The private sector was not the only group to have concerns about investor confidence in Belize since the takeover. The Peoples United Party, though absent from the House Meeting in which the nationalization was the main focus, spoke about how it would take time to win back business confidence. According to Party Leader, John Briceño, […]
Tonight’s question is: Now that the government is in full control of B.E.L., should it bring down electricity rates? 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 Coye family spent almost two years fighting a Money Laundering charge that was brought by the Financial Intelligence Unit after one point five million dollars in cash were found at their home in 2008. Charges were levied against the family’s business Money Exchange International Limited, Michael and Marlene Coye, their son Jude, daughter Melonie, […]
A fifty-three year old ex-B.D.F. soldier is on life support after being shot on the head and shoulder on Sunday. Two high school students; a seventeen year old minor and eighteen year old Christopher Sosa were charged today along with twenty-eight year old Ashton Anderson for the attack on Romel Palacio Senior. All three appeared […]
Belize Electricity Limited will be in government hands by Tuesday morning. Today, the government rushed through the House and Senate, legislation to take over the utility company worth four hundred and forty four million dollars. The drastic measure of a corporate takeover became more than whispers on Friday evening when it was announced that there […]
P.M. Barrow stood solo while speaking on the takeover. He paused to address what he referred to as personal attacks by Lynn Young, now the former C.E.O. of B.E.L. Barrow denied that the government had intended to usurp Fortis’ shares in B.E.L. by using the Public Utilities Commission as a pawn. Barrow said that B.E.L. […]
Two years ago on August twenty-fourth, the government called a special sitting of the House of Representatives followed by a senate meeting. By the end of that day, Telemedia became the first company to be nationalized by a hostile takeover. Up until today, compensation has not been paid and B.E.L. will now stand in the […]
While the government is about to change the proverbial bulb on B.E.L.’s management, there is still another possible battle in the distance with Fortis. Litigation over purchase costs for B.E.L. may be proceeded by additional concerns over its sister company, Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL). P.M. Barrow said he doesn’t foresee a BECOL takeover, but […]
The House and Senate approved the nationalization of B.E.L. with speed; the official opposition did not make it to today’s special sittings. They weren’t there because they claim the notice and House papers were not delivered to members until Friday night. The P.U.P. further states that the agenda did not warrant a special meeting and […]
It was a violent weekend in the city and the west. Early on Saturday evening in downtown San Ignacio, a man was killed in front of a restaurant and an acquaintance will be charged for his murder. David Guerra was stabbed once in the chest and died shortly afterwards. According to his family, the suspect, […]
The weekend’s other murder was in the city where the family of Delbert Hinds prepares lay him to rest while a former B.D.F. soldier is clinging to life. Shortly after seven-thirty on Friday night, thirty-two year old Hinds, aka Snypa, was gunned down in one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. He did not stand […]
There are two stories tonight that have huge implications for the jewel; government it appears will be moving to take control of B.E.L. We’ll have more on that later but the other story is about international football. The standoff between the Football Federation of Belize President, Bertie Chimilio and the government’s point man, Minister of […]
As soon as the team landed, they were whisked off to a press conference at the Belize Biltmore Plaza. The players were probably expecting congratulations, but instead they found out the bad news of the suspension and that there will not be a Sunday game for local fans in the capital. Bernaldino Pech broke the […]
After the press conference, F.F.B. President Bertie Chimilio headed to Supreme Court with attorney Elson Kaseke to file an injunction, seeking to have the game proceed on Sunday. The case came up at two in the afternoon in the courtroom of Justice Minnet Hafiz. Chimilio sat ready to take the witness stand to enter into […]
The future of B.E.L. continues to evolve so we asked consumers if they would prefer to pay higher rates and avoid power outages. Seventy-eight percent of voters on our e-poll said no to increased electricity bills while only twenty-two percent are prepared to make the sacrifice. Most of the persons who commented on our blog […]
The House of Representatives will meet this Monday in Belmopan. It’s billed as a special sitting, but when we checked, the House agenda only lists the reading of three of five anti-crime bills. The Senate is also being convened in the afternoon and that is unprecedented. It is widely believed, however, that at these special […]
But what is the future of B.E.L.’s top executive? C.E.O. Lynn Young has been presenting the B.E.L. case and on Thursday night, he addressed the private sector. It was a closed business mixer for members of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. According to Young, the ongoing energy crisis has been triggered by a […]
If the government nationalizes, B.E.L. it would be perhaps among the last times that Lynn Young will speak as C.E.O. of the company. He told the private sector that Fortis developed local management to run the company efficiently. Lynn Young, Chief Executive Officer, B.E.L. “How is this thing going to end? I came to the […]
Gunshots rang out in the dead of the night on Central American Boulevard. A taxi driver was executed by two men who rode up on bicycles and fired at least six shots on Kevin Flowers. The bullets found their mark in his head, chest and arm. Flowers was rushed to the hospital but passed away […]
A suspicious aircraft was sighted hovering across Southern Belize earlier today. While the plane did not make its landing, local authorities were alerted and are said to be keeping a close eye on the situation. The suspicious plane sent off alarm bells because last November, a major shipment of cocaine was seized near South Stann […]
Nature Fresh Belize Limited has taken a thrashing in the media over a fourteen point nine million dollar loan that the investment committee of the Social Security Board is recommending to the Board. The company is owned by the Mena group, which also owned and operated Fresh Catch that went into receivership in July 2010. […]
In other news of a financial nature, Standard and Poor’s, an international credit rating agency, released its 2011 report on Wednesday. Credit ratings are an evaluation of a country’s ability to meet its debt obligations in full and within the prescribed time. They also heavily influence the decisions of investors and investment bankers. So how […]
There is some sporting news that can’t wait until James Adderley’s Sports Monday. Belize’s Under Sixteen basketball team is in Mexico City playing in preliminary rounds against other Central American countries. Unfortunately, the local boys lost eighty to one hundred and eight against a formidable team from Puerto Rico, which had already put a trashing […]
Belize Electricity Limited C.E.O., Lynn Young has made the point that the Public Utilities Commission is squeezing B.E.L. At the most recent Annual General Meeting, Young said that; “Rather than secure that we are able to finance our activities for customers and shareholders, the P.U.C. instead seems obsessed with destroying what we have built over […]
In court, six persons were remanded to prison on Monday after being charged with Burglary and Handling Stolen Goods in connection with a string of break-ins in the Lake Independence and Belama areas. Today, a seventh accused, twenty-one year old Cassandra Humes of Berries Street, was charged with Handling Stolen Goods. Humes is accused of […]
