As we told you earlier, things didn’t look bright for Peck this morning, prior to sentencing. Because of the conviction under the Firearms Act, the hands of the Magistrate were basically tied where that was concerned. But with the mitigation pleas done, and the sentence about to be handed down, some assistance came from an […]
There was other big news coming out of the Gino Peck sentencing trial today. Much of the fire and fury outside the courtroom, and indeed in past weeks, has been directed at the Firearms Act. The Act was drafted and put into law at a time when crime was spiraling out of control. It is […]
While the Peck family has reason to celebrate, tragedy struck the Gentle family of Crooked Tree early this morning. Because of flood waters that have not totally receded, the causeway that connects the village to the George Price Highway has been closed. Benjamin Gentle Junior had to catch a shuttle which would have transported him […]
In the aftermath of the accident, the Ministry of Education sent out counselors to the village to assess and render psychological assistance to the many persons who were left traumatized by the accident. As we said, eight persons are currently hospitalized, while others who were also onboard the vessels were able to return home. Area […]
There was a gruesome murder overnight in the Stann Creek District. A woman from Sittee River in the south was sexually abused and then murdered. Ana Foster left her house on Thursday morning, but did not return home. This morning, her naked body was found under an orange tree off near the entrance to the […]
On Thursday, teachers marched in Dangriga, and today the B.N.T.U. movement moved to the deep-south – Punta Gorda. This is the sixth and final rally planned by the union as a series of industrial actions. It might have started out as putting some measure of pressure on government where the salary adjustment is concerned, but […]
The Belize National Teachers Union showed muscle today in Dangriga. The teachers of the south want their salary adjustment…they want to be respected…they want better working conditions and they want corruption in government to end now. Those demands rang out in Dangriga today as teachers marched on the culture capital under the B.N.T.U. banner. This […]
As we told you, Prime Minister Dean Barrow met with the joint union negotiating team in Belmopan today. Since he has already said as much in an unofficial but public capacity, it is expected that the figure of three percent in salary adjustment will be placed on the table, as well as the matter of […]
As you heard, the message of the teachers was trumpeted in Dangriga. And if there is strength in numbers, then the teachers showed muscle today. There is also support for their cause from the Opposition. This morning, Francis Fonseca was not only critical of the government’s approach toward teachers. As a former Minister of Education, […]
Police officer Gino Peck will be sentenced on Friday and his attorney Simeon Sampson is preparing to immediately mount an appeal to his sentence for ammunition offenses. Peck has the support of the rank and file of the police department which went as far on Wednesday to publicly say that it will be assisting with […]
The introduction of the Firearm Act back in June 2008 attracted opposition in many quarters because it was considered draconian. The legislation says that anyone found in a house or establishment where firearms and ammunition are found, regardless if it is unknown to that individual, the person will be charged and placed on mandatory remand […]
In mid-December, firebrand attorney Audrey Matura-Shepherd was named President of the controversial Christian Workers Union, and little over a month after she is facing her first challenge. That’s because the posts of thirty-six security officers from the Security Department of the Belize City Council have been declared redundant and it is a complicated issue. In […]
The Leader of the Opposition touched on a number of issues of national importance when we spoke with him this morning. Francis Fonseca minced no words as it pertains to the government and the recent scandals that have rocked the Barrow Administration. Fonseca pointed out that the government has a slim majority and to protect […]
Twenty-three year veteran of the Belize Police Department, Corporal Gino Peck, will stand in court on Friday to have sentence imposed upon him. On Monday, he was found guilty of possession of unlicensed ammunition and possession of prohibited ammunition. The court ruling stunned Peck and his attorney asked for time to make mitigation pleas, before […]
Gino Peck clearly enjoys the solidarity of the police force and this Friday it is known that their presence will be felt when he is brought to court to learn his fate for the ammunition offences. The gun laws and penalties are strict, some say even draconian, so the life of the Peck family has […]
The conviction of a Police Officer and his sentencing on Friday for ammunition found in his home has brought new attention to the Reynaldo Verde case. An unlicensed weapon was found in Verde’s washroom on January third during a search of his Belize City home, yet he was released that same day without charges being […]
The Statistical Institute of Belize today hosted a press briefing to provide an update on comparative unemployment, inflation and external trade statistics for 2013. Traditionally the institute is accessed only through releases or visits to the website…and frequently, those statistics are perceived to be manipulated for state purposes. That’s because public perception is a weighty […]
The figure for unemployment was also released by the S.I.B. But first, the largest employer is the private sector, no surprise here; it employs fifty-eight percent of the work force while twelve percent work for the government and twenty-seven percent are self employed. The S.I.B. also reports that in comparison to 2012, unemployment is fourteen […]
At about three-thirty today, as he headed back to Belize City from the Police Passing-Out Ceremony, C.E.O. in the Ministry of National Security, George Lovell, was involved in a relatively serious road traffic accident. It happened on a slick stretch of road at mile forty near the Beaver Dam Bridge. Apparently Lovell’s driver was attempting […]
Today there was to have been a meeting of the National Environmental Appraisal Committee to consider the EIA on the Norwegian Cruise Line tourism project, but it was postponed. Information to News Five is that following a disastrous consultation effort in Independence last week Wednesday, NEAC members almost unanimously requested more time to address the […]
Late this evening, Cabinet issued a release in response to an ongoing check scandal involving U.D.P. Minister of State Edmond Castro and the Belize Airports Authority. Castro came under fire after checks surfaced drawn on the operating account of the BAA which indicated that he had gotten money from that body for personal and political […]
Also included in the lengthy Cabinet release is word that disgraced former Minister of State Elvin Penner will be stripped of his government vehicle. He has had it, and enjoyed that and all other financial perks of his political position, since September when the Won Hong Kim passport scandal broke. He will now be required […]
Since December, a prime parcel of land located on Chetumal Street has been the center of intense legal dispute. In a nutshell, the piece of land in Belama Phase One was leased to Bernadette Pickwoad, a Belizean who resides in the US. She has commenced construction because she plans to return. But in early December […]
Teachers held their largest rally to date in San Ignacio last Friday, and it was also the most focused, on the Prime Minister and his Minister of Education Patrick Faber. Belize National Teachers Union executives were angered by comments in the House of Representatives two days prior to the rally, and voiced that displeasure freely, […]
The Prime Minister wasn’t quite finished there. He then turned to the issue of the salary adjustment, because he maintains that for teachers, it’s really all about the money despite what they say. The quantum of that adjustment has remained somewhat vague, though according to the PM, it’s somewhere around three percent. Barrow claims that […]
