Even as news filtered through on Friday of the death of Doctor Cecil “Chubby” Reneau, there were fears for the life of another famous Belizean in the hospital, the “Queen of Brukdown,” Lila Genus Vernon. She had been in treatment for a week for chronic renal failure and family members indicated to us then that […]
Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Church in Belize, the late Most Reverend Osmond Peter Martin, will be laid to rest next Monday, February twenty-seventh, following an official funeral service at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Belmopan. The Church accepted an offer from the Government to make it an official funeral, in recognition of […]
Our news crew is just back from the fields in the west covering the very important story of the plight of local farmers whose livelihoods are being threatened by the importation and contraband of potatoes from Mexico. The crisis in the agriculture industry, according to the farmers is because licenses are being issued to highly […]
It has been quite a week during which well-known Belizeans and friends of Belize died. We have covered the passing of Doctor Robert Horwich, primatologist and founder of the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Bermudian Landing; as well as Arthur Francisco, also known as Mister Pou; and on Thursday, the Most Reverend Bishop Osmond Martin of […]
The Government of Belize has joined in with official condolences to the family, friends and Roman Catholic community on the passing of first native Bishop of the Church, the Most Reverend Osmond Peter Martin. Bishop Emeritus Martin died on Thursday morning at home of natural causes at the age of eighty-six. While he was appointed […]
Turning to economic news…Belizeans await the return of Prime Minister Dean Barrow from New York City, where he is meeting with Belize’s legal and financial team over the Superbond. But it is not looking good for the third restructuring of the superbond and there is a likelihood that Belize will default in the February payment. […]
The Caribbean Court of Justice officially announced today via press release that Attorney Denys Barrow will be joining Belize’s final court of appeal headquartered in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Barrow is the first Belizean to be appointed a judge of the C.C.J. and will be taking on the appointment later this year. Belize […]
While on the subject of justices, himself a top notch criminal lawyer, Attorney Bradley reflected on the state of affairs in the Belize judiciary. Bradley echoed the CJ’s statement at the opening of the Supreme Court in January noting that there is a shortage of judges. Bradley says that hundreds of accused persons are behind […]
Mexico is marking three important anniversaries in this month of February. On the fifth, it was one hundred years since the publication of the Constitution of 1917 during the Mexican Revolution. On the tenth, the Army marked its one hundred and fourth anniversary of formation, also during the Revolution, and the Air Force does the […]
The Mexican Constitution was created in the city of Queretaro and was widely acclaimed for its modern inclusion of a ‘bill of rights’ for the Mexican people. It has had a long shelf life, and has held up through many crises and a changing international landscape. Carrillo tells us that the Constitution is the Mexican […]
The University of Belize has a new president. He is professor Clement Sankat, former Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Sankat was born in Guyana and is trained as a chartered professional engineer. He succeeds Alan Slusher who held the post […]
News Five notes the passing of British international law attorney Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, who died on February eighth. He has represented many countries in land and maritime boundary cases including Barbados against Trinidad and Tobago, Bahrain, Chile, El Salvador, Israel, Malta and Namibia. He served as ad hoc Judge of the International Court of Justice […]
The National Sports Council under the new leadership of Interim Executive Director, Charlie Slusher, and in conjunction with the Queen Square Community has given a facelift to a sporting facility in that south side constituency represented by the Prime Minister. The basketball court, like many other recreational spaces and pitches across the Old Capital, was […]
The Caribbean Local Economic Development (CARILED) project closed off its first phase after almost five years in Belize. The project uses Local Economic Development as a participatory process to bring communities and other groups to form partnerships with the leadership of local government. By bringing together these bodies local economic activities are stimulated, leading to […]
Belize’s first native Roman Catholic Bishop, The Most Reverend Osmond Peter Martin of Dangriga, is dead. He died, at the age of eighty-seven, sometime after three this morning at home of natural causes. Bishop Martin was ordained a bishop in 1982 after entering the priesthood in 1959, and after a short time as auxiliary bishop, […]
Senior Counsel Denys Barrow has been a key Government helpmate in legal cases for many years, but he now appears to be moving on. He has confirmed that he has been selected by the regionally appointed and non-political Judicial and Legal Services Commission to take up an appointment as a judge on the Caribbean Court […]
The Immigration Department has an entrenched culture of corruption and hustling, from the top of the ladder to the bottom. That is what former administrative officer in the Department Teresita Castellanos bravely said at Wednesday’s public hearings of the Senate Special Select Committee. The issue of this culture has been brought up to multiple visitors […]
Teresita Castellanos is a seasoned public officer. She provided scandalous details on Wednesday at the Senate hearings about the rot at the Immigration Department. She says she has been a public officer for thirty years and until she went to the Department of Immigration in 2011, she had said she only heard about the goings-on […]
On Wednesday we told you of the run-in between then-port commander in charge of Immigration Services in Belmopan, George Reynolds, and Patrick Tillett, financial controller of the Belize City Council, at Reynolds’ Belmopan office. Tillett and former deputy Mayor Eric Chang had come into possession of eight missing visa foils, which were later learned to […]
George Reynolds was less circumspect than his former colleague Teresita Castellanos on the issue of a culture of corruption in the Department. He said that as far as his work was concerned he did it and there were no issues. But he does agree that the Department needs specific guidelines and that the higher-ups cannot […]
Belize Emergency Response Team (BERT) is as close to an official ambulance service as Belize has, boasting more than a decade of operation despite recent financial issues. So it came as a surprise to some that a Mexican ambulance from Cancun was seen near the Ramada Princess Hotel, apparently on standby for Mexicans attending an […]
At this station, we want to wish the Queen of Brukdown, Leela Vernon, a speedy recovery. Leela has been hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the K.H.M.H. since last Friday ailing with kidney complications. The Punta Gorda born singer is known for a wide repertoire of Kriol songs, including one widely celebrated for its […]
The Ministry of Agriculture has yet to publicly comment on the issue of rotting potatoes that farmers across the country have been unable to get sold due to competition from Mexican potatoes imported by Belizeans on a weekly basis. But there is an agricultural and diplomatic triumph to report tonight in agriculture: the first shipment […]
Over a week ago, we told you about the discovery of what is believed to be a new species of sharks in Belize. Since 2000, a researcher from the Florida International University has been working in Belize on a number of fisheries projects including the biology of sharks. So, about seventeen years ago the researcher […]
Police Officers, Civilian Staff of the Department and community members were recognized today by the Belize Police Department. Over one hundred officers received awards in different categories as a part of the work they did in 2016. News Five spoke with Compol Allen Whylie who told us why these awards matter to the Police Department: […]
