The delayed national budget was tabled in the House of Representatives this morning. The forty two page document delivered by the Prime Minister is themed “Exercising Discipline while Preserving Growth.” On the expenditure side, the P.M. says there will be no increase over last year which means that we will generally see a continuation of […]
The P.M. says that the budget is not austere, but to swap words it is certainly spartan. He signaled the need for everyone to tighten their belts ahead because the country does face declining oil revenues, increased interest and amortization payments for the Superbond and he referred to “exercising a heightened level of fiscal discipline […]
The P.M. says that provisions are also being made for support to alternative education, especially the community resource centers in the south side of Belize City, and, the ITVET. The National Health Insurance programme will also continue and funds have been to the upgrade of the Toledo District Highway to the Guatemalan Border. But the […]
The Opposition side this term is robust with fifteen parliamentarians, some who made their maiden intervention today. While the budget will be debated on July twelfth and thirteenth, we got an early reaction from the Opposition side when we caught up with former Leader of the Opposition and current Orange Walk Central Area Representative John […]
While the Prime Minister was presenting his first post election budget, outside the National Assembly building, a handful of demonstrators kept up the pressure against crime. Jasmine Lowe, the murdered thirteen year old girl from Santa Elena, was central to the demonstration. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports. Isani Cayetano, Reporting What should have been […]
A jury of twelve had a tough time deciding the fates of brothers, Emory and Maurice Felix, who were on trial for the murder of twenty-nine year old Mitchum Heredia. After four hours of deliberation, the jury first emerged shortly before five o’clock this evening, but were undecided. Justice Herbert Lord sent them back to […]
This Friday, the House of Representatives will convene for the first time since the March general elections. There will be a stronger Opposition across the aisle so the budget debate is expected to be fierce. At Friday’s sitting Prime Minister Dean Barrow will table the national budget. The PM has already warned of an austerity […]
While cuts are anticipated in government expenditure, in the tourism industry the GST is expected to be introduced to replace the hotel tax. But stakeholders are not complaining. Since its introduction several years ago, hoteliers were exempted from charging GST on goods and services; instead, guests had to pay a nine percent hotel accommodation fee […]
The special audit of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (K.H.M.H.) has been completed. A former employee became a whistleblower alleging improper procurement practices of supplies and drugs and irregular uses of the KHMH credit card and contracts to international companies. The Prime Minister ordered the audit following the allegations made by Delroy Herrera. The areas […]
A go-slow by stevedores of the Christian Workers Union (C.W.U.) on Tuesday was stepped up to a work stoppage on Wednesday. The stevedores complained that the negotiation process for a Collective Bargaining Agreement (C.B.A.) between the Union and the Port of Belize Limited was moving at a snail’s pace. The troubles go back to May […]
The Port of Belize Limited, however, says that a framework agreement was signed between the CWU and PBL on March twenty-third in respect of the negotiations of a collective bargaining agreement and that they are surprised at the actions of the stevedores and the CWU. The release says, “For the CWU to create industrial action […]
The Belize Tourism Board reports tonight a seven point four percent increase in tourism visitors between January and May. March recorded the highest increase with a historic thirty-two thousand visitors coming to the Jewel, followed by February. With that impressive rebound, the B.T.I.A. met this morning in bi-annual general meeting. Aside from a GST to […]
Green Tropics, a Spanish company, became known in earlier this month when its operations were put on hold for dredging at the Labouring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary. The company has now agreed to pay an environmental fine of over one hundred thousand dollars to the Ministry of Environment for damages, but it’s not over […]
The search started after three and lasted for four long hours until Tuesday night. The Gang Suppression Unit cordoned off the area and rained down on the house and business of Winston Smiling and his son, Mathew on New Road. They meticulously combed the premises, claiming they were looking for drugs. The customers that dropped […]
The latest murder in Belize City took place on Sunday morning when twenty year old Myrick Crispin Gladden was gunned down in the Lake Independence Area. police have swiftly arrested nineteen year old Tevin Andrewin, who was formally charged late Tuesday evening for that Murder. Andrewin appeared before Chief Magistrate, Ann Marie Smith and after […]
In the west, the sluggish economy is not only affecting the business community but also some town councils. The Benque Viejo Town Council has received a copy of an embarrassing letter that is also being sent to businesses in the area. Apparently the Town Council, under the guidance of the previous Mayor Nick Ruiz, incurred […]
Thirty-five year old Brian Brown, the reputed George Street don whose residence was raided by GSU personnel on May sixteenth, remains on lockdown at the Belize Central Prison tonight after being denied bail by Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer. Brown, who was initially charged in the Family Court on May twenty-third for drug possession, as well […]
They say man’s best friend is his dog and recently members of the Belize Defense Force, the Police Department and the Customs Department were assigned to their best friends and work partners. Several dogs were donated to the force under the US initiative, CARSI, and both the dogs and their trainers completed intense training sessions. […]
An estimated one billion people have a facebook account, that staggering statistic probably includes you or someone you know. The utility that was launched in 2004 has become one of the most useful tools to connect and it is also used as an effective marketing instrument. This morning Frank Palacio, a writer with local roots, […]
Primary school children are winding down classes so it means that summer camps are springing up and this year there will be many options for kids to choose from. But In Southern Belize, there’s a camp that is getting international attention because it is hosted by the Gotz family from Utah that came to Belize […]
A high speed chase through the streets of Belize City this morning has resulted in the capture of two men found in possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition. The arrests were made following a brazen shootout with authorities. At around ten a.m. police on mobile patrol in the area of Mosul Street attempted to […]
The fear felt by the pedestrians in Belize City this morning was also equally felt by a group who faced a different danger at sea. Over a hundred tourists got quite a scare after eight this morning as the Belize Glory, a local cruise tender, started to take in water while en route to Bannister […]
While the members of that voyage were lucky, the occupants of a vehicle traveling on the highway this morning did not experience the same fate. A six year old boy is dead following a traffic accident on the Northern Highway just before nine this morning. Leron Jacobs was travelling with thirty-one year old Michelle Saldivar […]
An arrest has been made regarding the robbery and rape of a US national, which occurred on Sunday morning in Dangriga. According to police, nineteen year old Placido Sho, a farmer of Maya Center Village in Stann Creek has been charged for Rape. The victim, a fifty-four year old woman reported that two men broke […]
The police department has taken a battering from the public not only to arrest, charge and convict, but also to prevent crime. Belize City has also taken an international hit as a destination to stay away from. But despite all the bad press and morning show criticisms, the men and women who wear the badge […]
