There was uproar in 1998 when the first openly gay cruise ship sailed into Belize’s harbor. It brought out protests from different sectors of the church and members of the public who oppose that lifestyle. Well, there is another cruise that is coming to Belize next year that could also get a similar reaction from […]
A trio including two men and a woman appeared before Magistrate Albert Hoare today to answer charges of attempted murder. They are twenty-four year-old Sheryl Arnold, a domestic of West Lake Community located at mile eight on the Western Highway, her twenty-two year old common-law-husband Eric Garbutt, a boat captain of the same address and […]
Traffic on one of the nation’s major highways would have been blocked if the one hundred and fifty plus taxi operators from Benque Viejo did not get their way. For days, they complained that some San Ignacio taxi operators were not adhering to the rotation system in place at the border. This meant that San […]
It is the time of the year for the annual media tour by the BTB. This time, the venue was the Toledo District, not an area known for spectacular beaches, but a district with hidden beauties and natural wonders in ecotourism. And if you are a chocolate lover this is the place you want to […]
The Belize City Council is facing hard times and it has been unable to meet a debt with Sanitation Enterprises Limited. S.E.L. closed down in January of 2008 and recently its former owner, Rupert Marin, took CitCo to court for payment of a one point seven million dollar debt through the council’s subvention from central […]
A man detained for questioning in connection with a robbery is in even more hot water tonight. Twenty-nine year old Eric Flowers was being escorted to the cell block of the Queen Street Police Station this afternoon when a bag of suspected cannabis allegedly fell from the foot of his pants. Police retrieved the bag, […]
It was a busy in court today and following the lawsuit brought by the Mayas, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh granted judicial review of the controversial contract between NICH President Diane Haylock and businessman David Gegg that was signed in June 2008 and came to light in December of that year. While it is a small […]
This morning Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh delivered his judgment in the novel case of Barry Bowen and the Landowners Association versus the Government of Belize. At the end of the more than two hour long judgment, Conteh ruled in favour of the claimants and their attorneys, led by Eamon Courtenay. According to the C.J., clause […]
Preliminary tourism figures are in for 2008 and as we have been suspecting all along, the news is not good. Overall, there was a two point five percent reduction, with the Philip Goldson International Airport recording a whopping nine point three percent less arrivals in December. And that wasn’t even the worst month for 2008 […]
Three persons who had planned an attack against the family of businessman, Jose Shoman last December have been slapped with additional charges of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. Thirty-three year old Aldo Miguel Urbina of Orange Walk Town and twenty-two year old Cesar Aldana are accused of plotting to murder the seven members of the Shoman […]
In news from the courts, Cecil Gabourel was on trial last week for the murder of his wife, Carol, and had pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of Manslaughter. But there was a twist in his case today when, before sentencing, Justice Adolph Lucas entered a plea of not guilty based on Gabourel’s version of […]
In other legal matters, the Belize Bank today filed a request for arbitration before the London Court of International Arbitration, LCIA, and served it on the Government of Belize. This latest request has been brought by the Belize Bank following a ruling by the Chief Justice on July fourth that the Government of Belize would […]
In other court news, an eighteen year old was today found guilty of three counts of Robbery and sentenced to five years for each count. Edwin Bardalez, however, will only be behind bars for five years as Magistrate Dorothy Flowers has ordered that the sentences run concurrently. The incident in question goes back to July […]
For almost eight months Belizean aircrafts have been banned from flying to Guatemala but all that will change next month. According to representatives of Topic Air, on July first flights into Flores will resume. The planes will depart from the Belize City Municipal Airstrip twice on Sundays through Thursdays. This development is important to tour […]
It has taken a while for our local airlines to follow the lead of their larger international colleagues but the high cost of fuel has driven at least one Belizean carrier to raise fares. The increases by Tropic Air average between ten and eleven percent, with a round trip from Belize Municipal to San Pedro […]
When we last left the battle between the Fort Street Tourism Village and Brown Sugar Marketplace, F.S.T.V. had ten days to rebuild the boardwalk that they had broken or face charges of contempt. This morning when the parties appeared in court, Brown Sugar reported that they were satisfied that the F.S.T.V. had complied with the […]
Belizean cable TV viewers who are just now getting used to last month’s early switchover to Daylight Savings Time in the United States, should note that this weekend it is Mexico’s turn to “spring forward”. At two Sunday morning clocks in Quintana Roo and points north will be reset to three o’clock. That means Chetumal […]
That same fate will be imposed on another convict if he doesn’t pay up. Nineteen year old Orlando Choc of Ladyville pled guilty to Handling Stolen Goods and Escape today before Magistrate Roberto Ordonez. Because it was his first offence, the judge opted to fine Choc five hundred dollars for being in possession of a […]
Recovery efforts continue at sea for an American man missing now for more than a week. News Five has confirmed that on December twentieth, thirty-five year old dive master, Corey Monk, an instructor on the Florida based liveaboard Nekton Pilot, accompanied several divers on a night dive off Long Caye on the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. […]
The local airline industry, already hamstrung by the banning of commercial flights into Guatemala, was facing an internal problem today in the form of unsafe conditions at the Punta Gorda airstrip. The airstrip, which provides an important transport link for the people of the Toledo District, has been deteriorating steadily to the point where Tropic […]
Belize’s two local airlines are feeling the pinch following the banning of Belizean commercial flights into Guatemala. According to spokespersons for Tropic and Maya Island Air, the ban, which was instituted on November fifteenth, involves the upgrading of Guatemala’s civil aviation standards: specifically their requirement that all airlines flying to the country have a valid […]
It may not be classified as a crime but two U.S. tourists were prevented from leaving the country for the last two days. Their story, while not very flattering to Belize’s reputation for hospitality, points up the need for a better way to resolve disputes involving visitors to our shores. News Five’s Janelle Chanona explains. […]
Buses and boats were not the only means of transport hard at work today. Local airlines ferried people off San Pedro and Caye Caulker, while many tourists opted to leave Belize altogether … if they could find a seat on a plane. Ann-Marie Williams, on special assignment for News Five, checked out the scene at […]
And to end our coverage of Hurricane Dean we will return to a familiar place. San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, is the town in Belize that will be the first to feel Dean’s punch and is likely to be hardest hit. When we spoke to him last week, local NEMO coordinator Jim Janmohamed was making preparations […]
New rules for boaters are bound to make major waves in Belizean waters. This week the Belize Port Authority embarked on an intensive public information campaign to highlight the tighter regulations. According to Port Authority officials, amendments to the Harbour and Merchant Shipping Act will provide for improved maritime safety, but veteran mariners may find […]
