Today, Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse was corralled by the media and subjected to a grilling usually reserved for Prime Minister Dean Barrow. We have it all, but first the passport which was issued to South Korean national, Won Hong Kim. The scandal broke in mid-September 2013. It is now mid-May 2014, and the document […]
Apart from a private prosecution of Elvin Penner by COLA, the disgraced former Minister of State Elvin Penner has escaped all scrutiny. The COLA case has been negatively impacted by what seems to be state-sanctioned stonewalling at all levels. Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse says he has no clue what evidence COLA wants, since the […]
The Auditor-General’s department has been inside the Immigration Department since October 2013, allegedly to get to the bottom of the corruption. While the public remained unaware, a preliminary report on the findings of the comprehensive audit was submitted to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Immigration on March twenty-first, 2014. So what’s in that […]
The multi-million dollar Norwegian Cruise Lines tourism project in southern Belize has been all but given a green light by the Government of Belize. But government’s approval is not the same thing as welcoming arms everywhere. The Belize Tourism Industry Association has filed a lawsuit against the Government of Belize, and tonight there is word […]
There is a disturbing report tonight that three female minors are missing from Marla’s House of Hope in Belmopan. When we contacted the Home today, a spokesperson confirmed that three under-aged girls went missing ten days ago even though our report suggests that at least six children have gone missing in the past month. The […]
Last week the Government of Belize, through the Ministry of Finance, disbursed fifty thousand dollars to each of the seventeen U.D.P. Area Representatives, titled as a mother’s day program. It’s a decision which no doubt pleased the recipients of the fifty and hundred dollar bills handed out. Still, it’s the use of government funds for […]
As we said, close to a million dollars from the public purse were disbursed to select members in U.D.P.-controlled constituencies and there is growing controversy surrounding the initiative. U.D.P. area representatives, standard bearers and some village councilors, we are told, were given as much as fifty thousand dollars each to distribute among constituents on Sunday. […]
As women celebrated Mother’s Day, the life of a twenty-eight year old mother was viciously taken in the presence of her two year old daughter. It was a callous crime because Janice Vargas, who was shot at her place of work in Punta Gorda, was also four months pregnant. There are signs that she prevented […]
Three Honduran men set out to sea last Tuesday heading to Placencia but they never got to their intended destination. Their vessel apparently experienced mechanical problems and the trio drifted for six days. The Coast Guard was put on alert and after midnight, the trio was spotted by a local fisherman in the area of […]
At a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Health last Friday, media personnel were informed that each media house could ask only two questions. Calling a press conference to show how transparent and accessible the ministry is, and then telling the press how many questions they can ask is disrespectful at best. That session […]
Minister of Health, Pablo Marin, might worry about pesky health-related matters like a lack of basic medication, no money to hire doctors and no money for properly equipped ambulances…but politician and area rep for Corozal Bay, Pablo Marin, doesn’t have those worries. His most pressing concern this weekend was probably how best to hand out […]
There have been about thirty fatal traffic accidents since the beginning of the year and on Saturday there was another traffic fatality to add to the growing list. A promising S.J.C. sixth form student was killed near mile eleven on the Phillip Goldson Highway. Evan Garnett Junior was driving his car heading home to the […]
Less than two weeks ago, an officer was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firearm and ammunition offenses. Tonight, Police Constable Brandon Hertular, accused of burglarizing the residence of Shirley Chicas during a home invasion in March 2012, has been found guilty. The decision was handed down this morning by […]
Last Friday, twenty-one year old Wilfred Ramirez attended the funeral of Julian Willoughby, an associate of his who was slain during a hail of gunfire the weekend before. While mourners gathered to pay their respect to the fallen youth, Ramirez was nearby armed with a sawed-off shotgun. He was caught red-handed shortly thereafter at the […]
A brazen, mid-morning robbery took place at the Scotiabank Branch in Belmopan when numerous customers were conducting business. It happened like this. The robber, who is well known to the law, stood dutifully in line. As soon as the customer in front of him had handed over a deposit of thousands of dollars to the […]
After weeks of sustained fire by the Pharmacists’ Association of Belize, the Ministry of Health called a press conference this morning to allow C.E.O. Peter Allen to answer serious allegations being made against him. In essence, it appeared to be a show of unity for the embattled C.E.O., who has been of all sorts of […]
The decision to allow three other persons, including Danini Contreras, to approve Customs entries of pharmaceuticals was made on the strength of one email. That email was circulated on April eleventh by Procurement Manager, Arik Lima. It has been reported that in his email, Lima stated that Chief Pharmacist Sharon Anderson was on strike and […]
In October 2013, Administrator of the Southern Regional Hospital Nasley Sommerville was placed on suspension for suspected embezzlement of funds. A subsequent audit revealed that almost three hundred and seventy thousand dollars was siphoned off from the hospital’s Maternal and Child Health account over two years. Sommerville is to appear before the Public Services Commission. […]
That seems like woes aplenty, but there’s even more. News Five has been able to confirm that member of the K.H.M.H. Board of Directors, Maude Sylvester, resigned on Thursday. She is the second K.H.M.H. Board member to resign recently. We are told that the resignations are directly connected to the K.H.M.H.’s Director of Finance, Carlos […]
So where does Minister Pablo Marin stand in all this? C.E.O. Peter Allen is his hands on guy, his right hand, so to speak. Well, despite the myriad administrative and technical problems in the ministry, and despite the damning condemnation in the Auditor-General – Marin has his C.E.O.’s back. Reporter “Do you still maintain […]
Vince Martinez Junior was murdered within minutes of leaving the funeral for his uncle in Ladyville on Wednesday. No one has been charged for Martinez’s murder nor has the motive been established. But Jermaine Patnett of Belize City, along with one other person, was detained and released on Thursday when he was able to establish […]
A reserved judgment was handed down today via teleconference in the case of gay activist Maurice Tomlinson. The Caribbean Court of Justice which is the highest judicial institution for three CARICOM member states: Barbados, Guyana and Belize, has granted special leave for openly gay, LGBT activist Tomlinson to proceed with challenging the immigration acts of […]
Following the CCJ’s decision, Acting Solicitor General Nigel Hawke told the media that the legal victory for Tomlinson is simply the beginning of what will be a protracted argument from all three parties involved in the claim. Nigel Hawke, Acting Solicitor General, Belize “Leave is granted. This is just the first stage. We objected […]
On Wednesday afternoon, a Belize City man attended his uncle’s funeral in Ladyville. A little over an hour later, he lay dead in a pool of blood…shot to the head as he sat in a bus shelter. Today, the Police are looking for a motive and a murderer, while the family of King’s Park resident […]
Today, nineteen year old Visiona Carcamo was slapped with six criminal charges for the death of five year old Akeela Wade on April fourteenth. Wade was on a motorcycle being driven by Carcamo when it crashed into a bus in Belize City. It is a real tragedy. There were three persons on the motorcycle – […]
