There is bad news for drivers tonight because a fuel price hike will take effect at midnight. Premium gasoline will be going up by thirty-two cents to be sold for eleven dollars and twenty-two cents. Meanwhile, the cost of regular fuel will increase twenty-seven cents to ten dollars and eighty-two cents. And diesel, which remains […]
Tonight’s question is: Do you agree with the mass registration and naturalization of immigrants before elections? 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.
In the countdown to elections, there is a blatant spike in the granting of Belizean citizenship to immigrants. Over the past weekend in Ladyville, registrations were occurring behind a gas station that also houses the office of junior Minister Michael Hutchinson. The processing of Central American migrants was first detected on Wednesday and intensified on […]
The write-off of the Social Security Board Housing Loans that was passed last Friday in the House, went to the Senate floor today in Belmopan. It is a program that was intended to provide the electorate with goodies before the elections but is now mired in scandal because of insider trading. That is because management […]
Senator for the People’s United Party, Lisa Shoman, had another view. She pointed out that several of the loans on the list to be written-off, including one in the amount of eighty thousand dollars for S.S.B. C.E.O. Merlene Bailey-Martinez, were indeed recent mortgages and not longstanding loans. She further questioned the names of former S.S.B. […]
Another round of mass naturalization is scheduled to take place this week in Belmopan to beat the February twentieth deadline for registration of new voters. There have been two recent swear-in ceremonies; the last was on Friday, when more than five hundred took the oath in Belmopan as full-fledged Belizeans. The granting of citizenship so […]
In the Rural North, minor took matters in his own hands to defend his family. The fifteen year second form student from Maskall pulled out a machete on a group of men that had threatened family members. One of the assailants, who climbed over the fence and into the yard, claiming to have a gun, […]
The legal profession and judiciary were out in full regalia this morning for the traditional opening of the Supreme Court. With a new Chief Justice firmly on the bench, there was a different and much softer tone to the speeches this year. While it signals that relationships are on the mend, both bar and bench […]
The results of another election poll were released today and it shows that the two main political parties are neck to neck if general elections are called. Two weeks ago Glenn Tillett of the Independent, teamed up with American Pollster, Greg Strimple, and released the findings of a poll which showed that at least thirty […]
So, what do the numbers signify? Well, according to Andrews, the numbers don’t lie and an election can go either way in favour of the U.D.P. or the P.U.P. But there is a huge percentage of undecided voters. Yasmine Andrews, Technical Expert “The major indicators, in two, three sentences, that this poll gave us is […]
While a mass registration was taking place in Ladyville, elsewhere a fire gutted a house. A lone fireman, who responded to the call for help, could not bring the blaze under control. Fortunately, the occupants of the house were away but unfortunately they lost everything. News Five’s Jose Sanchez reports. Jose Sanchez, Reporting The old […]
The first sitting of the House of Representatives for 2012 took place this morning. The Prime Minister did not announce the date for general elections, but you can know it is not far away from the layers of generosity that he piled on. First on the agenda was the reduction of electricity rates, which seem […]
Another pre-election gift was the Christmas disbursement program in which UDP area representatives received forty thousand dollars to spread seasonal joy. Over one point two million dollars were approved and disbursed in December for a Christmas assistance program for the poor. But not everyone was happy with the program. Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca made his […]
At today’s House meeting, aside from the reduction in electricity rates and the S.S.B. write-offs, the prime minister gave a hint that debt forgiveness could possibly extend to DFC mortgages. That is only under consideration, but with elections not far away; that may be one more plum to the electorate. Both the leader of the […]
The highlight of the sitting should have been light rate reduction and the Social Security Board mortgage write-offs. But the controversy surrounding S.S.B. employees who allegedly committed insider trading have marred the entire project. The person at the top of the S.S.B., C.E.O. Merlene Bailey has been suspended pending an investigation on the insider trading. […]
Despite the dilemma of the C.E.O., Merlene Bailey and Internal Auditor, Denise Mahler, the Prime Minister explained the merits of the scheme. Dean Barrow “When I negotiated with S.S.B. to buy these mortgages in order to write them off for Belizean homeowners, I did so on the basis that the people to be covered would […]
The reduction in electricity rates was tabled this morning in the House following Thursday’s initial decision by the Public Utilities Commission. The government owned Belize Electricity Limited on December first, 2011 submitted a request to drop electricity rates by three point four percent, but after reviewing factors including the utility company’s business plan and sales […]
The prime minister has announced a number of incentives just before the March seventh municipal elections and general elections to follow. Just before news time, the Public Utility Commission (P.U.C.) released its Initial Decision on a reduction of electricity rates. And from the looks of it, it may not hurt your pocket if you turn […]
On Wednesday the board of the Social Security decided to suspend, effective immediately, C.E.O. Merlene Bailey and the Internal Auditor, Denise Mahler. It was an unprecedented move and a monumental blow to Bailey, who has generally been viewed as a model public officer. Bailey was the chair of the D.F.C. Commission of Inquiry in 2007 […]
Kim Simplis Barrow, the wife of Prime Minister Dean Barrow, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in early November. Since the stunning news, she has been back and forth between Belize and Miami where she has had two rounds of chemotherapy at the Baptist Hospital. There have been ups and downs as treatment progresses […]
Where will you be when the world begins anew? That’s the question that’s being tossed around the world since it is the year of the Maya Calendar. There is a lot of discussion on this issue and Belize is already one of the top ten destinations to visit this year. A number of events are […]
For the third time in as many months Wesley Church on Albert Street has been targeted by thieves. Sometime overnight the building was burglarized and an array of electronic items was stolen. To make matters worse the church had only just installed an organ a few weeks ago and a pricey piece of that equipment […]
There is a major shakeup in the Social Security Board tonight and it is the first of a kind. The Board of Directors at an emergency meeting today, recommended that its C.E.O. Merlene Bailey be suspended from her duties at S.S.B. This comes on the heels of a story we broke on Friday of insider […]
On Tuesday the People’s United Party issued a release which pointed fingers at the senior management of S.S.B., including C.E.O. Merlene Bailey whom it said is part of the insider trading scheme. Sources close to News Five confirmed today that at the board meeting, it was disclosed that Bailey had reduced her loan to qualify […]
There’s another hot button issue that is stirring up controversy. On Friday of last week News Five broke the story of the rushed naturalization-taking place in Belmopan. Hundreds stood in line outside of the George Price Center where they were sworn in and walked away with their nationality certificates. The process is facilitated to pad […]
