About four hundred and fifty technicians are trained to provide emergency medical services throughout the country via BERT, the Belize Emergency Response Team. Their skills on how to manage an emergency situation can mean the difference between life and death. Training and licensing of the Emergency Medical Technicians are currently ongoing in Belize City. Duane […]
Just before six o’clock this evening the government announced that public officers and teachers will receive an eight percent salary increase. The package according to the government release represents about thirty-eight million; it is effective in the July paycheck and retroactive to beginning of the financial year on April first, 2015. The government also says […]
A national consultation workshop on the proposed strategy for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to benefit from the legal instruments of SIECA was held today in Belize City. The initiative falls under the economic integration of Central American countries to promote better use of existing legal mechanisms in order to facilitate market access and movement […]
According to Ocampo, there are several logistical challenges that the initiative is faced with, including the harmonization of participating countries. Fernando Ocampo, Consultant, CENPROMYPE “The huge challenge here is coordination, I mean trying to put together so many countries, to try to implement specific measures in many, many areas. It involves customs authorities, immigration authorities, […]
The feedback from this week’s event is expected to be included in the five year plan. And that plan will be assessed, as the consultant says that he will be back in a year’s time to see how the implementation is progressing. But, for right now, Stanbury says we have the basics down, but there […]
World Day Against Child Labour is observed on June twelve. It’s an opportunity for the globe to raise its voice against child labour and at the same time make a call for all children to have a right to education. In May, the Statistical Institute of Belize and the International Labour Organization launched the findings […]
Earlier this month, twenty-four-year-old Michael Robinson, recently released from a seven year stint in prison, visited the media with a list of allegations against the management and even prison officers at that facility – from corruption to abuse and negligence. Management immediately refuted those allegations, claiming that Robinson wasn’t exactly a credible source. Well tonight […]
When Michael Robinson spoke out about conditions at the prison in early June, he mentioned that certain privileged inmates were given temporary “get out of jail” cards which allowed them free time outside of prison walls. That’s certainly not a new allegation, but tonight Staine confirmed that it does happen. Voice of: Rujan Staine, […]
According to Staine, the trafficking of drugs into the prison is rampant, and so is the abuse of prisoners. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg where the Belize Central Prison is concerned. Voice of: Rujan Staine, Prison Officer, Belize Central Prison “They always say if you’re trafficking, stop it. If you are […]
Tonight, News Five can confirm that Guatemalan military vessel GC-651 is still high and dry, perched on the reef between Middle Caye and Long Caye in the Glover’s Reef system, thirty-six miles from the Dangriga mainland. The Coast Guard has stated that the passage of the vessel through Belize’s territorial waters is allowed, under the […]
Just like clockwork, the rains came in June, and for residents of Crooked Tree that wasn’t good news. Their causeway was elevated just days before to deal with the inevitable flooding, but after the first few hours of rain it developed serious cracks. Twenty-four hours after, an entire section of the causeway fell away. That […]
And in more news on road safety…today, sixteen young men and women graduated from the Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) Train the Trainers Programme at the George Price Center. YOURS is an international youth-led and youth-oriented, not-for-profit, N.G.O. that is focused on youth and road safety. In partnership with the Government of Belize and the […]
While all hopes are that the Belize national team will advance to the next round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, the reality is that the Football Federation of Belize does not have the funds for the team to participate in the away games. According to Executive Member of F.F.B., Marlon Kuylen, this […]
What is a Guatemalan naval gunboat, unauthorized at that, doing in Belizean waters? That was the million dollar question after reports surfaced early this morning. Coming on the heels of an incident in the Sarstoon two weeks ago which spawned much anti-Guatemalan sentiment, conspiracy theories ran rampant. The Guatemalan naval vessel, reportedly navigating international waters en […]
According to C.E.O. Lovell, Mexican officials have confirmed that the Guatemalan coast guard vessel was indeed on its way to the small island town. To allay concerns that may arise out of the incident, Lovell says that despite appearing to be a legitimate voyage, the matter will be dealt with at the highest level between […]
So here are the facts – a Guatemalan vessel is in Belizean waters, but preliminary investigations are that it is not a voluntary presence. Mike Rudon was on the site today and has the story. Mike Rudon, Reporting Here’s something we’ve never seen before and may never see again – a sixty-five foot Guatemalan […]
Two policemen, Constables Hallet King and Leonard Nunez, were charged with the murder of eighteen-year-old Hilberto Sotz on Wednesday. And as we told you on Wednesday night, three others have been put on interdiction; they are Corporal Kirby Palma, Edilberto Patt and Bernadette Ramos, who are all facing thirteen disciplinary charges, including acting uncivil while […]
A national dialogue on the importance of quality infrastructure to the agricultural sector was hosted in Belize today. Agriculture, as it stands, accounts for fourteen percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the country and contributes to a large number of the employed labor force as well as the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Over […]
With the assistance from the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality, agricultural stakeholders from both the public and private sector gathered to devise a priority list to put in place a more comprehensive and detailed plan for the local industry. According to Chief Executive Officer of CROS-Q, Deryck Omar, there are certain plans in […]
The tenth anniversary of the Petrocaribe initiative was commemorated today in Belize City with a brief ceremony held at the Memorial Park. The oil alliance which is made up of seventeen Caribbean states, plus Venezuela was launched in June 2005, it was decided through the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas that the initiative would go […]
The rains have started in earnest, and while the 2015 Hurricane Season is forecast as less than average, that does not mean that disaster will not strike. Are we prepared in the event of a hurricane…at least as far as hurricane shelters are concerned? NEMO Minister Godwin Hulse says his Ministry has done as much […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has refused to speak on the very significant confrontation between Guatemalan and Belizean armed forces on Sarstoon Island. It happened two weeks ago and there has been no official statement from the Government. What has been confirmed, though unofficially, is that the Coast Guard was on a ten day mission, and […]
We also finally got an opportunity – finally – to ask Hulse about his former C.E.O. in the Ministry of Immigration, Candelaria Saldivar. Three weeks ago Saldivar, quite abruptly, was placed on administrative leave. And nobody would tell us why. Hulse did not respond to our calls and texts and even whatsapp queries. Today he […]
Earlier today, when we caught up with Minister Hulse, we couldn’t resist asking the very straight-laced for his input on the Patrick Faber Petrocaribe-funded political pibil fest. Faber has come under sustained fire for stating openly that twenty-two busloads of his supporters from Collet were treated to a beach bash in Corozal, complete with tacos, […]
And finally for Hulse, we asked about the long anticipated Immigration investigation report. Remember that? Many months ago that investigation commenced after U.D.P. Minister Elvin Penner was fired for corruption in Immigration. Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse promised in early 2014 that as soon as that investigation was complete the public would be made privy […]
