There is good news tonight for drivers in Belize City. The famous traffic lights at the busy intersection of Douglas Jones Street and Freetown Road, near Cinderella Plaza, are back in operation after several months of being down due to issues with the lighting system. The Belize City Council obtained the necessary equipment earlier this […]
Belizeans across the country are gearing up for the annual Easter vacation and final preparations are being made for travel to various destinations on land and at sea. To ensure the greatest public safety, law enforcement agencies, including the Belize Police Department, the National Coast Guard and the Belize Ports Authority, are putting together a […]
Fire safety is of equal concern this holiday season. Fire Chief Ted Smith provides useful tips for home and property owners during the Easter break, as well as the dry season. Ted Smith, Fire Chief, National Fire Service “During the Easter holidays we are fully aware that the temperatures and the wind are extremely […]
The World Health Organization estimates that three hundred million people worldwide live with this disease. In Belize, there are an estimated fifteen thousand cases – that have been reported. Yet, we don’t talk about this disease very much and many are still unaware of the true causes of this sometimes debilitating illness. That’s why this […]
Former head of the Gang Suppression Unit, Senior Superintendent of Police Marco Vidal, who has been operating under the radar for some time, returns to Belize City on July first, as Commander of Eastern Division South. He will formally replace Assistant ComPol Chester Williams who is destined for the Professional Standards Branch in Belmopan. The […]
The announcement on Monday that those teachers who did not strike last year will be getting a hefty honorarium is not going down well. The Belize National Teachers Union is calling the move a case of union busting at a time when the treasury is broke. The C.W.U. today told News Five that it is […]
The last time stevedores at the Port of Belize Limited broke off from work was in December of 2015. They held the Port at their mercy for four days over negotiations on their pension plan, in which they asked for increases retroactive to 2004. The matter remains under negotiation, but a different group is bringing […]
This afternoon, the CWU made good on the threat by stevedores, firing off a letter to the Minister of Labor through the Labor Commissioner Ivan Williams and copied to the receivership of the Port of Belize. It’s a notice of pending strike action against the Port by the stevedores. According to CWU President Dale Trujeque, […]
The Christian Workers’ Union has gone through three presidents and multiple executive members in the span of five years, as the old regime of Antonio Gonzalez and James McFoy gave way to Audrey Matura, who was replaced this year by Dale Trujeque. And while other bargaining units of the C.W.U. have had their collective bargaining […]
The stevedores, however, believe that the Port is purposely delaying negotiations of the CBA; it’s been sixteen months since the last round of negotiations. CWU President Trujeque says that an agreement must be finalized and signed off sooner rather than later because in the absence of the CBA, issues of pension payouts, among other remunerations, […]
It’s hard to believe, but it has been five years since the Port of Belize Limited was put in receivership by Ports Investment Limited, seeking to recover loan indebtedness by former owner Luke Espat. The Port is up for sale and, according to receiver Arturo Vasquez, is attracting some interest. News Five is told that […]
News Five’s count of murders since the start of 2017 shows an increase over the same period last year. Thirty-nine murders have been reported up to today, compared to thirty-four at this time last year. January started with four murders in three days, but only nine incidents were reported compared to thirteen last year. In […]
The City Council announced today that it is rolling out some new initiatives. First, the Council signed a MOU between the Council and most taxi associations to improve the overall taxi services for residents and operators. Second, the Council is introducing new city license plates, which will now feature a customized option. These plates are […]
Police Constable Marvin Locke was stabbed and killed by a civilian assailant just a few short steps away from where Minister of Police Elodio Aragon addressed a gaggle of reporters this morning. The unfortunate incident took place at the Raccoon Street Police Station on March twenty-sixth, while PC Locke was preparing to sign off duty […]
The Gang Suppression Unit, the elite strike team within the department, feared for its unrestrained approach to policing, is downsizing. As we reported last week, there won’t be any recruits added to the ranks of the police force this year. Instead, the department will be drawing from existing officers to create another specialized group which […]
Every so often there are news reports about manatees getting caught up in boat propellers, or swallowing garbage that chokes them, or having other kinds of distress that causes them to become stranded on land. What you may not know is that it happens more often than we think and there are hazards associated with […]
He wanted to be a real police officer – he even sat the examination. But in 2010, special constable Aaron Wilson found himself on the wrong side of the law, accused of impersonating a police officer. He was found with various items made up from the Police Department and stories flowed thereafter about his various […]
At trial, Henderson effectively denied knowing or assisting Wilson in any way, but Wilson says he worked exclusively under Henderson’s command and was allowed to wear the brown Police Number One uniform, which was switched out after his case exploded into the public eye. Wilson also charges that he was paid ‘under the table’ to […]
It all came crashing down in July of 2010, when Wilson, who had been working at a night club in Belize City as security, was accused of molesting a woman and stealing her cell phone – charges for which he was found guilty in Magistrate’s Court. But he says the woman in question, while he […]
Attorney General Senator Michael Peyrefitte confirmed to News Five that as of Friday, March thirty-first, the Protected Areas Conservation Trust (Amendment) Act is now law, having been assented to by Governor General Sir Colville Young. This is despite the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Senate, voting seven to six against passage of the […]
Earlier in the newscast you heard about the cold killing of a well-known and respected Pastor of San Ignacio. The news has shocked the San Ignacio and Santa Elena communities. When we spoke with Mayor Earl Trapp earlier today he said that the level of crime is a concern for his residents, and it will […]
For the past year, the Inter-American Development Bank has funded efforts to streamline Belize’s National Statistical System, which is nominally managed by the Statistical Institute of Belize. With so many organizations collecting and distributing data on a variety of subjects, it is the S.I.B.’s job in Belize’s law to make sure that that data is […]
Almost three hundred athletes across the country participate in the various sporting programs of the Special Olympics, Belize Chapter. Disability or not, every athlete is skilled in a particular discipline and are given an opportunity to represent the country internationally. Over the weekend, Special Olympics Belize put off its annual fun run, which is a […]
A new Chief Executive Officer will take up the reins at Belize Telemedia Limited on Wednesday, succeeding former C.E.O. Anwar Barrow who demitted office in February. Rochus Schreiber will assume oversight of the day-to-day executive management of B.T.L. on April fifth, taking over from Chief Financial Officer Ivan Tesucum who held over since Barrow’s departure. […]
Nearly two years ago there was a massive shake-up in the Eastern Division of the Belize Police Department, with three senior officers – Assistant Commissioners of Police Chester Williams, Dezerie Philips and Edward Broaster assigned to manage crime in the most violent section of the country. With that anniversary coming up, and Williams in particular […]
