On Thursday, TASA responded to what it describes as ‘mischievous allegations’ made by the Belize Federation of Fishers. The B.F.F. is alleging that the current composition of the TASA Board is illegal and been operating illegally since 2016 in contravention of the required legal procedures. But according to TASA, the B.F.F.’s intentions are to destroy […]
We have reported on the grant request of almost two hundred thousand dollars for Paulette Elrington to proceed on study leave even though Elrington is not on established staff with the public service. The P.S.U. has strongly objected to the request for the grant as well as for her to join the public service. More […]
The Ministry of Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, and Sustainable Development is now accepting submissions from the public relating to the use of gillnets in Belize. The conservation society has called for a ban on the use of gillnets, noting that there are more disadvantages than benefits. According to the Ministry, the purpose of conducting this […]
Fisheries Administrator Beverly Wade also commented on the status of the Nassau grouper. Earlier in the week, the Wildlife Conservation Society highlighted a report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature which lists the Nassau grouper as critically endangered. According to the WCS, enforcement on regulations is needed in order to address the problem. […]
As for the proposed amendments to the Fisheries Bill, Wade says that it will be tabled in the House of Representatives in the next couple of months. The bill contains stiffer penalties against violation of fisheries regulations. Beverly Wade, Fisheries Administrator “I know that there is a process for a bill to go to […]
In 2018, fifteen persons were granted refugee status in Belize. Applications are reviewed by the Refugee Eligibility Committee which was activated after several years of dormancy. Dozens of applications have yet to be reviewed and according to Immigration Minister Godwin Hulse, the granting of refugee status to migrants is a sensitive issue in today’s climate. […]
The National Fishermen Cooperative and the Nature Conservancy, along with support from the government, today presented the Tally, an electronic seafood traceability system. Stakeholders of the industry believe that through the Tally System, Belize can build resilience to threats caused by climate change and illegal fishing and promote food security in our region. News Five’s […]
A scheduled blackout for ten long hours affected City residents beginning at Mile two and a half on the George Price Highway. Now, almost everything runs on electricity so the effect led to the closure of businesses as well as at least one government department. The utility company says it was necessary to carry out […]
The case of Dion Zabaneh continues to play out in the news. He is the businessman, who along with his mother, Primrose Gabourel, was taken to court for offenses relating to a property of one point three acres in the Caribbean Shores area, specifically parcel number 4670. Zabaneh and Gabourel were taken to court by […]
The Belize Federation of Fisheries is at odds again with the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association. The B.F.F. fired off a press release on Wednesday to call out TASA’s board for its ‘illegal’ composition. According to the federation, their reps have been removed from the board, which now only has two members. Nigel Martinez of the […]
Tonight political and economic tensions continue to grow in Venezuela. According to online reports, Venezuelan soldiers have blocked a crossing with trucks and shipping tankers ahead of an aid delivery arranged by opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has declared himself interim president. President Nicolás Maduro, who has the support of the army, is not allowing […]
Opposition Leader John Briceño also joined the Public Service Union in condemning a request for advice for a recommendation made on behalf of Paulette Elrington, the daughter of Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington. As we have been reporting, a leaked memo has raised eyebrows because Paulette, who is a contract officer in the Ministry of Foreign […]
Opposition Leader, John Briceño, also weighed in on the concerns raised by potato farmers in San Carlos Village. Farmers have complained that they cannot sell their locally grown, red potatoes because the local market is saturated with imported white Mexican potatoes. On Wednesday, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture, Jose Alpuche, explained that permits issued […]
The Orange Walk Town Council is getting a new garbage compactor truck courtesy of the Japanese Government. The cost for the truck is more than one hundred and sixty thousand dollars and the funds were made available through the Grassroots and Human Security Programme of the Embassy of Japan. News Five’s Hipolito Novelo was in […]
Bishop Martin High School was also a recipient of a financial grant from the Japan Embassy through the Grassroots and Human Security Programme. In 2017, the Japanese Embassy and the school signed a contract valued more than two hundred thousand dollars. The monies were used for the construction of a news concrete school building. An […]
Private developer Dion Zabaneh is free to proceed with filling lot number 4670, after charges against him for infractions that were purportedly committed in defiance of the Environmental Protection Act were withdrawn by the Department of the Environment. In early January, both parties became embroiled in a heated dispute over Zabaneh’s intent to build on […]
A package of allowances and salary to the tune of one hundred and ninety-one thousand seven hundred and twenty dollars annually was requested for approval from public funds on behalf of Paulette Elrington, the daughter of the Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington. Paulette, who has been making that sum while at the United Nations for eight […]
Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington departed the country on Tuesday for Uruguay, along with Ambassadors Daniel Gutierrez and Lou-Anne Burns as well as former O.A.S. Ambassador Lisa Shoman to participate in the international contact group meetings on the situation in Venezuela. The governments of Mexico, Uruguay and CARICOM have proposed the Montevideo Mechanism. According to CARICOM, […]
So while the statement at the O.A.S. by Belize was sanctioned, according to DPM Faber, Belize will not support any type of intervention or interference from any international superpower, such as the U.S. He says that Venezuela has the right to self-determination without political, economic or military interference from other world states. Patrick Faber, […]
On January twenty-sixth, the United Democratic Party’s National Party Council decided that its leadership convention will be held in February 2020. Up to date, there are only two known candidates who have made their political aspirations public. There is Deputy Party Leader Patrick Faber as well as John Saldivar, the area representative for Belmopan and […]
While we had the minister, we asked him about another statement from cabinet colleague Elrington in an interview with this station. When asked to respond to the P.U.P.’s umpteenth call for his removal, Elrington said that the demand was futile. According to Elrington, people very close to the Prime Minister and in the U.D.P. camp […]
In the next few days, a group of attorneys are set to file a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court. The group will be challenging the validity of the Compromis, signed between Belize and Guatemala to end negotiations and take the territorial dispute between both countries to the International Court of Justice for final resolution. […]
The challenge comes less than two months before the April tenth referendum when voters are to decide on whether or not to take the claim to the I.C.J. It’s been eleven years since the agreement was signed, the document went through an amendment and the referendum delinked with Guatemala. Despite a low turnout, Guatemala held […]
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox was in the country last week. He was not on official business for the Mexican government, but held a brief meeting with Prime Minister Dean Barrow and was joined by Mexican businessmen and potential investors. Now, in 2018, Fox was appointed to the Board of Directors of Khiron Life Sciences […]
A group of fishermen from Sarteneja Village says that they are being targeted by the Belize Coast Guard. According to the fishermen, last year the Coast Guard removed them from a small caye they call Sandbore Caye, which is being used as fishing camp sixteen miles south east of Placencia. They say that the Sandbore […]
