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In the last few weeks, Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, in a memo to C.E.O.’s of government ministries, suggested that national debt had reached one hundred percent of GDP. The official figure is lower, but not by much. Belize is completing its first year of the re-structured Superbond. Interest payments on that astronomic figure are expected […]
Written on March 9, 2018 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Debt Nears 100% of GDP
Outside the House, the Prime Minister referred to the proposed budget as being a case of ‘steady as she goes.’ But in the case of the new taxes, did he seem to be going back on his announcement on Thursday that there would be no new taxes in the Budget? Barrow doesn’t seem to think […]
Written on March 9, 2018 | Posted in
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Comments Off on New Measures, Including Tax on Data Services, ‘Extremely Mild’
If the Prime Minister sounded somewhat lukewarm concerning the new Budget, Leader of the Opposition John Briceño is downright cold. Offering his first impressions ahead of the debate in two weeks time, he called it lifeless. And he added, playing on an old sobriquet of his opposite number, that it was no glitter and no […]
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Comments Off on Opposition on Budget: ‘Lifeless, Bogus…No Glitter and No Substance’
The Government of Belize’s acquisition of Belize Telemedia Limited was also a feature of the Budget speech. A figure of more than half a billion dollars was widely quoted, but the final figure of four hundred and forty-eight million dollars is all fully paid to Dunkeld and B.T.L. Employees Trust. It was broken down into […]
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Comments Off on The Final Price for B.T.L.
For those worried about imminent increases at the pump, the Prime Minister quickly said that lesser used fuel oils, including kerosene, are the products affected by the G.S.T. re-balance. But with the recent troubles with Petrocaribe shipments, P.M. Barrow is still uneasy about the fuel situation, though he is still willing to work with Venezuela. […]
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Comments Off on P.M. Hopes Venezuela Gets It Together on Fuel
The People’s United Party has won three of nine municipalities during Wednesday’s elections, including Belize City which is considered the most valuable asset of the ruling United Democratic Party, and from where six ministers sit in cabinet. Despite losing a majority of the sixty-seven seats that were vacant, the Opposition has made significant gains in […]
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Comments Off on P.U.P. Going the Right Way, Says Leader John Briceño after Elections
As for the situation in San Pedro, Briceño says that contrary to what the prime minister said on Thursday, that the P.U.P. had signed off on the reconciliation sheet, as well as the final statement of poll, that is not the case. In fact, lawyers are reviewing the outcome in an effort to determine whether […]
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Comments Off on Briceño: We Have Not Given Up on San Pedro
Following the interview with Briceño in Belmopan, the P.U.P.’s legal advisor, Eamon Courtenay, in an interview with Ambergris Today this afternoon, confirmed that the party will take court action on the San Pedro results because of the discrepancy in the number of ballots. Courtenay further says that the P.U.P. is calling for a new election […]
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Comments Off on Eamon Courtenay Confirms Court Challenge
The taking back of the Old Capital by the Blue Tsunami is compared to a repossession of the most valuable timepiece in the prime minister’s prized collection. He is still left with many watches, but none as cherished as that vintage Rolex that gleams on his wrist. That’s because, according to P.U.P. leader John Briceño, […]
Port Loyola area representative Anthony “Boots” Martinez swears he has no hard feelings after Wednesday’s municipal elections victory for the People’s United Party in Belize City. He kept insisting to reporters this afternoon that the election, which the U.D.P. lost in his division, was not a referendum on him, despite the pre-election scandals. Martinez now […]
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Comments Off on “Boots” is Really Happy for City Residents. No, really.
As he alluded to, Martinez is headed to retirement as a four-time area representative and will not seek a fifth term. Whether he goes right away or serves out his term, he says he has not yet decided. But as he prepares to head for the exit, he maintains that he has done the best […]
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Comments Off on Port Loyola Rep Confirms He Will Not Seek Fifth Term, but When Will He Go?
