Prime Minister Dean Barrow is off on personal leave. He left the country on Easter Monday, April seventeenth and returns on April twenty-third. During the Prime Minister’s absence, the Hon. Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth, Culture and Sports will act as Prime Minister.
The Belize National Teachers’ Union meets in convention beginning on Wednesday in Corozal Town. The unions use this medium to discuss usual union business for reporting to its membership such as financial reports and talks about the education system. Recently though, attention has been focused on the three-cornered race to succeed Luke Palacio who is […]
Indigenous women from Belize participated in a three day symposium in Trinidad earlier this month. Cristina Coc, Cynthia Ellis-Topsey, Annelita Garcia and Sandra Miranda, along with Selene Solis of the ISCR, attended the “Indigenous Geographies and Caribbean Feminisms: Common Struggles against Global Capitalism” symposium. They brought together Indigenous and other women in the Caribbean to […]
That’s the good news, but thirty-nine year old Eldon Williams, an unemployed man of San Pedrito area of San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, has been charged with the rape of a seventeen-year-old student. On Easter Sunday morning, the student and her mother told police that she was sleeping on a couch inside the living room. […]
The move to bring together various Belize City gangs to discuss a possible peace treaty is being facilitated by the Belize Police Department, as well as the Youth Apprenticeship Program, an initiative led by Diane Finnegan. Over the years, the wife of the U.D.P. area representative for Mesopotamia has played an integral role in enabling […]
On Wednesday evening, the Government of Belize, through the Ministry of Finance, dismissed any suggestion of manipulation by senior management of the General Sales Tax Department of audits carried out by lower-level employees. The Government disclosed a letter from Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, addressing a senior G.S.T. officer from the south who questioned if any […]
Since breaking news of imminent transfers within the Eastern Division jurisdiction a few weeks ago, there has been speculation whether ACP Chester Williams’ relocation to Belmopan is politically motivated. The commander of Eastern Division South will be assigned to a desk job at the Professional Standards Branch, which many believe is a demotion of sorts, […]
ACP Edward Broaster is moving on up. It was announced over a week ago that he is taking over as the Commander of Operations, a promotion that will see him move from Regional Commander of the Rural Eastern Division where has been for the last two years to the Capital City in a position that […]
For the past several months, there has been a backing up of silt in the Yabra Canal. The congestion has not only become an eyesore in the area, but it is also hindering fishermen from coming in and docking their boats. Residents in the neighborhood also complain that along with the silt, garbage and other […]
And from the Canal to old tires and other breeding grounds for mosquitoes – Willoughby says they held a meeting on Wednesday with the Ministry of Health and they highlighted the importance of doing some much needed cleanup – they will start with tires that are at the entrance of the City on the George […]
Stakeholders in the Fort George Tourism Zone are pushing back against efforts by the Belize Tourism Board and Belize City Council to regulate traffic around the Zone, out of the Tourism Village, and into the Memorial Park, where millions of dollars have been spent in upgrades. Add the efforts of the Council to collect trade […]
Ten dollars a pound! If your jaw dropped when you heard that price for retail of whole fish this Holy Week, be assured, ours did too. In fact, unconfirmed reports in some quarters suggested that fish were going for as much as fourteen dollars a pound. Nonetheless, eating fish on Good Friday is one of […]
At this time of the year, Belizeans, like millions across the world, celebrate the Easter season according to their beliefs and their religious denominations. It is said to be the most important Christian holiday and Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday is celebrated as the day that […]
The official authorities have been very handy for tips to Belizeans to have a safe and happy Easter weekend. Earlier this week, we had the point of view of chief emergency medical technician for the Belize Emergency Response Team, Javier Canul, who will be hoping not to have anything to do on this long weekend. […]
In an interview with News Five, B.T.B.’s Karen Pike addressed the persistent reports of persons working inside the Tourist Village warning away cruise ship tourists from buying from vendors outside the village or even walking on Belize City streets due to fear of crime. Now while Belize City does have its crime hotspots, the old-world […]
While many Belizeans are on their way to their vacation spot to spend the Easter holidays, is the Christian tradition being lost to secular activities? Earlier today, a symbolic artwork of Jesus was erected on the Saint Martin De Porres Parish compound. News Five spoke with Father Matt Ruhl about the message for the Holy […]
A truce is in the making among rival gangs in the City. Going into the Easter holidays, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, whose work in community policing has been bearing fruits, brought gangs together, today. It is not the first time that a truce has been tried, but Williams hopes that this time it […]
As we mentioned, ED-South Commander Chester Williams has played a critical role in bringing the gangs together and negotiating a truce. While the noble attempt is nothing we haven’t seen before, the initiative must be attributed to the respective leaders. According to ACP Williams, the idea was borne out of a mediation held earlier this […]
The Ministry of Education confirmed this afternoon that the million-dollar honorarium promised by the Government to non-striking teachers will not go in on time. This is because several school managements have not submitted their list of teachers who attended school for make-up days in January and did not strike with their fellow teachers in October. […]
In the B.N.T.U.’s convention, Senator Elena Smith, Troy Coleman and Mario Mesh are vying to replace retiring three-term president Luke Palacio. Smith has the highest profile and is seen as the strongest candidate and she is outspoken against the government. Senator Eamon Courtenay believes that the million-dollar bonus is being used to influence teachers to […]
The condemnation of the Government’s plans has been widespread, from business to civil society to activist organizations to all major political organizations apart from the U.D.P. So what happens next? Eamon Courtenay, not normally one for rabble-rousing, told us today that the honorarium issue is serious enough that a campaign of civil disobedience – though […]
B.T.L. employees across the country staged a walkout this afternoon in protest of what is being reported as a refusal to properly address a two-pronged labor issue with the Belize Communications Workers Union. In a communiqué released to members of the B.C.W.U. on March twenty-fourth, the executive of the union informed that it is aware […]
This past week has not been a good one for cops; in separate busts they have been captured on cell phone video with contraband goods up north. They are not the only violators, at border and check points, loads of items are confiscated routinely as contraband goods. So what happens to these goods? Today, we […]
As many as four police officers have been placed on interdiction for their alleged involvement in the contraband of goods. The unprofessional conduct of the police officers has left the Department reeling for some good news in the midst of the illegal and unethical activities that officers of the law have been engaged in. An […]
Alvarine Burgess first came to national attention on this station as the “whistleblower” that exposed Minister Edmond Castro’s involvement in visa recommendations for Chinese nationals. She won a defamation case in the Supreme Court after the Minister withdrew the claim following extensive testimony that vindicated her position. She has since resumed a quiet life, but […]
