By all accounts, the passing away of a police officer found unresponsive outside of the Corozal Police Station, appears to be of natural causes. On Sunday night, while his colleagues were making their rounds on the compound, they happened upon the motionless body of Police Constable Mitchell Cobb. Despite all efforts to rush him to […]
There are back to back changes to fuel prices announced within days of each other. The latest is a slight increase in the price of premium which goes from eleven dollars and sixty-seven cents to eleven dollars and seventy-one cents per gallon. That takes effect at midnight. After a number of price increases since the […]
Just before news time on Thursday, shots rang out on East Collect Canal near the Pound Yard Bridge which resulted in the murder of a mechanic. Several shots were fired at Jose Villanueva, who was hit three times to the back as he stood inside his yard. His neighbor, with whom he has been feuding […]
The worst fire tragedy in San Pedro occurred early on the morning of June twelfth in the Escalante Subdivision on the island where four persons were killed in the blaze. The charred remains of a mother, her two children and her niece were discovered in a corner to the rear of what was left of […]
The fire has sparked outrage by residents who say that the tragic death of the family could have been averted if appropriate fire-fighting equipment was available on the prime tourism that contributes top dollars to the economy. But there are only two small fire trucks on the island which were clearly inadequate to battle the […]
Samir Nunez and his father David survived the inferno since they were able to get out of the burning building. While the sixteen-year-old is at home with his relatives, David remains in a critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, having received third degree burns to most of the body. In the aftermath of […]
South Cebada is one of the most remote areas of the Chiquibul National Park. While it is deep inside the protected area and difficult to reach, it is also located about one point five kilometers from the border with Guatemala. That makes it an open ground for illegal activity perpetuated by nearby communities who depend […]
As you heard, manning the Chiquibul National Park poses a huge challenge to the relevant agencies, including Friends for Conservation and Development. FCD rangers on June sixth spotted a group of five illegal farmers and were able to apprehend two: Guatemalan national Edras Garcia and Honduran national Elder Diaz four kilometres within Belizean territory. Following […]
Guatemala was recently hit by the Volcan de Fuego that has caused the deaths of as many as one hundred and fourteen persons and untold damages to property and infrastructure. In a show of solidarity, the government has announced that it is making a financial contribution of one hundred thousand Belize dollars to our neighbour. […]
His promotion to the second most powerful government ministry is still making headlines, but since the announcement that on June twenty-fifth, he will become the new Minister of Natural Resources, Hugo Patt today gave his first impression as to the way forward in the ministry. According to him, a number of reforms have been implemented […]
Hugo Patt’s ascension as well as the significance of the portfolio he has been assigned, leads many to question whether the U.D.P. Corozal North area rep is being primed for higher office. He has not made those ambitions clear, but with talks that a third or a fourth candidate may be eyeing the party leader’s […]
As you heard, Minister Patt officially assumes direction of the Ministry of Natural Resources, in the next two week. The minister from the north has not held any of the weighty ministries before, but on two occasions in recent times, he has been named as acting prime minister. Those brief appointments have now propelled him […]
The announcement on Tuesday that Senator Carla Barnett was leaving the Ministry of Natural Resources took a lot of people by surprise because it is well known that the senator was highly rated to clean up the ‘hot bed of corruption. So what went down? The official line is that her demotion to the relatively […]
There is sweet news for cane farmers who strongly fought against the Spanish multinational, Santander, for introducing white sugar into the local market. Tonight, there is a decision in respect of a request by Santander to sell some five thousand tons of white sugar and two thousand tons of molasses for local consumption. The Export […]
There is growing public concern about the status of a development in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve by a group of businessmen led by former Immigration Minister Elvin Penner. His phone number and name are listed as a contact on the billboard welcoming persons to a planned subdivision for an acreage said to be […]
According to C.E.O. Cho an application by the developer has been halted because of environmental clearance not being granted. The Department of Environment, however, is reviewing that application. Isani Cayetano “My understanding is that the Land Utilization Authority, certain flags were raised and I understand that the owners of those developments proceeded with subdivision […]
Shortly after four o’clock this afternoon, there was a deadly traffic accident near Rhaburn Ridge on the Phillip Goldson Highway. Police can only confirm at this point that one person perished in the accident. News Five has learnt that the victim is believed to be a nurse from Orange Walk. We’ll have more details on […]
The death of four family members in a horrible fire in San Pedro is being felt throughout the tightly knit community in San Pedro. A mother, her two children and a niece were unable to get out as a fire blazed through their house on the Escalante Sub division of the island early on Tuesday […]
As the family grieves their sudden loss, sharp questions arise as to the state of essential services on the island. The fire trucks were not able to tackle the inferno and soon ran out of water. Residents of the prime tourism island are looking for answers as to why, despite previous destructive fires, the island […]
Tuesday’s announcement of yet another reshuffling of ministerial portfolios prompted by a sudden change in the top layer in the Ministry of Natural Resources is being met with serious concerns. It is the fourth re-organization of Cabinet since the departure of former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega who demitted office amid a land scandal involving […]
Minister Edmond Castro, himself a fairly new minister, when asked to weigh in on the latest round of ministerial musical chairs, told the media that the prime minister has the power to make such decisions. When pressed about the optics of Barnett’s demotion to a low key ministry, Castro stuck to his guns, stating that […]
A report in the Antigua Observer is causing shivers in some parts of the Caribbean. The report states that the island has received word that the largesse of the Petrocaribe is coming to an end. This, according to the report, is due largely to the deep fall in the production of crude oil from Venezuela. […]
And while on the issue of fuel, the Ministry of Finance says it will not be possible, at least not soon, to consider a decrease in taxes connected to fuel collected by the government. In a release on Tuesday, it re-stated its position, blaming the successive increases and yo-yo-ing prices for fuel on “skyrocketed” global […]
The San Pedro community has been left devastated by one of the most ferocious fires in the island and elsewhere in the country. The blaze erupted at about two-forty-five this morning at a two storey house in the Escalante subdivision. The wooden upper flat of the house was completed gutted. Trapped inside was a family […]
As the hellish fire raged, the community formed a bucket brigade to assist the Fire Department to fight the uncontrolled blaze. The fire trucks ran out of water but another most disturbing factor that contributed to the loss of life was that there was only one flight of stairs to the upper flat. There was […]
