This week the buzz word in Belize is definitely “budget” and with tax increases and spending cuts expected to be announced in Friday’s presentation to the House of Representatives, tensions are high at any official event. Such was the case this morning at the Finance Reform Forum hosted by Prime Minister Said Musa. While the […]
Panelists for this morning’s forum included Financial Secretary Dr. Carla Barnett, accountant Arsenio Burgos and Senator Godwin Hulse. While Barnett and Burgos focused on the specific amendments proposed, Hulse maintained that many of the proposals now under consideration had been included in a document presented to the Government of Belize in January 2000 by the […]
As the clock ticks down to B-day on Friday, all eyes and ears will be on Belmopan for details of what is expected to be the Musa administration’s first “haad times” budget. One man who is intimately involved in matters of public sector finance is Ralph Fonseca, the current minister of Home Affairs and Investment […]
There is another report of rape today as a woman from the Belize District has told police she was attacked while at work. According to the thirty-nine year old, she was employed as a live-in maid for a company on the Western Highway but around nine thirty last Friday night, the woman says a male […]
Tonight disturbing details continue to emerge as Orange Walk police investigate the death of a three year old boy earlier this month. Initial reports by the child’s mother, twenty-one year old Maria Concepcion Teul, were that the child, Axcel Castillo, had a fever and when it didn’t go down after two days, she took him […]
He says he is not interested in returning to ownership of Belize Telecommunications Limited, but Michael Ashcroft remains a potent presence in the industry. This week?s Tuesday Amandala reported that the former B.T.L. chairman, through various companies under the Carlisle Holdings group, is now in control of a significant chunk of shares in the company. […]
More Belizeans than at any time in our history are attending university…but whether you study at U.B. or abroad, coming up with the thousands of dollars to pay for tuition, books, room, board and travel is no easy task for students or their parents. That’s why a programme offered for Belizeans interested in a business […]
He emerged from the December twenty-eighth Cabinet reshuffle as the man who gained the most, in terms of ministerial upgrades. With the addition of Foreign Trade, held previously by Eamon Courtenay and Tourism, the former domain of Mark Espat, Godfrey Smith has assumed a new stature as the “go to” guy in Cabinet. While some […]
It represents hundreds of Belizean businesses across the country and tonight the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, like the rest of us, is anxiously awaiting to hear details of the budget that will be presented in the House of Representatives on Friday. While there is little doubt that tax increases will be proposed, the […]
It began as a typical case of theft but tonight investigators in Belmopan say a strange sexual twist has left them scratching their heads. According to police, this person, identified as twenty-eight year old Polan Santos, was arrested and charged with theft after a young woman, Santos’s roommate, claimed that he had racked up as […]
A post mortem has been conducted on the body of twenty-one year old Yesenia Vasquez, the Santa Elena woman who was murdered on Saturday. The examination revealed that not only was she strangled to death, but was also raped. Police have detained and questioned a number of persons but as of newstime no one had […]
With the impending realization of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Belizean producers now have to contend with the reality that what was a market of a couple hundred thousand will now expand to fourteen million. This arrangement may prompt either hope or fear but one thing is certain: it will not be business as […]
They are some of the busiest professionals in the country, but this week staff of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and other public institutions are taking time out to attend a series of refresher seminars. The continuing medical education sessions are being conducted by visiting physician Dr. Pierre d’Hemecourt who works with the international organisation […]
But the upgrading of staff is not the only thing going on this week at the country’s tertiary medical institution. With assistance from veteran neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Lacin, the KHMH is putting the final touches on plans to expand one of its key services. Dr. Robert Lacin, Neurosurgeon ?I?m here to help the hospital to […]
It did not have the pomp, circumstance and drama of a beauty pageant but this afternoon Miss Belize 2004-2005 was officially crowned in Belize City. She is twenty-two year old Andrea Elrington, daughter of Cora Lee and Hubert Elrington. According to Pageants Belize Limited, for financial and technical reasons, this year’s Miss Belize was chosen […]
Belize City may have a reputation as the nation’s violent crime capital but a look at recent killings in Corozal, Orange Walk, Dangriga, San Pedro, Benque Viejo and other far flung locations demonstrates that the nation’s murder epidemic is not tied to any single location. News 5’s Patrick Jones reports from Santa Elena, Cayo, on […]
A fourth man has been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of police constable Morris Martinez. According to the authorities, fifty-five year old Cesario Balam of Corozal Town stands accused of murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery, threat of death and taking a motor vehicle without authority. In addition to arresting Balam, Corozal police also […]
If you thought last week’s arrest of a grown man for sexually molesting his five year old stepdaughter was more than you could take, this week we have an equally disturbing story coming out of Georgeville in the Cayo District. San Ignacio police on Saturday arrested and charged twenty year old Kareem Gongora of the […]
The cargo freighter that ran aground on Lighthouse Reef Thursday night remains stranded with no immediate prospect of removal. According to major Gilbert Swazo of the Belize Ports Authority, about half the length of the two hundred and twenty-five foot motor vessel “Transfer” is firmly lodged on top of the reef. One attempt was made […]
Persons living with HIV and AIDS not only suffer from the disease but must also endure the stigma and discrimination that often accompanies it. Many of these patients are shunned by family and friends who are often just too scared to take care of them. Today, however, the Ministry of Health has embarked on an […]
On Friday the Toledo Healthy Forest Initiative was launched with the first meeting of its task force. The Initiative’s purpose is to develop a sustainable forest management programme in the southernmost district. In his address to the gathering, Minister of Natural Resources Johnny Briceño, said Toledo has the healthiest forests in the country and it’s […]
After a particularly nasty hurricane season and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean Belizeans do not need any reminders about the importance of preparing for disasters. That’s why a meeting held today by the Red Cross found the participants listening closely. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods has more. Mary Lee Ellis, Ag Director General, Belize Red […]
It was the final and richest episode in the long running drama known as the Courts Gold Rush Show. The woman at the wheel was none other than Sister Carolee Chanona. That’s right, even nuns shop at Courts–and this one happens to be my aunt. With the maximum prize set at a heavenly hundred thousand […]
James Adderley, Reporting Good evening, I?m James Adderley welcoming you to this package of Sports Monday. It?s been a long time coming–well it?s finally here, Semi-Pro football is back. On Saturday at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium home of the defending champion, Sagitun, the B.P.F.L. (Belize Premier Football League) launched the annual Regents Cup Season with […]
Coming off one of the deadliest years in recent memory it has taken less than a week to chalk up the year’s first act of homicide. The venue? Where else but Belize City. The weapon of choice? Handgun. News 5’s Patrick Jones has more. Patrick Jones, Reporting The bloodstains on the shoulder of the Northern […]
