At both telephone companies today, customers lined up for hours in a mad rush to register prepaid cellular phones and avoid disconnection. The registration started last October after the Telecommunications Act was amended and the subsequent passage of a Statutory Instrument as a means to fight crime. The deadline was initially announced for today but […]
On Wednesday, APAMO issued a congratulatory message to newly appointed Minister, Lisel Alamilla. This afternoon, a statement to the nation from the Mayan Leaders Alliance and Toledo Alcaldes Association, had a much different tone. Now it is known that the Maya Leaders Alliance has not always had a good footing with the government and that […]
The true story of the sexual abuse of a young girl has been captured in a book entitled Family Secrets. Written by US author, Dr Billie Jean Young, the book was launched this morning at the Leo Bradley Library. Young, who lived in Belize for several years, tells the gripping story from the perspective of […]
The annual Women’s Month bike rally is coming up this weekend. It’s an event that has had increasing support and participation over the years because while it is not a race, many come out with the hopes taking home a trophy for being the youngest female rider, the oldest female rider, the largest team of […]
There are twenty-one members to the new Cabinet led by Prime Minister Dean Barrow, that’s only one less than the previous Cabinet when the Barrow administration had a super majority in his first term. The ministers and ministers of state took the oath this morning at Belize House. The first official meeting of Cabinet is […]
In the Senate, there are twelve members; six of them are representatives of the government. The list includes Juliet Thimbriel, Gerardo Marconi Sosa, Charles Gibson, Joy Grant, Liselle Alamilla and Godwin Hulse. At his press conference at the NEMO headquarters in the Capital on Tuesday, the Prime Minister explained why he brought in Hulse and […]
His boots were made for walking amongst the people of Port Loyola, and though he moved to the North side of town, Anthony “Boots” Martinez received the mandate of his constituents with a smaller margin of victory. The former Minister of Works lost an economically strong ministry with major infrastructural projects underway. The PM, however, […]
During his first term as Prime Minister, Dean Barrow changed the constitution to appoint an Attorney General from the private sector. According to the prime minister, the ministry was taken from Minister Wilfred Elrington so he could concentrate on Foreign Affairs. Barrow then appointed Bernard Q. Pitts as the Attorney General, in June of 2010. […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow picked Lisel Alamilla as the minister with responsibilities for Forestry, Fisheries, the Environment and Indigenous People. Alamilla, the former Ya’axche Executive Director, came under fire when it resigned from the Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage during its campaign for a referendum on offshore drilling. Alamilla’s rapport with the Association of […]
For at least a decade, the president of the Football Federation of Belize has been Doctor Bertie Chimilio. There have been many controversies over the years, with many unsuccessfully trying to unseat Chimilio from his F.F.B. throne. In 2011, former Minister of Sports John Saldivar came close when he prevented the F.F.B. from hosting international […]
This morning a string of reports were circulated about the firing of some thirty-one employees from the Orange Walk Town Council. According to the reports, the newly elected Mayor, Kevin Bernard, has been heavy handed on workers, terminating their services almost immediately since taking office, after he was sworn in last Friday. Earlier today, we […]
There is no shortage of land disputes and tonight a Belize City resident claims the property she owns continues to be illegally occupied. The unwelcome tenant refuses to leave and Kenisha Velasquez says the situation is now escalating and her family is coming under serious threat. News Five’s Delahnie Bain reports. Delahnie Bain, Reporting Lot […]
In celebration of women’s month, the Center for Community Resource Development, held an open house today. While it is gender inclusive, the NGO has been successful in attracting women, mostly single-mothers, to join its community-based development program. The women are training in a number of areas and some have since started their own small businesses. […]
The U.D.P. government won seventeen of the thirty-one divisions throughout the country in last week’s general elections. Prime Minister Dean Barrow indicated last week that he would mull over the configuration of new ministers and ministries. This afternoon at the NEMO conference room in Belmopan, the PM was flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, […]
At a first glance it appeared that the PM placated his critics when he appointed Liselle Alamilla as a minister. Her appointment would secure a second female minister and her conservation background as the director of Ya’axche Conservation Trust would mean that environmentalists would receive a senator and a minister that would support them. But […]
According to the prime minister, the four senators are U.D.P.s. Senator Charles Gibson was selected to be Minister of Public Service and Elections and Boundaries. Gibson is a career public officer and is well known in the Capital. But more so, the fourth senator appointed as minister is well known farmer, orator, and independent thinker, […]
While Prime Minister Dean Barrow was putting the final touches to his Cabinet, the People’s United Party met at Independence Hall. The opposition party has still not conceded the elections because of alleged Election Day irregularities for which it has filed three petitions in court. The P.U.P. is blaming its defeat on Mark Espat and […]
When the House meets next Wednesday for the first time in this term, there’s going to be a new speaker. That was revealed among other appointments that were announced today. That presentation included the other U.D.P. senators and the Cabinet Secretary. Dean Barrow “There are some other appointments that I can disclose at this time. […]
The elected representatives were not the only people holding their collective breath to see if they would be doled out responsibilities in the government. The Chief Executive Officers (C.E.O.) for the ministries also waited and listened if they would continue to hold their posts. In most of the redesigned ministries, C.E.O.’s remained the same, however, […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow took the oath this morning for a second term of office. The ceremonies were brief at Belize House in Belmopan where the Governor General Sir Colville Young administered the oath. The GG, in offering congratulations, told the Prime Minister that his victory was not for the party but for Belize. The […]
Abelardo Mai handsomely won the Orange Walk South division for the P.U.P. on March seventh. But in less than forty-eight hours, many reports, text messages and calls went across the country with one common message that Mai was locked up in a Chetumal jail because of an illegal weapon. The rumors started when the newly […]
Hundreds of spectators turned out early this morning at the banks of the Macal River to witness the launch of the annual Ruta Maya River Challenge that has become a staple of the March ninth activities. At seven this morning, the bugle sounded; more than seventy teams paddled away to Banana Bank, the first stop […]
The first of March marked the start of Women’s Month. This year it is being celebrated under the theme, ‘Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures’. For the entire month, the Women’s Department is carrying out a series of activities geared towards celebrating the achievements and highlighting the need for inclusion of women. At the start of their […]
The annual kite festival dates back as far as 1975, but support for the event has dwindled over the years. It’s a Belizean tradition that Bowen and Bowen is hoping to revive through a partnership with Benny’s that was formed last year. The two companies have collaborated once again to make the kite fest more […]
There is finally a woman in the House. Three women: Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Patty Arceo and Carolyn Trench Sandiford, entered the race for the general elections. All were fielded by the People’s United Party. Attorney Balderamos Garcia, edged out Michael Hutchinson, her contender in Belize Rural Central, to become the only elected woman representative. It […]
