It didn’t make it into Tuesday’s news, since the 2016/2017 Budget took center stage, but was a significant political change on the Opposition side of the gallery. The expected change was that newly sworn in Leader of the Opposition John Briceño would change position to reflect his leadership role. But what wasn’t expected is that […]
Against the backdrop of the Budget, bills were passed which may have flown below the radar of first scrutiny, but they are significant. For example, one piece of Immigration legislation pushed through the House will allow the Minister of State in the Ministry of Immigration to sign documents, like passports, when the Constitution specifically gives […]
And finally for political news tonight, we asked Prime Minister Dean Barrow about his new title of Right Honorable conferred on him recently. Generally it’s offered to government leaders in their second term of office, as it was to former Prime Ministers Said Musa and Manuel Esquivel, but Barrow now earns that distinction in his […]
About fifteen hundred residents of Maskall Village, located on the old Northern Highway, will within a year have access to reliable potable water. The million dollar project will be funded by the Caribbean Development Bank and managed by the Social Investment Fund. Today ground was broken on the first stage which includes the construction of […]
Latin America and the Caribbean is the second-most urbanized region in the world with eight out of ten people living in cities. During the last sixty-four years, the region has urbanized significantly to eighty percent since 1950. That being said, the Inter-American Development Bank, in partnership with the Belize City Council, is conducting a citywide […]
The House of Representatives met in session this morning, and in short order there was the much anticipated presentation of the budget for fiscal year 2016/2017. It’s Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s ninth budget over three terms of a United Democratic Party administration, and is being called Stability in a Time of Change. Barrow prefaced his […]
Petrocaribe money played a very significant role in the spending which characterized the 2015/2015 fiscal year. The Barrow administration has taken significant and continuous flak for its spending of the three hundred and twenty-five million it has accessed since 2012. As he always has, though, the PM defends the government’s use of the money, accusing […]
Speaking on the adjournment in response to a question raised, the PM also spoke at length about a current crisis facing the citrus industry. In a release issued late last week, the Citrus Growers Association informed growers that making payroll in the immediate future will be an iffy proposition. As explanation, the CGA claims that […]
P.U.P. leader John Briceño has been openly forecasting that the budget would be a dismal one based on a variety of factors, including industries which seem to be falling and failing for one reason or the other. Faced with the same realities and the same figures, PM Barrow says that public finances are sturdy and […]
Not surprisingly, PM Barrow wasn’t impressed by Briceño’s preliminary analysis of his Stability budget. He says that it wasn’t about overspending to buy the affections of the people, but rather investing in the people in a way which is now reaping full dividends. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I would think that the people of […]
Embattled F.F.B. President Ruperto Vicente’s ad hoc suspension has been ruled invalid. A legal team representing FIFA flew into the country over the weekend and met with three executives from the Football Federation of Belize to discuss a number of internal issues plaguing the organization. Those concerns included an attempt by First Vice President Sergio […]
Notwithstanding the disappointing outcome of Sunday’s meeting, Gamez told the media that they are all working in the best interest of football and will continue to serve under Vicente’s leadership. Chuc, on the other hand, says that F.F.B. is continuing with its current election cycle. Cruz Gamez, Executive, F.F.B. “We had a long discussion […]
Much cruise port speculation has been making the rounds after representatives of G.O.B. met with interested party Waterloo last week. Initial reports, unofficial, indicated that Ashcroft affiliated Waterloo was not interested in revisiting the construction of a cruise port at the site of the ill-fated and abandoned Carnival project. But today, the PM dispelled those […]
There was an altercation in the Chiquibul last Thursday which resulted in the B.D.F. shooting a Guatemalan in the leg. Belize Defense Force and Friends for Conservation and Development rangers were about six hundred meters from the Belize/Guatemalan border when they came upon a marijuana plantation, guarded by two men. One of those men, Francisco […]
Barrow’s administration has come under fire for recently increasing the import duties on fuel. That action in effect caused Regular and Diesel pump prices to go up, even as the acquisition costs went down. While it wasn’t a popular decision, PM Barrow maintains that it was better than any other taxation alternative. And it’s been […]
Outside the House this morning about seventy-five protesters from the Belize Territorial Volunteers, the Northern Territorial Volunteers and from Mayan villages down South protested what they say is failed leadership. There are different issues, but all surround what these Belizeans claim is government failing to assert sovereignty over Belizean territory and worse, ceding territory to […]
Barrow says any claim that his government has ceded any part of Belizean territory is nonsense. The PM says that if Belize’s military and government responds in the way in which they are being pushed, it will inevitably lead to bloodshed. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “We know these people have a claim; we know […]
On November seventh, 2015 a fire broke inside one of the buildings at the Princess Royal Youth Hostel at mile twenty-one and a half on the George Price Highway. Three female minors, who were locked away in one of the rooms, lost their lives in the inferno. There was public outcry that negligence on the […]
There are reports of new Guatemalan settlements popping up in areas of southern Belize. Those are in addition to others in the Chiquibul where xateros and gold-panners operate within the reserve. On Saturday, at the start of the BTV expedition, activist and B.P.P. Vice President, Wil Maheia pointed to some new settlements where Guatemalans were […]
The issue of illegal settlements was raised with the Foreign Minister. His response was that Belize is likely to continue to rely on the O.A.S. to assist in the removal of the settlements. Elrington says burning down their structures is not the answer. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “They’ve always been coming […]
Program Coordinator for the Maya Leaders Alliance, Pablo Mis, has also weighed in on the ongoing issue. Despite all efforts to notify relevant authorities of any incursions, it requires a collective endeavor to tackle the problem from within. On the Phone: Pablo Mis, Program Coordinator, MLA “We, for some time now have always reported […]
It’s been over a year since thirty-seven Belizeans on an expedition to the Sarstoon were escorted by Guatemalan military to Livingston, Guatemala. The first anniversary of that event was to be celebrated by another expedition to the Sarstoon by the Belize Territorial Volunteers. But on Saturday, armed Guatemalan military vessels illegally entered Belize and blocked […]
A team of law enforcement athletes from Belize will be making their first appearance at the Challenge Cup/Baker to Vegas Relay in the U.S. They will be competing among eight hundred teams from numerous countries in a foot race that will take them from Baker, California to Las Vegas, Nevada covering a hundred and twenty […]
A donation of data gathering equipment valued at roughly one hundred and eighty-four thousand dollars has been handed over to the ministries of health and national security, including the Belize Police Department. The reason for the generous contribution is to strengthen the capacity of those government agencies responsible for collecting and analyzing data on violence […]
And our question for tonight is: Do you think Belize has lost the Sarstoon to Guatemala? Yes or No? Send your comments and responses using your SMART phones to 8686 or post your vote on our e-poll at channel5belize.com. You can also send an email with your comments to questions@channel5belize.com
