Municipal elections are less than a year away and both political parties are gearing up and putting together their respective slates to contest the various seats in local government. The results of those elections will be seen as a test of the upcoming general elections. While the P.U.P. has not announced its slate in Belize […]
Kim Simplis-Barrow is featured prominently in a recent publication of Harper Bazaar’s Interior Magazine, a spread which reportedly costs over a hundred thousand dollars. The fashion and lifestyle periodical has a subscription of primarily Middle Eastern readers and it is arguable that the audience is not comprised of visitors to Belize. The costly feature has […]
The Inspiration Center opened its doors to special needs children across Belize in March. While the modern facility has been celebrated as a premium care giving center, the women of the People’s United Party are asking for full financial disclosure, particularly for monies raised during various telethons and other fundraisers held abroad prior to the […]
News Five can confirm tonight that seventeen U.D.P. representatives have received fifty thousand Belize dollars each for Mother’s Day programs and activities in their respective constituencies. That’s a whopping eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars of government funds that have gone to the representatives on the government side of the House. At Christmas time, U.D.P. […]
Earlier in the newscast, you heard Attorney Kareem Musa defending five mothers who have been aggrieved by the death of their newborns. Well, Musa also confirmed that he has thrown his hat into the political ring. Musa presented his name for the People’s United Party to contest the Caribbean Shores Division against incumbent, Santiago Castillo. […]
In political news, the People’s United Party held a convention in Cayo Central on Sunday where conventional wisdom proved accurate in favor of veteran politician Dan Silva. The campaign was extensive and heated and when the votes were counted, former two time minister of government, Dan Silva trashed businessman Luke Espat by a huge margin, […]
The People’s United Party is tonight mourning the passing of one of its longstanding and loyal member. Former People’s United Party Minister Maxwell Samuels passed away this afternoon while undergoing treatment at Belize Healthcare Partners. News Five has been able to confirm that last Thursday Samuels was hospitalized for a pulmonary embolism. He was being […]
Mayor Darrell Bradley will be leaving municipal office in March 2015. We didn’t exactly hear it from the horse’s mouth, but we heard it from his political boss, Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Bradley has been a perpetual waffle when it comes to his future in politics. First he claimed he would throw his hat into […]
At the P.U.P. press conference held at Independence Hall on Thursday, there was much about governance matters and social concerns. But there were also some plain political talk. The P.U.P. has been dealing with conventions for standard bearers, and wants to be done with that by June. And one seat they are very comfortable with […]
While the political gods continue to throw a shroud of protection around former Minister of State Elvin Penner, the fates seem to be conspiring against him. Today, leave for judicial review was granted by Justice Courtney Abel in the recall petition of Penner. It’s only the first step, but it is a significant one. The […]
The People’s United Party held a press conference at Independence Hall this afternoon. The topics up for discussion ranged from Elvin Penner to very internal politics. We’ll have all that for you, starting with a demand by P.U.P. Leader Francis Fonseca for Anwar Barrow’s appointment to be rescinded. Anwar Barrow, son of Prime Minister Dean […]
Another topic on the political table this afternoon was the now very well known Mytheon Solutions. That company was first registered by John Saldivar and Khalid Belisle in 2009. John Saldivar became sole owner in 2010, and promptly put the company in his wife’s name. It wasn’t exactly impressive sleight of hand, because the paper […]
It’s mostly gone under the radar, but March thirty-first was the deadline for all members of the National Assembly to file their declarations with the Integrity Commission. It’s actually something that should be done each year…a very detailed accounting of personal assets, including assets held by spouses – bonds, stocks, shares, properties…that sort of thing. […]
The Holy Emmanuel squatters, as they’ve been dubbed, have been prominent in the news for the past week. Their homes are being threatened by the massive infrastructural work which will see a bridge built over the Haulover Creek. The contractor has been patient, and has tried to fill around the homes until everything is sorted […]
Today, the People’s United Party won a significant victory in Supreme Court, a victory which injected at least a spark of life into a dead recall petition. But that’s only one flank of a full on assault against disgraced politician Elvin Penner. In March, the P.U.P. was also successful in getting Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin […]
Where his political future is concerned, Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley has been dodging the question of late. Months ago, he announced his intention to throw his hat into the ring in Caribbean Shores. That news wasn’t received warmly by Area Representative Santiago ‘Santino’ Castillo or by UDP leader Dean Barrow. It’s hard to […]
On Thursday, News Five visited the plight of squatters on Holy Emmanuel Street, many of whom have been there for years. Squatters, Belizeans and immigrants, find a piece of unused government land – usually in some long-ignored swampy area – and they build a home. They are poor and do not have the resources to […]
Residents of the area, all squatters, have told News Five that Area Representative Mark King conducted a survey late last year. They say that they were even given house numbers, and promised title for their pieces of land. And that’s why they feel especially aggrieved by new developments which threaten their homes. They feel betrayed, […]
The deadline for entry into the upcoming U.D.P. mayoral convention expired last Friday. While it is expected that Mayor Darrell Bradley would seek another term in office, his candidacy is still very much up in the air. The names that have been mentioned include Deputy Mayor BQ Pitts Jr., former Deputy Mayor Dion Leslie and […]
It is not unheard of for ministers of government to be involved in personal businesses which benefit from their offices and positions. It is certainly not unusual. It is unethical, though, and there are arguments in some quarters that it is unconstitutional. The point of all this is that it happens…and quite frequently. So where […]
Former U.D.P. Minister of State Elvin Penner was criminally charged in Belmopan Magistrate’s Court last week. Those charges were not brought by government nor by Police, but rather by a private entity, COLA. Penner is scheduled to reappear in court on May twenty-ninth, but in the meantime, he’s got additional worries. A recall petition, launched […]
Belizean politicians have earned regional recognition in a Caribbean online blog entitled ‘Top Ten Sexist and Heterosexist Moments in Caribbean Politics.’ To be sure, it’s a dubious honour to be featured on that list…and Belize is on it twice. The list features ten random instances in which women have been the subject of sexist, derogatory […]
As we bring you the news tonight, the Budget Debate is still raging in the sacred chambers of the National Assembly in Belmopan. All members of parliament from both sides of the House are given the opportunity to speak on the draft estimates for the year 2014 – 2015. It’s important stuff, because it is […]
In theory, the purpose of the two-day session currently in the House of Representatives is to debate the 2014 – 2015 Budget. But in fact, after twelve speakers from both sides on Monday, there has been little or no mention of the draft estimates. Today, it started off with much more of the same, as […]
On Sunday unknown persons entered the home of P.U.P. Area Representative for Cayo South Julius Espat, in Belize City. Espat told News Five on Monday that despite the presence of money and other valuables, only two laptops and his debate speech were stolen from his personal office. While burglaries are commonplace and common folk […]
