Director of Tourism Laura Esquivel-Frampton has officially demitted office, following a two-year stint as head of the Belize Tourism Board. Her resignation from the post was formally confirmed via press release earlier today because on Wednesday night, we told you that she was on her way out from the lucrative job. Esquivel-Frampton’s tenure has been […]
Since being appointed the portfolio of Minister of Tourism in 2008, the posts of Chief Executive Officer and Director of Tourism have been revolving doors in Heredia’s ministry. Current C.E.O. Tracy Panton is also former Director of Tourism. During her term in office, Mike Singh was C.E.O. in the ministry. Panton served in that capacity […]
Political connections and lucrative appointments – that’s always been commonplace in Belize, almost as traditional as rice and beans. But that doesn’t make the pill any easier to swallow. Today, the Ministry of Health is in hot water after the announcement of a new Director of Drug Inspectorate, who just happens to be the daughter […]
The association has pulled no punches with the issue of its release, stating that the appointment is based on a preferential political agenda and asking that the situation with the new director be immediately rectified. This isn’t the first time that the association has been at odds with the Ministry of Health, and politics was […]
Accused murderer Bert Vasquez has been committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court for the murder of Jasmine Lowe. The decision was handed down at the preliminary inquiry today after submissions by Vasquez’s attorney Simeon Sampson and Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lynn Vidal. Sampson first made a submission of no case to answer, stating […]
As we’ve told you, the three passport officers whose names were dragged through the mud of public scrutiny in the immigration scandal have been exonerated by the Services Commission. Despite a recommendation for termination by Director of Immigration Maria Marin, Sharon Neal, Omar Phillips and Erwin Robinson received only reprimands for what was referred to […]
A week ago, a tour guide was murdered in San Pedro and on Tuesday night, another resident of the island was shot as he headed home. Around nine-thirty p.m., on Sandpiper Street in the San Juan Area of San Pedro Town, twenty-one year old Darrington Louriano Junior was shot to the left shoulder. According to […]
It’s been a week since the ruthless murder of thirty year old Jeffrey Eiley on San Pedro. Eiley, a well-known tour guide, ran from his killer but could not escape the multiple shots that hit him on both hands. Eiley collapsed on Barrier Reef Drive…a short distance from his home on Marina Drive in San […]
The ombudsman, Lionel Arzu, has issued a report on his first year in office. It contains a wide range of public matters from police brutality to inmate treatment and housing conditions at the Belize Central Prison. His office has also been occupied investigating a number of unlawful land transactions at the Ministry of Natural Resources. […]
After deliberating for hours, a jury decided the fate of thirty-eight year old Vanzie Lamb, a Belize City man accused of forcibly abducting a fourteen year old primary school girl from a vehicle and raping her. When the jury emerged this afternoon, Lamb was found not guilty of rape. The alleged rape is said to […]
Members of the Eastern Division Communication Center, comprised of a team of twenty-three, nine-one-one dispatchers were participants in a one-day workshop organized in conjunction with the City Emergency Management Organization (CEMO), the Meteorological Service and the Ministry of Health. The focus of the seminar was disaster preparedness. Since being established a few years ago CEMO, […]
Throughout this month, activities are being held to celebrate women from all walks of life, home makers and professionals alike, be they bold, challenged, or in whatever capacity. Over at the Bliss Institute, an exhibition is opening tonight that encompasses various forms of art made by budding as well as well known female artists. Duane […]
There are three more deaths to add to the growing list of traffic fatalities; so far, there have been at least fifteen accidents since the beginning of the year in which eleven persons lost their lives. Over the weekend, a three year old girl was killed when an incoming vehicle, a Honda CRV, collided into […]
Traffic accidents are among the leading causes of death, and unfortunately an Ontario family is grieving the loss of a loved one. A third fatality occurred on Sunday, involving a collision between an SUV and a motorcycle in Camalote Village. At around five o’clock that morning twenty-two year old Jose Martinez, a resident of Ontario […]
Just a few moments prior to the deadly traffic accident which claimed the lives of three year old Ashley Silva and twenty year old Linbert Tucker, there was a four car pileup along the Boom Road. Though not fatal, the responding officers, already stretched thin having to work the La Ruta Maya event, were forced […]
There is a breaking story in the B.T.B. and that is Laura Esquivel-Frampton, the high profile daughter of former Prime Minister, Manuel Esquivel is resigning from the post of Director of Tourism. Esquivel-Frampton assumed the post in May 2012, and soon ran into trouble with the B.T.B. management and board. Last Wednesday, a group of […]
Speculation about the pending arrest of former Minister of State with responsibility for Immigration Elvin Penner ran wild and free over the long weekend. On Friday, News Five was informed that a warrant had been issued for the politician turned pariah, but he had left the country. Today those reports intensified, with multiple sources claiming […]
The long weekend was filled with tragedy but no murders. Unfortunately, the inadvertent moratorium on murders did not last, and just after eight this morning Police Detectives from Precinct Two were opening a case file on a body found off the Western Highway in the foam factory compound. While the investigation is in its early […]
San Ignacio Police remain on the lookout for Gabino Garnett Jr., the man they believe is responsible for the fatal stabbing of twenty-year-old Earl Baizar on Friday morning. The Dangriga resident, who frequented the municipality, was injured multiple times after being accosted outside of Blue Angels Nightclub where the two were reportedly engaged in an […]
Last week Thursday, U.D.P. Minister of State Herman Longsworth accused Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega of undermining him to benefit Belize City Councilor Phillip Willoughby – basically stealing his idea and giving it to Willoughby. See, Willoughby intends to run in the Albert Division, a seat recently claimed by Herman Longsworth. Willoughby allegedly enjoys the […]
The Supreme Court has been operating under staffing constraints in the complement of judges since the double blow of losing Justices Oswell Legall last May and Justice Rita Joseph-Olivetti in January. Both worked in the Civil Division which has seen a backlog of cases in recent times. But all that should change following this morning’s […]
Twenty-two year old Kirk Smith Jr., who has been on remand for almost four years walked free late this afternoon from a charge of murder. Smith was accused of the August 2010 murder of thirty-five year old Eyan Arnold, a janitor employed at the time at Wesley College. After Justice Adolph Lucas directed the […]
While Smith has been freed of a murder charge, thirty-seven year old Oliver Peters has been arraigned for murder. Peters is accused of stabbing his uncle to the left side of the chest in a bitter land dispute; the injury eventually led to Thomas Ferguson Senior’s death. Today, Peters was arraigned and read a single […]
Former P.U.P. minister, Louis “Coz” Sylvestre, passed last Thursday after ailing for years. A memorial service will be held this coming Friday; and today, while acknowledging his contributions, the People’s United expressed profound sadness at his passing. Says the P.U.P. release, “Sylvestre served as a P.U.P. Representative in Rural Belize from 1957 to 1984 under […]
The National Institute of Culture and History through the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts has issued last calls for entries for the 2014 Belize International Film Festival. While the event is slated for July, it’s coming down to the wire for those final submissions to be entered. Open calls started from January and so […]
