Five-time Mister Belize Rigoberto “Rigo” Vellos is finding out that politics is not like bodybuilding – it’s a dirty game. The People’s United Party candidate for mayor of Corozal Town is fighting back against allegations of misappropriation dating back to September of 2008. He was dismissed from his cashier’s job at the Social Security Board […]
On the adjournment of the House of Representatives on Friday, Leader of the Opposition John Briceño gave a general address on the issue of crime, zeroing in on the murder of Fareed Ahmad on December twenty-eighth, for which a woman police constable, Michelle Brown, has been charged. While Briceño was not able to bend the […]
The Ministers of Works and Home Affairs were put on the spot in the House of Representatives on Friday by Stann Creek West area representative Rodwell Ferguson. Rene Montero was directly questioned about the explosion in the Santa Cruz area of Santa Elena Town in December, which killed a manager for Tiger Aggregates, the company […]
Following the House meeting, Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources Dean Barrow appeared willing to lay all the blame on Tiger Aggregates. While he was not completely clear on the question, he insisted on two things: one, that there could be no arrangement between Belize Roadway Construction and the Works Minister and Cayo Central […]
Back in December former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay demanded that current Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington clashed over the Maritime Areas Act. Courtenay asked Elrington to reveal which legal advisors he and the government have been consulting in the U.K. who suggest that the Act should not be repealed right away, lest it offend Guatemala. Elrington […]
The resurfacing of the Caye Caulker airstrip and additional improvements appears to be a done deal. From an initial seven-point-five million contract to Imer Hernandez Development Company Limited, the project will now cost just under four million dollars and be more limited than initially outlined. Responding to a question in the House of Representatives on […]
The House of Representatives met today in a chilly Belmopan for the first time in 2018. The widely anticipated 2018 General Revenue Supplementary Appropriation Bill dealing with the UHS judgment was presented for first reading. This follows the arrival of the official certificate of judgment from the C.C.J. on Thursday, which sets the tab at […]
The Prime Minister repeated in greater detail his earlier sentiments from the November twenty-second press conference which seemed to present a legal basis by which Parliament could decide not to pay the judgment. He cited cases, lawyer-style, from other Commonwealth jurisdictions facing similar issues, and even suggested means in which the Crown Proceedings Act or […]
But Opposition Leader John Briceño appears unconvinced by any of it. Following the House meeting he told reporters that none of the Prime Minister’s arguments or those of the attorneys the government has paid over the years have succeeded where it counts; indeed, the only success has been to increase the debt burden. He also […]
The Prime Minister indicated that there will be at least a month’s grace period to the next House meeting when the debate takes place. In that time, the interest continues to accrue. But apart from the legal arguments, the moral question is a much easier one for the Prime Minister to respond to: in short, […]
As noted in our top story, Prime Minister Dean Barrow is going ahead with the Commission of Inquiry agreed on with the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. But before any appointments can be made and a schedule set, the Congress has to draft terms of reference for review by legal authorities. Prime Minister […]
The other major issue debated by the House today is a motion to approve a Taiwan ICDF loan to Belize Telemedia Limited for its Internet program. That loan is to cover ninety-six million dollars for a national broadband program which has already been rolled out to San Pedro. But the primary objection by the Opposition […]
In reply, with assistance from Mesopotamia representative Michael Finnegan, Prime Minister Dean Barrow attempted to show how circumstances have changed. As the P.M. said, B.T.L. is majority-owned by the government and the Social Security Board, and it is a public service. He also noted that such government guarantees are par for the course, and suggested […]
The tradition of the New Year’s Address is fairly recent. It gives the government an opportunity to boast about accomplishments, to replenish national resolve, or to announce new strategies and ideals. For the Opposition, it’s a chance to present their alternative view and make a case for a change in leadership or strategy. Prime Minister […]
The final announcement from Prime Minister Dean Barrow at the December eighth meeting at the House of Representatives came as a true surprise. Despite a sluggish economy, the Government of Belize found some six hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to be set aside for the program popularly known as “Christmas Cheer.” Introduced at the height […]
On Wednesday we raised the issue of the back and forth over the Maritime Areas Act with P.U.P. leader John Briceño. His shadow minister for foreign affairs, Eamon Courtenay, has been leading the charge, with the full backing of Independence Hall, to correct a decades-old issue in advance of a vote on taking the unfounded […]
The Universal Health Services debate is expected to take up the House of Representatives’ time at its next house meeting, announced for January fifth. It should be must-see viewing as the two major political parties take up opposite views from each other. The governing United Democratic Party will argue for why ninety-plus million U.S. dollars […]
Marilyn Williams is headed to the Supreme Court in January. But despite the Judicial and Legal Services Commission having apparently cleared the former political candidate turned chair of the Integrity Commission and attorney, the People’s United Party still has its questions. On the occasion of the mandated consultation between Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Leader […]
On Tuesday night we brought you Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington’s broadside against Senator and former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay. Not only does he disagree with the proposition to immediately amend the Maritime Areas Act to restore Belize’s full portion of territorial sea and other entitlements in the south, he attacked Courtenay as seeking […]
This evening, we caught up with People’s United Party leader John Briceño at a political event. We will have more from that on Thursday, but we asked him to clarify the reasons why the P.U.P. chose to introduce the motion to debate the amendment to the Maritime Areas Act through the Senate rather than the […]
There’s more on the proposed international airport. The People’s United Party today reacted to the announcement of a proposed multimillion dollar international airport on San Pedro. Calling it ‘Déjà Vu All Over Again,’ the P.U.P. says that the news that the investor is actually a realtor based in Miami with no experience in building or […]
The Senate met for its final session for 2017 this morning in Belmopan. On the agenda were four bills and two motions brought from the House of Representatives along with a few ratifications of international treaty commitments. But the big story coming out of the Upper Chamber tonight is the Opposition People’s United Party’s attempt […]
From the inception of its plan to present the Bill, the P.U.P. went on the move to lobby the social partner senators, who often prove to be the deciding factor in legislative passage in the Senate as opposed to the House. And while Senators Mark Lizarraga, Elena Smith and Osmany Salas spoke in favor of […]
After the Senate meeting, a disappointed Eamon Courtenay lamented the chance wasted by what he called ‘petty politics.’ Meanwhile, Michael Peyrefitte expanded on the suggested ‘incompetence’ of his former House colleagues, while also clarifying remarks he made in the meeting, but what he called ‘off-record.’ During the debate he seemed to suggest sotto voce that […]
Has the time come for repayment of ninety million-plus Belize dollars to the Belize Bank Limited in respect of the Government’s sovereign guarantee of a defaulted loan by Universal Health Services Limited? Under the Interpretation Act, the twenty-one day limit before the Bank applies for certificate to enforce the judgment expires today, Wednesday. The Bank, […]
