By now, all primary school children have begun to settle into their new classes in the different schools across the country. This is good news for parents as they can now worry a little less about their child’s readjustment. There’s one thing that you may not know about the second or third week of school. […]
Having made concessions on Tuesday for a Senate Select Investigation on Immigration; government has another hot potato in its hands. That’s because the Belize National Teachers Union may be gearing-up to protest in the days ahead. For days, the branches of the B.N.T.U. have been meeting and on Thursday, they will formally announce their course […]
The flyer that the minister refers to was circulated today. The B.N.T.U. makes seven demands for good governance as part of its “Stand Up for Belize Campaign.” As we reported on Tuesday, the Joint Unions Negotiating Team has written to Prime Minister Barrow on its final position as it concerns the salary adjustment. The Association […]
Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse will not sit on the Senate Select Committee to investigate the Auditor General’s Special Audit on the Immigration Department. Both the People’s United Party and the B.N.T.U. have made that demand. But the decision was taken during the meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday. The feeling has been that the […]
Does the Prime Minister have the power to name the senators who will form the Senate Select Commission? That’s what we asked Minister Faber today, following concerns that the PM is not legally authorized to do so. According to Faber, as leader of the executive branch and Cabinet, the prime minister was first to receive […]
He was controversially dragged from the House of Representatives by security forces on August twenty-sixth in a heated conclusion to a battle royal with Speaker Michael Peyrefitte, after being chided for using unparliamentary language. Cayo South Area Rep. Julius Espat insists that he has not been properly suspended from the service of the House. But […]
In other news, the People’s United Party issued a release today condemning the vicious and completely unwarranted personal attacks on Auditor-General Dorothy Bradley. It states that since the release of the Auditor General’s Reports revealing widespread and pervasive corruption at the highest ranks of Government, a shameful and cowardly campaign has been waged against Bradley […]
Twenty-nine year old Raul Medina was met with a spray of bullets at about nine-thirty on Tuesday night at the corner of Central American Boulevard and Helen Middleton Street in the City. Medina, a well-known bus conductor, was heading home when he was cold-bloodedly blasted by a gunman who exited a vehicle. He was rushed […]
Meanwhile, police also have a suspect detained in connection with the weekend murder of seventeen year old Deandre Nembhard. The minor was at a house on Croton Lane, a short distance from where he lived on Nutmeg Street, when a vehicle drove up and a gunman exited and opened fire at a group of persons. […]
Village council elections are just about concluded in the Toledo District where a number of independent slates contested the leadership of their respective communities. In Cattle Landing, a satellite community just outside of Punta Gorda Town, a team of independent candidates led by Carlos Bardalez was victorious at the polls. But despite coming out on […]
The Belize Territorial Volunteers are organizing a first-of-its-kind competition in which kayakers will paddle from Barranco Village to Sarstoon River, circle once around Sarstoon Island and then return to the coastal community. The eco-challenge is scheduled for this Saturday and an open call has been made for interested persons sign up and take part in […]
While the BTV is not too worried about security issues at the border point, participants are not expected to cross over into Guatemalan territory. As far as fishing and illegal extraction of hardwood, there are serious concerns that residents on the Guatemalan side of the Sarstoon River continue to enter the Sarstoon Temash National Park […]
The Prime Minister announced last Friday that the Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber is the chair of what was loosely referred to as a morality commission. That name became the butt of the joke. Minister Faber told the media today that it is in fact the Church/State Commission. The group will look at ways to […]
Outspoken gay rights activist Caleb Orozco has met with Church/State Commission Chairman Patrick Faber to discuss a place for minority groups, including UNIBAM, to be represented on the task force. Will government afford him that opportunity? Here’s what Faber had to say about his constituent. Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister “He made a point […]
In sporting news, there is a major championship tournament coming to Belize next week, in the sport of volleyball. Belize is hosting the International Volleyball Federation’s World Championship qualification tournament for our region from September twenty-fourth to thirtieth. All Central American countries save the higher-ranked Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic are participating. This afternoon […]
The competition begins next week Saturday at the Saint Catherine Academy Multi-Purpose Center on Marine Parade. Belize as hosts faces a tough road to try to reach the top two teams and advance to the Continental Round. The Association has hired Cuban coach Delio Arruebarrena to oversee preparation of the team. He spoke to us […]
Eleven to nil….that is the most embarrassing score of the home game between Police United and Pachuca from Mexico which was held on Tuesday night. By our records, it is the worst ending to any international game played by Belize with now Pachuca edging closer to a place in the 2016/2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League […]
For a second time in five days, the government has had to withdraw its position on two major issues. Last Thursday, the Prime Minister announced it would appeal a portion of the ruling of Section Fifty-Three of the Criminal Code. The original position was not to appeal, but after meetings with the churches, G.O.B. agreed […]
The PM did not offer comments on this major concession following Cabinet today, nor did one of the most outspoken senior parliamentarians Michael Finnegan. While Finnegan pulls no punches as far as sharing his opinions on issues debated in Cabinet, today he was circumspect presumably to avoid preempting the prime minister’s announcement. But he did […]
As we told the composition of the Senate Select Committee is already coming under fire. The Opposition says it is not for the executive to dictate the composition of the Committee. This afternoon, we spoke with P.U.P. Leader John Briceño via telephone from Houston, Texas, where he is currently on personal business. Briceño told us […]
Briceño told us that he is willing to sit down with the Prime Minister at any time to discuss the committee. He also told News Five that the committee should be made up of one member from Government, one from the Opposition and one each from the social partners. According to Briceño, he has not […]
The People’s United Party is also calling for Senator Godwin Hulse, who is Minister of both Home Affairs – which covers the Police Department – and Immigration and Nationality – to give up the former portfolio and not to be considered for appointment to the Senate Select Committee. Leader John Briceño explained that it would […]
And our question for tonight is: Do you believe teachers should be given their salary adjustments? Send your comments and responses using your SMART phones to 8686 or post your vote on our e-poll at channel5belize.com. You can also send an email with your comments to questions@channel5belize.com
Another national issue that is bubbling is the final instalment for salary adjustments to teachers and public officers. This afternoon, Government also announced that a majority of two to one of the unions voted in favour of a delay in salary adjustments until the start of the next fiscal year, 2017-2018. The Public Service Union […]
In the wake of Hurricane Earl and due to the present economic climate, government has been lobbying for a deferral of the third tranche of wage increases. That final adjustment, according to B.N.T.U. President Luke Palacio, was due on July first and is retroactive to the beginning of April. The Barrow administration, on the other […]
