The Opposition People’s United Party is going after Prime Minister Dean Barrow once more on the Belize Telemedia Limited Settlement Agreement and is calling for his resignation. It has been confirmed that Government paid off sixty-seven and a half million U.S. dollars as the first payment toward the Agreement, after the original payment in Belize […]
U.D.P. Minister and party whip Michael Finnegan, together with Albert Area Representative Tracy Panton, held a press conference this afternoon at the party’s headquarters, shortly after the B.N.T.U. concluded a media briefing of its own this afternoon. Finnegan and Panton are appealing to teachers to return to their classrooms, since according to them, during Thursday’s […]
Panton and Finnegan maintain that good governance is an inclusive process which should see equal responsibility from each of the social partners. They have since turned to the teachers to ask them what more do they want from government. Tracy Panton, Area Representative, Albert “I cannot understand how reasonably, when all these conditions have […]
Former President of NICH, Diane Haylock is currently doing the cocktail circuit in Taipei as Belize’s new ambassador to Taiwan. Since Haylock vacated the post she held since the first Barrow administration, Greg Vernon was named interim President. But the department is going through some major changes because there are a number of others vacant […]
The People’s United Party didn’t participate in the first meeting of the Senate Select investigation into the scandalous affairs of the immigration Department revealed in the Auditor General’s Special Audit. Today, the party issued a release condemning the Government for railroading the selection of an impartial and effective Senate Select Committee and the hijacking of […]
At midnight on Tuesday, the vehicle of Deputy Prime Minster, Patrick Faber went up in flames; police are looking for a suspect caught on camera. He was seen jumping the fence, gouging the vehicle and setting it on fire, all that happened in a matter of seconds. Police believe that a person of interest will […]
The inaugural meeting of the Senate Special Select Committee to investigate the Immigration and Nationality Department was held this morning in Belmopan, on the heels of a special report by Auditor General Dorothy Bradley which exposes a hustle of visas, nationalities and passports. The first session, a portion of which the media was allowed to […]
It remains unclear, following today’s meeting, who will preside over the Senate Special Select Committee. According to U.D.P. senators Aldo Salazar and Doctor Carla Barnett, neither of them was inclined to lead the working group because they are both of the belief that the committee should be headed by a representative of the three social […]
The People’s United Party is calling out Senator Godwin Hulse for casting a vote during the last sitting of the Senate on September thirtieth. The argument here is that Hulse’ participation in the process constituted a conflict of interest since he also serves in the capacity of Minister of Immigration. Furthermore, opposition senators Valerie Woods […]
Among the demands of good governance that the B.N.T.U. is agitating for involves the fight against corruption in government. Back in October 2013, Prime Minister Dean Barrow publicly admitted that the Ministry of Lands is a hotbed of corruption in light of the sordid and crooked land deals being cut at the department. This is […]
The People’s United Party confirmed via press release today that its Senator will not be participating in the Special Senate Select Committee on Immigration set to meet on Wednesday. The party’s original motion in the Senate, which called for one member each from the Government and Opposition parties and each of the three Social Partner […]
Is the P.U.P., like the U.D.P. did when it refused to participate in the 2005 inquiry into Social Security, hurting itself and the people of Belize by reducing the number of voices involved in the investigation? Senator Valerie Woods contends that like the then-leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow, the P.U.P. is standing on principle. […]
The senate committee has been established but its composition is of concern and so are the terms of reference. One particular vexing issue is that the committee would require authorization to interview witnesses and the special audit has identified thirteen former and sitting ministers linked to the immigration mess. The feeling is that there will […]
An N.T.U.C.B. senator has also been named to the Senate Investigation Committee on Immigration. This morning, the N.T.U.C.B. president said that after much debate within the Unions, Union Senator, Elena Smith, will participate in the Senate Select Committee but they still remain concerned about the terms of reference of the committee. Marvin Mora, President, […]
On September nineteenth, National Service Day and the fifth anniversary of the passing of George Price, members of the People’s United Party in the House and Senator Paul Thompson attended the National Assembly building in Belmopan. The purpose: to submit their statements of assets and liabilities with the Integrity Commission. Now, since the Commission is […]
While Finnegan called out Brackett, Brackett’s attorney – Kareem Musa – who is also the area representative for the Caribbean Shores called out the police. He says he’d like to see the same level of effort from police when going after white-collared criminals as they did with his client. Kareem Musa, Area Rep., Caribbean […]
The ruling United Democratic Party’s National Party Council met Saturday in a regular session at the party’s headquarters at Youth for the Future Drive in Belize City. This quarterly meeting came amidst the planned strike by the Belize National Teachers’ Union today and other pressing national issues. Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington told us […]
A Senate Select Committee was established last Friday; it includes only one member from the People’s United Party. Today, the Opposition called for a reconstitution of the Committee and advanced it recommendations. The P.U.P. arduously objected to a motion presented by the Church Senator which gives the G.O.B. the upper hand. The lead Opposition senator, […]
The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly today had a very high-stakes meeting in Belmopan. Its sole purpose: to come to an agreement about the constitution and composition of a Special Senate Select Committee to investigate the Special Audit Report on Immigration composed by the Auditor General’s Office. Competing motions – one from the Church’s […]
The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate admitted following the meeting that they were caught off-guard by the sudden change to the Order Paper putting Senator Rocke’s motion above his own. With that, the stage was set for that motion to carry the day, and the most he could do was to temper it […]
But, before the Rocke motion could even be heard and debated, there was an intervention by Lead Opposition Senator Eamon Courtenay, asking Minister of Immigration and his opposite number in the Government, Godwin Hulse, to recuse himself from the debate. There followed some debate on whether the motion was brought with sufficient notice, while Courtenay […]
While Senator Ashley Rocke was making the ultimately successful motion before the Senate, he was interrupted by Geovannie Brackett, the President of Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action and activist Raymond Rivers. Brackett and Rivers pointedly shouted at the embattled Rocke that he was not telling the truth about the origin of his motion and […]
In anticipation of the Rocke motion being passed, C.O.L.A. president Brackett vowed to continue civil agitation alongside the Belize National Teachers’ Union. He called for a national shutdown on Monday at the same time as the teachers hold their strike. Geovannie Brackett, President, COLA “It seems it’s when we behave unreasonable—to use the government […]
After the debate began, it quickly became clear that the social partner Senators – Mark Lizarraga for the business community and Elena Smith for the trade unions and civil society – were not supporting the motion. Of course, the Opposition also weighed in against it. Their primary complaints were that it did not go far […]
While the opposition, social partners and civil society were of the opinion that the motion presented by the Church Senator did not go far enough; the major discontent was the composition of the committee. The majority of the Senators voted in favor of a committee with two government representatives, three social partners – which includes […]
