There was news on land and sea today, with the groundbreaking for a new U.S. Embassy in Belmopan along with that country’s donation of a new boat for Belize’s embryonic coast guard. But we’ll lead tonight’s broadcast with the latest developments involving electronic signals that pass through the air…that is telecommunications. In an interview this […]
It’s convention time for the ruling Peoples United Party and this Sunday’s national gathering should be one of the most interesting since the election of Said Musa as party leader in 1996. Despite his recent challenges from within and without, there is little chance of a serious threat to Musa’s leadership…but the two posts of […]
One holds an impressive resume with stints as a politician, historian, diplomat, cabinet minister and Prime Minister’s best friend. The other is an expert in public finance and administration, former Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM and current financial secretary. Together Assad Shoman and Dr. Carla Barnett form Government’s frontline negotiating team in the current dispute […]
Since the passage of the now infamous budget and its equally infamous reaction, Prime Minister Said Musa has left Government’s public relations in the hands of a small corps of cabinet ministers, primarily Godfrey Smith, Jose Coye and Francis Fonseca. But today the P.M., following a public appearance in Independence Village, sat down for a […]
As promised, the Government of Belize has responded to suggestions made by the NTUCB on where new tax revenues can be found and other proposals under the category of good governance. While that response has come in too late to reproduce in its entirety, in general it accepts most of the recommendations, which include more […]
With me now in studio are two of government?s lead negotiators, Minister Coye and Minister Godfrey Smith. What is the latest after what I know has been a very long weekend? Godfrey Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs ?The latest today is that we met with the National Trade Union Congress comprised of all their various […]
For its part the government of Belize has chosen to react to the union and civic action with a deliberate calm and measured response, perhaps in recognition that the current situation amounts to more than just another labour dispute. Speaking to the press this afternoon Minister of Foreign Affairs Godfrey Smith maintained that a methodical […]
If what you are hoping for is a successful resolution of the various conflicts now besetting our country then there is some positive news. In a common sense process that seeks to separately address the three concerns of political reform, taxation and salary hikes for teachers and public officers, it appears that the issue of […]
While government and union negotiators met in the nation’s capital, the National Assembly reverberated with the debate of the thirteen-member senate. While the outcome was never really in doubt, the level of discourse was, as usual, several notches above the more democratically constituted House of Representatives. Noteworthy in the debate was an impassioned address by […]
They voted against the Government’s budget at Friday’s House Meeting but an early adjournment by the P.M. denied them the right to explain their votes. Today PUP backbenchers Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde got to make up for lost time. At a joint press conference this afternoon in Belize City, the two former Ministers burned […]
For Lake I representative Cordel Hyde, it was all about the welfare of his constituents. Cordel Hyde, Area Representative, Lake Independence ?Let me say upfront that I stand in full support of the unions in their struggle. In our struggle, power can cease nothing without a demand. To paraphrase the American Journalist, Frederick Douglas, ?If […]
Following their prepared statements, Hyde and Espat spoke to the press. Stewart Krohn ?Can you describe a scenario that would see you back in the Cabinet and see the present political impasse broken?? Cordel Hyde ?I can?t say at this point Stewart. That would be hypothetical and I would have to speculate and I think […]
Today the Opposition get its chance to critique the budget which government had proposed last week…and they did not waste the opportunity. News 5’s Patrick Jones has a recap. Dean Borrow, Leader of Opposition ?The nation by this budget is being forced to swallow the bitterest medicine imaginable.? Patrick Jones, Reporting With that opening salvo, […]
With a career that includes a long stint as a public officer as well as a private accountant, Minister of Works Jose Coye has a unique perspective on government finance. Although he was one of the leaders of the August cabinet revolt, Coye chose to stick with the Prime Minister following the P.M.’s commitment to […]
While the unions and business groups make their plans for Thursday and Friday where does Government stand? Today Prime Minister Said Musa, in a recorded address, castigated the Leader of Opposition as a “reckless politician careless of the harm he does to the Belizean people and to Belizean democracy.” The protests, he claims, have little […]
When he rose on the adjournment, Attorney General Francis Fonseca addressed several issues raised by the CJ in his opening remarks. Among them was Justice Conteh’s concern that court appointed lawyers are not being appropriately paid and that the inadequate compensation discouraged qualified attorneys from taking on cases of those defendants who cannot afford the […]
With a full weekend to think about it, those people and organisations most affected by the new budget presented by Government on Friday were busy today formulating their reaction. At newstime the executive members of the National Trade Union Congress were still meeting to decide the direction of their protest, having already concluded that the […]
There had been little doubt before today but this morning Prime Minister Said Musa confirmed the Government’s financial reality for 2005/2006. Among the Musa administration’s plans for an increase in revenue earnings are hikes in business taxes, a five percent increase for banks and financial institutions, a whopping eleven percent rise for real estate sales […]
Earlier in this newscast, you saw the emotional and dramatic scenes that unfolded outside the National Assembly during the Prime Minister’s budget presentation. But as News 5’s Patrick Jones reports, inside the House of Representatives, the atmosphere was eerily somber. Said Musa ?We have hard choices to make here. After having cut the projected expenditure […]
This week the buzz word in Belize is definitely “budget” and with tax increases and spending cuts expected to be announced in Friday’s presentation to the House of Representatives, tensions are high at any official event. Such was the case this morning at the Finance Reform Forum hosted by Prime Minister Said Musa. While the […]
Panelists for this morning’s forum included Financial Secretary Dr. Carla Barnett, accountant Arsenio Burgos and Senator Godwin Hulse. While Barnett and Burgos focused on the specific amendments proposed, Hulse maintained that many of the proposals now under consideration had been included in a document presented to the Government of Belize in January 2000 by the […]
As the clock ticks down to B-day on Friday, all eyes and ears will be on Belmopan for details of what is expected to be the Musa administration’s first “haad times” budget. One man who is intimately involved in matters of public sector finance is Ralph Fonseca, the current minister of Home Affairs and Investment […]
He emerged from the December twenty-eighth Cabinet reshuffle as the man who gained the most, in terms of ministerial upgrades. With the addition of Foreign Trade, held previously by Eamon Courtenay and Tourism, the former domain of Mark Espat, Godfrey Smith has assumed a new stature as the “go to” guy in Cabinet. While some […]
With the clock ticking loudly on the need for concrete measures to reduce Government’s deficit, all eyes are focussed on the Prime Minister’s budget speech, which has been announced for Friday, January fourteenth. A press release following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting–the last to be held before the speech–reports that Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Said […]
Following any Cabinet shuffle, especially one in which the number of ministers is reduced, there usually comes a reassignment of chief executive officers. Today, in the wake of last week’s departure of four ministers, the Prime Minister’s Office has released the new CEO line-up. The names and posts, effective January first, are as follows: The […]
