While Espat is concerned about the spending of Petrocaribe funds, the initiative turned ten on Monday. The milestone achievement was celebrated in grand fashion at the APBEL office in Belize City, complete with a courtesy toast and all the bells and whistles. But, the merrymaking was set against the controversy surrounding the use of the […]
The Petrocaribe Amendment Act was tabled in the House of Representatives on Friday with no objections from across the aisle even though the Opposition wants it repealed. As you would know by now, the People’s United Party area reps walked out in protest before the anticipated debate was to get underway following the eviction of […]
The People’s United Party consulted the expertise of a team of lawyers, led by Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck, to draft a legal alternative to the Petrocaribe Amendment Act. With all the effort that went into preparing that document, it was never presented in the House since the P.U.P. lost the opportunity when it walked out. […]
As we said, the Speaker of the House, Michael Peyrefitte, instructed police to remove Senator Patrick Andrews from the gallery of the National Assembly building during last Friday’s sitting of the House. The sitting proceeded, but the debate did not take place on an issue that has been at the center of national discourse for […]
Deputy Leader Julius Espat, who also shared the head table with Fonseca, frankly says that the only means of repealing the newly passed law is to vote the present government out of office. Julius Espat, P.U.P. Deputy Leader “What the claim has done in reality though, it has forced transparency to a certain extent. […]
Melvin Hulse stepped down as standard bearer for the U.D.P. less than a week ago after apologizing profusely to the Prime Minister for allegations made against his boss. In a resignation letter ending his political career in a less than spectacular way, Hulse put forward the name of a likely successor in the constituency in […]
In the midst of all the discussion on the Petrocaribe Loans Act, which the Opposition wants repealed, the Petrocaribe initiative officially celebrates its tenth anniversary. While there was much fanfare at the APBEL office in Belize City this morning, on Friday, following the special sitting of the house, PM Barrow spoke candidly with the media […]
As we told you earlier, the People’s United Party has drafted a legislation that effectively serves as an alternative to the Petrocaribe Amendment Act. While the P.U.P. took into consideration the position of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the president of the private sector organization has described the changes in the recently passed […]
Tonight, we have extensive coverage of a House meeting in which four significant bills were passed through their stages. But we start with certainly the most significant single event of the day’s proceedings – the Opposition walking out of the House in protest. It happened a little over one hour into the session, when Senator […]
The walk-out came as a complete surprise, and even some members on the Opposition side were unsure to leave the chambers. There was the promise of a heated debate today with the passage of the amended Petrocaribe Loans Motion. And of course, the Opposition was also expected to speak at length about the inflammatory Melvin […]
Late this evening, the P.U.P. issued a statement on the walk out. According to the Opposition, the standing orders of the House makes it clear that a Speaker can only summarily order the withdrawal of a stranger from the precinct of the National Assembly under order eighty-seven. The Opposition says that the removal of a […]
As we mentioned earlier, the amended Petrocaribe Loan Motion was pushed through its stages today, obviously without debate from the absent Opposition. Earlier in the day, before that perhaps knee-jerk decision to depart in protest, the discussion of Petrocaribe had gotten underway, as PM Barrow went to the House for a supplementary appropriations bill, outlining […]
The Opposition doesn’t want to hear about supplementary appropriations where Petrocaribe is concerned. They maintain that the government is being less than transparent and accountable where the spending of those many millions is concerned – giving only as much information as they deem necessary. P.U.P. Leader Francis Fonseca told the media that where the Petrocaribe […]
Also before the Opposition walkout, another sensitive and critical issue was ventilated by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. On Monday the PM took a hard line against the Mayans of Santa Cruz, and he has taken heat for it. But his stance remains unchanged. Today, in a statement from the floor, the PM reiterated that no […]
That stance has been criticized in various sectors as premature and one-sided, and today the Opposition finally weighed in, from outside the House. According to P.U.P. Leader, the position expressed by Barrow can be regarded as no less than an attempt by the government to flare up ethnic tensions in the country. Francis Fonseca, […]
Back to the House Meeting…just before the Opposition walked out and with government coffers overflowing with Petrocaribe money, PM Barrow announced that it was honouring an eight percent salary increase to teachers and public officers for the second consecutive year. But G.O.B. will be spending more than seventy million dollars in three years. Prime […]
Earlier in our newscast you heard PM Dean Barrow speaking about what he called excessive force being used by Mayans to unlawfully detain a black Creole Belizean. Much has been said about that issue which exploded on Saturday, and today P.U.P. Toledo West Area Representative Oscar Requeña told the media that the incident could have […]
Requeña says that Saturday’s events were precipitated by the very aggressive behaviour of Rupert Myles when he attended a meeting following months of being invited to speak to village leaders. Oscar Requeña, Area Representative. Toledo West “On Saturday, which was June the twentieth; he came, he barged into the community center, he slammed the […]
On Thursday, the media received a rather embarrassing resignation letter from three decade politician, former U.D.P. Minister and now former Standard Bearer of Stann Creek West Melvin Hulse. The letter, allegedly penned by Hulse though released on the official U.D.P. Secretariat letterhead, claims that everything said about Mr. Barrow was a lie. The resignation letter […]
Tacos, pibil, BBQ, sand, sea, unlimited liquor and dancing to a live band….that’s how Collet Area Representative Patrick Faber does it, thanks to Petrocaribe! The politician has taken some hits for that bash – and has even been criticized by the Chamber of Commerce for spending Petrocaribe money on a one day fete. He was […]
To nobody’s great surprise, Melvin Hulse is no longer the Standard Bearer for the United Democratic Party in Stann Creek West. The news came via official U.D.P. press release today, though it is couched as a personal and rather embarrassing statement from the former U.D.P. Minister turned political pariah in his party. After opening with […]
As we told you earlier, Melvin Hulse has retracted comments he made about the prime minister and earlier today, he followed up with a resignation as U.D.P. standard bearer in Stann Creek West. It was not exactly unexpected because internally in the U.D.P., Hulse could no longer expect support financially or otherwise. One senior U.D.P. […]
Hulse’s departure from U.D.P. politics comes in the wake of him making very serious allegations against his Party Leader and Prime Minister. Hulse was recorded while speaking at length about that corruption. He also insulted the Prime Minister at length, stating that his ego has caused him to lose his common sense. And if that […]
On Monday night we brought you pieces of an explosive recording in which senior UDP insider and former Minister Melvin Hulse lashes out at Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Allegations made on that tape were serious enough for the PM to seek legal sanctuary, and threaten to sue if anybody dared to repeat. Apart from the […]
The media has elected to not repeat specific allegations against the PM in the Hulse recording, but today the social media lit up bright all day long, gag order or not. Since November, when then PUP Cayo North Area Representative Joseph Mahmud tendered a rather abrupt resignation from the House, the PUP maintained that he […]
