Paul Lopez, Reporting

Tonight, in Dangriga, a wave of voter dissatisfaction is hitting local and national leaders alike, Mayor Robert Mariano, Area Representative Dr. Louis Zabaneh, and even Prime Minister John Briceño. A new survey by pollster and retired assistant professor Dr. Philip Castillo shows support for Dr. Zabaneh has plunged dramatically. Remember, he won big in 2020 with 61% of the vote, and his popularity soared even higher in 2025, when he secured 76.5%. But Dr. Castillo’s latest polling tells a very different story, one that suggests confidence in these leaders is slipping fast.

                 Philip Castillo

Dr. Philip Castillo, Retired Assistant Professor

“He is under water because I think he is at forty-one percent. Forty-one percent four out of every ten voters do not approve of the job he is doing. Again, we did not ask them why, but some citizens did provide an opinion. The opinions were in terms of accessing the area rep, there seems to be challenges in accessing him and meeting him and that specific issue.”

A closer look at the numbers shows Dr. Zabaneh lost support in Dangriga Town and Sarawee, but he’s still strong in outlying villages like Hope Creek. Responding to the poll, Dr. Zabaneh says he welcomes Dr. Castillo’s work, but argues that data collected closer to election time gives a truer read on how voters will actually decide.

                           Louis Zabaneh

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Area Representative, Dangriga

“First of all the size of the poll is relatively, but still helpful so I am not knocking it in that sense. But if you look at the last polls he has done they have been consistently lower that the actual performance. So, in my view I don’t believe that the numbers are that low, but even if they were, it is good to know so that you can take action.”

Paul Lopez

“One of the things people were saying is that you are hard to access.”

Dr. Louis Zabaneh

“Yes and that is the one that seems furthest from the truth. I am one of the area representatives that has consistent office hours. So on Thursdays, like for example tomorrow, I am at the office. I have an office that is open from Monday to Friday so that persons can go and they do go in. So beside the office hours on Thursday, I also visit on Saturdays because we have Dangriga, Sarawee and Hope Creek.”

Voters were also asked how they feel about the job Dangriga Mayor Mariano is doing. He first won the mayoral seat with 51% of the vote in 2021 and boosted his support to 63% in 2024. But today, his approval shows a slight dip from where he started back in 2021.

Dr. Philip Castillo

“He faces election next year, 2027. So, what the poll found this year is that he is back around forty-eight-point nine percent, just about fifty percent. But a poll has something called a margin of error, meaning that forty-eight percent could be as high as forty-eight plus six or forty-eight minus six. Seventeen percent did not have an opinion. They said not sure or they are uncertain.”

Voters also pointed to some persistent concerns in the municipality, they want better streets, improved garbage collection, and real action on unemployment, which many say remains a constant challenge. When we reached out to Mayor Mariano for a response, he told us, quote, “I am appreciative of Doctor Phillip Castillo and although the next Town Council elections are a little over a year away, and notwithstanding a lot can change within that time, I humbled by the favorable poll survey and results at this point in time… We are grateful for the public opinion and will do whatever we can to address their concerns.” But the most striking number in this poll is the prime minister’s approval rating in Dangriga. When voters were asked whether they approve of the job Prime Minister John Briceño is doing, just over half said they do not.

Dr. Philip Castillo

“I think it is only twenty percent. That is one in every five voters approve of the job that the prime minister is doing as prime minister. A similar percentage are not sure, but a substantially larger percentage say that they do not approve of the job he is doing at this point in time.”

Paul Lopez

“Is that in your observation a decrease in his approval ratings in Dangriga?”

Dr. Phillip Castillo

“No, I can’t answer that question because to the best of my knowledge this is the first ever poll being done of the approval rating of the prime minister, so there is no comparable data.”

For the prime minister, though, this poll may not move the needle. His political fate ultimately rests with voters in Orange Walk Central, the constituency that decides his future at the ballot box. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

The post Voter Sentiment Shifts: Major Leaders Lose Ground in Dangriga first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

Shane Williams, Reporting

A familiar and well‑known face in Dangriga has been silenced by gunfire. Just after nightfall on Friday, calm shattered in the Riverside area when thirty‑nine‑year‑old Bernaldo Gorosica, known to many as ‘Sparrow’, was shot and killed. Residents tell us they heard as many as ten gunshots ring out, several striking Gorosica and leaving him dead at the scene. Just moments earlier, his common‑law wife, Shantel Waight, had been preparing a meal for her family, when she received the devastating news that would change their lives forever.

