There have been seven persons recommended, but not yet appointed, to the Integrity Commission. It has been fifteen days since the names of Marilyn Williams for Chairman; Armead Gabourel; Lisbeth Delgado; Wilmot Simmons; Nestor Vasquez; Melissa Balderamos Mahler and Claudet Grinage were submitted to the Senate and approved, though not without contention. In the case […]
At the August House meeting, area representative for Fort George Said Musa asked Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington whether citizens of Belize can now freely travel on the Belizean side of the Sarstoon River without let or hindrance. During Friday’s meeting, area representative for Corozal Southeast Florencio Marin Junior asked Minister of Defence John […]
Thursday’s meeting of the Senate was the last for Vanessa Retreage, who steps down at the end of the year from her powerful portfolios of Attorney General and Minister of Natural Resources. In the former, she is to be succeeded by Michael Peyrefitte, who leaves the Speaker’s chair in the Lower House to join the […]
During Thursday’s meeting, the Opposition People’s United Party questioned additional government spending for work by Belize Infrastructure Limited, the special purpose vehicle designed by Government to spend Petrocaribe monies on sports and other infrastructural projects countrywide. Of the fourteen point three million dollars spent in the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, approximately seven million is for BIL […]
In the Capital, the Senate hosted its final session for 2016 at the National Assembly. It reviewed and passed nine bills brought back from the House and several motions. Of these, the most important are the motions asking for ratification of the Special Agreement between Belize and Guatemala formalizing a potential settlement of the unfounded […]
The Opposition contends that there has been a rush to judgment and that the Government need not have acted with such haste. They say their view is bolstered by an admission from the Foreign Minister that the ratification of the Agreements is not and has never been needed to hold the referendum. That, combined with […]
One thousand six hundred acres of prime farm land gobbled up by a powerful family in five years, at great loss to the Government and people of Belize. That, in brief, is the story of the land grab in Carmelita village, Orange Walk, broken by News Five and spurred on by the People’s United Party. […]
Among the bills considered by the Senate today is the Treasury Bill (Number Three) Amendment Bill, which juggles the limits that Government can raise on treasury bills and treasury notes. There is a net increase of a quarter billion dollars which should adequately cover the second B.T.L. Arbitration Award payment. But it brings its own […]
Who is leaking inaccurate suggestions of private deliberations of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration to certain sections of the media? That question came up in the full meeting of the Senate during debate on the Supplementary Appropriation Bill. According to the United Democratic Party’s organ, the Guardian newspaper, Senator Mark Lizarraga is at […]
Outgoing Minister of Lands Vanessa Retreage clears her desk on December thirty-first, not before completing a list of tasks which include apprising the media on the controversial Ron J Limited land transaction in which an agreement was signed to compensate Ron J a million dollars for land in Placencia which the company acquired for six […]
As far as investigation into the questionable transactions involving land acquired by the Vega family in Carmelita, PM Barrow says that if the facts are indeed accurate, as presented by Lake I Area Representative Cordel Hyde last Friday in the House, then it should be reproved altogether. He also likened that land grab to similar […]
The Opposition People’s United Party has accused the government of completely losing control of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and calls for an immediate independent audit of the powerful Ministry. In a press release the P.U.P. describes the explanation of Minister Vanessa Retreage’s departure “bizarre”, considering that she was only given that portfolio four months […]
On Monday night broke the news that Vanessa Retreage was stepping down from Cabinet. This afternoon, Prime Minister Dean Barrow hosted a press conference confirming our report that Attorney General and Minister of Natural Resources Vanessa Retreage was calling it quits from her senatorial and ministerial posts effective the end of December. Retreage says she […]
So, a year after assuming responsibility for Attorney General and four months after becoming the Minister of Natural Resources, Retreage goes back to her law firm Reyes and Retreage where she says she has standing commitments. Today, she was gracious in thanking the staff at the Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as those the […]
In addition to the Attorney General’s resignation and the appointment of her successor, the most important piece of news coming out of the press conference was the Prime Minister’s assumption of the Ministry of Natural Resources. While he will not oversee the daily functions of the Lands Department, PM Barrow has taken on the second […]
A successor for House Speaker Michael Peyrefitte has been proposed, but will be made official at the next sitting of the House of Representatives. That person is retired nurse Laura Longsworth who is well-known for her activism in cancer and HIV/AIDS awareness. Peyrefitte takes over on January first. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I think […]
Last week News Five dropped a bombshell that continues to wag tongues. In the span of five years, one thousand, six hundred acres of prime farmland along the Philip Goldson Highway in the village of Carmelita, Orange Walk District, was gobbled up by members of the powerful Vega family and their company, German Vega and […]
Is Attorney General Vanessa Retreage stepping down as Belize’s chief legal officer? It’s a question that will be answered following a discussion during Tuesday’s weekly Cabinet meeting. News Five understands that the fate of the U.D.P. senator, whose ministerial responsibilities also include oversight of the powerful Ministry of Natural Resources, will be contemplated then. Retreage […]
Late this evening, G.O.B. confirmed a story we have been following. Chief Executive Officer David Leacock, who has been the departmental head of the Ministry of Education since 2008, vacates his post at the end of December after tendering his resignation back in September. Leacock verbally notified Minister of Education Patrick Faber of his intention […]
A number of issues came up at Friday’s House meeting, which we didn’t cover because of time constraints. In addition to a supplementary appropriation bill, the Government for the third time this year brought amendments to the Treasury Bill Act, in this case juggling the amounts it can raise from the Central Bank. The plan […]
A simultaneous referendum on taking the unfounded Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory to the International Court of Justice in 2013 was scrapped back then. This came after then-Guatemalan president, Otto Perez Molina, complained that our threshold for validation, sixty percent, puts Guatemala at a disadvantage. Unlike Belize, Guatemala allows a simple majority of fifty percent […]
Acting Prime Minister Patrick Faber held his own as head of government in the House of Representatives on Friday, a first for any parliamentarian deputizing in that capacity. Prior to the sitting of the House, Faber signed on to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, UNCAC, the first global legally binding international anti-corruption instrument for […]
During the questions to Ministers portion of the House meeting, members from the Opposition fired several questions at their Government counterparts on issues of concern of either a national scope or more closely tied to their respective constituencies. It’s usually an occasion for political grandstanding on the Government’s part, but a few nuggets of information […]
The final session of the House of Representatives for 2016 kicked off this morning in Belmopan. Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber took the reins for the first time with the Prime Minister out of the country. While the sitting was packed with Bills, most of the fireworks were reserved for the session after the adjournment. […]
Were 2012’s general elections stolen? The United Democratic Party prevailed by the slimmest of margins, winning sixteen seats to fifteen for the People’s United Party. In several constituencies, the vote was especially close; most notably, neighbouring Cayo Northeast and Cayo Central, where Elvin Penner and current Minister Rene Montero were each elected to their second […]
