Before noon today, the People’s United Party decided on its new leader following tumultuous days of uncertainty that placed the sixty-one year old party at its lowest ebb. Three candidates; Julius Espat, Mike Espat and Arthur Saldivar, presented their names after Mark Espat declined on Tuesday. This morning they bowed out of the race as […]
The man of the hour P.U.P. Freetown Area Representative Francis Fonseca made a statement on the way forward for the P.U.P. minutes after the announcement. Fonseca clarified that he was not passed over as interim leader, because he supported Espat in that role. Fonseca told the media what he had already said inside independence hall, […]
So on Friday, Francis Fonseca, Said Musa, and Florencio Marin Junior will be leading the oppositions’ charge in the House on the ninth amendment. Indications are that former party leader John Briceño and Cordel Hyde and Mark Espat will not be in Belmopan. Political postulating aside, the finances of the PUP are said to be […]
But it is not all that simple in the P.U.P. While the issue of leadership has been settled, up to late this evening, Briceño, Espat and Hyde maintained that they will not be supporting Musa, the former prime minister as the leader of the opposition in the House. The National Executive of the P.U.P. this […]
Remember U.H.S.? That’s the acronym for the former Universal Health Services hospital. But the name U.H.S. will forever be linked to the huge national controversy over whether the government should have guaranteed the U.H.S. debt to the Belize Bank. In 2007 the issue ignited U.D.P.-led demonstrations in Belmopan that erupted in the stoning of the […]
Going back to Friday’s House meeting, the report from the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee on the Ninth Amendment bill has been cleaned up. News Five has seen a copy of the recommendations submitted after the ninth amendment was taken on a countrywide road show. A quick read of what you will see on Friday […]
Belize City police are tonight looking for one person, a former Belize Defense Force corporal, in connection with the disappearance of a cache of high powered weapons from a warehouse at the B.D.F. headquarters in Ladyville that was detected last week. Dennis Ireland, a resident of Mahogany Street, is being sought for his suspected role […]
As we reported on Tuesday night, there is a leadership crisis in the People’s United Party; it continues to spiral out of control. Here is where the party stands right now. On Tuesday after Interim Leader Mark Espat declared he will not seek election as leader, the only candidate was Arthur Saldivar. Saldivar was seen […]
While Henry Usher says there will be a leader of the opposition in the House on Friday, the situation is as follows. Just before Mark Espat announced he would not contest the leadership, John Briceño officially wrote to the Governor General formally demitting office as opposition leader. The procedure is for the Governor General to […]
From politics to crime, just after seven o’clock on Tuesday night, a well-known criminal figure was executed on Reggae Street. At least two dozen bullets were fired at Noel Usher as he made his way home. Usher had survived a previous attempt on his life and has been named in a number of violent crimes, […]
The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet at ten a.m. on Friday to pass the controversial Ninth Amendment Bill following the prescribed ninety-day consultation period after its introduction in the House. An hour prior to the sitting a ruling will be delivered by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin on that piece of legislation. The proposed […]
Still on the ninth, the government is sending out personal invitations for Friday’s sitting and the position of the opposition has been “no” but that is all before hell broke loose in the P.U.P. There is also opposition from the Bar Association, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belize National Teachers Union. Nonetheless, […]
The Whylie Report on the investigation into the forty-two weapons that were stolen from the Belize Defence Force reveals a lack of security at the B.D.F. headquarters. The bulk store was not checked for twelve days in breach of established procedure. That is so because of changes in schedule and the person who was responsible […]
The P.U.P. finds itself in a conundrum tonight, days after it turned sixty-one. John Briceño officially stepped down today as leader of the opposition in the House and on the eve of the deadline for the leadership of the party, the interim leader, Mark Espat, has decided he will not be running for leader even […]
Security at the headquarters of the B.D.F. was breached last week. It was a stunning revelation that has brought disrepute to the force. Forty-two weapons, including seven M-4 carbine rifles were stolen from the armory at the weapons bulk store and these are surely to end up in the dangerous streets. The date of the […]
The Bar Association came out strongly against the Ninth Amendment, followed by the Chamber of Commerce and then the Council of Churches. More recently, eight branches of the B.N.T.U. have come out against the proposed amendment. News Five has also learnt that the prestigious Atlanta-based institution, The Carter Center, has written to the government asking […]
The Belize Family Life Association, a non-government organization established in 1985 to advocate for and promote reproductive health across the country, is tonight on the brink of closing its doors. BFLA, according to Executive Director Joan Burke, is in dire financial straits. The organization, despite having grown in scope over the past decade, can no […]
Tonight’s question is: Do you have confidence in the B.D.F. to protect our borders? 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 mother of a four-year-old alleged rape victim has been waiting since September twenty-seventh for answers about her daughter’s case. She has heard of rape cases that have resulted in immediate incarceration of alleged perpetrators, but justice it seems has turned a blind eye to her case. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, has […]
The long list of murder statistics for this year has gone up by two and now stands at one hundred and eight. Two men were killed over the weekend, one in Orange Walk and the other in the City. In both cases the motives are unknown. A security guard was killed in a pre-dawn murder […]
In Belize City, where the homicides are at all time high, a resident of King Parks was walking his girlfriend home when he met his death in the deadly South Creek area. Karl Galvez was shot at close range to his chest on Saturday night. His mother received the dreaded call after ten o’clock and […]
In other violence in the city, a disc jockey is recovering from a stab wound to the abdomen. On Sunday, Mauricio Lemus was inside a taxi, when he had a misunderstanding with the driver, Wilson Galvez. While the vehicle was near Element Night Club on Newtown Barracks, an unidentified man who was in the front […]
Several cases of the sexual abuse of minors have been reported in the news recently. In Sarteneja, a U.S. national has been accused of sodomizing three brothers. And in Belize City a wife has accused her husband of attempting to rape their seven-year-old daughter. In both cases, the accused men have been remanded. But before […]
On the political front, this Wednesday is the deadline for the submission of names for the P.U.P. leadership. We note that the Interim Leader, Mark Espat, is yet to put his name on the ballot because he is working on a financing plan before any announcement is made. It is also known that should Espat […]
So while Mark Espat has said if he will lead the Opposition at Friday’s House Meeting on the ninth amendment, the Council of Management of the Belize National Teachers Union has taken a position. The B.N.T.U. met on Saturday to reign in the votes on the ninth amendment from district branches. Eight of the ten […]
