While Finnegan’s comments seemingly express disrespect towards women, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, who has been on the receiving end of that vitriol in the past, maintains that he is not fit to remain in the House of Representatives. Isani Cayetano “Aren’t these remarks in some way misogynistic seeing as though it is the second such verbal…” […]
Member for Mesopotamia Michael Finnegan took his licks from the UWG, but he was also a topic of interest in the Senate today. Before the debate on the vesting act, and even before the hotly contested B.T.L. settlement, Finnegan was named in the Senate for his unfortunate comments about CWU President, Audrey Matura-Shepherd. Lisa […]
The House of Representatives met in special sitting today. There were two main issues on the agenda—the passing of the Vesting Act relating to the sale of FCIB to Heritage Bank and the compensation for Belize Telemedia Limited. Coming on the heels of the announcement on Monday of a settlement with the Ashcroft Group on […]
Against that backdrop, the PM also got into more detail on the financial aspect of the settlement package between G.O.B. and the Ashcroft Group. As a first payment, the agreement involves more than sixty million dollars based on the NERA valuation of one dollar and forty-four cents per share. That package received House approval through […]
Those figures aren’t sitting well with the Opposition People’s United Party, which doesn’t share G.O.B.’s triumphal touting of the settlement with the Ashcroft Group. Fonseca says that the only reason taxpayers will have to bear this multi-million dollar load is because of the PM’s pettiness and arrogance. Francis Fonseca, Opposition Leader “One is, as […]
Also on the agenda today was the vesting bill, which will facilitate the sale of First Caribbean International Bank assets to Heritage Bank. While the transaction is a private one between two sizable players in the industry, it’s gotten some bad press because at least sixty employees of FCIB will get the axe when that […]
Since Fonseca was demanding answers, the Mesopotamia Area Representative decided to give him some, in his own ‘special’ style. According to Michael Finnegan, G.O.B. has absolutely nothing to do with workers losing their jobs, so can’t be expected to step in. Michael Finnegan, Area Rep., Mesopotamia “Mr. First Caribbean Bank…guess ih want get out […]
Not surprisingly, former Prime Minister and Fort George Area Rep., Said Musa, disagreed with that position by G.O.B. He claims that the entire situation has been mishandled because of government’s refusal to get involved, and that’s why it’s gotten to this point where so many workers will soon be out of doors. Said Musa, […]
The Prime Minister has come under fire for proceeding with the vesting act while the employees at the FCIB are still trying to negotiate an exit package. But he says that the vesting act has absolutely nothing to do with the future of the employees. And to buy more time for the employees, Barrow says […]
One more thing on the settlement of B.T.L. At today’s sitting, firebrand area representative for Toledo West, Oscar Requeña also got in some shots at Prime Minister Dean Barrow for the settlement – money which he says could be used in more critical areas, like in the health system, for instance. Oscar Requeña, Area […]
There has been a major upset in the Guatemalan elections. Jimmy Morales, a businessman and comedian, is the front- runner in Sunday’s elections. Latest poll results show that while Morales enjoys a clear lead in the election results, he failed to secure the required fifty percent of votes which means he will now head to […]
There is also an election taking place today in Trinidad and Tobago where the polls have closed but a winner is yet to be declared. About one point one million voters were eligible to vote between the ruling People’s Partnership (contesting as comprising the United National Congress, the Congress of the People and the National […]
Prime Minister Barrow is on record saying that voters will be heading to the polls in the early part of 2016. While he is holding that date close to his heart, a majority of the standard bearers and area representatives have been laying down the groundwork for Election Day. In Caribbean Shores where the U.D.P.’s […]
Belize City Mayor, Darrell Bradley, is yet to win the Caribbean Shores elections; in fact, a date for the elections is still not known. But Bradley says he is putting things in place at City Hall should he emerge victorious in the upcoming elections. While his demission from office would automatically trigger a bye-election, Bradley […]
Are residents of the Caribbean Shores paying significantly more in property taxes than others elsewhere in Belize City? It’s an assertion that Mayor Bradley’s political opponent, Kareem Musa, has made and which he describes as an unfair assessment. But the mayor says that properties on the north side, particularly in that constituency, are seemingly larger […]
The first round of voting in Guatemalan elections is scheduled for September sixth. Since Perez Molina’s resignation at midnight, polls show that the front-runner Manuel Baldizon from the Renewed Democratic Liberty Party, is now trailing behind independent candidate, Jimmy Morales. Baldizon’s proposed Vice President is also under investigation in another scandal. But according to PM […]
And it is likely that a surprise victory by Sandra Torres, currently running third in consecutive polls, wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Torres is the ex-wife of former President Alvaro Cocom, but she has very close ties with Belize. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I got to know her when her husband was President, […]
The region’s focus is on Guatemala, and on elections there set for September sixth. But a little closer to home, there is much speculation about our own general elections. The Opposition People’s United Party has been floundering, while the ruling U.D.P. Government has been hitting the Petrocaribe piñata with regularity. So all told, political pundits […]
Today’s special sitting of the House of Representatives included matters of routine housekeeping, the introduction of one bill and the passage of two bills and two loan motions through the House. But by far the show-stopper today was the passage of the Electricity Acquisition Settlement Bill in one sitting. The Prime Minister announced on Monday […]
According to the Prime Minister – faced with such an achievement, it is inconceivable to him that anybody would stop to count the actual financial cost. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “But for those who do let me correct the blatant miscalculations, the wrong songs, the mathematical stupidity that I have heard coming from some […]
Opposition leader Francis Fonseca says he gets it all right…and the People’s United Party actually welcomes the settlement of the four year protracted legal battle between G.O.B. and Fortis. But that doesn’t mean he likes the terms and concessions, and he made that very clear in his response to the introduction of the Bill. […]
Those comments by Fonseca drew a very heated response from Prime Minister Dean Barrow. He says that those wrongheaded assertions by the Leader of the Opposition are exactly why he would never hire Fonseca for his legal expertise. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister “He said we’re also not charging any tax to Fortis for the […]
The Barrow administration, for better or worse, has been embroiled in seemingly unending litigation. And with that litigation has come criticism for G.O.B.’s choice of high-paid, select attorneys who have raked in millions over the years. That criticism was front and centre in today’s session, raised first by P.U.P. Leader Francis Fonseca. The PM has […]
According to the member for Cayo South Julius Espat, what is happening today with Fortis is all part of, in his words, a premeditated and wicked plan in which the only ones to benefit are the PM’s circle of family and friends. Julius Espat, Area Rep., Cayo South “The Prime Minister installed his law […]
Now, if you expected those comments by Espat to be unremarked, you would be wrong. The Prime Minister always seems to reserve special attention for Espat, and today was no exception. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “Let me start with the member for Cayo South. Now, Mr. Speaker, in his intervention he was rude, he […]
