Every story has at least two sides, and today the family of a man stabbed over the weekend in Orange Walk called News 5 to say that the version reported to the media by police was–you guessed it–totally wrong. Donnie Tun, brother of stabbing victim Marcelino Tun, who was present during the Friday night fracas […]
A new financial institution opened its doors today, and while the concept of the Belize Unit Trust Corporation and its associated money market fund is new to Belize, it is well established elsewhere in the Caribbean and beyond. What makes the unit trust attractive is that it allows small savers to receive rates of return […]
We featured her artwork when it won the national competition for the Lions Club “Dream of Peace” poster contest. Today we are proud to report that thirteen-year-old Amanda Nunez has been named as one of twenty-four finalists in the Lions International worldwide competition. She automatically receives an award of one thousand Belize dollars plus a […]
It may not be as glamorous as Cannes or as intellectual as Sundance, but in a couple days time the Princess Cinema will trade in its Swarzenegger, Van Damme and Stallone for a genre of movies that could hardly be called blockbusters. It’s all in the name of…we’ll we’re not really sure, but News 5’s […]
Every school child should be familiar with the imposing structures rising from the banks of the Mopan River. Collectively, they’re called Xunantunich, or Maiden of the Rock. And if you haven’t been there in a while, as Marion Ali discovered, it’s well worth a return visit. Marion Ali, Reporting The work to preserve the ancient […]
It only dawned on us about a week ago that the year 2003 had been remarkably quiet when it came to violent crime. There were assorted shootings to be sure, but none had proved fatal. Until Friday night that is, when around eleven o’clock the nation registered its first murder of the year. As News […]
Another incident over the weekend, this time in Orange Walk, has left a well-known football player hospitalised. Twenty-seven year old Marcelino Tun, star of the Juventus squad, was stabbed in the abdomen around 7:00 Friday night. According to police, the man who wielded the knife, fifty-year-old businessman Santiago Solis, claims that Tun was drunk and […]
Twenty-five year old Jason Brown and seventeen year old Brian Herrera, both charged in connection with a shooting last week, were today denied bail in Magistrate’s Court. Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord kept the men in prison on the grounds that at as of this morning the victim’s medical condition was not clear. The duo, charged […]
Viewers may recall that on October twenty-fourth fisheries officers were busy in Belize City making arrests for the possession of undersized conch. One case against a family of Sarteneja fishermen quickly resulted in a conviction, but the other–against the Northern Fishermen Co-op–could not seem to find judicial traction… until today that is, when the charges […]
Police continue to make life miserable for Belize’s marijuana farmers. On Friday cops destroyed a plantation north of San Pedro Columbia containing almost three thousand, five hundred mature plants, while on Saturday their colleagues in Orange Walk burned a field twice that big south of San Felipe. No arrests were made in either raid. Such […]
In Belize, it’s the document you live and die by: your birth certificate. It’s your ticket to acquire a social security card, passport, voter registration, and even a seat in school. And now the Vital Statistics Unit has gone from this…thumbing through ancient registers, to this, clicking a button…to access records from all over the […]
With the election date now officially set for March fifth, over the weekend politicians from all over the country jumped into high gear, plastering every naked lamp post with signs and going house to house with renewed enthusiasm. In the Pickstock Division, three people will go head to head for area representative: Diane Haylock represents […]
The Ministry of Education has appointed a new chief education officer. She is veteran educator, Maud Hyde. Hyde, who has been working in the field since 1974, most recently served as head of QADS, the ministry’s Quality Assurance and Development Service. She replaces Dr. Cecil Reneau, who will become the director of the new Technical, […]
For the last four year the Berger 404 alumni council has been holding football matches for those youths who are considered to be at risk. The club is now looking to expand the programme beyond Belize City and today got a much needed donation to help meet its goal. This afternoon, the club received twenty-five […]
The phenomenal boom in Belize City’s cruise ship trade has spawned new opportunities in hair braiding and informal retailing. Today I found that moves are afoot to create yet another cruise related job category: city tour guide. Roland Blair, Tour Guide Instructor “You can even lose your license if you get drunk on a job, […]
Good evening I’m James Adderley and you’re just in time for this fresh delivery of Sports Monday. Week four of the B.P.F.L. playoffs found three teams with identical two and one records going in. Here in Belize City two of these ball-clubs battled at the M.C.C. Grounds as the defending champion Kulture Yabra plays host […]
The nervous anticipation was palpable on Independence Hill today as the House of Representatives convened in Belmopan…and when Prime Minister Said Musa took the floor, he did not waste any time. He began with the words: “it is the Prime Minister’s responsibility to set the date for general elections”, and the House went silent. Minutes […]
Following the P.M.’s announcement, it was time to engage in the annual battle of the budget. Leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow, as usual, came out smoking. He referred to the P.U.P. budget presented last week as a “whap”, a con, a hoax, a fraud, nonsense on stilts and blatantly false…and these choice adjectives were […]
As I speak, the Members of the House of Representatives are still making their presentations in support of or against the budget. Earlier this afternoon, the members for the Albert and Belize Rural Central constituencies respectively had their turns at the microphone to counter the arguments put forth by the Leader of the Opposition. Mark […]
But clocking in at close to three hours, was the Member representing Mesopotamia that, not surprisingly, had the most to say. Regrettably, we can only offer a short excerpt. Michael Finnegan, Area Rep, Mesopotamia “Under this yah crowd Madam Speaker, and under this new leadership, dah wah hustle, dah wah grub tub, dah wah government […]
It didn’t figure into today’s budget debate, but Belizean motorists will receive some pre-election insulation from higher fuel prices. A release from the Ministry of Finance today announced that although this weekend’s shipment of petroleum products will arrive with prices averaging eight cents more per gallon, government will be adjusting its tax bite to allow […]
In crime news, police are looking for a woman in connection with a theft by forgery. The Alliance Bank reported to police that in June a cheque for two thousand, six hundred and eighty-one dollars was presented and cashed by Jamila Vasquez, which turned out to be bogus. Vasquez formerly served as executive director of […]
Three men will appear in Belize City Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with Wednesday evening’s shooting at the corner of Central American Boulevard and Antelope Street. Twenty-five year old Jason Brown and seventeen year old Brian Herrera are jointly charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of dangerous harm upon Roland […]
Over the last several months an increasing number of people have complained to News 5 that they had never received important mail that had been sent weeks or even months earlier, usually from the United States. The problem was sadly confirmed for us recently when a large U.S. dollar cheque sent to Channel 5 from […]
On a brighter note for the post office, the architectural drawing shown on your screen was published in this week’s Belize Times…and while there was no text to go with it, the building appears to be at least a sample of the type of structure that will one day rise on the site formerly occupied […]
