In the United States, Donald Trump is the front runner for the Republican Party in the U.S. elections. But inBelize, it is his daughter making the news. Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner are currently vacationing at the exclusive world class Cayo Espanto Resort on San Pedro. Ivanka is six months pregnant with her third […]
An American has come forward to claim the mystery plane which landed at the Municipal Airstrip on October twenty-seventh and was abandoned there. The plane is a US registered Piper PA 34 Seneca Twin-engine aircraft. There was no sign of a pilot or any cargo, and since the plane illegally landed before the facility opened […]
Police had reported, based on the findings of a very preliminary investigation right after the aircraft landed, a flight plan had been filed. That plan had the Piper Seneca routed from Aruba to the Phillip Goldson International on Sunday, October twenty-fifth. Instead, it landed at the Municipal Airstrip two days after, on Tuesday. An intensive […]
The courtroom of Justice Courtenay Abel was overflowing this morning for a special ceremony. The occasion marked the admission to the bar of the first B.D.F. soldier. The proud moment was shared by family, friends and colleagues. Having completed his legal training in the Caribbean, Lieutenant Lionel Olivera, will head a new legal department within […]
On Monday, CWU President Audrey Matura-Shepherd came out swinging in the wake of an amendment to the Essential Services Act. The revised legislation now includes stevedoring as part of services which when interrupted would endanger the lives, health or personal safety of the whole or part of the population. Needless to say, Matura-Shepherd took aim […]
Negotiations between the Christian Workers Union and the country management of CIBC FirstCaribbean are once again at a standstill. On Monday, CIBC issued a release stating that it is officially closing its doors on January twenty-ninth, 2016. That announcement however, did not mention the outcome of the ongoing discussions in respect of an exit package […]
While a consignment of imported rice from Guyana languishes at the port in Big Creek, the back and forth between businessman Jack Charles and the Government of Belize continues. On Monday, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture Jose Alpuche, accompanied by Foreign Trade Directorate, Doctor Leroy Almendarez, appeared on Open Your Eyes to discuss the […]
The last we heard about the Norwegian Cruise Line’s cruise ship port at Harvest Caye in southern Belize was earlier this year when environmentalists expressed concerns that boulders were being dumped on coral beds just off the caye. This was one of the many instances over which the multimillion dollar project came under fire by […]
Supporters of the project cited job opportunities and economic benefits to residents and villages in the immediate area as sound reasons to support the mega tourism project. Director Andrade says that systems are being put in place and that tour guides and operators are being prepared to deal with the expected increase in the traffic […]
There is another proposed docking facility which has gone under the radar. It is at Stake Bank located just seven miles off the coast of Belize City. For over a decade, the Fort Street Tourism Village has been the sole port of entry for cruise tourists entering into the country. The Feinstein Group, which is […]
Call it Community Policing, Christmas spirit or a combination of both – but whatever it is, it brought smiles to the faces of commuters pulled at random off rural buses today. That’s because the officers of the Rural Eastern Division decided to hand out some Christmas cheer of their own – the kind that folds. […]
If you thought that after Sunday’s blunder at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Steve Harvey won’t get to emcee another beauty pageant, well think again. Millions watched as Harvey crowed Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as Miss Universe only to hand over the crown to Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach moments later. Well, as it […]
For the first time, the children in the peninsula have been hosted to a grand Christmas party. As you know, Norwegian Cruise Lines is investing heavily in a tourism port at Harvest Caye so it has partnered with local agencies to give a special treat to the children. Today, they came out in numbers to […]
The home invasion at the house of Lebanese Honorary Consul in Burrel Boom is back in the news tonight. A total of eighteen persons have been charged but the last of eight suspects believed to have invaded the home of Sarkis Abou-Nehra reportedly tried to commit suicide while locked down at the Ladyville Police Station […]
At news time tonight, there is no movement on the three containers of Guyanese rice at the Big Creek Port in the south and likely there will not be any offloading. That was the message from government officials today. On Wednesday night, RC Imports Jack Charles brought in the rice despite objections from local rice […]
With three more days before the Christmas, the containers with three million pounds of rice will not be discharged. Jose Alpuche, the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture maintains that the importation was initiated without a phytosanitary license obtained by the importer. That’s one of the grounds for which the containers of rice are being […]
Fourteen months ago construction of a Coast Guard Forward Operating Base was abruptly halted after public outcry. The base, funded by the US, was contracted out to a Guatemalan firm which Guatemalan workers. Belizeans claimed that fact compromised the security of the military base. Since October 2014, the almost completed base has been neglected, and […]
On Friday, in the wake of a four-day strike by stevedores at the Port of Belize in the Old Capital which brought operations at a standstill, the Ministry of Labor signed a statutory instrument making stevedoring an essential service. It means that stevedores can no longer strike without giving a twenty-one day notice. The move […]
Matura-Shepherd says that the government’s action is on the side of big people and against working Belizeans. Furthermore, it strips stevedores from a fundamental pool to bargain for better terms and conditions of employment. Matura-Shepherd lists three options the government could take. Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, CWU “One, they have learn and understand why since […]
With the signing of the SI, stevedores will only be able to strike after a twenty-one day notice to the government. So what is the next step for the CBA? Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, CWU “It’s so ironic what could possible happen because the only bargaining unit for the stevedores is the CWU and the […]
An internal investigation is taking place at the Post Office following a report of missing monies. As many as ten thousand dollars was allegedly misappropriated by a second grade clerk from Orange Walk who works in the EMS unit of the Belize City office on Queen Street. The report has been forwarded to the C.E.O. […]
In recent years the Government’s Christmas Cheer program has become a staple of the season – as welcome in some political quarters as ham and turkey. How it’s worked in the past is that U.D.P. area representatives receive double what their counterparts from the Opposition receive. U.D.P. caretakers receive the same amount as P.U.P. Area […]
Group Hug – it’s a newly established organization dedicated to assisting disenfranchised youths and families. Today, they hosted one hundred and fifty primary school children from the city and Hattieville to a Christmas party at the B.T.L. Park. President Andre Pitts told News Five about the success of the initiative. Andre Pitts, President//Founder, Group […]
The stalemate over the importation of rice from Guyana continues to play out and tonight importer Jack Charles is no closer to resolution. Three containers of Guyanese rice arrived on Wednesday night at the Big Creek Port where they continue to sit tonight. The Belize Agricultural and Health Authority did not allow the rice cargo […]
C.E.O. Alpuche notes that the fairly low prices of the rice from Guyana are because subsidies to the industry there and likely because there may be a surplus since Guyana has lost its market in Venezuela. As to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Alpuche’s position is that the treaty prevents the importation into Belize. […]
