A Belize City mechanic apparently bled to death on Wednesday night following an alcohol induced fit of rage. According to his co-workers at Mike’s Motorplex, around three in the afternoon, twenty-nine year old Glenn Urbina showed up at the Cemetery Road compound inebriated and was told to go home. Urbina got upset, picked up a […]
If you watch world news it will come as no surprise, but Belizean consumers should get ready for a rise in the price of rice. Reports to News Five indicate that negotiations now nearing completion between government and producers will push the retail price at least as high as a dollar-fifteen per pound and perhaps […]
It’s an industry that is spread over a wide geographic area, enjoys a constituency of relatively affluent and engaged stakeholders and has more or less been on a roll for the last two decades. So when a standing room only crowd gathered this morning to hear Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s take on tourism, it was […]
Prime Minster Barrow may have been a hit with the tourist crowd but tonight he has some egg on his face. After delivering a blistering lecture to former Prime Minister Said Musa in the House of Representatives yesterday, calling Musa a “fraud or a fool” and saying he “did not have time to take him […]
It’s never over til it’s over and we are really not sure when the by now notorious case of the Fort Street Tourism Village will end. The case did move forward this morning and News Five’s Marion Ali was at the Supreme Court. Marion Ali, Reporting Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh, this morning made a proposal […]
While most of the media focus along the border has been on the now dismantled settlement of Santa Rosa in Toledo, the fact is that in terms of destruction of Belizean resources, most of the problem lies further north. News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports from a familiar forest: the Chiquibul. Kendra Griffith, Reporting When the […]
We’ve covered nearly every meeting of the House of Representatives since 1992, including some that more closely resembled street brawls than legislative sessions. But the tone of today’s gathering on Independence Hill was particularly ugly, reflecting—depending on your point of view—ten years of frustration or plain bad manners. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports from Belmopan. […]
The fear of being held-up is one that many business people live with … and on Tuesday it became a reality for an auto parts store on Cemetery Road. Around twelve-thirty in the afternoon, a man walked into Mike’s Spare Parts and asked Assistant Manager Robert Sinclair if they sold Sheltox. The strange request, coupled […]
The company, one of Belize’s largest, had withheld its payment of millions of dollars in business tax as a set off against what it says was an unattained guaranteed rate of return promised by the previous government. And while the media anxiously awaited a confrontation between B.T.L. and the Income Tax Department at Magistrates’ Court […]
It does not come as any surprise but Belize Electricity Limited has submitted its formal objection to the Initial Decision made by the Public Utilities Commission. Viewers may recall that B.E.L. had applied, as part of its Annual Tariff Review Proceeding, for rate increases averaging thirteen point four percent and the P.U.C. subsequently rejected that […]
On yesterday’s newscast we highlighted the lack of security regarding container shipments moving into Belize. But missing containers are not the only problem. Sitting on the Customs compound in Belize City are twelve late model vehicles, most of which are believed to have been stolen in Guatemala then smuggled into Belize. Comptroller of Customs, Gregory […]
The communications technology exhibition at the Belize City Centre today was held under the banner “Connecting Persons with Disabilities: I.C.T. Opportunities for All”. And something for everyone was exactly what News Five’s Marion Ali found. Marion Ali, Reporting In keeping with this year’s theme for World Telecommunications Day, B.T.L. is stressing the need to keep […]
The case of Sagis Limited versus Krem Radio wound up today as lawyers for both sides presented their summations in the court of Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh. The picture painted by Sagis lead attorney Vincent Nelson, flown in from London for the occasion, was that of a simple contract in which one party—Krem Radio—reneged on […]
It doesn’t often happen, but last night a burglar was caught red-handed. Around eight-thirty on Monday night police received information that an alarm was blaring in the Ridge Lagoon subdivision off the Burrell Boom Road. In responding to the scene, P.C. Akbar Swazo met homeowner Kendis Ferguson and his wife in the yard, who pointed […]
It was a bad day for thieves as today yet another burglar was sentenced to three years in prison. Twenty-eight year old Kenny Clark of La Democracia received the bad news after he was found guilty of an October seventh breaking and entering. According to court reports, around seven p.m. on that day, Mahogany Heights […]
A man from the village of Chan Pine Ridge is believed to have drowned in the New River Lagoon. According to police, on Sunday evening twenty-six year old Gabriel Perez and Eduardo Murillo were riding in a skiff in the New River Lagoon when Perez, who was driving, swerved suddenly and fell out of the […]
Two recent cases of missing containers have highlighted some major shortcomings at the Customs Department. Today comptroller Gregory Gibson told News Five’s Marion Ali that, at least in these instances, his investigations were always only a step behind. Gregory Gibson, Comptroller of Customs “The individuals who had tried to give the impression that it was […]
A fisherman narrowly escaped death this evening when the sailboat in which he was traveling capsized about half a mile out of Belize City Harbour. The unnamed man was reportedly trapped below decks when the boat filled with water. A rescue was made by a launch belonging to Hugh Parkey’s Dive Connection and the injured […]
It’s that time of year when students who are thinking of furthering their education begin preparations for the August intake. But if you are one of the hundreds still looking for financing, listen up. The Mexican government today announced that it will be offering forty-one scholarships over the next two years. For the 2008 academic […]
They may no longer award university scholarships like the Mexicans and Cubans do today, but the United States government is not stingy when it comes to deploying its military construction teams to Belize. This morning News Five’s Kendra Griffith found the U.S. soldiers back in familiar territory. Kendra Griffith, Reporting Last March, Hattieville Government School […]
It employs a significant number of people, particularly in Belize City, and while it is debatable how much cash the cruise ship industry really leaves in the country, there is no more debate on whether or not we want cruise tourists in Belize. Instead, the issue has shifted to making their experience as mutually satisfying […]
Last week it was secondary school students taking the stage at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts. This week it’s the Belize District’s primary schoolers. Here are some excerpts from last night’s performances, courtesy of NICH and the Institute of Creative Arts. [Montage of Festival of Arts performances]
It’s a case about a business deal that took place almost fourteen years ago. On one side, is the nation’s largest conglomerate that says it just wants to receive what it paid for. On the other, is a much smaller entity in financial terms, but in its own right the most powerful voice in the […]
The case against the Belize Bank and its president, Philip Johnson, on seventy-nine counts of failing to report a suspicious transaction, has been adjourned until Friday. That’s because, as pointed out by attorney for the defendants, Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, the summons served on the bank last week was erroneously worded as a summons intended […]
Today there was a rare proceeding before the Supreme Court: that of an attorney offering a public apology. This morning counsels Derek Courtenay and Simeon Sampson appeared on behalf of Elson Kaseke to petition the court to accept an apology from the former Solicitor General for statements which appeared on Channel Five last week. Courtenay […]
