Week of June 2, 2005                               Volume 7, #22 1. Artista Sanpedrana 2. New Games at Central Park 3. SPHS Announces Graduates 4. San Pedro High Alumni Receive Honors 5. Cabinet Discusses Actions to Avoid Financial Crisis 6. Powerful Storm Hits Cayo District

Artista Sanpedrana Elvie Guerrero Showcases Artwork Her versatility and talent makes her most likely one of the best artists in Belize, and last Friday, San Pedro’s Elvie Guerrero showcased her brilliant works of art during an exhibition held at the scenic Ramon’s Village Resort. Around 20 displays of bold, realistic, and abstract expressions were showcased inside the casual, naturally alluring settings of the scenic resort last Friday evening, viewed and appreciated by a large gathering of art enthusiasts. For Elvie, daughter of Gloria and Dimas Guerrero, it was only her third art exhibition held after five years. “For this exhibition, I wanted to portray my versatility through my paintings, which include both abstract as well as realistic expressions,” Elvie told Ambergris Today. “My works displayed last Friday really define my creative intuition, and for the first time, I showcased my preferences, and not what I assumed people would prefer to see, such as traditional island paintings.” This local artist’s talent came alive through her many works on canvas, using acrylic, watercolor, airbrush, charcoal, and pastels mediums. Many who viewed the wonderful exhibition last week thought that the art works were a product of different artists and were surprised to find out that only one local artist was responsible for the superb paintings. Elvie’s versatility and prowess on canvas comes as no surprise to those who know this gifted, young woman. From a very early age, she started demonstrating her talent and preference for art, a gift that she most likely inherited from her father, Dimas Guerrero. At seven years of age, she painted her first, beautiful work of art and presented it as a gift to her young cousin. While she attended St. Catherine’s Academy in Belize City, she pursued her art studies, and at St. John’s College, she was recognized and appointed to the Dean’s List as one of the top five artists who have attended the school. After junior college, Elvie sharpened her skills and earned tremendous experience while attending the “Universidad Del Mayab” in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, where she earned her B.A. from that prestigious university. During her five years in Merida, Elvie took courses in photography, graphic design, sculpture, airbrush, and computer animation. She also took special workshop courses with accomplished artists from Mexico and other countries, including adept students of Salvador Dali. Upon her graduation from university in 2002, she returned to San Pedro where she had kept very busy putting her studies and her natural art talent to good use. At last Friday’s exhibition, Elvie’s paintings were elegantly displayed in three sections at Ramon’s Village. The first group of paintings included bright, colorful paintings in both abstract and realistic mediums, including one work titled “Azul”, a crowd-favorite sold to a client from Houston, Texas. The second group of art works reflected Elvie’s “down days” or “jaded days”, which some viewers described as “dark” works of art. These included works titled “Transformation” and Elvie’s masterpiece, “Heritage Pride”, a stunning painting of a face denoting different ethnic groups; in Elvie’s words: “What I feel we as a people really are.” In her third and last group of paintings showcased, Elvie had paintings similar to the first group, but with very bold expressions. These included “La Llorona” depicting a Belizean folklore figure per Elvie’s imagination; “Sensual”, which depicted a bright, colorful, half-body nude of a woman, and the “Ray of Light” abstract, another favorite with the viewers, who for the first time were not seeing a local artist stick to only one medium during an exhibition. “I feel that I’ve evolved greatly since my last exhibition five years ago,” said Elvie. “The paintings exhibited last Friday were all my original ideas, my creative preferences, and not the traditional works of art usually showcased. In other words, the art works were totally Elvie. I felt I was taking a risk doing this, but I owed it to myself to be true to my creative intuition.” Elvie’s art exhibition at Ramon’s last Friday turned out to be quite a success, with many of her creative pieces being sold and many orders placed for her to work on. Hopefully, we will be able to appreciate this talented San Pedrana’s works of art with more frequency now, as the many attendees greatly appreciated her versatile flair on canvas. Photo Caption: 1. Elvie Guerrero with her painting of 'Heritage Pride". 2. Her depiction of 'La Llorona'. New Games at Central Park The newest additions to Central Park games are greatly enjoyed by children over the weekend. These were donated by Captain Morgan’s Retreat and the Town Council is planning to add two more games in the next couple of weeks. Photo Caption: New Games at Central Park   SPHS Announces Graduates San Pedro High School seniors are seen here engaging in the traditional signing of the uniforms once they know that they are graduating. Last week Friday, Principal Angel Nuñez met with each senior and went over their performance throughout their four years at the school, especially for their graduation exams wich took place a couple weeks ago. Classmates write farewell messages on each other's uniforms and even on their socks socks - an ago-old tradition! Congratulations to all the graduates. San Pedro High Alumni Receive Honors Three recent graduates of San Pedro High and now studying at Saint John’s Junior College in Belize City have been honored because they were in the honor roll in the business department of that institution. Miss Nicole Nuñez, Miss Liliana Nuñez, and Krystle Castillo received special recognition in a very warm program presented by the business department. Students and parents were hosted to a special banquet where speeches