CWU President Audrey Matura-Shepherd has been in the news more often lately than she has been out of it. Currently the union is embroiled in a Collective Bargaining Agreement dispute with the Social Security Board. Matura-Shepherd called a press briefing today to deal with that issue, and we’ll have that a little later in our […]
Matura-Shepherd was also asked about her political future. It’s become the propaganda of choice for the United Democratic Party, which for weeks has been claiming that Matura-Shepherd has been compromised by the People’s United Party. So in a carefully rehearsed play this morning, Guardian reporter Shane Williams asked Matura-Shepherd if she had been approached by […]
Has the Government of Belize secured highly trained Israeli surveillance team to monitor phone conversations and text messages? For some time now, several reports have been claiming that this is the case. We have been doing research on this highly sensitive issue to connect the dots and have found out the following. There has been […]
And from matters of health and infection to matters of internal politics…Doctor Allen has certainly seen his share of controversy and contention. Right now he’s dealing with a vacant post in the Ministry…that of Deputy Director of Health Services. In August, the Ministry announced that Doctor Marvin Manzanero had been given the position, but apparently […]
And from internal politics to corruption…last year after audits of the Punta Gorda Polyclinic and the Dangriga Polyclinic administrators of both were let go. The audits allegedly turned up evidence of misconduct, enough so that both contract officers were let go immediately. Today, Allen claims that as far as he knows Police did conduct an […]
Corozal teen Ana Villanueva has been found. Corozal police say the fifteen year old is now safe and in good health. We told you on Monday night that the fifteen year old had left home two months ago and was reportedly living with relatives in Orange Walk. Her mother reported to police that she received […]
Today at the conference room of the Central Health Region in Belize City, representatives from the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, the Poultry Industry and the Ministries of Agriculture and Health gave an update on the presence of Avian Influenza Type A in western Belize. On January fifteenth, two poultry farms in Spanish Lookout, Cayo District […]
The virus primarily affects poultry and according to BAHA, there is a low risk for transmission from poultry to humans; there is also no evidence of human to human transmission. Nevertheless, the agencies have since been on the ground putting in place containment measures prohibiting all poultry products from the affected farms to leave the […]
Just a couple weeks ago the K.H.M.H. benefitted from the donation of two cell saver machines from Spine Overseas, and today the institution’s international partners came through again. Through ongoing collaboration between the K.H.M.H., the Carolinas Healthcare System and Heineman Medical Outreach in Charlotte, today the Breast Cancer Diagnosis Unit was opened to the general […]
There is some contention between the Christian Workers Union and the Social Security Board. The result of that contention is that three hundred S.S.B. workers, always paid on the twenty-sixth of every month, have not received their pay. It has to do with the Collective Bargaining Agreement currently being negotiated by the parties. In a […]
The Friends for Conservation and Development, better known as FCD, has been working tirelessly to stop a number of illegal activities inside the Chiquibul. For the FCD, illegal logging remains one of the top issues to tackle. For the past three years, the organization has had an agreement with Asociacion Balam, a Guatemalan organization that […]
Fans flocked to the northern entrance of Belize City on Sunday for a unique event that is growing in popularity. Owners of the hottest cars and motorcycles turned out to show off their pimped out vehicles. There were SUVs, classic cars, small and big cars, and many more four wheelers, but we kept our eyes […]
This morning, the 2015 sugar cane crop season opened with delivery of cane from the Orange Walk Branch. Its seven weeks late, but the fact that is happening at all is cause for some jubilation by factory representatives and politicians who claim to have saved the day. The challenge now will be for stakeholders to […]
Exactly one week ago, Prime Minister Dean Barrow informed the nation that G.O.B. had allocated two million dollars for immediate work on sugar roads. But according to Orange Walk Branch Director, Alfredo Ortega, there is no massive work project underway. Ortega told News Five that only sugar roads in San Estevan and Patchakan are being […]
For the first time in history, there are three associations delivering cane to B.S.I. That is now legally possible because of amendments to the Sugar Industry Act pushed through by G.O.B. last Monday. Those amendments have been roundly criticized because one, there was no consultation with stakeholders and two…it is believed that the Act needs […]
Those amendments would probably not have come to pass without a legal claim by cane-farmer Wilfredo Magana way back in 2010. He and others petitioned the court to open up the industry and allow other associations to form and deliver cane to the factory. Magana was also on hand today for what he says is […]
There are reports tonight of political trouble in the Orange Walk East constituency and it involves the current area representative. Reports to our newsroom are that Doctor Marco Tulio Mendez is in deep trouble and is considering stepping down over an allegation made against him for inappropriate behavior. We have no confirmation about the […]
Caribbean Countries signed on to the Petrocaribe program some ten years ago. The program, which has provided social assistance, may very well see many countries cut off. While Belize’s name hasn’t been called for that, we have been cut off from the Premium fuel from Venezuela. Back in December, Prime Minister Dean Barrow made that […]
Last week, a well-known Belize City tattoo artist was sent to prison after he was accused of having a sex with a fifteen year old girl. Well, two brothers from Calla Creek Village in the west are under investigation for similar offenses following a report made by a thirteen year old girl from San Ignacio […]
And in the north, a mother of Fourth Street North in Corozal Town is reporting that her underage daughter has been missing since last November. Now you’d be asking why the mother has just made a report, since fifteen year old Ana Villanueva reportedly left the house two months ago. According to the mother, […]
Over the weekend, a full Belize Defense Force military burial was held for twenty three year old B.D.F. Volunteer Denver Villafranco. Soldiers, along with the family, gave Villafranco a proper send off in military style. The body was accompanied by soldiers in full regalia from the Police Street home to the Lord Ridge Cemetery. Less […]
A mechanic in Southern Belize is claiming that a special constable has been wrecking havoc in the south, but no one seems to care. Vincent Scott says that he was punched in the head by the officer in August of 2014 in Mango Creek and after all the procedures to report and follow through with […]
Over the weekend, COLA held its annual AGM and re-elected its executive. Geovanni Brackett was returned as President; Gilroy Usher Jr. Vice-President; Alton Humes Secretary; Edward Young treasurer; Ismay Williams and Russell Roberts as trustees. In his address at the AGM, Brackett spoke on several issues that COLA undertook for the past two years. Among […]
Can you name one thing you see along Belize’s highways that you’ll never see on any road in, say, neighbouring Chetumal? Give up? Well, we’ll tell you. It’s garbage. A lot of garbage…miles and miles of garbage thrown there from buses, cars, bicycles and even people walking by. It’s an eyesore, an embarrassment, and one […]
The Rotary Club of Belize’s Gift of Life Program is well received by families whose loved ones suffer from congenital disease. The program is the flagship initiative of the Club and this year, the visiting cardiologists will be treating over a hundred young people by the time they conclude their mission for patients from Belize […]