The Budget was not the only major news coming out of today’s meeting in Belmopan. Three amendments to substantive legislation and a new bill were introduced which had to do with crime issues. The Firearms Act is being amended to, among other things, increase and update fines and fees relating to firearm misuse. The Police […]
Written on March 9, 2018 | Posted in
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Comments Off on New Bills Tackle Gangs and Protecting Witnesses of Crime
Going back to Wednesday’s election, Prime Minister Barrow has announced time and again that he is stepping down as party leader and head of government in advance of the 2020 general elections. The municipal vote was the last election he spearheaded for the United Democratic Party. Despite the unexpected outcome in Belize City, the PM […]
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Comments Off on U.D.P. to Make Plans in Wake of Municipal Result
The People’s United Party previously held five seats and following Wednesday’s election, now claims a total of twenty-six, including eleven in Belize City. The United Democratic Party’s shocking loss here in the Old Capital may not so much an indictment of the previous Darrell Bradley city council, as it is perhaps a failure to maintain […]
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Comments Off on Party Leader Admits Downfall Due to Lack of Presence in Key Constituencies
Fifty-three teams paddled away at the start of the annual Belikin La Ruta Maya Canoe River Challenge in the Macal River in San Ignacio this morning. Over the next four days, the fittest teams will cover about one hundred and forty miles ending in Belize City on Monday. The first leg concluded at Banana Bank […]
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Comments Off on First Day of La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge
Reef Week started back in 2013 as an initiative to celebrate Belize’s Barrier Reef through a week of events across Belize. Today, the conservation community launched the fifth staging of Reef Week under the theme “Our Reef Rocks: Protect It; Don’t Neglect It.” The Belizean conservation community spoke of the significant economic and cultural benefits […]
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Comments Off on Our Reef Rocks! Celebrate with Reef Week
Following Wednesday’s momentous municipal elections, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a press conference this afternoon that was chock full of news and analysis ahead of Friday’s budget presentation. We’ll have more on that later on. But first, while the United Democratic Party retained six of nine municipalities, the People’s United Party won three and scored […]
Written on March 8, 2018 | Posted in
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Comments Off on City Goes Blue as P.U.P. Gain Ground in Municipal Elections
Prime Minister Dean Barrow readily admits that the loss of the Belize City Council is a heavy blow to his United Democratic Party, and not one that will be easy to get over. But speaking as much to his supporters, as to the press, he encouraged the party not to lose heart, nor to forget […]
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Comments Off on P.M. Concedes, but Says All is Not Lost
U.D.P. Belize City mayoral candidate Dion Leslie suffered a stunning defeat on Wednesday. The People’s United Party slate, led by political newcomer Bernard Wagner, dealt the ruling party a staggering blow, trouncing them by eleven seats to none at City Hall. Today, we caught up with the beaten politician who magnanimously conceded the loss to […]
Leslie was personally endorsed by both former Mayor Darrell Bradley and many of the upper echelons of his party. His victory at the ITVET grounds seven months ago over Philip Willoughby seemed pre-ordained. But it makes Wednesday’s loss sting all the more, and so Prime Minister Dean Barrow singled out Leslie among the losing candidates […]
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Comments Off on P.M. ‘Bigs Up’ Leslie for Effort
Steady efforts by area representatives Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington and Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez in the Pickstock and Port Loyola constituencies, did not prevent the United Democratic Party from losing considerable grounds in both electoral divisions. While Martinez has declared that he will not offer himself for candidacy in the next general elections, Elrington is optimistic that […]
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Comments Off on Keep Calm on Pickstock, Says Sedi
Minister and Port Loyola area representative Anthony “Boots” Martinez remains under a cloud of accusations concerning his relationship with former caretaker and alleged contractor Kirk Lamb, who says he used Lamb’s credit union account to funnel payments for alleged contracts with the Ministry of Works. Martinez has denied these charges. He is also accused, a […]
Discussions continue at news time in San Pedro, where on Wednesday night the People’s United Party felt they had claimed yet another scalp from the ruling United Democratic Party. But as the night progressed, it was the U.D.P. seven led by incumbent Mayor Daniel Guerrero who narrowly reported as victorious. This afternoon there was an […]
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Comments Off on Controversy Mars Well-Run Election in San Pedro Town
As of news time, a legal challenge to the results is pending. The Elections and Boundaries Department made note in a press release this evening that the result given this morning is not the official result. To be made official, the official forms must be handed in by the Returning Officer and the figures checked […]
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Comments Off on Results to be Challenged in San Pedro…
But if it were Prime Minister Dean Barrow making the decision on a potential recount, the answer would be no. The United Democratic Party leader made a two-pronged attack on the idea of any alteration to the results at the start of today’s press conference. One is that, as already noted by Elections and Boundaries, […]
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Comments Off on …But Not if P.M. Can Help It
