creation over the next three (3) years of one Minimum Wage Rate of $3.00 for ALL workers
(a) increasing the Minimum Wage Rate for Agricultural Workers from $2.00 to $2.50 in 2007, to $2.75 in 2008 and to $3.00 in 2010
(b) increasing the Minimum Wage for Shop Assistants/Domestics from $2.25 to 3.00 in 2007
For Agricultural Workers, this represents an immediate increase of 25% in their wage rate and for Shop Assistants/Domestics, a 33.3% increase.
This increase in the Minimum Wage will affect the lives of some 15,545 workers and their families, representing some 15.8% of the Belizean workforce.

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