Two Guatemalan fishermen remain in detention tonight after they were fined in the Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court over seven thousand dollars for illegally fishing in the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. Around two on Sunday morning, Mynor Cifuentes and Sergio Lopez were discovered with miles of illegal fishing lines and catch well within Belizean territorial waters. […]
Another high-schooler was recognized with the ‘Du Di Rait Ting’ award today in Belize City. Eighteen-year-old Jaheel Lamb was a student who misbehaved growing up. But when he decided to do the right things, he made a complete change and it improved his relationship with his teachers and his family. The school selected Lamb as […]
Today Belmopan police took twenty youth from the capital to the Kolbe Foundation-managed Central Prison at Hattieville, though it was to prevent future crime, not punish offenders. The Officer Commanding Belmopan Police Formation, Senior Superintendent Howell Gillett says that young people often don’t go to the prison until they become first time offenders. The visitors […]
At the age of twenty-two, he is thrusting himself into electoral politics to serve his people. This ambitious young man, Cristian Castellanos is attempting to topple a seasoned and trusted mayor of a town that has traditionally gone U.D.P. for many years. Castellanos is taking on Marconi Sosa on March seventh. The age and experience […]
On Monday, we gave you a brief look at the two mayoral candidates for Dangriga. U.D.P.’s Francis Humphreys is the incumbent, a well-known figure in the town having served as a teacher and principal in the town for many years. His political rival, Derrick Velasquez, says he is in touch with the issues in the […]
On Saturday morning in Punta Gorda, despite inclement weather, residents, including family and friends of Mario Vernon Junior took the streets to protest his killing. The twenty-four-year-old grandson of Leela Vernon was shot and killed by police constable Tevin Aranda on January thirteenth. While his death has been ruled a manslaughter, the grieving family is […]
In health news, Belize has not seen a case of measles since 1991. But there is a general alert out tonight from the Ministry of Health after the highly infectious viral disease recently showed up in neighboring Guatemala, on the heels of an increase of cases in the region in 2017. The suspected cases are […]
Over the past week we’ve been featuring the mayoral candidates contesting the March seventh municipal elections. Today, we reached out to the mayoral hopefuls in Dangriga. Incumbent Francis Humphreys is up again for the U.D.P., whilst newcomer Derrick Velasquez is throwing his hat in the ring for the People’ United Party. The candidates say that […]
On Friday the Minister of Defence John Saldivar addressed an unexpected visit to Belize from members of the Guatemalan Armed Forces who were said to be asking about an earlier engagement between Belizean police and a Guatemalan reporter. While there are few such encounters at the western border, it is much closer quarters in the […]
On a more positive note, the Isidoro Beaton Stadium at the corner of the Ring Road and San Martin Road was recently certified to FIFA-standard. It is the second stadium in Belize after the F.F.B. Stadium on the Hummingbird Highway to reach this standard and the first using artificial turf. The Belmopan Bandits football team, […]
On Thursday, People’s United Party senators Eamon Courtenay and Valerie Woods brought public attention to the lack of accountability and transparency in government expenditures. This is in respect of monies that were reportedly spent on relief and cleanup in the wake of Hurricane Earl in 2016, as well as unbudgeted funds that were also made […]
Accompanying the Finance and Audit Reform Act are Fiscal Transparency and Responsibility Regulations. That set of guidelines contains sixteen steps, including a fiscal outlook and mid-year review report, none of which have been presented to Auditor General Dorothy Bradley. While the citizens of Belize clamored for these measures to be put in place to ensure […]
In an unprecedented move, six of the non-government parliamentarians, including church senator Ashley Rocke, sided with Senator Eamon Courtenay on Wednesday when a call was made to bring the Financial Secretary before the upper house. While the People’s United Party is devising a plan of action, business senator Mark Lizarraga has turned in a report […]
Two brothers were caught in an explosion inside their family bakery in Sand Hill, Belize District, this morning. One of them is dead and the other is hospitalized following an accidental blast that happened inside an oven in the kitchen. The IN-n-Out Bakery has been in operation for more than five years, it’s the first […]
At Price Barracks in Ladyville this afternoon, it was out with the old and, especially, in with the new. The national army is now forty years old and has had seven Belizeans in charge. Today, an eighth accepted his new responsibilities under the watchful eye of Governor General Sir Colville Young. He will lead a […]
Surveillance footage captured last week showed an alarming occurrence at the western border between Belize and Guatemala. Taken from inside the Customs office, a trio of Guatemalan soldiers dressed in what appear to be the military fatigues of the elite Kaibil unit are shown walking over from past the O.A.S. office to the Customs/Immigration building. […]
The Ministry of Finance continues to investigate how a significant quantity of outdated military equipment scheduled for disposal ended up in the hands of three civilians, including a Mexican national. As it relates to the Belize Defence Force, a senior officer from the Air Wing was found to have communicated with one of the men […]
Earlier we heard from Private Sector Senator Mark Lizarraga on dated government expenditure that has just gone before the senate. Senator Osmany Salas, who represents the N.G.O. community, also spoke on government’s extreme tardiness in bringing forward the expenditure for approval from the senate. It has been seventeen months since Hurricane Earl devastated parts of […]
The twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena are in full gear for the March seventh municipal elections. Both parties are on the ground campaigning house to house and holding small assemblies. Like in other municipalities the issues are of national importance as well as local. The area is commonly known as the red […]
In the west, water levels rose cutting off access at Iguana Creek Bridge to the Spanish Lookout Community. Several other villages such as Santa Teresa and San Marcos are inundated. According to Assistant NEMO Coordinator Johnny Ramclam, western Belize experienced continuous rains, which started from six-thirty on Thursday through to this morning. In Benque Viejo […]
International Customs Day was observed around the world today in honor of this vital cog in the international financial and trade machine. As has become tradition, Belize’s Customs and Excise Department planned an outdoor open day in downtown Belize City at the Battlefield Park to bring its work to the general public along with selected […]
The news makes regular reports on persons caught with uncustomed goods, usually contraband from the free zone and Mexico. Often these matters are settled by the department without a need to go to court or even arrest. But does the law change when the offenders are repeaters and occasionally flagrant violators? Comptroller of Customs Colin […]
Earlier this week, News Five sat down with outgoing Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley in his final days as head of the municipal government. The two-term mayor spoke candidly about the need for good governance, as well as the doing away with corruption in public office. Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor “We need strong […]
Is the Barrow Administration guilty of breaking the Finance and Audit Reform Act? It’s an admission that Financial Secretary Joseph Waight reportedly made before the Senate on Wednesday, in respect of expenses related to Hurricane Earl and Belize Infrastructure Limited, BIL. That piece of legislation was brought into existence by government back in 2010, and […]
With the FinSec’s purported confession that the Finance and Audit Reform Act has not been complied with, is there a course of action that can be taken against government by the opposition? Eamon Courtenay, P.U.P. Senator “Anybody can make a complaint and I won’t speak for the other parties, I will speak for the […]
