Late this evening, the Belizean and Guatemalan governments have agreed to have the Organization of American States conduct an investigation into the deaths of three Guatemalans killed on Thursday by a joint BDF/Police patrol. According to the Belize Government, the men, who have been identified as sixty-one year old Jesus Ramirez Senior and his sons, […]
News 5 also spoke with Prime Minister Said Musa this afternoon regarding this latest border incident. The P.M. says he hopes this isolated incident is treated as such and does not affect the bilateral relationship between Belize and Guatemala. Prime Minister Said Musa “There has been an ongoing problem in the area, a land dispute […]
Three Haitian boys who stowed away on a freighter that landed in Belize on Thursday are back aboard and headed home. The ship left the Belize City Port sometime today after the two fourteen year olds and one twelve year old were carried back to the vessel. They had attempted to come ashore by hiding […]
Desperate circumstances sometimes drive people to take desperate action, and this afternoon officials at the Belize City Port saw first hand what has become routine in places like South Florida and the Bahamas. News 5’s Janelle Chanona reports on the incredible journey of three young boys who spent four days at sea, without food or […]
Big businesses and foreign governments are not the only entities contributing to hurricane relief. On Wednesday, forty thousand dollars worth of zinc roofing was delivered to the hard hit banana belt villages of Bella Vista and Cowpen. Funding for the donation was provided by the Irish organisation APSO and co-ordinated jointly by Help for Progress, […]
With Justice Meerabux removed from the bench and a new crop of high calibre judges manning the Supreme Court, there is for the first time in years a sense of optimism about the direction of Belizean justice. Today those charged with administrating that judicial system met for an assessment. Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting The first Bench […]
Today, the Belize Red Cross received a generous donation of ten thousand dollars to assist that organisation in its hurricane Iris Relief efforts. Since October eighth, Red Cross branches have been working hard in the south helping those people who were affected by the storm. The financial gift, which included two separate cheques of five […]
The collection of money for hurricane relief is only one half the disaster recovery equation. The other is how that money is spent. Today, officials from NEMO, PAHO, The European Community and CDERA visited areas affected by Hurricane Iris and in two villages distributed storm assistance. In Seine Bight Dorothy Ramirez, an unemployed mother of […]
As chairman of Belize Electricity Limited and C.E.O. of its parent company, Fortis of Canada, Stan Marshall is the man who opponents of the Chalillo dam love to hate. Over the weekend News 5’s Stewart Krohn sat down with Marshall as he and his board prepared to inspect hurricane devastated areas recently resupplied with electricity. […]
If you’ve taken a drive on Newton Barracks lately, you might have noticed a nice new building in the Fisheries compound. The structure is the home of several marine oriented organisations based in Belize, including the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute, the Meso-American Barrier Reef Systems Project and the Fisheries Department. During official ceremonies […]
Two days after BTL dropped a bombshell on consumers when they announced a newrate structure, one that will bring substantial increases in local call rates and line rentals, this morning the company held a press conference to, as they put it, explain the new prices to the public. While BTL is convinced they’re selling a […]
In this next story, we thought it pertinent to remind you of a series of events that should never be forgotten. As Child Abuse Awareness Week comes to an end today, perhaps the greatest crime against Belizean children remains unsolved, that of the murder of four innocent young girls. In 1999, News 5’s Jacqueline Woods […]
Tonight there’s a glimmer of hope for hard pressed consumers saddled with BTL’s punitive new rate structure. When interviewed over the phone on Wednesday, Public Utilities Commission Chairman Gilly Canton told News 5 that the P.U.C. had its hands tied by the terms of BTL’s 1988 monopoly license and could not intervene to stop the […]
In related news…last night’s story on BTL’s new rate structure inadvertently omitted some information that may be of interest to viewers residing outside of Belize City. That is, beginning December first, local calls placed from district exchanges will now be metered and billed the same way as city calls. That is, instead of paying a […]
They have been talking about it for months, but today Belize Telecommunications Limited finally lowered the boom on Belizean consumers. Disguised as a tariff rebalancing, BTL today announced a new rate structure, which will drastically raise the cost of living for both residential and business customers. What the monopoly telecom has done is to essentially […]
Belize Electricity Limited has announced that just over a month after Hurricane Iris tore through Stann Creek and Toledo, they have completed their restoration efforts in the south. According to the company, more than two thousand, six hundred customers on the Placencia Peninsula, in Independence and rural communities in Toledo were left in the dark […]
In other hurricane news, On Saturday, members of the Belize Chinese community held a benefit fair for the victims of the disaster. The community sold food and crafts at the Taiwanese Embassy on North Park Street and sales totaled eight thousand dollars. Two thousand will be donated to the police trust fund, while the remainder […]
In news from Cabinet, we are informed that government will enact legislation to conform with recommendations made by the UN to combat terrorism. Among the measures are beefed up efforts to prevent money laundering and make it easier to quickly freeze the assets of suspected terrorists. Notably missing from the proposed action is a decision […]
Chalillo will be built. That’s the word from the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, NEAC, which has given clearance for the project to proceed. According to the committee, the advantages of the hydroelectric facility, which would dam the upper Macal River, outweigh any environmental costs and that even the most drastic side effects can be managed […]
The world is still reeling from the social and economic ramifications of the September eleventh attacks, and like many other countries, Belize has been negatively impacted in the areas of tourism and investment. In that context, the University of Belize is holding a public forum called “In the eye of Turbulence” to discuss the current […]
The paint had barely dried on the Belize City Tourism Village, but bright and early that facility opened to what should be the country’s best season yet for cruise ship tourism. While the visitors headed out to see the sights, News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams joined a group of Belizeans who went aboard for a glimpse […]
Poetry is one of those art forms that is supposed to be timeless. That quality was put to the test this afternoon as a new generation of Belizeans was introduced to words written over two decades ago. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting In the summer of 1981, just before Belize got her Independence, three men: Evan X […]
This morning in Belmopan, proposals to amend the Liquor Licensing Act did not go over well with the members of the public. In a Green Paper, government said the changes were necessary to “avert the tragedy of a wasted generation of young people and restore some order to national life” for “productive lives in safer […]
Whether it’s the music already being played on the radio or the mass decorations in just about every store, you’d have to be tone deaf and blind not to notice Belizeans are getting ready for Christmas. But as you put that gift you’ve been eyeing on lay-away, it’s important not to forget the less fortunate […]
On the heels of last week’s demonstration in Belmopan, today, Chalillo is back in the news and apparently with the support of the Belize Sugar Industry. In a joint press release issued earlier, B.S.I. and B.E.L. says co-generation will compliment, not compete against, Chalillo. According to B.S.I. general manager Joey Montalvo, power generated through bagasse […]
