Maud Williams High school teachers are now on vacation; but while they are attending a school workshop, some were surprised with dismissal letters this afternoon, resulting from the merger of three south side schools. While the Maud Williams teachers were the first to receive their marching orders, it is expected that dismissal letters will also […]
The Auditor-General’s report on the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner immigration scandal is still not available for public consumption. The result of the investigation was handed over to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Immigration three months ago, but it has been kept under tight wraps. But not air-tight, it seems, and a leaked copy […]
Belizeans are anxiously awaiting their first look at the comprehensive Auditor-General’s report, whenever it is tabled. We have been told by COLA that it is damning and implicates Elvin Penner and other persons directly in the immigration scandal. We have also been told that in that report the Auditor-General recommends that Penner and others be […]
Earlier this week the Cotton Tree Village Council took the government of Belize to court over two hundred and fifty four lots. Those lots, allegedly within the community, are part of a large plot which was acquired and then subdivided by government. The lots are allegedly being given to eight U.D.P. Area Representatives in Belize […]
In May 2012, Supreme Court Judge Samuel Lungole Awich was sworn in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal. That appointment was not supported by the Bar Association, and neither was the decision in May 2014 to renew and extend his contract. One of the criticisms levied against Justice Awich then and now is […]
The appointment has sparked off a heated, but surgical verbal flurry between Prime Minister Dean Barrow and President of the Bar Eamon Courtenay. Today Attorney-General Wilfred Elrington weighed in, venting his long-held frustration at a Bar Association which he says serves no useful purpose. Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Attorney-General “The leadership of the Bar has […]
Last Thursday, a group of conservation N.G.O.s expressed their concern via letter about a proposed mega-tourism project, the Puerto Azul development, within the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. That letter was sent to Chair of the Cabinet Subcommittee on Investment, Godwin Hulse. In it, the group is asking for disclosure, additional information on the methodology which government […]
In early June, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington led a delegation to the forty-fourth regular session of the O.A.S. General Assembly held in Paraguay. This wasn’t a scheduled session for ongoing discussions on the new roadmap created to strengthen the Belize – Guatemala relationship. Elrington told News Five today that he did meet with […]
During the dismantling of the Belize City Center in mid-September 2013, one of the inner walls of the structure collapsed and fell on Egbert Jones while he was working. The twenty-three-year-old was one of a hundred men, including at risk youths and gang members, who was offered a job at the site under the contract […]
New Horizon 2014 moved to Hattieville today where the administration of the government school was officially handed over a new pre-school facility. The building was constructed along with the Belize Defense Force in record time with it has classrooms and amenities to accommodate an enrollment of a hundred preschoolers. The faculty and staff were overjoyed […]
Marleny Castellanos, a woman accused of being the mastermind in a long-standing and very lucrative hustle, has been slapped with more than twenty charges for immigration offences. It is alleged that Castellanos used documents from the Vital Statistics Department to fraudulently obtain nationality certificates for many immigrants in Belize. Now corruption at the Vital Stats […]
Months after its destitution, the Belize Airports Authority has a newly reconstituted board of directors. The former board was invited to step down in the wake of the Castro Checks Scandal in mid-January. The former executive committee, led by then chairman Kenworth Tillett, came under fire from for signing over thirty thousand dollars in invoices […]
The Alliance of Leaders and Ministers of Belize, led by Belize Can President Patrick Menzies today initiated the first phase of a move called Occupy Belmopan. The group is calling on all Belizeans to join in as they occupy the steps of the National Assembly to, in their words – teach, preach, pray and worship. […]
From Harmonyville to Holy Emmanuel and now, Belama Phase Five…squatting continues to be a pervasive issue. On April third, a number of families were chaotically evicted from the Holy Emmanuel Street because the area was needed for the construction of the Chetumal Street Bridge that will adjoin the north side to the south side of […]
The Italian investors of the proposed billion-dollar Puerto Azul mega tourism development project on Northern Caye and Sandbore Caye, within the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, arrived in the country this afternoon. While the purpose of their visit is to clear the air on what has been reported in the local media since the introduction of the […]
On Saturday, the media was taken on a tour of the proposed site of the Puerto Azul Development. While the images offered a clear view of the pristine state of the eastern most point of the country, on the ground, there were obvious signs of debris along the shore. It is oceanic debris says Audubon’s […]
The academic year 2013 officially came to an end last Friday for high schools across the country. While most students are currently enjoying the beginning of their summer vacation, teachers from Sadie Vernon, Maud Williams and Excelsior high schools are collectively holding their breath in anticipation of a letter which is expected to be issued […]
The joint union negotiating team has signed off on a salary adjustment of six percent, while the increment for those public officers who are eligible will be two and a quarter percent. But don’t get it confused. The unions are not signing the collective bargaining agreement just yet, despite pressure by G.O.B. to get it […]
You’ve heard about eco-tourism, sex tourism, cruise tourism, overnight tourism…even medical tourism. What about bird-based tourism? The International Audubon Organization is meeting with both private and public sector partners to work on a plan to strengthen bird-based tourism as a conservation and sustainable development tool in the country. The two point six million dollar project […]
Businessman Luke Espat is personally liable to the Belize Bank to the tune of twenty-nine point four million dollars. That’s the ruling which was handed down this afternoon by the Court of Appeal. Espat was before the court with his attorney, Said Musa, seeking leave to appeal a decision handed down by Justice Courtney Abel […]
At his press conference last week, Prime Minister Dean Barrow confirmed that the contract of Justice of Appeal Samuel Awich has been renewed and extended until he is seventy-five. The decision by the PM comes despite a resolution from the Bar Association withholding support for the Justice’s appointment. It is not the first time that […]
And then Courtenay really got doing, calling Prime Minister Dean Barrow a liar…not only that…but a Penner-loving, Castro-hugging liar. Eamon Courtenay, President, Bar Association “So for the Prime Minister to say that I am sweating fever for the Ashcroft Group because we lost the case in which Justice Awich is involved is a comprehensive […]
On Friday, the Supreme Court did away with G.O.B.’s injunction against BGYEA prohibiting that association from planting corn on sixty acres of land in Harmonyville which they say is a buffer zone. It was seen as a victory for the grassroots organization pending the hearing of the substantive matter. This morning government issued a press […]
Today, the Supreme Court heard an application from SATIIM et al for an injunction against the government of Belize and US Capital Energy. It’s was actually a post-judgment injunction, since a decision and a perfected order have both been delivered. SATIIM et al claims that the government is not following the orders of the court, […]
The case against US Capital and the Government of Belize, at its inception, was brought by SATIIM and five buffer communities. Still, at his press conference on Wednesday Prime Minister Dean Barrow made it exceptionally clear that while he is quite happy to host discussions, SATIIM will not be invited to the table. Attorney Eamon […]
