And while the Living Hope School in Belize City raises funds to get back on its feet, a family in Belmopan is rebounding with help from that city’s council. On the night of April sixteenth the home of the Chun family in the Las Flores neighbourhood burned to the ground, leaving them virtually destitute. Today […]
If you are planning on attending this weekend’s National Agriculture and Trade Show in Belmopan, there will be one new sign on the road that will not only catch your eye, but make you ease up on the gas pedal. In a brief handing over ceremony in the capital city today, founding members of Parents […]
The National Rifle Association in the U.S.A. likes to say that guns don’t kill people; people kill people. Well, one organisation in Belize is claiming that not only do guns lead to killing, but even toy guns can put us on the road to fatal violence. Results from the first random survey conducted by Youth […]
Two hundred years ago, the slave trade was abolished in the Caribbean and to officially commemorate the event, university students participated in an organized debate on the subject. Sponsored by the National Institute of Culture and History, this morning students from St. John’s Junior College, Ecumenical Junior College, and the University of Belize put forward […]
The Youth Hostel: It’s an institution that stands at a fork in the road, where one route leads to productive citizenship and the other to prison. Today the hostel received a major facelift, but will the brighter surroundings make for better rehabilitation? Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting Presently, there are thirty teenaged boys and girls residing at […]
Whether you’re a pedestrian, cyclist, driver or passenger, you’re probably not surprised to hear that traffic accidents is one of the leading causes of death in Belize. But what should frighten you is the reality that fatalities on the nation’s highways have implications beyond the grief for friends and family. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports […]
On Thursday night’s newscast, we reported that the Press Office had informed us that the Cabinet had authorised any member of the National Assembly, upon request, to view the privileged document that is the Government guarantee to Universal Health Services debts. But tonight it appears someone in Belmopan got their wires crossed. This afternoon legal […]
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” That phrase was made famous in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, but it seems to apply in what feels like the never ending saga to finalise the terms of reference for the arbitration panel that will investigate the firing of three employees of […]
It had all the hallmarks of a graduation, complete with caps and gowns. But today’s ceremony at the University of West Indies campus highlighted the extraordinary dedication of one group of Belizeans who are determined to save lives. News Five’s Janelle Chanona explains. Janelle Chanona, Reporting This morning eighteen soldiers were added to the forces […]
On Tuesday night, the seventeenth annual Signa Yorke Lecture Series will continue its tradition of provoking thought on critical issues facing Belize. This year’s topic is “the Implication of Taking the Belize-Guatemala Differendum to the International Court of Justice”. Panellists include James Murphy, who has published several books about the claim; Fred Martinez, Belize’s Ambassador […]
In another continuing saga, this time on the labour front, today Minister Francis Fonseca confirmed that the arbitration panel appointed to investigate the firing of three employees of Belize Telecommunications Limited finally has its terms of reference in hand. As we have reported, the Belize Communication Workers Union had objected to the original document, complaining […]
Tonight escaped prisoner Dennis Quilter remains at large … and although there have been some reported sightings; none of the tips have panned out. Quilter was being escorted up the steps of Magistrates’ Court by prison guards to the holding cell area when he suddenly broke away toward the Foreshore and disappeared into the city. […]
We cover a lot of violent crimes and road accidents and it’s not unusual for our news crew to arrive at a scene only to find the flashing lights of an ambulance. And while we know how important their work is, many Belizeans may not be aware that the people who provide those emergency medical […]
In news from Belmopan, the Musa administration is maintaining its silence regarding its latest offer to the Belize Bank as negotiations continue over settlement of the Government guaranteed multi-million dollar debt owed by Universal Health Services. In a release issued by the Press Office this afternoon, the Office of the Prime Minister categorically denied that […]
Leaders of Toledo’s Maya population continue to press their claims for a larger say in their future. For the second time this month a delegation visited the city, this time meeting for a roundtable discussion with the press. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports. Panellist #1 “We can all be Belizeans but we don’t all have […]
While an exact number is uncertain, a drive through sections of the old capital provides more than enough evidence to prove that thousands of Belizeans live in severely impoverished conditions. Services the rest of us take for granted like running water, electricity, and even a toilet are a luxury in those neighbourhoods. But this afternoon, […]
Last week it seemed that the tribunal investigating the firing of three B.T.L. employees was finally coming together: the members of the panel were selected and the long-awaited terms of reference released. But tonight things are back at square one because those terms of reference have union leaders up in arms. According to General Secretary […]
In other labour news, it appears that the long delayed arbitration panel established to resolve the original labour dispute at B.T.L., is finally coming together. Sources tell News Five that a preliminary meeting is scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the tribunal’s terms of reference. Government appointees are Gilbert Johnson, Carlos Santos, and Chief Magistrate Margaret […]
They came by the hundreds from Toledo’s villages to express their dissatisfaction with government’s failure to demarcate land for Maya communities. They left behind a pair of constitutional lawsuits in the Supreme Court that seek to compel Belmopan to act. Today, in response, Prime Minister Said Musa told News Five that while government has in […]
And while the Musa administration faces a legal and public relations battle over the Supreme Court action, on the ground in Toledo another group is threatening action to enforce what it claims are its rights over oil exploration in the Sarstoon Temash National Park. According to Maya activist Greg Ch’oc his people will not allow […]
The debate over communal, traditional and ethnic rights in Belize is not a new one … in fact the reason it comes up so often is that despite all the talk, the issue has yet to be resolved. Leading the charge over the last decade have been Maya activists from the Toledo District. Today they […]
And while it sometimes seems that Belizean society is possessed by a plague of criminal immorality, along comes a story that reaffirms our innately optimistic belief that the future is in better hands. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting Since eighteen year old Travis Lennan was nominated for the 2007 Do the Right Thing—a police award programme—the fourth […]
Tonight the local labour movement continues to complain that the terms of reference for an arbitration panel scheduled to investigate the firing of three employees of Belize Telecommunications Limited have yet to be released. According to officials of the Belize Communications Workers Union, the absence of the information has hampered their preparations for the tribunal. […]
In related news from the labour front, the tribunal appointed to investigate the firing of three employees in the stores section of Belize Telecommunications Limited did not begin on Monday morning as the panel is incomplete. According to General Secretary of the Belize Communication Workers Union, Christine Perriott, both B.T.L. and the union have named […]
The problem of disaffected youth is not unique to any generation, but what makes today’s young people in Belize a bit different from their predecessors is that the dangers they face are a whole lot more lethal. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting Most of Belize’s crimes are committed by young people, and it is a growing problem […]
