Another round of protests was held this morning at Faith Nazarene in San Ignacio where classrooms have been emptier than usual since the beginning of the school year. Parents are not backing off on their demand for the removal of the principal, Policarpia Pech. This Friday, it will be three weeks since the dispute erupted. […]
While all the fireworks revolved around the B.T.L. settlement, the Senate also passed a vesting act which will facilitate the transfer of FCIB assets to the Heritage Bank. Members on the Opposition side did not receive their documents outlining the proposed Act until Monday, and Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman took issue with the late notice. […]
Seasoned parliamentarian Michael Finnegan, area representative for Mesopotamia, is once again making headlines for unsavory remarks made against CWU President, attorney Audrey Matura-Shepherd, in the House of Representatives. On Tuesday, Finnegan went on record during the debate to excoriate Matura-Shepherd, describing her, among other things, as a second rate legal professional. If that wasn’t bad […]
While Finnegan’s comments seemingly express disrespect towards women, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, who has been on the receiving end of that vitriol in the past, maintains that he is not fit to remain in the House of Representatives. Isani Cayetano “Aren’t these remarks in some way misogynistic seeing as though it is the second such verbal…” […]
Member for Mesopotamia Michael Finnegan took his licks from the UWG, but he was also a topic of interest in the Senate today. Before the debate on the vesting act, and even before the hotly contested B.T.L. settlement, Finnegan was named in the Senate for his unfortunate comments about CWU President, Audrey Matura-Shepherd. Lisa […]
Today at the ITVET in Belize City, the data of the 2014 survey on Knowledge, Attitudes and Sexual Behavior and HIV in Belize was officially released. The survey was sanctioned by the National Aids Commission in anticipation of the 2014 HIV/AIDS Report. A total of two thousand eight hundred households were selected across the country […]
The eastern division of the police department has been on a community policing campaign for some time now. Officers from precincts around the city and in rural Belize have been going into neighborhoods to meet with residents to better police their areas. This afternoon, the eastern division north and south officers took to the streets […]
The House of Representatives met in special sitting today. There were two main issues on the agenda—the passing of the Vesting Act relating to the sale of FCIB to Heritage Bank and the compensation for Belize Telemedia Limited. Coming on the heels of the announcement on Monday of a settlement with the Ashcroft Group on […]
Against that backdrop, the PM also got into more detail on the financial aspect of the settlement package between G.O.B. and the Ashcroft Group. As a first payment, the agreement involves more than sixty million dollars based on the NERA valuation of one dollar and forty-four cents per share. That package received House approval through […]
Those figures aren’t sitting well with the Opposition People’s United Party, which doesn’t share G.O.B.’s triumphal touting of the settlement with the Ashcroft Group. Fonseca says that the only reason taxpayers will have to bear this multi-million dollar load is because of the PM’s pettiness and arrogance. Francis Fonseca, Opposition Leader “One is, as […]
Also on the agenda today was the vesting bill, which will facilitate the sale of First Caribbean International Bank assets to Heritage Bank. While the transaction is a private one between two sizable players in the industry, it’s gotten some bad press because at least sixty employees of FCIB will get the axe when that […]
Since Fonseca was demanding answers, the Mesopotamia Area Representative decided to give him some, in his own ‘special’ style. According to Michael Finnegan, G.O.B. has absolutely nothing to do with workers losing their jobs, so can’t be expected to step in. Michael Finnegan, Area Rep., Mesopotamia “Mr. First Caribbean Bank…guess ih want get out […]
Not surprisingly, former Prime Minister and Fort George Area Rep., Said Musa, disagreed with that position by G.O.B. He claims that the entire situation has been mishandled because of government’s refusal to get involved, and that’s why it’s gotten to this point where so many workers will soon be out of doors. Said Musa, […]
The Prime Minister has come under fire for proceeding with the vesting act while the employees at the FCIB are still trying to negotiate an exit package. But he says that the vesting act has absolutely nothing to do with the future of the employees. And to buy more time for the employees, Barrow says […]
While parliamentarians were winding up the first of two consecutive house meetings to formalize the sale of FCIB’s assets to Heritage Bank Limited, CWU President Audrey Matura-Shepherd was appearing before the media. A press conference was held this afternoon during which she responded to recent comments made by Prime Minister Barrow regarding the union’s role […]
Matura-Shepherd says that all the fuss about a collective bargaining agreement is merely a diversion from the real issue at hand, a severance package that should be given to all employees who will be terminated from FCIB as a result of the buyout. Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, Christian Workers Union “Has the prime minister addressed […]
Is there anything that can be done under the law that can provide an alternative to the peremptory measures being taken by government in ratifying the sale of FCIB’s assets? That’s what we asked Matura-Shepherd, in her capacity as an attorney, bearing in mind the uncertainty surrounding the exit package. Isani Cayetano “As an […]
No House sitting in recent memory has lacked the requisite name-calling ad tawdry insults, and today there was more of that, aimed at Christian Workers Union president Audrey Matura-Shepherd. Member for Mesopotamia and U.D.P. Party whip, Michael Finnegan, did the honours, blaming Matura-Shepherd for the employee situation at FCIB while getting in a thinly veiled […]
One more thing on the settlement of B.T.L. At today’s sitting, firebrand area representative for Toledo West, Oscar Requeña also got in some shots at Prime Minister Dean Barrow for the settlement – money which he says could be used in more critical areas, like in the health system, for instance. Oscar Requeña, Area […]
A wide range of issues came up during Monday’s press conference when Prime Minister made the announcement that he had reached settlement with the previous owners of Belize Telemedia six years after he nationalized the telephone company. The media wanted to know if relations were on the mend with Lord Michael Ashcroft who was personally […]
The issue of the accommodation agreement between signed between government and the previous owners of the B.T.L. has been the elephant in the room. So how does it factor in the settlement reached a few days? The PM says that he won’t honor. Reporter “Do you regret the emotive language that you used upon […]
But according to the PM, if it forms part of the valuation to the compensation, then some ground will have to be found. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “They have long since gotten, as I said, enforcement orders from the U.S. I am telling you, there’s nothing that Belize has there to attach. And so […]
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this week with a series of activities that are being held across the institution to commemorate that milestone. Since assuming the post of Chief Executive Officer earlier this year, Dr. Adrian Coye has been instrumental in facilitating the unionization of K.H.M.H. employees. You would recall […]
Six years after the first nationalization of Belize Telemedia, Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced this afternoon that an agreement had been reached to settle compensation for the telephone company which the government first nationalized in 2009 and then in 2011. In the period leading up to the settlement, rounds of costly litigation have taken place. […]
The settlement of B.T.L. comes on the heels of the settlement for the nationalization of the other utility company, Belize Electricity Limited. But unlike B.E.L., there were numerous issues outstanding between government and the Ashcroft group of companies including an arbitration award. Part of the settlement involves a loan which has now ballooned to close […]
