The letter from the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry is crystal clear. On Thursday, as we reported, a decision was taken by its executive that the private sector would support a Senate Select investigation, in line with its vote on August thirty-first. Our report was fact-checked with various sources and confirmed but somehow, the […]
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption is yet to be endorsed by the Government of Belize. Despite the Barrow Administration not having signed on to the agreement, UNCAC, as it is otherwise known, remains a key feature in the Chamber’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign. ‘Break the Corruption Chain’ was officially launched on September third to coincide […]
The release of an O.A.S.-commissioned report, following a forensic investigation into the shooting death of fourteen-year-old Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano, has vindicated the Belize Defense Force and that has outraged the Guatemalans. The B.D.F. was prematurely accused of fatally wounding the Guatemalan minor in the Chiquibul Forest in April. While the report has since cleared […]
In his press conference on September first, PM Barrow also went on record to dismiss the notion of the business senator as the chair for an investigation into the immigration scandal during the period 2011 and 2013. While the Cabinet will revisit on Tuesday the issue and the P.M. has said he would now not […]
The Council of Management of the Belize National Teachers’ Union met this past Saturday to receive reports from the ten branches concerning the emergency membership meetings held on Thursday. The Union, along with the Association of Public Service Senior Managers and the Public Service Union, is considering a proposal from the Government to delay the […]
Maria Alamilla, a resident of Kelly Street in Belize City, came to our studios today. Her worry is that children, specifically those going to the nearby primary school at Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist, run the risk of getting electrocuted while walking through the alley adjacent to her house. According to Alamilla, the wind and rain […]
It was first actually celebrated only more than a century ago, but the Battle of St. George’s Caye has become one of the two pillars of the September Celebrations – the other being Independence Day. This past Saturday saw Belizeans converge at the Memorial Park for the official ceremony and other assorted bells and whistles. […]
Rebecca Rath was crowned the newest Miss Belize and, after ten years, will represent the country in the Miss Universe Pageant to be held on January thirtieth in Manilo, Philippines. Rath, a twenty-three year old of Dangriga, won a number of awards this past Saturday at the pageant including Top Model, Beach Body and People’s […]
Social media has been abuzz with numerous comments and shares over the past few days, following the posting of a video purportedly showing a security officer at the Corozal Free Zone snorting a suspected narcotic substance. The amateur video has since gone viral, prompting us to place a call to the management of the free […]
The Belize Territorial Volunteers have announced the first-ever Sarstoon Island Eco-Challenge event for Saturday, September seventeenth. The expedition leaves from Barranco village pier to race to Sarstoon Island and back. Participants can race in any of three categories – kayak, canoe and dory. First prize is one thousand dollars; second prize, five hundred dollars and […]
Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize, Benjamin Ho, on Saturday delivered a donation from his government to Belize’s Lawrence Sylvestre, Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Starret Dickson Greene, Representative of the Organization of American States. Credible sources tell us that the amount is two hundred thousand U.S. […]
The fate of Dorian Pakeman as Director of the Government Press Office was the subject of a discussion in Cabinet this morning. News Five understands that the issue of his employment was raised in today’s meeting, following the results of a toxicology test conducted on specimen he submitted. That sample was given after a fatal […]
At least thirteen U.D.P. ministers and former ministers are being named in the Special Immigration Audit for being involved in irregular practices as it relates to the issuance of passports, visas, and nationality certificates. The Auditor General points out that the law does not provide for ministers to intervene in the process. On both sides […]
News Five returns tonight to a review of the Office of the Auditor General’s Special Audit Reports on Visas, Nationality and Passports which are now before the House of Representatives and may soon be the subject of an investigation by the National Assembly. In the following story, correspondent Aaron Humes takes a look at tie-ins […]
Back in 2013, a Belizean from Camalote appeared to lose his passport and sought to get another one. A typical process – so why is his name in the Immigration Audit Report? Correspondent Aaron Humes traces the strange case of Floyd Emmanuel Neal. Aaron Humes, Reporting The Immigration Audit Report on Passports cites media […]
As we reported on Monday, the government of Guatemala has flatly rejected the report of two independent experts, commissioned by the O.A.S., on the shooting death of fourteen year old Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano. The minor was killed in the Chiquibul where a joint patrol found him with his father and brother hunting and gathering […]
Guatemala was the first to call for an O.A.S. led investigation and had agreed to the appointment of the experts. But now the tables have turned since the report exonerates the B.D.F. and in fact notes that there was interference with the evidence on the part of the Guatemalans. In the interview this morning, the […]
Five taxi associations in Benque Viejo Del Carmen are protesting a similar initiative by foreign, specifically Guatemalan nationals, to muscle in on their profits. The sixty drivers appeared in front of the Benque Town Council office this morning, asking the politicians to intervene in stopping Melchor vans and taxi drivers from making runs into Belize […]
The People’s United Party is hosting a national protest this Wednesday in the city. The party says enough is enough and that the government has been reeling from scandal to scandal on a number of national issues. The P.U.P. has not recently organized a mass protest, so the numbers and muscle will be interesting factors. […]
The P.U.P. has also organized a petition to have Belizeans sign on or to ask and encourage—either individually or organizations that they belong to—to write their area reps or directly to members of Government to have a senate select inquiry, which is the mechanism under the constitution to investigate the immigration scandal. Valerie Woods, […]
The Belize of Chamber of Commerce’s Expo was held over the weekend at the ITVET in Belize City. The private sector was out in full force offering deals upon deals on a wide range of products or services. The most popular item was really the deals on phones and there was an abundance of options. […]
The controversial ruling by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin on Section Fifty-three remains in the headlines tonight. And this morning, the Belize Council of Churches met in an extended session to discuss a collective position on the decision, among other national issues. The sit-down preceded a scheduled meeting this afternoon with Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who […]
According to the President of the Belize Council of Churches, the call for Senator Rocke’s resignation came from other areas of the religious community but was never sanctioned by the organization. While the Roman Catholic Church individually requested his removal, as a member of the council it stands in solidarity with the collective decision to […]
Pastor Rocke, who has kept a low profile in the wake of the controversial vote, was candid earlier today when he explained to News Five the rationale behind the vote not to support a Senate Select Committee. In breaking his silence, he says that while he did not object to an investigation, the counterproposal made […]
On Thursday, the president of the Belize Association of Evangelical Churches was castigated by Pastor Louis Wade who claims that Pastor Howell Longsworth is a functionary of the U.D.P. Wade alleges that Pastor Rocke’s vote may have been influenced. Today, we put that question to Pastor Longsworth who flatly rejected the allegation. Isani Cayetano […]
