Senator for Trade Unions and Civil Society, Elena Smith, is president-elect of the Belize National Teachers’ Union. She defied the odds following allegations of tampering and interference in the executive election of the Union unseen in its half-century-plus long existence. After a delay by the Council of Management to investigate the interference allegations, the vote […]
A family up north is grieving the untimely death of one of its own. The body of Baltazar Lino was retrieved from a four feet deep well in the outskirts of the village of Progresso, Corozal District. It is believed he was killed by a jaguar. Forty-four-year old Lino’s body was found on Thursday night […]
The impromptu Council of Management meeting that delayed elections also forced the Belize National Teachers’ Union to postpone the hearing and voting on five resolutions presented to the Annual Convention. Discussion eventually took place during the counting of votes. Of the five resolutions two were voted down, both related to financial matters. Of the approved […]
On Thursday we told you about the backlash against the Government’s dismissal of alleged manipulation of audits by senior management of the General Sales Tax Department conducted by lower level officials, such as officer in charge of Punta Gorda Town Elmer Reyes. Reyes wrote Solicitor General Nigel Hawke outlining his concerns, but he was dismissed […]
The fury over photojournalist Tony Rath’s blog continues to burn like wildfire online, where responses to the five-part article are being posted to Facebook in the wake of the lengthy tell-all. Rath has chosen to document his daughter Rebecca’s journey as a local contestant in the Miss Belize pageant to the world stage at Miss […]
What became of the commissioned artwork remains unknown. Sanker maintains that the painting was deliberately set aside in favor of a Pen Cayetano piece and that he personally hand delivered the painting to Rebecca Rath before boarding her flight. Alex Sanker, Belizean Artist “This is actually a print off the original that I did. […]
Ambassador of Belize Joel Nagel remains accredited to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The U.S. attorney was also accredited to Austria and several other European countries, but was dismissed by the Government of Austria for improper promotion of his private business. Nagel is a practitioner of law in […]
A family in the U.S. is suing a local organization over the drowning death of their son. Back in February 2016, fourteen year old Tomari Jackson of Georgia, U.S.A., was in Belize with more than thirty other students – all teens – for a “study abroad learning service” school trip at Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. […]
On Thursday marked seven years since the massive “Deepwater Horizon” oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In light of this day remembered largely by conservationists and those whose lives were affected, the Belize Coalition to save our Natural Heritage took the opportunity to remind the public that Belize’s Barrier Reef System is still largely […]
Central Bank Governor Joy Grant has responded to News Five via email following our story of Thursday night. The Bank in its capacity of registrar of credit unions is moving to liquidate the Citrus Growers and Workers’; Civil Service; Police; and Mount Carmel Credit Unions. In the case of Citrus Growers and Workers, Civil Service, […]
The Football Federation of Belize will hold its tenth Ordinary Congress in June. At that time members will be electing several outstanding positions on the executive, including a president. At the last such meeting, members were unable to decide between current incumbent Marlon Kuylen and Ruperto Vicente after twenty-two rounds of voting. News has emerged […]
Even though the hurricane season begins in June there has been some activity before the start of the season. Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, became a tropical depression almost twenty-four hours after it was formed on Thursday. But it posed no real threat to any landmass in […]
Over the past few days, we have been experiencing unseasonable rains. According to forecaster Derrick Rudon, the 2017 hurricane season will be below average with fewer named storms and hurricanes. Derrick Rudon, Forecaster, National Met Service “The list that… I don’t have the list in my mind but Arlene is the first one off […]
As we told you Senator Elena Smith is the new President of the B.N.T.U. After approximately two and a half hours of voting, almost that much in counting and several moments of angst, the Belize National Teachers’ Union has elected Elena Smith as president. She won with a majority of the vote in a three-cornered […]
But before the announcement of the winner, the B.N.T.U.’s Council of Management had to grapple with a problem unprecedented in its history – the prospect of alleged political interference tainting the vote. For that reason, it brought business to a halt for much of this morning as it deliberated. Discussions were heated, and reports from […]
Today’s convention of the B.N.T.U. saw an appearance from two Belize City activists, Geovannie Brackett of COLA and Raymond Rivers. The Union has had a cordial, if arms’ length, relationship with Brackett’s organization. But while reporting that COLA has a particular preference, Brackett told us that their primary function in San Roman was to observe […]
Information to News Five is that some teachers in the Anglican and Government-managed school systems received as much as five hundred dollars each as their honorarium or reward for not participating in the Belize National Teachers’ Union’s strike last October and for going to the classroom. While that is not confirmed and officially the Ministry […]
Miss Universe 2016, held in Manila, Philippines at the end of January, is now several months behind avid fans of pageantry. The stellar performance of Miss Belize Universe, Rebecca Rath, galvanized Belizeans all over, despite failing to place in the top thirteen contestants. But tonight, there is controversy brewing in the aftermath of a five-part […]
According to the husband and wife couple, they were largely responsible for the organization of Rebecca’s trip to Miss Universe, minus Enriquez’s input as country director. Furthermore, the family claims that Rebecca still has not received a majority of the prizes she won last year during the Miss Belize pageant. On the other end of […]
Two Belize City men have been slapped with charges of “False Pretense of a Police Officer.” Sometime around four-thirty on Wednesday, police were informed that two men were dressed in what appeared to be police uniforms and were acting suspiciously near the Publics Supermarket on Phillip Goldson Highway. The men identified as twenty-two year old […]
As part of the mediation agreement agreed to in February, the Belize National Teachers’ Union agreed to release its teachers to make up lost class time due to the October strike for the first three days of the Easter vacation, and the first three days of July. While it seemed that most schools were already […]
Two weeks ago stevedore Raymond Rivers visited this station with his fellow stevedores to “rail up” over the management of Port of Belize Limited’s seeming mistreatment of stevedores working the B.S.I. sugar barge, which resulted in some scuffles and complaints made to Police. But he got the Port’s attention when the Christian Workers’ Union asked […]
At the start of April, the Central Bank of Belize announced plans to liquidate four existing credit unions. These are the Police and Civil Service Credit Unions based in Belize City; Citrus Growers and Workers Credit Union in Dangriga and Mount Carmel Credit Union, based in Benque. Mount Carmel is easily the largest and longest-operated […]
Just before we went for the Easter break we told you how the Belize City Council was getting ready to start the process to remove the silt backed up in the Yabra Canal which has been causing problems to fisher folks as well as to residents in the area. In that interview, Councilor Philip Willoughby […]
The Pesticides Control Board launched their 2017-2021 strategic plan developed in partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, with support from the U.N.D.P. and the D.O.E. The plan is to help the Board reach a higher level as a modern, more effective organization that delivers quality services and provides adequate coverage to the […]
