News that another well was spewing oil in commercial quantities caused a firestorm recently. That’s because the find was reported in the foreign press in a less than complimentary article in an Irish newspaper on January twelfth and government had not yet made any pronouncements nor had it acknowledged the find. It also sparked outrage […]
The Opposition appeared, at least for the cameras on Tuesday, to be one happy family. And when Espat took the couch this morning, we also inquired about the state of affairs in the PUP and the viability of a third party. He explained that he supports third parties, and answered the question on whether he […]
Turning to political news, it was their first press conference for this year, and from the looks of it, the People’s United Party started the year with a bang. The Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño, had the opening salvo and he was backed up by two of his deputy leaders, Mark Espat and Francis […]
Earlier in the newscast we told you about the PUP’s press conference at Independence Hall. After a feisty statement by the party leader, his Deputy, Mark Espat made his own pronunciations about the economy and the recession. Espat says that there are thirty-two thousand more Belizeans living in poverty and over twenty thousand Belizeans who […]
The Opposition did not hold back its criticism of the sophomore year of the U.D.P. government. Former Minister of Education Francis Fonseca spoke on the crime wave that has been sweeping across the country. He reiterated that the opposition has offered on numerous occasions to work with the government to eradicate urban terrorism. Fonseca again […]
The Belize/Guatemala dispute was fully ventilated at today’s press conference. Senator Eamon Courtenay said the possibility of a referendum to lead us to the International Court of Justice is not any closer after all the discussions have been made over the past years. Courtenay says that a referendum may be at least four years away […]
The court awarded Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers two of three injunctions she filed against the United Democratic Party. On December seventeenth, Justice Minnet Hafiz ruled that the U.D.P. could no longer exclude Moya Flowers from attending its National Party Council meetings. It was seen as a major victory, but a release from the […]
The non-payment of employee deductions isn’t the only concern for councilors; the other hot button issue at Monday evening’s caucus was a proposed salary cut. This was first floated publicly by Prime Minister Dean Barrow last week Wednesday. The P.M. said in an interview with News Five that the councilors should consider taking a pay […]
In last Friday’s House meeting in the capital, it was an all out shouting match between the current and former prime ministers. The recession and economic depression were the source of the verbal blows between Dean Barrow and Said Musa. The Fort George Area Representative said quite vehemently “The so-called stimulus package that the Prime […]
The House of Representatives met in Belmopan today, it was its last sitting to close the year. But what initially looked like a lackluster meeting, soon turned into a brawl between the former and current prime ministers over the issue of the recession. The parting shots got personal and outright dirty. News Five’s Jose Sanchez […]
Another issue before the House was over the Boledo, which is considered to be as Belizean as potholes and a plate of rice and beans. The government has recently announced that a ten year managerial contract to administer the government lottery would go to Brads Gaming Company Limited. That company which is operated by Kim […]
The Leader of the Opposition was not the only one questioning the privatization of the Boledo. Outside the National Assembly Building, a group protested saying that their livelihood would be shattered by the new system that is set to be implemented in April of next year. Alfita Chan, Protestor “At least we sell our lee […]
The amendment to the Education Act that would pass powers to a Teacher’s Commission went through its first reading in the House today. It has been a highly contentious amendment and it sparked emotions from the Belize National Teachers Union (B.N.T.U.) and the church, which felt that its authority was being eroded. The town meetings […]
There are discussions on the implementation of a garbage tax for Belize City residents. And while residents might soon feel an additional financial pinch, a bill was introduced today that would offer tax discounts to businesses throughout the country. At his quarterly press conference on October twenty-ninth, Prime Minister Dean Barrow indicated he was in […]
It slipped under the radar but last Friday during a caucus at City Hall two Councilors went at each other in a heated confrontation. It happened after Councilor Roger Espejo questioned a contractor about the amount of material being delivered for a project under Councilor Wayne Usher’s portfolio. Espejo asked if the Council was being […]
By now you would know or have been feeling the pinch of the economic recession. That was announced last Thursday by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and this Tuesday, the Statistical Unit released figures that the economy contracted by one point seven percent in the first half of this year. At his press conference last Thursday […]
Dawn Jorguenson tears poured from her eyes when she spoke to News Five on October fifteenth. She was upset that a parcel of land that was in her family’s possession from the sixties was taken away by Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo. Jorguenson’s lot is across from the United Democratic Party’s Caribbean Shores Office […]
The prime minister also commented on the current debacle at City Hall. Councillor Leila Peyrefitte held the post of Revenue Collections for the years of 2006 to 2008. During those years she initiated a plan to offer discounts and incentives to businesses as a trade-offs to property tax payments. The Ministry of Local government had […]
August twenty-fourth, a bill to add a deposit of twenty-five cents on imports of beverages in glass bottles and tin went through a first reading in the House of Representatives. The Association of Protected Areas Management Organization and the Belize Chamber of Chamber of Commerce recently held a joint press conference asking the government to […]
Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers has a number of legal battles in court. Attorney Hubert Elrington is challenging on her behalf, the legality of Patrick Tillett as Financial Director at City Hall and her other lawyer, Michael Peyrefitte, is defending her on twenty-two counts of Uttering a False Document and violating City Council Regulations. […]
That being said, it is known that the mayor does not have too many friends in the U.D.P. hierarchy and that they can’t wait to see the back of her. One man who is not holding back is Minister Patrick Faber who told News Five on Wednesday that he personally voted in favor of her […]
Both the P.U.P. and the U.D.P. had a busy weekend. While the P.U.P. headed west, the U.D.P. executive met in the city on Saturday. In the west, the contentious issue of ownership of the Belize Times, Independence Hall and Positive Vibes Radio, was ventilated. The assets, which were considered to belong to the P.U.P., turned […]
Meanwhile in the governing party, Mayor Zenaida Flowers returned from a conference in England on Saturday on the same day her party’s National Party Council was meeting to establish the Ethics and Integrity Committee which will determine whether or not the Mayor stays in the party. The Mayor has been charged with the criminal offences […]
The Belize City Council is known to be broke and unable to pay bills. The mayor has been criminally charged and while she was out of the country, new allegations came out of more improprieties against her. Now there’s another bombshell on a councillor. In an audit of the council from 2006 to 2008, it […]
The audit also touched on the relationship between the council and Peyrefitte family business. The councillor says that her family didn’t receive any benefits from the incentives that the city council offers. However, employees of Peyrefitte Brothers did double duty and were collecting taxes for the council on commission. Between 2006 and 2008, one of […]