of recognition were offered, all in the effort to encourage excellence in future generations of students. Saint John’s Junior College is a prestigious institution of tertiary level education going back to some 40 years and the high school itself to over 100 years. These students and other San Pedro students attending St. John’s will be graduating this Sunday, at the Landivar Campus Gymnasium. Ambergris Today salutes these hard working intellectuals for their achievements and wishes them well in their future endeavors, whether in studies or in careers. We also encourage them to pursue in excellence so as to elevate the name of our beloved San Pedro. Photo Caption: Nicole Nuñez, Liliana Nuñez & Krystle Castillo. More than 200 students to graduate on island There are 430 educational institutions in Belize, which will be proudly holding graduation exercises for their students during the months of May, June and July. From the length and breadth of our country, pre-schools, primary, secondary, post- secondary, and tertiary schools will be issuing certificates, diplomas, and degrees to Belize’s well-educated young. In San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, there are 13 schools; of these, one is a junior college, two are high schools, seven are primary schools, and three are pre-schools, with one more high school to open in the near future (at the New Horizon Academy), and over 200 students will be graduating this year from these schools on the island. Of these, ABC Pre-school will be graduating the most, a whopping 57 students. Others schools with graduation ceremonies include San Pedro Pre-School with 25 students graduating on July 3; Little Angels Pre-school, 33 students, on June 25; New Horizons Academy, 5 students, on June 26; San Pedro High School, 35 students, on June 12; L.I.F.E., 10 students; Isla Bonita Elementary, 5 students, on June 22; and Maestro Reyes School of Knowledge, 11 students. Other schools holding graduations will be San Pedro Junior College and St. Peter’s Elementary and High School. As we celebrate these commencement exercises for all the proud graduates on the island, Ambergris Today takes the opportunity to congratulate them on their achievement. It is always wonderful to see our fellow Belizeans partaking in the acquisition of knowledge and accomplishing their educational goals, as an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Cabinet Discusses Actions to Avoid Financial Crisis At a meeting last Thursday, the Belize Cabinet met to discuss extensively the actions and decisions necessary to avert the possibility of any financial crisis and ensure a sustainable fiscal and external position for the country. According to a government press release, the policy actions decided upon during the meeting have three main objectives- the maintenance of the exchange rate peg, fiscal sustainability within the shortest possible time, and debt stabilization. The Policy Actions agreed to by government include: Settling the BTL matter and disposing of the remaining shares; Pursue the orderly liquidation plan for the DFC and, by so doing, indicate that in the foreseeable future the DFC will no longer be a drain on the public purse; Pursue, through legal means, those who owe Government and other public sector bodies; Build social consensus in support of the adjustment program; and Develop, in consultation with the IMF, a medium term adjustment program, including fiscal and monetary adjustment measures, without entering into a formal IMF standby program. The Adjustment Program - Cabinet discussed and decided upon the nature, framework and content of the programme to be adopted and implemented in the shortest possible time. The adjustment program will be based on the commitment to protect the fixed exchange rate, strengthen creditworthiness and access to finance and maintain investor confidence. Cabinet recognized that adjustment will be a difficult process and that there are three critical elements for its success. The first is broad-based national consensus on both the objectives and the elements of the programme. The second is international credibility. The third is the tenacity to “stay-the-course” of adjustment. Adjustment will combine both fiscal and monetary policies in a program to reduce aggregate demand in the economy. In the public sector, there will be action to further reduce the fiscal deficit by cutting expenditure and raising additional revenue. In the private sector, this will require action to tighten liquidity and reduce credit creation. Both these sets of policies should be designed to reduce the demand for imports and therefore the demand for foreign exchange. Framework for the Adjustment Program- The Government will not be entering into a formal standby arrangement with the IMF. The adjustment program will be undertaken in consultation with the IMF and other International Financial Institutions. The Government of Belize will be requesting the IMF to undertake regular performance assessments to determine effectiveness of implementation. The Government of Belize will be moving expeditiously and decisively with the program to signal to the international community the firmness of our commitment to the adjustment program. Content of the Adjustment Program- The Cabinet reviewed and accepted the recommendation of the Finance Technical Team to go for an overall adjustment target of $70 million for the rest of the fiscal year. Areas of Expenditure Cuts- Reduce recurrent expenditure by at least $20.0 million; Reduce Capital II expenditure by at least $10.0 million; Reduce Capital III expenditure by $10.0; The remaining $30.0 million will be achieved through measures, that will include; Closing loopholes in stamp duty on transfers; Imposing a moratorium of fiscal incentives, EPZs and CFZs, save in very exceptional circumstances; Improving tax collection and raising revenue on non-essential commodities. The Government is in the process of reviewing, through the Tax Reform Commission, the entire tax system to bring about a tax system that is more equitable and to make tax collection