For one week, sixty employees of the First Caribbean International Bank from five branches countrywide were out sick. Those terribly ill employees are those who will be left without jobs when FCIB locks up shop, allegedly at the end of this month. They want FCIB to negotiate proper exit packages for them, considering their long […]
The government has passed a Vesting Act which facilitates the transfer of shares from FCIB to the Heritage Bank. There was some opposition to the passage because it was felt it removed any employee leverage in terms of negotiations. The Prime Minister allayed those fears by stating that the act would not come into law […]
As we told you on Wednesday, S.S.B. employees are also signalling their frustration with the Board. We are told unofficially that that frustration may lead to industrial action sooner rather than later. There’s quite a lot of that going around right now which certainly has a lot to do with general elections in a month. […]
In this side of the world, the population is ageing rapidly and living longer and countries are signing on to the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. The National Council of Ageing, for its part, released a five-year plan which sets out strategies to address the many challenges facing the older […]
October first is celebrated as International Day of Older Persons. The Global 2015 theme is “Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment.” One local organization that works daily to keep older persons included and engaged is Help Age Belize. There are Help Age Branches countrywide and tonight on Healthy Living, we stop in to […]
There were no blackouts today and B.E.L. employees were on the job, despite threats of a nationwide strike. Disaster was averted because of a last minute intervention by Prime Minister Dean Barrow Tuesday evening. That led to a capitulation by B.E.L. management and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding late today which effectively signals […]
The MOU was signed at around five this evening, but that doesn’t mean that the management of B.E.L. is happy about it even though the union got less than they were bargaining for. Still yet, the situation would have been handled much differently if not for one thing – general elections in a month. Government […]
Marvin Mora is the spokesperson of the BEWU, but he is also the President of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. That umbrella organization was increasingly vocal on a number of hot-button topics of late, but the dynamic certainly changes with the announcement of elections. We asked Mora for his input on the issues […]
Mora also, interestingly, condemned the inability of trade unions to stand up for the people of Belize. It’s a criticism that’s certainly been expressed in different sectors, but coming from the President of the N.T.U.C.B., that’s pretty big news. Mora went so far as to say that for one reason or the other, the trade […]
Even as the Prime Minister has stepped in to pour water on the sizzling coals at B.E.L., he may have to think about doing the same at the Social Security Board. News Five has confirmed that employees of that statutory body are contemplating very immediate industrial action if their demands are not met. Those employees, […]
From the B.E.W.U. to the S.S.B. to U.B. …where we are told faculty and staff have given President of the institution Alan Slusher one week to respond to their demands for a fourteen percent salary adjustment. Those employees point out that just like public officers, in 2003 they received a raise and again, just like […]
Steadily declining profits, stagnant revenues, declining dividends….That’s what shareholders and senior management at Belize Telemedia Limited are facing six years after the utility company was nationalized. On Tuesday night, at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel, the company convened its Ninth Annual General Meeting. The financial reports were about a two-million-dollar drop in profits […]
Shareholders received twenty-three cents per share in dividends, down one cent from last year. Chairman of the B.T.L. Executive Committee, Anwar Barrow, has completed one year as the company’s effective Chief Executive Officer. Despite the two-million dollar drop in profits, the Prime Minister’s son says he is not overly concerned and that the company is […]
Also hanging over B.T.L.’s head is the twenty-two point five million-US-dollar loan facility acquired from the British Caribbean Bank during the first acquisition in 2009. B.T.L.’s board had refused to pay the loan despite decisions by the arbitration courts that the loan had to be settled. As part of the settlement with the previous owners, […]
The Equator Prize 2015, a prestigious international award acknowledging exceptional local achievement in improving sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities, has been won by the Maya Leaders Alliance. The announcement came recently from the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where UNDP Administrator Helen Clark emphasized the importance of local climate and […]
The Belize National Library Service and Information System today held the fourteenth annual book fair at the Leo Bradley Library on Princess Margaret Drive in Belize City. It encourages youths to read and today, Duane Moody stopped by and has this report. Duane Moody, Reporting Throughout the year, the Belize National Library Service and […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced on Monday that general elections will be held on November fourth, 2015, that is only three years and eight months into his second five year term in office. The Opposition feels that the Barrow administration will be rocked by various burning issues, including very recent settlements for the arbitrary nationalizations […]
With general elections thirty-six days away, both parties will be scrambling for money, and both have taken money from the only man with the ready cash to be a game-changer – Lord Michael Ashcroft. The P.U.P. has denied getting any money from Ashcroft, and now the U.D.P. is doing the same. While he didn’t go […]
C omedian turned Guatemalan politician Jimmy Morales shocked that nation by winning the first round of elections in early September. He will be facing Sandra Torres in a second round on October twenty-fifth which will determine who will be the next President in Guatemala. Morales’ victory in the first round would be just a point […]
Coming on the heels of the announcement for early elections on November fourth, the Election and Boundaries Commission has confirmed October sixteen as Nomination Day for candidates of all political parties. In a release today the Commission also states that only persons who registered on or prior to tenth September 2015 and whose names appear […]
The US Embassy today awarded grants to seven organizations from around the country under the Central American Regional Security Initiative. The US Ambassador, Carlos Moreno says that the awards were given to the organizations based on their work with at risk youths and persons affected with HIV/AIDS. News Five’s Isani Cayetano was on hand for […]
Another Belize City family residing in Lake Independence is tonight homeless after their home collapsed over the weekend. Lichelle Dixon, her mother and grandmother were living in a dilapidated wooden structure on Pointsetta Street and on previous occasions had reportedly sought help from Area Representative Mark King. That help did not arrive early enough and […]
According to the P.M., while he doesn’t want to sound too confident or cocky, anything other than a victory at the polls would come as quite a surprise. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister “I don’t want to sound at all dismissive of the opposition, I don’t want to sound cocky, I don’t want to sound […]
The Opposition has lashed out at one particular aspect of G.O.B.’s settlement with the Ashcroft Group – what they call a blank check issued by government. The reference is to the uncertainty over the final figure which will be paid as compensation for B.T.L. That final price is to be determined by an international tribunal […]
Party Leader Francis Fonseca has not lost an election in the Freetown constituency where he will be facing political opponent Doctor Carla Barnett on November fourth. Since offering herself as a U.D.P. candidate, Doctor Barnett has been busy canvassing the area through door to door visits. But, that doesn’t faze Fonseca who remains confident that […]
