During the first day of the budget debate, which broke Tuesday evening at around six o’clock, Opposition members in the gallery condemned the budget as pure rhetoric, and claimed that it is a not so clever attempt to mask the fact that Belize is in the midst of a recession. One of the last to […]
According to Fonseca, while our debt continues to grow, the economy is stagnant, and that is a recipe for disaster. He toed the Opposition line and assertion that whether it is a matter of public knowledge or not, the country is in recession. Francis Fonseca, Area Representative, Freetown “Debt is manageable in the context […]
Julius Espat, Area Representative of Cayo South and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, joined his colleagues in rejecting the budget presented by the Prime Minister. His focus was on supplementary appropriations. He explained that the figures in the budget presented by the Prime Minister means nothing in real terms. Julius Espat, Area Representative, […]
Espat concluded his presentation by taking a swipe at the Prime Minister, who in a prior session has used the privilege granted by the House to refer to Espat as a pig. The Cayo South Area Representative told the House that Barrow calling him a pig is indeed the greatest of ironies. Julius Espat, […]
And after complaining that Belizeans travelling to the Sarstoon as stalkers, and suggesting that those Belizeans are provoking Guatemalans, Elrington turned his attention to the media. He announced that he will no longer be granting interviews on his own, since the media apparently has an ulterior motive. Fortunately, as we found out, the views of […]
This Tuesday was celebrated across the globe as World Water Day. In Belize, the activities since last week with a two-day water symposium held at the Biltmore Plaza. The symposium linked water to jobs and major companies spoke of the importance of protecting the natural resource, which is under threat. News Five’s Duane Moody reports. […]
A group of women, a majority of whom are stakeholders in the local maritime industry, met this evening at a forum organized by the Belize Ports Authority and Women in Maritime Association of the Caribbean. WiMAC is a regional organization that was founded a year ago to bring women in the sector together. The establishment […]
On March eighth Prime Minister Dean Barrow presented the budget for the 2016/2017 fiscal year under the theme – Stability in the time of change. He claimed that it was a bold statement by a government which had served the people well, and would continue to do so even when faced with real challenges. One […]
Briceño claims that the U.D.P. has deliberately refused to admit that Belize is actually operating in a recession, and there is no sign of the best that was to come but never did. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “The truth of the matter is that for each of the past two consecutive quarters of 2015, […]
The Leader of the Opposition, to bolster his argument of economic crisis, used the figures on employment between 2008 and today. Not surprisingly, Area Representative for Belmopan John Saldivar used unemployment figures during that same period to bolster his argument that the economy was looking good and getting better. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “Since […]
Saldivar, who publicly announced today that he intends to contest for the vacant post of first deputy leader in the U.D.P., boasted that if Briceño’s statistics and assertions are valid, the U.D.P. would never have won an unprecedented third term. He maintained that the people of Belize are still in a very loving, long-term relationship […]
But with all that said, Briceño ended his presentation to kick off the debate by extending the hand of cooperation, claiming that his party is prepared and able to assist the government in tackling issues which affect Belizeans across the board. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “We will help on initiatives that bring meaningful relief […]
In terms of the specifics as related to the Ministry of National Security, Belmopan Area Representative John Saldivar revealed that as it has every year, the budget for the departments under his portfolio will grow. Among other projects this year, Saldivar boasts that the Forward Operating Base will be completed in this fiscal year, thanks […]
Lake Independence Area Representative Cordel Hyde was the third to weigh in on the 2016/2017 budget. It is his first address in the House since elections of November, 2015. In fact, it is his first address in the House in over four years. Representing Lake I, one of the most impoverished areas of Belize City, […]
Hyde claimed that for all the rhetoric surrounding its presentation, and for all the money this government says it has spent, that money hasn’t reached the people who need it the most. Cordel Hyde, Area Representative, Lake I “Life for the elites and the chosen few has been so much better, while life for […]
In the absence of an adjacency zone at the southern border with Guatemala, a protocol on how to deal with civilians and military personnel traversing the area of the Sarstoon River is being developed. That set of guidelines will see input from military leaders on both sides of the geographic divide. While there is a […]
If you’ve wondered why there is no rise in hostility between Belize and Guatemala when illegal hunters are found inside Belizean territory it’s because the adjacency zone clearly demarcates the 1859 treaty line. Such is not the case at the Sarstoon. Commander Jones explains. Isani Cayetano “It doesn’t seem as though there is much […]
The Belize Territorial Volunteers, led by activist Wil Maheia, has come under fire recently for its purported role in rousing hostilities in the south, between the B.D.F. and Guatemalan military. While the group is being blamed in part for agitating an already tense situation, details of a threat assessment documenting those incidents and others have […]
Representative for Collet Patrick Faber spoke at length today, but interestingly the major portion of his presentation did not touch on the Budget for the fiscal year 2016/2017. He instead spent much time on the 2006 budget presented by then Prime Minister Said Musa. It wasn’t exactly clear why Faber chose to revisit a ten […]
Faber didn’t comment on the obsession, but he did take time to revisit the now infamous Petrocaribe-funded pibil and barbecue fest in Corozal. The young Minister has taken flak for using Petrocaribe monies to fund a party trip for Collet residents in Corozal. But as he pointed out in the House today, he’s still sitting […]
In his presentation, Musa took on the deficit in the 2015/2016 budget – a one hundred and eighty-two million dollar gap between revenue and actual expenditure. It’s an unprecedented deficit in the region of five point one percent of GDP, and Musa says that it is the hangover from what he called the bazaar spending […]
A young mother from the Belize District heard the most devastating news earlier this week. After suffering a miscarriage and preparing for the burial of her unborn child, she was told by the Northern Regional Hospital that they could not locate the fetus she had left at the hospital. As she recovers and grieves, Shamika […]
A team from the three arms of the security forces returned to Belize today to a warm welcome. A motorcade through the streets of the Old Capital culminated on Coney Drive for the Belize Protectors. The thirty plus officers from the B.D.F., Police Department and Coastguard participated for the first time in the annual Challenge […]
Road traffic accidents along major thoroughfares are among the leading causes of death for Belizeans. Since the beginning of the year, a number of incidents have been reported and despite all safety measures being put in place, the toll continues to grow. This Easter weekend will see a significant spike in domestic tourism, as families […]
The United Democratic Party held its National Convention in Dangriga over the weekend. The biennial event should have been held in 2015, but that turned out to be a banner year for elections – two bye-elections, one municipal and one general – which caused the official party function to be pushed back. On Sunday, all […]
