Three hours after the announcement of a state of public emergency for south side Belize City, the Opposition, People’s United Party reacted. Leader John Briceño hosted a press conference this afternoon, expressing dissatisfaction and concern with the measures by the Ministry of National Security. Briceño says that the government should undertake a comprehensive and holistic […]
Earlier this year in March, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a rare weekend press conference after a bloodbath and ensued in south side Belize City. A number of steps were taken including the redeployment of the B.D.F. to the streets of the Old Capital and the reappointment of John Saldivar as the Minister of National […]
The People’s United Party says it is ready to work with the government to effectively and efficiently address the gun violence in the Old Capital, but G.O.B. has repeatedly refused to consult with the P.U.P. John Briceño says a bi-partisan commission, including civil society, should be formed to come up with a strategic plan of […]
A game at which two can play seems to be the direction that the tiff between Music Ambassador Shyne Barrow and besieged NICH President Sapna Budhrani is headed. Budhrani’s suspension came into effect on Monday, however, a formal review of the expenditure of funds made available to the Office of the Music Ambassador for Music […]
According to Shyne Barrow, the spat between himself and Sapna Budhrani is not a personal vendetta being carried out against her. Likewise, he told the media this morning that the disagreement has very little, if nothing to do with the allocation of monies to his office, since funds that have been invested so far aren’t […]
Audits are taking place both at NICH and now at the office of the Music Ambassador. The results are expected to be released on completion. But News Five has obtained a copy of an audit from the office of the Auditor General. It covers the Procurement of Equipment purchased by the Ministry of Health for […]
Twenty one year old Guinea Grass villager, Jeffrey Hernandez, died a horrible and painful death on Monday night. Hernandez, a well-known football player in his home village, was working at AP Enterprise Cement Block factory on mile four of the George Price Highway when he was mangled by a cement mixer. News Five understands that […]
A death investigation is ongoing in the western village of Georgeville, Cayo District. On Monday evening, police responded to a shooting at mile one on the Mountain Pine Ridge Road in the village. Forty-two-year-old Daniel Alford Senior had been shot to the left side of the abdomen. He was taken to the San Ignacio Community […]
On Monday, we reported on the burglary of the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired office in Belmopan. Thousands of dollars worth of equipment as well as computers and office supplies were stolen including specialized eye care equipment. B.C.V.I.’s Optometrist and Ophthalmic Assistant was the one who made the discovery when he reported to work […]
Former Employee of the National Bank of Belize is exposing irregularities at the financial institution that have left her in bad debt. Katrina Young resigned from the National Bank of Belize in 2015. During her tenure at the bank, Young successfully applied for two loans—one for her studies and another for a vehicle. As an […]
It was a crazy weekend in which the blood spilled across the city and elsewhere. As many as seven persons were murdered beginning on Friday in one of the most violent periods. Aside from the homicides there were shootings, a home invasion, fatal traffic accidents and other acts of violence. The killing spree started in […]
The Hopkins community is stunned at the murder of Sherris Stringham, who by all accounts was well-liked in the village, where a memorial is being organized for later this week, pending the arrival of her relatives. A post-mortem conducted on Stringham’s decomposing body concludes that she died from traumatic asphyxia. Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph […]
As we said there were six murders in less than thirty hours in the Old Capital. It began on Friday afternoon when Shakedi Baizar was gunned down in an alley off Johnson Street near the Matron Roberts Polyclinic. That murder is believed to have triggered several other homicides in the city since his siblings are […]
Less than six hours after Shakedi Baizar was gunned down, a retaliatory murder occurred on Arlington Drive. Twenty-three-year-old Francis Pollard was shot several times while on Doris Books Crescent, a few minutes away from his house. Investigators confirmed today that the murder is gang-related. News Five’s Hipolito Novelo reports. Hipolito Novelo, Reporting Shots several […]
Victim number three, also on Friday night, was Daniel Lopez, a delivery man for Chon Saan Palace. The twenty-five-year-old was sent to deliver food at the corner of Basra and George Street in gang territory where street figures were mourning the murder of an associate, hours earlier. A gunman fired several shots in his direction, […]
Three murders on Friday and another three on Saturday. On Saturday morning, a guesthouse housekeeper found forty-year-old Allin Anthony Purtillo dead, covered by the hotel linen with his feet and hands bound with phone cord. Purtillo travelled from Independence to Belize City last Friday to officiate a softball game and checked into the Bayview Guesthouse […]
The unabated wave of gun violence over the weekend also claimed the life of a twenty-two-year-old resident of Pelican Street, who was shot and killed a short distance away from home and within hours of the gruesome discovery of a body at the Bayview Guesthouse. Investigators are still piecing together what may have precipitated the […]
A special sitting of the House of Representatives took place in Belmopan today on an issue that has been thorny and divisive. Prime Minister Dean Barrow, as Minister of Finance, presented the Appropriation Bill to pay a ninety-five million-dollar compensation award for the Universal Health Services debt. The loan ballooned to over ninety-five million dollars after […]
The PM has taken the view that the judgment from the Caribbean Court of Justice which ruled that the loan is legal, cannot be paid from the consolidated revenue fund unless the National Assembly votes to so do. Before today, cabinet members had public said they would vote ‘NO.’ Prime Minister Dean Barrow “This […]
According to the PM, it was for the House to decide if the debt to the Belize Bank would be paid. His argument rested on the basis that the debt cannot be paid from the consolidated revenue fund without the approval of the House. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “We bring the bill so that […]
For years, the guarantee by the government on a loan to the then Universal Health Services has been debated and tried in the courts. Today, it came down to a historic vote in the House by only one side of parliament. Before Prime Minister Barrow stood up to wrap up the UHS debt debate, members […]
For the People’s United Party, the UHS loan guarantee goes back to the Musa Administration, one which this current government won’t let them forget. But when the Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño made his contribution, he drew the line on the sand as it relates to a loan which started at thirty-three point five […]
Briceño placed the loan at the front door of the Prime Minister under whose watch the issue lingered before several courts for numerous years and remains unpaid. Briceño made the point that since the government did not intend to pay, it should have not spent all that money on legal fees. John Briceño, Leader […]
After tracing how the loan had meandered through the courts in Belize, London, New York, Miami, Washington and Trinidad, Briceño pointed to the law firms that had benefitted from legal fees: John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition “He decides to fight this judgment in courts. He has gone to seven courts all over the […]
The controversy at the National Institute of Culture and History continues to unravel with President Sapna Budhrani is in the hot seat. Since details began to emerge on the state of affairs at the statutory body, she had remained mum. This morning, however, backed up by the Board of Directors, Budhrani finally broke her silence, […]
