High schools from across Belize District converged at the Gateway Youth facility near the Gwen Lizarraga High School in Belize City for the launch of an innovation challenge by the Ministry of Education. The ministry in collaboration with Price WaterhouseCoopers and Peace Work International are inviting the schools to come up with a creative project […]
The public hearings of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration have moved into high gear and today under oath, a bombshell was dropped from an unexpected corner. In the first six sessions of the Committee, from the end of November to the end of January, not counting holidays and other breaks, just three witnesses […]
Castellanos went on to accuse immigration officers of treating ‘civilian’ officers like herself as ‘intruders’ at the Department and even cannibalizing their own who were doing the right thing. She added that efforts by Maria Marin as Acting Director, among others, to clean up the Department were undercut by the lack of support from the […]
While the cases of Won Hong Kim and the eight visa foils are dominating recent headlines, there was no shortage of scandal at the Immigration Department that necessitated immigration officers being taken before the Public Service Commission for various offenses. At today’s hearing, Teresita Castellanos charged that the Department made recommendations for pursuing such matters […]
The second witness to appear at the Senate Special Select Committee this afternoon was George Reynolds. He is entering his twenty-seventh year with the Immigration Department and in 2013 was the Port Commander in charge of Immigration Services at the Department’s Belmopan headquarters, in charge of visas and other temporary permits such as for students […]
As a senior man in the Immigration Department, George Reynolds saw his share of important people coming in and out – even a Minister or two. But he told the Senate Special Select Committee that he personally saw little of them in his area and their interventions played a role. He also commented on the […]
As we reported earlier, the Senate Special Select Committee has called multiple witnesses on several occasions for public hearings in the past few weeks. While there have been rescheduling of witnesses due to various circumstances, only one invited witness, Immigration Clerk Ady Pacheco, has been unable to attend due to complications of pregnancy, and no […]
Is this the end of the line as far as the matter is concerned? Chairman Salazar said the Committee is considering its options and has not ruled out litigation, although the details are to be worked out privately. But how will this impact any findings of the Committee in relation to the pair and can […]
If you are a driver who uses the Cinderella Plaza area, you may just want to pay attention to avoid an accident waiting to happen. Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley was taken to task today about those traffic lights that are not functioning, specifically at the heavily trafficked intersection. The Mayor wasn’t too pleased with […]
But the mayor had positive news about the streets…If you are living in the south side divisions of Port Loyola, Lake I and Collet; you can expect to see some street works happening in your area. Mayor Bradley told us that cementing of streets will continue but these will be reinforced with some tar work. […]
In sporting news…for the first time, a Belizean now leads the Central American Table Tennis Federation, or CONCATEME. He is Arturo ‘Tux’ Vasquez, who was elected at the general assembly of the Federation in Guatemala City last Friday, February tenth. Vasquez is currently president of the Belize Table Tennis Association and with his presidency joins […]
For about eighteen months the Belize City Council and its partners have been working on a gateway monument on North Front Street just below the Swing Bridge. Well, that project was officially opened today with a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of two plaques. This project segues into a bigger plan that the City announced […]
It has been more than a month since PASA informed the Solid Waste Management Authority that they would not be carrying out anymore works at the transfer stations and the regional sanitary land fill at mile twenty-four. While this is a matter between Central Government through the Solid Waste Management Authority and PASA, the Belize […]
The Youth Apprenticeship Program got a boost today with a donation that will go a long way in providing jobs for at-risk youths in the city. At the program headquarters on Youth for the Future Drive, a number of apprentices happily received the donation made possible through the CAPS project, between the Government of Belize […]
Healthcare is everybody’s business. The national referral hospital has been encouraging the private sector to invest in the K.H.M.H. Well, Atlantic Insurance has stepped up and retrofitted a room within the medical ward. The private room has been transformed into a recovery room and will hopefully bring in revenue for the hospital. News Five’s Duane […]
Today, the Ministry of Labour held an inauguration ceremony to reactivate the labour advisory board, tri-partite body and the national child labour committee – made up of members from government agencies, the Belize chamber of commerce and the unions. These committees were formed a couple years back but they never quite functioned as they were […]
A handful of protesters headed to the steps of the law firm, Courtenay Coye LLP, on A Street this morning as the United Democratic Party heats up its campaign against Senator Eamon Courtenay. Under the banner of an ad hoc, C.O.L.A.-styled group known as Belizeans Against Lord Ashcroft and Courtenay (BALAC), they were there to […]
The target of the protestors’ ire returned to his office just before they arrived. He had been at court for an unrelated matter and spoke briefly in response to the idea of the protest. Having been on the frontlines a time or two himself, he appreciates the importance of free speech and free will, although […]
The Government and the United Democratic Party are on a campaign claiming that Senator Eamon Courtenay is a textbook case of conflict of interest since he sits on the senate for the People’s United Party and represents the Ashcroft Group of Companies as its attorney. But Courtenay today cited many cases, including that of the […]
Courtenay says that the Crown Proceedings Amendment Law, which was passed at the same time as the Central Bank International Immunities Law, is not only unconstitutional, but a direct attack on his profession. Two lawsuits have been filed against both pieces of legislation. Courtenay explains that his firm is counsel in one of them, on […]
On Monday during the People’s United Party’s press conference, the party’s legal adviser, Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck, gave reporters a primer on the issue of legal immunity. As he explained, the new legislation passed by the Government concerns enforcement of the judgments, and for the most part have no effect as the U.S. Foreign Sovereign […]
In a release issued last Friday, government claimed that Courtenay aborted the senate inquiry to travel to Washington on another case against Belize even though an important witness was to testify. The case in DC was in relation to the Universal Health Services (UHS) loan from the Belize Bank. While addressing government’s claim, Courtenay says […]
But when all is said and done is the senator being used as a scapegoat to deflect from the major financial problems of the country, including a proposed increase in taxes that is to come in the new budget? Courtenay says that the people must not be distracted from the real issues the country is […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow is headed to New York City again on Superbond business. The Government last week extended the time for response to its consent solicitation offer to February twenty-fourth, 2017, four days past the due date for the interest payment due on the current iteration of the U.S. five hundred and thirty-seven million […]
The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Doctor Carissa Etienne, is on a working visit to Belize since Monday. She has been meeting with a number government officials, as well as with Senior Ministry of Health Officials and various stakeholders. As a part of her visit, Belize signed the country cooperation strategy on […]
