Black Immigrant Daily News

by Khaila Gentle

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 21, 2022

Many will remember Mr. Owen Morrison as being a humble and patient man. He was one of the longest serving educators at the Belize Technical College (BTC), and the former head of the BTC Business Department, Mrs. Jennifer Hyde, remembers him as an influential man who was “good in every way.”

Mrs. Hyde spoke with us over the phone and recounted her memories of Morrison, who she says left a lasting impression on countless persons, students and teachers alike.

More than just an educator, he was also an advocate—for the poor, for his students, and for his fellow teachers. And the school at which he taught, The Belize Technical College, known as simply “Technical” to many, was more than just a school to him. On August 8th, 2004, he wrote in this newspaper that he was sad, and even bitter at times, to see the decline of what was once Belize’s largest public tertiary-level educational institution.

“The institution had been the only tertiary institution where poor people in this country were able to afford a decent, relevant, and alternative education in the Arts, Science, and Technology fields,” he said, and later went on to call the BTC a landmark and a crucial part of Belize’s history.

Former vice principal of the Belize Technical College, Ms. Georgia Belisle, also spoke with us. She said that she will always remember Mr. Morrison as the principal who was more a team leader than a boss.

“He was always respectful to your ideas. If he liked them, he was prepared to go to bat for you at all times. You always had his support, and we always supported him, too. It was a joy to work with him,” she told us.

Since his passing on the evening of September 20, there has been an outpouring of stories on how the beloved educator became a household name throughout Belize up until his retirement in 1991.

He was charismatic, energetic, and well-qualified for the task of managing the educational needs of hundreds of students at a time, wrote BTC alumni Karl E. Villanueva, who hails Morrison as one of the finest administrators of his time.

He was also a humorous man, and as Miss Belisle put it, a Jack-of-all-trades—willing to take up the roles of carpenter, plumber, mechanic, and even staff-party bouncer when needed.

“We always used to tell him he should write a book, because he was always telling us stories about when he was young and his exploits—humorous stories,” she said.

Owen Howard Morrison was fine educator. More than that, he was a fine man. AMANDALA sends our deepest condolences to all his friends, family members, former students, and former colleagues.

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The National Hurricane Center reported a 90% chance of development of this system over the next 5 days. 

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 22, 2022

As the fourth month of the Atlantic Hurricane Season nears a close, storm-formation activity is intensifying within the region—with a total of 5 current weather systems having been identified by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) as of this morning. One system currently barreling on a projected path toward Belize from the southeastern Caribbean Sea is said to have a 90% chance of development over the next 5 days and is expected to dump heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds, over Venezuela and the ABC Islands beginning today.

According to the NHS, at this time upper-level winds are inhibiting the development of the system, but these conditions are expected to be replaced by conditions more favorable to storm development as the storm continues further along the Caribbean Sea. It is forecasted to move west-northwest across the Central Caribbean this weekend, with a 70% chance of development over the next 48 hours.  

Advisories are also issued for Category 4 Hurricane Fiona, which was located several hundred miles southwest of Bermuda this morning and is heading towards Canada. This system is expected to once more dump heavy rains on Puerto Rico, resulting in more than 15 inches of rain, with a possible peak of 30 inches in some places. Widespread flash floods were triggered by the rains, causing damages that are likely to cost the country, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017, billions of dollars.

Tropical Storm Gaston is currently approaching an archipelago west of the Portugal mainland known as the Azores. Most recent reports said that it is currently located about 375 miles west-northwest of the Faial Island in the Central Azores, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph.

Besides these three systems, two others are currently in the Atlantic—one of which recently left the coast of Africa, and the other being a tropical wave that emerged over the warm waters of the Caribbean. The system is currently moving slowly, the NHS reports, between West Africa and the Cabo Islands.

Projections from Accuweather have one of these storms passing Belize and entering the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a Fox Weather report, the Atlantic Hurricane Season reached its “climatological peak” on September 10. The report identified this as the date when “the most tropical storms and hurricanes have roamed the Atlantic Basin in the historical records.” It further explained that “Early to mid-September is the time of year with the most optimal conditions for the formation of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic. This is when sea-surface temperatures reach their warmest levels of the season, upper-level winds in the tropical Atlantic Ocean tend to relax, Saharan dust is less widespread than earlier in the summer, and tropical disturbances frequently roll off the western coast of Africa.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

BIRD AIRPORT IS STIGMATIZING THE NAME

Observation by Airport Observer

Under the cover of the storm last weekend, a strange set of circumstances occurred at Bird Airport. The Prime Minister ag. Hon.Steadroy was made aware of a situation at the airport early Friday morning and immediately had the Permanent Secretary send out a directive to the Airport Management, to have aircraft seeking shelter from Storm Fiona accept the complimentary Storm Shelter offered by the Bizjet Hangar.

