So where does this go from here? The Mayor has put his foot down, and so has the Prime Minister. Who will win that cock-fight is a no-brainer, but the Mayor does have the option of just resigning on principle. In the past weeks there have been reliable reports that the Mayor has considered backing […]
Hearings started today at the Caribbean Court of Justice in Trinidad, which will determine the fate of B.T.L. and B.E.L., the two utility companies that were acquired from their owners by the government. This morning, Senior Counsel Attorney Eamon Courtenay presented the case for British Caribbean Bank while Lord Peter Goldsmith, Queens Counsel, made submissions […]
Is there financial hanky-panky going on at the Belize Fisheries Department? Senior fisheries officer Mauro Gongora is under fire for allegedly persuading a cane farmer from Corozal Town into paying sixty-four thousand dollars for a Fish Exporters License and over three thousand pounds of sea cucumber which he is yet to receive. In March of […]
There is a disturbing report tonight on the death of a three month infant. Police have ruled out foul play and are calling it a case of sudden death; the baby died of asphyxia due to suffocation. The infant and the mother both lived at a children’s home; she is a minor who got pregnant […]
The case of Marleny Castellanos, who was named as the mastermind in an immigrations scam, came up today in the magistrate court. But what seemed to be an iron-tight case suddenly collapsed in court. Castellanos walked free this morning when the court cleared her of all thirty-eight charges for aiding and abetting immigrants to use […]
Tonight, the only news in the ongoing sugar cane crisis is that there is no news. Late this evening News Five spoke to an official of the BSCFA who told us that there has been no word back from government yet. Prime Minister Dean Barrow left Monday’s meeting with a commitment to meet with ASR/B.S.I., […]
The Christmas Cheer monies have been disbursed, we hear, thanks to Petrocaribe. News Five understands that U.D.P. Area Representatives have gotten one hundred and ten thousand dollars…P.U.P. Area representatives have gotten thirty-five thousand dollars, and even U.D.P. caretakers have gotten in on the bounty. It’s a mass political handout with only the very faintest appearance […]
P.U.P. Deputy Leader Julius Espat also weighed in on the mortgage giveaway which he says is pure nonsense. Apart from the shameless politicking, Espat claims that there is much better use for the Petrocaribe monies, which actually should be targeted specifically at poverty alleviation. We’re not sure paying mortgages for those who can actually afford […]
At the Caribbean Court of Justice headquarters in Trinidad and Tobago, arguments begin on Wednesday in what is described as a ground breaking case for the Caribbean in which the government of Belize is facing legal challenges of a constitutional nature. The case, which will give further teeth to the CCJ, will be heard over a […]
In the very early hours of Saturday morning, Valley of Peace resident Donatilo Canales was shot dead in his yard in the village. His wife heard multiple gunshots minutes after the fifty-four year old family man went outside with a lamp to check why his dogs were barking. When he didn’t return to the house […]
On Friday, A.S.R./B.S.I. rejected the B.S.C.F.A.’s proposals on the three points which sit on the negotiating table like ten thousand pound gorillas. One is the timeframe of the agreement which would govern the relationship between farmers and factory. The second is the ownership of the cane, and the third is the formula for the payment […]
The Petrocaribe program was started in 2005 under President Hugo Chavez, and since then has provided countries in the region with invaluable social assistance. But that donor nation is now owed twenty billion through Petrocaribe, and with the country now cash strapped, there is talk of selling some of that debt to private entities to […]
So when that good thing comes to an end, G.O.B. will deal with it. But for now, the coffers are chock full of the green stuff…overflowing even. And some of it will be tricking down this Christmas. As has been traditional, more will be trickling to U.D.P. Area Representatives than P.U.P. Area Representatives – a […]
The People’s United Party will participate in Government’s Christmas Cheer program, funded with Petrocaribe monies. That announcement by the Party’s Secretariat has been met with raised eyebrows in some quarters, since the P.U.P. has been the most vocal and vehement when it comes to the disbursement of the “Roll It” money. News Five asked P.U.P. […]
A well known resident was murdered in the Valley of Peace area, Cayo, just after midnight on Saturday. The wife of Donatilo Canales and a neighbor found him dead in a bushy area after gun shots were heard. Following the murder, the Canales family moved out of the village in fear of their lives since […]
Forty-three-year-old Jose Miguel Abrego, a caretaker on a citrus farm near St. Margaret’s Village was shot and killed sometime after eleven o’clock on Sunday night. According to his wife, Abrego was on the property when she heard a volley of shots being fired. She was reportedly upstairs of their residence and took cover. When the […]
The case of Speednet Communications Limited and Belize Telemedia Limited returned to the courtroom of Justice Shona Griffith this morning. Speednet, parent company of SMART, had sought an interim injunction restraining Telemedia from cutting off their communication link in the South of Belize, which would leave over seven thousand SMART customers in the Toledo District […]
Belize City’s Mayor Darrell Bradley has been having his share of financial woes of late, since he is faced with the commitment of taking on one hundred and seventy new workers in January. Back in September, the mayor was forced into agreeing to take on the BML workers that were being displaced. Today his cup […]
At around two thirty Thursday afternoon a Tropic Air Cessna Grand Caravan, inbound from San Pedro, crash landed at the Municipal Airstrip in Belize City and then ran off the runway into the bordering sea. There were five passengers on but all escaped unharmed. Directors of Tropic Air immediately blamed the slick conditions of the […]
The sugar-cane crop season 2014-2015 will not start on December eighth. And when, or if it will start, is anybody’s guess. On Wednesday the BSCFA presented proposals to the BSI on three main points of contention. And at around four fifteen today, via letter, the BSI rejected those proposals and, we are told, issued modified […]
The annual general meeting of the Belize Tourism Industry Association took place this morning at the Radisson Hotel in Belize City. While the tourism industry has faced its own share of challenges it has grown to become the second largest in Belize and today it is in robust form. In fact, it is creating employment […]
The B.T.I.A. also welcomed a new president during today’s AGM. Osmany Salas has been chosen to succeed Herbert Haylock as head of the private sector tourism organization. The incoming president says that the work of B.T.I.A. continues by strengthening specific areas of the organization, including its relationship with the Belize Tourism Board. Osmany Salas, […]
A pair of Guatemalan men found hunting in Belizean territory illegally is spending the first night of a five-year sentence at the Belize Central Prison. Thirty-five-year-old Emilio Chub and twenty-five-year-old Erasmo Vasquez were poaching near Machakilha when they were busted by a team of law enforcement officers on patrol in the area. The men were […]
A young mother remains behind bars tonight along with her two siblings, but sadly her two month old baby boy is at home being deprived of breast milk. The case of the Usher Family who was dragged to court on Wednesday of this week, on a charge of Kept Ammunition without being granted a Gun […]
A single engine Tropic Air plane left San Pedro this afternoon and crash landed on arrival at the Belize Municipal Airport. While the pilot was able to land the plane, he could not bring it to a complete stop and the aircraft came to rest in the nearby sea. The incident is attributed to the […]
