In the region Belize is among the countries with the highest cases of AIDS. To bring the numbers down, a mass media campaign was launched today targeting youths to make positive choices in respect of their sexual reproductive health. The campaign is being organized by the National committee for families and children and the United […]
Over at the Princess today, there was a gathering of future scientists. Students from various high schools across the country competed in the Sagicor Visionaries Challenge. There was a wide range of competing projects but they all had in common innovation, science and technology. Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting Seventeen high schools from […]
A four million dollar project which is partly funded by the European Union was launched this morning. The project is part of the ongoing work by the Belize Tourism Board and is aimed to benefit communities located near archeological sites. It will be implemented over a two year period at six sites around the country. […]
Attorney-General Wilfred Elrington is taking aim at the Bar Association and it is not the first time. This time though, he is using legislation that could result in a further splintering of the Bar. Last week, through a letter from Solicitor-General Cheryl Krusen to the Chief Justice and the Bar Association, the AG made known […]
And while those recommendations will be forwarded to Attorney General Wilfred Elrington and Solicitor General Cheryl Krusen, President of the Bar Eamon Courtenay also dealt with the very pointed criticisms that have been heaped on the Association by Elrington. The AG has stated very clearly that he believes that the Bar Association does absolutely nothing […]
Earlier in the newscast we showed you the response from Bar Association President Eamon Courtenay to criticism that the Bar is inactive, a waste of time, and does nothing for its members or for the community. But there is also that other matter which comes up time and time again, and always from U.D.P. […]
And putting aside the criticisms, founded or unfounded, and removing the government perception of a politically skewed Association, Courtenay says the move just doesn’t make much sense, period. If the amendment is passed as proposed, attorneys would be able to practice free of association with any legal body, which translates to no regulation and no […]
To round out his openly critical response to the Attorney-General’s very blatant and apologetic targeting of the Bar Association, Eamon Courtenay touched on a very sensitive topic, the General Legal Council. Currently that oversight body is appointed by the Bar Association, but if the amendment goes through, it will be appointed by the Attorney General. […]
The death penalty is still in Belize’s constitution even though the last person to have been executed was over twenty-five years ago when Kent Bowers was hung for the murder of Robert Codd. There are eight persons on death row but only one person has served over fifty years in prison and cannot be executed […]
Changes in the hierarchy of the police command were announced today as was the zoning of the city. The changes, the police say, will provide for better policing and give the community more accessibility to the police in their anti-crime efforts. News Five’s Jose Sanchez. Jose Sanchez, Reporting There were several changes made to […]
Last Friday, Belize faced its first review by the Human Rights Committee in Geneva since its accession to the Convention. We are among one hundred and sixty-seven state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is one of the primary international human rights treaties. A total of eleven topics ranging from […]
One of the first items for review was over Mayan land rights. On August seventh 1998, a petition was presented by the Indian Law Resource Center and the Toledo Maya Cultural Council against Belize stating that the government is responsible for violating rights under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. The […]
A special agreement signed between Belize and Guatemala specifies that the referendum on taking the territorial claim to Belize should be held on the same day, October sixth. But Guatemala is now seeking to change that and had been sending signals for some time. A bulletin straight from the office of President Otto Perez Molina, […]
Despite dire predictions and warnings by officials of government and the B.D.F., Toledo activist Wil Maheia, his Belize Territorial Volunteers and about one hundred and twenty-five Belizeans travelled near the Belize-Guatemala border without incident on March second. Emboldened by what it says was the successful symbolic gesture, the group is at it again. This time […]
A proposal to change the Legal Profession Act is being hotly debated among legal minds. That issue blew up earlier this week and today the Attorney General Wilfred Elrington indicated that he will be moving very soon to push through the amendment which will remove compulsory membership in the Bar Association. The move came to […]
On Wednesday eyebrows were raised when Prime Minister Dean Barrow confirmed on national television that market value would be paid to four persons after land was given to them with title, and then taken away. It’s a practice which seems to have become the biggest land game in town. It goes something like this – […]
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize is lashing out at the Kolbe Foundation over a reported number of terminations and suspensions of Kolbe employees. The N.T.U.C.B. cites the recent termination of the Casimiro brothers and is calling on Kolbe to reinstate them and to explain why specifically they were terminated. The Congress also cautions […]
But over here on Coney Drive, high school students from Canaan have throughout this week taken time to consider their future career paths. A Career Fair was held on Thursday where the young minds heard presentations from numerous organizations providing them with valuable information on career options. News Five’s Carla Bradley reports. Carla Bradley, […]
The October referendum is in big trouble and Belize will be heading to the headquarters of the OAS in Washington this weekend to try to save it. An announcement was made on Wednesday by Guatemala’s President Otto Perez Molina that Guatemala will seek to delay the referendum scheduled for October sixth. On Wednesday Perez Molina […]
Attorney-General Wilfred Elrington has announced that he will be pushing through legislation to amend the Legal Profession Act. Elrington wants to remove the requirement that attorneys will have to join the Bar Association to practice. The proposal has come as a surprise and came to light when the Solicitor General recently wrote to the Chief […]
The Belize City Center served as the city’s premier sports auditorium, but it has been closed for more than two years, ever since government engineers pronounced it unsafe. Since that time the building has been left to rot as GOB searched for funding for a new facility, reported to be coming from Mexico. That financing […]
The Fisheries Department is in the news tonight for sizeable donation of communication equipment. The Department is charged with patrolling, monitoring and enforcing the laws on Belize’s waters, though, which is a herculean responsibility though resources are few. Today, their job was made a little easier through a very timely donation of equipment from the […]
And that donation of communication equipment could not have come at a better time, as today the Fisheries Department hosted a seminar on communication with its partner agencies including the BDF boat wing, the Police, the Coast Guard, the Port Authority and Customs Department. The workshop is targeted at improving the link between these agencies, […]
Attorney-General Wilfred Elrington is taking on the Bar Association again, and this time he wants to push legislation which will remove compulsory membership of attorneys in that association. The move is seen in many circles as a way to formalize the deep divisions within the Bar and government’s way of resisting opposition through legislation. Today […]
History was made today at the Vatican and in Latin America. The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the new pope of one point two billion Roman Catholics, including more than forty percent who are from Latin America. The new pope took the name Francis and he is seventy-six years […]
