According to Juarez, there are instances where prices on the shelves at the free zone aren’t as eye-catching as they are across the border. While he could not provide an exact number in terms of closures, Juarez told News Five today that a partial scope trade agreement is in the works between Belize and Mexico. […]
On the eve of nomination day, the Belize Progressive Party is charging that one of its municipal candidates in Punta Gorda Town was approached to step down as a candidate in return for payments of her bills and school fees. Councilor candidate Maria Lara says she had previously approached ranking officials of the United Democratic […]
Lara says she is disappointed by the incident, but her bosses at the B.P.P. are furious. Political leader Patrick Rogers told us via telephone this evening that the larger political parties are afraid of the Progressives as a viable political force and so have successfully poached candidates away previously. It is another symptom of what […]
This Wednesday, both major political parties are expected to take out their supporters in numbers as they head to the various offices designated for nomination centers, countrywide. There, after a vetting process by the presiding officer, it becomes official for their names to be printed on the ballots for the upcoming municipal elections on March […]
Nomination Day paves the way for Election Day. The voters list for the municipal election shows that there are one hundred and fourteen thousand five hundred and seventy-four persons eligible to vote, as of January tenth, 2018 – which was the final day of registration for the voters in the March elections. There are more […]
Except for Belize City where voters are casting their vote for ten councilors and a mayor, in the Capital Belmopan and the remaining municipalities, it is six councilor candidates and one mayoral to each. Chief Elections Officer Tamai reminds that voting for more than the available seats will cause the ballot to be rejected as […]
The Government has indicated that Contractor General Godwin Arzu will be replaced as a result of failing to meet requirements in legislation to submit annual reports on his work since 2013. However, Ombudsman Lionel Arzu is expected to be offered another contract to continue in that post. But are these important institutions providing quality results? […]
The Integrity Commission is presently without a chairman as now-Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Williams resigned at the start of January. On Friday we heard from Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber about the government’s difficulties in finding a replacement due to persons being unwilling to expose themselves to scrutiny. But Senator Mark Lizarraga told us that’s […]
Mario Vernon’s family says they will not let up. They believe that there is a cover-up surrounding the death of the twenty-four-year-old Punta Gorda resident and grandson of the iconic Leela Vernon. Vernon’s aunt gave an interview to our colleagues at PGTV and she says that they have even sent letters to the Prime Minister’s […]
Belizean-American news anchor Kendis Gibson has another award to put on his shelf. He is scheduled to receive an award at the 2018 International Red Carpet Affair and Dance on April twenty-eighth. The Belizean native has credits as a reporter in New York City, San Francisco and Washington D.C. as well as with CNN as […]
What was once whispered about has now, in some quarters, been stated openly: no money, no vote! With municipal elections two weeks away, it is open season for vote-buying or trading favors of any kind is very much. But there is a message from the business community through Senator Mark Lizarraga tonight: the monies spent […]
Janet Olisa was one of three ambassadors who presented her credentials to Governor General Sir Colville Young on Monday in Belmopan. She is the appointed High Commissioner of Nigeria to Belize, but is officially based in Jamaica. Today, she briefed the local press on the development of the relationship between the two countries, particularly in […]
Also, part of Olisa’s duties will be to minister to the growing Nigerian community in Belize which ranges from nurses in the hospitals to sculptor Stephen Okeke. She told News Five that the Nigerian government is looking for opportunities to export human resources in any area that Belize desires, including education and even the judiciary. […]
As we reported earlier in the newscast, the issue of domestic abuse is once again at the center of an open discussion in which many, including lawyers and women’s rights activists, have been weighing in. Attorney Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, in her role as a former government official, was instrumental putting together legislation that deals with spousal […]
Pressure continues to mount on Guyanese President David Granger to indicate the way forward in the appointment of the top two judicial posts. He has offered the post of Chancellor of the Judiciary to Belize’s Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin despite local opposition led by predecessor Bharrat Jagdeo. Today, as the President indicated he would not […]
The Mayas of southern Belize continue their fight with the Government of Belize, represented by the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission to enforce the historic consent order made on April twenty-second, 2015, to develop a mechanism to recognize the already agreed communal land rights of the indigenous Maya people. But they continue to quarrel over […]
Is turmoil brewing yet again within the already fickle Fort George Tourism Zone? Independent tour operators, as well as small business owners and vendors, are up in arms over a decision to have them relocated to the nearby Memorial Park. They contend that they are deliberately being kept out of the reach of cruise passengers […]
The People’s United Party seized on the opportunity to provide support for the disaffected tour guides and support staff in the Zone. The party selected its Belize City mayoral aspirant, Bernard Wagner, to wag the finger of disapproval at a press briefing this afternoon. If he is elected, Wagner plans to try to reverse the […]
The People’s United Party continues to ride a tidal wave of goodwill from last week’s impressive national convention in Belize City. The P.U.P.’s Bernard Wagner is quietly confident going into this nomination week. He says residents are embracing the potential of change in the form of the P.U.P. eleven, and this Wednesday, nomination day will […]
The gap between Darrell Bradley and Yolanda Schakron in the last election was significant, and one reason has been the U.D.P.’s stranglehold in the Southside constituencies. Amid reports that Collet representative and Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber has been active in nearby Lake Independence, the P.U.P. has set up its own office to capture targets […]
A major literacy strategy was launched this morning at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex in Belize City. The program aims to strengthen the reading and writing skills of primary school children in nine Belize City schools in the first phase. According to the Minister of Education, Patrick Faber, the ministry is stepping up with the […]
The literacy campaign among primary school children is a joint initiative between public and private agencies as well as non-profit organization and the Ministry of Education. At today’s launch, Scotia Bank Belize made a donation of fifteen computers. Education Minister Patrick Faber says that the commitment will see financial and tangible resources pumped into the […]
While with the Deputy Prime Minister today, he was asked about a report that his ministry will be spending two point one-three million dollars on school fees for selected persons identified by U.D.P. campaigners. Faber refuted the claim, stating that the coffers are dry, but confirmed that there is money that hasn’t been spent in […]
Scotiabank is closing two of its branches. In a release issued today, the Bank says that it will be closing the Spanish Lookout Branch effective April twentieth and the Placencia Branch will be shutting down effective June twenty-second of this year. The rather vague release, without giving specific details on the closures, says, “Like any […]
Police in San Pedro have now charged a resident in connection with an alleged case of rape. Thirty-seven year old John Cus, an electrician of San Pedro Town, was detained almost immediately after the report was made. Last week a twenty-five-year-old female American tourist visited the San Pedro Police Station and reported that at around four-thirty […]
