Last week we brought you the story of a group of investors in the Cayo District who are drilling for oil in Spanish Lookout. And while we regret to inform viewers that no petroleum has yet been discovered, latest reports from the west say the bit is still boring through the ground and has now […]
The march of acronyms continues unabated, although we must admit that the latest to emerge from the alphabet soup–BRITE–is in fact a pretty bright idea. That is, take a group of ambitious people living in an economically depressed area and turn them on to Belize’s biggest industry: tourism. That, at least, is the theory… and […]
It doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but today Moody’s Investors Service, following the lead of Standard & Poor’s, announced a downgrade in Belize’s credit ratings. The drop covers a number of categories, including the foreign currency ceiling, lowered to B3 from B2; the foreign currency deposits, reduced to Caa1 from B3; and the general […]
On Yesterday’s broadcast we broke the news of a drilling rig searching for petroleum in the area of Spanish Lookout. Today News Five’s Patrick Jones returned to the site where the project’s directors were joined by officials from Government. As the bit prepares to once more bite through the Cayo clay, Jones reports that optimism […]
On the heels of the U.D.P. press conference, came news that the international credit rating organisation Standard & Poor?s has once again downgraded Belize’s long-term foreign currency rating, this time from a precarious CCC to a perilous CCC minus. With the S&P outlook negative, Briceño maintains the news is not necessarily all bad. Johnny Briceño […]
Tonight there is a file sitting on the desk of the Director of Public Prosecutions asking for the arrest of the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Finance Corporation, Troy Gabb. His alleged crime? Refusing to provide crucial documents to an officially appointed commission of inquiry into the financial affairs of the D.F.C. This afternoon […]
With the nation’s finances in the grips of a crisis, today the Musa administration announced its latest attempts of belt-tightening and expenditure cuts. Following a special Cabinet meeting in Belmopan on Thursday, the executive has decided that rather than enter into a formal standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund, it will seek to administer […]
But with a cynical public ready to question the sincerity of the Musa administration’s promises to get the country out of its financial troubles…financial troubles created by the same people now claiming to have the answers, this morning Minister of Works and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Jose Coye maintains that things […]
Included in Belmopan’s adjustment programme are plans to review and revamp the tax system. And it seems that while the P.U.P. was eager to use the “Killa VAT” slogan during the 1998 elections campaign, twenty-twenty hindsight is now revealing that a return to that tax regime, though perhaps at a lesser percentage, might actually prove […]
And last on the long list of hot topics on the table at today’s Cabinet briefing was an update to ongoing negotiations between Belmopan and the employees of B.T.L. regarding the latter’s acquisition of thirty-seven point five percent of the telecommunications company shares. According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information, Godfrey Smith, financing continues […]
Tourism. It is without a doubt one of the fastest growing industries in Belize. And while prospects for even greater expansion are plentiful, tourism stakeholders both big and small are this week getting some valuable training in trade issues. What does trade have to do with tourism? According to specialist with the Organisation of American […]
Belizeans who love their Cadbury chocolate may be interested to learn that Cadbury Schweppes has purchased a company that uses cacao beans grown right here in Belize. That’s right, Green & Black’s, the makers of Maya Gold organic chocolate bars is now part of this international corporation. Cadbury has retained the same management team and […]
In March, Belize Electricity Limited, as part of a full tariff review proceeding, applied for a fourteen percent increase in rates, largely on the basis of increased costs for imported diesel. The Public Utilities Commission, in its initial decision, granted only an eight point six percent increase. Now, as part of the review process, following […]
It has become the mainstay of Belize’s economy…and unlike other major foreign exchange earners, the fortunes of tourism are not tied to the fickle fate of world commodity prices. But while the tourism industry is looking good its future is only as strong as the people who work it… as News 5’s Patrick Jones discovered […]
With a government proclaimed deadline of June fifth looming large and no deal on the table, representatives of B.T.L. employees are growing restless as their chances of purchasing over thirty-seven percent of the company are breaking up like a bad cell phone connection. Today union representatives accused Belmopan of hindering their efforts to Belizeanize the […]
It’s a day that the nation’s major phone company usually celebrates each year with an ambitious display of its latest technology…and while 2005 was no exception, the hoopla put out today by Belize Telecommunications Limited took place under a very dark cloud. Patrick Jones reports. Patrick Jones, Reporting The observance of World Telecommunications Day this […]
It is becoming a real case of he-says, he-says, as today the entity seeking millions of dollars in damages from G.O.B. for its termination of an airport management contract in 2003, weighed in with its own press release via email from Boston. Chairman of Newco, Carl R. Vercollone, refutes government’s claim that Lufthansa is not […]
The Ministry of Finance has released what it calls a preliminary report on the recently concluded I.M.F. Article Four Consultation. The document comes on the heels of a leaked version that surfaced this week in various sectors in the media. While the official version goes into greater detail than the unofficial one, the message of […]
And while incumbent politicians and concerned citizens may be hoping for an economic miracle, the most likely candidate is the seemingly miraculous tourism industry. Latest statistics from the B.T.B. indicate a just under five percent increase in total tourist arrivals for the first quarter of 2005, with arrivals at the Philip Goldson International Airport jumping […]
While partisan politics pushed the story off the front page, the question of who is going to own and control B.T.L. is not going to go away any time soon. Today Attorney General Francis Fonseca explained why the clock is ticking loudly. Francis Fonseca, Attorney General ?There are certain external obligations that the government have, […]
Late last week, a story first appearing in the Amandala and later, circulated in the local media, recounted the details of a deal gone sour between the Government of Belize and the consulting arm of Lufthansa Airlines over management of the country’s sole international airport. According to the report, the German-based company was seeking an […]
With the long awaited B.T.L. board meeting and the related crippling contempt fine now behind us, the key question in the telecommunications fiasco has become: is this the beginning of the end… Or the end of the beginning? Why? Because the wrangle over who sits on the B.T.L. board is really a side show compared […]
It seems the fifty thousand dollars a day metre finally stopped running today as the government of Belize complied with a Miami court order. This morning at the Esquivel Telecom Centre in Belize City, Jeffrey Prosser and his appointed directors, as well as directors for Ecom and G.O.B. held a board meeting with most of […]
The Prosser suit in Miami may not be the only litigation facing the Government of Belize. The Amandala newspaper is reporting in today’s issue that Lufthansa Consulting, based in Los Angeles with headquarters in Germany, is seeking to enter into trade arbitration through the United Nations. Lufthansa is reportedly seeking damages of thirty-three million U.S. […]
It is one of the few local organisations that isn’t afraid to throw in its two cents when it comes to saying their piece on government decisions. Today, the Belize Tourism Industry Association held its mid-year review. According to B.T.I.A. President, Lucy Fleming, the recent expressions of public outcry against the government have impacted the […]
