As we head closer to the end of the hurricane season, as predicted, it was an above average season. A little less than a month and a half is left before the season ends, but there have been twenty named storms, seven of which became hurricanes and four were considered major storms. Now, since the […]
Some villagers in the Seine Bight community were up in arms this morning, showing up in front of a construction site where a gas station is being built. Villagers have been protesting the project since late August, but last week the Department of Environment confirmed that the developer has been given the go ahead. Those […]
The Minister of Agriculture has the hard task of bringing the Belize Sugar Industry and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association together to strike a compromise over their commercial agreement. With less than ten weeks left before the opening of the sugar crop, the association that produces just over fifty percent of the sugar cane […]
But, can the Minister of Agriculture act a neutral party in negotiations? Minister Mai is both a sugar cane farmer and a member of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association. We asked if he is able to separate those roles to advocate for the greater good or if this is a conflict of interest. […]
The Sugar Association of the Caribbean says it applauds the terms of reference for the Monitoring Mechanism for Sugar (MMS) approved at the recent meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development. SACS says when the MMS is implemented, it will ensure that when extra-regional imports of refined sugar are being contemplated, regional producers are […]
Six out of every ten Belizeans are poor. That is the statistic that came out during a recent statement made by Prime Minister John Briceño at the United Nation General Assembly back in September. The glaring statistic, including joblessness and the country’s economic state was further devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s that excerpt from […]
Cabinet today issued a three page statement on the cruise sector and port developments. The statement speaks to the Port of Magical Belize project, and the Port of Belize’s proposed cruise terminal. As it relates to Port of Magical Belize, the release says the project has received environmental approval, subject to a strict and detailed […]
Regarding Stake Bank, the statement says the project is in construction phase and projected to be operational in 2022, having received the requisite approvals and permits. As it pertains to the proposed causeway from Belize City to Northern Drowned Caye and the causeway to Stake Bank, the Cabinet release says these projects are subject to […]
On Monday, the alcalde of Big Falls Village, Eulalio Choko, along with four other residents, came forward in the media to address concerns that they say the community is having with respect of communal land rights. While it was only a small group, they are firmly against collectively owning the lands that comprise the village. […]
The issue of land rights, as they pertain to the indigenous community, is once again at the forefront of public discourse. Recent developments in Seine Bight Village, as well as a land dispute between the communities of Barranco and Midway, have prompted the National Garifuna Council to organize a panel discussion on Thursday. The purpose […]
The panel is made up of four speakers, including doctors Peitra Arana and Philip Castillo, as well as MLA spokesperson Cristina Coc and Marvin Blades. Coc has been at the forefront of the Maya land rights case in which the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled in favor the thirty-eight indigenous communities, affirming their right to […]
News Five also spoke with Cristina Coc who is the spokesperson of the Maya Leaders Alliance and the Toledo Alcaldes Association. The opportunity to speak on the issue of land rights allows her to share the Maya perspective since they led the charge to have indigenous land rights recognized by the courts. Cristina Coc, […]
Leader of the Opposition, Patrick Faber, says members of the Opposition in Parliament will be collaborating with the Ministry of Health in their constituencies to increase vaccination uptake among their constituents. Faber made an appearance on Channel Five’s Open Your Eyes this morning where he told us about this partnership between Opposition and Government in […]
And while the Opposition and the Government are working in hand in hand to get constituents vaccinated, they do not see eye to eye on the procurement process for the importation of COVID tests into Belize. Back in January, the Minister of Health passed an S.I prohibiting the importation of COVID tests without first getting […]
From Punta Gorda to Corozal, the Ministry of Health has added additional COVID-19 sites for free testing. The new sites are in addition to those recently opened at the Belize City and Belmopan Civic Centers. Here’s a rundown of the locations for our viewers: the Red Cross Building in Punta Gorda, BTL Park in Dangriga, […]
A funeral-goer was executed in Belize City on Saturday, moments before boarding a bus that would have transported him and other mourners to a memorial service for their loved one. Giovanni Augustine was standing in front of the Parham residence on Curassow Street when he came under assault from someone he knew. His alleged killer […]
Following the murder of Giovanni Augustine on Saturday afternoon, police on mobile patrol on Faber’s Road Extension pursued a pickup truck that caught their attention. The vehicle was being followed until it came to a halt on Madam Liz Avenue. When the officers approached the driver, they discovered that he was Darrel “Tutsi” Usher, son […]
Police are looking for a man they believe can assist with their investigation into the murder of Ian Westby on Sunday in Belize City. Westby had left family members and gone with another man near Curasow street, but was found shortly afterwards dead in a vehicle. ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, Belize Police Department […]
A woman is in police custody tonight awaiting a charge of murder, following the stabbing death of Justo Martinez which occurred over the weekend at the Adjacency Zone in the Toledo District. According to police, the bus operator and her common-law husband were at an establishment in that area when they got into a misunderstanding. […]
There was another shooting over the weekend that has left resident of Zericote Street hospitalized. The attack on Michael Young took place several hours into the nightly curfew and investigators are yet to determine what he was doing outside of his home after nine p.m. He told police that he had just arrived at his […]
The United Democratic Party today expressed its alarm over what they term the “explosion” of murders and other violent crimes around the country, particularly in Belize City. The party is calling for the resignation, or removal, of the Minister of Home Affairs. Kareem Musa, and the CEO in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kevin Arthurs. […]
Mind Health Connect Belize, a local organization that spreads awareness on the importance of treating mental health illnesses is partnering with the Ministry of Health and KHMH to provide counseling services to health care workers inside KHMH’s COVID Unit. Newly appointed CEO at KHMH spoke about the need for such a service as the nation […]
And while the hospital is looking after the mental health of its overworked health care workers in the COVID Unit, CEO Cansino also has to address the need for additional staffing at the hospital. It’s a drawn out crisis that is becoming more of a burden on the daily running of the hospital as an […]
The COVID unit at the KHMH is seeing a slight decrease in the number of COVID positive patients needing to be hospitalized. It is a silver lining that CEO Cansino says the hospital will continue to monitor. Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH “We have seen, as you know, as they say you have to look […]
A police constable attached to the Gang Intelligence, Investigation and Interdiction Unit, or the GI3, for short, is hospitalized tonight after being shot by fellow law enforcement officers on Thursday evening in Orange Walk. The incident which came on the heels of a fender-bender in Corozal Town sometime earlier that evening, raises more questions than […]
