The House of Representatives met today in Belmopan where a number of laws, including the High Seas Fishing and Medical Practice bills, were tabled. The introduction of the former legislation is to make new and improved conditions for the management and control of fishing in the open sea. Likewise, the presentation of the Medical Practice […]
According to the prime minister, the inquiry cannot focus on the nationality section of the department since it is the minister’s signature that was affixed to the document. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “With respect to the nationality section of the department, the situation is completely different. It is the minister who signs the nationality […]
Leader of the Opposition Francis Fonseca, in raising the matter, says that responsibility for what has transpired falls squarely at the feet of Prime Minister Barrow since he appointed Penner the portfolio of Minister of State in the Ministry of Immigration fully aware of allegations made against him leading up to the last general elections. […]
The last demonstration on Independence Hill in Belmopan was held in February, so it’s safe to say that in light of the recent controversies one was overdue. There have been a number of salacious scandals in the past two weeks, including the SIF Dangriga Market and the passport fiasco. The combination of those burning issues […]
On Thursday, the Belize Bank froze the accounts of the Orange Walk Town Council, bringing its daily operations to a screeching halt. The issue is an overdraft facility acquired and operated by the previous administration. The debt was to have been paid off in 2012, but it wasn’t. That outstanding bill was classified as a […]
The Prime Minister also punctuated his tongue-lashing of the Orange Walk Town Council with a personal jab at Mayor Kevin Bernard. In questioning the managing of the town’s finances by the Council, the PM has raised his eyebrows at a vehicle being driven by the Mayor. Today we reached Mayor Kevin Bernard, who reacted to […]
While former Minister of State Elvin Penner was nowhere to be seen today, his colleague Edmund Castro took his usual seat in the House. Castro has thus far escaped official sanction after allegations that he acted improperly towards a woman while on a trip to Taiwan last week. It is said that the female protocol […]
As we reported earlier, the House meeting today saw both sides of the floor trading barbs over the passport scandal, which has seen the Minister of State, Elvin Penner fired and several employees of the immigration department put on suspension. But the business of the day was actually to table several bills. One such law […]
Paint Belize Pink….it’s the name of a new campaign by the Office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children. With the month of October observed as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Kim Simplis Barrow and her team are embarking on a national awareness campaign that is expected to place increased attention on the issue of […]
The Development Finance Corporation is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. Established in 1963, the DFC is a lending organization that provides loans for agriculture, housing, education and tourism. And today, at its branches across the country, several activities were held…and in Belize City in particular, free health checkups and credit consultations were provided to its customers. […]
Documents proving that former Minister of State Elvin Penner participated in every step of the current passport scandal have surfaced. Those documents are the nationality certificate and the recommender declaration for one Kim Wonhong, a national of the Republic of Korea. Both of them bear Penner’s signature, and one bears his certification that he is […]
Tonight, former Minister of State Elvin Penner has removed himself from scrutiny even as calls for his head continue to saturate the public arena. Government bureaucrats at the highest level seem intent on complicating the issue. But with the emergence of documentary proof, Penner’s complicity cannot be questioned. They say the proof is in the […]
To recall or not to recall…that is the question. Or at least it’s the political issue. That option remains open to the Opposition which hasn’t said much at all on the matter. In general elections 2012, the U.D.P. won by a narrow margin of seventeen to fourteen seats, which means that if two U.D.P. representatives […]
The dismantlement of the Belize City Center commenced earlier this week with a workforce of almost a hundred able men tearing down what was once the premier venue for sports and entertainment in the Old Capital. But tonight, one man remains in critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, following an accident earlier today […]
Despite strong objection from the Belize Tourism Industry Association, particularly from six of its past presidents, regarding the introduction of cruise tourism to southern Belize, Norwegian Cruise Line has been garnering support from residents of Stann Creek and Toledo districts. Since signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Belize in mid-August, a public […]
A funeral service for twenty-five year old Erron Golanche was held today at the Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church in Belize City. Golanche was killed in a traffic accident last Friday in Orange Walk Town, he was knocked down by a foreign national, who it is believed has absconded across the border evading the police. […]
There has been very loud silence from the Ministry of Immigration in the wake of the recent passport scandal. The only slight murmur came when a press release offered that three staffers were to be suspended. Two of those staffers are very junior staff in the passport section. Other than that, official information is non-existent. […]
And while the PSU draws attention to the nationality process, Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse today asked for patience. He offered no new information, only proclaiming that there will be no attempt to whitewash the matter under his watch. He also took credit for the measures in place which brought this matter to light. That’s […]
The Coastguard this morning confirmed what has turned out to be quite an embarrassing incident on Independence Day. It involves Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, a guest of honor during this year’s September Celebrations. At the request of the government, P.M. Skerrit arrived on September eighteenth and that night, he was hosted to dinner; but his […]
There is another scandal that has remained in the headlines since it first broke. We are referring to the million dollar Dangriga Municipal Market Project which was being rehabilitated through the Social Investment Fund. This morning, SIF went back to Dangriga to officially take over the project which was abruptly stopped on September twelfth because […]
Detective Constable Dean Yearwood was shot and killed by a fellow officer in the early hours of September eighth while pursuing a pair of robbers who attacked him, as he made his way down Central American Boulevard. The twenty-four year old was mortally wounded after being hit in the back by a single round, one […]
The sixth grant award ceremony of the Belize Nature Conservation Foundation, formerly known as the PACT Foundation, was held today at the Coastal Zone Management Training Room on Princess Margaret Drive. BNCF provides grants to registered N.G.O.s and community based groups that focus on the conservation and management for the sustainable use of Belize’s natural […]
This Sunday, September twenty-ninth will mark some sixty-three years since the establishment of the People’s United Party. It’s a big moment for members and supporters of the P.U.P. as they reflect on the history of the party. For the second year in a row, a photographic exhibition is being held at Independence Hall in Belize […]
The House of Representatives meets this Friday in Belmopan. As we understand, a number of bills will come back for second and third readings and passage, including the Trusts (Amendment) Bill, the International Financial Services Commission (Amendment) Bill, and the Financial Intelligence Unit (Amendment) Bill. This morning, the Belize Chamber of Commerce issued a release […]
Cabinet met today, but up to news time there is no new official information surfacing on the passport scandal involving Elvin Penner and other public officers in the Immigration Department. On Monday the department, which is supposedly in the midst of an intensive investigation, issued a lukewarm release stating that three staffers at the Immigration […]
