On Monday, February fifth, the Supreme Court is expected to hear the case of Sunshine Holdings against the B.T.L. Employees’ Trust in a partial continuation of the original Telemedia saga which had been brought in the main to its conclusion last November. Of the over half a billion dollars repaid in compensation for the taking […]
On Tuesday, we reported that a group of former holders of premium annuities with the defunct Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) took an appeal of previous judicial decisions to the Caribbean Court of Justice. When the company folded in 2009, the fifty-four holders of what are known as Executive Flexible Premium Annuity policies were not […]
During U.S. President Donald Trump’s live televised State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, he intimated that American foreign assistance should always serve American interests and go to its friends and not enemies. The comments came in the wake of more than one hundred countries banding against the U.S.’s decision to recognize […]
The combined effort of the Belize Defense Force, the Belize Police Department and the Forestry Department led to the successful location of two park rangers who had gone missing on Monday evening in the Chiquibul. Luis Ramirez and Elroy Villanueva became disoriented and lost their way from a camp at the Caracol Archaeological Site. And […]
The homestretch of the municipal elections race has arrived. As the calendar turns to February, the ruling United Democratic Party is first off the mark with its production of promises and plans should it be voted in for another three-year term. Some believe that the U.D.P. in the Old Capital has little left to accomplish […]
The United Democratic Party currently controls sixty-two of the sixty-seven seats on municipal councils countrywide. Since 2006, it has never gone below a two-thirds majority of such seats. But, might voter fatigue be setting in as the municipalities go to the polls again in a month’s time? Prime Minister Dean Barrow appeared exceedingly confident of […]
And finally from Prime Minister Dean Barrow tonight, the march is on toward his sunset as a political force. With elections due by the end of 2020 or early 2021 and his three-term limit as Prime Minister up, he has decided to leave electoral politics altogether. But since last year, the hints have grown that […]
The shocking deaths of the Oh sisters have galvanized residents from San Jose and San Antonio villages. Together they have organized a Walk for Justice in memory of Cricencia and Josephine Oh. The walk is intended to condemn crime, and appeal for justice, unity and peace in the Toledo District, as well as the country. […]
Back from his end-of-year working visit to his homeland to meet with counterparts in the Mexican Foreign Relations Secretariat, Ambassador of Mexico to Belize, Carlos Quesnel Melendez, hosted the press at the Institute of Mexico in Belize City, to review the work of last year and the projects for 2018. February second marks three years in […]
President Enrique Pena Nieto’s whirlwind visit to Belize for the Mexico-CARICOM summit was a highlight of the local embassy’s year, and planning has begun for a reciprocal visit, as well as the Bi-National Commission reuniting. A topic that will certainly be on the minds of the politicians and diplomats is the United States’ position on […]
There is an important notice tonight for our viewers of Mexican heritage. In five months voters will go to the polls there to elect a President and members of the Chamber of Deputies and Senators. Because Mexico’s constitution sets a single six-year, non-renewable term for the presidency, incumbent Enrique Peña Nieto cannot run for re-election. […]
One hundred and ninety-five City Council employees each received a free piece of land today. Mayor Darrell Bradley says he has been working on this “thank you” gift which will help to compensate and motivate employees to deliver quality service. Bradley says it’s been in the works for two years and so it’s not an […]
The Ministry of Education, members of the Consortium for Belize Educational Cooperation, met today in Belize City for the annual COBEC Winter Symposium. This year, COBEC celebrates thirty-years of existence and used the forum to discuss the strengthening and expansion of tertiary level education in Belize. We spoke with three members of COBEC about this […]
The Ramirez and Villanueva families are breathing easier tonight now that their two loved ones, rangers Luis and Elroy, have been located in the Chiquibul Forest. At about now, Ramirez, we are told, is being transported to the Loma Luz Hospital in Santa Elena, Cayo. The rangers went missing on Monday evening, after setting out […]
On Tuesday night, eleven months after he was elected as the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address in Washington D.C. Following disparaging remarks about small and developing nations and countries such as Haiti, El Salvador and others in Africa as ‘shithole countries,’ the U.S. […]
In respect to the suspension of U.S. visas for temporary workers that came on the heels of the Belize vote at the United Nations, the U.S. representative says that each country is assessed separately. In the region, there are countries that have had no success with convictions for human trafficking, but unlike Belize, have not […]
On Tuesday, we told you about Belizean Denea Joseph who has been living in the U.S. for seventeen years, but is one of one point eight million illegal immigrants who were taken to the U.S.A. as children and remain protected under its Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The Trump Administration says it will wind […]
Now, the State of the Union address is not one that receives extensive local coverage, but as they say, when the U.S. sneezes, Belize catches a cold. President Trump’s address contained matters that are consequential, especially on immigration. The controversial construction of a wall on its border with Mexico as well as limiting the green […]
Belize Water Services Limited has maintained the same rates for water supply since the last full tariff review by the Public Utilities Commission in 2015. But the Commission decided to initiate an Annual Review Proceeding in which BWS proposes more than one hundred and seventy million in investments, particularly in San Pedro, but no change […]
Is faulty wiring the cause of an electrical short at the newly built Civic Center? It is reported that personnel from the National Fire Service responded to a call on Friday night that sparks and smoke were seen coming from an area of the building where a light had blown out. On Tuesday night, another […]
The Statistical Institute of Belize report for December shows both imports and exports down. Belize imported goods valued at one hundred and sixty-seven million dollars or zero point nine percent down when compared to imports in December 2016. According to the S.I.B., this drop in imports resulted from reduced purchases of light fixtures, plastic lab […]
The Public Utilities Commission, or more specifically its members past and present, say they feel hard done by in recent media coverage of a set of documents which purport to show rampant spending since the beginning of John Avery’s tenure as chairman in 2008. Avery today presented what he says is the final independent audit […]
As has been reported, Flowers wrote what is called a “letter of representation” or “management letter” to the P.U.C. to query certain matters based on information given to him. Avery says that the final audit report indicates that several of the issues raised by Flowers, including the matter of credit card purchases, donations and the […]
Avery took particular offense to the spreadsheet listing payments to past and present members of the Commission – a total of four and a half million dollars in nine years, of which he is said to have collected a total of one and a half million, covering salary, travel expenses, gratuity for meeting appearances. Except […]
The Public Utilities Commission bought thirteen and a half acres of property intended to become the P.U.C.’s headquarters at mile four on the George Price Highway in 2011. They paid Thomas Shaw a total of nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars, an average of seventy thousand per acre. That is a price considered similar to […]
