The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet for a final time before year’s end sometime in early December. Until then, the Barrow administration is forced to stare down an elephant in the room. That obvious problem which perhaps no one in government is eager to discuss is the ninety million dollar debt owed to […]
The P.U.P. Cayo South Area Representative is not known for mincing words. So, in true Julius Espat fashion, he says that in the face of all the chatter in the media, come the day of the next house meeting the ‘I’s will have it. Julius Espat, Deputy Party Leader, P.U.P. “In the House of […]
But what Espat will readily agree to is the fact that UHS has since changed hands and has gone on to become an entirely new company with different ownership, all at the expense of the Belizean people. What he argues, on the other hand, is that the prime minister, by being obstinate, has also gambled […]
When asked whether members of the U.D.P. government abstaining from supporting the motion is tantamount to a vote of no confidence, Espat says that they would, for all intents and purposes, be finding themselves in a catch twenty-two. Reporter “If it were to happen that the prime minister brings a motion for this money […]
Fifty-three-year-old Clinton Arthur Davis is the latest victim of murder in the Old Capital. Around noon today his partially decomposed body was found face down with an abrasion to the forehead. Davis was found about one hundred and fifty yards from the highway in bushes near to his residence. The resident of Mile five and […]
Belize may not have fought any wars in its young existence. But every day of their lives, the more than thirteen hundred men and women of the Belize Defence Force train to prepare as if one will be declared at any moment. They are the national shield and sword against threats internal and external, which […]
While the Force was busy training with its international partners, a prior such training involving German soldiers and the costs asked for by a senior officer’s private company remains under scrutiny of an official audit. Belize Jungle Experience Limited is credited with salaries and the use of the then-non-functional helicopter fleet for training in Belize’s […]
Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber minced no words earlier today when he openly spoke out against the decision by the Caribbean Court of Justice on Wednesday. The CCJ has ordered the Government of Belize to fork over ninety million dollars to the Belize Bank Limited, after years of litigation in respect of the U.H.S. debt. […]
As you heard in the news on Wednesday, former Prime Minister Said Musa said that the matter could have been settled during his term in office and that government had indeed received funding from Taiwan and Venezuela that would have cleared the debt. But, Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber was not having it today – […]
But with all that said and done – the CCJ judgment still stands and G.O.B. must now cough up ninety million Belize dollars. And where will this money come from? DPM Faber says that for now he does not know and that will be up to the Minister of Finance, PM Barrow. But what he […]
The debate about recreational usage of marijuana continues, even after the decriminalization of possession of ten grams or less of the drug took effect earlier this month. While there is some support for tentative acceptance of use of weed for medicinal purposes, officialdom continues to frown on any attempt to make a business out of […]
Closer to home, how have things been going since marijuana decriminalization went into effect on November first? Very well, according to Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte, who told us that the effect of the law depends on responsible parents and adults to show the way. There is admittedly some lagging in other aspects of the legislation, […]
A persistent question being asked is, if the law can ease up on users of marijuana, what happens to those who plant fields and cultivate and sell “weed” for recreational purposes? As is evident from crackdowns by the Gang Suppression Unit and other elements of the Police Department, those persons remain afoul of the law. […]
While legislators were busy discussing the decriminalization and the reclassification of marijuana from a regional perspective, local law enforcement was proceeding with drug trafficking charges against a cab driver in Corozal. Forty-eight-year-old Brian Young was busted on Wednesday morning with roughly twenty pounds of weed inside a plastic bag. The seizure was made by customs […]
The Barrow administration has been dealt yet another crippling blow by the Caribbean Court of Justice, after losing an appeal in respect of a long-drawn-out matter involving the defunct Universal Health Services. Earlier today, the C.C.J. reversed the ruling of the Belize Court of Appeal and ordered the Government of Belize to pay roughly eighty-eight […]
According to Courtenay, a letter will be forwarded to government later this week requesting payment. Should there be no response or a refusal to pay the outstanding debt, a certificate will be sought as part of the enforcement process. Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for Belize Bank “I think it is important for the Belizean public […]
Solicitor General Nigel Hawke appeared on behalf of government and was first to express disappointment with the CCJ’s verdict. While he is awaiting further instructions, the Sol Gen maintains that government wasn’t imprudent when it decided not to honor the thirty-seven million dollar award back in 2013. Nigel Hawke, Solicitor General “It’s always a […]
The source of the lengthy proceedings is former Prime Minister Said Musa, whose administration back in 2004 entered into an agreement by signing a loan note between the Belize Bank and Universal Health Services. The People’s United Party government assumed the twenty-nine million dollar debt when UHS failed to pay the loan. When details of […]
According to Musa, the matter had been settled during his term in office and that government had indeed received funding from Taiwan and Venezuela that would have cleared the debt. Said Musa, Former Prime Minister “It was settled, as you know, by my government at the time, and indeed we had received grants from […]
Late this evening, the Belize Bank also issued a press release on the decision, stating, “In its judgment today, the CCJ granted permission to the Bank to enforce the L.C.I.A. Award in the same manner as a judgment or order of the Supreme Court to the same effect. It also ordered that the Bank have […]
Are police any closer to cracking the murder case of Michelle Anison? The decomposing body of the British expat was discovered in her apartment on Perez Road, Ladyville last Friday; her vehicle and personal effects were missing. News Five understands that Anison’s wallet, with her bank cards and I.D. was discovered on a bus and […]
The Garifuna Settlement Day holiday weekend proved deadly on Belize’s roads, particularly the Hummingbird Highway, where three fatal crashes took place at the same stretch of road in less than forty-eight hours. Four persons lost their lives as a result. We will have a chronicle of each incident later on, but we lead tonight with […]
Fifty-six-year-old Michelle Anison was buried with haste on Friday evening, following an autopsy which confirmed that she had been stabbed multiple times inside her apartment in Ladyville, sometime early last week. The badly decomposed body of the British national was discovered by her landlady who was there to collect on overdue rent. Ladyville police were […]
According to Assistant Superintendent Cowo, the British High Commission has been informed of the incident, so has Anison’s family in the United Kingdom. ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City “Because of the advanced state of decomposition, the body had to be buried on the same date. Yes we have communicated with the British […]
A shooting in Corozal has now turned murder and police have been unable to crack this case. Twenty-two-year-old Brenda Jandrez, a resident of Corozal Town, has succumbed to gunshot injuries after being mortally wounded on November first. As we reported back then, Jandrez was inside her home on Mahogany Street at around eight-thirty that Wednesday […]
