Tonight there is a development up north where the sugar industry has been at a standstill. And there is light at the end of the sugar-cane crop tunnel, as both B.S.I. and the BSCFA have compromised, if only tentatively, on a way forward. Both parties met today in Orange Walk, and the BSCFA presented as […]
The move to recall U.D.P. Cayo Northeast Area Representative Elvin Penner is dead in the water. In a letter to the Governor-General dated December thirtieth, 2013, Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai stated that the requisite petition threshold of thirty percent of voters had not been met. It wasn’t met because the Elections and Boundaries Department […]
If you’re a Boledo regular, you might want to buy fifty-two tonight. The Penner recall petition, as it became known during its famous but short life, was shot down because of rejected signatures fifty-two for persons who were not registered in Cayo Northeast, fifty-two for persons who were not registered to vote at all, and […]
While fifty-two might be the rake for Boledo, the number which is giving the Opposition heartburn tonight is seventy-nine – and with good reason. The Elections and Boundaries Department rejected seventy-nine signatures because they say those persons signed twice. And that’s the exact number of signatures by which the petition falls short of the thirty […]
The People’s United Party will be holding a press conference on Thursday to discuss the failed recall petition and, we assume, other pressing issues. But today, even as the Elections and Boundaries Office briefed the press on the reasoning behind the rejection of signatures and the petition, the P.U.P. held a National Executive meeting to […]
As we announced on New Year’s Eve, the petition to recall disgraced former Minister of State Elvin Penner has been rejected. That disappointing news is still being analyzed by the P.U.P., which handed in two thousand and two signatures on November twenty-eighth. According to the Elections and Boundaries Office, some of the signatures were duplicated, […]
The People’s United Party has received some less than welcome news to bring in the New Year. The petition to recall former Minister of State Elvin Penner has been rejected out of hand by the Elections and Boundaries Office. Two thousand and two signatures from voters in the Cayo Northeast Constituency were handed in to […]
2013 is just a few hours away from being recorded as another eventful year in the chronicles of Belizean history. While we welcome a new year with the singing of Auld Lang Syne at midnight, our political leaders are focusing on national goals for the next twelve months. In their respective New Year’s addresses aired […]
While a number of procedural changes have been implemented by the Immigration Department in light of the recent passport and visa scandals, an update on subsequent investigations, led by the Financial Intelligence Unit, the police department and the Ministry of Immigration, has not been forthcoming. In fact, there hasn’t been much said by government about […]
It is now three months since the immigration scandal broke, but an investigation doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at least no specific information has been forthcoming. So on November sixth, Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman presented a motion for a Senate inquiry into the scandal. The motion went to a vote and the result was […]
The Senate is scheduled to meet next week to ratify a number of bills that were passed at Thursday’s House meeting. But another matter will be coming up. The opposition Senator, Lisa Shoman will be bringing back to the Senate floor, a motion for a senate inquiry into the immigration scandal. The first time Shoman […]
The House of Representatives met in its last session for 2013 today. On the agenda were two important bills and some minor house-cleaning issues. Now traditionally, this last meeting before Christmas is tame and almost nauseatingly jovial, with Christmas cheer, goodwill and bonhomie dominating the atmosphere in the House. But the sitting was anything but […]
The Government of Belize’s Christmas Cheer Program has been the subject of much scrutiny of late, and some criticism, though that is directed more at the stated allocations and less at the initiative itself. As it stands, U.D.P. Area Representatives will receive ninety thousand dollars each, P.U.P. Area representatives will receive twenty-five thousand dollars and […]
And with the nuts and bolts of the program out the way, the PM lashed out at the Opposition for daring to criticize the allocations of Christmas cheer. The People’s United Party has gone on record to criticize the program on two levels – one, that U.D.P. representatives are receiving ninety thousand dollars for their […]
And then it was on to the bills for amendments to the Immigration Act. The amendments are the results of the ongoing immigration scandal, measures proposed by Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse to slam shut open doors of opportunity for hustling. Those amendments have been roundly criticized and shredded by President of the Bar Eamon […]
Where in Belize is former Minister of State Elvin Penner? Nobody’s sure, because the man who was in the center of the passport scandal has gone to ground. We know that he is still receiving his salary as an Area Representative, in addition to approximately seven thousand dollars each month that should be used to […]
On Tuesday, P.U.P. leader Francis Fonseca rained gloom on Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s Christmas Cheer Program. That program will see the allocation of ninety-thousand dollars to U.D.P. Area representatives, twenty-five thousand dollars to P.U.P. Area Representatives and twenty-five thousand dollars to U.D.P. caretakers. The Leader of the Opposition made it clear that he isn’t condemning […]
As we said, government will be spending two point two million dollars on its Christmas cheer program. The Leader of the Opposition, Francis Fonseca complained on Tuesday over the lack of equity in the program saying that elected representatives should be getting the same amount of money for their constituents. Fonseca was also critical of […]
On Tuesday, the government came under fire from the duly elected P.U.P. mayors of three municipalities – Orange Walk, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. The issue on the table is the PM’s proposed countrywide infrastructure program. Mayors Gilbert Swaso and Anthony Fuentes, from Dangriga and Punta Gorda respectively, accuse the PM of playing politics. They say […]
UDP Area representatives will allegedly receive ninety thousand dollars this Christmas to hand out to their constituents. That revelation came from PUP Leader Francis Fonseca, who says he got that information from documents he received from the Ministry of Finance, though not through official channels. According to Fonseca, UDP reps will receive ninety thousand, while […]
The Opposition People’s United Party controls three municipalities – Orange Walk, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. All three municipalities will be benefitting from some infrastructural works as part of a recent program announced by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. But while any improvement should theoretically be a good thing, none of the three representatives are jumping for […]
The last Senate meeting held on November sixth ended in some confusion and tension. Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman moved a motion for a senate inquiry into the ongoing immigration scandal. The vote was deadlocked at six, with representatives from the Opposition, church, union and private sector aligned on one side, and government senators on the […]
Almost three months ago, news surfaced that UDP Minister of State Elvin Penner had facilitated nationality status and a Belizean passport for Wonhong Kim. Kim had never set foot in Belize, and was actually incarcerated in Taiwan when his nationality and passport were issued. Although the documents proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Penner was […]
On Wednesday night, the People’s United Party held its constituency convention for the Fort George Division. Former Prime Minister and seven time winner in that area, Said Musa, was endorsed to contest general elections whenever they are called. Normally, News Five wouldn’t cover political conventions, especially an endorsement convention without any controversy or news value, […]
Tonight News Five takes to the visa trail again as we continue to assemble the pieces in a massive visa scheme. Our investigation so far has revealed the involvement of various senior U.D.P. ministers who facilitated the procurement of Belizean visas for Chinese nationals on a weekly basis. This scandal broke in September with the […]