Having received the directive from the PM ag. the airport Management called the PM ag and advised him that they had stopped the aircraft from using the Bizjet Hangar because the Hangar was not insured, and requesting that he overturn the directive.

As a consequence, the directive was not overturned because the Minister was advised that the Airport Management has lied regarding the insurance of the hangar, a copy of the insurance cover was seen by him.

The directive was not overturned, the Airport Management just ignored the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile at the airport, the owners of a helicopter (US $800,000.approx) nervously called everyone they knew, as the winds picked up and they knew their helicopter would shortly be blown apart.

After they were told by a member of management that ‘ nothing goes into that hangar and nothing comes out,’ they realized they would have to accept the responsibility of securing their equipment.

So they pushed the helicopter against the tiny wind gusts across the ramp, and took shelter in an empty hangar with insecure doors, praying that the temporary shelter would preserve their helicopter.

Luck was with Antigua because looking at what happened to our neighbours, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico, had the storm hit Antigua, in the absence of secure Storm Shelter, their helicopter would have been just a heap of metal.

The next day the Airport Security went looking for the helicopter and advised they could not find it. After checking around, it was discovered that the Airport Security at two Gates allowed the owners to remove their helicopter from the Airport compound without Security notifying the Airport Management, making them look even more inept.

Under normal circumstances on a normal airport, this would be reason for an in depth investigation, and litigation for business interference and stigma damage by those whose businesses were affected.

In Antigua positions go by favours not by knowledge and experience.

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News

National Parent-Teacher Association president Kevin David. –

PARENTS of schoolchildren have varying views on the TT Unified Teachers Association’s (TTUTA) continued protests about wage negotiations.

After recently rejecting an offer for a four per cent salary increase, TTUTA has been calling on Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial to meet to negotiate further – but he has not been responding.

This led to the first protest on day one of this school term (September 5) where teachers stayed home from work.

It continued on Thursday and teachers only came out to work for the second half of the day.

And TTUTA has since said there will be another on Monday (Budget Day) where members will stay home to “reflect on what a 2022 budget could mean on your 2014 salary.”

President of the National Parents Association (NPTA) Kevin David told Newsday he would not “throw words” for TTUTA. He said since parents are made aware of these disruptions in the education system, they can take extra steps to ensure children continue to learn despite this.

“All parents need to step out of their comfort zone and work together to reduce the factors that affect our children from receiving a proper education.”

Asked how TTUTA’s protests are affecting students, he said, “That’s the thing – it’s affecting them negatively.

He said there is no intention for the NPTA and TTUTA to “be against each other” and that such a narrative would be pushed if he were to directly comment on the association.

One father of a standard two student told Newsday while he understands TTUTA’s right to fair wages, “I do not understand why it has to be at the expense of innocent children.

“The disruption caused by these particular types of protests, coming on the heels of the disruption already caused by the pandemic, should have nothing to do with the students who are simply trying to get an education from an already disadvantaged school system.

“No one is saying forfeit your protests, simply find a way to do so without affecting the upcoming generation who never asked to be a part of any of this.”

A father of a standard four student said, “As a parent, I can empathise with the plight of teachers who, despite their tireless efforts to educate and nurture our children, are still battling crippling inflation on a salary that is seven years old.”

A mother of a standard two and form four student said, “Covid19 already took a hit on these kids. This will just make it worse.”

And the mother of a child in form six (upper) said it’s annoying.

“The people who least affect the salary negotiations – students – are feeling the biggest brunt of the protest actions. Unions need to find better and more innovative ways to protest without hurting the students,” she said.”

Another mother added, “I totally understand their plight, but the frequent absence from school is unacceptable, especially yesterday’s (Thursday’s) action with that half day s—.

“I am thinking they should at least hold out until after the budget, and then if nothing is done, they (are) free to act up again.”

One father whose child attends private school told Newsday he has friends and relatives who teach at public schools and “it’s not easy.

“It’s not about them just wanting more money so they can lime and galavant. There are basic things that schools need that some teachers have to dip into their own pockets to provide, and a livable wage is not too much to ask for.”

Another said, “Prices are rising and four per cent is a low increase, especially due to the amount of time that has passed since there last salary increase.

“I am not very political but honestly, I think across the country we are faced with the same circumstances. It is a good thing for the union to stand up and be successful to show that at least as a nation, we have a voice. I think that is positive and important so I support the move.”

One parent alerted Newsday to the Education Ministry’s website, saying the links to the primary school curriculum do not work.

“Therefore, parents can’t use that as a guide during all these rest and reflect days,” she said.

When Newsday visited that section of the website, an error screen popped up after clicking the curriculum.

It says, “This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.”

Newsday contacted Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly for a comment but all calls and messages went unanswered.

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INGEZONDEN Het bezoek van de Nederlandse premier Mark Rutte aan Suriname werd door staatshoofd Chandrikapersad Santokhi gebracht als een hoogtepunt

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