There is a change to report tonight at the top of the Kolbe Foundation which manages the Belize Central Prison. John Woods, who had been Chairman since 2002 when the prison was placed under private management, stepped down from the post earlier this week. It paved the way for the appointment of Lynn Young as […]
The House of Representatives met in its last session for 2013 today. On the agenda were two important bills and some minor house-cleaning issues. Now traditionally, this last meeting before Christmas is tame and almost nauseatingly jovial, with Christmas cheer, goodwill and bonhomie dominating the atmosphere in the House. But the sitting was anything but […]
While the walkout by Opposition members ended the day, it wasn’t the first of the day. For weeks the N.T.U.C.B. has been agitating for the introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health Bill in the House. This is a bill which has been in the works for years, but despite extensive vetting locally and regionally, […]
With the walkouts out of the way, we turn to some of the important matters which came out in today’s House sitting. First…the National Bank of Belize. It opened its doors in September, and today Prime Minister Dean Barrow reported that two point six million dollars in mortgage financing has already been disbursed, with another […]
The Government of Belize’s Christmas Cheer Program has been the subject of much scrutiny of late, and some criticism, though that is directed more at the stated allocations and less at the initiative itself. As it stands, U.D.P. Area Representatives will receive ninety thousand dollars each, P.U.P. Area representatives will receive twenty-five thousand dollars and […]
And with the nuts and bolts of the program out the way, the PM lashed out at the Opposition for daring to criticize the allocations of Christmas cheer. The People’s United Party has gone on record to criticize the program on two levels – one, that U.D.P. representatives are receiving ninety thousand dollars for their […]
The Belize Defense Force is mourning the death of one of its own following a traffic incident on the Phillip Goldson Highway in the wee hours of this morning. Forty year old Staff Sergeant Abimael Carrillo was a passenger in the private Toyota pickup truck of warrant officer Juan Tuyub. There were two other passengers […]
A head-on collision between a Belize Waste Control garbage truck and a passenger bus near the Haulover Bridge this evening has resulted in the hospitalization of at least nine persons. According to the driver of the garbage truck, he was driving the vehicle across the bridge when he lost control and crashed into a Haylock […]
The big news today is that the impasse between sugar-cane farmers and BSI/ASR has been breached, at least in principle and there is a deal in the making. Prime Minister Dean Barrow met with company representatives on Monday, and this morning ASR officially capitulated, meaning that there is an acceptance that farmers will have to […]
That’s one major hurdle crossed, at least in principle. But there’s still a rough and rugged road ahead – actually a lot of rough and rugged roads. Many of the sugar roads in the north are impassable. News Five was in San Estevan on Tuesday, and had to turn back when we came across culverts […]
On Tuesday, P.U.P. leader Francis Fonseca rained gloom on Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s Christmas Cheer Program. That program will see the allocation of ninety-thousand dollars to U.D.P. Area representatives, twenty-five thousand dollars to P.U.P. Area Representatives and twenty-five thousand dollars to U.D.P. caretakers. The Leader of the Opposition made it clear that he isn’t condemning […]
As we said, government will be spending two point two million dollars on its Christmas cheer program. The Leader of the Opposition, Francis Fonseca complained on Tuesday over the lack of equity in the program saying that elected representatives should be getting the same amount of money for their constituents. Fonseca was also critical of […]
The search for four missing anglers, who disappeared while returning from a fishing expedition on Saturday, has expanded to southern waters. Despite the discovery of the lifeless body of their colleague, forty-nine-year-old Thomas Young, they remain unaccounted for. Twenty-six-year-old Derwin Gentle, twenty-four-year-old Elgin Graham, thirty-four-year-old Sergio Flores and twenty-six-year-old Kenrick Devin Chi are the subjects […]
Super striker, Deon McCauley, left Belize today for Athens, Greece. McCauley has been scouted to play professionally for a top notch Greek football club. The football sensation, who has scored the most goals for Belize, as many as thirteen, is trying out for the Ael Kallonis Football Club. If all goes according to plan, McCauley […]
On Tuesday, the government came under fire from the duly elected P.U.P. mayors of three municipalities – Orange Walk, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. The issue on the table is the PM’s proposed countrywide infrastructure program. Mayors Gilbert Swaso and Anthony Fuentes, from Dangriga and Punta Gorda respectively, accuse the PM of playing politics. They say […]
Back in November 2007 seven friends went fishing, days later the body of one was found: Magistrate Richard Swift. The six others mysteriously disappeared and were never found. Tonight there is a similar story to report of murder on the high seas. It involves a group of five fishermen who set out to sea last […]
UDP Area representatives will allegedly receive ninety thousand dollars this Christmas to hand out to their constituents. That revelation came from PUP Leader Francis Fonseca, who says he got that information from documents he received from the Ministry of Finance, though not through official channels. According to Fonseca, UDP reps will receive ninety thousand, while […]
Months ago the government took control of the International Merchant Marine Registry (IMMARBE) because it claimed that the European Union would have imposed sanctions on fleets carrying the Belize flag of convenience. It placed the registry directly in the Ministry of Finance and introduced a Bill on High Seas Fishing. But last month, the European […]
On Sunday at around four-thirty pm, two vehicles were intercepted by a Customs patrol on the Arenal Road. Reliable reports suggest that one of the vehicles, driven by a Police Constable and containing another Police Officer and a civilian, sped away and was chased down by Customs personnel. When that vehicle was searched seven cases […]
The Opposition People’s United Party controls three municipalities – Orange Walk, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. All three municipalities will be benefitting from some infrastructural works as part of a recent program announced by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. But while any improvement should theoretically be a good thing, none of the three representatives are jumping for […]
At a press briefing this afternoon, Mayor of Orange Walk Town Kevin Bernard said he and the Council haven’t even been officially informed of any works in that municipality. All three Mayors claim serious disrespect of their authority and responsibility, and joined by PUP Leader Francis Fonseca, are denouncing the actions by the government. […]
The last Senate meeting held on November sixth ended in some confusion and tension. Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman moved a motion for a senate inquiry into the ongoing immigration scandal. The vote was deadlocked at six, with representatives from the Opposition, church, union and private sector aligned on one side, and government senators on the […]
With only six days to go for the scheduled opening of the sugar crop, there is no resolution yet or in sight, for that matter, in the standoff between cane farmers and the Belize Sugar Industries. This afternoon, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, at the request of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association, met with representatives […]
A Belize City man was gravely injured in a land dispute involving family members. Thomas Ferguson is tonight in critical condition at the hospital after he was seriously injured by his own nephew. The dispute had been simmering for some time and it got ugly on Saturday night when Ferguson was stabbed in the chest. […]
News Five has confirmed reports that three Police officers stationed in the west were busted with contraband goods on Sunday on the Arenal Road. Acting on information received, at a little after four Sunday evening Customs personnel went to the Arenal road where they observed two vehicles and ordered them to stop. One vehicle did, […]
