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And just in case you were wondering how Belize City’s revenue stream performed in 2022, well that trickle that existed during the COVID onslaught in 2020 and 2021 has improved significantly, according to Mayor Wagner. But he also said that there’s still a large sum outstanding from city residents and that the lax has resulted […]
Written on December 30, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on CitCo’s Revenue Stream Improves in 2022; But Residents Still Owe 30 Million
Every year around this time, people would reflect on the past year and whether they had achieved the goals they set out – from losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle, to personal development and even improvements with work. So today, a News Five team hit the streets in downtown Belize City to find out […]
Written on December 30, 2022 | Posted in
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on New Year’s Resolution 2023
The end of the year is known to be a time of reflection and setting of new goals in what is commonly known as “New Year Resolutions”. In our last weekly look on the bright side for 2022, Sabreena Daly went looking to the streets of Belize City to find out what are people grateful […]
Written on December 30, 2022 | Posted in
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Looking on the Bright Side of Gratitude
The year 2022 is only two days away from becoming history, and among the parting thoughts each year for many Belizeans is how we did in terms of crime, particularly murders. For the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Belize Police Department, there’s much to be proud of. Even though there are still a few […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Crime,
Economy,
Environment,
Featured |
Comments Off on Murders Down at 109 With Two Days More To Go in 2022
Last week we told you about the house handing over ceremony in Port Loyola, Belize City, that did not happen and the area representative’s discontent with the postponement. As we reported, Area Representative for Port Loyola, Gilroy Usher, called on the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing to give priority to the completion of the […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on M.I.D.H. Fires Contractor Who Was Painting Area Rep’s Home Instead of Completing Starter Home
And, while Choc must wait an additional seven days before receiving her home, a former Pickstock constituent who recently took up residence in Sandhill Village today received the keys to his brand new home. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing held a short ribbon cutting ceremony today in the village where a father of […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Anthony Mahler and M.I.D.H. Partners to Provide Starter Home for Father of Three
According to Minister Espat, over two hundred Belizeans have benefited from the starter home program since its launch in 2021. He says an additional twenty homes will be distributed in January of 2023. Minister Espat has also been lobbying with the Ministry of Finance to double his ministry’s budget for the housing program in 2023. […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Over Two Hundred Belizeans Benefit From G.O.B.’s Starter Home Program in Two Years
The 2022/2023 sugar crop officially kicked off on Tuesday. Previously, there have been concerns about the conditions of sugarcane roads. Farmers have persistently complained that sugar roads become impassable following incessant rains. Today, we asked Minister Espat about his ministry’s efforts to assist sugarcane farmers throughout the season with these roadways. Here is what he […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Economy,
Environment |
Comments Off on M.I.D.H. Commits to Maintain Sugar Roads throughout 2022/2023 Sugar Crop
The Briceño administration has signed into law an increase in the hourly minimum wage which will come into force on New Year’s Day. On January first, 2023, the lowest legal rate of pay will be adjusted to five dollars per hour. While the business community does not object to the long overdue adjustment, its representative […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on B.C.C.I. Resolute in Its Position on Minimum Wage Adjustment
Is the timing of the minimum wage adjustment strategic, in order for the Briceño administration to gain points with the electorate? That’s what we asked the president of the chamber earlier today. Here’s how he responded. Marcello Blake, President, B.C.C.I. “It’s political capital. Yes, being at this point in the five-year term, I think […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Is Minimum Wage Adjustment Timed for Political Mileage?
