On that undignified note the session ended. Shoman’s point of order was that President of the Senate Mark Pech did not have the constitutional right to cast a vote. In that event the vote would be deadlocked at six six. But as far as the government is concerned the motion was defeated seven to six […]
The business of the Senate motion has been front and center, much like the immigration scandal which spawned it. There will be no appointment of a Senate Select Committee because not one government senator of the six supported the motion. But where the scandal is concerned, there are allegedly three investigations currently underway – one […]
Abbas Ahmed Khan, is a Pakistani national that was busted in Corozal Town back in May of this year. Khan had on his possession a number of Indian passports and could not offer an explanation as to why he had custody of the passport though the speculation centered around immigration irregularities. In a strange set […]
A delivery truck driver, Ernesto Vasquez, was arraigned today in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court and slapped with three traffic offenses: manslaughter by negligence, driving without due care and attention and causing death by careless conduct. Vasquez is accused of causing the death of James Gongora after he allegedly knocked him down between Miles […]
In late October the Maya Leaders Alliance expressed outrage that US Capital Energy was erroneously giving the impression that the Mayan communities were in favor of oil exploration on communal lands. In their fight for enforcement of Court rulings affirming that the Mayas have communal land rights, the MLA has also turned to the United […]
Arguments wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon in the case of Social Security Board vs. Sunshine Holdings Limited, one entity challenging the nationalizations of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL). As we told you, attorneys for Sunshine, who held twenty-two point thirty nine percent of shares in the telephone company for the benefit of its employees, are seeking […]
A highly anticipated senate meeting in Belmopan started at two this afternoon and concluded before six this evening. The main agenda item was the tabling of a motion by opposition senator Lisa Shoman for the setting up a senate select committee to investigate the immigration scandal which involves the illegal issuance of a passport to […]
And now, we turn to the sad story of a Belize City businessman who has been in the news now for years. Sixty-seven year old Michael Coye spent eighteen months behind bars for money-laundering while his case was under appeal. It’s a rarity, but last Thursday, his attorney was able to secure bail for him […]
As we said earlier in the newscast, the motion for a senate-select committee did not pass in the senate this evening. That’s because the opposition questioned the casting vote by the president of the senate on the basis that only senators can vote and Marco Pech is not a senator. That’s how it ended on […]
Senator for the Opposition, Lisa Shoman explains. Lisa Shoman, P.U.P. Senator “Six senators voted in favor—the three social partner senators and the three senators from the opposition—and all six senators for the government voted against. In this matter, the constitution is clear: the president does not have a casting vote. When it comes to […]
A report on today’s senate meeting is coming up shortly, but we go to the courts. Well-known poet and entertainer, Leroy “The Grand Master” Young, a resident of Pinks Alley in Belize City was arraigned this morning in the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith on forgery charges. According to police, Carlos Walker, […]
A woman was stabbed outside a club on Monday night and police believe they have been able to crack the case. Today, twenty-nine year old Denay Gillett, a resident and cashier of Fern Lane in Belize City, was arraigned for wounding twenty-seven year old Michelle Gordon. Gillett, who was unrepresented, appeared before Magistrate Clive Lino […]
Relations between the Belize City Council and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry have not always been cozy. But an initiative by Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley will hopefully change that. This morning a business mixer was held at the Radisson to bring the private sector and public sector around the table. In the […]
It’s been two weeks since former deputy mayor of Belize City, Eric Chang, was stripped of his title and portfolios with the City Council. It comes on the heels of the passport scandal that broke on September nineteenth in which South Korean national Kim Wonhong received nationality and a passport while incarcerated in Taiwan. Chang’s […]
The Organization of Caribbean Utilities Regulators is hosting its Eleventh Annual International Conference in Belize. This year’s theme, ‘Challenges to Regulatory Power in Borderless Societies’ sees the convergence of over fifty delegates from the Caribbean, United States, United Kingdom and Africa to discuss environmental issues in electricity and water, among other topics. The Public Utilities […]
A number of outstanding youths were honored this morning by the Ministry of Education. They came from all over the country and are from all walks of life but the fourteen honorees have one thing in common; they are exemplary young men and women who stand out among their peers and community. News Five’s Isani […]
The Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development was today awarded with a commemorative medal by the Food and Agriculture Organization in recognition of work that has been done to implement the Central American Fisheries and Aquaculture Integration Policy. Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Fisheries “I am proud to say that Belize has fully participated […]
Songs of Redemption is a documentary that has won awards at film festivals in Los Angeles, Toronto and Trinidad. This morning it was viewed by a captive audience of inmates at the Kolbe Foundation. It portrays the daily experiences of inmates at a correctional facility in Jamaica and captures how a rehabilitation program with the […]
Ambassador Amadei has been in Belize since Monday and will leave the country on Friday. Aside from her work with the Kolbe Foundation, she is having discussions on the European Union’s bilateral program for the 2014-2020. In this regard Amadei is meeting stakeholders including government and civil society. One project in Belize says Ambassador Amadei […]
The allegations against Edmund “Clear the Land” Castro have been in the news since October twenty-third and it is a story of alleged corruption which will not blow away. A whistleblower gave graphic details of how Castro facilitated visas to Chinese nationals for a fee. On Monday, we reported that Alverine Burgess was approached by […]
Former Minister of State Elvin Penner will not resign as Area Representative of Cayo Northeast. While there has been no official verification of this from either Prime Minister Dean Barrow or Penner himself, he has communicated his decision to the U.D.P. Cayo Northeast Executive Committee. We’ll have their response for you, but first an update […]
That money and benefits Penner is earning can give him a whole lot of comfort, but it can’t buy any love for the disgraced former Minister of State. The first Mennonite to serve as representative of such high office is shunned for his role in the passport scandal. And now he has become a political […]
Now that’s a situation which is practically unheard of…where the executive committee of a party refuses to work with the Area Representative of that constituency. Magaña says that the decision of the committee came on instructions from a member of the U.D.P. Executive after Penner met with the Prime Minister last week and at this […]
And with all that said…why doesn’t Penner just resign and get it over with? Chairman Fermin Magaña says he believes that Penner is trying to vindicate himself by serving his people as best he can in the time he has left. Fermin Magaña, Chairman, Cayo Northeast Committee “He has his personal reasons why he […]
Later in the broadcast, Francis Fonseca, the Leader of the People’s United Party addresses the nation on the immigration scandal. Fonseca says that there are more questions than answers in the scandal that is now forty-five days old and not going away. In his statement, Fonseca says that after calling for the resignation of Elvin […]
