The Superbond has been on everyone’s minds this week. The Government has been told by bondholders that without a medium-term plan to address credit risk in light of the third restructuring in a decade, they would not consider the plan presented to them for restructuring. While Government has committed to giving the bondholders what they […]
If debate of the amendment to the Referendum Act at Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives was raw and passionate, the usually genteel Senate was only slightly less so. After all, the future of the nation is at stake, as both Belize and Guatemala prepare for a suddenly looming referendum on taking the claim […]
When the N.G.O. Act amendment came up for debate later in the meeting, the Opposition renewed its attack on the amendment as, as put by lead Senator Eamon Courtenay, is confusing at worst and ambiguous at best, but it does not specifically do what it was intended, which is to provide for the N.G.O. community’s […]
The Government of Belize has contracted with the Republic of China (Taiwan) for fifty million Belize dollars in general budgetary support. While the money is being borrowed from a Taiwanese commercial bank, it is being underwritten by the Government of Taiwan. The House had passed the motion without comment on Friday, but the Senate, especially […]
The committee of creditors for the Belize 2038 Bonds or Superbond’s outright rejection of the Government’s first offer for a drawn-out period of interest payments at reduced percentage followed by three “bullet” principal payments has not surprised many. But apparently, the Government itself is not fazed, following the tough negotiations that took place in 2012 […]
Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, however, has a different take. He says that he is not surprised that the bondholders would reject the proposed restructuring of the superbond because PM Barrow failed on his commitments in the terms of the 2012 superbond restructuring agreement. Briceño says the Barrow Administration guilty of mismanagement, incompetence and […]
According to Briceño, the prime minister failed to take note of the stipulations of the 2012 superbond agreement, which states that if government was to default, it has to pay an eleven percent penalty on the five hundred million plus U.S. dollar debt. Briceño says that would cost Belize an additional hundred million dollars. The […]
Turning to the scandalous Puerto Azul scam which continues to unravel…the Minister of Tourism Manuel Heredia Junior, who along with the Minister of economic Development, were fetted at the Cannes Film Festival when the luxury project was launched is travelling and no one on government would speak on how crooked investors were able to hoodwink […]
The Government of Belize has announced through a Communiqué that the meeting of the Senate scheduled for Thursday, January nineteenth, will proceed as scheduled. The commitment for a thirteenth senator was made eight years ago, but newly-elected Senator representing non-governmental organizations, Osmany Salas, will have to wait even longer to sit in the senate. That […]
The House of Representatives began debate on the Referendum Act (Amendment) Bill, on its second reading, shortly after its break to consider the first reading bills. That debate lasted nearly three hours, and passions were brought to the fore on an amendment that, as several debaters said, was intensely personal to all Belizeans. The basic […]
Absent for this first sitting of the House of Representatives in 2017, was Cayo South area representative Julius Espat. He has not seen the halls of the National Assembly since he was forcibly removed after being suspended on August twenty-sixth. But it is now a new year, and while no one will ever forget the […]
The House introduced six new Bills and read four others held over from the last meeting. The most important of them is the amendment to the Referendum Act, which proposes to lower the threshold for validity of a referendum to take the Guatemalan claim to the ICJ, from sixty percent of registered voters participating to […]
Debate on the amendment was fierce and robust. Members of the Opposition focused on other issues that need to be addressed before any referendum is considered, such as a re-registration of voters, reaching out to the Belizean Diaspora, and settling outstanding issues such as the Sarstoon Protocol. But the most important, and, by some views, […]
In the context of the discussions on the amendment to the Referendum Act, a nearly quarter-century old piece of legislation that once split the United Democratic Party was brought back onto the stage. The Maritime Areas Act was passed under the second administration of the late George Cadle Price after then-President of Guatemala, Jorge Serrano, […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been consistent in opposing payment of arbitration awards to the former B.C.B. Holdings and Belize Social Development Limited in respect of action over the Settlement Deed and Accommodation Agreement. The Government did not participate in the original arbitration hearings and when B.C.B. tried to enforce their award in Belize, the […]
The Prime Minister pointed out, surprisingly, that in Belize all the cases he has resisted with regard to arbitration awards, the Government has won. But what has been the economic cost? It has been much more than we won, according to Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, who spoke to reporters while the House was […]
While inside the House, the amendment to the Referendum Act was thoroughly debated, outside a small group of protestors also had their say. A protest against the amendment was organized by the Belize Territorial Volunteers. While the numbers were small, the message was strong against the amendment and taking the unfounded territorial claim for resolution […]
It is widely speculated that the budget for the new financial year will contain increase taxation due to the current economic crunch. The country is in recession and facing debts that grow by leaps and bounds. Today at a protest outside the National Assembly, B.P.P. Leader Patrick Rogers, who is a professional accountant, provided some […]
After years without a functioning Integrity Commission, on Thursday, a group of seven Belizeans was formally appointed with a mandate to scrutinize declared statements of assets and liabilities of elected persons, in the fight against corruption. Belize Progressive Party Leader Patrick Rogers says that he expects the Commission will identify those politicians who “commit crimes […]
President of the Belize Tourism Industry Association, Osmany Salas, was elected on Tuesday by his peers as the thirteenth member of the Senate. He was expected to be sworn in by Tuesday, January seventeenth. The Commencement Order, however, signed by Prime Minister Dean Barrow in October allows that the relevant sections of the amendment to […]
News Five has learnt that at Friday’s‘ sitting of the House of Representatives, party whip and Area Rep for Mesopotamia, Michael Finnegan, will be presenting a motion for the return of Cayo South Area Representative Julius Espat to the lower chamber. That motion will be voted upon and all things going well, Espat will be […]
The Prime Minister’s annual New Year’s message is being aired elsewhere in this newscast. PM Barrow highlights the achievements of his government throughout the course of the calendar year and also sheds light on various socioeconomic challenges. While 2016 has had its ups and downs, the past twelve months have seen a contraction in the […]
The highlights of the message also include a recap of several achievements by way of social reform, particularly the appointment of the Integrity Commission, the signing of the United Nations Anti-Corruption Convention and a date being set for the Thirteenth Senator Law; all points that were demanded by teachers during their strike in October. […]
Will the Government of Belize pay as much as four million Belize dollars for the Chon Saan Palace Restaurant building in Belmopan? That’s what News Five sources say, though manager and President of the Senate Lee Mark Chang is out of country and not available to confirm. We can tell you that the Ministry of […]
Chief Executive Officer of Belize Telemedia Limited, Anwar Barrow, the son of Prime Minister, is to leave state-owned Belize Telemedia Limited in the first quarter of 2017, after what the company calls an orderly transition between him and his selected successor. Barrow, who remains on the company’s Board of Directors, took the reins at B.T.L. […]
