The government is tallying the numbers for the new budget which kicks in on April first after it is passed by the House and Senate, according to a Cabinet release, following today’s meeting. The Prime Minister projected two weeks ago that new taxes are not expected. Total revenue and grant receipts, he said, stand at […]
Butane distributors have come under fire in the past few weeks for cheating consumers. Following public outcry, the Belize Bureau of Standards today announced the introduction of the National Metrology Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Regulation 2011. It puts pressure on butane companies to give consumers what they’re paying for. The regulation requires suppliers to have […]
If you can make it to Sunday without heading to the pumps, you can save some cash because the prices of fuel are going down at midnight on Saturday. The decrease is minimal and the prices of premium and regular will remain above ten dollars but every penny counts when you are trying to make […]
The sugar industry is still at a standstill tonight as Belize Sugar Industries is inoperable because of malfunctioning turbines at the BELCOGEN plant. Loans with I.N.G. and First Caribbean International Banks are still outstanding and B.S.I. was hoping that it would attract a new financier in the form of Banco Atlantida from Honduras. After representatives […]
After hearing about the Banco Atlantida proposal, the Leader of the Opposition John Briceño contacted B.S.I. Briceño says that no one at B.S.I. is aware of the offer and instead of entertaining offers for a buyout, the government’s effort should be concentrated on assisting with finding a financier for the multi- million dollar debt. John […]
A tourism project in San Pedro funded by the International Development Bank is running into trouble with residents of the town who over the years have relied on the designated area to earn their livelihood. The project contemplates blocking access to the lagoon and for boatmen, that’s like taking from their tables. The islanders say […]
The Prime Minister’s first quarterly press conference for 2011 was on Wednesday; it took place at a time when high priority industries are operating in crisis mode. On the heels of a hurricane that ravaged crops, the citrus industry is facing legal arbitration with an international investor; the country’s only sugar factory has halted production […]
In a senate meeting in November last year, Senator Godwin Hulse projected that the sugar content in the new cane crop was possibly better than that of 2009. In his estimate the cane had a minimum sugar content of ten to one. He even went as far as to outline how the mill would be […]
Since the crisis involving tendering for cruise tourism broke, we have not heard from the Minister of Tourism. He accompanied the Prime Minister and B.T.B. officials to Miami on January seventh to meet with Carnival Cruise Lines but he has been quiet on that most important issue for the tourism industry. But today, Minister Manuel […]
The Barrow administration is now entering its fourth year in office. Prime Minister Barrow today hosted his first quarterly press conference. He discussed a range of issues including one that has the population on edge. While everyone is waiting for the cost of fuel to go down, the price at the pump continues to shoot […]
The Prime Minister was drilled on a number of issues, including the recent oil exploration concession given to his nephew Kimano Barrow. Environmentalists have sounded the alarm about Kimano’s lack of knowhow in the oil industry and are concerned that there was no bidding process for the concession issued in the large parcel of land […]
The Sugar Cane Industry is at a virtual standstill tonight because the Belize Sugar Industry Factory is inoperable due to failed machinery at the BELCOGEN Plant. The international lending organizations were ready to pull the plug at B.S.I., but government granted a ten million dollar bailout loan to keep the factory open. Well now, the […]
The P.M. also used the occasion to give a report card of how his administration had fared over the past three years. He gave a preview of the upcoming budget for the new fiscal year and while he promised no new taxes, the productive and tourism sectors are not in the best shape and fuel […]
As we told you at the top of the newscast, the temporary shut-down of the Tower Hill Factory is set for this Thursday. Grinding is expected to come to a halt for three to four weeks in the first instance which is likely to extend the 2011 crop into the rainy season. Even if production […]
There is late breaking news from the north; and it is not sweet for the six thousand cane farmers that depend on the sugar industry for their livelihood, even though sugar is selling at thirty-three US cents per pound on the world market and is one of the highest paid commodities. After a late start […]
Industry insiders say that the quality of cane was greatly improved in this crop and that the temporary shut-down of the factory will extend the harvest into the rainy season. That scenario is likely to compromise the quality of the cane. Ortega also says that farmers are bound to be hit in the pockets. Via […]
There were two hikes in the price of fuel in January; the second of which was only ten days ago. It is only a week into February, but on Sunday night, consumers took another hit in the pockets when the cost of filling up the gas tank increased yet again. Diesel took the biggest leap […]
In 2009 the now defunct National Transport bus company filed an injunction in the Supreme Court to stop the Transport Department from implementing bus schedules for the northern route similar to those that are in place for the west and south of the country. But the court ruled in favor of the Department last week […]
FECTAB’S Yhonny Rosado has been at the front lines of the tender crisis since it first broke out in early January. He has been amongst the most vocal and passionate in trying to get a level playing field from the Carnival Cruise Lines for tender operators even though he is not an offshore operator. This […]
The planned demonstration by handicraft vendors outside the craft market in the tourism zone did not proceed today because a meeting between their union President and the Belize Tourism Board on Tuesday evening looks promising. Last December when the F.S.T.V. was zoned, they were relocated by the Belize Tourism Board inside the market, formerly the […]
While protesters camped out at the prime minister’s office, in Belize City there was another angry group. The Fort Street Tourism Village instituted a zoning policy late December. From the get go, there was uproar by vendors who suffered a deep cut in the cash they took home to feed their families. The vendors, including hair braiders, […]
Today a few of the employees of the now defunct National Transport Company Limited returned to the Labour office in Belize City to once again pursue their case. The men are part of a bigger group of two hundred and seventy five that were fired in December of 2010 by the receivers who took over […]
There’s still uncertainty in cruise tourism tonight. As it stands, Carnival is yet to make a decision on proposals presented on behalf of the Executive Tenders of Belize Ltd which says it is not budging from the six dollars and fifty cents it charges to ferry passengers to and from the cruise line. The tender […]
Another issue that is having major ramifications has to do with cruise tourism. Tender operators are at a breaking point; the unresolved boat tendering issue has taken a toll after weeks of back and forth and still no solution. On Thursday, the Belize Tourism Board said that it supports local tender operators. BTB has gone […]
On Tuesday the workers of the now defunct National Transport Limited, plan to assemble at the office of the Labour Department to collect their payments in lieu of termination of services. They were let go since early December 2010, when the company when into receivership. While they are pinning their hopes on Tuesday, there is […]
