Day-one of the budget debate started this morning in Belmopan and up to news time it continues in an energized National Assembly, that had been downgraded from cold to near-Arctic. The 2018-2019 General Revenue and Appropriation Bill was tabled two weeks ago. The P.U.P. leader, John Briceño, assailed the vision of Prime Minister Dean Barrow […]
Is the Government running a game with the share price of Belize Telemedia Limited and what the company is really worth? That’s the thinking in some sectors since G.O.B. is considering selling more shares of B.T.L. to the Social Security Board. In 2017, S.S.B. bought seven million shares at five dollars a share, despite the […]
Lake Independence area representative Cordel Hyde, speaking after Belmopan representative John Saldivar, called the budget a “slap in the face” after the recent municipal election results. According to Hyde, despite the people’s decision on March seventh, the government has insisted it will not alter course, and that may prove to be a fateful decision. […]
Later, former Prime Minister Said Musa went after the Government’s estimation of the economy. Scorning the charge that the economy was “on the rebound,” he noted that Government hoped to cover up the holes in the budget by applying the pressure of more taxes, including the addition of the General Sales Tax to data services […]
At the start of his presentation on the Budget, Minister of Education Patrick Faber issued a response to the teachers. While Faber has had his issues with the union in the past and recently accused their leadership of having lost their way, today he offered somewhat of an olive branch, suggesting that the union could […]
Today’s Budget Debate was especially spicy as the main speakers went head to head. Belmopan’s John Saldivar answered Leader of the Opposition John Briceño and was in turn answered by Cordel Hyde, who was then answered by Patrick Faber. It got especially heated during Faber’s presentation as he went after Hyde on past scandals in […]
The once and current Minister of National Security, John Saldivar, reviewed the performance of his Ministry of Defense before the merger announced earlier this week and also spent some time on what his Police portfolio will be doing to address the burgeoning crime situation. In addition to the new legislation that will be debated in […]
The Deputy P.M.’s spiel was not only expelled on the P.U.P. Even a former colleague, who just also happens to have been a former area representative from Lake Independence, got his name called. Mark King has expressed interest in running to succeed Anthony “Boots” Martinez in the Port Loyola division, but Faber rubbished that idea […]
Minister of John Saldivar, took to social media on Tuesday and launched an attack on B.N.T.U. National President, Elena Smith following her comments against his appointment as Minister of National Security. Saldivar posted that Senator Smith is using her position to bully pulpit for her self-serving agenda. He also warned to be “careful of your […]
Saldivar’s Facebook post is seen as a form of cyber bullying, for which there are no laws to protect victims. Of equal concern is that Saldivar appears to be using the power of his office as minister of the security forces to threaten the senator. Attorney-at-law and former parliamentarian Lisa Shoman, in her address at […]
Two weeks after the municipal elections and the new and returning municipal government leaders are getting a two-day crash course in governance. Following every municipal election, the Ministry of Local Government holds orientation training for all elected officials. The forum is also used to facilitate an exchange of information and networking with agencies that can […]
The first of its kind election petition challenging the results of March seventh’s elections in San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, is on its way to the courts to be filed, once all candidates from the People’s United Party’s slate have signed and the relevant parties served. The petition questions what P.U.P. leader John Briceño on […]
Earlier we spoke about one of the Budget’s revenue-collecting measures, the exemption of G.S.T. on agricultural services being lifted, being shelved for now. The rest of the billion-dollar budget will be debated starting on Thursday. A look through the book shows modest recoveries for most of the major ministries after a tough year financially and […]
How much did the Government know about the situation with the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, and how much of its current state could have been prevented? These are the questions being asked by the Opposition People’s United Party tonight. This afternoon, John Briceño told reporters that the K.H.M.H. would have been a fit and proper […]
The People’s United Party this afternoon addressed the state of affairs in Belize City in relation to crime. Party Leader John Briceño and Deputy Cordel Hyde lamented the weekend’s developments and seriously questioned the Government’s commitment to addressing crime’s root causes. They pointed out that the consolidation of the Ministry of National Security seemed a […]
During his tour of municipalities for the recent municipal elections, Briceño spent much time in Belize City touring homes and speaking to residents. But his deputy, Cordel Hyde, has been a City resident all his life and presides over the division where a majority of this weekend’s killings took place. Hyde told us that some […]
The call to address crime has become a plank of the P.U.P.’s public statements, but even Briceño admits it seems to be falling on deaf ears. Beyond an initial acknowledgment from Prime Minister Dean Barrow, little has been done by Government to reach out and partisan rhetoric has been the order of the day. Nonetheless, […]
Precisely what is the intent of Section eighteen of the Constitution, cited by Prime Minister Dean Barrow as the basis for the latest measures against crime? It provides for the handling of states of emergency, defined as any time in which Belize is at war, or any proclamation by the Governor General or the National […]
They split not too long ago, but the three sugar cane farmers’ associations are uniting in common cause against the announcement of exemptions to General Sales Tax to be implemented against agricultural services such as land preparation, harvesting and crop dusting. The measure is intended to close a loophole favoring certain farmers, but the Belize […]
The People’s United Party this afternoon condemned the Government saying the neglect of the K.H.M.H. is unacceptable. The P.U.P. states that between the period 2008 and 2014, the condition of the roof at the K.H.M.H. had been documented in the minutes of many Board meetings and that the Ministry of Health had been kept apprised […]
The national executive of the People’s United Party met earlier today to discuss a range of national and intramural issues, including a legal challenge of the results in San Pedro following the March seventh municipal elections. Having reviewed the voting process, the P.U.P. believes that it has enough to contest the outcome of the election […]
Gwen Liz High School continues to face a series of administrative troubles, this time at its board level. News Five understands that job interviews were being held this afternoon for prospective candidates to fill a vacancy for bursar. That session, we are told, was conducted by the school’s principal, as well as former councilor Alifa […]
The last we heard from former Lake Independence area representative and Minister of State Mark King, was that he was upset with his United Democratic Party. In October, King claimed he had been illegally kicked out of the U.D.P. National Party Council and not considered for any placement by the party. But he seems to be […]
There was a changing of the guard today at City Hall, from the red to the blue. A new mayor and councillors for the country’s largest municipality took the oath this afternoon before a supportive crowd. The P.U.P.’s Bernard Wagner and his team of ten councillors, a week ago, won convincingly the trust of voters […]
During the budget presentation for the upcoming fiscal year, Prime Minister Barrow announced that a tax of twelve and a half percent will be added to the existing cost of data. The increase in the form of General Sales Tax takes effect on April first and comes at the expense of all internet users, with […]
