Both the substantive and de facto ministers of police rose in response to further outline what the amendment does and does not do. Possession of marijuana above ten grams remains a crime with the usual penalties, as is cultivation and intending to traffic. Elodio Aragon Junior, the Minister of State, made note of the fact […]
Another multi-million dollar contract has been granted to the government’s choice contractor, Imer Hernandez, the nephew of the former Deputy Prime Minister Gapi Vega. As recent as last week, Hernandez was granted the controversial eight-million-dollar contract for the one mile stretch of Faber’s Road, which Prime Minister Dean Barrow staunchly defended on Wednesday. Minister of […]
Now Imer Hernandez’s company has been awarded numerous contracts for multimillion dollar projects in past years. Back in 2014, the Prime Minister had to defend Hernandez’s work because many considered it sub-standard. In one instance, he was threatened with court action by the Orange Walk Town Council after he was paid monies for infrastructural work […]
The dust has not settled yet on the controversial eight-million-dollar contract for work on Faber’s Road. The agreement was signed on Thursday and by Friday, execution began. It prompted the Prime Minister to bring out the consultant at the Ministry of Works, Avondale Moody, in defense. Still yet, there is that bit on the tendering […]
The controversy surrounding the cost, as well as the awarding of the Faber’s Road Project to Imer Hernandez, is quite possibly the result of a lack of information about the mechanics of the tendering process. It’s a concern that is shared by Mayor Bradley, who believes that it is critical to transparency and accountability. […]
Why was Mayor Bradley skirted by Prime Minister Barrow in favor of Councilor Deon Leslie during his consultations on the Faber’s Road Project? On the surface it appears that the United Democratic Party is attempting to gain political mileage ahead of the upcoming municipal elections. Councilor Leslie is responsible for sanitation, but he’s also the […]
Still on the issue of infrastructure projects…. it was intended to be a centerpiece of the giant Petrocaribe spending program – worth removing squatters, clearing out bushes and splashing cash. But the Lake Independence Boulevard project, which cost three-point-two million dollars, has instead become a monument to failure. The primary problem is that the hot-mix […]
Mayor Darrell Bradley also commented on the Lake Independence Boulevard. As both a citizen and Mayor, he was appalled at the state of affairs. He indicated that it was emblematic of a systemic breakdown which must be addressed by the Government with support from the press. After years of contracts being awarded with few details […]
Since the announcement last week, there has been growing public outcry over the awarding of another contract to Imer Hernandez, the family of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Gaspar Vega. This afternoon, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a press conference seeking to quell the firestorm on the cost of the works as well as over […]
As to the tendering for the award of the lucrative contract, you heard the Prime Minister say he solicited estimates from two contractors before settling for Hernandez. He had also consulted with U.D.P. mayoral candidate Dion Leslie. He calls this process, limited tendering, to expedite the works. The contract was signed last Thursday and by […]
To bolster an explanation on the seemingly exorbitant cost of the Faber’s Road project, government brought in an engineering consultant who has had extensive history working with the Ministry of Works. Avondale Moody handles a majority, if not all, of the internationally funded projects and after a detailed breakdown of expenditure, he claims that the […]
The Prime Minister opened the conference by specifically challenging the charge that the Finance and Audit Act was violated by the use of the selective tendering process rather than open tendering. He also defended against claims that the contract should have immediately gone to the National Assembly for review. The Act, said Barrow, provides that […]
Does Imer Hernandez’s family ties to former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega place him under intense public scrutiny insofar as the Faber’s Road project and other past contracts are concerned? Interestingly, PM Barrow says the nephew of the Orange Walk North Area Representative is not known for any party political allegiance. Barrow adds that the […]
It has now been over a month since any member of the Police Department last gave an on-camera interview to the press concerning criminal matters, not counting Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie. In that time, by our count, there have been eighteen murders reported countrywide, no less than a dozen of them in Belize City […]
This evening, Caribbean Shores area representative Kareem Musa issued a statement on social media declaring that he would not contest the position of party leader of the People’s United Party against incumbent John Briceño. Musa’s name was raised shortly after the National Party Council meeting of September thirtieth as a potential challenger in the upcoming […]
There is a resurgence of crime and violence on Jane Usher Boulevard area in the Old Capital. On Monday night, there was another shooting which left a thirty-one-year-old resident lifeless. Keith Middleton was gunned down as he sat on the back step of his house on Mud Street. There had been two previous attempts on […]
In Monday’s newscast, we reported on the foiled abduction of three young girls in the west. Today, News Five’s Duane Moody headed to El Progresso Seven Miles Community to follow this story. Now, a well-known U.S. businessman, who resides in a nearby community is in police custody and is being investigated, following the report made […]
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto will be in Belize for the first time next week. Traditionally, Mexican presidents visit before their inauguration as part of a tour of bordering countries and their state visits to Belize are almost guaranteed. The last Mexican president to visit was Felipe Calderon; that was back in 2007. Now, Peña […]
The Caribbean Court of Justice opened its first term for the 2017-2018 judicial year with the appeal of Belize Bank Limited versus the Attorney General. The case concerns the long-standing battle for monies owed to the bank on behalf of the former Universal Health Services, now Belize Healthcare Partners Limited. The argument arises out of […]
But in the local courts, recently widowed Anke Doehm appeared before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer. With her late husband David, she is accused of cruelty to a child – her thirteen-year-old adopted daughter, the late Faye Lin Cannon. But David took his own life at the Princess Hotel on October fifth, the same day as […]
On Christmas Eve of 2016, media personality Alfonso Noble was accused of knocking down and killing Hattieville resident Gilbert Myers near mile four on the George Price Highway. Noble was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, but for personal reasons refused to provide a blood specimen to police. He was back in court […]
Hattieville police made a gun bust on Sunday during which they intercepted a trio of men inside a pickup and found a nine millimetre firearm and four live rounds of ammunition. As a result, the driver and owner of the vehicle, twenty-five-year-old Tremaine Williams as well as brothers, Anthony and Andrew Lewis were all charged […]
There is a disturbing report coming in from the west where two men attempted to abduct three girls—ages nine, ten and eleven—from El Progresso, seven miles village in the Cayo District. At news time tonight, the minors along with their parents are with investigators inside the San Ignacio Police Station providing formal statements as to […]
Tonight, seventeen-year-old Erwin Paulino Rodriguez was laid to rest at Eternal Garden Memorial Cemetery on the George Price Highway following a short graveside service. The last faint hopes of his family were dashed on Saturday afternoon. His mother Silvia was called by police to the seashore behind the Port of Belize, to the rear of […]
As the October session of the Court of Appeal opened today in Belize City, in Belmopan, attorney Franz Parke was sworn in as the new justice to the court. The ceremony was without fanfare and just as well because there has been strong opposition to the appointment on the grounds that Parke is not qualified […]
