To help you monitor the progress of the voting on Wednesday in Belmopan, the Elections and Boundaries Department now has a website and they will be posting voter turnout information throughout the day. The site includes a sample ballot and information on the country’s electoral divisions and voter registration. General information on the Elections and […]
The Elections and Boundaries Department has embarked on a public awareness campaign. Today a voter’s day was held at the Belize Biltmore Plaza to emphasize to the electorate their right to vote and to encourage those who have not registered to do so. An information booklet on the department has also been produced. Voter’s Day […]
On Tuesday a one and a half year old child drowned in a bucket of water at his home on Faber’s Road. His mother had left him home alone with a three-year-old sibling because she had to leave for work. She told police she had asked a neighbor to watch the children until one of […]
The United Democratic Party is asking the government to give voters in Belmopan some idea of the type of city council they would be getting if they vote “yes” in the November twenty-fourth referendum. They also want the election delayed a year if residents vote to become a city. This evening the party issued a […]
On November twenty-fourth Belmopan residents, including those from the surrounding areas of Salvapan, San Martin, Mopan and Las Flores will vote in the first referendum to decide if they want Belmopan to become a city. While most seem to like the idea of having their own city council, there are concerns that since the community […]
She’s only been on the job for three months but Chief Elections Officer Myrtle Palacio has undertaken a task which will shape the political landscape for years to come: the redistricting of the nation’s twenty-nine electoral constituencies. This morning Myrtle Palacio sat down with News Five’s Stewart Krohn to explain just what her job does […]
If you’d like to move out of the city, you may want to consider relocating to the Belize District. In the weekly Cabinet meeting it was agreed that five thousand house lots would be provided on government lands near the Bermudian Landing/Rancho Dolores junction and in Sandhill. Government will survey the lots and provide roads […]
Another Palacio is in the news tonight and while we’re not sure if she’s related to Milton, Chief Elections Officer Myrtle Palacio is under no less pressure than her athletic namesake. A government press release late this afternoon confirmed what many political observers have long known: the nation’s twenty-nine electoral districts need to be redrawn. […]
In this week’s Cabinet meeting, development concessions were approved for four businesses seeking to expand and increase their staff. J.S. Espat Limited will get duty exemptions on specialized equipment and raw materials in order to upgrade its paper processing plant. Tiger Run Farms will be assisted in the expansion of Running W Brand Meats processing, […]
On October nineteenth, Florencio Marin, Minister of Sugar Industry felt it necessary to invoke his powers and appoint members to the Patchakan and San Narciso Branch Councils of the Corozal Division of the Belize Sugar Cane Association. The action was taken after a group of association members protested the elections claiming ineligible farmers tried to […]
In Belize’s national elections, a voter must be over eighteen, a Belizean and registered to vote. To vote in Branch Council Elections of the Belize Cane Farmers’ Association, a voter must have delivered twenty-five tons of sugar cane. To vote by proxy, you must have a signed authorization. Master lists of voters are complied and […]
One of the government’s manifesto promises was the creation of more jobs. Today the Task Force on Services, chaired by Francis Fonseca presented its report to the Prime Minister Said Musa. Its study of five key sectors indicates that more than eight thousand jobs could be created for Belizeans over the next four years. The […]
In an update to our story on Thursday on the referendum in Belmopan, whatever voters in the capital and surrounding areas decide November twenty-fourth will be binding, but if they choose to become a city, the composition of the City Council will have to be established through new legislation. Jesus Ken of the National Assembly […]
The nation’s first referendum will be held at the end of November as voters in Belmopan and the surrounding suburbs go to the polls to decide if they want to become a city and be run by their own City Council. All electors from polling area eighty-six, which includes the capital, San Martin, Las Flores, […]
On Tuesday’s newscast we referred to him as the consummate survivor… and today Gian Ghandi added to his already impressive reputation by not only surviving but instead snagging a major new post with government. On Tuesday the Government Press Office reported that Ghandi had been terminated from a thirteen-year stint as Solicitor General. The departing […]
The new Attorney General Godfrey Smith may only have issued his plan of action last week, but he has lost no time in taking the first steps towards revamping the administration of Belizean justice. The most visible change, announced today, is the removal of Solicitor General Gian Ghandi. Ghandi has been a fixture in Belmopan […]
It was downright dull in the House of Representatives this morning until the Deputy Prime Minister Johnny Briceño introduced an amendment to the National Lands Act which would allow the Minister to delegate his powers to a subordinate, namely for the signing of documents which now require his signature. The move is intended to alleviate […]
The Minister of Lands did get his way today, at least in terms of getting his bill passed with expediency. Another bill fast tracked was the referendum for the people of Belmopan to decide if they want to become a city. The referendum is tentatively scheduled for next month. The Leader of the Opposition said […]
The Leader of the Opposition wasn’t buying the package and took particular exception to the use of the term “fee”. Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition, U.D.P. “As far as all of us are concerned what is being done here is an imposition of a tax on the zone. For the Prime Minister to stand […]
Dean Barrow is not the only one who is opposed to changes being made in the free zone. This evening the Chairman of the Zone’s Task Force recorded a statement denouncing the passage of the new legislation. Hipolito Bautista says what was a successful private sector initiative, has now been placed under what he terms […]
The new Attorney General, Godfrey Smith was given the go-ahead at this week’s Cabinet meeting to begin a three-year plan of action to improve the justice system. The plan includes modernizing the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, attracting high caliber candidates for key positions in the judiciary, speeding up the delivery of criminal […]
United Democratic Party Senator Audrey Matura-Tillett is in the news again. This time her comments in her weekly column in the Guardian Newspaper, of which she is also the editor, have raised the hackles of the Director of Public Prosecutions Adolph Lucas. News Five confirmed today with the Registrar General that the D.P.P. has filed […]
The long awaited changes in Cabinet were announced today and while one could argue over whether it was a reshuffle or — as government said — an adjustment, there will be some new faces with new responsibilities in Belmopan. Although there was some minor shifting of portfolios the major moves numbered four. The first is […]
The United Democratic Party held their first National Convention under their new constitution on Sunday at the City Centre. A new executive was elected which retained Dean Barrow as Party Leader, brought Senator Oscar Ayuso in as first Deputy Leader and Carlos Castillo as second Deputy Leader. Douglas Singh was voted in as Chairman with […]
The September Celebrations culminated this week in Independence Day celebrations. On Monday night there was the usual reception at the House of Culture, formerly the Government House, with entertainment by various cultural groups. This was followed by the flag raising ceremony at the courthouse wharf and fireworks out over the harbor. The next morning the […]
