Belize - Belize News - Channel5Belize.com - Great Belize Productions - Belize Breaking News
Home » Economy Featured People & Places You are currently browsing entries filed in: Economy Featured People & Places

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Outstanding at Lands Department

Speaking about land, Flowers says that the government is prepared to cut the salaries of public officers when there are hundreds of millions of dollars in arrears and taxes that have not been collected at the Ministry of Natural Resources. So is there an option that the Briceño administration can look into?   Dean Flowers, […]

Union Alleges Well-Connected Persons Owe Taxes

Flowers also commented on reports that well-connected individuals owe taxes to G.O.B., but they are not held to the same standards as regular business people. He says the Prime Minister needs to read the regulations.   Dean Flowers, 1st Vice President, Public Service Union “The Prime Minister said the Belize Tax Services calculate tax arrears […]

Hotel/Resort Guests Cancelling Reservations

As the situation becomes more volatile and the unions threaten with strike action, international tourists have become wary of their travel plans to the Jewel.  And it is already being reflected at some resorts and hotels across the country.  The Easter weekend saw record number of tourists arriving in Belize, surpassing the figures of 2019.  […]

B.H.A. Prez Calls on Unions & G.O.B. to Resolve Impasse

The B.H.A. President Ted Tejada is appealing to both government and the unions to return to the discussion table to resolve the impasse, because it threatens to further cripple the economy and the country, which is already in a fragile state.   Ted Tejada, President, Belize Hotel Association “The country is in financial problems right […]

Athletes Want to Train for Tournaments

While changes to Statutory Instrument number forty-three of 2021 extending weekend curfew hours is no doubt welcomed by some, there has been a swift response from the sporting community, many of whom are outraged they are still not being factored into the relaxing of COVID-19 guidelines.  Casinos and gambling establishments are now allowed to open, […]

Athletes to Protest on Friday

Codd says some athletes are so incensed they are planning a protest in front of the Princess Casino. He says that the sporting community wants to send a clear message to the Government of Belize about how serious they are about their disciplines.   Bryton Codd, National Team Athlete “Right now the athletes are very […]

Frose Brothers Allegedly Defrauded of $2 Million Investment in Commerce Bight

A pair of siblings came forward today with a bold claim that they have been swindled out of a two-million-dollar investment in Commerce Bight.  Brothers Abraham and Heinrich Frose are local shareholders in Recological Systems Limited which was founded in 2018.  The company was established primarily for the purpose of offshore oil exploration near Dangriga.  […]

Is Former Dangriga Area Rep Involved in R.S.L. Fiasco?

The new principals of R.S.L., a company out of Houston, Texas, known as SeaOne, have reportedly entered into a power purchase agreement with B.E.L. for the generation of electricity from Commerce Bight.  It’s an investment that is said to be worth fifty million U.S. dollars.  R.S.L.’s country representative is Breandon Raymond.  According to Indira Mejia, […]

$50 Million and No Country Office Says Mejia

According to Mejia and the Froses, R.S.L. was granted a twenty-five year lease for Commerce Bight by the outgoing administration just two days prior to the November eleventh General Elections.  That lease, she says, is under review by government.  Furthermore, Mejia asserts that R.S.L. does not have an office or a bank account in Belize, […]

Learning in Times of Disaster

Children have a right to an education, even in times of emergencies. Today, UNICEF in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Organization facilitated a training with fifteen disaster shelter managers. As a part of the training, participants were taught how to identify areas where continued learning in disaster situations can be facilitated.  Participants reviewed the […]

The Pod Squad: Belizeans in Podcasting

Our grandparents got their news and information from Radio Belize and the Beacon Newspaper, the next generation benefitted from independent television stations and more varied radio and newspaper choices.  Today’s young people tap into social media and live stream as citizen journalists.  But somewhere in between, connecting the past, present and the future of Belizean […]

Belmopan City Council Faces Evection from City Hall

As extraordinary as it sounds, the Belmopan City Council is facing possible eviction from the Belmopan City Hall, and all three additional City Council structures on the property.  News Five’s Paul Lopez has more on this dramatic turn of events.   Paul Lopez, Reporting News Five has learnt that the National Bank of Belize has […]

Is the B.N.T.U. Preparing to Strike?

