As we told you earlier, Melvin Hulse has retracted comments he made about the prime minister and earlier today, he followed up with a resignation as U.D.P. standard bearer in Stann Creek West. It was not exactly unexpected because internally in the U.D.P., Hulse could no longer expect support financially or otherwise. One senior U.D.P. […]
Hulse’s departure from U.D.P. politics comes in the wake of him making very serious allegations against his Party Leader and Prime Minister. Hulse was recorded while speaking at length about that corruption. He also insulted the Prime Minister at length, stating that his ego has caused him to lose his common sense. And if that […]
The ugly situation which is now playing out in Santa Cruz, Toledo will likely not blow over. It incorporates the cloudy issue of communal land rights, religion and cultural diversity, possible state-sanctioned abuse and even racial undertones. Apart from comments by the Prime Minister on Monday, which were followed by the pre-dawn arrest of Mayan […]
The IQ at the Bliss went up today as primary school students from across the country converged for the annual national P.S.E. Award Ceremony. Top scorers were honored and walked away with plaques, computers, tablets and scholarships for their hard work and outstanding performances in the 2015 P.S.E. exams. The top scorer, thirteen year old […]
The situation of communal land rights is in the forefront of the news this week, and it’s brought with it a peripheral, but very serious issue. Here it is in a very small nutshell. In 2010, the Supreme Court granted communal land right to Mayans in thirty-three communities. But in 2012, and 2013, Government went […]
Teenage pregnancy is a growing issue for Belize and the wider Caribbean region, and more so as the teen moms are of a younger age every year. The call for action has sounded loudly again and this time, the spouses of Heads of Government from around the Caribbean answered. Special Envoy for Women and Children […]
A News Five crew is in Punta Gorda tonight where the situation is a volatile one. We’ll have much more on this story later on in the newscast, but at about four o’clock this morning, the police rolled into the village of Santa Cruz, Toledo. They rounded up ten Maya residents and took them to […]
As we said, Cristina Coc and ten others were arraigned this morning in the Punta Gorda Magistrate Court following an early morning operation. Several persons in detention were reportedly injured when personnel from the Special Patrol Unit descended on their homes. Doors were allegedly knocked down and one man was said to have been punched […]
Also in the south… On Friday, Magdalena Buul came forward with a story alleging that former U.D.P. Minister of State Juan Coy sold off a forty-five acre tract of land belonging to her in San Pedro, Columbia. The title for the land was granted to Clive Ferrell, a resident of the United Kingdom who reportedly […]
Did the Board of Directors of the S.S.B. approve loans to Belizean businessman and banana magnate Johnny Zabaneh? That’s the report which came out of the S.S.B. last week, and it’s of interest because in 2012, Zabaneh was sanctioned by the U.S. under the Kingpin Act, for his alleged connection to the Sinoloa Cartel and […]
Woodrow West is minutes away from touching down tonight in Honduras where he will join the Club Deportivo Honduras de El Progreso, the Honduras Progresso Football Club. The star goalkeeper signed a three-year contract just last week with the team to play professionally in the National Football League of Honduras. Following a call on Tuesday […]
Public Service Day is celebrated every year on June twenty-third. On Tuesday, a number of public officers with twenty-five years of service were honored at the tenth Annual Belize Public Service Awards held at Blue Water Grill in San Pedro Ambergris Caye. The event is organized by the Ministry of the Public Service to recognize […]
There are currently one thousand students attending the Ecumenical High School in Dangriga in the south. With the school reaching its maximum student capacity and bursting at its seams, there is a need for additional classrooms to accommodate the growing number of students. And so the institution is organizing a benefit concert this weekend in […]
Scoliosis, osteoporosis hip fractures, and rheumatoid arthritis are among a long list of orthopedic diseases that affect adults. In the case of young children, they are affected by flatfeet; toe walking, pigeon toes, bowlegs, and knock-knees. For the past thirty-five years, the Rotary Club of Belmopan, through its Belize Children’s Program, has been holding orthopedic […]
For the severe cases that require medical treatment overseas, the children are transferred to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Saint Louis, Missouri where they are provided free medical care. Mena and Committee Chair for the Belize Children’s Program, Charlene Brennan, told News Five about the process in the U.S. Charlene Brennan, Committee Chair, […]
There is public outrage over an incident that took place in Santa Cruz, Toledo on Saturday afternoon. A Creole man, Rupert Myles was detained by a group of Maya residents and tied up. The photographs of the man in handcuffs on social media has caused a huge uproar and even the Prime Minister has taken […]
This afternoon in Santa Cruz, dozens of villagers were attempting to determine the possible outcome of this volatile situation. While residents maintain that the buildup, as well as the resultant incident on Saturday, was not racially motivated, they insist that the customary law under which the community is governed applies to everyone who chooses to […]
The media has elected to not repeat specific allegations against the PM in the Hulse recording, but today the social media lit up bright all day long, gag order or not. Since November, when then PUP Cayo North Area Representative Joseph Mahmud tendered a rather abrupt resignation from the House, the PUP maintained that he […]
The debate on the use of Petrocaribe monies continues to rage on in the political arena. For the UDP, which has composed songs to that entity, it is a good thing…a god-maker…probably the best thing ever. The PUP has no access to the bounty, and is fighting an uphill battle against an incumbent fuelled by […]
In January, the UDP registered a blow-out victory in bye-elections held in the Cayo North constituency. In that political event, the PUP was almost a no-show in terms of presence and power – believed to be the result of a serious lack of finances. The financial picture, at least on the face, of it, doesn’t […]
What is it like for women who are in business or thinking of starting a business in Belize? Well, like other women across the world, the playing field isn’t leveled. And women have a more difficult time to secure financing, while many others lack the technical skills needed to develop their products. And why is […]
An annual summer school program organized by Peter Lacey is set to commence in the weeks ahead. The brief curriculum is in its twelfth year and while thousands of primary school students will be on vacation, those struggling in particular subject areas, including math and phonics, will be receiving much needed assistance. According to Lacey, […]
On Monday we showed you the nomination day event, both theatrics and procedure, for both political mass parties. But there was another candidate who was refused. At around midday Monday, a coalition of the VIP and the PNP brought in Stanislaus Martinez, who they say is a Dangriga born, successful businessman. The few supporters who […]
Liberty Children’s Home in Ladyville got some much needed assistance today from their British friends. For years, the British High Commission and partners have been giving back to the Children’s Home and today they stopped in for some repairs at the NGO. Andrea Polanco headed up to Ladyville to see the group doing good work […]
A politically sensational tape recording dropped like a bomb shell early this morning. It came from the U.D.P. and it is about the U.D.P. Melvin Hulse, the standard bearer for the party in the Stann Creek West constituency, who is also a former U.D.P. Minister, has held back nothing in lambasting his PM, Dean Barrow. […]
