Home » Economy Miscellaneous People & Places
You are currently browsing entries filed in: Economy Miscellaneous People & Places
Since last week, some restrictions have been eased on the countrywide state of emergency and many businesses, including services provided by the municipal government, have resumed operation. Town and city councils have been closed for almost six weeks and the revenue stream became a slow trickle. Today, we asked Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner, about […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Mayor Bernard Wagner Cautiously Optimistic About Revenue Stream
Now, before COVID 19, on a monthly basis, the council collected about three hundred thousand dollars from the head tax received from the tourism industry. But that too disappeared when the industry when into a standstill contributing to the council’s financial crunch. We asked the mayor if the council is able to meet its commitment […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Will CitCo Be Able to Make Commitment to Municipal Bondholders
The number of persons who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 is in the thousands, though the exact number is still out there. For sure, close to eighty-three thousand applied for COVID-19 Unemployment Relief. The Oversight Committee of the Unemployment Relief has approved about forty-five percent of the applicants to date. Here is an update […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on More Applications are Approved and Accepted for Unemployment Relief
Attorney Audrey Matura finds herself at the end of a very stern letter from the Court of Appeal. Matura is the attorney for Gas Tomza Limited, Southern Choice Butane, Zeta Gas and Belize Western Energy Limited, the companies which are in a legal war with the Government of Belize over the monopoly National Gas Company. […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Audrey Matura Presses Court of Appeal for Written Decision
The state of emergency remains in full force throughout the months of May and June. Every week there is an update from the police on the number of persons who are arrested for curfew violations. But what happens when the police misinterprets the law? In this case, we are talking about persons travelling on motorcycles. […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The Keyword is ‘Household”
Police officers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight, enforcing the regulations of the state of emergency. You see them stopping vehicles and making sure that the law is adhered to or you see them ensuring that business establishments and individuals are complying with the curfew. The face masks are now part of their […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Belize City Council Donates Over $9000 Worth of Masks for Eastern Division
Earlier you heard the San Ignacio Mayor saying he was cutting down expenditures by reducing staff due to the financial crunch. At City Hall, except for sanitation workers, staff was sent home with half salary. Even as things begin to pick up at the council, Mayor Bernard Wagner says that they are still operating with […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Belize City Council Working on Skeleton Staff, Reduced Salaries
The Belize Police Department has mounted check points at various heavily trafficked points to monitor the movement of people across the country. Since the ease on restrictions last week, there has been an increase in traffic as people returned to work and businesses reopened. The main thoroughfares in the city are experiencing an explosion and […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Belize City Traffic Department Monitoring Movement
For almost six weeks, Belize District residents had to carry out online transactions for their traffic needs. From insurance, to the inspection and licensing of motor vehicles and even the renewal of driver’s license, these had to be conducted online. While that virtual service was available during the COVID-19 crisis, many did not update their […]
Written on May 6, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Full Services Resume at the Traffic Department in Belize City
Neighbouring countries in the north and west, Mexico and Guatemala, are recording an increase of COVID-19 cases. With Belizeans illegally crossing the border, the possibility of a more lethal second wave is looking like a real possibility. Guatemala has recorded seven hundred and thirty cases with forty-six cases in the Peten region. In the state […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on 23 Persons Die of COVID-19 in Quintana Roo
The full force of the law unexpectedly came down on Body 2000 this morning. The popular gym, located on Coney Drive, closed during the state of emergency and is not among the list of businesses that can yet reopen. But this morning, shutters were down when police dropped by and found five persons inside the […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Crime,
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Body 2000 Shut Down, Six Persons Charged for SOE-related Offenses
So a member of the police team says the building was shuttered and locked and they got no answer from inside. Neal and the other five persons charged also have their own version of what transpired at Body 2000 this morning. But Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says that the gym was in fact in […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on ComPol Williams Says Exercise was Taking Place at Body 2000
As of May first 2020, importers of liquefied petroleum gas—Gas Tomza Limited, Southern Choice Butane, Zeta Gas and Belize Western Energy Limited—cannot import butane gas into Belize. That responsibility belongs now to the National Gas Company and the LPG importers are currently locked in a legal battle with the government over the importation license. The […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Has National Gas Company Commenced Commercial Operations?
