Early in the afternoon, it was the turn of the governing party to get their candidates nominated. Prime Minister Dean Barrow led his party’s supporters to the nomination centre. Well financed and hyped, the wave of red and white washed through Mahogany Street heading to the Charles Bartlett Hyde building. News Five’s Delahnie Bain reports. […]
Smack in the middle of the nominations for the major political parties was the sole independent candidate for Belize City. A former minister, Carlos Diaz says he is still a P.U.P. but he is taking a chance on the Lake Independence division as an independent. Diaz joined the race at this late stage because Yolanda […]
Nomination day for the March seventh general elections is this Friday. But will Yolanda Schakron make it on the ballot paper? There are last minute moves tonight to block her from running for general elections in Lake Independence. An objection to have her rejected this Friday is churning to crush her political ambitions. The government […]
Before the news of the objection by a Lake Independence elector was made, News Five spoke to Schakron about her dual nationality and if all would be well by Friday. For clarity, Schakron at the time of the interview was not yet aware of the objection. When we spoke to her, she had just returned […]
The scandal at the Social Security Board over insider trading continues to spiral out of control. At the heart of it is the C.E.O. Merlene Bailey. On Monday, the Board of Directors combed through an audit by Pannel Kerr Foster and decided it was necessary to dismiss the C.E.O. Chair of the Board, Lois Young, […]
On Wednesday, nominations were held for mayoral and councilor candidates countrywide. The U.D.P. is fighting an uphill battle to remain at City Hall after a disastrous term in office which saw the outgoing mayor Zenaida Moya being expelled from her party. This afternoon, the governing party unveiled its manifesto. Central to its election platform is […]
Foreign direct investment has nosedived in the past years from one hundred and twenty million to thirty million dollars. This past Wednesday, a high level forum was held in Washington, DC, at the Rhaburn building of the US Capitol complex. The event attracted the participation of personalities from the state department, IMF, Heritage Foundation and […]
It was a very emotional morning for Corporal Gino Peck and his wife, Loretta Peck. The couple was busted on January twenty-first at their home and had been charged with firearm and ammunition offences. But this morning, when they returned to court, only the corporal was charged and his wife was freed. After she exited […]
The Board of Directors of the Social Security met on Monday to deal with the audit of insider trading at S.S.B. It was a lengthy meeting that concluded at seven thirty p.m. The Panel Kerr Foster audit is not favorable and while fraud was not established, it was damning of the C.E.O. Merlene Bailey who […]
News Five has just obtained a copy of that February fourteenth letter sent to the S.S.B. Chairman Lois Young. It says “We are anxiously anticipating the return of our C.E.O., Mrs. Merlene Martinez and our Internal Auditor, Miss Denise Mahler. Through this medium, we would like to express our fullest support for their reinstatement…With respect […]
Across the country, a slew of red, blue and yellow shirts, a virtual color coat of arms of political parties were on the pavement for nomination day. News Five covered the march to nominate municipal candidates in both former and current capital. In Belmopan, four candidates were nominated to contest the Mayoral seat for the […]
In Belize City nominations took place at the Complex or Charles Bartlett Hyde building on Mahogany Street. And though it was just another nomination for the parties, well, the mood was indicative of the Election Day buildup. News Five’s Isani Cayetano spoke to the Mayoral Candidates. Isani Cayetano, Reporting A sea of red, the tidal […]
Nomination Day for General Elections is on February seventeenth. And the only candidate that may have a glitch on that day is the P.U.P.’s Yolanda Schakron. Schakron’s Guatemalan birth is not the issue; it’s the fact that she is a sworn citizen of the United States. Schakron made her “as Belizean as Rice and Beans” […]
No other than the Prime Minister has been following the situation of the novice politician, Yolanda Schakron. P.M. Dean Barrow told the media today that time may not be on Schakron’s side to renounce her U.S. Citizenship. According to the P.M., Schakron remains clueless as to who the perpetrator of the stolen document is since […]
The Coalition to Save Our National Heritage had been diligent in its collection of twenty thousand signatures that it hoped would trigger a referendum on the offshore drilling issue. Eight thousand signatures were rejected and by all accounts, it’s over. The process would have to start from scratch all over again. But the Coalition says […]
The situation with the Social Security Board (S.S.B.) senior team has already been used in advertisements against the Barrow administration. C.E.O. Merlene Bailey Martinez has been vilified in ads with horns and a hefty salary package. In mid January, the Board of Directors suspended the C.E.O. and SSB’s internal auditor Denise Mahler. The S.S.B. Board […]
As Belizeans as rice and beans, that’s how Yolanda Schakron described herself at a People’s United Party (P.U.P.) Press Conference on Monday. Her Guatemalan birth was not of her own design, but her United States citizenship was as American as McDonalds. Section fifty-eight (one) of the constitution says, “No person shall be qualified to be […]
Officers of the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) allegedly beat up several residents of the Plues Street area last week. The GSU had refuted the claims, however, the attorney for the men say that they will sue the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General, Bernard Q. Pitts. The Prime Minister had indicated on Monday that […]
They say if you kiss a frog, it may turn into a prince. Belize has plenty frogs but so far none has elevated to a royal status. But in a few weeks, a bonafide member of the royal family will be in the Jewel. The second child of Prince Charles and Lady Diana is coming […]
When looking at the percentages in the last General Elections, the best statistical win was by Mesopotamia Area Representative Michael Finnegan. Pundits believe that Finnegan has the safest seat in the country. But that doesn’t mean Finnegan is making any less effort to attain votes. Normally, politicians are caught on the campaign trail with a […]
Tonight’s question is: Would you vote for the government if it has not kept the majority of its manifesto promises? 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.
George Price: A Life Revealed, the autobiography of the Father of the Nation, has been launched locally and in London and has been well received. In the region, the publication has made it onto the long list of ten books up for the 2012 One Caribbean Media Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. The biography, authored […]
We start the news tonight with news on the financial front following a downgrade of Belize’s credit rating by Standard and Poor’s. The downgrade came after Prime Minister Dean Barrow said in his election date announcement that he was going back to the electorate to “ask for your clear instructions to drive the naysayers back; […]
The Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) has made its mark on the western and central sections of the country with drug, ammunition and gun busts. But its presence is hardly welcome in certain neighborhoods and occasionally the GSU sparks controversy over alleged physical abuse of the persons it arrests. Last week Thursday, the GSU allegedly went […]
Prime Minister Barrow is not the only person who found it unacceptable. The alleged victims believed they had a strong case and sought legal advice. Philip Palacio, attorney and P.U.P. politician for Mesopotamia took the case. Palacio and some of the victims went to the police station today to make a report. But instead of […]
