There was some straight talk on Tuesday by the P.U.P. southern caucus chair, Mike Espat, as well as from Cayo South Area Rep Julius Espat and Cayo Northeast Orlando Habet. The area reps spoke after a meeting with the Belize Progressive Party and activists’ organizations. That encounter in Belmopan was at the invitation by the […]
It is known that there are many in the leadership of the People’s United Party, excluding its leader John Briceño, who are opposed to taking Guatemala’s territorial claim to the International Court of Justice. Because of the divergence of internal views, Briceño’s position has been for a conscious vote. Well earlier today, the Belize Progressive […]
The decision for members of the country’s oldest political organization to join forces with the B.P.P. is unconventional. It’s a move that Cayo South Area Representative Julius Espat says people have been clamoring for. Other members of the southern and western caucuses whose position is NO, including Stann Creek West Area Representative Rodwell Williams and […]
The People’s United Party does not have consensus on the I.C.J. matter so was the attendance of several of its elected members and standard bearers sanctioned by its leadership? It is a question that was put to Cayo South Area Representative Julius Espat following the meeting, in the context of Party Leader John Briceño’s personal […]
Area Representative Orlando Habet represents Cayo Northeast, which is one of the areas close to the western border with Guatemala. Habet also weighed in on the I.C.J. discussion, speaking on Belize’s independence and territorial integrity, as well as his constituents who are uninformed of the need to vote. Orlando Habet, Area Representative, Cayo Northeast […]
Former U.D.P. Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya has her eyes set on central government. Moya initially had the support of Mesopotamia Area Rep Michael Finnegan, but all that changed when Shyne Barrow, Finnegan’s nephew and son of Prime Minister Dean Barrow, threw his hat in the ring. Shyne, who is also the Music Ambassador, is […]
In the face of incursions into the Columbia Forest Reserve and the village of San Benito Poite by poachers from neighboring Guatemala, concerns have been raised about the ongoing encroachment on Belize’s territory. Toledo West Area Representative Oscar Requeña speaks on recent activities in those locations, despite his staunch position of not going to the […]
Poaching is a similar issue that is being faced in the Chiquibul Forest where gold panners and illegal farmers enter into the expanse of wilderness. According to Julius Espat whose Cayo South constituency includes the Chiquibul Forest, enough is not being done to preserve and safeguard the national treasure. Julius Espat, Area Representative, Cayo […]
The Vital Statistics Unit is a ‘mess’ according to Church Senator Ashley Rocke and U.D.P. Senator Macario Coy. The issue of the unit’s inefficiency was debated on Wednesday during the Senate Sitting after an amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act was brought for second reading. In August, News Five visited the Vital […]
Another piece of legislation relating to registration that was debated by the Senator was an amendment to the General Registry Act which seeks to alleviate the administrative burden of the Registrar General. P.U.P. Senator Valerie Woods pointed out that the Act was first passed in 1954 and the only amendment was made in 1977 which […]
A team of experts from Tuvalu and Haiti came to conduct an assessment of the country in July as part of Belize’s implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Since then we have not heard much about UNCAC and the progress if any, that the Attorney General’s office has made. During Wednesday’s Sitting of […]
Speaking on the adjournment during Wednesday’s Senate meeting, Senator Doctor Carla Barnett touched on the much talked about topic of gender-based violence. In her address, Senator Barnett remembered the tragic murder of Hermelinda Pinks who was reportedly killed by her ex-boyfriend in February in an apparent murder/suicide. Four months later, Ervin Wade was found guilty […]
The most debated motion brought to the Senate today was the conditional settlement agreement between NEWCO Limited and the Government of Belize. In 2002, the Belize Airports Authority and NEWCO Belize entered into an agreement to develop and operate the Philip Goldson International Airport. That concession agreement was terminated a year later on October twenty-seventh, […]
Taking part in the debate were U.D.P. Senator Orson Elrington and P.U.P. Senator Eamon Courtenay. Both Senators touched on Cabinet’s decision at the time to terminate the concession agreement. Orson Elrington, Interim U.D.P. Senator “Under that agreement NEWCO was given a concession for administration, maintenance and monetization of the airport. The terms include the […]
Attorney General and U.D.P. Senator Michael Peyrefitte has been hitting the ground in the Port Loyola Division meeting U.D.P. voters in his attempt to cement his candidacy as the U.D.P.’s Standard Bearer. Today, Peyrefitte told the media that he hopes to be victorious but if he isn’t, he will respect the decision of the voters. […]
The People’s United Party held its national executive meeting at Memorial Park in Belize City. Hundreds of delegates from constituencies in the districts, travelled to join the Belize City delegates for the event on Saturday. This year, the P.U.P. celebrated its sixty-eighth birthday which was one of the reasons for the meeting. The party also […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow returned to the country on Thursday, but he was unable to attend today’s House Meeting since he is still recovering from surgery. So, Acting Prime Minister Patrick Faber led the proceedings on the government side. A number of bills were introduced. The main bill; however, was for the settlement of an […]
The Opposition hotly debated the six million U.S.-dollar settlement agreement. John Briceño led the charge questioning why government wants to settle a U.S.-based judgment when it had ignored a judgement in Belize’s courts. According to Briceño’s calculations, the government’s tax claim with penalties and interest amount to twenty-eight million dollars, which it is giving up […]
When the NEWCO deal collapsed, the Belize Airport Concession group was granted an agreement to manage the P.G.I.A. The Belmopan Area rep John Saldivar raised the issue of who was in that group, but the former Prime Minister and Fort George Area Rep Said Musa shut him up. Caribbean Shores area rep Kareem drove home […]
A loan for roughly seventeen million Belize dollars is being guaranteed by government for Belize Water Services Limited to acquire shares in Consolidated Water Belize Limited in San Pedro. The privately held utility company on Ambergris Caye will be bought by BWSL and its system expanded to provide potable water, as well as sewerage, to […]
The tragic fire that claimed the lives of four members of the Petillo family in Orange Walk Town on Sunday morning remains a talking point in light of numerous criticisms made against the National Fire Service. Once again, the department has been disparaged for not responding promptly to the deadly blaze and when it did […]
The state of emergency for two south side neighborhoods is presumably nearing its end. That notwithstanding, another amendment was tabled before parliament today. The Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act was once again brought before the House of Representatives with a revision in respect of bail restrictions for gang membership and other offenses. The reintroduction […]
Ministers John Saldivar and Patrick Faber have been all over the country rallying support for their bid for leadership of the United Democratic Party. For the past few months, Saldivar has been visiting homes and making public appearances, while Faber recently started a tour as Acting Prime Minister. While the two are seen as the […]
Leader of the Opposition John Briceño says he is disappointed with the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Briceño’s comments come after the B.C.C.I. fired off a release eight days ago, condemning the ‘childish’ and ‘petulant’ behavior exhibited in the House of Representatives on August thirty first. On that day the government debated the Appropriation […]
The People’s United Party today paid tribute to one of its co-founder and Father of the Nation, George Cadle Price. Price, a national hero and leader emeritus of the P.U.P., passed seven years ago on September nineteen 2011. Since his death, the P.U.P. has been holding a wreath-laying ceremony at his resting place at the […]
