The third area being funded is anything related to protected areas management, including assistance to co-managers to meet the requirements of their co-management agreement and protected areas management plan. So where will PACT get the money to feed its newly expanded role and more hands-on management approach? Young explained today that in a recent financial […]
Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, has weighed in on the latest development coming out of the O.A.S. General Assembly, as it relates to Belize and Guatemala. Earlier today, the organization issued a release calling on government to clarify specific aspects of the ICJ discussion. According to President Geovannie Brackett, government is trying to […]
Late this evening, the Government issued a release about this morning’s incident in the Sarstoon. It reads in part: “G.O.B. is investigating this incident in an effort to verify all its particulars including that the media vessel was in Belize’s waters. In the meantime, Guatemalan authorities have communicated that they attempted to stop the vessel […]
Last week Wednesday, News Five broke the story of the appointment of Audibaldo Monima Junior as Regional Health Manager for the north. The backlash over that appointment was fast and furious because it was patently clear that the former coast guard officer did not have the qualifications for the job. We confirmed that he possessed […]
Now back to the issue of the Guatemalan claim. Foreign Ministers Wilfred Elrington and Carlos Raul Morales are heading to Washington early next week where they hope to establish a bilateral cooperation mechanism for the Sarstoon. But prior to that meeting, there is an ongoing investigation by the Organization of American States into the shooting […]
With all the talk on either side about resolving the territorial dispute at the International Court of Justice, government intends to amend the existing Referendum Act to lower the threshold needed to prevail in the voting exercise. The revision, according to Elrington, has been carefully considered. While this is the first that we officially hear […]
It’s been one year since a Guatemalan gunboat ran aground in Belize’s littoral waters near Glovers Reef; it was reportedly navigating international waters en route to Mexico, when it drifted on to the reef on June eleventh, 2015. Two weeks later, on June twenty-sixth, 2015, a Mexican naval boat also ran aground on the reef […]
A team of urban designers, at the invitation of the Belize City Council, is back in the Old Capital where a project to rehabilitate the Yarborough community is set to begin. The initiative is the result of a collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank and the American Planning Association. The group initially arrived in country […]
Team leader Justin Moore is an urban designer with the American Planning Association and his engagement with residents in Yarborough has been on an individual level. Justin Moore, Urban Designer, American Planning Association “Our group, we came back in February and did an initial site visit with myself and APA staff and really working […]
In Belize City, police have been meeting and greeting with residents to establish better rapport as a way of curbing violence. While in San Pedro this morning, we found police undergoing training on how to best deal with the public. The police believe that by reaching out, residents will be more willing to cooperate with […]
Taking care of your skin, particularly in the summer months, is important. Exposure to the sun damages your skin extensively and you may not know that some routine practices are bad for you. But how do you contain or reverse the damage? One way is as easy as drinking water. With the summer months upon […]
The appointment of former coast guard officer Audibaldo Monima as Health Manager for the Northern Region has raised the ire of many within the public health sector, particularly because he is not qualified for the post. News Five broke that story last Wednesday and since then we have been following up what appears to be […]
Weeks ago the International Monetary Fund, IMF, issued its Article Four Consultation Report. The long and short is that the report speaks of a decelerating economy in Belize amid increasing external vulnerabilities which could result in more taxes and retrenchment. Those are words that would make anyone cringe and to top it off, there has been […]
The IMF Report also points to the increase in imports and a decline of exports from Belize. According to the report, “The current account deficit widened to nine point eight percent of GDP as exports fell by nine percent and imports continued to grow, partly due to investment projects.” The blows to the agriculture sector […]
The current economic climate does little to stimulate or support entrepreneurs and small business development. Several small businesses have had to close, and many more are struggling because of heavy tax burdens and the cost of doing business. News Five asked Minister Panton what is being done to assist companies to survive the economic crunch. […]
News Five also took the opportunity to ask the ministers about the extreme case of siltation in the Belize City Harbor, particularly in front of the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts. The buildup of the silt is well within the Albert constituency and an eyesore for residents in the area as well as cruise […]
While we were in San Pedro, News Five asked Minister of Tourism Manuel Heredia Junior about the much needed Belize City cruise port. For years, there has been a request from the various cruise lines for a docking facility for the larger oasis ships that will make its route to Belize and the Central American […]
The abuse of elderly persons in many forms is not rare; in fact it is common, but not often reported. On the occasion of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the message has been to place to the forefront the issues affecting the elderly population. HelpAge Belize also called on the community to double up on […]
And this last piece of news from San Pedro…there have been complaints of congestion, particularly with heavy vehicles and traffic on the island. It doesn’t quite fit with the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan 2020 that calls for pocket tourism for the destination. Minister Manuel Heredia says there are ongoing works to address the issue. […]
This morning, the K.H.M.H. proudly announced receipt of a much needed donation of medical equipment and supplies – so needed in fact that the items donated were not available for the announcement today but are already in use in the facility. The K.H.M.H. has benefitted significantly over the years through the largesse of charitable organizations […]
There was a sudden blackout on Monday night in Belize City, with power restored about fifteen minutes after. Any loss of power can range anywhere from a minor to a major inconvenience, but could it be much deadlier than that? A report reached our newsroom earlier today that during the blackout an elderly person who […]
Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams led a team of officers into the Saint Martin De Porres area this afternoon, not to conduct a sting operation, but to make acquaintance with residents of the neighborhood. While violent crimes have seen a significant decrease over the past few months, revisiting the community to note the concerns […]
Belizeans are free to access our portion of the Sarstoon – go forth and enjoy. That’s pretty much the last word, not in so many words, that we got from Prime Minister Dean Barrow on May twenty-fifth, following a now much scrutinized informal understanding in Istanbul. Two days after, Guatemalan military refused to allow our […]
Since its establishment in January, the local media has only met with the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission on two occasions, the second being this morning during a breakfast meeting at the Radisson. An informal gathering, including Chairperson Lisel Alamilla, Queen’s Counsel Anthony Ross and legal draftsman Randal Shepherd, provided an update on progress that […]
The consent order issued by the CCJ in April 2015, has seemingly different interpretations, despite its clarity. As a result, there are mixed messages being spread across the communities. The commission, as part of its public education campaign, has published the order in booklet form and is disseminating that leaflet at its consultations. The underlying […]
