There is good news for cyclists tonight. That is because they were not allowed on the highways during the first thirty days of the state of emergency. Under the new relaxed measures, cyclists can resume riding during the specific hours identified under the state of emergency regulations. Cyclists, however, are not exempted from other requirements […]
Now that there will be a relaxation of certain measures of the state of emergency, municipal governments are looking towards an improvement in revenue streams. Since April first, most departments closed and revenues dried up to less than ten percent. Earlier this week, traffic department services opened and it is expected that with the ease […]
Even as the revenue stream at the municipal level is only trickling, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner says that he is not contemplating axing any of his staff. On Tuesday, however, P.U.P. stalwart Keith Yearwood was sacked as assistant park manager with the City council. Yearwood is on record saying that he did not know […]
The Indian community has been extending generosity to those families who have less and are hurting during this COVID-19 crisis. Today, the community reached out to the Port Loyola residents with packages containing basic items necessary to put food on the table for many families. The standard bearers of both political parties, Gilroy Usher Senior […]
Belize City residents are also benefitting from food items courtesy of the All China Federation of Overseas Tiashanese. Mayor Bernard Wagner and councillors received the supplies and distribution will begin early next week since families who received pantry two weeks ago are running out of food. Here is News Five’s Duane Moody with a report. […]
The first shipment of liquid petroleum gas purchased by the National Gas Company arrives in Big Creek on Thursday and final preparations are underway to offload its inaugural freight coming from the U.S. Gulf Coast. But the official start of business for the newly formed public/private concern is not without controversy, as there is presently […]
In responding to statements made in an interview given by attorney Audrey Matura, the managing director of the National Gas Company told News Five today that with the exception of a business tax, it is still required to pay all other duties, including the general sales tax and environmental tax. The company, he reiterated, will […]
Earlier this weekend, the San Pedro Town Council issued its own regulations in terms of opening hours for businesses on the island. While all but one measure fell outside of the parameters set by statutory instrument number sixty-two, the issue raised concerns, because the national state of emergency applies to the entire country, San Pedro […]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers are singled out as frontline workers who are working around to clock to keep the public safe. But the police department is also on the forefront of the fight against the virus as they are responsible for enforcement of the state of emergency. On Tuesday, the Lord Ashcroft COVID-19 […]
The online portal for the Unemployment Relief Programme was closed on Friday, April twenty-fourth. More than eighty thousand applications for assistance were received, but less than half of that number was approved. There have been complaints that the government’s effort to provide financial assistance to needy families has been sluggish. P.U.P. Senator Michel Chebat echoed […]
C.E.O. Alpuche gave the required three months notice on his resignation. The matter was also raised today during the Senate hearings by Senator Chebat. But on leaving the Senate, Alpuche’s substantive boss, Minister of Agriculture Godwin Hulse did not wish to confirm the motive for the C.E.O.’s sudden departure. Here is how that went in […]
Globally, COVID-19 is having an impact on life as well on the business environment in significant ways. The Bowen and Bowen group has a workforce of over one thousand two hundred employees and is one of the largest employers in the production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The virus does not discriminate and has been […]
In the Senate today, P.U.P. Senator Michel Chebat shared the contents of a letter written by the Senator for the Non-Governmental Organizations on behalf of the Belize Network of N.G.O.s. The letter, dated April twenty-seventh, was addressed to the National Oversight Committee which is chaired by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Opposition Leader John Briceño. […]
In the letter, the N.G.O. says that it was agreed that this decision as well as the suggested way forward would have been shared with and reviewed by the oversight committee prior to public release which had been scheduled for Friday, April twenty-fourth, 2020. It complains that if the committee does not so do, it […]
The focus on the House meeting on Monday was related to the state of emergency which will continue for another two months. But the House heard that in the first thirty days, families across the land endured hardships due to the CVID. Both Cordel Hyde and Julius Espat spoke on the plight of families. Here […]
A sum of twelve thousand dollars was handed over to the Belize Red Cross from the diplomatic community and the international organizations accredited to Belize. The diplomatic community here is small and their countries have also been hit hard, but the gesture is significant to assist families facing financial difficulties as a result of COVID-19. […]
Bowen and Bowen Limited and Companies are making a half a million-dollar donation to the Ministry of Health to assist in the fight against COVID-19. Since March, when there was the impending threat of the novel coronavirus, the company had pledged to assist the government, but there have been delays in getting eight ventilators among […]
In a recent interview Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero, told News Five that there had been issues with the procuring of medical supplies, namely swabs and reagents to test for COVID-19. Although most had been paid for, the supplies were delayed by the U.S., which is restricting the exportation of medical supplies and […]
Educators across the country, those whose salaries are covered by government, will be paid on April twenty-ninth, along with all other public officers. The unusually tardy payday is the result of monies having to be allocated by government amid the economic hardships stemming from the COVID-19 calamity. Following Monday’s special sitting of the House of […]
The Alliance of Ministers and Leaders of Belize is petitioning the government to reconsider the position of the church as it relates to the State of Emergency. The clergy is not listed as an essential service and many churches across the country have found new ways to conduct praise and worship sessions. But the Alliance […]
Lake Independence Area Rep., Cordel Hyde was in favour of a thirty-day extension. In speaking on the motion to extend the existing state of emergency for an additional sixty days, Hyde pointed to the massive economic impact that the countrywide shutdown has had on citizens, restricting movements and possibly citizen’s rights. Hyde also said that […]
Opposition Leader John Briceño also sits on the National Oversight Committee as co-chair. While he has been abreast of government’s need to reopen the economy as quickly as possible, the question of whether a sixty-day extension is in itself excessive has also arisen. Aside from openly debating the need for a two-month addition, Briceño also […]
COVID-19 has the Belize economy in a chokehold and while the government struggles to breathe, a long list of businesses countrywide are forced to shut down and lay off employees. The transportation industry has been hit hard. Bus operator, Westline, in a memo dated April twenty-fourth informed its staff of layoffs due to redundancy and […]
There has been constant criticism from the People’s United Party that relief aid being provided by the Barrow administration is being done through political constituencies, as opposed to organizations such as the Belize Red Cross that are capable of handling the logistics of distribution. While the PM admitted that programmes such as Food Pantry were […]
Cayo South Area Representative Julius Espat also raised the issue of the Red Cross and the Belize Defense Force as part of the COVID distribution network. He, too, had strong concerns as to why both organizations with a proven history of humanitarian aid have not been utilized in aiding government’s efforts. Julius Espat, Area […]
