There are close to fifty young residents at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre, double the number the home was originally built to hold. Throughout the year a number of donations help the centre to meet its commitments and this morning’s handing over was no exception. The British Army Training Support Unit, BATSUB, recently held […]
For weeks now, the silence out of Belmopan has been deafening, despite mounting political pressure, national financial crisis and determined public outcry. Until today that is. Immediately following a meeting with business and labour representatives this morning, Prime Minister Said Musa met with members of the press. The meeting opened with a statement by the […]
Even during the most heated battles of world wars one and two, there would be brief periods of truce, during which each side could bury its dead, observe Christmas, or just take a rest from the bloody business of killing. And while our political wars thankfully lack bloodshed, the concept of raising the white flag […]
We’ve seen it happen so often that it’s almost routine: brought into court in bangles, walk out free a few months later. Did they commit the crime? Probably. Can the prosecution prove it? Not likely, as a combination of fear and ineptitude has turned the criminal justice system into a revolving door for even the […]
In labour news, the Belize City Council has issued a press release informing two hundred and twenty employees who have been terminated and transferred to a private maintenance company, that their accrued benefit payments will be late in coming. The delay was attributed to “administrative setbacks”. Mayor David Fonseca and councillors will be meeting Friday […]
While the UDP maps a strategy to keep its momentum going, others are equally enmeshed in the events surrounding the political and financial drama. One such person is Dr. Carla Barnett. As a former deputy governor of the Central Bank, second in command of CARICOM and now CEO in the Ministry of National Development, Barnett […]
We have reported several times on this broadcast on the dire financial straits of the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute. Today those problems forced the release of five staff members. Those employees, all administrative personnel, were given one month’s notice, dismissed and asked to collect their paychecks on Friday. According to CZMAI chairman, Dr. […]
It was billed as a massive protest march that, although organised by the Opposition United Democratic Party, called upon all Belizeans to register their anger over alleged mismanagement of government finances. And while politicians may argue over the partisan affiliations of the marchers, there is no doubt that Saturday’s demonstration was large and its participants […]
In related news, Government has announced that it has formally abandoned its plans to float a two hundred and twenty-five million US dollar bond on the international market. According to a release, the engagement agreement with Morgan Stanley expired on August seventeenth and no further efforts will be made to raise the funds, over ninety […]
It took five months of planning and preparation, not to mention a generous helping of volunteer work from people all over the country. And on Saturday artists from all over took the stage to raise funds to help care for people infected and affected by AIDS. Coordinator of the “The Living with Hope” project, Dolores […]
You could say that it?s the first major event of the United Democratic Party?s 2008 election campaign…a mass protest march and rally seeking to capitalize on widespread public distrust of government?s financial management, aided and abetted by a simmering civil war in the ruling PUP cabinet. For UDP leader Dean Barrow it?s a scenario made […]
Ralph Fonseca said he had a mortgage of seven hundred and sixty-three thousand dollars and the following night Wilfred Elrington appeared on News 5 to deny it, saying that the amount of his loan from St. James National Building Society was under two hundred and seventy-five thousand. So who got it wrong? No one, actually. […]
As the press continues to sink its teeth into Social Security saga, this morning the list of civil society organisations to weigh in with their concerns and suggestions expanded to include the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. Complete with representatives from the Belize Energy Workers Union, the Christian Workers Union, the Belize Communication Workers […]
General Manager of the Belize Social Security Board Narda Garcia has been having a tough fortnight. She?s made presentations to several bodies, including Cabinet and the Belize Governance Improvement Commission, in an attempt to explain how it was that the S.S.B. guaranteed millions of dollars in questionable loans to companies owned by former PUP Minister […]
It was one of those news items that fell through the cracks in the midst of last week’s political turmoil…but viewers should be happy to hear that there is no longer a shortage of Belize passports. A release from the Immigration Department confirms that the first shipment of new passports has been received from the […]
And cleaning up that financial act may be easy compared to the task of regaining the public’s confidence in the wake of allegations of widespread misuse of public funds. While the focus has been on activities of the Belize Social Security Board, the S.S.B.?s sins at this point appear to be only a small part […]
While the spectacle of Civil War in Belmopan has captivated the nation’s imagination over the last week, it is the controversy over misuse of public funds that will likely remain with us long after the last political shots have been fired. Today, following up on discussions held Monday with Social Security General Manager Narda Garcia […]
On August First, the Costal Zone Management Authority and Institute, which manages Goff’s Caye, put into effect a ten U.S. dollar entrance fee for tourists visiting the island. It was estimated that through this new system, CZMAI would earn approximately one hundred and forty-four thousand Belize dollars a month during the high season, and ninety-four […]
On last night?s newscast we ran a clip from a session in which the bosses at the Development Finance Corporation and Social Security Board met with the press to explain exactly what transpired between those two institutions with respect to a set of loans bundled for securitization and sale by D.F.C. and guaranteed by the […]
While the political bombshell of seven cabinet resignations has dominated today’s headlines, the issue that refuses to go away is the one that prompted the crisis in the first place: that is the Government and Social Security Board guarantees that were given to millions of dollars in questionable loans to former P.U.P. Minister Glenn Godfrey. […]
While controversy swirls over the means by which Glenn Godfrey raised funds to create the telecommunications company INTELCO, last night the incumbent monopoly, Belize Telecommunications Ltd, held its annual general meeting, the first since majority ownership was purchased by Jeffrey Prosser?s Innovative Communications Corporation. It was a mixed year for B.T.L. with record revenues at […]
While the Prime Minister?s speech made the headlines, the issue of wrongdoing at Belize?s public institutions has not gone away. The question remains of how former P.U.P. Minister Glenn Godfrey managed to borrow millions of dollars in government guaranteed loans with little collateral for a telecommunications venture that could only be described as extremely risky…all […]
While the U.D.P. was clearly on the offensive, the Social Security Board today attempted to mount a defence, following almost two weeks of being under hostile fire. Unfortunately, instead of providing the full and detailed disclosure requested by the U.D.P., various civil society organizations and members of its own board, not to mention a P.U.P. […]
The Belize City Council today added its support for a fund raising radiothon and televised concert to help people affected by HIV/AIDS. During brief ceremonies at City Hall, Mayor David Fonseca handed over a cheque for five hundred dollars to the coordinator of the Living With Hope project, Dolores Balderamos Garcia. Fonseca says that as […]
Twenty-eight people are without a job tonight in the wake of a showdown between labour and management at the National Fishermen Co-op in Belize City. The story, as News 5?s Patrick Jones discovered, is a tale of too many missing tails. Uldine Gotoy, Former Co-op Employee ?I wah mek them tell we weh the go […]
