The delayed national budget was tabled in the House of Representatives this morning. The forty two page document delivered by the Prime Minister is themed “Exercising Discipline while Preserving Growth.” On the expenditure side, the P.M. says there will be no increase over last year which means that we will generally see a continuation of […]
The P.M. says that the budget is not austere, but to swap words it is certainly spartan. He signaled the need for everyone to tighten their belts ahead because the country does face declining oil revenues, increased interest and amortization payments for the Superbond and he referred to “exercising a heightened level of fiscal discipline […]
The P.M. says that provisions are also being made for support to alternative education, especially the community resource centers in the south side of Belize City, and, the ITVET. The National Health Insurance programme will also continue and funds have been to the upgrade of the Toledo District Highway to the Guatemalan Border. But the […]
The Opposition side this term is robust with fifteen parliamentarians, some who made their maiden intervention today. While the budget will be debated on July twelfth and thirteenth, we got an early reaction from the Opposition side when we caught up with former Leader of the Opposition and current Orange Walk Central Area Representative John […]
While the Prime Minister was presenting his first post election budget, outside the National Assembly building, a handful of demonstrators kept up the pressure against crime. Jasmine Lowe, the murdered thirteen year old girl from Santa Elena, was central to the demonstration. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports. Isani Cayetano, Reporting What should have been […]
A jury of twelve had a tough time deciding the fates of brothers, Emory and Maurice Felix, who were on trial for the murder of twenty-nine year old Mitchum Heredia. After four hours of deliberation, the jury first emerged shortly before five o’clock this evening, but were undecided. Justice Herbert Lord sent them back to […]
Brian Brown is out; he was released this afternoon after Justice Adolph Lucas granted him bail at the Supreme Court. His attorney, Ellis Arnold, submitted that Brown should be granted bail because of non-compliance with an order made by Judge Lucas on June nineteenth when Arnold initially made attempts to get him bail. Judge Lucas […]
And now back to the budget, a large part of the public debt is still undecided as the cost of nationalizing Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited has not been worked out. Now that both utility companies are government properties, Barrow says that B.T.L. is investing fifty-one million dollars in capital improvements this year, […]
There are few new initiatives in the budget. The prime minister brought back the construction of a basketball arena, which the Mexican government was initially committed to. He hopes that with support from B.T.L. and Social Security, the sporting facility will finally come to fruition. Dean Barrow “Under Infrastructure, I must as well mention […]
There were other activities taking place aside from the budget. Across the Caribbean, today is recognized as Regional HIV Testing Day. The initiative was started by the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS in collaboration with the Pan Caribbean Partnership on HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) in 2008. For the first time it is being implemented locally with […]
Streets in the downtown area are getting a much needed face lift. The roster includes ten streets that are heavily trafficked on both the north and south sides. The novelty is that nine will be paved with cement instead of asphalt, which City Hall says will better withstand the traffic and elements and is cheaper. […]
Carnival is less than two months away and bands are already gearing up for this year’s fete. Pickstock Carnival Band Leader, Gareth Gill, says that this year they’re going all out and are kicking off their moves this weekend with the Miss Pickstock pageant. The show will feature six young girls, which Gills says promises […]
This Friday, the House of Representatives will convene for the first time since the March general elections. There will be a stronger Opposition across the aisle so the budget debate is expected to be fierce. At Friday’s sitting Prime Minister Dean Barrow will table the national budget. The PM has already warned of an austerity […]
While cuts are anticipated in government expenditure, in the tourism industry the GST is expected to be introduced to replace the hotel tax. But stakeholders are not complaining. Since its introduction several years ago, hoteliers were exempted from charging GST on goods and services; instead, guests had to pay a nine percent hotel accommodation fee […]
The special audit of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (K.H.M.H.) has been completed. A former employee became a whistleblower alleging improper procurement practices of supplies and drugs and irregular uses of the KHMH credit card and contracts to international companies. The Prime Minister ordered the audit following the allegations made by Delroy Herrera. The areas […]
A go-slow by stevedores of the Christian Workers Union (C.W.U.) on Tuesday was stepped up to a work stoppage on Wednesday. The stevedores complained that the negotiation process for a Collective Bargaining Agreement (C.B.A.) between the Union and the Port of Belize Limited was moving at a snail’s pace. The troubles go back to May […]
The Port of Belize Limited, however, says that a framework agreement was signed between the CWU and PBL on March twenty-third in respect of the negotiations of a collective bargaining agreement and that they are surprised at the actions of the stevedores and the CWU. The release says, “For the CWU to create industrial action […]
The Belize Tourism Board reports tonight a seven point four percent increase in tourism visitors between January and May. March recorded the highest increase with a historic thirty-two thousand visitors coming to the Jewel, followed by February. With that impressive rebound, the B.T.I.A. met this morning in bi-annual general meeting. Aside from a GST to […]
Green Tropics, a Spanish company, became known in earlier this month when its operations were put on hold for dredging at the Labouring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary. The company has now agreed to pay an environmental fine of over one hundred thousand dollars to the Ministry of Environment for damages, but it’s not over […]
A mega telethon is planned for this weekend by Kim Simpliss Barrow and Care Belize. This coming Saturday, the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts will be the venue for the Inspiration Telethon, a first of its kind fundraising effort through which the Special Envoy for Women and Children is hoping to raise a million […]
Now turning to the courts, another murder trial fell apart in court today, when the prosecutor faced two hurdles she could not cross. The case relates to the murder of thirty year old Gilbert Olivera, who was gunned down near his home on Dean Street in May 2009. It is believed that Olivera was killed […]
The GSU conducted a number of operations today. At mile four on the Western Highway this morning, Francis Benitez, a Salvadoran national was arrested and charged for firearm related offences. He was travelling as a passenger in a pickup truck towards Belize City when he was searched and the GSU found a point thirty-eight special […]
The Social Security Board issued a press release today responding to a news story we aired on Wednesday night. News Five had received a copy of a letter, issued to Benque Viejo businesses from the S.S.B., asking them to pay their taxes directly to the S.S.B. to cover a debt of over one hundred thousand […]
Graduation exercises were held last week at the Salvation Army Primary School. It was a happy occasion for some, but for others, well they didn’t get their certificates because of outstanding fees to the school. This afternoon, however, all that changed because the Mesopotamia Area Rep, Michael Finnegan, came to the rescue. News Five’s Isani […]
A number of city cops were in the hot spots in the old capital; they didn’t make any arrests, instead they were meeting the residents of these areas. As a part of the police week activities, the officers did one-hour rounds on Mahogany, George and West Streets, Lovely Lane, Victoria and Usher Streets, Neal Penn […]
