Minister of State Edmond ‘Clear the Land’ Castro walked away from charges of improper conduct as area representative for Belize Rural North over a year ago. Those claims were brought against him by a constituent. Today, however, he was back in court to face serious allegations of corrupt transactions over visa recommendations. The compelling and […]
Tonight two Cubans are in Immigration Department custody pending payment of fines for immigration offenses. Thereafter, they are expected to be expelled but it is not certain where they will be heading. Meanwhile, a Belizean and another Cuban, who has been living in Belize for eighteen years, are out on bail of one thousand dollars […]
The Caribbean Union of Teachers, hosted by the B.N.T.U., is presently meeting in Belize City. It is the first time a congress of this nature, where as many as eighteen unions from across the region, is being held in country. The biennial conference got underway on Friday at the Biltmore. Today, we caught up with […]
An early morning homicide in the Old Capital has claimed the life of the cousin of reputed George Street captain Carlos “Zimbab” Abraham. Abraham was hit twice to the neck and the arm last Wednesday as he visited his relatives’ tire shop on Lakeview Street. As he spoke with a cousin, two men approached and […]
A fatal road traffic accident on the George Price Highway this afternoon has left two Ministry of Works’ employees dead and an employee of Madisco reportedly in critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The accident occurred just before three p.m. near mile forty-six and involved a small white car driven at the time […]
Is there a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel where the sugar industry is concerned? It appears that way, following a meeting between representatives of the B.S.C.F.A., the S.I.C.B., the Ministry of Agriculture and Prime Minister Dean Barrow this morning. As is the case after these meetings in a volatile, dynamic and […]
There will be a bye-election in Cayo North, and it is set for January fifth, five weeks from today. The odds are stacked against the P.U.P., who have had very little time to find a candidate, and will have less time to mount a credible campaign…but campaign they will. There were two candidates for […]
Of course, the PM is not fazed in the slightest. Why would he be? The Petrocaribe money has been rolling all over the place and will no doubt roll into Cayo North in the five weeks leading up to the bye-election. But we asked anyway, and found the nation’s leader supremely confident and sure of […]
As we told you earlier in our newscast, the PUP has endorsed businessman Richard Harrison as their candidate in Cayo North. Harrison will go up against a well funded, popular Omar Figueroa who has had months to prepare. He is the underdog for sure, but he’s not backing down either. Harrison says that he’s going […]
Harrison is a businessman who has had his share of successes and failures. But politics isn’t generally a forgiving arena, and his critics have already started attacking his failures as a businessman. That question was put to Harrison and the P.U.P. leader today. Both were likely prepared for it, since it will come up in […]
For a second consecutive day, cruise ships calling to port on Belize have cancelled their visits due to inclement weather. The sea state since Wednesday morning remains choppy, as we are experiencing heavy northerlies. This morning, tour operators at Fort Street Tourism Village had already prepared for the day ahead when they were notified that […]
From a dollars and sense perspective, the two-day loss has amounted to approximately one point eight million Belize dollars in revenue, notwithstanding the head tax that would have been collected by the Belize Tourism Board. Director of Cruise and Regional Operations at B.T.B., Valdemar Andrade, gave an update on the cancellations. Valdemar Andrade, Director […]
Tonight, the fate of eighteen-year-old Wilser Echevarria rests in the hands of Director of Public Prosecution Cheryl-Lynn Vidal. When Belmopan Police did not seek her advice while attempting to arraign Echevarria on Wednesday, they were only obeying a directive from Assistant Commissioner of Police Russell Blackett. Via memo on September twenty-fourth, Blackett ordered all formation […]
It is supreme irony that the law now, at least in this particular case, demands consultation with the D.P.P. The memo and directive which resulted in the delayed arraignment for Wilser Echevarria have come under some fire from the D.P.P.’s Office, not because of any perceived slight, but because D.P.P. Vidal feels that the Police […]
So with all that said, is there hope for collaboration between the Police Department and the D.P.P.’s Office? With so much at stake, can there be some efficient, effective partnership between both bodies which play such a crucial role in our justice system? Well you would think, so, but it’s not going to happen. According […]
A reported burglary in Ladyville during which almost four hundred thousand dollars in jewelry is said to have been stolen has resulted in another case of police brutality. According to attorney Oscar Selgado, his client Lionel Bregal had been taken into custody at the Queen Street Precinct on Wednesday afternoon. He was subsequently handed over […]
The case against attorney Arthur Saldivar, who represented the Coye family in a money laundering case against the Financial Intelligence Unit, continued today in the Supreme Court. Saldivar is the respondent in a suit brought against him by former client Melonie Coye who alleges that he walked away with a significant sum of money following […]
The murder of Panamanian diplomat Jose Rodrigo de la Rosa Stanford on Sunday is a sensational case. The allegations of attempted rape brought against him by Wilser Echevarria and his family have made the case doubly so. And now another large can of exceptionally distasteful worms has been opened, even as the Belmopan Police have […]
There is a most disgusting report tonight of the gang rape of an eleven year old girl. The incident allegedly occurred on Iguana Street last Thursday at the house of one of the four accused persons. Twenty-two year old Wilfred Ramirez was the first to be arraigned on Tuesday. This morning, three others appeared in […]
On November fifteenth, cane farmers from eighteen branches of the B.S.C.F.A. met and issued an ultimatum to the Sugar Industry Control Board. In a nutshell, the farmers had two requests – one, that they recruit an independent expert to evaluate the proposals for bagasse payment and secondly, that they push the idea of an interim […]
There were happy students and proud parents this morning at the national ceremony for CSEC and CAPE awardees which took place in Orange Walk Town. Hundreds of students were recognized for excelling in the exams sat in May and June; among them are Siian Rancharan who is the Most Outstanding CSEC student for this year […]
At the onset of his speech at today’s CXC/CAPE Awards ceremony, Minister of Education, Patrick Faber spoke to the gathering on the current state of the education system. Faber thumbed his nose at those who believe that the system is a failure saying that there are many success stories in his ministry. Patrick Faber, […]
On Tuesday, News Five had an opportunity to speak with Minister of foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington on a variety of issues, including the murder of the Panamanian diplomat. We also asked for, and got, an update on the Coast Guard Forward Operating Base on Hunting Caye. Last we heard, at a press conference hosted by […]
A convicted thief, who is already serving time behind bars, picked up his second conviction for crimes of dishonesty after pleading guilty to theft for snatching a chain from an eighteen year old student. The incident happened back in October 2013, while the victim was walking on Sixth Street in the King’s Park area of […]
Joseph Mahmud handed in his resignation to the offices of the Speaker of the House on Monday indicating that with immediate effect, he was stepping down as P.U.P. Area Representative for the Cayo North Division. It means that the unprecedented resignation has left the division without an elected representative. Hours later, the government announced there […]
