In the past week, over a thousand persons participated in our e-poll on the question: Do you believe that the penalty for murder convictions should be death by hanging or life in prison? The overwhelming majority, eighty-five percent, voted for hanging convicted murderers while fifteen percent said to lock them up for life. In the […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry says that it welcomes the Government’s assurance that there will not be any tax increases in the presentation of the upcoming budge, notwithstanding, pressures from the International Monetary Fund on the need to service the country’s debt obligation. The Chamber says that it is welcomed despite the nation’s […]
The weekend street violence started on Friday when Edmond Panton was shot and killed on Mex Avenue shortly after four o’clock. That murder was followed by another just after midnight on Saturday. Twenty year old Myrick Gladden was shot and he succumbed within an hour at the K.H.M.H. He was with his girlfriend and a […]
Hours later, at around four-forty-five on Saturday morning, shots rang out once again on the South Side of Belize City, injuring nineteen year old Nigel Augustine. Augustine was on the Dog Pound Basketball Court along with Ellis Ortiz when two male persons wearing masks and dressed in full black approached them. Both men pulled out […]
The anti-crime protests that started in San Ignacio last week sparked another further west and in the City. In Benque Viejo Del Carmen, the B.N.T.U. joined students from seven schools who took to the streets this morning. The message from the hundreds was that they want to live in a safer Belize. News Five’s Andrea […]
There is another allegation of sexual abuse of minors in the west. Residents in Benque Viejo are angry that an alleged child predator is free after he was detained for a day. But is he still in Belize? The residents say that the day after he was released the suspect, who is highly connected, disappeared. […]
On the financial front, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, will be presenting the national budget to the House of Representatives this Friday. The PM says we can expect an austerity budget; there is already a thirty million dollar deficit from oil revenue shortfalls. According to a report by Reuters news agency, the government has set aside […]
Last week residents of the twin-towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena came out in full force to protest on the eve of the arraignment of alleged predator of young girls, Bert Vasquez, who is also the suspect in the murder of Jasmine Lowe. This morning in Belize City, another demonstration was held. Three schools […]
Just before four p.m. on Sunday two masked bandits targeted Esso Superstation on Cemetery Road near the Pound Yard Bridge. Twenty-six year old Supervisor Anorio Coc says that while inside the station, three men rode up to the gas station on separate bicycles, brandishing firearms. Two of the assailants robbed Coc of an undisclosed amount […]
There have been no murders in the City since Monday, but to start the weekend, a shooting on Mex Avenue after four o’clock this afternoon left one man dead. Thirty-six year old Edmond Panton, also known as Sinbad, was killed when a lone, masked gunman on a bicycle opened fire on him as he exited […]
For months, we have been reporting on the unusual number of Chinese nationals that have been arriving in Belize with questionable visas. While a few come as genuine visitors, the vast number from Guang Zhou, China get to Belize using unusual routes to make their way up north. While the traffic slowed down somewhat after […]
A Belizean businesswoman living in the United States was busted at the Philip Goldson International Airport with a substantive amount U.S. dollars. Jane Rose Cheung, a resident of Mississippi, arrived on an eleven o’clock flight on Thursday. She was carrying over forty-five thousand U.S. dollars in cash which she had failed to declare as is […]
The murder trial of brothers, Maurice and Emory Felix continued today before Justice Herbert Lord in the Supreme Court. They are charged for the fatal shooting of twenty-nine year old Mitchum Heredia, who was ambushed and killed inside his vehicle on April tenth, 2006. Romel Palacio Junior, Heredia’s friend, testified as a witness to the […]
Another murder trial that the country is impatiently waiting on is that of Bert Vasquez also known as Bert Haylock. This past week, at least a thousand San Ignacio residents demanded action for the murder of thirteen year old Jasmine Lowe and demonstrated against the man they called a child predator. The emotionally charged situation […]
Fever, sore throat, blisters on the mouth, hands, feet and buttocks; are the symptoms of a contagious disease that is spreading among children. It is known as the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and there has been an increase in cases detected recently, primarily among children in Belize City. The Ministry of Health is monitoring […]
While the children have parents to look after their health, the same can’t be said for the fish in the Macal. The Ministry of Health, the Department of the Environment and Belize Electric Company (BECOL) have completed another round of mercury testing on fish from the Macal River. Fifteen different types of fish were tested […]
A massive emotional crowd spilled into the streets in front of the San Ignacio police station on Wednesday, for the arraignment of Bert Vasquez. The Belize City businessman was charged for the murder of Jasmine Lowe, the vivacious young girl who was found dead on June sixth near a farm at Cristo Rey. But that […]
On Wednesday, police arrested thirty-one year old Dwayne Albert Davis for the murder of Guatemalan Dr. Ivan Gomez Garcia. At the time of the arrest, Davis was a maintenance worker of Tuff enough Tours on San Pedro. While he reportedly handed himself in, Davis appeared frightened and was very emotional in court when he was […]
Police have also made an arrest for a previous murder. Twenty-nine year old Frank Vasquez was shot on May ninth and died four days later while undergoing treatment at the K.H.M.H. Today, the suspected gunman, twenty-three year old Byron James, was formally arraigned for his murder. No plea was taken and James was remanded to […]
In the south, a seven year old student died under unusual circumstances following a sudden ingestion of a seed. At around three p.m. on Wednesday, Denia Rodriguez of Bella Vista in Stann Creek was rushed to the village health clinic where Albertina Rodriguez told medical officers that her daughter had swallowed the seed of a […]
Last week, the Prime Minister informed the nation that the government was seeking to restructure its five hundred and forty-seven million US Dollar super bond because it simply cannot afford to continue to pay. News Five reported that an Ad Hoc bond committee representing bondholders has already been formed out of concern for a possible […]
June makes one year since the government assumed control of Belize Electricity Limited (B.E.L.) from Fortis. On Wednesday, B.E.L. held its annual general meeting at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza where it reported on its performance for 2011. The company’s success included the reduction of electricity rates in February as well as a green […]
Twenty-six point nine percent of shares are held by the Social Security Board, seventy point two percent are held by the Government and the balance by one thousand five hundred small shareholders. It’s been a while since B.E.L. delivered dividends to shareholders, and though it recorded two million dollars in profit, it actually is giving […]
A people’s movement against crime reached epic proportions in the west today. Since early this morning, a crowd began to swell in front of the San Ignacio Police Station as demonstrators waited for the arraignment of the suspect in the murder of thirteen year Jasmine Lowe. Bert Vasquez, aka Bert Haylock of Belize City was […]
This afternoon, Bert Vasquez was finally brought out of the police station for arraignment. The crowd descended immediately in front of the police station; the police pleaded for patience and formed a shield to secure the area. The air was thick with tension as the demonstrators chanted for justice. Vasquez was whisked away to the […]
