We’ll seek out the B.N.T.U. to get its take on how they are affected by the budget. Another Ministry is seeing cuts but not the type you might expect. The Forestry Ministry is looking into a canal, forty to fifty feet wide and close to four miles long, that was dug through a protected biological […]
It doesn’t appear that anyone will pay fines or get fired now that the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital audit has been completed. The K.H.M.H. administration attempted to ram the document into the media’s hands at a press conference on Wednesday and expected the media to ask questions about all ninety-five pages without reading it. After […]
Stakeholders from various private sector industries that use chemicals converged at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza for the launch of Belize’s Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management. It is an initiative by the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development to develop a coherent, legal and institutional framework in Belize, for the sound management […]
Over the last ten to fifteen years, the increased presence of primarily illegal Guatemalans squatters, cutting timber and xate, coupled with poaching of the Scarlet Macaw, have called for increased law enforcement presence in the Chiquibul; particularly in the less accessible southern areas. Well, today the Ceibo Chico Conservation Post and the South Chiquibul Joint […]
On Tuesday night, we showed you the plot of land under dispute in the western village of More Tomorrow. The issue is one that dates back to 1998 when the land was acquired by government for agricultural development under the then U.D.P. administration of Manuel Esquivel. The acquisition was published in the gazette and two […]
While Prime Minister Barrow says that More Tomorrow villagers will get some of the lands they claim they have been developing, both parties will be accommodated. But the burning question of how a publicly owned land ended up in the hands of a private owner is what everyone has been asking. Well, here’s how Prime […]
As have been identified per budget for fiscal year 2011/2012 versus fiscal year 2012/2013, there are some significant cuts have been done to the key high priority areas of pro poor policies and poverty reduction and social protection. Our analyst continues with another examination of the now dubbed disciplined budget. Other significant sources of revenues […]
In the wake of the recent budget presentation for fiscal year 2012-2013, several experts have been weighing in on the financial outlook for the country going forward. While it has been widely described as a disciplined budget there have been increases in key areas of several government ministries, including the Ministry of Social Transformation which […]
And our question for tonight is: How would you describe this year’s budget? Austere, disciplined, or lacking. 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.
The days of Blackbeard the Pirate may be gone, but the real pirates of the Caribbean made an appearance near Colson Caye on Tuesday night. The daring robbery has left one man seriously injured after he was shot with an assault rifle. Sixty year old Cornelio Verde, a fisherman of Sarteneja Village, is tonight recovering […]
Several hours following the Colson Caye robbery, Belize Coast Guard officials were once again called out to sea where they responded to the theft of a fishing vessel which was moored in the vicinity of Long Caye. Shortly before dawn today, Nelson Andradi, the owner of a twenty-three foot fiberglass skiff, reported that his vessel […]
Farmers in More Tomorrow Village are going head to head with a U.S. Developer, who is claiming land they say was given to them by the government. The village chairman, Michael Myvette, says that Joseph Martin arrived in Belize from Texas in late 2011, saying that he purchased five hundred acres of land. But the […]
The Belize Agricultural Health Authority has placed a national poultry alert following a major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza across the border. Since the outbreak in mid June, an estimated one million birds are believed to be susceptible across three farms in Mexico. The numbers so far show that two hundred thousand have died […]
A recent strategy report prepared for Institutional Investors by Fixed Income Strategists of Scotia Capital (U.S.A.) Incorporated discussed the implications of the Superbond and the budget presentation to offer to investors. In short, the title says that the Belize budget provides little clarity. The delay in releasing the budget had coincided with the government’s reassessment […]
Following on our first analysis of the presentation of the Prime Minister’s disciplined budget, we take another closer look at the numbers. Pro Poor policies such as social protection and poverty alleviation are one of the key priorities of the Government as stated in the Budget proposal Fiscal year 2011/2012. The four key areas are […]
As has been pointed out, the education budget for the current fiscal year has constricted significantly for secondary institutions across the country. A reduction of approximately six hundred thousand dollars between three high schools have been initially reported, cuts that will see Gwen Lizarraga, Sadie Vernon and Belize High School of Agriculture financially strapped. Despite […]
The Ministry of Education’s massive vocational training initiative, ITVET, is also seeing several of its programs canceled. According to Minister of Education Patrick Faber, enrollment at the institution’s various branches has been minimal forcing the school to eliminate a number of courses. A task force will soon be organized to visit each department in an […]
The Senate convened its first meeting today following the March seventh General Elections. While the budget for the fiscal year 2012-2013, which was presented in the House of Representatives last Friday, was not discussed the hot button issue on the agenda was a bill for an act to amend the Representation of the People Act, […]
Earlier this morning the Police department held a press conference in which they proudly let the media know that there were no shootings since early Friday morning. But perhaps they spoke too soon. After three this afternoon a patron of the Plum Tree Restaurant was shot. According to reports, twenty-six year old Julian Foreman of […]
There was a shooting incident last week that didn’t make it on the police release. On June twenty eighth, twenty-one year old Keon Johnson was exiting a pickup truck on Central American Boulevard when he was shot on his left foot. According to his report, Johnson said that at nine p.m. a man he knows […]
Acts of valor are rare but when regular people commit to tremendous acts and put their bodies in the way of harm, they should be commended for it. This past weekend a fire gutted an uninsured building valued at forty five thousand dollars. While the building was consumed by a powerful inferno, a mother of […]
As for the delayed response, Kenneth Mortis, the substation officer says it may be because the family and neighbors were calling 911, rather than calling the Orange Walk Fire Station. Kenneth Mortis, Substation Officer, Orange Walk Fire Station “I’m not pointing any fingers and I’m not blaming anybody, but I would only want to […]
The national budget for 2012-2013 was tabled in the House of Representatives last Friday; it is one of fiscal discipline says the Prime Minister. It also has a deficit of seventy-five point two million dollars. That translates into two point four percent which is the difference from total revenue of eight hundred and sixty-two million, […]
Recently the Police Department received a fleet of vehicles outfitted with cameras and other crime fighting equipment from the United States State Department via the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). Another Belize friendly government has made a donation to complement the recent CARSI donation. This morning the Embassy of Taiwan/China delivered some very expensive […]
The goodwill shown by the embassies in Belize and the courageous act by an Orange Walk mother to rescue her children from a burning building are only two of the recent moments that show the good nature of Belizeans. Across the country, hundreds of people gave from their hearts and made the Inspiration Telethon on […]
