As the election campaign of 2003 winds down to its final weekend, it is no surprise that tensions are running high. One indication of the adrenaline level occurred this morning in Belize City when for a few minutes it looked like Belize’s tradition of peaceful electioneering might be in jeopardy. But, as News 5’s Jacqueline […]
Tonight we think it’s fair to say that most people, including political operatives, and to be sure the media, are suffering from acute election fatigue and are more than ready for next Thursday morning to arrive. For one thing, it would mean an end to all these radio, newspaper and television ads that have both […]
While some laws are, by consensus, made to be broken, others are so scrupulously observed that you’d think the entire election depended on their enforcement…which is exactly what happened today in two Belize City courtrooms. Jacqueline Woods has the story. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting A total of forty-seven objections in five electoral divisions were set for […]
A multimillion-dollar crop of marijuana will never make it to market as authorities on Thursday put some major weed growers out of business. The bust occurred in the Orange Walk District thirteen miles southwest of San Felipe Village on land owned by the environmental group Programme for Belize. A team of police, B.D.F. soldiers and […]
Five thousand dollars changed hands today, not a particularly dramatic amount in this free spending election season, but what made this morning’s donation different was that didn’t go for zinc, plywood or a load of sand. Janelle Chanona, Reporting As the country’s largest municipality and commercial hub, it’s no surprise that Belize City is also […]
First it was teachers and public officers who signed their three-year labour pact with government. Now, in a similar vein, the Belize Social Security Board has formalized its collective bargaining agreement with employees. The pact signed today between the S.S.B. and Christian Worker’s Union, calls for a general salary increase of fifteen percent, running retroactively […]
On Sunday, while most of us are taking it easy, Michael Roberts, an ex-British soldier, will be running fifty miles for charity. Roberts’ aim is to raise two thousand dollars for the Stella Maris School and he reports that he has already received a favourable response from several private companies. The run will commence at […]
On March fifth, several thousand Belizeans have to work all day, and to be sure, most of the night. But exactly one hundred and one of that number–youths from all over the country–have elected to do their civic duty by acting as information officers. Coordinated through the Youth for the Future initiative, the young people […]
On yesterday’s newscast, U.D.P. candidate in the Albert Division, Marilyn Williams admitted that in the course of becoming a U.S. citizen she had sworn allegiance to the United States of America. This, according to her opponents, makes her ineligible to run in the general elections under section fifty-eight of the Belize Constitution. Today, leader of […]
And moving right along, there is the U.D.P. accusation of scandal aimed at Education Minister Cordel Hyde’s sister, Jacinta. Barrow and the U.D.P. maintain she headed a sham business enterprise, Green Patch, that collected thousands of dollars for landscaping work never actually performed. Despite P.U.P. denials following his press conference, this morning Barrow stood his […]
This morning, flanked by men and women he says are employees of Green Patch Company, and armed with paperwork: receipts of equipment purchased and maintained, Minister of Education Cordel Hyde came to his sister’s defence. According to Hyde, they have the documents and the people to prove they worked for every cent they collected. Cordel […]
Of all the accusations of irregularities mentioned in Wednesday’s U.D.P. press conference, perhaps the most intriguing is that of nepotism at the University of Belize. Today, News 5 spoke to U.B. interim president, Dr. Corinth Morter-Lewis, about how it came to be that a Taiwan trained attorney, who is not a member of the Belize […]
For most Belizeans, the declaring of election day as a national holiday was good news. It means that once you’ve voted, instead of going to work you can kick back and head to your local bar for a few cold ones, right? Wrong. As News 5’s Jacqueline Woods reminds us, the beverage of choice on […]
While speaking to Reynaldo Guerrero about election day, we also asked him to comment on a story we ran earlier this week in the wake of the deadly club fires in Chicago and Rhode Island. Echoing the words of Fire Chief Henry Baizar, he emphasized that something will be done soon about fire safety in […]
That long promised international presence along the Belize-Guatemala border came a step closer to reality this week with the arrival of an official team from the Organization of American States. They are here to set up an office in the one kilometre wide half of the adjacency zone on Belize’s side of the border. The […]
As Election Day draws nearer and the momentum picks up, it is hoped that a special observance next week will not get lost in all the hoopla. March second to the seventh will be celebrated as Children’s Week. A host of activities have been planned for the occasion that will be held under the theme: […]
Traditionally, mental health care in Belize has been an issue scarred by images of “crazy” people locked off from society, first at Sea View and more recently at Rock View. Determined to change that mentality, this afternoon Minister of Health Jose Coye and Prime Minister Said Musa presided over the ceremonial ground breaking for a […]
It did not exactly come as a surprise, but the U.D.P.’s long awaited latest charges of scandal finally arrived this afternoon in the now classic form of the press conference at the Radisson. Whether you were a believer or not, it was vintage Barrow. News 5’s Stewart Krohn reports. Stewart Krohn, Reporting He described it […]
While today was supposed to belong to the U.D.P., it was the People’s United Party that may have received the afternoon’s best news. For over a week, P.U.P. operatives had been dropping hints that U.D.P. Albert candidate Marilyn Williams held a U.S. passport… and that under Belize’s constitution that fact disqualifies her from sitting in […]
Eight months after Mark Dougal was beaten and killed, the police have made another arrest in the murder. Authorities have detained thirty-two year old Russell Garoy of a Banak Street address and charged him with murder and perjury. Garoy is the second person to be charged with the crime. On August twentieth, 2002, Derrick Bain […]
The project got off to a late start, but in the last few weeks before elections the Intelco computers in schools initiative is making up for lost time. On Tuesday students in the Cayo and Stann Creek Districts heard the words “Dude, you’re gettin a Dell,” as another one hundred and forty-four computers were turned […]
The Elections and Boundaries Department reports that as of January 2003, there were one hundred and seventeen thousand, four hundred and fifteen persons who are eligible to vote on March fifth. However, with only one week to go before the general and municipal elections, there are still some applicants who do not know if they […]
Our coverage of divisional races has thus far focussed on hot contests in Belize City. But if history is any guide, some of most fiercely fought battles have taken place in the wild, wild west… and that’s were I was today. The political climate in the Cayo District, like everywhere else in Belize this week, […]
Promises before a Belizean election are as plentiful as corn in Spanish Lookout. That’s why public officers made sure that they got it on the dotted line prior to March fifth. The contract for a three-year twenty-four percent salary increase was signed today by the Prime Minister in a ceremony this afternoon in Belmopan. This […]
Residents of the Stann Creek District should be getting used to the sights and sounds of Black hawk helicopters, as the U.S. Army is gearing up for another humanitarian exercise. Rather than chasing the Republican guard across the Iraqi desert, these National Guard soldiers will be building schools in Dangriga. The “New Horizons 2003” exercises […]