                      Shantel Waight

Shantel Waight, Common-Law-Wife of Deceased

“I deh home the eat. I just done cook. I done cook wa lavish meal. I deh home the sit down the eat. And then I di get different calls from all kind of people and I say, aww man, I the eat. I want sit down and eat. I never expect I would have this, get this call bout Sparrow. Never. I would, you would hear Sparrow de out deh the do he other else lee thing with fi he girls but fi hear Sparrow da wa problem man. never. So when they call me and they tell me girl, Sparrow deh pan this ground. I da like how you mean? Now my intention was I was supposed to run out there the expect my baby pa get knocked down or I find my baby pa just hurt where we could rush he da the hospital, not knowing I wa see my baby pa pan the ground like that. They bwai de dark! And their days darker coming because this unfair. This da pass stupidness now.”

His common-law wife, Shantel Waight, says Gorosica was known for his generosity, often putting others before himself. It’s a trait that makes his sudden death even harder to accept.

Shantel Waight

“Everywhere Sparrow goh, Sparrow the laugh. Everywhere, everybody weh see Sparrow know that big smile weh he have pan fi he face. Sometimes he ah deh home with me, his friends they need something – this bow wa come home and this boy wa say he want. Them time I wa be like Spar, you don’t even know if people wah di look out for you like how you the look out fi them and he’s so nice.”

His sister remembers him as charismatic and full of life, a ladies’ man whose nickname, ‘Sparrow,’ taken from his pet dog, stayed with him for years.

            Monique Gorosica

Monique Gorosica, Sister of Deceased

“He had this habit of coming and jumping in my lap like a baby. And he would lick my face and I would tell him, boy, stop licking my face. And he say, you say I da dog sis and so he would lick my face and those are the things we are going to remember about him the most. He was just this joyful person, always smiling. Many people, if you talk to many people in the tongue, they will tell you that was him. He was always cracking a joke.”

While the family mourns, investigators continue to piece together what led to the fatal shooting.

               Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Gorosica was walking along South Riverside Street at the aforementioned date and time when an individual who was travelling in a grey, silver like Chevrolet vehicle, without license plate fired several shots in his direction. A police operation was immediately launched by the QR Team personnel and this led to a silver Chevrolet being pursued and intercepted near the outskirts of Dangriga Town. A male person was observed exiting the vehicle and making good his escape in the bushy terrain of that area. The vehicle has since been impounded and the identity of the registered owner has been ascertained. One person who police believe can assist with this investigation has been detained and another individual is being sought in connection with this ongoing investigation.”

Police are yet to announce an arrest, but say their investigation is active, and they are pursuing several leads. For a family now planning a funeral instead of a future, answers cannot come fast enough.

Monique Gorosica

“For us, vengeance is not ours. Vengeance is not ours. Vengeance is for the Lord. And whether we get earthly justice or not, which I wish we do get earthly justice, I know that God that we serve, he’s not asleep. And we will get through this together as a family. We will get through this. It hurts. It hurts. It really hurts.”

Shantel Waight

“People see.  People like, you would ah hard to find somebody say, oh, I see this or I see that.  Many people want the hide they self the protect they self but we wa get we justice.  The God we serve da wa mighty God. We will get fi we justice.”

Tonight, the Riverside community remains shaken and on edge after yet another life is claimed by violence. As police continue the search for those responsible, the family of Bernaldo ‘Sparrow’ Gorosica is left clinging to memories, and facing a painful reality: five children who will now grow up without their father. Shane Williams for News Five.

The post Popular Dangriga Resident Gunned Down at Riverside! first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police are investigating a shooting incident which resulted in the injury of Berchel Balthazar, a thirty-four-year-old Belizean fisherman of Wagierale area, Dangriga Town. The investigation commenced on Saturday seventeenth January, 2026 at approximately 6:15 PM when officers in that jurisdiction were alerted of shots being fired near the fish shed on the south of Riverside Street in Dangriga Town. Checks were made at that location and the scene was processed and the officers visited the Southern Regional Hospital where Mr. Balthazar was observed with apparent gunshot wounds. What we know so far is that two male persons onboard a motorcycle went to that location and fired shots towards that area, which resulted in the injury of Balthazar. Mr. Balthazar is not believed to have been the intended target in this incident, and the investigators have retrieved a number of video footage, which are being reviewed with a view to furthering this investigation.”

