In July, more than one hundred and ninety-thousand registered voters will take part in an exercise first established in 1997. It has been postponed twice due to both financial issues and, according to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, tackling the thousands who got illegal nationality through the schemes in the Immigration Department prior to 2013. Immigration […]
The Senate wrapped up its deliberations on the General Revenue and Appropriation Bill very late last Wednesday. All the bills it has debated are now law, but several of them will continue to spark discussion even so. One example is amendments to the Immigration, Belizean Nationality and Passports Acts. These respectively speak to dividing the […]
Concerns were raised that dividing the Immigration Department as proposed in the bills could invite further mischief in a department already badly bruised by the 2011-2013 scandal discussed during last year’s Senate Special Select Committee public hearings. At those hearings, it was abundantly clear that the department had little in human resources to keep it […]
The 2018-2019 General Revenue and Appropriation Bill is headed to becoming law going into the Easter break. Debate in the Senate wound up late Tuesday evening with the Leader of Government Business, Senator Godwin Hulse. Hulse contends that in his sprawling portfolio of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, and Immigration […]
Senators also touched significantly on the issue of crime during Tuesday’s budget debate, and the funding being put toward fighting it and keeping the streets safe. There was a cross-section of opinions from the P.U.P. to the social partners to the government. Whether the cause is poor parenting, lack of police funding or simply societal […]
“The Attorney General’s ministry will provide quality and innovative legal services to the government and people of Belize and will contribute to its development.” So reads the mission statement of that ministry as provided in the budget book. But in his budget presentation, business community Senator Mark Lizarraga publicly questioned the function and budget of […]
Next to speak was the People’s United Party Senate leader, Eamon Courtenay. Echoing Opposition Leader John Briceño’s presentation last week, he described the Budget as lifeless and lacking any meat or muscle to address Belize’s problems. But Courtenay zeroed in the late fiscal strategy paper which had not been prepared as of earlier this year. […]
Two significant events are on the horizon: on April fifteenth, Guatemalans head to the polls to vote on the I.C.J. question, and in July, re-registration of Belize’s voters is scheduled in advance of Belize’s own poll and the coming general election. Last year, when it was announced that re-registration would be postponed to this year, […]
As we have reported, there are questions surrounding what has been described as a guarantee between the Government and the new managers of the Belize Civic Center, Apex Events Services Limited. It involves about a million dollars in expenses to maintain the multi-million dollar facility. This was brought up today in the Senate debate by […]
Leading the government’s response was senator and Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte. His Ministry is responsible for managing the country’s legal and judicial services and is the focal point for such things as the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission and other projects. Often, as in the case […]
Late Friday evening, Prime Minister Dean Barrow wrapped up a marathon two days of debate over the 2018-2019 General Revenue and Appropriation Bill in the National Assembly. He opened the first part of his address by responding to allegations concerning the state of affairs at Belize Telemedia Limited. During his Budget presentation, Prime Minister Barrow […]
The Prime Minister spent a few minutes of his closing statement listing key investments either underway or coming soon that he says will prop up the Belizean economy. From a Four Seasons Hotel in Caye Caulker to agricultural projects in Cayo and Stann Creek District, the Prime Minister argues that there is no shortage of […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has described his 2018-2019 budget as one of consolidation. A point of pride, he said, is that the hallmarks of his administration, such as the pro-poor programs have not been touched. As for infrastructure, he offered a counter to the Opposition’s suggestion that people can’t “eat” streets and drains. Prime […]
The Budget Debate winds down later this evening after a wrap-up by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Once again absent was former Deputy Prime Minister and Orange Walk North area representative Gaspar Vega. But business continued, and during the debate this afternoon, Minister of Health Pablo Marin issued his first public statement on the matter of […]
At the start of today’s debate, Pickstock area representative and Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington said he is not a fan of Thursday’s demonstration outside the National Assembly. But it is not necessarily because he disagrees with the intentions of the Belize National Teachers’ Union, at least according to him. Elrington instead contends that students […]
With less than a month to go, eyes are on the voters of Guatemala, who on April fifteenth will go to the polls to decide whether they accept the International Court of Justice taking charge of the unfounded Guatemalan claim. No one is watching more closely, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington, […]
Cayo South area representative Julius Espat is chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. The Committee met last year with Auditor General Dorothy Bradley to go over the process of compiling the 2012-2013 audit report. But according to committee member Patrick Faber, the last three meetings of the Committee have been canceled. Still yet, Espat says […]
RJB Construction Limited, a company owned and operated by U.D.P. insider Romel Berges, entered into a contractual arrangement with the Belize City Council months prior to former Mayor Darrell Bradley leaving office on February twenty-eighth. The four-year agreement is for works to be done on a number of carriageways, including Raccoon and Ebony streets. The […]
Since being sworn into office on March fourteenth, Mayor Wagner has been reviewing all existing agreements between CitCo and private contractors, a majority of those deals being described as products of campaigning. He contends that the ethical course of action that his forerunner should have taken was to avoid embarking upon capital projects in the […]
The assignment of portfolios within the newly constituted Belize City Council has been finalized, with Oscar Arnold being named deputy mayor responsible for budgeting. The exercise, according to Mayor Wagner, was carefully thought out and deliberate in order to find the ideal fit for each councilor. While all ten members have been designated specific duties, […]
In other agricultural news from Belmopan, Orange Walk South area representative and the P.U.P.’s spokesman for agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai, dropped a stunner during his Budget presentation. There is currently a scarcity of limes on the market, as the humble fruit has taken a beating from citrus greening disease in the south and other factors. […]
Earlier, Cayo South representative Julius Espat spoke about the PAC. He also spoke about the ways the monies are spent – and in his view, misspent – over the last decade of the U.D.P.’s administration. He sought to lay a trail back to this year’s Budget of how monies used, for instance, with Petrocaribe on […]
It hasn’t come up much during the Budget debate, but the House still has to contend with the repayment of the thirty-six million loan to Belize Bank, guaranteed by Government, for Universal Health Services. While no decision has been taken apart from the Supplementary bill presented in January while the matter is before the Caribbean […]
Like his veteran representative father Said Musa, Caribbean Shores representative Kareem Musa has become a must-see attraction during the Budget debate and today was no exception. He differed slightly from Opposition Leader John Briceño, who on Thursday said the budget lacked “Barrow-gance.” Musa assured that it’s still there, but it was more of the “punch-drunk” […]
With a new sheriff in town at 109 North Front Street, are there any projects that were started under the previous administration that Mayor Wagner is looking to complete? That’s what we asked this afternoon, considering that many, if not all, governments come into office with their respective mandates. He says that re-floating the existing […]
