Back in February, the Belize City Council, then controlled by the United Democratic Party, hosted a free concert at the B.T.L. Park marking the anniversary of its remodeling. The event boasted appearances from international artists Baby Cham and Ce’cile and Belizean heavyweights Supa G and Ernestine Carballo among many others. But as you must have […]
Millions of dollars, as much as seventeen, were spent on the overhaul of the Sir Barry Bowen Municipal Airstrip which was launched with much fanfare in November 2016. But a week ago, which is less than two years since its renovation, the runway had to be closed because it needed repairs. Imer Hernandez was the […]
A thirty-year-old mechanic from Paraiso Village in the Corozal District is missing at sea since Wednesday and his family fears the worst. This afternoon, Anna Leticia Revolorio came to News Five studios on Coney Drive asking for assistance from boaters and pilots to help in the search of her husband, Lionel Velasquez. The Turneffe Island […]
Efforts to locate him were immediately conducted by the captain to recover Velasquez, while a ‘man overboard’ distress signal was radioed in to the resort. According to a release issued by the resort, the Belize Coast Guard was contacted within minutes and two additional vessels from the resort were deployed to aid in search and […]
The popular magazine The Economist has weighed in on the results of Guatemala’s referendum on Sunday. Nearly ninety-six percent of participating voters agreed to filing a case at the International Court of Justice concerning the country’s claim to over half of Belize. It gently mocked Belize’s congratulatory response to the result, which it described as […]
During the Budget debate in March, member of the Public Accounts Committee Patrick Faber made note that the last three meetings of the Committee to that point had been canceled. It prompted a response from chairman and Cayo South area representative Julius Espat. Now comes news that a meeting scheduled for Thursday, April nineteenth, including […]
From the deep south comes a story of unfair treatment in one of Belize’s oldest and most well-known villages. Five residents of the village of Barranco say they have applied for logging licenses, but were all rejected. However, there is said to be logging going on in the village without the consultation and agreement of […]
Elections at the Cycling Federation of Belize are scheduled for next Saturday, but there is growing concern that all is not above board. The federation is currently led by former U.D.P. councilor Dion Leslie who is seeking election now as a vice president to Orson Butler. The contending team is led by Alexi Ordonez, a […]
The news around the world on Thursday was the installation of the new Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. He became Cuba’s first leader sans the Castro surname in over fifty years. Diaz-Canel served as Vice-President of the island nation since 2013 under Raul Castro. He was picked to ascend to the presidency as Castro steps down. […]
What does a new leader mean for the CARICOM region which depends heavily on Cuba for health, education and other forms of aid? According to Ambassador Lissette Perez, the regional assistance continues. Perez says that their cooperation with other countries is indicative of the Cuban values and culture and their support for Belize and other […]
Ambassador Lissette Perez also spoke about the Cuba-U.S. relations in light of a new leader. She said that while Cuba remains open to relations with the U.S., they will not allow a capitalist model change. Cuba and U.S.A. began mending fences under the Barrack Obama Administration, but President Trump has reversed policy changes and just […]
The University of the West Indies is celebrating its seventieth anniversary with a bang. University Singers are in Belize to mark the occasion with the UWI Belize Open Campus. The chorale group will be holding two shows over the weekend in Belize City. Today, the President Andre Bernard told us why you should attend one […]
The Miss Universe Organization started the search for its Belizean beauty ambassador to represent Belize in the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant. The auditions, which started today and continues on Saturday, saw Belizean women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-seven try out to make the cut for national pageant which will be held in August. […]
There is another issue to add to the mounting troubles in the judiciary. Last February, the Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lynn Vidal was elevated from vice president to President of the Bar Association. Her election was uncontested; it was a first for Belize, and as we understand, for the rest of the Caribbean region. Wearing […]
City Administrator Candice Miller continues to serve a month-long suspension from managerial duties at City Hall. Miller was temporarily removed from office following disclosure that former city council employee Joe Bradley had racked up a tab of roughly six thousand dollars at a nearby Chinese restaurant. While Mayor Bernard Wagner has stated categorically that his […]
Leader of the Opposition John Briceño has also weighed in on the City Hall fiasco, chiding former Mayor Darrell Bradley for granting Miller a four-year contract extension, months prior to the recent municipal elections. But is Miller coming back to city hall? There is a report that the suspension may lead to termination. Briceño says […]
On April ninth, a U.S. Narcotics reports listed Belize as one of twenty-two major drug transit countries. The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of the U.S. State Department designated Belize, saying, “Belize’s drug control efforts are hampered by the same challenges faced by the rest of the country’s security sector – corruption, insufficient investigative capacity, […]
During the budget debate at the end of March, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called out Opposition Leader John Briceño accusing him of dubiously amassing huge acreages of land in the Orange Walk and Corozal districts during the P.U.P. era of government. PM Barrow went on to list the acquisition of properties in areas, including Progresso, […]
Briceño vehemently defended the lawful purchase of the properties, despite the fire sale prices at which they were bought. John Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P. “Those are lands that we bought from individuals in Progresso. You know when you buy a lease, it was abandoned cane lands and we bought those leases from the Lino […]
During our coverage of the referendum in Guatemala, you’ve heard a number of voices weigh in on Guatemala’s “Yes” vote to go to the ICJ on the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute. Today, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte was asked for his view on the matter. While he said he wouldn’t comment directly on the Guatemalan results, he […]
The People’s United Party is yet to take a definitive position on the referendum issue and whether the territorial claim Guatemala has had over Belize should be taken to the ICJ for resolution. While he stopped short of speaking on behalf of the party, Briceño offered his personal view as he did last week in […]
Doctor Candice Pitts won handsomely on March seventh and became one of ten P.U.P. councilors to be seated at City Hall. During the campaign, Pitts told her story of going from selling Johnny Cakes as a child growing up in Port Loyola to educating herself and aspiring for public office. But are her political ambitions […]
This afternoon at City Hall, the Belize City Council bestowed the key to the Old Capital upon the President of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions. It is a particularly unusual conferral since that presentation is often reserved for mayors and other city officials in sister city relationships. Today, members of the confederation, as well […]
When we caught up with the Attorney General, he also gave us an update on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption that was at the center of the 2016 strikes by the Belize National Teachers Union. If you’ll recall, a scheduled visit of the team of experts supervising Belize’s road to implementing the United Nations […]
In his interview with the media today, the Attorney General also commented on the recent efforts to tackle crime including the crime bills and the emergency zones. As it relates to implementing the emergency areas – that is on hold for now. The AG says that the government has seen how policing efforts are working […]
