The reinvigorated Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, has jumped on the matter. The grassroots organization has been monitoring the situation and according to President Shawn Saldano, the only persons negatively affected by the department’s decision were the vendors. He says that the department’s choice to impose a curfew not only stifled the vendors […]
Belize is making progress in its fight against trafficking in persons and the U.S. Department of State has taken notice. In the 2019 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, Belize has been upgraded to tier two. According to the report, Belize has demonstrated notable improvements in victim services and strengthening the anti-trafficking police […]
There was a major drug bust on Wednesday night in Orange Walk. Personnel from the Belize Customs Department were conducting routine patrols when they intercepted a pickup truck containing ten parcels of marijuana. The drugs weighed about eleven thousand grams or over twenty-four pounds of weed. The vehicle was impounded and the driver taken into […]
The Commissioner of Police also gave an update on the deadly beating of Nestor Vasquez Junior. The sixty-year-old mental health patient was in police custody when he was fatally attacked by Collin Francis Junior inside a jail cell. The case made headlines and questioned the protocols and training of officers when dealing with mental health […]
CIB and coastguard personnel have been dispatched to Swallow Caye where the lifeless body of an unidentified male was discovered floating in the sea late this evening. The corpse which has the name Beulah Lee tattooed on the chest was observed with a single gunshot wound to the head. He is described as a dark […]
Abraham Leslie remains in a critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after he was stabbed on Monday afternoon. Just before three p.m., Ladyville police were called out to a mechanic shop between miles nine and ten on the Philip Goldson Highway to find that the thirty-one-year-old had been stabbed multiple times. Despite going […]
Also in a critical condition at the K.H.M.H. is Jeremy McLaughlin. McLaughlin was riding a motorcycle on the Philip Goldson Highway when he collided with a vehicle near the intersection with the airport road. The impact sent the motorist to the pavement and he sustained severe head and bodily injuries. It occurred on Tuesday afternoon […]
A fifteen-year-old Guatemalan boy has been charged for the death of eight-year-old Gabriella Corales. The young man was arraigned on a slew of charges, including manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct and driving without a valid driver’s license. He was behind the wheel of an SUV that knocked down and killed Corales who […]
The 2014/2015 Audit Report highlights a number of inconsistencies where it concerns proper accounting of public funds. Those discrepancies were flagged by Auditor-General Dorothy Ann Bradley who tendered the report back in January to the Office of the Prime Minister. In that document are several references to the importance of the Public Accounts Committee, as […]
Espat, who has been at the helm of the Public Accounts Committee for the past seven years, says that there is an obvious lack of accountability in the manner in which government spends the people’s money, a point that the auditor-general points out in her report. Julius Espat, Chair, Public Accounts Committee “The auditor […]
A huge part of the problem, says Espat, is the fact that there is no oversight for the expenditure of public funds where contract officers are concerned. According to the PAC chairman, there is no political will for government to be held accountable. Julius Espat, Chair, Public Accounts Committee “We are at a point […]
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Patrick Faber also made a comment on the increase in the Social Security contributions. It’s been seventeen years since an increase and there has been a delay in another since 2012 for various reasons, including political likeability. G.O.B. has now given the nod of approval to the Social […]
There seems to be more bad news on the horizon for public officers, teachers and police officers. The longstanding pension scheme for government employees is that G.O.B. pays one hundred percent and then on reaching retirement, a gratuity is paid and then pension kicks in until you die. That bill is a hefty one which […]
An increase in the social security pension scheme was rolled out in 2003, seventeen years ago. The fund is at the point where its total expenditure equals total revenue. During the two-year consultation, officials from the Social Security Board met with several entities and groups, including the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The private […]
A three-page memo explaining “How the U.D.P. can leverage S.S.B.’s sustainability to gain political advantage” does exist. The document, written by Chief Executive Officer, Doctor Colin Young, with the support of the Social Security Board, was brought to the public’s attention on Monday by the People’s United Party. In a release, the P.U.P. expressed its […]
The memo details five reasons why the United Democratic Party should implement the reform this year. The first reason listed is ‘leveraging political capital.’ The memorandum explains that it is understood that any increase in S.S.B. contributions will cause the U.D.P. administration to lose political capital. In fact, Doctor Young tells cabinet that further delays […]
According to the opposition party, the people’s money has been pumped into projects and investments which it claims are unjustifiable. The P.U.P. is charging the C.E.O. of politicization of the S.S.B. and claims that the S.S.B. has been infiltrated by the U.D.P. The release says that, “These are people who have made millions under the […]
And finally, the P.U.P. says that the S.S.B.’s directorate has failed miserably and must be held accountable. The party calls on the government to immediately desist from playing politics, but Singh reminded the P.U.P. of the 2003 protests that resulted in the increase of contributions. Douglas Singh, Chairman, Social Security Board “What the release did […]
It’s been five days since two men disappeared on Ambergris Caye. Silverio Cal and Melvin Montesino were last seen alive on Thursday night heading to the north side of the island. They have not reported to work, nor have they been in contact with relatives. Several searches conducted between miles eleven and fourteen, north of […]
A young girl was knocked down and killed this afternoon in Belmopan. The incident occurred near Our Lady of Guadalupe RC Primary School. Witnesses say that the female student was crossing the pedestrian ramp when an SUV hit her. She was rushed to the hospital where she died moments later. Behind the wheel, we are […]
William Danny Mason’s murder trial has been adjourned until Monday. Today, Mason’s lawyer was a no-show for what should have been the restart of the trial in the Belmopan Supreme Court. The trial was set to open at nine this morning but it was pushed back to one in the afternoon, but it still didn’t […]
Father’s Day for the Talbert family in Doublehead Cabbage was shattered on Sunday morning when they were informed of a tragic incident involving their loved one who was at work when she lost her life. Marcia Talbert, an employee of Cerebrus Security, a subsidiary of Bowen and Bowen Limited, was gravely wounded when she was […]
A father of two was fatally injured in a road traffic accident on Father’s Day in the north. Police say Yancy Ek was riding his bike in San Narciso Village when he was knocked down and killed. The driver of the vehicle is a relative of the well-known football player in the village. Andrea Polanco […]
Thirty-three-year-old Casiano Mendoza of August Pine Ridge died as a result of a road traffic accident. He was behind the wheel of a white car which was observed in a ditch along the road leading to August Pine Ridge from Trinidad Village. The incident happened on Friday night and police say that Mendoza collided into […]
Belize City Police are investigating a stabbing incident that left thirty-six-year-old Orlette Sanchez hospitalized. On Sunday morning, before six o’clock, officers were called out to Sanchez’s residence on Guadalupe Street in Belize City. There they found her suffering from a single stab wound to the chest. Sanchez alleges that she was attacked and stabbed by […]