The post Gunman Open Fire on Dangriga Fish Shed first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

The post Fatal Machete Clash in Dangriga Leaves One Man Dead first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

According to Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith, “At approximately 3:30 AM on Monday 15th December, 2025, officers attached to the Dangriga Police Station were alerted that the alarms of the Belize Bank Limited, located on 2484 Ecumenical Drive, Dangriga Town, went off.”

Responding officers arrived at the location and observed signs of forced entry at the rear of the building. “Upon making further checks, they observed that the building was apparently ransacked,” ASP Smith said.

Police spoke with the branch manager, who confirmed that no cash was stolen. “From her review of the bank, nothing was stolen so far, neither financial nor electronic device,” Smith added.

Belize Bank Limited later issued a formal statement confirming the incident and reassuring customers that “no assets were compromised and all systems and operations remain fully intact.”

As a precaution, the branch delayed its opening until midday but will resume normal operations on Tuesday.

Police are currently following leads, including surveillance footage and reports of a vehicle seen fleeing the scene.

The robbery comes less than a month after the Dangriga sub-treasury was burglarised for the second time this year. At that time, less than $1,000 was reported stolen, and no arrests were made.

The post Belize Bank Confirms No Assets Compromised in Dangriga Attempted Robbery first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

                         Katharine Beamer

Katharine Beamer, Charge d’Affaires, US Embassy

“This facility is far more than the physical structure of bricks and mortar, it stands as a symbol of enduring partnership between the United States and Belize and our shared commitment to strengthening the rule of law, advancing forensic science and professionalizing criminal investigations. Together, we are working to ensure that justice is accountable, effective and fair for all Belizeans. Forensic science is indispensable to modern law enforcement. The ability to accurately collect, preserve, and analyze evidence is fundamental to solving crimes, securing convictions, and protecting the innocent.”

The post Dangriga Opens Forensic Hub for Scenes of Crime Technicians first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

The post Dangriga Sub Treasury Burglarized Again; Third Time in Two Years first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19, at a local bar and grill. Police report that an unknown male approached Armstrong and inflicted cuts to his body. Armstrong ran toward the bar area and collapsed.

He was taken to the Southern Regional Hospital, where he remains in stable condition. The investigation is ongoing.

Armstrong is believed to have survived a separate shooting earlier this year. He was shot multiple times near a village basketball court and told police he knows the person who fired the shots.

The post 18-Year-Old Stabbed in Dangriga first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

The incident occurred around 8:54 a.m. on Friday, September 12, when officers responded to reports of a shooting on VOA Road. Upon arrival, they found the body of Aymon Dellon Flores, a Belizean laborer of Punta Gorda, with apparent gunshot wounds.

Flores was rushed to the Punta Gorda Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The post Police Investigate Murder in Punta Gorda first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

The committee says the consultation is part of its mandate to encourage public participation in the legislative process under Section 69 of the Constitution. Citizens are invited to attend in person to voice their perspectives, concerns, and recommendations.

Those unable to participate directly may submit written feedback by September 30, 2025, addressed to the Clerk of the National Assembly via email at ClerkNA@bna.gov.bz, using the subject line: “Belize Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 2025.”

This upcoming session follows two earlier consultations, including one held in late July at the University of Belize’s Conference Center in Belmopan. That gathering drew only a small crowd but generated significant debate over the controversial bill, which the Briceño administration says is intended to address gang-related crime.

Supporters argue the measure is needed to give authorities stronger tools to combat escalating violence. But opponents worry it could grant police excessive powers, particularly regarding searches, seizures, and arrests.

Government officials used the Belmopan session to clarify that the amendment would not permit arrests without reasonable suspicion, and that detainees would have the right to a tribunal review to determine if continued custody is justified. Still, some residents remained skeptical.

The post Another Public Consultation on 13th Amendment Set for Dangriga first appeared on Greater Belize Media.