Aside from crime, there is the Superbond for which there has been international backlash after government did not make a forty-six million dollar coupon payment that was due on August twentieth. The debt review team is making its media rounds after concluding talks in Washington with the IMF. The governor of the Central Bank, Glen […]
It is very unlikely that the negotiations will wrap up before the September nineteenth deadline; so what happens if the country defaults on the Superbond? While there is a small window after the deadline to engage bondholders, Ysaguirre says the consequences would include further downgrading of the sovereign credit rating and Belize might be branded […]
Three families, including three school aged children are homeless after their house was gutted by fire at around eleven-thirty on Saturday morning. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but fire officials say that the blaze started inside the front part of the wooden structure and spread quickly through the house shared by the […]
Aside from the murder on Saturday night, there was more gun violence on the South Side. A recent spate of shootings in the area behind the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building, known as Gungulung, has resulted in the attempted murder of a teenager. Nineteen year old Raheem Nicholas, a Belize City student, is tonight recovering from […]
A disturbing incident involving a team of officers attached to the Gang Suppression Unit, which resulted in allegations that as many as twenty Crooked Tree residents were physically assaulted, remains under investigation tonight. A group of young men, reportedly practicing for a weekend basketball tournament, came under attack last Monday when GSU personnel descended upon […]
Minister Mark King stood alone before the press this morning. He did not want to use the word firing but the government sent home two hundred men employed with the South Side Rejuvenation project. That’s only the tip of what is to come because hundreds more in other projects will soon be sent home. The […]
A few weeks ago we told you how the Gang Truce was renamed “Peace in Progress,” well, we don’t know for how long that will remain in place and it seems neither does the Minister tasked with that responsibility. Today Mark King said that the cut of two hundred workers from the Southside Rejuvenation Program […]
The Belize City streets have been relatively free from bloodshed for a few days. But an argument in the capital has left one teen dead. Tragedy struck a family in the Salvapan Area of the Capital when a sixteen year old student of Belmopan Comprehensive School died after he was stabbed once to the chest […]
Four men at a residence on Plues Street in the Old Capital reported to the media that they were allegedly beaten by the police. The men said they were shocked by tasers, beaten and then taken to the Queen Street Police Station. The residents were outraged by what they called an excessive use of force […]
Butane prices went up two weeks ago and this was followed by a hike in the price of chicken which went up by as much as twelve cents per pound this week. If that hurt your pocket, hurry to the gas pump because the price of fuel will take a sharp increase on Sunday. Premium […]
A breakthrough decision in a claim brought before the Supreme Court, whereby Oceana is challenging the validity of six oil concessions granted by the Government of Belize in 2007, was handed down in the chamber of Justice Oswell Legall this morning. The ruling went in favor of Oceana and it is the organization’s second legal […]
After five o’clock this evening, there was a huge explosion captured in the amateur video at a gas depot near Bravo Motors on the Western Highway. The recently opened depot is also a distribution center. A News Five team was on the scene and firemen are still attempting to out the blaze at Western Gas […]
On Tuesday, we reported the alleged excessive abuse by the Gang Suppression Unit in Crooked Tree Village. An investigation is currently underway to determine why the GSU rained down on at least twenty residents, using pepper spray and tasers. And tonight, there is another report of alleged brutality by law-enforcement officers, this time in Belize […]
The House of Representatives met today in a special sitting. The session was called to table a municipal bond bill being floated by the City Council for infrastructure works. We’ll come to that later, but first we go to a side show in the House, which has to do with the other bond; the Superbond. […]
The prime minister later specified the terms of agreement, as well as the duration of a contract awarded to Hallmark Advisory Ltd., for which Mark Espat is believed to be the principal. According to PM Barrow, the services of Hallmark Advisory have been contracted for seven months and he says it’s value for money. […]
Still on the Superbond, the Prime Minister said on Wednesday that he was hoping that negotiations on the restructuring of the five hundred and forty-four million dollar Superbond would be successful to prevent a default. He also said that there was no source of financing to meet the twenty-three million U.S. dollar coupon that was […]
There is development in respect of Belmopan Pastor Norman Willacey who has fallen from grace due to allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a student. Tonight, Willacey is no longer on administrative leave from the pulpit and the church; he has resigned. Pressure had been building up for action in many quarters because […]
Also in the House this morning, the issue of the Baptist High School sex scandal was raised by the opposition, questioning the Ministry of Education about the delay in suspending Pastor Norman Willacey from his post as principal of the high school. Public outrage in the wake of allegations that Willacey was engaged in a […]
The Prime Minister addressed the nation via a press conference today looking for support in the re-structuring of the five hundred and forty-four million US dollar super bond. On Monday government missed a coupon payment of twenty three million dollars which caused a quick downgrade by Standard and Poor’s. While the Prime Minister says there […]
Still on the Superbond, while the PM says he is not contemplating going to the I.M.F., he says that the government is unable to pay in the immediate or near term and that, “if it is make or break, then break it will be.” The government will go to the House this Thursday for the […]
Another big story for today involves, Pastor Norman Willacey, who has been placed on a fifteen day suspension from the Belmopan Baptist High School, effective today. Willacey, the principal of the school, fell from grace after the mother of a sixteen year old student told the media that he was having a sexual relationship with […]
Oceana went back to court today to fight six slick oil contracts. Oceana insists that the contracts granted to Island Oil Belize, Tropical Energy, PetroBelize Company, Princess Petroleum, Providence Energy Belize, and Sol Oil Belize Ltd. are invalid since they fall short of the conditions under the Petroleum Act. On July twenty-fifth, arguments were first […]
According to Oceana’s Vice President, Audrey Matura-Shepherd, the challenge seeks to expose the government for the issuance of questionable oil concessions. She told the media this morning that the case is revealing shady oil contracts that have been granted in the past years. Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Vice President, Oceana “Well our position is basically that […]
Chicken prices are up by ten cents per pound for whole chicken and twelve cents for parts. This news may not settle well with consumers, but the short of it is that countries across the world are bracing for the hike in prices of one of the most affordable and favorite proteins. Today, the Belize […]
There is an alarming report coming from Crooked Tree tonight. At least twenty persons are claiming that they were brutalized and violated by the Gang Suppression Unit. The alleged abuse went so far that one of the victims says he was peppered sprayed on his private parts when the GSU went on a wild rampage, […]
