While a consignment of imported rice from Guyana languishes at the port in Big Creek, the back and forth between businessman Jack Charles and the Government of Belize continues. On Monday, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture Jose Alpuche, accompanied by Foreign Trade Directorate, Doctor Leroy Almendarez, appeared on Open Your Eyes to discuss the […]
The last we heard about the Norwegian Cruise Line’s cruise ship port at Harvest Caye in southern Belize was earlier this year when environmentalists expressed concerns that boulders were being dumped on coral beds just off the caye. This was one of the many instances over which the multimillion dollar project came under fire by […]
Supporters of the project cited job opportunities and economic benefits to residents and villages in the immediate area as sound reasons to support the mega tourism project. Director Andrade says that systems are being put in place and that tour guides and operators are being prepared to deal with the expected increase in the traffic […]
There is another proposed docking facility which has gone under the radar. It is at Stake Bank located just seven miles off the coast of Belize City. For over a decade, the Fort Street Tourism Village has been the sole port of entry for cruise tourists entering into the country. The Feinstein Group, which is […]
Call it Community Policing, Christmas spirit or a combination of both – but whatever it is, it brought smiles to the faces of commuters pulled at random off rural buses today. That’s because the officers of the Rural Eastern Division decided to hand out some Christmas cheer of their own – the kind that folds. […]
If you thought that after Sunday’s blunder at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Steve Harvey won’t get to emcee another beauty pageant, well think again. Millions watched as Harvey crowed Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as Miss Universe only to hand over the crown to Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach moments later. Well, as it […]
For the first time, the children in the peninsula have been hosted to a grand Christmas party. As you know, Norwegian Cruise Lines is investing heavily in a tourism port at Harvest Caye so it has partnered with local agencies to give a special treat to the children. Today, they came out in numbers to […]
The home invasion at the house of Lebanese Honorary Consul in Burrel Boom is back in the news tonight. A total of eighteen persons have been charged but the last of eight suspects believed to have invaded the home of Sarkis Abou-Nehra reportedly tried to commit suicide while locked down at the Ladyville Police Station […]
Fourteen months ago construction of a Coast Guard Forward Operating Base was abruptly halted after public outcry. The base, funded by the US, was contracted out to a Guatemalan firm which Guatemalan workers. Belizeans claimed that fact compromised the security of the military base. Since October 2014, the almost completed base has been neglected, and […]
On Friday, in the wake of a four-day strike by stevedores at the Port of Belize in the Old Capital which brought operations at a standstill, the Ministry of Labor signed a statutory instrument making stevedoring an essential service. It means that stevedores can no longer strike without giving a twenty-one day notice. The move […]
Matura-Shepherd says that the government’s action is on the side of big people and against working Belizeans. Furthermore, it strips stevedores from a fundamental pool to bargain for better terms and conditions of employment. Matura-Shepherd lists three options the government could take. Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, CWU “One, they have learn and understand why since […]
With the signing of the SI, stevedores will only be able to strike after a twenty-one day notice to the government. So what is the next step for the CBA? Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, CWU “It’s so ironic what could possible happen because the only bargaining unit for the stevedores is the CWU and the […]
In recent years the Government’s Christmas Cheer program has become a staple of the season – as welcome in some political quarters as ham and turkey. How it’s worked in the past is that U.D.P. area representatives receive double what their counterparts from the Opposition receive. U.D.P. caretakers receive the same amount as P.U.P. Area […]
Group Hug – it’s a newly established organization dedicated to assisting disenfranchised youths and families. Today, they hosted one hundred and fifty primary school children from the city and Hattieville to a Christmas party at the B.T.L. Park. President Andre Pitts told News Five about the success of the initiative. Andre Pitts, President//Founder, Group […]
A new piece of legislation is coming into force prohibiting stevedores and other dockhands at the Port of Belize from effecting industrial action on a whim. Earlier today, the Ministry of Labor issued a release stating that a statutory instrument has been signed to amend the section of the Laws of Belize which deals with […]
According to Vasquez, the effect of the amended law is reciprocal. While stevedores cannot just up and strike without due notice, port management can’t simply lock them out from work either. Arturo ‘Tux’ Vasquez, Receiver/C.E.O., Port of Belize “It doesn’t take away their right to strike. It does not at all but what it […]
A Belize City resident and his girlfriend are in dire straits tonight after their home on Neal’s Pen Road collapsed on Thursday morning. Travis Myvette was at work when he received a phone call that the elevated wooden structure had crumpled into the swamp water below. When he arrived on the scene he observed that […]
A single mother and her three children will spend the Christmas in a more comfortable fashion. Earlier today the folks at Belize Bank along with Hand in Hand Ministries handed over keys to a new home to the Martinez family on Jane Usher Boulevard. The wooden two-bedroom structure was granted to the family based on […]
Bel Caribe Communications Services stepped up the plate this year again to make the Christmas far more enjoyable to a hundred families. With the support of a number of corporate partners, they are providing the meal for Christmas to families who have members afflicted by cancer. But that’s not all because the chosen recipients will […]
Another donation by the U.S. Embassy was granted to the National Forensic Science Service in Ladyville in the form of cutting edge equipment. A gas chromatograph mass spectrometer machine, also referred to as the Ghost, was received by the department this afternoon at a brief handing over ceremony. Valued at approximately three hundred and fifty […]
Training for use of the equipment will be provided by the US Embassy, and Director Henderson says that in January, a staff member returns with a master’s degree in forensic science. According to Ambassador Moreno, police officers, prosecutors as well as judges will be brought on board to maximize use of the equipment by the […]
Eight hundred needy families will be celebrating Christmas with goodies courtesy of the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas hamper drive. The first group of families received their grocery packages at three different locations in the city, while the remaining families in the district will get their Christmas treats on Friday. The number of recipients grew this […]
If you were thinking of getting a small turkey this Christmas, you may want to try a chicken instead. That’s because currently there are none to be had in the country from major distributors Quality Poultry Products and Caribbean Chicken. The status right now is that because the Avian flu severely limited the production of […]
This afternoon, ninety-three year old Wilmenia Santos, a resident of number thirty Caesar Ridge Road since Independence, was given an early and very meaningful Christmas gift from the Community Policing Unit. Her home was given a facelift by officers and interns, including a fresh coat of paint inside, repairs, a new mattress and bedding and […]
Belizeans in the thousands flock across the northern border to shop, but trade is about to go up even higher. On Tuesday, the mayors from Belize City and the City of Chetumal, Quintana Roo ratified a sister city agreement between both municipalities. The agreement is expected to bolster areas of trade and commerce, as well […]
