But Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber has a different take. This morning, he told the media that the usefulness of the inquiry has come and gone and there is a push for it to serve a political agenda by some individuals. Faber particularly called out Senator Eamon Courtenay. Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister “I […]
Another U.D.P. minister who has come under fire recently is John Saldivar. The Belmopan area rep was photographed ferrying his team to San Pedro using coastguard vessels donated by the United States Embassy. DPM Faber says he sees no wrongdoing in the use of the vessel. So, if faced with a decision to use government […]
Minister Saldivar has gone on the offensive on social media saying that he stands behind his decision to use the vessels for his Bandits basketball team. But his colleague Michael Finnegan says it is a misjudgment. Michael Finnegan, Area Rep., Mesopotamia “I don’t know if the boat was owned by the Government of Belize […]
Is anybody buying Minister of Defence John Saldivar’s staunch defence of the decision to transport his Belmopan Bandits teams on Coast Guard? Certainly not Opposition Leader John Briceño when we asked him about it today. While he did not pick a fight with Coast Guard Commandant John Borland, Briceño says his logic would suggest that […]
There is an important event that takes place this Thursday. It is the elevation of Senior Counsel Denys Barrow as a judge to the Caribbean Court of Justice. Barrow is the first Belizean to be appointed to Belize’s highest court of appeal, which is headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago; other members are Guyana, Barbados and […]
The Belize Port Authority is moving to its new headquarters adjacent to the Belize National Coastguard off mile four on the George Price Highway. The spanking new facility was officially launched today and News Five’s Isani Cayetano was there. Isani Cayetano, Reporting The Belize Ports Authority is occupying a new office space and is […]
“Tobacco, A Threat For Us All” was the theme that guided activities to mark World No Tobacco Day. The activities also coincide with the culmination of a month of events held to increase awareness of cancer. Tobacco is linked to many forms of cancer and that was not lost on the National Drug Abuse Control […]
The Hurricane Season is here and the Met Service says that this year is forecasted to be active. The above normal season will see fourteen named storms and three are expected to turn into major hurricanes. News Five’s Andrea Polanco shares more on what we can expect from this above normal hurricane season. Andrea […]
On the eve of the expected testimony at the Senate Special Select Committee of whistleblower on visas Alvarine Burgess, Minister of National Emergency Management and Transport and Belize Rural North area representative Edmond Castro has confirmed via press release this evening that he has been notified of the U.S. Embassy cancelling his diplomatic and tourist […]
While Castro is in the news tonight for the cancelation of his visa, Minister of Defence John Saldivar is pushing back heavily against claims of misuse of Coast Guard assets to support his Belmopan Bandits sporting teams, which is being investigated by the U.S. Embassy, which gifted the vessels. Following a statement by his Cabinet […]
This morning, the body of a man was found floating in the Caribbean Sea near First Avenue in the Bay of Corozal Town. The person has since been identified as forty-three-year-old Anthony Pasos, a resident of the Santa Rita community in Corozal. A postmortem exam conducted this afternoon confirms that Pasos died as a result […]
The plot thickens in the Miss Belize saga. Twenty-four hours ago, Miss Belize Rebecca Rath appeared to be stripped of her title by pageant director Opal Enriquez. Her family had come out strongly against Enriquez’s management of the run-up to Rath’s appearance at the Miss Universe pageant in January and Enriquez hit back on her […]
Elrington and Malik take the position that the May twenty-sixth release was not authorized and nothing in it is official, and that as far as they are concerned Enriquez has resigned and her position is vacant. Elrington told us that he could shed no light on the reason for the two-thousand word release, as the […]
The hassle of applying for Belizean citizenship, in some cases several years in the making, has paid for a handful of immigrants who have found their home in the Jewel. From as far away as Turkey and Bangladesh, they have traveled to Belize and decided to stay. The swearing-in ceremony got off to a late […]
After years of back and forth, visitors to Harvest Caye will finally be able to enjoy the natural wonders of the peninsula. Local tour operators and other stakeholders had been agitating to benefit from the tourism boom in the south. Beginning today, passengers of Norwegian Cruise Line are being transported on a new pier to […]
In addition to illegal operation in Belizean waters, Guatemalan fishermen have been guilty of several offences, including use of gill nets and other illegal methods to capture fish. Recently they have been using another method: constructing traps in the sea made from mangroves. Mangroves serve a particular purpose in the ecosystem as the spawning ground […]
Three weeks ago it was reported that the village of Otoxha has been dealing with a takeover of acres of territory by Guatemalan farmers seeking greater pastures. The farmers left a mile-plus-long trail from Guatemala into Belize for easier access to their ‘conquered’ territory. The matter has officially been reported to the Belize Defence Force’s […]
Caribbean Motors in Belize City today hosted a special donation ceremony by the Saint Paul Lutheran Church of Fort Worth, Texas and the Central American Lutheran Mission Society, in association with the Inspiration Center and Guatemalan organization Hope Haven. Ninety wheelchairs, special-built in the U.S., are being handed over this week to first-time users, giving […]
Thirty-one-year-old Belizean Olympian athlete Kaina Martinez has completed her track career at Texas A and M University-Kingsville. She had three top finishes in the 2017 NCAA Division Two Outdoor Athletics Championships in Florida over the weekend. Martinez, who is from Seine Bight in the Stann Creek District, placed second in the one hundred meters with […]
Over five thousand persons put on their walking shoes and trekked the nine-mile walk from Ladyville to Belize City in the annual Cancer Walk. Saturday’s walk saw families and friends of persons afflicted by cancer join in the efforts to build awareness about the disease. It is also the biggest event to raise funds for […]
A mishap on Friday evening led to the unfortunate death of twenty-two-year old Kenworth Castro, who had moved to Caye Caulker just two months ago. Castro, a diver, was last seen alive swinging under the palapa of a well-known establishment. Soon after, he was dead from a broken neck. Despite efforts to save him, he […]
Minister of Defense John Saldivar is embroiled in another scandal. This time he was caught using coast guard vessels donated by the U.S. government to shuttle his Belmopan Bandits, as well as family and fans, to and from San Pedro for various sporting activities. It’s a practice that is very much frowned upon because those […]
Two years ago, Guatemalan Armed Forces bullied their Belizean counterparts from the Coast Guard off Sarstoon Island, where the Coast Guard men had been seeking a platform on which to build a Joint Forward Operating Base with the Belize Defence Force. It was never confirmed who in Belize gave the order to back down, but […]
Does Belize really need a Sarstoon protocol? After all, Belize considers half the river and Sarstoon Island ours. That is, until Guatemala effectively took possession of the entire river over two years ago. Now, the protocol would give formal rules for the traversing of the southern boundary by Belizean and Guatemalan civilians. But Guatemala has […]
On Friday night, the Queen of the Jewel organization via its National Director Opal Enriquez issued a release cutting short the reign of Rebecca Rath as Miss Belize Universe 2016. Word of the premature end to her reign reached Rath via the news and social media. Effective immediately, the official title of Miss Belize 2017 […]
