A people’s referendum will be held next week Wednesday. The Belize Tourism Industry Association, which chairs the Belize Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage called on member organizations to support the referendum. After almost eight thousand signatures were rejected, preventing a referendum, the Coalition decided to execute an independent poll. So next week, country-wide people […]
Unemployment is hovering at twenty-three point five percent; that puts a large number of bread winners out of the work force. Meet Bryant Peters, who has discovered that there are opportunities if you can foster an entrepreneurial spirit. Along with a group of other jobless persons, he has started a business. News Five’s Jose Sanchez […]
A week ago, the government announced that it will not be holding a referendum on oil exploration. Still, one of the driving forces of the Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage has commissioned a poll to measure people’s perception on oil exploration and drilling in offshore and protected areas of the country. Oceana Belize along […]
Oceana Belize has taken the brunt of the Prime Minister’s sting over the lost referendum. However, Audrey Matura Shepherd says it will go forward with its own nonbinding Referendum on February twenty-ninth. When asked, the Oceana VP says that court action would come rather than a demonstration. Audrey Matura Shepherd, VP, Oceana Belize “We were […]
The scandal at the Social Security Board over insider trading continues to spiral out of control. At the heart of it is the C.E.O. Merlene Bailey. On Monday, the Board of Directors combed through an audit by Pannel Kerr Foster and decided it was necessary to dismiss the C.E.O. Chair of the Board, Lois Young, […]
Foreign direct investment has nosedived in the past years from one hundred and twenty million to thirty million dollars. This past Wednesday, a high level forum was held in Washington, DC, at the Rhaburn building of the US Capitol complex. The event attracted the participation of personalities from the state department, IMF, Heritage Foundation and […]
Over the years we have carried numerous reports about the anemic services rendered to patients at public hospitals. A grieving family from Ladyville told us today that while they categorically wished not to bring disrepute to the KHMH, they feel that their loved one died prematurely under the care of nurses at the hospital. Daughter, […]
The Board of Directors of the Social Security met on Monday to deal with the audit of insider trading at S.S.B. It was a lengthy meeting that concluded at seven thirty p.m. The Panel Kerr Foster audit is not favorable and while fraud was not established, it was damning of the C.E.O. Merlene Bailey who […]
News Five has just obtained a copy of that February fourteenth letter sent to the S.S.B. Chairman Lois Young. It says “We are anxiously anticipating the return of our C.E.O., Mrs. Merlene Martinez and our Internal Auditor, Miss Denise Mahler. Through this medium, we would like to express our fullest support for their reinstatement…With respect […]
The Coalition to Save Our National Heritage had been diligent in its collection of twenty thousand signatures that it hoped would trigger a referendum on the offshore drilling issue. Eight thousand signatures were rejected and by all accounts, it’s over. The process would have to start from scratch all over again. But the Coalition says […]
While the coalition is organizing their private referendum, another social activist is organizing a trip to the poll. Former U.D.P. minister of government, Derek Aikman is joining the ranks of recent pollsters such as the Independent’s Glenn Tillett and Karim Berges along with economist Yasmin Andrews. Aikman’s poll on the election is by far the […]
The Belize Tourism Board today announced the statistics for tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the figures are record breaking for overnight visitors. There were a total of fifty-seven thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four overnight visitors, which reflects a six point five percent increase when compared to the same period in 2010. […]
Officers of the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) allegedly beat up several residents of the Plues Street area last week. The GSU had refuted the claims, however, the attorney for the men say that they will sue the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General, Bernard Q. Pitts. The Prime Minister had indicated on Monday that […]
George Price: A Life Revealed, the autobiography of the Father of the Nation, has been launched locally and in London and has been well received. In the region, the publication has made it onto the long list of ten books up for the 2012 One Caribbean Media Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. The biography, authored […]
Crocodiles are getting a fresh start on life and some engineers intend to do the same for the paint deprived and pot holed, old capital. The Belize City Master Plan is an urban rejuvenation project, which boasts a complete infrastructural facelift for the country’s commercial hub. The idea is to incorporate existing buildings and open […]
And while that minor did not have the skills to defend herself, in the following case, it seems that an assailant found that his potential victims were too much for him to handle. The House of Shotokan is known for its competitions with other karate federations in Mexico. In addition to kata and kumite, it […]
The Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) has made its mark on the western and central sections of the country with drug, ammunition and gun busts. But its presence is hardly welcome in certain neighborhoods and occasionally the GSU sparks controversy over alleged physical abuse of the persons it arrests. Last week Thursday, the GSU allegedly went […]
Prime Minister Barrow is not the only person who found it unacceptable. The alleged victims believed they had a strong case and sought legal advice. Philip Palacio, attorney and P.U.P. politician for Mesopotamia took the case. Palacio and some of the victims went to the police station today to make a report. But instead of […]
Internet based phone services such as Net2phone, Viber, Skype, and Vonage have driven phone costs down internationally since they provide a certain quality without using regular providers. In Belize these services would only be a fraction of what is charged by SMART and Telemedia, and businesses will tell you that VOIP programs are the future […]
A Belize City woman and her brother are being evicted from the Belama Phase Four area. Maria Valle says she and her brother were given adjacent lots on which to build their houses, but now that her house is fully constructed, she’s been told by Minister of Works, Anthony “Boots” Martinez, that they both have […]
There is breaking news in Corozal and that is that the lifeless body of a man was found in a vehicle. We’ll have more of that story later in this newscast. But first, in January, over a thousand immigrants mostly from Central American countries became new citizens of Belize. Most of them could not recite […]
Just before eight o’clock on Thursday night, a threatening call was received at this station. The anonymous caller threatened to blow up the station. The matter is being reported to the police as a precautionary measure and there are measures in place to protect staff and property at our workplace. Whether it is the current […]
The board of directors of the Social Security Board, led by chairperson Lois Young, met this afternoon in Belize City. The board received a report from the auditors from accounting firm Pannell Kerr Forster on their findings in respect of an insider trading scandal involving C.E.O. Merlene Bailey-Martinez. Martinez, who has been suspended from her […]
The Belize Unity Alliance says it is concerned over the alleged interception of telephone services. BUA says that over the past week, Bobby Lopez, the president of the alliance, has been experiencing sudden and dramatic altercations in cell phone service and that it may deliberately be a tactic to obscure, interrupt and divert communications leading […]
With the upcoming dual elections less than twenty-five days away the logistical machinery, responsible for the smooth flow of the countrywide voting process come March seventh, is in motion. Preparations by the Elections and Boundaries Department are currently underway to ensure that the transition between ballots for the General and Municipal Elections is effortless. According […]
