On Sunday morning a PG resident made a gruesome discovery on the beach. She spotted vultures circling and when she investigated found a badly decomposed body washed up on shore. Following an on-site post-mortem examination PG Police have ruled that B.D.F. soldier Orlando Rash, reported missing on Friday, was murdered. Today, Officer Commanding Punta Gorda, […]
On Monday, June twentieth, Police rounded up nineteen members of the Ahmad family from six different homes in Hattieville. The homes were searched and documents, weapons and electronic items were seized by the Police. Interestingly, the family was released ten hours after without being informed of why they were detained in the first place. The […]
Still not revealing anything, Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie explained that he is satisfied that the investigation, search and seizure were conducted within the parameters of the law. That will be a matter for the Court to decide, since the Commissioner says he has already gotten a letter from an attorney representing the Ahmad family. […]
This week’s editorial in the Reporter newspaper has managed to accomplish what little else has – accord between the Government and the Opposition. We’ll get to that, but first the apparently incendiary article on page two of the Reporter. It’s on the Sarstoon and starts like this, “There are many in Belize who still believe […]
The Opposition swung first this morning, via text from Senator Eamon Courtenay. He wrote, “The Reporter editorial of today is factually and legally wrong. It is a bizarre and possibly treasonous editorial. The Reporter owes Belizeans an unconditional apology and a complete retraction of this crude attempt at distorting reality. Once again we are making […]
As we mentioned earlier, the Reporter Editorial was written by newspaper owner Harry Lawrence. He received the letter from C.E.O. in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Sylvester this afternoon, and News Five managed to get a comment from him this evening via phone. On the Phone: Harry Lawrence, Owner, Reporter Newspaper “We will […]
While the Reporter’s Editorial is found to be lacking in accuracy, another article in circulation today puts perspective in what really is happening in the Chiquibul. Renowned professional photographer Tony Rath recently accompanied Friends of Conservation and Development into the depths of the Chiquibul National Park in Western Belize. His trip into the vast wilderness […]
On February twenty-third, Justice Courtney Abel ruled that B.T.L. and Mek Mi Rich, MMR, colluded to steal the concept for the game-show from Curtis Swasey. It was a landmark ruling and a major black-eye for B.T.L. Mek Mi Rich, with directors Andre Vega and Sanjay Hotchandani had closed its doors when the lawsuit was first […]
What was also clear at the conclusion of the case in February is that the twenty-five thousand awarded to Swasey as compensation was not satisfactory to the claimant. The Judge’s hands were tied because MMR’s profits from the game show were not available so it could not be entered into the equation. But it’s not […]
After two nights on remand at the Belize Central Prison, thirty-five year old police officer, Urbie Alamilla is out on bail granted to him this morning by Supreme Court Judge, Justice Antoinette Moore. Bail was set at eight thousand dollars and the Justice imposed conditions that Alamilla has to meet. He is to surrender all […]
An event took place in Belmopan today that is causing chatter and drawing controversy in some quarters. The Rainbow Flag, which is the recognized symbol of gay pride, was hoisted for the first time at the compound of the U.S. Embassy. There, it will fly until the end of the month to celebrate the ongoing […]
While members of the church did not gather en masse at the gates of the U.S. Embassy this morning, the leadership of the National Evangelical Association of Belize was present to voice its disdain for the controversial flag raising ceremony. According to President Lance Lewis, flying the LGBT flag is an outward expression that the […]
On Tuesday, News Five broke the story of what has every appearance of being a bailout of G.O.B. by S.S.B. at the Prime Minister’s request. If indeed it is a bailout, then there is good news for the government today because the Board of Directors met and green-lighted the investment. That’s probably not a big […]
News Five has learned that at Tuesday’s meeting Financial Secretary Joseph Waight was called into the meeting of the Investment Committee to provide some clarity on share value. There was also one other relatively major concern – that is, that S.S.B. would be guaranteed a buyback by G.O.B. in the event that it wishes to […]
The People’s United Party has condemned the transaction, claiming that G.O.B. is raiding the S.S.B. piggy bank because it is broke and needs a cash fix. In an extended interview on Wednesday, Briceño called on the gatekeepers at the S.S.B. to protect the people’s money and not to give in to the whims of their […]
Following talks in Washington between Belize and Guatemala on Tuesday, there’s been no clear sense that progress has really been made in resolving the conflict in the Sarstoon. Certainly there is no agreement on paper, no draft proposals or protocols and no clear-cut timeline. The Opposition seized on the recurring uncertainty following G.O.B.’s every diplomatic […]
Last week the P.U.P. announced that it would be withdrawing its representative from the talks with Guatemala. That move is designed to send a clear message that the P.U.P. believes that the negotiations status quo has got to go. Senator Eamon Courtenay told News Five that for the Opposition it’s anything but a game, and […]
Foreign Minister Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington returned from Washington this morning after leading a delegation of government representatives to meet with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales and his delegation along with the O.A.S. Secretary General Luis Almagro. Since Istanbul, Turkey, it was the first round of talks at the ministerial level towards formulating a mutual […]
So with no protocols established, no formal or informal draft and no concrete establishment of a relationship in the Sarstoon pending the formal protocols, what really came out of that Washington trip? Senator Eamon Courtenay, the Opposition Representative for the Guatemala talks prior to them removing themselves from those talks, had definite ideas about that […]
As we said earlier, Brigadier General Jones met with Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Eduardo Perez, Chief of Defense Staff of the Guatemalan army. Guatemala proposes that the head of the armies define procedures to access the Sarstoon. At the discussions, that proposed mechanism was not formalized. Elrington also says that the blockage of News Five to […]
Where the B.D.F. is concerned, the changeover of personnel at the Cadenas Observation Post, using the Sarstoon River as ingress to the remote location, has been unhindered since early May. While that is good news for the military, from a civilian perspective, it’s pretty much the same old, same old. Entry into the Sarstoon, even […]
Elrington admits that to reach a Sarstoon Protocol is a gradual process that hopefully will materialize a document within the next six months. As for untrammeled access, well that too has been relegated to a work in progress. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “We don’t have total and complete control over the […]
While the meeting has been described as fruitful, there were more questions than answers this morning when the foreign minister returned to the country. Elrington could not even say when a follow-up meeting will be held. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “Nothing has been put in writing yet, but nothing is agreed […]
There you have it. After five hours in Washington there is no agreement on the Sarstoon, no structured plan for discussions – not even a date for the next meeting to discuss whatever it is that was discussed in that intensive session. But the Opposition says it has a plan – and it includes the […]
Is Government broke? A recent report from the IMF raised alarm bells painting a dismal economic picture and recommends retrenchment and increased taxes. And tonight, we can report that G.O.B. wants at least fifty million dollars of Social Security money. News Five has been able to confirm government’s scrambling to raise money by seeking to […]
