In a letter sent to the President of the P.S.U. by Financial Secretary, Joseph Waight, the union is told that if it continues to reject the proposal, the prime minister will use the power of his office. Waight says that the PM will proceed to advise the Governor General to amend the Public Service Regulations […]
According to the Prime Minister, the ministers will be giving up fifty percent of their entertainment allowance, which is a monthly sum they receive to host international guests as well as their thousand-dollar telephone monthly allowance. But do ministers actually spend a thousand dollars on telephone every month? We asked the union leaders today. […]
As we reported on Friday, former Prime Minister Said Musa was hospitalized after a mild stroke on Thursday night. The seventy-six-year-old For George Representative continues in the hospital tonight. His son Kareem, who is the Caribbean Shores Area Rep, posted to say that the former PM is in good spirits. While the Musa family is […]
And there is trouble at the border points. Up north, the Mexicans don’t want him, and the Belizean authorities won’t let him enter his own country. Tonight Guillermo Foreman finds himself stateless, stuck at the border with Mexico. He made his way to the Belize/Mexico border after leaving the USA and says he has been […]
An American national was busted up north for entering Belize illegally over the weekend via the Corozal Free Zone. According to police, the man was intercepted while attempting to make his way through a hole in the fence of the compound. He was immediately detained and taken into quarantine where he managed to escape from […]
Tensions ran high this morning across the western border, in Melchor de Mencos, where Guatemalan drivers blocked the bridge. While the borders remain close, cargo is allowed into the country. Since the crisis started, the process is that routinely, a nurse would check the drivers for COVID-19 symptoms, if there are none then the drivers […]
At the top of the newscast, Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero shared that Belize has contained its first wave of the COVID-19, but the number of cases are increasing in the region. Despite the fact that everyone is now required to wear a mask and practice physical distancing, the risk of a second […]
Doctor Manzanero says that it’s not likely that they will recommend for an opening for the borders. As you know, Belize is the only country in Central America with no active cases of COVID-19. During today’s webcast, one viewer asked if we can expect to see the borders or the airport open by July of […]
And on the topic of testing, the Central Medical Lab will not be doing daily COVID-19 testing, with the country’s first wave contained. Director of Health Services Marvin Manzanero outlines when tests will be conducted and what’s the future of the CPR testing. Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services “To date, we have […]
A doctor was criminally charged in the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court on Friday. Doctor Fausto Alvin Pineda of Benque Viejo del Carmen was arrested and charged for ‘Engaging in Private Practice, While Prohibited from Doing So.’ Pineda works at the San Ignacio Community Hospital, but also runs a private practice and he was found to […]
In a separate, but health related matter, the Belize Dental and Medical Association also called on the Ministry of Health to look into a case of what they deem victimization of a doctor employed at the Southern Regional Hospital. The B.M.D.A. says that they have received a report that a medical doctor was being transferred […]
During today’s Ask the Experts webcast, Lizette Bell of the Policy, Planning and Project Management Unit provided a list of funding and donation committed to Belize for COVID-19. The total expenditure, according to Director of Health Services, is about six million dollars, two thirds of which was drawn directly from government. The Ministry of Health […]
May ninth is recognized as European Union Day and this year the occasion highlighted the impact that the novel coronavirus is having on Europe and other countries that enjoy bilateral relations with the union. To commemorate Europe Day 2020, the Head of European Union Delegation to Belize, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska and Minister of Foreign Affairs, […]
Two major issues occupied the prime minister’s press conference today. The dismal state of the economy and the deadlock with the Public Service Union are both pressing matters. The government is broke, not one penny has come from the International Financial Institutions and revenues to the treasury have plummeted in March and April. So Prime […]
While government’s monthly operating expenses sit at roughly ninety million dollars, the steep plummet in May will leave a sixty million dollar deficit. In the context of cuts being made in the private sector and elsewhere in the public sectors, PM Barrow says that the Public Service Union is being rather unreasonable since others are […]
To further emphasize make the point that the P.S.U. is being irrational by rejecting government’s proposal to waive increments, PM Barrow says that when the economy rebounds other public sector workers will not be receiving monies that they have since relinquished. Conversely, the P.S.U. has proposed a deferral which would mean that government would still […]
Following the PM’s press conference, the Leader of the Opposition John Briceño made comments on the dismal state of affairs. While all are expected to make sacrifices, given the economic crunch caused by COVID-19, Briceño says there are many areas, other than salaries, where the government can apply cost-saving measures. The exercise entails looking at […]
The threat of an amendment to the existing Public Service Regulations looms over the Public Service Union as a last-ditch effort by the Minister of Finance to get public officers to surrender their increments. While the P.S.U. contends that the prime minister does not have the legal authority to make a one-sided decision regarding that […]
A letter from the Ministry of Finance to the Public Service Union, earlier this week, Financial Secretary Joseph Waight first sounded the ultimatum that the PM can well proceed to amend the Public Service Regulations to forgo the increments of public officers for the fiscal year starting April first, 2020 and ending March thirty-first, 2021. […]
Since the beginning of the week, there has been an ease on restrictions of the state of emergency and the businesses are reopening except for places such as casinos, gyms and restaurants. Briceño, a businessman himself, sees the need to spur economic activity, but says it has to be measured to prevent the re-emergence of […]
Government is out of cash in the treasury and debt will continue to grow as government looks to borrow and borrow to meet its wage bill and other obligations. Briceño, in a one-on-one interview with News Five, asserts that for twelve years the government has mismanaged the country and its finance and now a heavy […]
Well wishes flowed today for the quick recovery of former Prime Minister Said Musa and sitting Area Representative for Fort George Division. The former PM is recuperating after a mild stroke that landed him in the hospital overnight. The seventy-six year old started feeling discomfort in the afternoon on Thursday and was taken to a […]
Belize is nearing the end of the twenty-eight day incubation period since the last publicly reported confirmed case of COVID-19. While we prepare to breathe a collective sigh of relief and anticipate further relaxation of regulations under the existing state of emergency, we are not completely out of the woods. Monday officially marks the end […]
Doctor Fausto Alvin Pineda of Benque Viejo del Carmen was arrested and charged for ‘Engaging in Private Practice While Prohibited from Doing So. Doctor Pineda works at the San Ignacio Community Hospital but he also runs a private practice in the west. Pineda reportedly issued three sick leave forms to police officers through his home […]
The opening up of the country for Belizeans to move freely to other local destinations can start as early as next week. But that brings about the question of a pending date when the country will officially reopen for overnight and cruise tourism arrivals. There is a possibility that visitors can begin arriving as early […]
