Joining the younger Courtenay on the roll are Magistrate Carlon Mendoza and two young attorneys out of the Marine Parade Chambers founded by Godfrey Smith. Hector Guerra is from San Ignacio and has a passion for helping the poor and underprivileged. Zahira Flores is originally from Big Creek in the south but has practiced all […]
It’s now official: there are no challengers to People’s United Party leader John Briceño or indeed any others on the unity slate for the National Executive. Today, at four p.m., was the deadline for nominations for all available positions on the National Executive with the exception of the Secretary General, Chairpersons of the Regional Caucuses, […]
On November first, at the United Nations General Assembly, the Cuban Government will yet again table a resolution entitled, “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.” The embargo by the U.S. goes back almost sixty years; Cuba says the embargo is causing the obstruction […]
Did members of the Government boycott the Public Accounts Committee meeting set for Thursday? The Belize National Teachers’ Union believes they did. The meeting was the first opportunity to question Auditor General Dorothy Bradley on the 2012-2013 Audit Report, but it turned out that two of the sitting ministers came down with ‘pink eye’ or […]
Is Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Harvest Caye crippling the tour operators of the Fort Street Tourism Village? President of FECTAB, Tom Greenwood, says that the NCL ships have taken away about thirty percent of the tourists who arrive at the Belize City Port. Here’s how Greenwood describes the reality on the ground for his members. […]
But Greenwood says that tour operators are also hurting from other decisions made by Government agencies. The FECTAB President made a call to the stakeholders involved to save what he says is an already collapsed cruise industry. Tom Greenwood, President, FECTAB “What happens to us outside? Luckily we have a way of getting our […]
On Thursday night, a Facebook post went viral and the Ministry of Health and Statistical Institute of Belize were in the middle of it. One Facebook user alleges that a woman in a white van who claimed to be from the ministry approached her mother to take a blood sample. She wrote that the individual […]
A proposed loan by the Social Security Board to the Belize Airports Authority is making the headlines tonight. The said loan is to finance construction of the Caye Caulker Airstrip Runway. Tonight, S.S.B. Chair Doug Singh says the Investment Committee has yet to consider the application before it even gets to the main S.S.B. board. […]
In Friday’s House meeting, Prime Minister Dean Barrow said that the amount being asked for was four million dollars and that the Board had yet to consider it. Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia told reporters days before that winning contractor Imer Hernandez has already been advanced funds; though he did not say from where. In […]
Since the confirmation of the incumbent United Democratic Party’s slate in August, the announcement for the unveiling of the People’s United Party slate in Belize City has been hotly anticipated. The press was able to tease details from Briceño during this afternoon’s press conference, such as the name of the mayoral candidate, who he confirmed […]
By far, C.E.O. of Belize Telemedia Limited Rochus Schreiber’s salary and benefits, amounting to more than seven hundred thousand Belize dollars, is the most paid to anyone in that role in Belize. In fact, even ministerial salaries are beneath that amount. Opposition Leader John Briceño raised it in the House on the occasion of the […]
The battle over custody of the three surviving Cannon siblings continues in the Family Court. They are the younger siblings of the late Faye Lin Cannon, found dead with severe trauma at a San Pedro resort in July. Initially questioned about the death of the child, the siblings’ adoptive parents, David and Anke Doehm, were […]
The Court of Appeal concludes its business for the current term on Friday, but one of its judges is facing a fight to keep his job. Recently appointed Franz Parke continues to face criticism over his lack of judicial experience and ties to Prime Minister Dean Barrow and shortly before his appointment, P.U.P. Leader John […]
While Social Security dominated this afternoon’s press conference, the first issue raised by P.U.P. Leader John Briceño was crime, which has dominated this week’s news as it has many weeks. And the solution could be on his way back very soon. Former Southside Commander Chester Williams, according to Briceño, is slated for a return. But […]
The recent decriminalization of a small quantity of marijuana for personal use is not unique to Belize. In fact, it follows a similar model that has been implemented in Jamaica where a greater amount of two ounces, the equivalent of fifty-six point six grams of cannabis, has been permitted for individual consumption. According to Kamina […]
Along with decriminalization is a broader conversation of legalizing the marijuana industry as a viable contributor to a country‘s Gross Domestic Product. That prototype would be similar to a model that has been implemented in Denver, Colorado where significant economic growth has been recorded, following legalization of the drug. Kamina Johnson-Smith, Foreign Minister, Jamaica […]
A session of the Public Accounts Committee during which Auditor General Dorothy Bradley was scheduled to appear, was called off earlier today when four U.D.P. ministers who sit on the working group failed to show up for the meeting. The scheduled sitting would have seen the auditor general responding to questions about irregularities described in […]
The Caribbean’s judicial officers have for the past few months been consulting on an issue of region-wide importance. With an increase reported in sexually-based offences, particularly here in Belize in the cases of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse and similar offences, there are more persons left vulnerable and subject to stigma and discrimination, not to mention […]
Tonight, my colleague Marleni Cuellar is in San Francisco, U.S.A. where she is attending the tenth World Conference of Science Journalists. Marleni is teaming up with Channel Seven’s Courtney Weatherburne and fellow team members Tameka Lundy and Deanya Knowles of the Bahamas. The team is participating in the international forum on science journalism as a […]
The Ministry of Health released the 2016 Annual HIV Statistical Report and the numbers show that there were fewer persons infected than in 2015. As in previous years, the report shows that not as many men were tested, but even so, more men were HIV positive. The Ministry of Health says that while there were […]
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital has had to suspend elective surgeries because ten days ago, it reported that there has been a shortage of available blood due to a limited blood supply and restrictions imposed by the Blood Bank of the Ministry of Health. Tonight, we can tell you that the Ministry is being accused […]
The spike in violent crimes across Belize City, as well as allegations of state-sanctioned killings as a possible solution to the rampant homicides that have gripped the Old Capital, has raised serious concerns among the citizenry. This is in light of allegations of an extrajudicial assignment to be undertaken by a special unit of the […]
The Ministry of Works signed a contract with Italian consultancy firm Politecnica for a feasibility study and detailed designs for the upgrading of the coastal road. Politecnica is the same firm consulted for the rehab of the Haulover Bridge. For the coastal road, the consultancy fee is nine hundred and ninety-five thousand U.S. dollars or […]
In contrast to the debate in the House of Representatives which centered on the salary of its C.E.O., the Senate’s debate of the International Banking (Amendment) Bill focuses on Belize Telemedia Limited’s efforts to obtain a loan for the Internet to houses broadband program, costing thirty-five million U.S. dollars. It intends to obtain a portion […]
An amendment to the Immigration Act proposes to create a new class of persons with legal immigration status in Belize. As the name suggests, temporary residency supposes that holders who are active in Belize but maintain other residences and legal statuses would be allowed to claim Belizean-ness for as long as they wish without having […]
