On last night’s newscast viewers heard former city councillor Eloisa Trujeque express her support for ex-Mayor David Fonseca, the man who claims to have spent around four hundred thousand dollars of city funds on donations to the poor–but can’t account for a single penny. Today, thanks to the cooperation of the People’s United Party, we […]
He gave interviews to a number of media houses yesterday, this one included. But what was supposed to be an exercise in candor did little to dispel public doubts about the propriety–or legality–of ex-mayor David Fonseca’s granting himself around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of city funds. Today we spoke to a number of […]
But during an off camera interview with News Five this afternoon, the financial director for the Belize City Council, Pauline Wade, vehemently denied Trujeque’s version of the facts. According to Wade, every month each councillor is provided with a report on the state of the city’s finances. Based on copies of those reports, the second […]
With city residents still in shock at the news that former Belize City Mayor David Fonseca touched the council’s treasury for a quarter million dollars in salary advances, loans, and bad cheques that somehow got cashed, the new council is desperately trying to convince residents to settle their own balances with the city tax collector. […]
As scandals go, the magnitude of the money involved does not begin to approach the level of previous debacles involving passports, telecommunications, BELIPO, or the D.F.C. … but the discovery that former Belize City Mayor David Fonseca helped himself to a quarter of a million dollars of city funds may be the clearest evidence yet […]
It’s never been a real hotspot for media coverage, but today all eyes were on Belize City Hall, as for the first time in sixteen years the building was under the control of the United Democratic Party. Stewart Krohn reports. Stewart Krohn, Reporting The mayor and ten city councillors were sworn in today in a […]
The Belmopan City Council has responded to reports on this newscast of political victimisation in the nation’s capital. Today, in a three sentence press release the council has essentially confirmed those charges, stating: “Mr. Vincent Pascascio, Valuation Officer, is presently on administrative leave with benefits because of his active public campaigning for the People’s United […]
Across the country, the winning United Democratic Party candidates are moving into the offices of city councils and town boards. But just two hours after the new Belmopan City Council walked into city hall on Thursday morning, one employee, Vincent “Tommy” Pascascio was served with this letter: “Dear Tommy: I am instructed to inform you […]
As for municipal developments in Belize City, this morning the U.D.P. city council participated in meetings with party leadership and later prepared to move into their new home. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports from City Hall. Janelle Chanona, Reporting This afternoon, Mayor Zenaida Moya and Belize City?s councillors visited their new offices on North Front […]
The two party system is alive and well in Belize … and that’s about the only solace the P.U.P. could enjoy this morning as the magnitude of the United Democratic Party’s sweeping nationwide victory became clear. Claiming sixty-four out of sixty-seven seats up for grabs in nine municipalities and winning just under sixty percent of […]
While Zenaida Moya will have her hands full figuring out how to run a city in tough financial times, U.D.P. leader Dean Barrow will spend the next two years trying to parlay yesterday’s municipal success into victory in the 2008 general elections. In the wee hours of this morning he offered a quick analysis of […]
For every winner in last night’s drama there was a corresponding loser. As the leader of the party suffering one of the most lopsided defeats in recent political memory, it was left to Prime Minister Said Musa to face the public, put his spin on the massacre, and rally his demoralized troops. P.M. Said Musa, […]
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It was a municipal campaign that in many ways seemed more like a full scale general election. The incumbent P.U.P., holding six out of nine urban areas, including Belize City, was vulnerable and the U.D.P. leadership for months has been confidently predicting a major shift in the balance of power. In a few hours we’ll […]
It’s a place where people tend to take their politics seriously. News Five’s Karla Vernon reports from Orange Walk Town. Karla Vernon, Reporting The voter turnout was brisk at the four polling stations in Orange Walk Town today, slowing down only around the lunch hour. Deputy Prime Minister Johnny Briceno was outside the Louisiana Government […]
Moving West, it was left to News Five’s Jacqueline Woods to feel the pulse of the one city and two towns located in the Cayo District. Her first stop was the nation’s capital. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting> The political climate in the City of Belmopan was upbeat as the People?s United Party, the United Democratic Party, […]
In terms of per capita income San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, is by far Belize’s richest municipality. But the island paradise still faces problems not unlike the nation’s lesser endowed towns. As the only council with a split membership — currently six one in favour of the U.D.P. — the race here figures to be the […]
The Northern districts of Belize have been traditional strongholds for the ruling People’s United Party, particularly Corozal. So if the U.D.P. can make inroads here it would likely herald a nationwide victory. News Five’s Karla Vernon reports. Karla Vernon, Reporting The Corozal Bay was calm today and so was voting at Corozal Town?s three polling […]
Our News Five team, Brent Toombs and William Neal are just back from the Southern towns of Dangriga and Punta Gorda. Here?s the report of what they found. William Neal, Reporting As the sun rose in scenic Punta Gorda, the day started as usual with postcard-like images of life in a coastal town. On election […]
Since dawn this morning, the men and women of the Elections and Boundaries Department have been working side by side with more than a hundred public officers to ensure an orderly, efficient voting process in polling stations across the country. Late this afternoon we caught up with the man at the helm of Belize’s electoral […]
Newspapers, particularly those published by our two major political parties, are known to tell a fib now and then. But even by those loose standards the headline in today’s election eve issue of the Belize Times was something of a shocker. “Barrow Resigns” said the uncharacteristically red banner; while the text went on to describe […]
As the 2006 municipal campaign enters its last lap, both political parties appear poised to go for the jugular. Whether the most blood spilled will be red or blue is still anybody’s guess … but nowhere are the knives as sharp as in the race for the Belize City Council Zenaida Moya, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate […]
Nomination Day: It’s a straightforward legal process that in recent years has been incorporated into the partisan hoopla that now surrounds even the smallest electoral contests. Today the P.U.P., U.D.P., a pair of third parties, and six independent candidates signed up for the March first municipal elections in the nation’s seven towns and two cities. […]
To avoid political confrontation the Elections and Boundaries Department set up a nomination day system in which the P.U.P. candidates appeared in the morning, the U.D.P. in the afternoon, and any independents or third party aspirants used the lunch hour. And that’s just when News Five’s Karla Vernon showed up in Belmopan. Karla Vernon, Reporting […]
Without a doubt, over the next two weeks this newscast will be chock full of political stories, starting with nomination day tomorrow. But tonight there is a story in the news that has a unique political angle. Reports to News Five indicate that on Saturday, Prime Minister Said Musa, the eleven members of the People’s […]
