And then Prime Minister Barrow dropped the hammer, expressing its full support for any group which would organize to deliver cane outside of the B.S.C.F.A. That signifies a complete dismissal of the Association by government. And the PM says he doesn’t even have to call a House meeting to amend the Act at this point. […]
There is still no date for the start of the sugar crop and farmers are encouraged to deal directly with the sugar company. While this represents a blow to the B.S.C.F.A., the association is still facing major hurdles. There is a looming threat from Fairtrade on the disbursement of funds and there is the possibility […]
So far it has only been bad news for the B.S.C.F.A. and it is also bad news for those farmers and directors who have vehemently advocated going back to the negotiating table. Traditionally, cane farmers don’t react well to bad news or adversity, and when their backs are against the wall, the north of the […]
If you were a little unclear about G.O.B.’s rejection of the B.S.C.F.A., the Prime Minister went further. While he met with ASR/B.S.I. on Wednesday, he has no wish to do so with the association even though he had said on Monday that he will reach out to the two sides to find out what true […]
So to wrap it all up, we picked out the relevant statement which clearly shows the Prime Minister’s frustration with the continuing chaos in the industry. While Barrow has maintained that he can’t run roughshod into a private company, some observers say that just as he did with other private companies like B.T.L., he could […]
He is already serving a five-year jail term for firearm and ammunition offenses and will now spend his thirty-eighth birthday behind bars because Jason Williams was convicted today and got an additional five year jail term for theft. Williams was accused of stealing from Euphrates Auto Rentals owner, Robert Wagner, a 2007 Kia Sportage SUV […]
On Wednesday’s newscast we showed you pictures of hundreds of Guatemalan labourers massed at the Western Border waiting to come across. These labourers, we were told, entered Belize on the strength of one day passes, but were commissioned to work at Santander for a year. Now that’s not how it’s supposed to work, so naturally […]
When we last heard about the K.H.M.H., the folks there were welcoming the new baby for 2015. Well there is some more positive news tonight. The lobby of the Accident and Emergency wing of the K.H.M.H. has received a facelift though a collaborative effort with the private sector. The hospital teamed up with SMART for […]
The tourism industry closed last year on a high note after surpassing a million visitors to the jewel. And early indications are that 2015 may also be a bumper year. This week, Belize got a huge endorsement as one of the top fifteen destinations to visit in 2015 when it was called a Life-Affirming Destination. […]
It is now abundantly clear that the protection of our environment is key to our continued existence. In fact sixty percent of the country has been designated as protected areas. The Department of the Environment this morning organized a workshop in a protected area to emphasize to importance of implementing good practices to safeguard the […]
The workshop concluded with a tour by the Community Baboon Sanctuary in the area. The sanctuary, which spans the length and width of seven villages in the River Valley area, was instituted back in February 1985 by residents of the community as a voluntary private protected area. Two hundred and forty landowners in the villages […]
But the CBS relies primarily on the tourism aspect of the sanctuary. The sanctuary offers six different tours including the nature walk, a river canoe tour that is contracted to a landowner and birding tours. The tours being the primary source of economic development in the area is under threat, however, by an investor that […]
Welcome to our first segment of Healthy Living for 2015. To start the year with a bang and to help us set our goals for a balanced life style we have been looking at technology. Now if you are not techy, no need to feel scared because there are simple and easy applications that you […]
Just when you thought you’d gotten all the bad news the sugar industry could dish out, there is more. News Five has confirmed that fair-trade has written to the B.S.C.F.A. in regards to the motion passed on Sunday to disburse some four million dollars to cane-farmers. The money which farmers are demanding is fair-trade money […]
But despite that clear warning from fair-trade, today officials at the B.S.C.F.A. are busy preparing to disburse checks to the almost five thousand five hundred registered cane-farmers in Orange Walk and Corozal. So long story short, if that money is disbursed, the projects come to a crashing halt. The decision has been causing no end […]
While four million dollars may seem like a lot of money, divided between five thousand five hundred dollars, it only comes up to a little over seven hundred dollars per cane-farmer. The Association has been meeting with the eighteen directors to try and find a way around the mandate of the farmers but that has […]
The Northern Caucus of the People’s United Party this afternoon issued a statement on the state of affairs in the lifeblood of the north. The caucus calls on the Sugar Industry Control Board to declare the crop open by January fourteenth 2015 and on the B.S.C.F.A. and ASR/B.S.I. to return to the negotiating table. The […]
Why were hundreds of Guatemalan labourers at our Western Border crossing into Belize today? Well that’s the question everybody wants answered at this time. As you can see from this picture obtained by News Five, today hundreds of Guatemalan nationals were lined up to enter Belize. Reliable sources tell us that all of them came […]
It is not officially open yet, but traffic is already traversing the Chetumal Street Bridge in Belize City that spans the two highways; Phillip Goldson and the George Price thoroughfares. The estimated cost to build the bridge is a cool four point five million dollars, according to contractors, who also say the structure is one […]
Remember back in March of 2009 when fuel prices at the pumps for regular and premium were just above five dollars? Since then the prices for the most part went up continuously and consumers paid more than double that price to over eleven dollars per gallon. The biggest spike was in April of 2009 when […]
There is another bit of good news. The Public Utilities Commission announced today that it has amended the mean electricity rate and previously approved tariffs which are resulting lower costs for the consumption of electricity. So when you get your next light bill, you should be paying less for electricity. The approved decrease of five […]
Turning to the courts: A Belize City car dealer was nabbed at the Phillip Goldson International Airport on Monday afternoon in possession of seven thousand dollars in US currency and nine dollars and fifty seven cents in Belize currency. Since he had in excess of ten thousand Belize dollars, he was charged with the offense […]
A Honduran national who resides in Minnesota, U.S.A., but was visiting Belize and staying on La Isla Bonita, San Pedro was busted with a “roach,” which is a small amount of weed, totaling point nine grams. Mario Silva Brown was busted on January fifth, 2015 and today due to the unavailability of a Magistrate in […]
Municipal Elections 2015 are set for early March and Belizeans in nine towns and cities are once again gearing up to go to the polls in the national exercise. Despite the P.U.P.’s astounding defeat in the Cayo North bye-election on Monday, party leader Francis Fonseca is resolute in his belief that the political tides are […]
Fair-trade dropped a bombshell on the B.S.C.F.A. today concerning the disbursal of four million dollars to farmers. Prime Minister Barrow went on record earlier this week to say that he will be reaching out to the B.S.C.F.A. and B.S.I. once again to find out what their respective positions are on the negotiation process. That announcement […]