Matura also raised questions about the owners of the National Gas Company. The company is a Public-Private Partnership with the Government of Belize holding twenty-five percent of shares. The list of shareholders includes a U.S. based company called B.W.T. holdings while the locals are M & M Limited, G.A. Roe, Gilly Canton, and Bowen and Bowen. […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Foreign Company Controls Majority Shares of National Has Company
Earlier this year, a state of emergency was instituted on the south side of the city allowing for the imprisonment of gang members due to the spike in violent crimes. After reviving an old truce, the gangs were released from prison and have generally kept the peace. Today, rival gangs on Police Street were out […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Gang Truce Amid COVID-19, Police Street Unites
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams addressed the concerns arising from the lack of social distancing at the water taxi terminals and on their vessels. While these can now operate, today another picture surfaced on social media of a water taxi filled to capacity with passengers leaving San Pedro and heading into the City. Even though […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Social Distancing in Water Taxis Causing a Headache for the Police
ComPol Chester Williams was in San Pedro today where he met with Coastal Executive Officer, Superintendent Chris Noble and his team of officers as well as with San Pedro Mayor, Daniel Guerrero. Over a week ago, regulations put in place by the mayor, violating the national state of emergency. As you know, central government balked […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Is San Pedro Residents, Businesses Complying with S.O.E. Regulations?
The use of face masks is now a must for persons venturing in public during the next thirty days of the state of emergency. That has created a whole new industry for enterprising Belizeans so that everywhere you go, the masks are now part of the norm. But can the masks contribute to the deterioration […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The Mandatory Use of Face Masks
The cost of not wearing a mask in public can cost you five thousand dollars – it is a hefty fine to pay when reusable masks are going for as low as five dollars in some places. But there are still some who are not adhering to the new law. Today, when we spoke with […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Are You Wearing Your Mask in the Public?
This morning, UNICEF handed over a thousand boxes of food and hygiene items to the Ministry of Education. The hampers are for underprivileged students who are enrolled in the government’s primary school feeding programme. News Five was at today’s handing over ceremony. Here’s the story. Andrea Polanco, Reporting There are primary school students who […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on UNICEF Gifts 1,000 Care Packages to Feeding Programme Recipients
Fifty families in Toledo are set to receive food hampers. The generous donation is being sponsored by OCEANA Belize through the Belize Territorial Volunteers. The food packages are to extend some help to families in Barranco, as well as others in the wider Moho and Temash area of Toledo. BTV Leader Wil Maheia has packaged […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on OCEANA & BTV Partner Up to Provide COVID-19 Relief for Toledo Fisherfolk
The Ministry of Human Services also received a donation today. It came from the International Office of Migration comprising of three hundred hygiene kits to benefit vulnerable populations. The packages contain items such as toilet paper, soap, body wash, loofah, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrush, all essential items for personal hygiene of women, men and children. […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The International Office of Migration Makes Donation to Ministry of Human Services
And going back to the south, when we spoke with Wil Maheia today he shared that one of the restrictions has been very tough for residents to deal with in that southern coastal community. Maheia says that there are many families who depend on fishing to feed their families – these are persons, he says, […]
Written on May 5, 2020 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on New Laws Restrict Cultural Practice of Fishing in Coastal Communities
This morning, there was far more movement in the city and around the country as almost all businesses are now open and so did government offices and statutory boards. But there is still a curfew in place, from eight p.m. to five a.m. and eight p.m. to six p.m. for minors. But under the new […]
Written on May 4, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The Reopening of the Economy; Business Not as Usual
The reopening of some businesses started on Saturday morning following the announcement of the new statutory instrument. Many stores in downtown Belize City opened their doors after weeks of closure but no sooner than they had begun serving their customers in the downtown area of the City, police officers arrived to shut them down. There […]
Written on May 4, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on ComPol Explains Confusion with Stores Being Shut Down on Saturday
