It has been a little over a week since a devastating fire in San Pedro virtually leveled an entire block near the heart of the downtown area. The inferno gutted several buildings leaving as many as eighty-eight persons displaced. Since then there has been a concerted effort by various government and non-governmental organizations to assist […]
Tonight, Roaring Creek resident and teacher, twenty-eight-year-old Jodine Gill and her thirty-year-old colleague Dania Portillo remain hospitalized at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, recovering from varying degrees of injuries sustained during a traffic accident last Friday at mile thirty-five on the Hummingbird Highway. Just after four o’clock, Gill lost control of her 2004 Nissan X-Terra […]
At five-thirty this evening, the administration of the Belmopan Comprehensive High organized a vigil at the school compound as a remembrance for Escoto. Residents, as well as former students, are asked to wear white and bring candles to share in the memories of the Spanish teacher. Vice Principal Guzman and English Lit Teacher Ysela Logan […]
School is out and summer camps are in. Across the country, various organizations are hosting recreational events for children who are presently on vacation. Over the next few weeks we will be covering a myriad of summer camps in everything from swimming to basketball and everything in between. Tonight however, we’ll look at an annual […]
Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Barrow held a press conference to explain the Belize Telemedia Limited arbitration award, as well as government’s interest in selling its shares of B.T.L. and Belize Electricity Limited to the Social Security Board. Since then, the grassroots organization, COLA, has been vocal in its objection to the proposed sale. It is […]
According to Rogers, the final cost of acquiring B.T.L. is considerably more than what the previous government had agreed to when it signed on to an accommodation agreement with the company’s previous owners. He says that the Barrow Administration blundered in its approach to dealing with the nationalization of B.T.L., particularly in delaying compensation for […]
The unremitting spate of crime and violence among rival groups is a social phenomenon which continues to grip Belize City. The problem has been observed keenly from the perspective of experts who study the Belizean society and the individual social institutions therein. It has also been scrutinized from the point of view of local law […]
According to ACP Williams, despite a fundamental difference in philosophy, he is still open to working with the team of social scientists. ACP Chester Williams, O.C., Eastern Division South “We must be real. Do not say things out there just because you want to sell a book.” Isani Cayetano “I think it was […]
On Friday night, exactly two months after the murder of Camalote youths, Akeem Thimbriel and Shawn Lopez, residents organized a vigil near the Westar Gas Station in the village. The message was two-fold—they want justice for the killing of their loved ones; that someone be brought in to investigate the double murder, and as an […]
After a hiatus, this Saturday, Muffles College Auditorium in Orange Walk will come alive for the Taste of Belize event and its signature competitive culinary show. Chefs, bakers and bartenders from across the country will face off in a one-day competition to determine the best in their trade. Puga also took the opportunity to invite […]
Triple ‘A’ Security employee Delsie Smith is the lucky winner of the G.S.T. Grand Raffle. At two o’clock this afternoon, her name was successfully chosen from thousands of tickets and won the grand prize – a 2016 Toyota Rav Four. The single mother rushed over to the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building on Mahogany Street where […]
The raffle was done to give back to the community as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the General Sales Tax Department. Commissioner Betty-Ann Jones told News Five that the goals set by the department have been accomplished. The raffle incentivized the public into getting businesses to comply with tax regulations. Betty-Ann Jones, […]
Back to the issue of the arbitration award for the nationalization of B.T.L….During his presentation on Wednesday, the P.M. claimed victory, particularly because of his own remixed accommodation agreement with Lord Michael Ashcroft last August in Miami in which he was able to come to agreeable terms on the original Accommodation Agreement of the past […]
But is it a cross between an outright lie and a crude attempt to put lipstick on the proverbial muddy pig? P.U.P. Leader John Briceño says the PM is speaking nonsense and misleading Belizeans. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “What the Prime Minister is saying is once again completely misleading and untrue. Sixty percent of […]
The Annual S.S.B. Ride Across Belize got underway on Wednesday as cyclists made their way from Corozal to Belize City to complete the first leg. It’s not just a race – it’s an initiative which raises funds for needy causes across the country – the brainchild and work of the staff at the Social Security […]
Thirty-four year old stevedore Tylon Gladden has been missing for almost a week. His mother Geraldine Brown came to News Five’s Studios on Coney Drive making a public plea for information on the whereabouts of her son who was last seen on Friday morning as he left his home on Cemetery Road to a nearby […]
Last Wednesday evening, nineteen proud students donned their gold caps and gowns; they eagerly strut across the stage to collect their hard earned diplomas. Their excitement and that of their parents was palpable. They were the most recent graduates of Stella Maris School in Belize City. It was a momentous occasion for the school since […]
As we told you Tuesday night, after years of legal battles, the long anticipated figures for the 2009 nationalization of Belize Telemedia Limited are in and they are staggering. According to our quick tally when we looked at the hundred and thirty-nine page judgment from the Permanent Court of Arbitration, we’d thrown out an estimate […]
In case you missed it, Government, for the acquisition of B.T.L., must pay approximately four hundred million to the previous owners of B.T.L., give or take a million or two. That means that by the eighth of July, a two hundred million payment will be due. Within a year, another payment of two hundred million […]
It’s not quite as simple as that. The settlement agreement, agreed to in 2015 between Prime Minister Barrow and Lord Michael Ashcroft, does indeed stipulate that the Accommodation Agreement portion of the award, sixty percent, is to be paid in Belize dollars. But our understanding is that the money will still be under the control […]
To round off his sales pitch, the P.M. then launched into a costs-benefits analysis which he maintains is complete vindication of G.O.B.’s seven years of effort and fighting the good fight. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “Under Costs to G.O.B.: shares, one hundred and twenty-eight million U.S. dollars; interest, U.S. ninety-nine million dollars; arbitration costs […]
Two hundred million in ten days, now actually nine, sounds like a big deal. But it’s not, apparently. In fact, Government says they will have absolutely no difficulty raising the money in the time given. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “Under the arrangement we made, half of the totality of the Award is payable within […]
Today was report card day from the Statistical Institute of Belize. S.I.B. held its quarterly press conference this morning to present the most recent figures pertaining to Belize’s economic performance. Arguably the most important piece of information, as it relates to the average Belizean, is the cost of the food basket. Is it higher this […]
Ahead of the prime minister’s press conference this afternoon, Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, held its own media brief to discuss the impact of the B.T.L. arbitration award. The question and answer session came on the heels of a release issued by the grassroots organization on Tuesday, in which COLA castigated government for […]
Attorney Kareem Musa, who describes the entire nationalization as a political blunder, maintains that the former owners of B.T.L. should have been compensated at the time the utility company was appropriated in 2009. Prompt compensation, according to Musa, would have avoided the hefty sum prescribed by the arbitration tribunal. Kareem Musa, Attorney for COLA […]
