Two Honduran nationals are spending quality time at the Kolbe Correctional Facility after they were caught last Friday in Belize City as they were passing through on their way to the USA. The men, twenty-eight year old Manuel de Jesus Zuniga Ramirez and twenty-four year old Eliseo Romero Garcia, were apprehended by Immigration officials […]
A Belize City man has been returned to the Kolbe Correctional Facility for an extended stay of seven years. Twenty-nine year old Clarence Grant, a resident of Ontario Village in the Cayo District, appeared today before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith, where he was found guilty of robbery and handed his sentence. Grant was […]
A glossy new publication was officially launched today. It is being published by Idea Labs and commissioned by Beltraide. Invest Belize, as it is called, is geared exclusively to attract foreign investments that has dipped significantly in the past years. At the presentation today, Minister Godwin Hulse said the first issue won’t disappoint. News Five’s […]
The students from the Belize Elementary School this morning welcomed special guests all the way from Canada. Award winning author, Victor Lethbridge, made a special presentation to the eager students portraying signs of social issues affecting youths through story-telling. Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting It was a day filled with fun activities for […]
From story-telling to the art…on Thursday, the Mexican Embassy is opening an art exhibition entitled, “Jazz and More.” The pieces displayed in canvass, acrylic and water color paintings focus on music by the Mexican artist, Enrique Hernandez. Hernandez, who has been painting for twenty-five years, is also a media personality in Chetumal. Domingo Rodriguez, […]
Less than two weeks ago, teachers from all ten B.N.T.U. branches countrywide voted by secret ballot to participate in a national demonstration. The decision was almost unanimous and it would garner the support of the wider national Trade Union Congress of Belize. This morning as cabinet met, teachers from every corner of the country converged […]
After marching on the ring road, the gigantic crowd headed to Independence Hill for a three hour rally of speeches by branch representatives and other union leaders. Their cry was for salary adjustments and respect from the government. Police stood on guard throughout the event, but the demonstration started and ended peacefully. The unions now […]
Over six hundred and thirty-nine persons voted on our last question on whether government was attempting to union bust. An overwhelming seventy percent voted yes and thirty percent said no. Tonight’s question also relates to the teachers and public officers. It is: Do you think government can find the money to provide salary adjustments to […]
While all the action was in Belmopan, the city was relatively quiet. An overwhelming number of teachers answered the B.N.T.U.’s call for action. Here in the City, only a few schools kept their doors open. Duane Moody has that story. Therese Roches, Principal, All Saints Primary School “We had fifty percent of our staff […]
While teachers and the B.N.T.U. took center stage through sheer numbers, the demonstration had the explicit support of the Public Service Union and the Association of Public Service Senior Managers. Leaders of those two unions were clear that while their members would not come out in mass, thus triggering a shutdown of public offices, representatives […]
The first murder trial without jury kicked off today before Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. Twenty-two year old Nicolai Rhys, the son of a police corporal, is accused of murdering reputed gangster, Andre Trapp on the morning of June tenth, 2010. After Trapp was killed; a green vehicle was seen speeding away and Special Constable Charles […]
On Saturday, twenty-five year old San Pedro boat captain, Byron Estrada, was butchered inside a popular nightclub on the island. Estrada was stabbed twenty-two times inside the bathroom of Daddy Rock night club and managed to stumble to the bar for assistance. He was taken to the San Pedro Polyclinic, but succumbed to his […]
As far as the union negotiations go, the buck stops at Prime Minister Dean Barrow, but the man in the hot seat is Minister of Education, Patrick Faber. His name came up repeatedly in the chanting by union members in the demonstration, and they were not exactly chants of praise. Faber’s position today is markedly […]
Following that trip down memory lane, Minister Faber also spoke about a more recent incident at the national university, U.B. The University of Belize’s student government led a protest on Monday through the streets of Belmopan and it ended at the steps of the assembly building. Hope Amadi, the student government president, led about one […]
The Guatemalan press is today reporting that President Otto Perez Molina has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate who should have had Guatemalan’s best interest at heart, but dropped the ball in respect of the upcoming October referendum. Perez Molina made the declaration following a meeting between Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington and […]
Last week, the Minister of Forestry, Lisel Alamilla, disclosed that someone had shot at the offices of the Ya’axche Conservation Trust in Golden Stream. Today, the Association of Protected Areas Management Organization joined the minister in condemning the violence. APAMO expressed disappointment that anyone would attack the organization which is dedicated to achieving conservation goals […]
Times are tough for a lot of people and many can ill afford medical attention. From time to time, they turn to the media to get exposure to their cause. Tonight, a father pleads for financial assistance for his young daughter, Sandy Jimenez, who is afflicted with leukemia. Angel Manuel Meza, Needs Help for […]
A teacher’s demonstration has morphed into a massive protest; thousands are expected to show their muscle in Belmopan. It starts in about fourteen hours and teachers will be joined by other union members of the National Trade Union Congress when they descend on Independence Hill. The battle cry is over salary adjustments which the unions […]
Last Friday, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a statement regarding the wage bill issue that stands to increase salary adjustments are approved by government. It said that compensation increases for public sector workers should be tied in with measurable performance improvements. The B.C.C.I. also said that it can’t condone the area of […]
While teachers will show their strength on Tuesday in Belmopan, this morning, the capital was also the venue for another protest. A group of students staged a small protest over government’s decision to cut off subsidies to the university. They say they want government to re-instate the funding because fees are unaffordable to new students. […]
There was a vicious murder on the island of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye in the early hours of Saturday morning. Twenty-five year old Byron Estrada was stabbed multiple times as he socialized at a local club; he succumbed to his injuries soon after. At first glance it would appear to be a random murder unconnected […]
The murder of twenty-five year old boat captain Byron Estrada came as a shock to his mother, but she is certainly no stranger to tragedy and no stranger to violent death and allegations that those deaths are drug related. When the dots are connected, a picture emerges linking the touristy tropical island of San Pedro […]
Road traffic accidents are frequent on our highways and account for a significant percentage of deaths. But despite negative perception, serious accidents involving buses are not frequent. An accident early Saturday morning between a Tillett’s bus travelling from Belize City to Orange Walk and an SUV travelling in the opposite direction was particularly gruesome. One […]
Thirty-three year old Rene Murillo of August Pine Ridge has been charged with attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm and dangerous harm. On Sunday night, sixty-one year old farmer also of August Pine Ridge Casario Ku, reported that around eight thirty pm, while walking in the village, he was approached by Murillo who […]
Over the weekend, twenty year old Albert Moody, a resident of Jane Usher Boulevard, was detained in connection with the shooting of Kent Moss. When he appeared before Magistrate Anne Marie Smith, Moody was slapped with three charges: attempted murder, grievous harm and use of deadly means of harm. Bail was denied and Moody […]
