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On the other side of that argument is Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith. He is representing the Belize Tourism Industry Association, arguing that indeed the developers of Harvest Caye proceeded with public consultation despite being told by NEAC that additional information was required to complete the environmental impact assessment. According to Smith, they are in breach […]
Written on July 17, 2015 | Posted in
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A teenager walked free from a murder charge today after Judge Adolph Lucas upheld a no case submission. Kadeem Anderson is now nineteen, but he was seventeen years old when he was accused of the May tenth, 2012 murder of Leopold Palacio Junior. Palacio Junior was shot and killed violently at the corner of Pelican […]
Written on July 17, 2015 | Posted in
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It is known that there is a backlog of cases and decisions yet to be dealt with at the Supreme and Magistrate Courts level. According to the Foreign Minister Sedi Elrington, who is also the Attorney General, the way forward requires improved efficiency to boost the performance and capability of the judiciary. Wilfred Elrington, […]
There is speculation that given the state of affairs within the Opposition party, Prime Minister Dean Barrow will again call general elections before the current term expires to secure an unprecedented third term in office. It is all speculative this time, but with the bulging coffers and significant victories this year, the idea is surely […]
Written on July 17, 2015 | Posted in
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An audit done by the People’s United Party after a resounding defeat in the municipal elections called for changes to revitalize the grand old party. One affected area representative was Ivan Ramos who stepped down giving way to a bye-election in the Dangriga constituency, which the P.U.P. went on to lose. Now, Gilroy Usher Senior […]
Written on July 17, 2015 | Posted in
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Former Permanent Representative of Belize to the Organization of American States, Nestor Mendez is spending his first day as the new Assistant Secretary General of the O.A.S. The ambassador will serve for a five-year period and is the only Belizean so far to assume that post in the hemispheric body. In his first statement as […]
The recent murders of two women, Juana Cardinez and Keisha Buller, that allegedly took place at the hands of their domestic partners, has prompted a reaction from the Women’s Issues Network of against the acts of violence against women. In a recent meeting that WIN Belize held with its thirteen member organizations, it was resolved […]
Written on July 17, 2015 | Posted in
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The Ministry of Foreign Trade and its partners held a seminar to discuss the Partial Scope Agreement (P.S.A.) with private sector partners. It’s an agreement signed a few years ago that aims to strengthen the commercial and economic relations between the two countries through facilitating the expansion and diversification of goods. Since the trade between […]
Written on July 17, 2015 | Posted in
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Today, the Social Security Board made a generous donation to the Belize Cancer Society. A handsome cheque of three hundred and seventy thousand dollars was handed over to the organization to financially assist children and women afflicted with cancer. The S.S.B. is partnering with the Ministry of Health and the Cancer Society to undertake this […]
On Wednesday night, News Five was the first to report on a formal protest issued by Guatemala in relation to the planned construction of a Forward Operating Base at the mouth of Sarstoon River on the mainland. That protest comes in the wake of an altercation between Guatemalan military and Coast Guard personnel – in […]
Just before leaving for Washington and Mexico today, Elrington told News Five that Guatemala’s position on the Forward Operating Base was conveyed in a very civilized manner, through a diplomatic note from that country. Because that territory is indeed in dispute, the Foreign Minister says that going to the O.A.S. is the right thing to […]
There have been two notable incidents in very recent months – first the capture of thirty-seven Belizeans in Belizean territorial waters by Guatemalan military, and then the altercation between Guatemalan soldiers and Belize’s Coast Guard. In the first, the Belizeans were taken against their will to Livingston, Guatemala, while in the second Coast Guard personnel […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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So the fate of the Forward Operating Base now lies in the hands of the O.A.S., and the territorial integrity of Belize will lie in the hands of the ICJ, if and when the dispute goes before that tribunal. For now, everything seems to be on hold, and Elrington says that is how it will […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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In June, a Guatemalan gunboat GC-651, the Tecum Uman, crashed into the reef near Middle and Long Cays, causing damage estimated at around forty-eight thousand dollars. With all dispatch, the vessel was pulled off its perch and allowed to return to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, with a bill to follow. Well, that bill has been sent, […]
Turning to crime; the discovery of a badly decomposed body on Wednesday morning in a shallow grave several miles outside the Mennonite community of Springfield, has resulted in the detention of at least two persons. Sometime around five a.m., a taskforce comprised of various units of the police department was deployed into an area off […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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A constant trickle of illegal Cuban immigrants into Belize, presumably with aid from a local human trafficking ring, has resulted in yet another bust in the Cayo District, this time near Roaring Creek. A predawn spot check conducted by Belmopan police has led to the arrest of eleven individuals, including their handlers, during separate operations. […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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Employees of K.H.M.H. are staging a go-slow on Friday and will not be accepting any referrals to the hospital in protest of being excluded from a recent salary adjustment for teachers and public officers. The long awaited salary adjustment comes after months of negotiating with government. But while the unions are benefiting from an increase […]
Twenty-two year old Devon Sankey walked free on Wednesday for the murder of Renan Reneau which happened back in April 2010. A no case submission was put forth to the court by Sankey’s attorney, Oscar Selgado, which Judge Troadio Gonzalez upheld. The crown’s main witness and girlfriend of Reneau, Arilee Sommerville, told the court that […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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There is a most disturbing report from Punta Gorda where a thirteen year old girl has been impregnated by her stepfather. Earlier this week, police and social workers went to the minor’s house and confirmed that the girl’s stepfather had been serially abusing her sexually since last November. Doctors have confirmed that she has been carnally […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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Earlier in the newscast, we told you that Guatemala is objecting to the proposed construction of a forward operating base. This morning, we also had the take of the Port Loyola area rep., Anthony “Boots” Martinez, who says that Guatemala can’t stop Belize from building an FOB in our own territory. Anthony “Boots” Martinez, […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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The People’s United Party has reached the point where politically connected and politically disconnected pundits have started offering advice. Advice of that sort can generally be disregarded, but today U.D.P. politician, Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, offered his own advice. Elrington told News Five that he doesn’t get the sense that there is any real strategic thinking […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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Anthony “Boots” Martinez is also offering his two cents on the Opposition party narrowing it on the leadership. Boots, who doesn’t live in Port Loyola, but Freetown, says he believes that Francis Fonseca is vulnerable in the constituency. Anthony “Boots” Martinez, U.D.P. Area Rep, Port Loyola “I want him to be leader; for me […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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Earlier this week, the P.U.P. confirmed that after reaching a mutual understanding, the party’s national campaign manager, Godfrey Smith, who took over the post in early 2014, was stepping down. Senior U.D.P. Minister, Anthony “Boots” Martinez, says Smith was “man enough” to do it and that P.U.P. Party Leader, Francis Fonseca, should follow suit. […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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In an extended interview with Minister Elrington, we also inquired about the installation of Nestor Mendez as Assistant Secretary General of the O.A.S. It’s an auspicious occasion since for the first time, a Belizean will be installed as Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization of American States. Elrington told us what that means for the country, […]
Written on July 16, 2015 | Posted in
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The Government of Belize and the Organization of American States today signed a cooperation agreement for an initiative targeting marginalized families. The three-year project, valued at two hundred and sixty thousand Belize dollars, is financed through the Development Cooperation Fund of the O.A.S., and will be implemented by the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation […]
