Driving in Belize can sometimes be a hassle, considering that each municipality and the Department of Transport have its own system for licensing and any cooperation is informal at best. But the Government of Belize wants to change that, and today its Central Information Technology Office and the Ministry of Finance signed a memorandum of […]
The Children’s Agenda 2017-2030 was launched today, but signed on May fifteenth between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The document is a road map that outlines the development of children and adolescent from ages zero to nineteen for the next fourteen years. The agenda, according to the National Committee for Families […]
Today across the world was observed World Oceans Day. It is a day set aside to highlight the importance of oceans and the need to protect and preserve the natural resource. On Wednesday, OCEANA Belize took journalists for a trip off the waters of Punta Gorda Town. Local journalists got the opportunity to visit the […]
The heat has been very intense over the past few weeks and it is only the beginning of summer. You’ve heard the message countless times about staying hydrated and out of the heat. For those who needed added motivation to increase their water intake, tonight’s healthy living looks at the potential dangers of excessive heat […]
The Senate Special Select Committee called former Minister of Immigration and Nationality and National Security Carlos Perdomo as its sole witness today. Perdomo presided over the Ministry during the early part of the period under investigation, 2011-2013. He was questioned about various issues under his tenure, including the case of Paul Ku, who was granted […]
But how would ministers handle request for assistance with passport and nationality applications? Perdomo said he told the auditors that in his time, he would send a note inquiring about the reason behind a delay for a particular application and address it to Director Ruth Meighan, but that he did not consider this interference – […]
The “culture of corruption” has become a theme of the Senate Inquiry. Various Immigration officers have come forward to acknowledge that the department was largely at the mercy of ministers of government and their lackeys who pretty much got what they wanted at double speed. Even those not involved have said they stay far away […]
The minister’s pen proved mightier than any sword in the Immigration Department. Testimony from various officers showed that a minister’s recommendation, whether for passport, visa or nationality, carried significant weight with the Department’s workers, even if the rest of the application was flimsy at best in terms of the truth. The nationality report by the […]
In the wake of the momentous August 2016 decision by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin to overturn Section fifty-three of the Criminal Code, godly Belizeans raised outrage at what they perceived as a nation turning away from Christian morality. Church leaders from both traditional and evangelical churches united to present their positions to government under the […]
We asked Bishop Wright whether the fundamental differences between the two sides will hurt the Commission, and whether it was all a knee-jerk reaction in the wake of the Section Fifty-three case which is now being partially appealed by the Government. The Belize Council of Churches still has to produce a final position, and so […]
News Five has been covering reports from Toledo about incursions by Guatemalan farmers in the villages of San Benito Poite and Otoxha. As we told you on Tuesday, the Belize Defence Force has done its investigations but has yet to catch up to the invaders. It must also rely on the Police Department and other […]
According to Requeña, government should not be burying its head in the sand on the issue and that all government agencies should join in to put a stop to the incursions which are taking away valuable Belizean territory. Isani Cayetano “Have you as the area representative had an opportunity to visit these areas to […]
World Oceans Day is being observed on June eighth. It is a day set aside with activities and awareness to honor, help protect, and conserve the world’s oceans. Locally, Oceana Belize is leading the charge with activities to commemorate this day. Today they took the local media on a tour of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve […]
The hurricane season, also known as the rainy season, opened last Thursday which means that there is a serious danger of contracting dengue and zika. The diseases are carried by the aedes aegypti and the aedes albopictus mosquitoes so that conscious efforts have to be doubled to reduce breeding sites. The mosquitoes are active in […]
It is that time of the year to spring into action for the September celebrations. A highlight of the month-long activities is the song competition which seeks to promote artistic expression, national pride and our rich ethnicity. NICH has issued a call for submissions to artists, rookies as well as professionals to enter their original […]
The September Celebrations Committee is also calling for submissions for the theme for this year’s festivities which include the Battle of Saint George’s Caye as well as Independence Day. Entries are invited from persons living here in the jewel or overseas. But there are only two weeks left to present your entry so if you […]
Around seven this morning, a body was found under a tree next to the basketball court and football field in the village of San Narciso in the Corozal District. It has since been identified as that of Ramon Rejon, a resident from the neighboring village of Louisville. Rejon had returned to the village over the […]
Also up north in Corozal, the search continues for a couple who has been missing since Thursday. Thirty-four-year-old Zeidy Orozco and forty-two-year-old Balthazar Lopez were last seen in the vicinity of Corozo Blues, but hours later, Orozco car was found torched in a cane field in the outskirts of Patchakan Village. Search parties have been […]
The Belize Defence Force is under fire tonight. News Five has obtained documents showing invoices for fifty thousand dollars worth of payments of allowances made to members of the team in 2009 when they were Belize Premier Football League champions. But were these men actual soldiers in the Force, or just paid to look like […]
In a surprise statement, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal has made scathing remarks against those who mismanaged the investigation of Dorian Pakeman, the Director of the Government Press Office. In what turned out to be a sensational turn of events, Pakeman walked into a magistrate court on the morning of May twenty-sixth and […]
Most top scorers in the P.S.E. are from the City, but while on assignment in Corozal, we dropped by the Mary Hill Primary School where there was reason to celebrate. The district performed the best overall in this year’s exams and at Mary Hill we found two brilliant students who did remarkably well placing in […]
Earlier you saw some of the top performers from twenty five highest overall marks – but they represent just a fraction of the seven thousand plus students who sat the exam. The results, as described by the ministry, are average. According to a preliminary release issued by the Ministry of Education, only fifty percent of […]
As much as one hundred and thirty million U.S. dollars is being sought by the former owners of Belize Telemedia Limited from the Dean Barrow administration. It is the final figure for legal costs arising of the settlement of the takeover of B.T.L. in 2009 and again in 2011. These costs were to be claimed […]
The Government and particularly the Prime Minister have in the past tried to shove off at least part of the responsibility for the B.T.L. debacle to the shoulders of the P.U.P. But the party has resisted such insinuations, each time squarely pointing the finger back at Barrow himself. Party leader John Briceño did so again […]
There is also the question of economic shock caused by the B.T.L. payments. The Government recently re-negotiated the Superbond, but has accumulated close to a hundred million dollars in debt from unpaid arbitration awards to several companies, which it is refusing to pay. The national reserves are hovering above danger point as the country waits […]
