Corporal Gino Peck will serve no jail time after he was convicted of possessing prohibited and unlicensed ammunition. Instead, the veteran officer, with twenty-three years of service under his belt, was sentenced to pay fines totally six hundred and fifty dollars for the offences. The sentencing was scheduled for nine this morning, but the decision […]
As we told you earlier, things didn’t look bright for Peck this morning, prior to sentencing. Because of the conviction under the Firearms Act, the hands of the Magistrate were basically tied where that was concerned. But with the mitigation pleas done, and the sentence about to be handed down, some assistance came from an […]
There was other big news coming out of the Gino Peck sentencing trial today. Much of the fire and fury outside the courtroom, and indeed in past weeks, has been directed at the Firearms Act. The Act was drafted and put into law at a time when crime was spiraling out of control. It is […]
While the Peck family has reason to celebrate, tragedy struck the Gentle family of Crooked Tree early this morning. Because of flood waters that have not totally receded, the causeway that connects the village to the George Price Highway has been closed. Benjamin Gentle Junior had to catch a shuttle which would have transported him […]
In the aftermath of the accident, the Ministry of Education sent out counselors to the village to assess and render psychological assistance to the many persons who were left traumatized by the accident. As we said, eight persons are currently hospitalized, while others who were also onboard the vessels were able to return home. Area […]
There was a gruesome murder overnight in the Stann Creek District. A woman from Sittee River in the south was sexually abused and then murdered. Ana Foster left her house on Thursday morning, but did not return home. This morning, her naked body was found under an orange tree off near the entrance to the […]
On Thursday, teachers marched in Dangriga, and today the B.N.T.U. movement moved to the deep-south – Punta Gorda. This is the sixth and final rally planned by the union as a series of industrial actions. It might have started out as putting some measure of pressure on government where the salary adjustment is concerned, but […]
President of the Christian Workers Union Audrey Matura-Shepherd has won her first major victory in that post. On Tuesday, we told you about the thirty-six City Council security personnel whose posts had been classified redundant. The security department had been privatized and contracted out to a city hall employee and these thirty-six men were to […]
Brace up because as of the beginning of the upcoming fiscal year, water rates will see an estimated six and a half percent increase in the cost per gallon. The increase is less than the sixteen percent applied for by Belize Water Services Ltd. to the Public Utilities Commission in late December. The PUC, in […]
Even as the Occupational Health and Safety Bill was been on the front burner for the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, the union today issued a release on another issue over which it is riled up – that is the passport and visa scandal. In a release this evening, the N.T.U.C.B. says that government […]
Government this week named former FIU director, attorney Marilyn Williams, as chair of the Integrity Commission, four years after the commission last met. But there is another appointment in law that government is resisting; the thirteenth senator. The Prime Minister recently said that it is not going to happen because it would mean that the […]
Earlier we told you of the boating accident on the Crooked Tree Lagoon that took the life of twenty year old Benjamin Gentle Junior. The flooding of the lagoon is occurs during the rainy season and water levels would always increase to the point where the causeway is impassable for months. The waters have been […]
A play entitled “Nowhere to Fly – Gangs and Boys” is a recent project by RESTORE Belize with a message intended to curb crime in the Old Capital. Today, the production, done under the directorship of Joseph Stamp Romero, had an encore presentation for the students of the Gwen Lizarraga High School. It is a […]
The Belize National Teachers Union showed muscle today in Dangriga. The teachers of the south want their salary adjustment…they want to be respected…they want better working conditions and they want corruption in government to end now. Those demands rang out in Dangriga today as teachers marched on the culture capital under the B.N.T.U. banner. This […]
As we told you, Prime Minister Dean Barrow met with the joint union negotiating team in Belmopan today. Since he has already said as much in an unofficial but public capacity, it is expected that the figure of three percent in salary adjustment will be placed on the table, as well as the matter of […]
As you heard, the message of the teachers was trumpeted in Dangriga. And if there is strength in numbers, then the teachers showed muscle today. There is also support for their cause from the Opposition. This morning, Francis Fonseca was not only critical of the government’s approach toward teachers. As a former Minister of Education, […]
Police officer Gino Peck will be sentenced on Friday and his attorney Simeon Sampson is preparing to immediately mount an appeal to his sentence for ammunition offenses. Peck has the support of the rank and file of the police department which went as far on Wednesday to publicly say that it will be assisting with […]
The introduction of the Firearm Act back in June 2008 attracted opposition in many quarters because it was considered draconian. The legislation says that anyone found in a house or establishment where firearms and ammunition are found, regardless if it is unknown to that individual, the person will be charged and placed on mandatory remand […]
In mid-December, firebrand attorney Audrey Matura-Shepherd was named President of the controversial Christian Workers Union, and little over a month after she is facing her first challenge. That’s because the posts of thirty-six security officers from the Security Department of the Belize City Council have been declared redundant and it is a complicated issue. In […]
The Leader of the Opposition touched on a number of issues of national importance when we spoke with him this morning. Francis Fonseca minced no words as it pertains to the government and the recent scandals that have rocked the Barrow Administration. Fonseca pointed out that the government has a slim majority and to protect […]
On May twelfth 2010 popular basket-baller Aubrey Lopez was abducted and then brutally murdered, shot in the head and then pushed from his own car in Belize City. Five days after Police charged the man who they say killed Lopez. Then twenty-two, Belize City resident Paul Jex was fingered by a minor who was allegedly […]
In September 2013, the Dangriga Market, a significant part of the Municipal Development Plan, was brought to a screeching halt by the combination of an allegedly incompetent contractor and corruption at the Social Investment Fund. The building was abandoned not even close to completion, leaving Dangriga vendors and residents inconvenienced and hurting. Since then a […]
There has not been a functioning Integrity Commission for years even though by law, the government must establish a Commission. In fact, the last recorded meeting of the Commission was in April 2010. For background information, BQ Pitts was the sitting Chairman of the Commission at the time and when he was appointed Attorney General […]
The Board of the Belize Airport Authority has been asked to resign en masse by Cabinet in the wake of the Castro cheque scandal and from what we know at least three members have already tendered their resignation to the Ministry of Transport. At last Wednesday’s House meeting, the Leader of the Opposition said there […]
This morning teachers marched in Dangriga, and they say the march is also against corruption in government. That particular topic has grown wings lately with the revelations coming out of the Belize Airports Authority, where monies were handed out for and on behalf of Minister of State Edmond Castro. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet […]
