Independence Day in Belmopan was full of invective from both sides of the political spectrum, and there is a major announcement on Petrocaribe to report tonight. But we begin with breaking news affecting gas prices, which trickles down to all levels of society. Just under forty-eight hours after massive increases for regular and diesel fuel, […]
At news time, the Opposition People’s United Party has sent a release calling for Government to immediately reduce taxes on fuel, to alleviate the recent increases in fuel prices. The P.U.P. says that even with the cost of crude oil around fifty dollars per barrel, pump prices are among the highest in Belizean history, with […]
News Five has confirmed with the local Petrocaribe office that meetings took place this week hoping to hash out a solution to delivering fuel from Venezuela under the Petrocaribe Accord but that there is nothing official available by way of comment at this time. On Tuesday, four officials delegated from the Venezuelan government arrived in […]
As we go into the Independence Day holiday, fuel prices are going up at the pumps once again. On September fourth, the Government announced that there would be increases in fuel prices as part of the after effects of Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area. Well, those awaited increases in fuel prices are here, and […]
The International Monetary Fund has issued its final report on its annual Article Four consultation with Belize which took place in June. Despite Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s insistence that Belize is not following the projections of the I.M.F. lock, stock and barrel, the agency does appear to take credit for implementations of various reforms it […]
Tonight, the Petrocaribe initiative remains in limbo following an announcement of the immediate suspension of the program. A meeting between two officials representing the Venezuelan government and Petroleos de Venezuela Caribe S.A. respectively with Prime Minister Dean Barrow was cancelled this afternoon. However, the officials are expected to arrive in Belize next week. The Government […]
Meanwhile, APBEL General Manager John Mencias has told News Five that the problems with shipments have been ongoing for months now and provoked much complaint from the Government to both APBEL and Puma. There were some concerns at times that as PDV-Caribe failed to come through with oil shipments, Belize could run out of regular […]
A release issued late this evening dropped a bombshell – Petrocaribe has stopped rolling, for now and quite possibly forever. The decision comes on the heels of an announcement by the Government just a week ago that it plans to raise fuel prices, which it blamed on damage to oil refineries in Houston, Texas, due […]
While there has been no public comment from the business and private sector despite being apprised of the Prime Minister’s letter, the Senator representing them on the Committee, Mark Lizarraga today criticized the decision as a matter of priorities. Citing testimony from director Diana Locke, the Senator pointed out that Government seems to value politics […]
For a country that imports far more than it exports and has for all of its existence, fuel is particularly important. Belize has for the past decade or so taken advantage of a cheaper source of fuel from Venezuela via Curacao under the Petrocaribe accord. Belize has outstanding loans under that program at what the […]
On Wednesday, we told you how the Social Security Board is moving online and how employers are making their payments via the online portal. Well, it is not only the employers who get an easy, fast and secure way to do their social security business, but insured persons can receive their payments directly to their […]
So, the S.S.B. wants to increase contributions for the forty percent of its insured persons. Those persons earn between three hundred and twenty dollars to five hundred and twenty dollars weekly. At this time, it is a proposal and C.E.O. Colin Young explained that the S.S.B. fund is reaching its maturity and with the number […]
For the past several months, we have been telling you about the Social Security Board’s proposed changes in contributions. Consultations have been held around the country and it is yet to be decided how those changes will be made. Today the S.S.B. hosted a mixer where C.E.O. Colin Young said that there has been a […]
There’s other news from the S.S.B. The Social Security Board is slowly changing from its traditional way of receiving and making payments. An online contribution portal is being used for employers to make payments – a system that aims to make the process easy and hassle free for businesses. S.S.B. officer Carlton McKoy explains how […]
Outrage has been widespread in the twenty-four hours since the Government of Belize’s announcement on Monday that fuel prices are to go up once again for the fourth time in several weeks. It is not yet known by how much prices will go up and when the new prices take effect, but officially, the situation […]
About twenty employees of the little known “United Association for Healthy Living” are claiming that they are owed salaries for two pay periods. The call center located on Mercy Lane in Belize City is foreign owned but has a local manager. The local employees say that for several months they have had to go around […]
Get ready for higher gas prices once again sometime this week, although this time there is some explanation from the government. The last increase came just last week for premium and diesel fuel, with recent increases also reported for regular fuel and even kerosene. This time the increase, the extent of which is not yet […]
Figures released by the Statistical Institute of Belize show that economic activity slowed down to some extent in July. Goods and services went up slightly, while imports and exports registered a drop. The price of fuel, however, went up considerably in the past year. The rise in transport costs were attributed in large part to […]
The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives met in session this morning in Belmopan to plot a course for investigation into the 2012-2013 Auditor General’s Report tabled in the House on August eighteenth. Chairman Julius Espat of the People’s United Party has campaigned for the hearings to be held in public as part […]
Espat is hardly deterred, saying he will continue to fight for publication of the Committee’s work before the final report is laid on the House’s table at some point in the future. But today’s result has spurred Espat to once again call for a bi-cameral joint special committee, inviting members of the Senate, specifically the […]
Get ready for higher gas prices once again. For the second time in eight days, prices are set to rise at midnight tonight for premium gasoline and diesel. Premium rises to near eleven dollars at ten dollars and ninety-nine cents from ten dollars and forty-nine cents, while diesel climbs over the nine-dollar mark to nine […]
Cayo South Area Representative and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Julius Espat, is anticipating next Monday’s meeting of the committee in Belmopan to examine, consider and ultimately report on the Auditor General’s Report for 2012-2013 tabled in the House on Friday. But Espat wants to go much further than that. He has questions of […]
Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives in Belmopan should see the tabling of the 2012-2013 Auditor General’s Report on which we have been reporting all week. It is all intended to be ventilated by the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Opposition member Julius Espat. But he is not terribly impressed with the quality and […]
Two of the largest ministries in the government service – Finance and Natural Resources – were not included. Coincidentally, the same man, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, is currently directly in charge of both ministries although Lands has been run by Gaspar Vega, Vanessa Retreage and currently Doctor Carla Barnett. In the case of the Ministry […]
Campaign efforts to elect a U.D.P. mayoral candidate for Belize City are in full swing and, as expected with any political race, promises are being made ahead of the August twenty-seventh convention, as well as the March 2018 municipal elections. Among those assurances is a relief for residents who cannot pay their property taxes. They […]
