If the Leader of the Opposition’s statements were broad and presented the macro picture of the so dubbed Barrow’s bogus budget, then his deputy, Lake Independence’s Cordel Hyde, was more surgical and precise. Hyde leads a division where many feel the day-to-day effects of Belize’s economic malaise, and he led off the P.U.P.’s response by […]
After castigating the Government for not providing less vague assurances about how it will address the repayment of the Superbond and Belize’s other debts, Hyde turned his attention to the contemplation of the selling of shares in the nationalized utility companies Belize Electricity Limited and Belize Telemedia Limited to the Social Security Board. S.S.B. is […]
Hyde also went after what he called cuts to significant portions of the “pro-poor” programs initiated by the Barrow administration, including the food pantry, school feeding program and Apprenticeship Training. The figures, he claimed, were drastically slashed for no apparent reason. But Minister of Education Patrick Faber rose later in reply to say that with […]
Former Prime Minister Said Musa stood to make his contribution to the debate this afternoon. As he said at the outset, he wanted to defend his Government’s decision to make the loans that would come to form the Superbond, and disprove the current administration’s claims that there is nothing to show for the one point […]
“It is just like you are on a piece of land all your life, but you are a squatter. You can’t do anything with that land until you get it surveyed and get the survey agreed upon and you have a title to it.” This is how Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington described Belize’s […]
As expected, the matter of the Superbond came up during the first day of the Budget Debate. While repeating his claim that the revised package remains unsustainable without a clear plan, Leader of the Opposition John Briceño referred to the attendant fees for negotiation of the billion dollar package as costing up to twenty million […]
In advance of a case at the Caribbean Court of Justice next week involving two accused murderers appealing their convictions and sentences, the Government today introduced four new bills amending pieces of legislation. An amendment to the Criminal Code proposes to specify a minimum term of years in prison before person under sentence of life […]
Parliamentarians at the National Assembly must occasionally share the grand stage with their constituents – particularly those protesting against them. While 2005 certainly comes to mind, the handful of protestors in red shirts today on Independence Hill had concerns much closer to home – which for them is the Toledo District. While the protestors, including […]
Could marijuana soon be legalized, or at least decriminalized? There is support in principle and the matter has been before Cabinet since a special committee released its findings in February 2015, although church organizations have been in opposition. Today, the Leader of the Opposition recorded his side’s willingness to move the process forward, to cheers […]
The sprawling Cayo South division has below eight thousand registered voters. The P.U.P. has been lobbying for a re-registration exercise to take place this year, but the process has been delayed twice. Now the Prime has announced that redistricting will take place after re-registration set to take place in 2018 and after the municipal elections. […]
Before departing Belize last Friday, the Secretary General of the O.A.S., Luis Almagro, held a press briefing. While Almagro did not take questions from the press relying only on a written statement, Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington did. One answer in respect of the maritime borders, however, has landed Elrington in trouble. In a statement today, […]
Belize’s debts have climbed over three billion dollars for the first time, much of it owed externally. A full third of that is attributed to the Superbond, the package of development loans negotiated by past administrations that were bundled to avoid heavy payments. Coming just behind are monies owed to the international development banks and […]
Where is Orange Walk North area representative and former Minister Gaspar Vega? He seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, never mind the House of Representatives, in whose precincts he has not been seen since his resignation as Minister of Natural Resources in October 2016. After Vega’s decision to step down as […]
News Five has begun its review of the 2017-2018 General Revenue and Appropriations Bill, also known as the Budget, which is scheduled to be debated on the second reading on Thursday, March twenty-third and Friday, March twenty-fourth. The Government of Belize is projecting a primary surplus for the first time in several years of just […]
Three witnesses are to be called for Wednesday’s public hearing of the Senate Special Select Committee. But the testimonies of former Deputy Mayor of Belize City, Eric Chang, and former Financial Controller of the Belize City Council, Patrick Tillett, delivered last Wednesday, still resonate. While both men deny untoward involvement in Immigration activities such as […]
Exit Dean, enter Shyne? The entertainer-turned-aspiring politician has made no secret of his plans to succeed uncle and mentor Michael Finnegan, who recently announced plans to step down as area representative of Mesopotamia division. After deportation from the U.S., Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s first-born son was appointed as Music Ambassador under the National Institute of […]
Re-registration of voters will be put off until 2018, but the Prime Minister has committed to having it happening before re-districting of electoral boundaries and a referendum on the International Court of Justice, as requested by various parties including, in the House of Representatives on Monday, Cayo South area representative Julius Espat. Prime Minister Barrow […]
His formal remarks will be made in the coming Budget Debate, but today Leader of the Opposition John Briceño offered his first review of the Prime Minister’s Budget, and to say the least, he found it unbelievable. Barrow, Briceño said, offered no explanation for how the Government is able to achieve a primary surplus of […]
Those who enjoy the vices of beer and cigarettes will have a bone to pick with the Prime Minister. But what could cause a potentially larger problem is the reduction of the threshold for payment of the General Sales Tax on electricity bills. Presently, the twelve-and-a-half percent tax is payable on bills above two hundred […]
It’s now official: Superbond 3.0 is a go. Though the Consent Solicitation Offer has been extended to Wednesday of this week, Prime Minister Dean Barrow confirmed that a three-quarter majority of bondholders agreed as of Friday to the new terms – just under five percent interest semi-annually and five soft bullet payments due between 2030 […]
As part of his Budget address, Prime Minister Dean Barrow gave an update on the continued wrangles with the former owners of Belize Telemedia Limited and the owners of the various arbitral awards. He hinted that Government may again go to the Caribbean Court of Justice concerning the second portion of the settlement award for […]
Could today’s Budget presentation be the last for Prime Minister Dean Barrow? He has committed to stepping down as leader of the United Democratic Party at their next convention prior to the 2020 General Elections. But persistent reports have him possibly leaving much earlier, with deputy Patrick Faber waiting in the wings. Though he made […]
The debate on the adjournment is a free-for-all of topics considered by representatives to be of national importance or concern. The Police intervening to stop a horse race meet in Santa Elena Town on Sunday was one such topic today as two neighboring Cayo area representatives squared off over it inside the National Assembly. Cayo […]
This evening, it was announced that there is another, possibly final, extension of the Consent Solicitation Offer for the Belize U.S. Dollar Bonds due 2038 or the more common name Superbond. This time the extension is for five days until Wednesday March fifteenth, up to five in the evening New York time and three p.m. […]
As is often the case, the Government has tried to shift blame for the results of the Superbond on the P.U.P. as their predecessors in administration. Alleged “failed” projects cited as proceeds of the Superbond range from the former satellite city Mahogany Heights, to Galleria Maya. But the real purpose of the loans, according to […]
