With construction about to start on a modern cruise and port complex in Belize City, it appears that the administration of the country’s maritime interests is also expanding to meet new challenges. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods has more. Major (Retired) Lloyd Jones, Ports Commissioner ?You could never be a hundred percent secure. I think that […]
Belize is currently hosting the third Central American Air Navigation Experts Working Group. The meeting, which opened this morning at the Princess Hotel, includes the participation of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Central American Corporation for Air Navigation Services. According to Department of Civil Aviation operations officer, Gilberto Torres, the gathering is just […]
They say that if you can drive in Belize you can drive anywhere. Whether that’s a comment on the quality of the streets or our fellow drivers is not clear. But one thing that is evident is that recent years have brought a new emphasis on enforcement of traffic laws. That’s probably a good thing…but […]
With the attention of the community focussed on the arrest and conviction of what appears to be a growing cadre of violent criminals, it is perhaps fitting that tonight’s lead story centres on what happens to those perpetrators once they are apprehended and put behind bars. Because as much as the public might like to […]
The Caribbean Court of Justice by now should have already handed down judgements in its first cases, but the institution has been bogged down by controversy. In some Caribbean countries the hold-up is over exactly how the C.C.J. will work while in others it involves hesitation in breaking ties with the British Privy Council. And […]
While resulting in some significant busts of illegal guns, the 922 hotline has been plagued by suspicions over confidentiality practically from the time it was launched last year. Now, with the help of the Rotary Club of Belize, the Crimestoppers concept is about to undergo an overhaul. Incoming Rotary Club President, Alberto Young, says his […]
The battlefield park: it’s a place where people from all walks of life cross paths on a daily basis, some passing through on their way to do business, others meeting old friends and some just relaxing in the shade. But this afternoon it was the people who’ve taken up permanent residence inside the park that […]
The fledgling local movie industry is tonight celebrating another milestone with the premiere showing of the latest production entitled: “Risking it All.” According to writer/director Kimberly Vasquez, the ninety-minute film is a sequel to her first effort “Choices”, with the issue of HIV/AIDS as the central theme. Vasquez says that it took her nine months […]
While the police are trying to keep abreast of the criminals, the department today got a modest helping hand from the business community. Arun Hotchandani of the Mirage group of companies operating in the Corozal Free Zone this morning handed over a shipment of ten top of the line computers and peripherals to Commissioner of […]
After experiencing a good deal of embarrassment in 2003, Belize can claim some credit as one of a handful of countries removed from the U.S. State Department’s 2004 sex trafficking blacklist. Belize, along with Bosnia, Suriname, the Dominican Republic, and Georgia were commended for making significant improvements in their efforts to fight what is called […]
With an apparent lull in the recent storm of violent crime, law enforcement authorities took the opportunity to do some important P.R. work as part of police week. Today the public–including News 5’s Jacqueline Woods–was invited to Eastern Division headquarters on Queen Street for an open house. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting The pictures may have been […]
It was a major P.R. event that came just prior to the last general election; the presentation of a fleet of brand new Fords for the Police Department. And while today everyone takes the Ranger pickups and Focus sedans for granted, I’ve always wondered just how the vehicles were holding up. Today I found out. […]
After several weeks of hard talk and a series of slowdowns and work stoppages, agreement has finally been reached on a new contract for sugar workers. The Belize Worker’s Union and Belize Sugar Industries Limited came to terms Monday night as an open-ended B.W.U. strike lost steam in the face of worker defections and disenchantment […]
The Attorney General’s ministry has announced the official appointment and swearing in of the Court of Appeal. Returning as president is Justice Elliot Mottley, while newcomer Justice Cecil Morrison joins Justices Manuel Sosa and Boyd Carey to round out the four-man panel. Justices Mottley and Morrison were officially sworn in Monday morning during ceremonies in […]
With the nation reeling from a weekend of deadly violence, including a cop charged with hit and run manslaughter, it is almost painful to note that this is Police Week. On Sunday morning the week was officially launched with Governor General Sir Colville Young inspecting a guard of honour and the presentation of awards to […]
The deadlock continues in the sugar industry tonight with the vast majority of unionized factory workers still on strike. That has not stopped Belize Sugar Industries from functioning, however, as a combination of non-striking workers and supervisory personnel are running the Tower Hill factory. While B.S.I. executives are not certain that the grinding can be […]
This morning Belize City Mayor David Fonseca was among a pack of nine riders who cycled from Corozal Town to Belize City. It was the first leg of a four day journey that will take riders to Belmopan, San Ignacio, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. “Ride Across Belize” is an initiative by the Social Security Board […]
The sugar factory at Tower Hill is shut down tonight as representatives of the Belize Worker’s Union and Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. have failed to come to an agreement on a new contract. In a meeting held this morning, B.S.I. responded to the B.W.U.’s proposal for a four percent one time bonus for all workers […]
An intense search stretching from Albert Street all the way to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Eastern Caribbean was launched today as FirstCaribbean International Bank is again looking to honour the region’s unsung heroes. After the positive response that initiative received last year when it was piloted in four countries, local manager, Stephen […]
There are signs of movement tonight in the ongoing labour dispute in the sugar industry. Union and company sources have confirmed to News 5 that at a meeting held today between representatives of Belize Sugar Industries and the Belize Workers Union a new offer was put on the table by the B.W.U. Abandoning its proposal […]
Belize and the other hundred and sixty or so other nations of the world are constantly signing international agreements. Some are taken seriously, others quickly forgotten by the signatories. One document that the United Nations seems determined to be remembered involves the status of the planet’s children. Today a U.N. regional representative told journalists that […]
It may have looked like the year’s biggest disaster, but the commotion today in Belmopan was in fact a simulation conducted to better prepare us for the real thing. The exercise was organised by the National Emergency Management Organisation as the culmination of a regional conference dealing with management of disaster scenes. This particular scenario […]
While all eyes may be focussed on the highly publicised education summit, fifty miles to the west another group is meeting quietly in Belmopan. We may not even think about what they’re doing, but when disaster strikes… we’ll be glad they made their preparations. Janelle Chanona, Reporting Though days away from the official start of […]
And finally, in more pleasant police news, residents of Sittee River have come together to provide their village policemen with a new motorcycle. Chairman of the neighbourhood watch committee, Mary Shave, presented the one hundred and seventy-five CC Yamaha during a ceremony on Monday. Officer Marvin Salaam obliged by giving the machine a test drive. […]
The original purchase, in 1992, triggered accusations of scandal that have never been fully put to rest…but today with the sale of its five percent stake in BECOL, the Belize Social Security Board has closed the book on one of its most controversial investments, while managing to turn a profit at the same time. The […]
