The Prime Minister reserved a special dose of vitriol for Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Julius Espat. Espat on Wednesday said that the Bill, if passed, would in effect allow the Prime Minister to write a one million dollar check to his family. That got the PM’s attention in a hurry, and it was clear he […]
With that out the way, P.U.P. Leader Francis Fonseca got the budget debate started. He lashed out in short order, stating that not only was the 2015-2016 Budget the shortest ever, it is also the emptiest. According to Fonseca who pointed to the rising cost of basic goods, PM Barrow’s budget is actually devoid of […]
Fonseca ended his presentation on a passionate note, claiming that the People’s United Party may be down, but they are not out. Rolling on the Petrocaribe bounty and unprecedented spending, Government has boasted that it will win a historic third term whenever general elections are called. But while Fonseca stops just short of saying “Call […]
Former Prime Minister and Fort George Area Representative Said Musa this morning echoed the words of Party Leader Francis Fonseca, claiming that the budget is all glitter and no substance, a borrow and spend budget. According to Musa, while rhetoric is one thing, the reality on Belize’s streets is that the rich are getting richer; […]
One particular area of interest to Musa is the debt profile of the country. He says that in 2008, the U.D.P. met manageable debt, and in less than ten years they have racked it up to a point where it is unsustainable. Said Musa, Area Representative, Fort George “When the U.D.P. came into office […]
There is a lot of political news tonight. We’ll come to that shortly, but we start with a rather unprecedented proposed new law. This Thursday, Belize’s Parliamentarians go to the House to debate the 2015-2016 Budget. But even before that gets underway, News Five has gotten wind of a bill which Government intends to pass […]
It’s official. Albert constituency Area Representative Herman Longsworth is out. The wanna-be Area Rep., Phillip Willoughby, is also out. And Tourism C.E.O. and first-time, full-time politician Tracy Taegar-Panton is in. The announcement came today at U.D.P. headquarters, complete with all the bells and whistles to welcome the woman, Prime Minister Dean Barrow says will deliver […]
Panton comes from a traditionally P.U.P. background, and even worked for years as Manager of the P.U.P.’s Belize Times. She has been affiliated with the very successful Mark Espat era in the Albert Constituency and received her first official tourism posting under the P.U.P. So how does that true blue history get reconciled with the […]
So, the United Democratic Party formally introduced its new standard bearer for the Albert Division this morning, much to the surprise of many who believed that the candidacy would have been a duel between councilor Phillip Willoughby and Minister of State Herman Longsworth. One man who’s equally as taken aback, not by the abrupt change, […]
Thompson also says that he will be re-strategizing in the wake of the recent development and remains confident of his chances in his stomping grounds. Isani Cayetano “Does the familiarity of this new candidate force you in any way to change your campaign or to restructure or reorganize your approach to winning the upcoming […]
Back to Panton…She says she is confident that she can deliver the Albert constituency, and has committed to do just that. To have any chance at all, she will have to capitalize on any mileage made by Longsworth and even Willoughby, who has been working in the division for months. Both men’s sudden fall from […]
Most would say that Longsworth’s stint as Albert Area Representative has been unremarkable, and while Willoughby wanted it really bad, he’ll never get his chance to shine in the Alberts. But neither man seems particularly unhappy to be pushed out, and that’s probably because the favour of their stepping aside will likely be rewarded with […]
This Wednesday, starting at eight p.m. sharp, the Belize Jaguars will be playing against the national football team from the Cayman Islands in the first leg of qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup. Today, the Cayman delegation arrived in Belize on Taca Airlines, but interestingly, there were no officials from the Football Federation of […]
The retail cost of rice on the local market remains a topic of discussion since last Thursday when Belize City businessman Jack Charles issued a release shedding light on seemingly exorbitant prices. Charles, proprietor of Xtra House, has expressed an interest in importing rice from Guyana at a cost, he argues, that would be significantly […]
Despite the argument that the local rice industry is self-sustained, over three million pounds of rice was brought into the country from Guyana in 2014. The importation, according to Rempel, was the result of a shortage attributed to crop failure, and the reason for not seeing packaged product bearing Guyanese brands is simply because the […]
There have been no arrests in the double homicide of Orange Walk minors Oscar Valdez and Michael Usher on Saturday night. But the unexpected violence has unleashed an intensive Police operation – as part of the hunt for the killer, but also to crack down on gang activity in the community – leading to the […]
The Lands Department is advising private landowners to be on full alert after the discovery of active attempts to rob them of their properties. The scam was discovered last week when perpetrators attempted to lodge applications for first registrations. For those who don’t know, first registrations are carried out by those landholders who have not […]
At least twelve instances of land fraud have been discovered, going as far back as 2012. Land scammers are apparently focusing on three areas so far, including Consejo, Commerce Bight and Placencia. Those being targeted are primarily absentee landowners, who are in real danger of returning to Belize to find they no longer own a […]
Michael Feinstein, developer of the Stake Bank/Drowned Cayes cruise port project, is suing the Government of Belize and owners of the Fort Street Tourism Village over agreements signed in the nascent stages of FSTV in 2004. Feinstein claims that the “head tax” presently collected by government is not suitably accounted for in the Consolidated Revenue […]
There has been only one other murder in Orange Walk since the beginning the year, but on Saturday night, all that changed when two teenage friends were gruesomely murdered in front of a house across from the popular Boundary Store Warehouse compound located on Palmar Boundary Road. The double murder of sixteen year old Oscar […]
There was also an attempt made of the life of a forty-one year old salesman of Orange Walk Town on Saturday night. Around eleven o’clock, Rosendo Santana was at his Progress Street house when someone called his name outside. As he opened the front door to see who it was, a man dressed in dark […]
There was also a shooting in the city over the weekend. Early on Saturday morning, police headed to the corner of Faber’s Road and Central American Boulevard, where they found a pair of red and black slippers and a bicycle lying on the blooded sidewalk. Twenty-eight year old Kareem Stevens was riding his bicycle on […]
Eleven-year-old Austin Olivera Junior has succumbed on Sunday night to injuries he received last Tuesday when he was knocked down by a tour guide near the Airport Road in Ladyville. Olivera, a student of Stella Maris, was on his way to school that morning when he was hit by a silver minivan while crossing the […]
Today, police had to be called in to the K.H.M.H. Emergency Area after an irate patient smashed the glass entrance door, cutting himself badly. The story is an old and tired one – patients waiting hours for treatment and claiming that they are being ignored by K.H.M.H. staff on duty in the emergency room. This […]
Tonight diesel fuel remains an extremely scarce commodity in the country…and those few gas stations that have gotten stock in by tanker truck from Guatemala are dispensing frugally. The ship is expected to arrive in Belize on Tuesday night, which means that things should return to normal by Thursday morning. The shortage has impacted many […]
