Soca in June? Belizeans rarely need an excuse to party, but this weekend marks the official start of the soca and carnival season. Six of Belize’s top soca performers – Ernestine Carballo; Leslie “Bastic” Jenkins; Boss Lady, Missy B, Wilson Grinage and T.R. Shine – will share the stage at Flavaz Entertainment’s Soca Kick-off Concert […]
After a year of investigation by Italian police, the courts of Italy have pronounced justice on several persons accused of defrauding investors of more than twenty million U.S. dollars in a faked hotel resort scheme. Chief Developer of the Puerto Azul “eight-star” hotel project, Domenico Giannini; his partner, Fabio La Rosa; and two others have […]
An internal investigation conducted by the Professional Standards Branch into an officer-involved fatality in Chunox Village is ongoing. On Friday evening, forty-four-year-old Richard Garcia was shot and killed when a team of four policemen visited a residence in that rural community in the Corozal District to carry out an eviction of the handyman. According to […]
The deadly shooting took place on the evening of June ninth, at around five p.m.; however, the lifeless body of Richard Garcia was not removed from the scene until almost eighteen hours later. The corpse remained in the open throughout the night with several officers standing guard until the scene was able to be processed […]
Recently two church leaders, namely the Anglican Diocese Bishop Phillip Wright and the Methodist’s Reverend Roosevelt Papouloute, decided to remove themselves from the Church-State Commission, which is also referred to as the morality commission. Church leaders committed to offer Government their positions on critical moral, spiritual and national issues in the wake of outrage over […]
Since last week, we’ve been reporting on a case of corporal punishment in San Pablo, Orange Walk. It came to a head on Monday when Thais Cowo, the mother of the alleged victim was formally charged and arraigned for harm in the Orange Walk Magistrate Court after she attacked Ednita Cocom, the teacher who inflicted […]
A group of stevedores have called for a stop to the negotiations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. In a letter sent out earlier this week, thirty-three stevedores called on President Dale Trujeque of the Christian Workers Union to hold off the negotiations with the Port of Belize. The letter goes on to say, “you are […]
Speaker of the House Laura Longsworth told News Five since Tuesday that Brian “Yellow Man” Audinett gets to keep his job as mace bearer after his deplorable behavior on May seventeen when he assaulted media personalities at the Senate Inquiry. The media as well as the opposition called for his removal since he had at […]
On Wednesday, former President of NICH, Yasser Musa came out against the proposed Heritage Preservation Legislation Bill, saying it does not invest in artists. Musa said the millions of dollars that will be provided through an agreement with Taiwan will be spent on “colonial projects…old ideas—putting money into cement rather than building up the people.” […]
On Monday, Panama severed diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and in the same breath it announced it was establishing ties with the People’s Republic of China. President Carlos Varela said he believes in a one China policy and that there are strong economic interests with China which is the second most important […]
On Wednesday, you heard Cabinet Secretary and former Minister of Immigration and Nationality Carlos Perdomo essentially disclaim all responsibility for the decisions taken by officers in the public service junior to him, despite those decisions leading to one of the worst Immigration scandals in recent memory. According to Perdomo, he could not recall talking about […]
With an outright denial of the claims of whistleblower Alvarine Burgess two weeks ago, Police Assistant Superintendent Rochelle Chan appears to be putting the burden of proof on Burgess and the Senate Special Select Committee to investigate as if it is a court of law. Asked to consider whether it was even possible that Burgess […]
As reported on Wednesday, Assistant Superintendent of Police Rochelle Chan has flatly denied the allegations made against him. But if what Alvarine Burgess has said of him is a lie, is there any way to be sure? That was the question put to him by Trade Union Senator Elena Smith, but he contends that there […]
There will be a new regime at the helm of law enforcement in the Belize District jurisdiction come July first as well as in other districts. Eastern Division South will see the departure of Assistant ComPol Chester Williams for a desk job at the Professional Standards Branch in Belmopan. He will be replaced at the […]
The Belize Police Department is getting ready to observe Police Week. The week of activities starts on Sunday June eighteenth and ends on the twenty-fourth. Police officers will engage in a number of activities within the Department and in the community, including a church service and awards ceremony. Also as a part of the Police […]
More ten million U.S. dollars has been invested in the education and health sectors through the U.S. Embassy’s Beyond the Horizon Project. Communities in the Belize, Cayo and Stann Creek Districts received new facilities or benefitted from medical exercises. The initiative closed today in Ladyville; local ministers as well as U.S. personnel reflected on the […]
Robert Sydney Reyes may not be well known among Belizeans at home, but his works of art will endure in the National Art Collection for years to come. That’s because four of his paintings were today inducted into the compendium of Belize’s patrimony. The donation was made through the Governor General’s office on behalf of […]
There was another round of senate hearings today. There was testimony from two persons, including Assistant Superintendent of Police Rochelle Chan. Two weeks ago, Chan gave a limited statement in response to the bombshell allegations made against him before the Senate Special Select Committee by Alvarine Burgess. The whistleblower exposed a ring of Ministers of […]
Chan also denied any contact with his brother-in-law, then-Minister of State for Immigration, Elvin Penner, about any Immigration scheme. As far as he is concerned, Burgess’ testimony is untrue. But the question that bedevils Burgess, Chan, the Senate panel and all who heard their testimonies two weeks ago and today is this: what reason would […]
Former Minister of Immigration and briefly National Security, Carlos Perdomo, ended his appearance last Wednesday before the Senate panel hitting back at claims he disregarded his personal standards with regard to approving certain applications for nationality. His return this week resumed with more sparring with Business Community Senator Mark Lizarraga, who referred him to Section […]
Carlos Perdomo was the first Minister of Immigration and Nationality appointed under the Barrow administration in 2008. His time pre-dates somewhat the Auditor General’s Report, but Senator Mark Lizarraga seemed to try to establish through his questioning that Perdomo’s alleged permissiveness was a factor in the recent “culture of corruption” in the Department, which the […]
Perdomo continued to fend off questioning about how it is that as minister he had little to no knowledge of the goings-on in the Department, relying on his most senior officers to assure him that things were going well, even though they clearly were not. Even today, Perdomo said the full extent of what happened […]
Senior Immigration Officer Ady Pacheco has been one of the most highly anticipated witnesses at the Senate Special Select Committee’s public hearings. Her name has been directly tied to the Won Hong Kim affair by former boss Maria Marin. It also appears multiple times in the Auditor General’s Reports in relation to various activities within […]
The upcoming election of the Football Federation of Belize is being hotly contested between two personalities well-grounded in the sport. So far in this newscast you have heard the jabs exchanged between Ruperto Vicente, who is seeking to return to the presidency, and another aficionado, Sergio Chuc, who has been disqualified. In the intricate world […]
Former F.F.B. executive Sergio Chuc is once again sidelined from action at the administrative level, after being barred from running for office during an upcoming congress. Since being disqualified from contesting the presidency, Chuc has come out to criticize the electoral process as a fixed exercise. In response, political rival Ruperto Vicente has weighed in […]
