Still missing from the Belize City Council’s Works Department is the John Deere tractor which was purchased for fifty-four thousand dollars. As we reported in August, an internal audit into the Works Department revealed that the tractor, an eighty-six thousand dollars Caterpillar bulldozer and a thirty thousand dollars flatbed trailer were not delivered to the […]
Kevan Jenkins is no longer the Traffic Manager for Belize City. Jenkins who held the position for more than ten years was transferred to the Sanitation Department which he will now manage. His sudden transfer has raised eyebrows as Jenkins has been part of the Belize City Traffic Department for more than two decades. On […]
The Leos Club, a junior arm of the Lions Club, handed over twenty-six arm chairs to Our Lady of the Way R.C. School in Ladyville. The Leos, who are students from a number of high schools and colleges in the city, worked for about a month to restore the chairs. News Five found out more […]
It is the countdown to Saturday’s Carnival road march that starts at on Central American Boulevard at its junction with Neal Pen Road into Vernon Street on to Youth for the Future Drive, Douglas Jones, Baymen Avenue and ending up at the Marion Jones Stadium. On Wednesday night, judging of four other mas camps dispersed […]
One of the busiest days of the year for emergency medical response teams is carnival day which is this Saturday. In tonight’s Healthy Living, we find out why and what you can do to prevent health emergencies. Marleni Cuellar, Reporting On Saturday, the streets of Belize City will be overflowing with thousands of people […]
A freak accident on Sunday ended in the death of Orange Walk Town resident Evelina Suliema Celiz. The thirty-six-year-old NEMO Coordinator was at a horse race event at San Felipe Village when about five-thirty, a horse trampled her. The narrative is that Celiz was attempting to cross the race track while the race was ongoing […]
There is a new national Queen of the Bay to be crowed on the morning of September tenth. The title was clinched by Miss Belmopan, Jenny Lee Cruz, after her second go at the pageant. The nineteen-year-old was also picked as Miss Eloquence from among the other delegates from the districts. The first runner up […]
Even as the city recorded a bloody weekend, over on the north side, there were several festive events taking place; the Belikin Bash at the B.T.L. Park and the Carnival King and Queen Competition at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex. As early as five p.m. on Saturday, prejudging commenced before the revelers from ten bands, […]
A special sitting of the House of Representatives took place in Belmopan today on an issue that has been thorny and divisive. Prime Minister Dean Barrow, as Minister of Finance, presented the Appropriation Bill to pay a ninety-five million-dollar compensation award for the Universal Health Services debt. The loan ballooned to over ninety-five million dollars after […]
The PM has taken the view that the judgment from the Caribbean Court of Justice which ruled that the loan is legal, cannot be paid from the consolidated revenue fund unless the National Assembly votes to so do. Before today, cabinet members had public said they would vote ‘NO.’ Prime Minister Dean Barrow “This […]
According to the PM, it was for the House to decide if the debt to the Belize Bank would be paid. His argument rested on the basis that the debt cannot be paid from the consolidated revenue fund without the approval of the House. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “We bring the bill so that […]
For years, the guarantee by the government on a loan to the then Universal Health Services has been debated and tried in the courts. Today, it came down to a historic vote in the House by only one side of parliament. Before Prime Minister Barrow stood up to wrap up the UHS debt debate, members […]
For the People’s United Party, the UHS loan guarantee goes back to the Musa Administration, one which this current government won’t let them forget. But when the Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño made his contribution, he drew the line on the sand as it relates to a loan which started at thirty-three point five […]
Briceño placed the loan at the front door of the Prime Minister under whose watch the issue lingered before several courts for numerous years and remains unpaid. Briceño made the point that since the government did not intend to pay, it should have not spent all that money on legal fees. John Briceño, Leader […]
After tracing how the loan had meandered through the courts in Belize, London, New York, Miami, Washington and Trinidad, Briceño pointed to the law firms that had benefitted from legal fees: John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition “He decides to fight this judgment in courts. He has gone to seven courts all over the […]
Back to the House…Contributing to the debate was Fort George Area Representative Said Musa. Musa was the Prime Minister at the time when the government decided to act as a guarantor for the UHS loan. Back then, the Musa Administration had plans for the National Health Insurance scheme which fell apart after the Development Finance […]
Freetown area rep Francis Fonseca was attorney general when G.O.B. signed off to guarantee the initial loan of thirty-three million dollars. The amount owed today has tripled so he put that responsibility squarely on the lap of the P.M. Francis Fonseca, Area Representative, Freetown “So Prime Minister Barrow gave birth to this ninety million […]
Embroiled in controversy, President of the National Institute of Culture and History Sapna Budhrani dominated the news this week. Budhrani was put on the hot seat after leaked audit documents revealed a number of irregularities and mismanagement at NICH. The leaked documents showed correspondences between financial officer Edwin Alvarado and internal auditor Roberto Matus. The […]
Prime Minister Barrow also weighed in on the NICH debacle, reiterating that embattled president Sapna Budhrani will be placed on administrative leave as of Monday. Budhrani will remain president of the institute until she is either vindicated or implicated at the end of an external audit. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “As she said, obviously […]
Prime Minister Barrow is traveling to Cuba this weekend where he will be undergoing medical surgery on his spine on Tuesday. He will be gone for most of September and during his leave of absence Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber takes over. Following today’s house meeting, PM Barrow described the process of treatment and recovery. […]
Fear is settling in as it is almost a week since sixty-seven-year-old Sherris Stringham has been seen in Hopkins Village. She last messaged her friends on Saturday, promising to meet up for a scheduled social on Sunday, but that was the last they heard from her. This week, police found her vehicle without its license […]
On Saturday night, the Marion Jones Stadium will come alive with pre-carnival sights and sounds. At seven in the night the annual King and Queen of 2018 carnival will compete for the big cash and bragging rights. There will be twenty participants in the senior and junior categories. The President of the Carnival Association Sandra […]
The controversy at the National Institute of Culture and History continues to unravel with President Sapna Budhrani is in the hot seat. Since details began to emerge on the state of affairs at the statutory body, she had remained mum. This morning, however, backed up by the Board of Directors, Budhrani finally broke her silence, […]
The purchase of a compact crossover vehicle for use by NICH President Sapna Budhrani, as well as fuel consumption for the 2018 Honda CR-V raised eyebrows in the memo sent by Roberto Matus to Associate Director of Finance Edwin Alvarado on August twelfth. The purchase seemed questionable in the context of other vehicles within the […]
The gas bill for NICH during April and July was also queried by the internal auditor. According to his report, which was described as a draft audit, fuel consumption sprang to almost eighty-seven thousand dollars, up considerably from a budget of twenty-six thousand, five hundred dollars. As it turns out, the Board claims Matus’ calculation […]
