Blind since birth, fourteen year old Rowan Garel has taken on another grueling and if not the most daring challenge, that many others who are sightly wouldn’t dare. He has climbed Victoria Peak, Walked Across Belize and over the past weekend, Rowan took on a Dive into the Blue Hole. Family, friends and a host […]
News Five has covered many stories alleging police abuse over the years. Some of them have been so heinous that it is hard to say today’s complaint is one of the worst, but it is right up there. Tonight, fifty-five year old Cherry Anderson is detained after she was dragged out of her North Creek […]
On Thursday, the Court of Appeal issued a split decision ruling in the case of Mayan land rights in Southern Belize. On one hand, the Court re-affirmed the rights of the Mayas to their ancestral lands in thirty-eight communities in southern Belize. On the other hand, the Court held that government has no obligation to […]
Litigation, litigation everywhere, and no doubt the attorneys involved in what seems like endless litigation are smiling all the way to the bank. In the case of any litigation against G.O.B., if you’re not their attorney of choice there’s nothing to smile about since the millions paid out to G.O.B.’s attorneys come out of the […]
The Belize Jaguars did not advance to the other round of the Gold Cup, but they made a positive impact on the CONCACAF games. Team members, Woodrow West blocked many goal attempts in the three games played with the United States, Costa Rica and Cuba while Ian Gaynair scored the only game for Belize. The […]
The Caribbean Court of Justice via teleconference ruled this afternoon that a forty million dollar arbitration award won by B.C.B. Holdings in 2009 was not enforceable in Belize. Like most of the ongoing litigation between both parties it’s complicated, and this matter goes way back to a settlement deed which was signed in 2005 by […]
Forty-two year old Rudolph Lizama was charged for having an undetermined amount of crack cocaine in his possession and today, when he appeared before Magistrate Dale Cayetano, he pleaded guilty to the Possession of a Control Drug. Lizama, however, did not agree with the facts read to him and Magistrate Cayetano entered an equivocal not […]
Maya Leaders from the south travelled by bus to Belize City for a ruling on government’s appeal in respect of a historic Supreme Court decision that goes back to 2007 and then 2010. In handing down its decision, the Court of Appeal this afternoon affirmed lands rights and tenure to thirty-eight Maya communities in the […]
The Court of Appeal this afternoon reaffirmed rights to communal lands by Maya Communities. But this morning, Minister Lisel Alamilla had a press conference to talk about co-management agreement with N.G.O.s in protected areas. The minister is caught right in the middle, like she so often is, and N.G.O.s including SATIIM and APAMO are looking […]
But for SATIIM and APAMO, this is very serious business. They feel that government is trying to bully N.G.O.s into signing co-management agreements by using the carrot and the stick approach. And while they and some other N.G.O.s are determined to stand firm, there are some N.G.O.s who have signed on. Mike Rudon has more […]
Today Minister Lisel Alamilla also aimed some very pointed comments at SATIIM for its refusal to sign on to the co-management agreement handed down by government. While SATIIM has stated that it has very serious concerns with the contents of the new Cabinet approved co-management agreement, and especially with the clause allowing third parties within […]
Government has given its green light to a massive cruise tourism port project at Harvest Caye and is about to sign a memorandum of understanding with Norwegian Cruise Lines. The project has been met with stiff opposition from stakeholders because it goes contrary to recommendations in the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan for pocket tourism. And […]
The membership of the Belize Tourism Industry Association is one of the strongest in the country. But despite the strong opposition from the B.T.I.A. and from environmental groups to the NCL project, there is a strong possibility that the updated M.O.U. may be signed very soon. But what scale of investment would be acceptable by […]
Forestry Minister Lisel Alamilla has publicly burned rosewood, declared an amnesty which benefitted illegal exporters and then disclosed a deal which saw those illegal exporters getting back their rosewood. That deal supposedly involved exporters selling the rosewood and splitting the proceeds half/half with G.O.B. Condemnation notwithstanding, the deal was struck and the matter blew over. […]
Another hot-button issue involves court action by SATIIM and Maya Alcaldes against U.S. Capital Energy and the Government of Belize. This issue is the oil exploration which is already underway within the boundaries of the Sarstoon Temash National Park, as well as an access road to the drill site more than four miles long and […]
The case of the United States of America versus Rawel Pelayo, also known as Berto, has been growing for at least four years. Pelayo and others are accused of “intentionally and knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate and agree together and with each other to violate the narcotics law of the United States.” Count one of […]
Belize City businessman Rhett Fuller has spent fifteen years evading the long arms of Uncle Sam. Fuller is wanted by the U.S. for his involvement in the 1990 murder of Larry Miller during a North Miami Beach drug deal gone sour. Since the US started extradition proceedings in 1998, Fuller has taken every legal option […]
To start this segment, tonight’s question is: Do you think that it is better to burn rosewood, or for the illegal agents to get the profits? 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 […]
In a present society that is rife with moral decay the old proverb “honesty is the best policy” has all but lost its meaning. So, when two members of the Belize National A Selection blew the whistle on a potential match fixer in Portland, prior to the Jaguars taking on the United States in round […]
F.F.B. President Ruperto Vicente has also commended the boys for their honesty. An invitation for the pair to fly to Chicago on Friday was the result of an email correspondence between Vicente and the competition’s organizers. He also spoke with News Five earlier today and reiterated the need for honesty and sportsmanship in football. […]
One of the largest environmental groups is taking government to court. The Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management known as SATIIM and four Mayan communities in the Temash National Park buffer zone are taking on the oil company, U.S. Capital Energy, for exploration works being conducted within the park. SATIIM is responsible for the management […]
While that action is before the court, there is another matter with SATIIM and the Government of Belize which will need to be resolved sooner rather than later. The co-management agreement for the park has not been renewed because the parties cannot agree on terms, but SATIIM maintains that they have rights over their communal […]
Football Federation of Belize Vice President Rawell Pelayo never made it to the Gold Cup 2013 games that the Jaguars played earlier in the month. On July eighth, Pelayo and other members of the F.F.B. including a football player had taken a flight to Houston, Texas. Pelayo was arrested by Drug Enforcement Agency agents and […]
The Norwegian Cruise Line proposed development of a mega port at Crawl Caye was rejected by the ministerial committee headed by Godwin Hulse. The island was part of the Belize Barrier Reef, a protected World Heritage Site. Norwegian then placed its hopes in Harvest Caye. The cruise line’s investment company, Belize Island Holdings Limited, has […]
In December of last year, Special Envoy for Women and Children Kim Simplis-Barrow announced the undertaking of a project to construct a new pediatric intensive care unit at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The initiative, manifested in the form of a contract, was a collaborative effort between her office, the Lifeline Foundation, Challenge Gobie Foundation, […]
