The Immigration Department has an entrenched culture of corruption and hustling, from the top of the ladder to the bottom. That is what former administrative officer in the Department Teresita Castellanos bravely said at Wednesday’s public hearings of the Senate Special Select Committee. The issue of this culture has been brought up to multiple visitors […]
Teresita Castellanos is a seasoned public officer. She provided scandalous details on Wednesday at the Senate hearings about the rot at the Immigration Department. She says she has been a public officer for thirty years and until she went to the Department of Immigration in 2011, she had said she only heard about the goings-on […]
On Wednesday we told you of the run-in between then-port commander in charge of Immigration Services in Belmopan, George Reynolds, and Patrick Tillett, financial controller of the Belize City Council, at Reynolds’ Belmopan office. Tillett and former deputy Mayor Eric Chang had come into possession of eight missing visa foils, which were later learned to […]
George Reynolds was less circumspect than his former colleague Teresita Castellanos on the issue of a culture of corruption in the Department. He said that as far as his work was concerned he did it and there were no issues. But he does agree that the Department needs specific guidelines and that the higher-ups cannot […]
Belize Emergency Response Team (BERT) is as close to an official ambulance service as Belize has, boasting more than a decade of operation despite recent financial issues. So it came as a surprise to some that a Mexican ambulance from Cancun was seen near the Ramada Princess Hotel, apparently on standby for Mexicans attending an […]
At this station, we want to wish the Queen of Brukdown, Leela Vernon, a speedy recovery. Leela has been hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the K.H.M.H. since last Friday ailing with kidney complications. The Punta Gorda born singer is known for a wide repertoire of Kriol songs, including one widely celebrated for its […]
The Ministry of Agriculture has yet to publicly comment on the issue of rotting potatoes that farmers across the country have been unable to get sold due to competition from Mexican potatoes imported by Belizeans on a weekly basis. But there is an agricultural and diplomatic triumph to report tonight in agriculture: the first shipment […]
Over a week ago, we told you about the discovery of what is believed to be a new species of sharks in Belize. Since 2000, a researcher from the Florida International University has been working in Belize on a number of fisheries projects including the biology of sharks. So, about seventeen years ago the researcher […]
Police Officers, Civilian Staff of the Department and community members were recognized today by the Belize Police Department. Over one hundred officers received awards in different categories as a part of the work they did in 2016. News Five spoke with Compol Allen Whylie who told us why these awards matter to the Police Department: […]
High schools from across Belize District converged at the Gateway Youth facility near the Gwen Lizarraga High School in Belize City for the launch of an innovation challenge by the Ministry of Education. The ministry in collaboration with Price WaterhouseCoopers and Peace Work International are inviting the schools to come up with a creative project […]
The public hearings of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration have moved into high gear and today under oath, a bombshell was dropped from an unexpected corner. In the first six sessions of the Committee, from the end of November to the end of January, not counting holidays and other breaks, just three witnesses […]
Castellanos went on to accuse immigration officers of treating ‘civilian’ officers like herself as ‘intruders’ at the Department and even cannibalizing their own who were doing the right thing. She added that efforts by Maria Marin as Acting Director, among others, to clean up the Department were undercut by the lack of support from the […]
While the cases of Won Hong Kim and the eight visa foils are dominating recent headlines, there was no shortage of scandal at the Immigration Department that necessitated immigration officers being taken before the Public Service Commission for various offenses. At today’s hearing, Teresita Castellanos charged that the Department made recommendations for pursuing such matters […]
The second witness to appear at the Senate Special Select Committee this afternoon was George Reynolds. He is entering his twenty-seventh year with the Immigration Department and in 2013 was the Port Commander in charge of Immigration Services at the Department’s Belmopan headquarters, in charge of visas and other temporary permits such as for students […]
As a senior man in the Immigration Department, George Reynolds saw his share of important people coming in and out – even a Minister or two. But he told the Senate Special Select Committee that he personally saw little of them in his area and their interventions played a role. He also commented on the […]
As we reported earlier, the Senate Special Select Committee has called multiple witnesses on several occasions for public hearings in the past few weeks. While there have been rescheduling of witnesses due to various circumstances, only one invited witness, Immigration Clerk Ady Pacheco, has been unable to attend due to complications of pregnancy, and no […]
Is this the end of the line as far as the matter is concerned? Chairman Salazar said the Committee is considering its options and has not ruled out litigation, although the details are to be worked out privately. But how will this impact any findings of the Committee in relation to the pair and can […]
If you are a driver who uses the Cinderella Plaza area, you may just want to pay attention to avoid an accident waiting to happen. Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley was taken to task today about those traffic lights that are not functioning, specifically at the heavily trafficked intersection. The Mayor wasn’t too pleased with […]
But the mayor had positive news about the streets…If you are living in the south side divisions of Port Loyola, Lake I and Collet; you can expect to see some street works happening in your area. Mayor Bradley told us that cementing of streets will continue but these will be reinforced with some tar work. […]
For about eighteen months the Belize City Council and its partners have been working on a gateway monument on North Front Street just below the Swing Bridge. Well, that project was officially opened today with a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of two plaques. This project segues into a bigger plan that the City announced […]
It has been more than a month since PASA informed the Solid Waste Management Authority that they would not be carrying out anymore works at the transfer stations and the regional sanitary land fill at mile twenty-four. While this is a matter between Central Government through the Solid Waste Management Authority and PASA, the Belize […]
The Youth Apprenticeship Program got a boost today with a donation that will go a long way in providing jobs for at-risk youths in the city. At the program headquarters on Youth for the Future Drive, a number of apprentices happily received the donation made possible through the CAPS project, between the Government of Belize […]
Healthcare is everybody’s business. The national referral hospital has been encouraging the private sector to invest in the K.H.M.H. Well, Atlantic Insurance has stepped up and retrofitted a room within the medical ward. The private room has been transformed into a recovery room and will hopefully bring in revenue for the hospital. News Five’s Duane […]
Today, the Ministry of Labour held an inauguration ceremony to reactivate the labour advisory board, tri-partite body and the national child labour committee – made up of members from government agencies, the Belize chamber of commerce and the unions. These committees were formed a couple years back but they never quite functioned as they were […]
A handful of protesters headed to the steps of the law firm, Courtenay Coye LLP, on A Street this morning as the United Democratic Party heats up its campaign against Senator Eamon Courtenay. Under the banner of an ad hoc, C.O.L.A.-styled group known as Belizeans Against Lord Ashcroft and Courtenay (BALAC), they were there to […]
