But what about all those Ministers who sent in lists of Chinese nationals to be processed each week…like Minister of State Edmond Castro who sent in forty in just over a month? And former Minister of State Elvin Penner who recommended forty eight in the same period? And Minister of Police John Saldivar who sent […]
Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse also spoke on the latest Immigration scandal in which a Salvadoran national received his Belizean nationality certificate in one day. Rafael Vasquez-Medina claims that he paid five hundred dollars to an agent who got him his nationality in a week using fake documents. He received nationality by descent because those […]
When we caught up with the Minister of Immigration today, he also provided some comment, though little information, on the alleged current investigations into corruption at the Immigration Department. He says that the Auditor-General has the mechanism in place to do a thorough investigation, something that his Ministry cannot do. But there has been some […]
The hot topics were those discussed by Godwin Hulse, but this afternoon Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman got hot under the collar and walked out. She did so after the second reading and debate on the Immigration bills, when the Committee of the Whole met to minutely scrutinize the amendments before final reading and passage. Shoman […]
As we told you earlier, the Immigration Amendment Bill, the Belizean Nationality Amendment Bill and the Passport Amendment Bill were taken to the Senate for final readings and passage today. That resulted in over three hours of lively debate in which all senators not on the government side exhorted leader of government business Godwin Hulse […]
In May of this year, Treaty Belize Energy went full steam ahead with oil drilling operations in the south at San Juan near Independence. That was despite a court ruling declaring that the license to the oil company was null and void. Fighting a public relations nightmare, the company made big and attractive promises to […]
Since announcing a promising oil discovery in June, there has been much talk about oil in the northwest corner of the Orange Walk District. News of the encouraging show was also used by the prime minister as a carrot during negotiations with the unions over a much delayed salary adjustment. But speculation of the favorable […]
In September 2012, there was an upheaval in the Immigration Department after it was discovered that a Lebanese-American, allegedly with ties to Hezbollah, received a Belizean passport in two days. Rafic Labboun used the identity of Wilhelm Dyck, a Mennonite newborn who died decades before. Labboun somehow managed to procure a birth certificate in Dyck’s […]
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize has been agitating for the introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health Bill for quite some time. On Thursday when the bill did not make it to the house, the N.T.U.C.B. made known its discontent. A few days earlier the N.T.U.C.B. declared that it expectantly awaited the introduction […]
Do you think that the Director of Immigration, under whose watch the immigration scandal occurred, should be removed from her post? Yes or No. Send your comments and responses using your SMART phones to 8686 or post your vote on our e-poll at channel5belize.com. You can also send an email with your comments to questions@channel5belize.com.
Marsha Reid is the woman from Dangriga who was accused of murdering her common-law-husband, B.D.F. corporal Donovan Castillo. In the Dangriga Supreme Court this morning Reid was found not guilty by Justice Dennis Hanomansingh who tried the case as a judge sitting without a jury. Reid was accused of stabbing Castillo four times on the […]
Fabian Bain has twice been charged for manslaughter but today he was convicted in the Supreme Court for the 2006 shooting of Fortunato Chun. Chun was a KBH security guard who was at the time on duty at the WASA compound in Belize City when the incident happened. The motive of the shooting was the […]
Up north, the sugar industry remains at a standstill. This Sunday, cane-farmers from all eighteen branches in the north assembled at the Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico to receive an update from the BSCFA, and to provide the association with a mandate for the days ahead in respect of a proposed deal with B.S.I. on bagasse. […]
The condition of the sugar roads is affecting not only cane-farmers, but commuters in general. After a week of alternate cold and dry spells, the rains returned with a vengeance, wreaking havoc on critical roads in the sugar network. On the Petville road, just outside Orange Walk Town, the deterioration is such that only tractors […]
Tonight, there is no official explanation or comment from the Immigration Ministry on the Rafael Vasquez Medina nationality facilitation. Salvadoran national Vasquez-Medina received his Belizean nationality certificate on September nineteenth, 2013, signed by Director of Immigration Maria Marin. There are credible reports that the certificate was processed, signed and delivered in one day. But that […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow is currently in Venezuela where leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean will be meeting in a one-day summit on the Petrocaribe Initiative which takes place on Tuesday. The PM has not in recent years been to a Petrocaribe Summit, but as you know, the Petrocaribe funds, twenty million dollars, were […]
It is now three months since the immigration scandal broke, but an investigation doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at least no specific information has been forthcoming. So on November sixth, Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman presented a motion for a Senate inquiry into the scandal. The motion went to a vote and the result was […]
Interpol is seeking public assistance in locating fifteen fugitives wanted for varying degrees of crimes. The crimes vary from murder, to drug trafficking and money laundering and the nationalities of the wanted men span Central, South and North America stretching to Europe. As you will see, in the midst is one Belizean fugitive: Miguel Matus […]
There is a hit and run accident to report in the city. At about five-fifteen Saturday morning, seventy-seven year old Carmen Amilcar Trochez was knocked down and killed between miles two and three on the Philip Goldson Highway. The elderly citizen of a Belama Phase Four address was riding his bicycle towards Belize City when […]
Tonight, there is more evidence of corruption in the issuance of nationality certificates, this time directly implicating insiders in the Vital Statistics Unit, and likely the nationality section of the Immigration Department. Salvadoran national Rafael Vasquez Medina was detained by Police on December fifth because of a false document in his possession. That document was […]
FECTAB press conferences are normally colorful and charged. Today, the organization held another one of those, but it also got emotional. Two of its firebrand members cracked under the pressure of slow business and they placed blame squarely on the government and on another tour operator saying there is unfair advantage. Despite slashing prices by […]
There is a murder to report…one, in the generally peaceful community of Valley of Peace in the Cayo District. The victim has been identified as Valley of Peace resident Isidoro Bonilla. His badly decomposed body was found in his home by his daughter early this morning. The discovery shocked residents of the community, who describe […]
House Sergeant-at-Arms, thirty-one year old Brian “Yellow Man” Audinett, and Housing Inspector, thirty year old Allan Dale Kelly, appeared this morning in Magistrate’s Court for trial on charges of harm, assault, using threatening and insulting words, assaulting a police officer and wounding. The charges stem from an incident earlier this year on July twelfth at […]
The Special Envoy for Women and Children today launched the latest edition of the Inspiration Calendar. The artwork in the calendar was done by children with special needs who started to paint and draw since July of this year. Its release has now become a tradition at this time of the year and Kim Simplis […]
On Thursday, the second and third reading of amendment two to the criminal code was passed in the House of Representatives. The amendment had a rocky start because some sectors felt that the decriminalization of sodomy was being sneaked in through the amendment, even before a ruling from the Supreme Court on that issue has […]
