Did Edmond Castro cross the line when he used his authority as Minister in charge of the Belize Airports Authority to get his hands on public monies? Prime Minister Dean Barrow says he didn’t, at least not legally. But legalese aside, corruption is corruption, and the court of public perception has already judged Castro fit […]
And for more comment, News Five also went to the man who, at least before he walked the hallowed halls of government, was an anti-corruption champion and a relentless warrior against wrongdoing. Minister Godwin Hulse didn’t deign to give his opinion on the Castro check controversy, but he did spend some time trying to explain […]
How did a public space end up in private hands in Orange Walk? The story starts back in the seventies when the land located in the downtown area of Orange Walk was bequeathed to the government with the explicit intention that it be used for a public facility. Fast track to 2011, the lease on […]
A whopping amount of two hundred and seventy thousand dollars went missing from the Dangriga Branch of the Belize Bank between 2008 and 2013 for which Administrative Officer Rosalva Kotch, has been charged for theft. Kotch was taken to court on Tuesday and because she could not meet, she was kept overnight in custody until Wednesday […]
A high level meeting took place in Washington today between the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala, Wilfred Elrington and Fernando Carrera, and OAS Secretary General Miguel Insulza. It ended with the penning of a document entitled Roadmap for Strengthening Bilateral Relations in 2014 between Belize and Guatemala. The roadmap identifies specific aspects of the […]
The Supreme Court closed today for hearings as legal practitioners headed over to the Radisson Hotel for a one day conference. The Bar Association is an active voice in support of changes to the law and justice system in Belize, but today the Bar was engaged in educating its members and legal practitioners on the […]
Earlier when we spoke to businessman Landy Burns, he was aggrieved that a plot of land that was being developed for sporting activities has now ended up in the hands of Adin Aragon. Burns is peeved about one more issue and that’s taxes. Last year, Burns told the media that he was being threatened by […]
The Norwegian Cruise Line proposed port on Harvest Caye has been somewhat on the backburner lately, but for tourism stakeholders and residents in the south, it is certainly up front and personal. The topic resurrected with a vengeance on Wednesday night, when NCL executives stopped off in Independence for a community consultation facilitated by the […]
The discussion was tense on Wednesday because the proposed NCL tourism port is such a big deal for all involved. But perhaps the situation has been exacerbated by a perception that the project is already a done deal…that the consultations are just for show and the project has already been given a green light by […]
On Wednesday, the House meeting lasted more than five hours, and a lot came out of it. We brought you the meat of the day on Wednesday, but tonight we have the gravy. Swimming in that gravy is the statutory body turned personal piggy bank, which is now the subject of intense scrutiny. At the […]
In various sectors, there is open concern that the government has not signed to an OAS anti-corruption convention called the MESICIC which stands for the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of Inter-American Convention against Corruption. And with so many cases of corruption rearing its ugly head, the Chamber took umbrage to thousands of dollars […]
The 2013-2014 sugar cane crop season starts on Friday. It’s long delayed, and conditions are not optimal. To make it worse, it is raining today in the north. Still, the show must go on and early Friday morning, trucks will be lined up at B.S.I. to discharge sugar cane. While that’s the situation on the […]
Teachers will hold a protest march and rally in San Ignacio on Friday. As it has been since it started, the peaceful industrial action is a source of frustration for Minister of Education Patrick Faber. He spent the better part of an hour and a half on the topic at Wednesday’s House meeting. Faber claimed […]
You heard the Minister lash out at the teachers for taking time off for industrial action and at the Chamber of Commerce for daring to support salary adjustment for the teachers. Well, the Chamber of Commerce responded in kind saying that the minister did not get the context of their statement. And furthermore, it is […]
Corruption was very much at the forefront of Wednesday’s House meeting. The Castro checks situation was front and center, but with Elvin Penner’s sudden and unexpected resurrection, he came under sustained fire as well. The man with the bazooka in hand was no other than former Prime Minister Said Musa, who is usually on the […]
A bus full of passengers travelling from Orange Walk collided with a jeep before it could get to its destination in Corozal. The bus careened into a nearby cane field while the jeep was totaled. The passengers on board were students heading to the Belize Adventist College in Calcutta. Many of the students received minor […]
At Wednesday’s House Meeting Minister of Education Patrick Faber took jabs at the Chamber of Commerce saying that instead of writing release in support of teachers the private sector body should focus on increasing minimum wages. Well the Chamber didn’t take that lightly and came out swinging today. The Chamber decried that the private sector […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has referred to the Ministry of Natural Resources a hotbed of corruption. And he is not alone in that opinion. The Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association has been fighting for many months to get title to parcels of land in a community they call Harmonyville. According to BGYEA leader Nigel Petillo, […]
Thirty six year-old Godsman Flores, a food vendor of Church Street in Belize City, appeared in court this morning for Failure to Produce a License to Possess or have in Custody or Control any Ancient Monument. Allegations are that on Tuesday, Flores had in his possession two Mayan artifacts, namely, a small Jade figurine, […]
Also before Magistrate Dale Cayetano, thirty-seven year old Roberto Gilharry walked from a charge of handling stolen goods. The matter was initially before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith, but today, the prosecutor dealt with it before Cayetano who struck out the matter for want of prosecution when the alleged victim, Kwame Scott failed […]
In a police sweep of a house on Victoria Street, the Quick Response Team found four hundred and fifty-five point one grams of suspected cannabis which is the equivalent to one pound of the substance. Forty year old Ernest Gladden was in the house during the search. The drugs were found in three areas, some […]
A tattoo artist from Roaring Creek was arrested on Wednesday in Ladyville. Edilberto Madrid was along with another person in a small wooden house located on Jackson Avenue when police made a surprise visit. Madrid and the other person who was dressed in a blue shirt fled the house, but police set chase and were […]
Award winning Belizean reggae artist Ras Indio is recognized for his conscious music and prolific production. He is a composer, songwriter and singer who has travelled around the world and performed in many arenas. But now he’s back in Belize, and not surprisingly he’s got a new hit. Today the talented Belizean artist stopped by […]
Today was the first sitting of the House of Representatives for 2014. And as has become practice rather than rule, sparks flew across from both sides of the aisle. Now, numerous bills were tabled and one was fast tracked through the three stages. But we start first with a story we had been following involving […]
Distasteful and wrong, but not corrupt. That’s a very fine line drawn by Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who has been faced with all manner of accusations against his ministers and officials. Still, the bottom line is that as distasteful as it may be, Castro will face no punishment for the outrageous fleecing of taxpayers’ money. […]