On Tuesday, you heard that the Public Service Union has put G.O.B. on notice of a trade dispute. Their work-to-rule campaign has already started as an initial form of industrial action. Well today, News Five confirmed that the Belize National Teachers Union ran a poll of its membership and the results are in. They too […]

Nurses Association of Belize Ready for Industrial Action If….

…and the teachers are not alone. Today, the Nurses Association of Belize told G.O.B. its members stand ready to support joint unions’ position on government’s salary cuts and other cost cutting measures.  In fact, they have been poised and ready to respond before the budget was presented on Friday.  News Five’s Andrea Polanco has more […]

Casinos Reopen on Friday, Still No Date for Borders Reopening

Don’t expect to be able to go to Chetumal any time soon. That was the word from the Prime Minister today during his tour of the Karl Heusner Memorial. Despite a recent change in government, a decision to reopen the borders has not been finalized as the Briceño administration continues to monitor the situation in […]

S.I. Regulations to be Relaxed?

The Statutory Instrument which has been extended several times during the COVID-19 pandemic expires on Thursday.  The S.I. restricts movements, imposes curfew times and determines which businesses or public activities can resume, yet no new information has come out to tell the public whether or not the curfew will be extended or any other changes […]

MFA Sets the Record Straight on Corona Reef

On Tuesday, environmental activists Giovannie Brackett and Wil Maheia spoke out against government, following a joint release issued by the Ministry of Blue Economy, the Fisheries Department and TIDE last week, in respect of the Corona Reef.  Brackett and Maheia argue that TIDE researchers should not seek permission from Guatemalan authorities to conduct scientific surveys […]

Minster for Indigenous People Comments on Barranco Village Land Dispute

In Tuesday’s newscast, we looked at Garifuna communal lands and a dispute involving Barranco Village which claims people from Midway, a predominantly Maya community, are developing Barranco village lands.  However, Midway Village is on a list of Maya Villages that falls under the Caribbean Court of Justice’s Maya Land Right’s concession order. Nonetheless, it appears […]

Grocery Bag’s Value to be Slashed

The Government of Belize is stretching the three million dollars that the Prime Minister will be allocated in the 2021/2022 budget for the food assistance program. A single grocery bag that was valued at ninety-five dollars in November of last year may be cut down to seventy-five dollars, according to Minister Dolores Balderamos Garcia. The […]

National Flags Half-Mast for Prince Phillip

All national flags in Belize will be flying at half mast as a sign of respect on Saturday, the day that Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will be buried in England.  The Governor General Sir Colville Young asked the Prime Minister to order the lowering of the flags and for church bells to toll […]

Ministry of Human Development Signs Partnership Agreement

The Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous Peoples Affairs and the Love Foundation signed a partnership agreement this morning. One of the first issues they will jointly tackle is human trafficking. At today’s signing ceremony at the Hub Resource Center in Belize City Minister Dolores Balderamos-Garcia provided further details.   Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister […]

P.S.U. Serves Notice of Trade Dispute to G.O.B.

The Public Service Union officially served the government with its notice of a trade dispute on Monday, following a poll of its membership after the government’s 2021-22 budget presentation.  The dispute comes on the heels of government’s intent to freeze increments and slashing salaries by ten percent for three years despite protracted efforts by the […]

Lookout for Industrial Action from Unions

While strike action is highly anticipated when the twenty-one-day period expires, first vice president of the Public Service Union, Dean Flowers says that a work-to-rule campaign, as an initial form of industrial action, has already taken effect. He says this must occur because the unions see this as a fight against economic injustice and a […]

P.S.U.: Public Sector Spending Drives Economy

But with the state of the economy, what are the options available? Dean Flowers says that public sector spending has been driving the economy for over the past decade under the Barrow administration.  He explains how the decision on public officers’ salaries and increments, as well as other cuts to government purchasing, will have ripple […]

Are “Offensive” Ads against Unions, Being Paid by Taxpayers?

Is the People’s United Party going on the offensive with the unions? Last week, three advertisements were released hitting out at the unions about their positions on the cost cutting measures. Those ads went so far to label the union leaders’ decisions as “political.”  Today, P.S.U. first vice-president Dean Flowers spoke out against the attack, […]