Since august twenty-fourth, when the government acquired Telemedia, its competitor, Smart, has come under fire. Last week, Telemedia took down Smart’s equipment from towers at Benny’s and in Ladyville, crippling services along the Northern Highway to Ladyville. Telemedia’s Head of Marketing, Dionne Miranda, claimed that Smart had an illegal connection for that area and that […]
The Commission of Inquiry into alleged irregularities during the period January 2007 to June 2009 at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital resumed this morning. Two persons were called to give testimony. The first was Human Resources Director, Laurel Grant. Grant has been employed at the K.H.M.H. since July of 1997 and has acted as C.E.O. […]
The afternoon session was lackluster when the second official gave testimony. Peter Allen, the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Health, was named in the audit report last week, for not adhering to contractual procedures and that he gave the nod to the purchase of medication which was cheaper but inferior. When Allen testified, he was […]
Tragedy struck late this afternoon in the Junesville Area of Belize City when a minor was electrocuted. The name of the four year old child has not been confirmed, but neighbours say he is known as Jay-Jay and he attends the Lloyd Coffin Preschool. The fatal incident occurred at about four p.m. when the child […]
The tranquility of the harbor in the vicinity of Brown Sugar Marketplace in downtown Belize City was disrupted late Friday night when a fishing boat exploded shortly after ten p.m. Firefighters and cops combed through the debris in the area looking for clues to what caused the explosion. The caretaker could not be located at […]
And police do not suspect foul play in the death of thirty-three year old Nigel Flowers. The Maya Island Air pilot was found dead in his room at Martha’s Apartments in San Pedro on Sunday morning. His body was discovered by co-workers and friends who went to look for him at around ten-thirty a.m. Flowers […]
Turning to crime news, a seventy-eight year old man and his family were the victims of a home invasion last week, which was not reported in the police blotter until today. It happened at mile twenty-five on the Hummingbird Highway in the Stann Creek District. According to the police, when Catalino Reyes got home at […]
The body of a hunter was found in the Belize River on Sunday. The mother of Bernardo Chiac, had reported that her son left home in Ontario Village in Cayo at about one thirty a.m. on November twenty sixth to go hunting. According to Tomasa Ha, her son went hunting on horseback with his shotgun […]
While the Chiac family received bad news, another Cayo resident is lucky to be alive. On Friday night, Alexander Montero, a resident of Teakettle was brutally wounded during an incident at a local bar. Superintendent Guzman said that the wounds could have been worse, but Montero will soon be released from the hospital. One man […]
It’s the end of November and that also means the close of the Hurricane season. Fortunately, the six month period went by without much activity even though it had an early start. In fact, it had the fewest named storms in twelve years. Only one of the systems, Tropical Storm Ida, came within notable proximity […]
An eighteen year old teen who allegedly had sexual intercourse with a twelve year old girl finds himself in all kinds of trouble tonight. The teen, Robert Sinclair, a mechanic of Jane Usher Boulevard, is charged with Carnal Knowledge after the girl’s mother made the startling discovery. The woman told police that she found out […]
Last week Thursday night, a police officer was stabbed in the abdomen following an altercation at a local bar. A painter was apprehended and has been in custody since then. Today, Eusebio Cal was charged with a slew of offenses including attempted murder, dangerous harm, use of deadly means of harm and damage to property. […]
In news from the region, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) wrapped up on Sunday in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The organization, primarily made up of former British colonies, grew by one. But the big news coming out of the Summit was a consensus document in time for the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. […]
Today was day two of the public hearings in the Commission of Inquiry into the purchasing of medical and pharmaceutical supplies at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. More startling information came from an audited report that point to a general breakdown in the purchasing practices of the K.H.M.H., including the revelation of missing records. In […]
Throughout today’s session there were a number of irregularities that came to light. Deputy Auditor General, Wayne Simon, pointed out that one of the K.H.M.H.’s weakest link is its Revenues Department. Wayne Simon, Deputy Auditor General “From the evidence of the observation shown throughout this report, it is evident that the control mechanism needs strengthening […]
Following the presentation of the audited report, Wayne Simon was questioned today about the absence of records required for the audit. While he did not want to say there was a cover up, he did say that the audit team requested the documents but never received them. Wayne Simon “We did not get any explanation […]
In San Pedro Town, residents took a stand today against the Public Utilities Commission’s initial decision to approve a ten point six increase in the cost of water rates beginning next year April. The protestors gathered at the Central Park to publicly register their objection and to sign a petition that will be submitted to […]
The body of a woman was found this afternoon in La Democracia Village about mile thirty-one off on the Western Highway. The woman fifty-nine year old Verrill Louise Brakeman was last seen on Sunday. She was found lying in her yard just outside her home. A News Five team was in the area and spoke […]
There is some good news coming from City Hall. On Monday, the Belize Maintenance Limited, BML, sent home about a hundred of its sanitation workers because the Belize City Council could not cough up the ten thousand dollar weekly payment to the company. Sanitation Councillor, Philip Willoughby could not say when the Council would be […]
The Belize National Coastguard’s second passing out ceremony for recruits took place today for thirty-five new officers. The proud men and women will now begin their duties in manning our territorial waters and will assist in the prevention of transnational crimes. The ceremony held at its temporary headquarters, Williamson Complex in Ladyville, coincided with the […]
In the courts today, a thirty-four year old construction worker was ordered to pay up thousands of dollars because he was caught in possession of something other than his tools; that is over a pound of marijuana. At about nine-fifteen this morning police were alerted to a high-speed chase between two men on motorcycles. The […]
Police are investigating the theft of a laptop that they fear could result in cases of identity theft. That’s because the stolen computer belongs to the Government of Belize and was issued to the head of the Vital Statistics Unit, Lovina Daniels. It contains confidential birth certificate information for the entire country. Daniels had the […]
A police constable was injured during an altercation on Thursday night. P.C. Eric Patt was socializing at the Cabana Bar on East Collet Canal when he got into a fight with Eusebio Cal. Cal then attacked Patt with a broken bottle and stabbed him in his abdomen. Patt was admitted to the Karl Heusner Memorial […]
And it’s not one of the dominant sports, but table tennis has been gaining popularity over the past couple years. A workshop started today at the auditorium of the Belize Elementary School (B.E.S.) to teach coaches the proper techniques of the sport. It is a first level course and twenty-four participants from all over the […]
World Aids Day will be celebrated next week. And we found one organization that has been working tirelessly for ten years carrying a message of prevention. HIV Project is taking on a new approach to building awareness about the deadly disease. The group will be compiling a CD featuring Belize’s best talent to be released […]
