Within twenty-four hours after she was charged with the murder of her husband, Deshawm Ramirez was set free of the charge. The Seine Bight couple had a tumultuous marriage known for domestic violence and on May twenty-six, a public argument ended violently and fatally for Glenn Ramirez Junior. Tonight, there are fresh details of how […]
On the heels of damages done to a Mayan mound in San Pedro, tonight there is another disturbing report from the Institute of Archaeology that another Maya monument, this time up north, is under threat. The Institute says it is monitoring the situation in Louisville, Corozal, where a site which is also named Louisville is […]
Last month a fire was set that wiped out the Belize Audubon Society’s Education Center in Crooked Tree. Someone deliberately set the structure on fire just hours before the village celebrated its annual cashew fest. Audubon lost everything in the blaze. The organization hasn’t always had a friendly relationship with some members of the village. […]
As we told you on Wednesday, Paul Ku got a Belizean passport with the approval of then-Immigration Director Ruth Meighan and then-Minister Carlos Perdomo, despite issues with his application flagged by retired Immigration Officer, Therese Chavarria. Ku was sponsored by naturalized Belizean, Rina Chiu Hsiang Lo, who has been described in the Senate hearings as […]
The hearing concluded with some fireworks, as Business Senator Mark Lizarraga pressed the former Minister on a particular application for one Mohamed Mohamed Khalil Owemer, a Saudi/Palestinian national who applied for nationality through marriage but was not qualified. Perdomo said he looked for the specific approvals of the Officer in Charge of the Section and […]
Senator for the Churches, Ashley Rocke, has told News Five that he believes he has seen enough of the public testimony for the Senate Special Select Committee. He also opined that public officers are as much to blame as ministers of government for the breakdown in services at the Immigration Department. We spoke to two […]
Driving in Belize can sometimes be a hassle, considering that each municipality and the Department of Transport have its own system for licensing and any cooperation is informal at best. But the Government of Belize wants to change that, and today its Central Information Technology Office and the Ministry of Finance signed a memorandum of […]
The Children’s Agenda 2017-2030 was launched today, but signed on May fifteenth between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The document is a road map that outlines the development of children and adolescent from ages zero to nineteen for the next fourteen years. The agenda, according to the National Committee for Families […]
Today across the world was observed World Oceans Day. It is a day set aside to highlight the importance of oceans and the need to protect and preserve the natural resource. On Wednesday, OCEANA Belize took journalists for a trip off the waters of Punta Gorda Town. Local journalists got the opportunity to visit the […]
The heat has been very intense over the past few weeks and it is only the beginning of summer. You’ve heard the message countless times about staying hydrated and out of the heat. For those who needed added motivation to increase their water intake, tonight’s healthy living looks at the potential dangers of excessive heat […]
The Senate Special Select Committee called former Minister of Immigration and Nationality and National Security Carlos Perdomo as its sole witness today. Perdomo presided over the Ministry during the early part of the period under investigation, 2011-2013. He was questioned about various issues under his tenure, including the case of Paul Ku, who was granted […]
But how would ministers handle request for assistance with passport and nationality applications? Perdomo said he told the auditors that in his time, he would send a note inquiring about the reason behind a delay for a particular application and address it to Director Ruth Meighan, but that he did not consider this interference – […]
The “culture of corruption” has become a theme of the Senate Inquiry. Various Immigration officers have come forward to acknowledge that the department was largely at the mercy of ministers of government and their lackeys who pretty much got what they wanted at double speed. Even those not involved have said they stay far away […]
The minister’s pen proved mightier than any sword in the Immigration Department. Testimony from various officers showed that a minister’s recommendation, whether for passport, visa or nationality, carried significant weight with the Department’s workers, even if the rest of the application was flimsy at best in terms of the truth. The nationality report by the […]
In the wake of the momentous August 2016 decision by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin to overturn Section fifty-three of the Criminal Code, godly Belizeans raised outrage at what they perceived as a nation turning away from Christian morality. Church leaders from both traditional and evangelical churches united to present their positions to government under the […]
We asked Bishop Wright whether the fundamental differences between the two sides will hurt the Commission, and whether it was all a knee-jerk reaction in the wake of the Section Fifty-three case which is now being partially appealed by the Government. The Belize Council of Churches still has to produce a final position, and so […]
News Five has been covering reports from Toledo about incursions by Guatemalan farmers in the villages of San Benito Poite and Otoxha. As we told you on Tuesday, the Belize Defence Force has done its investigations but has yet to catch up to the invaders. It must also rely on the Police Department and other […]
According to Requeña, government should not be burying its head in the sand on the issue and that all government agencies should join in to put a stop to the incursions which are taking away valuable Belizean territory. Isani Cayetano “Have you as the area representative had an opportunity to visit these areas to […]
World Oceans Day is being observed on June eighth. It is a day set aside with activities and awareness to honor, help protect, and conserve the world’s oceans. Locally, Oceana Belize is leading the charge with activities to commemorate this day. Today they took the local media on a tour of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve […]
The hurricane season, also known as the rainy season, opened last Thursday which means that there is a serious danger of contracting dengue and zika. The diseases are carried by the aedes aegypti and the aedes albopictus mosquitoes so that conscious efforts have to be doubled to reduce breeding sites. The mosquitoes are active in […]
It is that time of the year to spring into action for the September celebrations. A highlight of the month-long activities is the song competition which seeks to promote artistic expression, national pride and our rich ethnicity. NICH has issued a call for submissions to artists, rookies as well as professionals to enter their original […]
The September Celebrations Committee is also calling for submissions for the theme for this year’s festivities which include the Battle of Saint George’s Caye as well as Independence Day. Entries are invited from persons living here in the jewel or overseas. But there are only two weeks left to present your entry so if you […]
Around seven this morning, a body was found under a tree next to the basketball court and football field in the village of San Narciso in the Corozal District. It has since been identified as that of Ramon Rejon, a resident from the neighboring village of Louisville. Rejon had returned to the village over the […]
Also up north in Corozal, the search continues for a couple who has been missing since Thursday. Thirty-four-year-old Zeidy Orozco and forty-two-year-old Balthazar Lopez were last seen in the vicinity of Corozo Blues, but hours later, Orozco car was found torched in a cane field in the outskirts of Patchakan Village. Search parties have been […]
The Belize Defence Force is under fire tonight. News Five has obtained documents showing invoices for fifty thousand dollars worth of payments of allowances made to members of the team in 2009 when they were Belize Premier Football League champions. But were these men actual soldiers in the Force, or just paid to look like […]