The Internet – it’s a medium that we take for granted to stay in contact with one another from across the oceans or just across the street at the convenience of having a cell phone or an I-pad. But that same medium can be used to tarnish one’s reputation. So, in tandem with Cyber Security […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Ministries of E-Governance and Home Affairs Team Up to Promote Cyber Crime Security among Children
While the Ministry of E-Governance used a student competition to help spread the pros and cons of the Internet, digitalization is a necessary tool that the various government ministries and departments all need in this era to conduct business at the speed of the rest of the world. Leading the charge in that task is […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Minister Chebat: Many Government Ministries and Departments Have Been Digitalized
Minister Chebat holds the portfolio for the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics and E-Governance. Those ministerial responsibilities include oversight of the Belize Port Authority, which is a statutory body charged with determining where a port facility should be to effect port security regulations and compliance. And today a question was posed to him on […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Cruise Stakeholder Take a Look at Draft Port Policy
Last month, Prime Minister John Briceño indicated how urgently the Belize Port Authority facility is in need of an upgraded cargo terminal. The PM said that the operations of the day cannot continue as they have been at the port and that an investment has to be made, whether by the receivership which manages its […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Minister Chebat Agrees that P.B.L. Needs Upgraded Cargo Terminal
As it relates to the country’s main electricity provider, the Belize Electricity Limited and Minister Chebat’s Ministry of Energy, he said that contrary to some reports, or beliefs, the relationship between the ministry and the company is good. Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics and E-Governance “I think we have an excellent […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on B.E.L and Ministry of Energy Have Good Working Relationship, Says Minister
The past twelve months saw the number of tourist arrivals significantly increase, much to the pleasure of people in the tourism industry. That was the sector that was impacted first when COVID swept across the world. But with renewed strengths and efforts doubled, coupled with strategic marketing outputs, the tourism industry is almost back to […]
Written on December 29, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on B.T.B Official: 2022 Was a Good Year for Tourism
The tourism industry lost two tour guides in less than a week in separate and very different circumstances. On Christmas Eve, an unexpected flash flood in western Belize claimed the life of thirty-nine-year-old Julio Escobar, as he and fellow tour guides were taking in tourists who had gone on an expedition for that day. And […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Tourism Industry Loses Two Guides in Less Than A Week
The family of tour guide, thirty-nine-year-old Julio Escobar will miss him most around this time of the year, simply because it was on Christmas Eve that he drowned in flash floods that came downriver from the Maya Mountains. Caves Branch has been known over the last three decades as one of the tour destinations that […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Investigation Begins Into Circumstances Leading to Drowning of Tour Guide
While tour operators and their guides have their own individual safety protocols in place, how does the Belize Tourism Board ensure that they follow these protocols to the nearest letter? It’s a difficult task, Castaneda says, but they try to hold these tour companies to what they said they’d do. Currently under investigation, as well, […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on B.T.B.’s Enforcement Desk Does Countrywide Checks to Ensure Safety
Last night, we told you that the 2022/2023 sugar crop finally got underway, after the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association and A.S.R./B.S.I. signed a one-year interim agreement. Farmers are now tasked with ensuring that they deliver their sugarcane to the mill before the start of the rainy season. The Sugar Cane Production Committee has estimated […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Economy,
Environment |
Comments Off on Over One Million Tons of Sugar Cane to be Milled in 2022/2023 Crop Season
And, while the 2022/2023 crop progresses, over next twelve months the millers and the farmers must once again engage in discussions towards a long-term commercial agreement. Shawn Chavarria, the Director of Finance at A.S.R./B.S.I. is hopeful that achieving a mutually beneficial long-term agreement within the next year is possible. Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance, […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Economy,
Environment |
Comments Off on Will the Next 12 Months Yield a Long-Term Agreement between B.S.C.F.A. and A.S.R./B.S.I.?
The Prime Minister’s New Year’s message was issued today. In his nine-minute-long address, Prime Minister John Briceño spoke about his administration’s success in several sectors, with a particular focus on the agriculture sector at the beginning of his speech. P.M. Briceño also paid a great deal of attention to the recent signing of the interim […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Prime Minister Briceño: “New National Pride Enlivens Homes, Workplaces and Public Squares”
In his New Year’s address, P.M. Briceño also announced a four million dollar investment in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital to enhance its services. He also made mention of an expansion to the National Health Insurance Program in 2023, as well as an expansion of his administration’s free high school program. Prime Minister John […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Briceño Administration Intent on Scaling Up “Social Justice Priorities” in 2023
Turning back to tourism… When Belize’s tourism industry began to recover from the shutdown, we placed great emphasis on marketing to our number one customer, the United States, and then we looked closer to home. Those efforts have paid off, as B.T.B’s Director of Quality Management Abil Castaneda told us. He says there are four […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Belize Pushes Tourism in U.S., Mexico, Europe, and now South America
And while 2023 looks positive for our tourism product, a lot of the behind-the-scenes effort to keep the high standards that tourists are accustomed to has to do with training. It is a necessary undertaking that the Belize Tourism Board saw so important that it invested almost a million dollars over the past year. Castaneda […]
Written on December 28, 2022 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Investing in The Key Areas That Boost Belize’s Tourism
