Belize: Park Rangers graduates as Special Constables

Belize: In a small graduation ceremony held on March 24, 2021, at the Shipstern Nature Reserve in Sarteneja Village, Corozal District, Hon. Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, honoured 29 park rangers graduating as special constables.

The intensive training program was conducted from March 15 to 24, 2021. The Protected Areas Conservation Trust funded it. It co-designed and facilitated by instructors from the Police Training Academy, the National Biodiversity Office, and the Ministry’s legal counsel.

The training was designed to strengthen park rangers’ capacity to apply relevant biodiversity legislation (Green Laws) and equip them with knowledge of critical concepts and techniques such as evidence collection, a chain of custody, procedures on conducting proper investigations and case file preparation.

These rangers are now vested with the legal authority to carry out detention and arrests of persons encountered in environmental crimes.

Minister Habet implored the rangers to remain committed to the task of protecting Belize’s national assets for this generation and generations to come. 

He also affirmed his Ministry’s commitment to supporting partners through ongoing and future initiatives geared at improving skills and technologies for undertaking the invaluable conservation work in Belize.

Belize is encountering several activities. Recent gasoline’s prices have been increased; the Supplies Control Unit (SCU) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise is at this moment informing the general public that effective Friday, March 26, 2021, new fixed, controlled prices will be established for the purchase of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). 

This change now reflects the sale by wholesale volume and retail purchase by volume in urban and rural areas.

As the winter months wane, the monthly increase in March is due to a tempered rise in the US Gulf Coast’s acquisition prices.

The general public is urged that the prices established for imported LPG are based on the mixtures of 70:30 (Propane: Butane) only as per the Belize National Standard Specification requirement for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) BZS 21:2012.

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