In Wednesday’s newscast vice president of Oceana in Belize, Audrey Matura, lashed out at the prime minister for being disingenuous in respect of the seventeen thousand signatures collected to trigger a referendum on offshore oil exploration. Matura went as far as saying that having agreed to a referendum, it is now undemocratic for the P.M. […]
We have been reporting on the precarious financial situation of Belize Electricity Limited and whether or not there will be blackouts. The issue of its nationalization was dealt with squarely by Prime Minister Dean Barrow today. B.E.L. has been unable to keep current with payments to suppliers, primarily the Comision Federal de Electricidad to which, […]
While the P.M. waits for B.E.L.’s Lynn Young to sit with him at a meeting on Friday to find out if Fortis will invest more into the company, others won’t have to wait to hear from the P.M. The Chetumal Street squatters held a small demonstration in Belize City on Tuesday morning. They want land […]
The weekend brawl in the parking lot of the Princess Hotel and Casino is far from over. It left three men injured and it’s soon to spill into the courts. On Monday we reported on Rodney Lino and Patrick Menzies version of the events that happened early Sunday morning. Their account started with an accidental […]
But the focus of the incident centers on a woman who was either bumped into or harassed. Well, the woman who walked out of the club and interacted with Lino and Casimiro also spoke to the media today. She preferred to remain off camera and while sitting in a darkened studio, she related what happened […]
It was not one of the biggest protests, but COLA and Belizeans for Justice stepped up pressure on the government today on a wide gamut of issues from the recent eviction of squatters to the expulsion of Marcel Cardona and the troubles in the transportation industry. The protesters did the talk and walked the walk […]
Not far away at the Michael Finnegan Market, things were also heating up. For months, there has been a myriad of problems that have pitted vendors against Belize City Councilor, Phillip Willoughby who has responsibility for the markets. Some have been ironed out, others persist and new issues keep popping up. When we headed out […]
The embattled chairman of the Belize Bus Owners Association, who was accused of not consulting with his membership before accepting an offer on bus routes for the west, stepped out today. Claude Frazer, who remained under the radar in the aftermath of a countrywide transportation shutdown on May twenty-seventh, today joined forces to oppose the […]
Time is running out for Belize Electricity Limited as its arrangement with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (C.F.E.) of Mexico, which supplies about seventy percent of the country with power, is maxed out. Massive and rolling blackouts can arise if B.E.L. is unable to make regular payments to keep its eight million dollar debt to […]
In the last week of April 2011, two American citizens took their own lives in the Jewel. Michael Virgin, a firefighter was known to be depressed, and he hung himself inside a hotel room on April twenty-sixth. The other man, Scott Meinke was a fugitive from justice and when the cops in Punta Gorda caught […]
When two Belize City residents, a deacon and a small business owner decided to visit a local entertainment center on Saturday night, they hadn’t a clue that it would end up in a shooting incident, as well as a severe beating at a family home; all allegedly at the hands of the Police Department. According […]
The Michael Finnegan Market Vendors are unhappy with the new configurations implemented by the Belize City Council. The street vendors who normally block traffic along the canal side have been moved and the wholesalers have been relegated to sell their produce on a side street. Last week Deputy Mayor Phillip Willoughby said that the new […]
Evicted squatters, backed by Belizeans for Justice and COLA, staged a protest, blocking the Belcan Bridge after their houses were destroyed on Wednesday morning. On Thursday Yolanda Schakron, who was on the frontline, got the criminal treatment at the Queen Street Police Station, but after processing no charges were levied. COLA’s Giovanni Bracket also received […]
While the poverty stricken squatters are demanding alternative land or housing from the government, surprisingly, a large corporation is also calling on the government to help with its financial condition. Belize Electricity Limited is facing the possibility of countrywide blackouts. This morning’s blackout that hit the nation, however, was due to birds that built nests […]
BEL’s CEO Lyn Young has made it clear that an increase in electricity rates would alleviate the cash flow problem of the company. The government has made advanced payments mounting to four million dollars to assist BEL. And though the P.M. concedes that at least half of the country would be without power on a […]
Wholesalers operating along Hiccatee Street near the Michael Finnegan Market are up in arms over the enforcement of regulations by the Belize City Council to restrict the sale of produce outside of regulated hours. Upon relocation from West Canal prior to the opening of the new market, vendors had agreed to sell fruits and vegetables […]
It is more than twenty-four hours since seventy-five persons were left homeless when the police demolished houses from land they have squatted on in Lake Independence where construction is taking place to link that area to Chetumal Street in Belama. The affected persons including infants, school children, women and men bolstered with support from Belizeans […]
After seeing the unfortunate conditions of squatters televised on Wednesday following a pre-dawn operation in the Fabers Road Extension that destroyed their homes, the Women’s Issues Network has stepped in to lend assistance to the displaced families. Today, the organization visited with the area known as Gungulung and offered food for the day. According to […]
Yolanda Schakron was at the frontline when squatters marched into the city and blocked the Belcan Bridge. Schakron is an outspoken member of Belizeans for Justice, who has been forthright against the police and corruption in the department. During Wednesday’s civil unrest, Schakron clashed with the police and this morning when word came that she […]
While the support from the Belize Bus Association (BBA) appeared to have been based on solidarity with fellow protestors, there was also another motive. One spokesperson for bus operators, Patrick Menzies, accompanied the BBA president to the police station this afternoon to support Yolanda Schakron. As a reference point, Menzies did not mince words when […]
Belizeans for Justice’s, Yolanda Schakron, was not the only person on the Belcan Bridge who was informed about an arrest. The cops sent out letters to several activists about their conduct on the Bridge. Late this evening Giovanni Brackett received his letter. His case is somewhat peculiar as he wears many hats. Brackett serves as […]
Sadie Vernon, it’s the city’s high school that has been on the media one too many times either embroiled in the middle of a controversy or the teacher and administration are at odds. Tonight they’re back in the news. This morning shortly after ten, Darrell Humes, President of the PTA says he visited the school […]
But while that’s the President of the PTA’s side, Kendis Ferguson visited our studios to give his account of what transpired. Ferguson says that he was unable to submit the grade book because he didn’t have it at school. He told News Five that he went to the principal’s office where Humes threatened and attacked […]
For the second time in five days the government has come under intense fire. On Friday, the bus owners paralyzed the northern and western highways over runs taken away from established bus owners and given to a new company owned by a highly placed party supporter. This morning at the crack of dawn, police descended […]
At the top of the news, we showed you the confrontation between the security forces and squatters who were supported by Belizeans for Justice, COLA and others. The plight of the squatters started back in March; due to their quest for land they settled in the Fabers Road Extension area that will eventually link with […]
