A total of sixteen grenades have been discovered and removed from the streets of Southside Belize City. Most have been without incident, but there have been three explosions, two of which produced fatalities. More than eight years after the first instance of violent and criminal use of a grenade on Mayflower Street, Belize City, the […]
Rebecca Rath is among ninety delegates from countries all over competing for the crown of Miss Universe. Only once has Belize been able to make it among the top ten was in 1970’s, Rath hopes to break and improve that record. But the challenges for the girl from Dangriga are immense. Tonight, she is in […]
The House of Representatives held its first sitting of the New Year in Belmopan today. The session continued through the afternoon with extensive debate on the amendment to the Referendum Act. We’ll have that coming up, but the first order of business was the installation of a new speaker. Nurse Laura Longsworth, president of the […]
Absent for this first sitting of the House of Representatives in 2017, was Cayo South area representative Julius Espat. He has not seen the halls of the National Assembly since he was forcibly removed after being suspended on August twenty-sixth. But it is now a new year, and while no one will ever forget the […]
The House introduced six new Bills and read four others held over from the last meeting. The most important of them is the amendment to the Referendum Act, which proposes to lower the threshold for validity of a referendum to take the Guatemalan claim to the ICJ, from sixty percent of registered voters participating to […]
Debate on the amendment was fierce and robust. Members of the Opposition focused on other issues that need to be addressed before any referendum is considered, such as a re-registration of voters, reaching out to the Belizean Diaspora, and settling outstanding issues such as the Sarstoon Protocol. But the most important, and, by some views, […]
In the context of the discussions on the amendment to the Referendum Act, a nearly quarter-century old piece of legislation that once split the United Democratic Party was brought back onto the stage. The Maritime Areas Act was passed under the second administration of the late George Cadle Price after then-President of Guatemala, Jorge Serrano, […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been consistent in opposing payment of arbitration awards to the former B.C.B. Holdings and Belize Social Development Limited in respect of action over the Settlement Deed and Accommodation Agreement. The Government did not participate in the original arbitration hearings and when B.C.B. tried to enforce their award in Belize, the […]
The Prime Minister pointed out, surprisingly, that in Belize all the cases he has resisted with regard to arbitration awards, the Government has won. But what has been the economic cost? It has been much more than we won, according to Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, who spoke to reporters while the House was […]
Back to the House…the Immigration Department has been seeking a new home, and the owners of Chon Saan Palace in Belmopan have stepped forward to offer shelter. It is not lost on anyone that the President of the Senate and owner of the building, Lee Mark Chang, made the multi-million offer to G.O.B. months ago. […]
Harvest Caye, the exclusive island property owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines in the South of Belize, continues to be a sore point for some tour operators, who complain that they are being cheated out of customers who believe they are calling in Belize City instead of at the island. They have also complained of heavy […]
While inside the House, the amendment to the Referendum Act was thoroughly debated, outside a small group of protestors also had their say. A protest against the amendment was organized by the Belize Territorial Volunteers. While the numbers were small, the message was strong against the amendment and taking the unfounded territorial claim for resolution […]
It is widely speculated that the budget for the new financial year will contain increase taxation due to the current economic crunch. The country is in recession and facing debts that grow by leaps and bounds. Today at a protest outside the National Assembly, B.P.P. Leader Patrick Rogers, who is a professional accountant, provided some […]
After years without a functioning Integrity Commission, on Thursday, a group of seven Belizeans was formally appointed with a mandate to scrutinize declared statements of assets and liabilities of elected persons, in the fight against corruption. Belize Progressive Party Leader Patrick Rogers says that he expects the Commission will identify those politicians who “commit crimes […]
Are the multi-beam and sea seep survey done once and for all? We can confirm that the activities have been cancelled – but what we don’t know is if it means that there is no possibility of this kinda of proposed activities in the future. Earlier this week the Ministry of Economic Development issued a […]
If you haven’t done any of your health checks for the New Year, Saturday may be a good time to start. The Belize Family Life Association is hosting its first health fair for 2017 off Albert Street on Church and Bishop Streets. There will be health information, routine testing and even games. We spoke with […]
Rebecca Rath arrived in Manila, Philippines earlier this week and has been busy already. Since landing, she has met the other delegates and attended press interviews as a part of the journey to the Miss Universe crown on January twenty-ninth. The Belizean beauty ambassador has been sharing snippets of her activities in Manila – including […]
Seven Belizeans were formally appointed to a body that has been under increasing scrutiny in the fight against corruption. The Integrity Commission, established under the 2007 Prevention of Corruption Act, is to examine, without fear or favour, the declared statements of assets and liabilities of persons in public life, primarily those who are elected. But […]
Nestor Vasquez’s appointment to the Integrity Commission proved to be one of the most controversial for several reasons. He was nominated in his role as a chartered accountant; but his certificate of membership in the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a requirement for appointment, was expired as of 2009. An additional concern was that he was […]
You may remember the parliamentarians from the People’s United Party visiting the office of the Integrity Commission on September nineteenth, National Service Day, to submit their declarations, although no members had been named at that time. In doing so, they avoided a three-thousand dollar fine handed to persons in public life – that is, members […]
In his interview with the media, Attorney Kareem Musa told reporters that the matter of Immigration scandal is one that is still very much relevant. He said that while his client Francis Fonseca was sued for defamation – he never directly named Hulse to be responsible for what happened in the Ministry – but that […]
President of the Belize Tourism Industry Association, Osmany Salas, was elected on Tuesday by his peers as the thirteenth member of the Senate. He was expected to be sworn in by Tuesday, January seventeenth. The Commencement Order, however, signed by Prime Minister Dean Barrow in October allows that the relevant sections of the amendment to […]
Three separate arbitration awards, given to Belize Social Development Limited; Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited and Newco Limited totaling up to one hundred and twenty million Belize dollars including interest, have the Government in a serious headache. While G.O.B. has steadfastly resisted paying the awards, which they call the fruit of P.U.P. corruption, they are not […]
The National Committee for Families and Children has reacted to a story we aired on Tuesday on leaked sex videos posted on social media involving participants who appear to be minors and somewhat inebriated. As we pointed out, the videos were shared by hundreds over the weekend. NCFC says the release of the sex tapes […]
Belize’s Permanent Representative to the O.A.S., Patrick Andrews, has assumed the Chairmanship of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States. The career banker-turned-ambassador received the gavel representing the council’s power from outgoing chairman Selwin Charles Hart of Barbados. During his statement, Ambassador Andrews pledged that he would work to advance Sustainable Development for […]
