News Five tried today to seek comment from the Office of Auditor General Dorothy Bradley concerning the Immigration Special Audit Reports. But she was unavailable. However, we have received reliable information which suggests that she is seeking legal advice based on the comments made by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Minister for Immigration Senator Godwin […]
The People’s United Party has reacted to the Prime Minister’s press conference held on Thursday. The P.U.P. had tabled a motion for a Senate Select Committee to investigate the Immigration and Nationalization scandal, but it was defeated five vote for and seven against. A release from the P.U.P. says that what the Auditor General’s report […]
Immigration Minister Godwin Hulse insists his troubled department has not tried to keep its records secret in relation to the issuance of visas, especially to Chinese nationals. It turns out that, according to Hulse, the Chinese paid more for their visas than all of the others issued visas in the same time period. Now, the […]
The Immigration Minister also defended the purpose of recommendation of persons to receive visas. He says it’s about who knows you, not who you know. Senator Godwin Hulse, Minister of Immigration “So this issue, that somebody would recommend somebody in China to come here and they don’t know somebody; when you ever recommend somebody […]
Was the motion presented by Senator Rocke today originally crafted in the office of the Prime Minister and presented as the Church’s motion. More importantly, Senator Rocke said during the meeting that there were consultations between the Churches and the other social partners – meaning the trade unions and civil society and the business community […]
The Special Audit on Immigration has exposed rampant corruption within the Department of Immigration. Thirteen ministers, past and present, as well as senior officers and politically connected persons have been fingered in the investigation that covered a two year period, 2011-2013. Today, the Prime Minister in one of his lengthiest press conferences discussed one of […]
The audit was triggered by the scandalous Won Hong Kim fiasco involving then Minister of State Elvin Penner and has unearthed the rampant sale of Belizean nationality to persons who had not even been to Belize and in other cases who got their nationality having arrived in Belize for a day. Now, having apologized and […]
At the Senate Meeting on Wednesday, the People’s United Party proposed a motion for a senate select investigation into the immigration irregularities. This is the second time that that motion has been put to the floor and the second time that it has been defeated. Prematurely, as it turns out, lead senate for government, Godwin […]
The composition of the Joint Special Select Committee also came into question during this afternoon’s press conference. Among the concerns raised is the fact that the combined task force will be made up of a majority of representatives from the Barrow administration. While the working group will be chaired by a senator from among the […]
Another issue of national importance which has deeply divided the people is the decision not to appeal the recent ruling on Section Fifty-three of the Criminal Code. The decision from Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin decriminalizes sexual acts between adults in private. But there appears to be some room to maneuver, because the PM is meeting […]
As we told you earlier, there was a meeting on Wednesday morning between the Prime Minister and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Chamber called on the government to accede the UN Convention on Anti-Corruption. Barrow had resisted signing the convention, but reeling from scandal to scandal, the PM has agreed with the […]
A hundred and forty countries, members of the United Nations, have already signed on to the UNCAC. Barrow believes that the stringent requirements of the convention can further complicate matters for Belize at the international level. Citing the ongoing correspondent banking crisis, PM Barrow notes that failure to live up to the obligations of the […]
There is a pronounced rift in the Council of Churches tonight following a vote on Wednesday by Senator Ashley Rocke. Rocke first spoke in support of a Senate Select investigation on the special audit and would then vote against it. Ashley Rocke, Senator for Churches “I also rise to give support to the inquiry. […]
The unprecedented release from Bishop Wright was followed by one from the Executive Team of the National Evangelical Association of Belize, known as the NEAB. The grouping says its national chapters comprising two hundred and fifty churches are disappointed with Senator Rocke’s “No” vote and find it completely unacceptable. NEAB is also calling for the […]
Pastor Louis Wade, I Want My Country Back Movement “It is very clear to us that there is a process for that; but he should do the honourable thing and resign. We cannot have a Senator who committed to other Senators, who claims to be committed to anti-corruption – we say ‘a bird in […]
Pastor Rocke heads the Lake Independence Baptist Church and is a member of the Belize Association of Evangelical Churches, which suffered a big split around the time of the November general election. Rocke had reached accommodation with the National Evangelical Association of Belize which saw its majority of pastors tossed out. But today, Wade says […]
With mounting pressure for his removal, Senator Rocke issued a statement this afternoon to say that his actions at Wednesday’s Senate sitting, though unpopular, are for the greater good of Belize and that he did not go against the Church, but that he sided with the country. Rocke says that he found more comfort in […]
Former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega has kept quite a low profile since being stripped of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the second largest portfolio in government, and losing the post as DPM. His colleague, former Minister of National Security John Saldivar has also been under the radar after responsibility for the Belize Police Department […]
One more report on the special audit…at least for tonight…Attorney General Senator Vanessa Retreage did not support the need for a Senate inquiry into the Audit Reports on Nationality, Passports and Visas. But that does not mean that any guilty persons named in the report should escape punishment. As the nation’s top legal adviser, she […]
Another protest took place today in Belmopan, the second for this week against the government. Today’s demonstration was mounted by the People’s United Party outside the Senate where a respectable number of supporters came out to take a stand against a long list of ills affecting the nation and to support opposition senators. It is […]
Senator Valerie Woods added significantly to the debate, supporting the motion for a select senate investigation. Woods said had one been held at the time of the issuance of a passport to Won Hong Kim, a number of irregularities would have been avoided. But when it came to Senator Godwin Hulse’s contribution, he threw a […]
The Prime Minister slipped the media today following a cabinet meeting, but his ministers were out to do damage control on Friday’s outrageous House Meeting. Pickstock Area Representative Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington is the sole member of the House of Representatives to have risen and indirectly name fellow Cayo South’s Julius Espat for improper conduct during […]
During the fiasco on Friday, the presentation by Espat on the damming Special Audit, which exposes corruption at the Immigration between 2011 and 2013, was muzzled when Espat was physically removed by security forces. Seasoned parliamentarian Michael Finnegan rose to call for order in the House of Representatives. He, along with former Prime Minister Said […]
The Special Audit conducted by Auditor General Dorothy Bradley into the issuance of Belizean passports and visas during a two-year period spanning 2011 and 2013 still has currency and is being discussed just about everywhere else outside the National Assembly. While the debate was stifled with the suspension of Julius Espat, we asked Finnegan for […]
Three unelected persons have been given top ministerial appointments in the Barrow Administration. But why have the elected representative been pushed aside? Following today’s cabinet meeting, the Press Office issued an updated list of Cabinet Ministers and Chief Executive Officers. The most recent changes are: first, the addition of Senator Doctor Carla Barnett as Minister […]