more efficient. This revamping of the tax system is expected to bring about further tightening on losses of revenue to the Government. The Central Bank has taken further measures to tighten liquidity by raising the cash reserve requirement by 1% effective May 1, 2005. As a further measure to slow down the growth of liquidity, the Bank has arranged for the Social Security Board to deposit its surpluses into the Central Bank over the next 12 – 18 months. The impact of these measures is to be closely monitored to determine whether there is need for further tightening in the upcoming period. As an expected result of these measures, the commercial banks have begun to sell foreign exchange to the Central Bank to meet their reserve requirements. Other monetary policy issues which will be addressed shortly are the closure of the cambios, the rationalizing the classification of other approved liquid assets, the transfer to Government of a Central Bank loan to DFC and the implementation of the decision in respect of the liquidation of the DFC. The Cabinet also decided that debt restructuring to ease debt servicing pressures will be a part of the overall adjustment strategy. Early relief from debt service pressures can only come from successful debt renegotiation/refinancing with existing commercial creditors. This would involve extensive negotiations whereby creditors will be asked to accept reduced payments over a longer period of time as compared to their current amortization profiles. From: Press Statement on Cabinet Meeting, May 26, 2005. Powerful Storm Hits Cayo District A very powerful storm with strong winds, torrential rain, lightning and thunder, hit the towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio in the Cayo District last week, Wednesday afternoon, causing heavy damage in the municipalities as it passed through. The roofs of homes and schools were blown away, trees were uprooted and lamp-posts were snapped like matchsticks, leaving many people disoriented after being hit by the kind of storm that just doesn’t happen in the Cayo district. Two of the schools affected were Santa Elena Primary School and Faith Nazarene School, but luckily none of the students were hurt. “When this happened, we were using the auditorium because some children were practicing in there,” said Manuel Medina, Principal of Santa Elena Primary School. “All of the kids were indoors because it was raining heavily and they had just gone in after break. So there were not children running up and down until the roof started to fly off (the school), then you know there was a big commotion and some of the children started coming down to shelter at the bottom floor.” The storm started around 3:15 p.m., with the rain and wind coming in strong gusts, accompanied by lots of thunder and lightning. “I was standing by my office door looking out and I saw a big piece of the roof come sailing over in front of the yard,” said Lavern Flowers, Principal of Faith Nazarene School. “I shouted after the children upstairs to come down to the second floor through the office door, and they ran into the safety of the rooms on the second floor. I was very scared. I didn’t know what to do…I saw one chunk come off (the roof) and then I saw another chunk come off and a lot of the children were crying.” Other witnesses said that the tornado-like storm uprooted, twisted and snapped giant trees like twigs, as if a small hurricane had passed through. “This (storm) came as a surprise and people are fearful because if this was only a storm and it caused so much damage. What if a hurricane would come?” said Mayor Alfonso Cruz. “So for instance, we have the school in Santa Elena which has been declared as a hurricane shelter and this storm that hit us yesterday blew about 3 or 4 pieces of their zinc so I think we need to secure these areas that have been declared hurricane shelters.” Last Friday, town council workmen and many residents were cleaning up the debris left in the wake of the freak storm. According to Mayor Cruz, the Town Council only owns one truck for the whole municipality, so he made a call to the Ministry of Works in Santa Elena, as well the Agriculture Department in Central Farm to assist the towns with trucks, trailers, and tractors to assist with cleaning efforts. Manuel Medina of Santa Elena Primary School said that practically the entire half portion of 6 classrooms were blown away by the storm, causing some $5,000 in damages for the zinc alone. The classrooms had only recently been completed in January of this year, and students had just started using them. As for Faith Nazarene School, Flowers said: “We lost 25 sheets of zinc and as you can see the lumber and everything came down with it. Our rough estimate is $3,900.” One homeowner said that damages to his house resulted in about $20,000, and he had no money for repairs. “This time around, I have to work harder to rebuild,” he said. And that is the best hope for these towns that for the first time have the unenviable experience of rebuilding after a hurricane-like storm tore through them. Last week, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) said that it had dispatched teams to the affected areas in the twin towns and estimates have been made for assistance to be provided to those affected. Mayor Alfonso Cruz also said that he’ll be establishing a relief fund to assist those affected. BEL Works to Restore Power in Santa Elena Town In the aftermath of the intense thunderstorm that affected the twin towns, Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) sustained damages to its distribution system due to fallen trees on power lines. The damages resulted in the loss of power supply to approximately 1000 customers in the municipalities, and work crews were dispatched immediately, restoring power to most residences by Friday. Source: News5. Photo Caption:1. Mango trees snapped and fell on house. 2. Part of Santa Elena RC School’s roof was blown away. AMBERGRIS TODAY Dorian Nuñez 501-226-3462 San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye Belize, Central America ambertoday@btl.net