Today is World Children’s Day and the anniversary of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. To mark the occasion, the National Committee for Families and Children made a presentation to Prime Minister Said Musa this afternoon in Belmopan. News 5 was there. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting In 1990, Belize became the fifth […]
While the cruise ship industry continues to grapple with what some people classify as berthing pains, the rest of tourism sector is moving on. Today the pool of trained professionals who prepare industry stakeholders for their chosen line of work got bigger with the graduation of another set of certified trainers. B.T.B.’s Director of Tourism […]
While Belize may not have had much flooding this year, our roads have not escaped the usual damage brought on by constant rain. As Patrick Jones found out this afternoon, potholes are not just a nuisance, they can be very damaging to vehicles, and costly for drivers. Barry Reimer, Supervisor, Caribbean Tire “The primary example […]
On Monday, as part of the Garifuna Settlement Day Celebrations, a monument depicting the Garinagu’s past, present, and future was unveiled at the Dangriga roundabout in the centre of the town. C.E.O. in the Ministry of Rural Development, Roy Cayetano, says the Drums of Our Fathers also represents something equally significant. Roy Cayetano, President, National […]
There were murmurs of discord last week, but predictions are that come Wednesday the situation at the Tourism Village will be chaos, as Belize’s largest cruise tour operator squabbles with its two largest suppliers of transportation. The players tried to sort it out in front of the press this afternoon, to little avail. Patrick Jones, […]
Since taking over command of Eastern Division on August first, Assistant Commissioner Maureen Leslie has wasted no time in establishing her bona fides with the public she is sworn to serve and protect. Last night she met with seventy-five residents of the Kings Park area to hear their concerns about crime. This was the fourth […]
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, today donated computers and special software to a number of agencies for use in monitoring the country’s progress on social issues. First created in 1994 by an N.G.O. in India, UNICEF has since adopted the ChildInfo computer program to monitor the situation of children worldwide. UNICEF Country Representative Nadya […]
It is definitely not your usual Friday night happy hour, but the evening of fine dining and music at the Biltmore Hotel will certainly be entertaining. Guatemalan concert Pianist Rolando Ortega and singer Nelita Castillo, who is also Belize’s Consul in Cancun, will pool their talents in a show to raise funds for the Mercy […]
If you were shut out of Friday’s serenade at the Biltmore, take heart, an event on Saturday night might be just your ticket. The Belize Cancer Society is sponsoring a unique fundraiser built around a dance competition. No, not salsa, meringue, tango or punta… we’re talking waltz. Lizbeth Castillo, Vice President, Belize Cancer Society “We […]
In related news, Belize Electricity Limited today release figures showing that out of twenty Caribbean countries, Belize’s electricity rates are among the lowest, with only Trinidad and Jamaica charging consumers less. The release was meant to counter advertising put out by opponents of the Chalillo project that showed Belize having the highest rates in comparison […]
It’s birth and rise to prominence in the world of Belizean NGOs coincided in the early 1990’s with the rapid growth of the nation’s privately owned media. With its articulate spokeswoman and righteous cause, the organisation now known as NOPCAN, the National Organisation for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, quickly gained a high […]
Details are emerging on the new private management contract soon to be awarded for the operation of the Philip Goldson International Airport. In a telephone interview with management team executives Enrique Hoare and Linsford Rosado, News 5 has learned that the new owners of a thirty-year concession to manage the airport are a consortium of […]
On Saturday night in Barbados, Belize had a big night as two of the nation’s media houses were honoured for excellence in the annual PAHO media awards. I was fortunate enough to collect both the UNICEF and U.N.D.P. prizes for the story I produced on children and crime. Those awards were shared with presenter Kayla […]
The physical transformation of the Bliss Institute into the country’s premiere venue for the performing arts has entered the homestretch. And while the contractors are under pressure to deliver the building for a projected February inauguration, the Belizean public is being invited to be part of the historic metamorphosis on the foreshore. The building will […]
Mention the word passport and it’s usually preceded by the word “illegal”. But believe it or not, Belmopan does occasionally grant citizenship to those foreign nationals who actually deserve it. On Wednesday, seventy-two such new Belizeans took the oath of allegiance in a ceremony held at the Belmopan Convention Hotel. The oath was administered by […]
Last night we ran a news story on the plight of Belize’s World War Two veterans and efforts of the Ex-Services League to provide for their needs. Today, we were called by the League to correct a statement they made in an interview in that story. The amount of assistance the Belize Ex-Services League receives […]
They gave the best years of their lives–and sometimes life itself–to defeat the Axis powers in World War Two. Today, as Belizean ex-servicemen prepare to observe Veterans Week, I found that neglect is the most common malady of many former soldiers. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting In 1941 and 1942 over a thousand Belizean men and women […]
It’s been criticised as being a commission without teeth, but today the Public Utilities Commission, P.U.C., called a press conference to show that they mean business. The timing, on the same day as INTELCO’s launch, led many to believe they would be announcing the long awaited interconnection rates for B.T.L. and INTELCO. But this was […]
And speaking of customers, the press could not let this morning’s opportunity of meeting with the P.U.C. slip by without asking about the big event of this afternoon, the launch of INTELCO. The launch of the company’s telecommunication services is being hampered, however, by the lack of a decision about the rate B.T.L. can charge […]
Well, they probably hold the record for the most eagerly anticipated opening, but finally after months of speculation, controversy, and attempts to have their opening stalled, delayed, and derailed, INTELCO officially began offering phone service today. They opened undeterred by the fact that the Public Utilities Commission has yet to indicate just how much INTELCO […]
There is nothing that inspires panic as fast as fire. This afternoon the National Fire Service was testing their response to a possible emergency at the nation’s largest health care facility, the K.H.M.H. Ernest Dominguez, Station Supervisor, Natl. Fire Service “On arrival at the scene we saw smoke coming from the medical ward of the […]
When you work in this business it never hurts to be a big fan of television. But if truth be told, while TV is a sweet piece of eye candy, a really nutritious meal for the mind can only be found in the world of books. This afternoon Patrick Jones got a bellyful as he […]
Police are still looking for their third suspect in the case of alleged large-scale abuse of children in Punta Gorda. U.S. citizen Harry Lee Jones, wanted by the cops on a charge of human trafficking, has not yet been found and chances are that he is no longer in the country, as reports to News […]
The following story combines two problems that we’ve covered many times before. The first is illegal squatters who build makeshift houses on land that isn’t theirs, while the second is the propensity for certain newly developed areas of Port Loyola to retain large amounts of water following heavy rains. It’s hard to tell which of […]
In more positive police news, high ranking members of the department and residents of the Newtown Barracks area gathered this morning for the inauguration of a permanent police presence in the high profile neighbourhood. Jason Musa, Manager, Belize Marina Towers “This particular area has become kind of a hotspot on weekends, night life, discos, casinos, […]
