And then the rest of the field from both sides of the Senate weighed in. From the Opposition side there is a clear problem because while they are being asked to approve the expenditure of more than forty-four million dollars between October and December 2015, they say they have been provided with absolutely no details […]
The government of Belize conducted a successful campaign leading up to general elections based in large part on an infrastructural surge across the country. And it has continued, as today the Senate was asked to debate a loan motion for the rehabilitation of the Hummingbird Highway. That’s all well and good, but government has also […]
Today is international anti-corruption day and around the world one hundred and seventy-seven countries are observing it. Belize isn’t one of those countries, but about seven persons representing the Belize Progressive Party today protested in front of the National Assembly, calling on government to sign on to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNCAC. According […]
At this time, the Port of Belize is in discussions with the labor commissioner and reps from the CWU over the situation at the port. Earlier today, the shipping company fired off a letter to the Port of Belize saying that it could not afford to keep its vessel in the port. We have now […]
Today’s sitting of the House of Representatives was the last of this year, and the one usually reserved for the only bit of goodwill and cheer ever seen in that chamber. It opened with the tabling of two motions for House approval of loans, one for the refurbishing of the Hummingbird Highway and the other […]
While there is some issue from the Opposition on the use of more than four million dollars on quote unquote flood relief just before elections, a major point of contention is also the way that money was distributed. John Briceño, Member for OW Central “There are people that need, and I am not disputing […]
The always feisty member for Toledo West, Oscar Requeña was on fire this morning, claiming that while Belize City residents got stoves and refrigerators, all the people of Toledo got was Ramen, and even then only a two day supply. Oscar Requeña, Member for Toledo West “If people in Belize City can receive television, […]
Costa Rican and Belizean officials are in negotiations over the fate of thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica for weeks where they were detained as they made their way to the United States through Central America and Mexico. Their journey took them first to Ecuador, then on to Colombia, Panama then Costa Rica. […]
According to the Prime Minister, there are more questions than answers and a whole lot of verification that would need to be done. One question which immediately arises, says the PM, is why the Cubans could not be flown directly to Mexico rather than flying to Belize City then travelling north. That is only one […]
G.O.B. has come under intense scrutiny for the fact that when fugitive David Schnitzer Nanes was caught and released he had every form of Belizean I.D. it is possible to obtain – REAL ID but issued fraudulently and under a fake name. While the government deals with that issue, they also have to deal with […]
As you saw, when the Prime Minister was protected by the parliamentary privilege afforded in the House, he was quick to make a connection between the alleged Immigration scam artist and member for Toledo East Mike Espat. Outside the House, he was a little more cautious in his commentary and finally referred us to Minister […]
A previous request for an inquiry into the Penner Passport Scandal in which South Korean Fugitive, Won Hong Kim got a Belizean passport while sitting in a Taiwan jail, did not pass in the U.D.P.-government controlled senate. The Immigration Minister at the time was Senator Godwin Hulse, who was also the minister when Nanes illegally […]
News Five has extensive coverage tonight of the very under the radar visit of Guatemalan President Elect Jimmy Morales. Morales is on a whirlwind round of country visits prior to his official inauguration, but there was no official announcement of his trip to Belize and media reports in Guatemala said that he wasn’t coming to […]
Against that backdrop of little protest and big guns, Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Guatemalan President-Elect Jimmy Morales met for about thirty minutes, for discussions and the usual photo op. The media stationed outside got to see Morales for about three seconds total, between arrival and departure, and the Prime Minister departed without an interview. […]
COLA President Geovanni Brackett, one of five persons who protested on Coney Drive, was released at around midday from the Queen Street Police Station, without being charged. He told News Five that he feels that he was targeted by the GSU, but that is just the price that any activist must be prepared to pay. […]
Last week, during the tenth anniversary celebration of the Belize National Coast Guard, Minister of national Security announced that on December ninth ground will be broken on the new and very controversial Sarstoon Forward Operating Base. The announcement is consequential but activist and Belizean Territorial Volunteer Wil Maheia says that’s all it will likely be…just […]
Late last week, we aired a story about Kremsont Commercial, a company operated by Syrian born Russian national Mudalal Khuri and registered in Belize. The US sanctioned Khuri and Kremsont for acting on or behalf of the government of Syria, and for conducting business with terrorist-designated ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. […]
And from matters of state to matters of party politics – rapper turned politician Jamal ‘Shyne’ Barrow announced last week on his Facebook page that he would be running in the Mesopotamia division when his uncle Michael Finnegan steps down. Political observers believed that former U.D.P. Mayor Zenaida Moya would be making the attempt to […]
For many Belizeans, perhaps a sad testimony of our times…Christmas isn’t Christmas without Christmas Cheer. It’s a program in which politicians hand out money to some of their constituents to help tide them over and to gain favour during this season. To some it’s distasteful, to politicians it’s necessary and to those few who benefit, […]
On Tuesday, we reported that Guatemalan President Elect, Jimmy Morales has embarked on a traditional tour of Central America and Mexico, which is part of the protocol by incoming presidents of the region. While he takes office in less than two months, on January fourteenth 2016, Morales began his tour in Honduras and met privately […]
Sixteen days after he allegedly discharged his firearm in public on election night, a close affiliate and supporter of Minister of Police John Saldivar has yet to be charged, or even detained – except for one brief moment when he was in Police custody immediately after the shooting. The incident was caught on video, including […]
Today members of both houses of the National Assembly were officially sworn in at an inaugural sitting on Independence Hill in Belmopan. The procedure was primarily ceremonial, conducted with traditional pomp, protocol and political presence of thirty-one elected area representatives and twelve senators. Mike Rudon was in Belmopan as forty-three Belizeans placed their hands on […]
Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley spoke candidly today about the results of last week’s elections. Bradley was beaten by Kareem Musa in Caribbean Shores by a slim margin. But a win is a win and Bradley went back to City Hall to continue his term as Mayor. Today he said that he is moving on. […]
There’s been enough speculation that Mayor Bradley was aspiring to lead the United Democratic Party. But has the loss at the general elections put a wrench in Bradley’s political aspirations? Here’s his response. Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor “The elections are a little more than a week and it is very difficult to speculate […]
The battle for leadership of the People’s United Party is currently being waged primarily in the social media. Whoever wants the title has until December fifteenth to submit their names, and the battle will certainly start in earnest on the ground then. Four names are circling around – John Briceño, Julius Espat, Cordel Hyde and […]
