The lifeless body of thirty-year-old Margaret Ann Cleland was found in front of her home in Willows Bank Village last Wednesday. The mother of an eighteen-month-old child was discovered face down, bleeding profusely from the head. Today, a postmortem examination was conducted on the body of Cleland. The autopsy concluded that she died as a […]
Twenty-two-year-old Rupert Codd has been slapped with additional charges stemming from a sexual assault case in which he has been accused by a woman of attacking her near Save-U Taxi Stand. This morning, he appeared unrepresented before the lower court where he was read two additional charges of damage to property after he reportedly damaged […]
Fifty-three-year-old Shedrack White stands accused of a murder that occurred in Belize City in July 2020. He has been on pretrial detention at the Belize Central Prison for the past three and half years. When White appeared before the High Court earlier today, it was to determine whether he is fit to stand trial, as […]
Municipal elections are thirty-seven days away and two U.D.P. Mayoral candidates are facing troubled waters. Belmopan Mayoral Candidate Jacklyn Burns and Corozal Mayoral Candidate Ricardo Ake both applied for leaves of absence without pay from their teaching jobs, to focus on their political pursuits. Today, those U.D.P. mayoral candidates received official notice that their application […]
Last night, we told you about a meeting that the Attorney General, Anthony Sylvestre, called with legal officers in the public service, to discuss an outstanding salary adjustment. The atmosphere outside of the venue, upon conclusion of the meeting, was one of disappointment and frustration over the continued delay. On the other hand, AG Sylvestre […]
Over the weekend in Toledo District, hundreds of residents from across all forty-one Maya communities disembarked from buses destined for Santa Elena Village. Meanwhile, in Punta Gorda Town, another round of consultation got underway at the office of Indigenous Peoples Affairs. Both events book-ended an ongoing issue pertaining to the draft Maya Customary Land Tenure […]
Also attending the session in Punta Gorda was the chairman of Big Falls Village, as well as the First Alcalde of San Pedro, Columbia. Both communities share a different view from the collective position held by the Toledo Alcaldes Association. Gregorio Choco and Roman Rash spoke with News Five about the sentiments of their respective […]
Meanwhile, back in Santa Elena, as many as thirty-nine indigenous communities were represented at the gathering organized by the Toledo Alcaldes Association and the Maya Leaders Alliance. During that meeting, there was a call for government officials to visit that location and discuss the draft land policy with those in attendance. While that did not […]
Attorney General Anthony Sylvestre and Minister of the Public Service Henry Charles Usher convened a meeting this evening with Crown Counsels from the AG’s Ministry, legal aids, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Magistrates and several other legal officers within the public service. The meeting was called to discuss an outstanding salary adjustment […]
We also spoke with Henry Charles Usher, the Minister of Public Service about the delay these public servants have been experiencing in receiving their salary adjustments. Minister Usher and Cabinet have been accused of dragging their feet on resolving the matter after three years in government. Here is how he responded. Henry Charles Usher, […]
The Government of Belize’s efforts to implement the 2015 Caribbean Court of Justice Consent Order is at a tipping point. Today, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs issued a release inviting Maya villages in the Toledo District to dialogue with G.O.B. on key aspects of the newly issued draft Maya Customary Land Tenure Policy. The […]
Minister Dolores Balderamos-Garcia also made a plea to the Maya Leaders Alliance. She suggested that the MLA is responsible for influencing villagers towards denying the draft policy. She called on the alliance to let cooler heads prevail and to allow the Government of Belize to consult with villagers first. Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Indigenous […]
And, as it turns out, G.O.B.’s planned public consultation in Punta Gorda on Saturday will be a bust. The Maya Leaders Alliance and the Toledo Alcaldes Association have scheduled their own public session for nine a.m. Saturday in Santa Elena Village. Christina Coc, the spokesperson for MLA and TAA informed News Five that they advised […]
A well-known car dealer is reportedly being sought by police regarding a report made against him by a medical doctor who purchased a vehicle from him in April 2023. According to a statement given to police, thirty-seven-year-old Dimas Sansorez, a resident of Caye Caulker, visited Prestige Motors where he purportedly paid businessman Amado Badillo sixty-five […]
The Belize Police Department continues to investigate the murder of thirty-year-old Margaret Cleland that occurred on Tuesday evening in Willows Bank Village. As we reported, her common-law husband, fifty-two-year-old Emeterio Reyes, was detained by police for questioning. His alibi, however, will likely be that he arrived home on the same bus with his neighbor who […]
The High Court has found thirty-seven-year-old Rodman Welch guilty of the 2020 murder of Shakeem Dennison. On October twelfth, 2020, Dennison was shot and killed at the Yarborough Bridge in Belize City. Welch, a father of four, was soon after arrested and charged for his murder. The case was brought before the High Court in […]
Oscar Mira, the Minister of State in the Ministry of National Defense, says that reports of a ration shortage within the Belize Defense Force are being done to create mischief. Minister Mira, himself a former soldier, contended that the organization would never deploy soldiers without sufficient rations. He further explained that the B.D.F. has recently […]
The Belize Defense Force is celebrating its forty-sixth anniversary on Friday, but the military organization is doing so with the likelihood that salaries for the men and women who serve in the security services may be decreased going forward. That’s because there seems to be a confusion regarding what should have been a salary adjustment […]
Earlier this week, while announcing the start of a new basketball season, the BEBL raised serious concerns regarding the cost of renting the Civic Center on game nights. Each team is required to pay for the use of the sporting facility for every night that it has a home game. The cost, according to the […]
A thirty-year-old mother from Willows Bank Village is the nation’s latest murder victim. And, tonight there seems to be more questions than answers. Cleland resided in a relatively secluded area in the community along with her common-law husband and eighteen-month-old son. Her partner reportedly began looking for her after arriving home from work and finding […]
According to the former Minister of National Security, there have been as many as twenty-one violent crimes committed since the start of the New Year. These incidents have resulted in several murders, including the execution of underworld figure Jose Matus who was buried today. The latest murder, as we just reported, took place in the […]
Former Minister of Economic Development Erwin Contreras and former Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt were summoned to appear before the Senate Special Select Committee today where they would face questions in respect of a dubious Definitive Agreement that was signed in October 2020. The agreement was signed by Contreras in his previous capacity as a […]
Upon the postponement of today’s session, Senator Janelle Chanona, chair of the Senate Special Select Committee, explained why the public hearing was called off this morning. Senator Janelle Chanona, Chair, Senate Special Select Committee “As chair of the Senate Special Select Committee and on behalf of the membership, we certainly ask for the nation’s […]
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize has sounded the alarm on serious concerns regarding the composition of High Court bench. As it stands, there is only one Belizean judge who sits on the bench, that is Justice Michelle Arana. The remaining seventeen judges are non-Belizeans. In a statement issued by the umbrella organization earlier […]
News Five continues to follow rape allegations made against a prominent Belizean attorney. As we have been reporting, two women made a police report claiming that the attorney allegedly raped them. So far, the Belize Police Department has put together a report, which has been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. […]
