There is a development tonight in the rice industry, which does not have to do with importer Jack Charles. The Belize Bureau of Standards says it has served what is a rare Notice of Detention to a rice producer, who the Bureau is not naming, but we know him to be from Shipyard, Orange Walk […]
Today, members of the Bar and the Bench gathered at the Belize Biltmore Plaza for a forum of sorts. It was dubbed a law conference, but the focus wasn’t law, legal matters or the judiciary. Convened by the Bar Association, the session was entitled – The Belize Guatemala Border Dispute – When and How Do […]
There is a critical backlog in the justice system and while it’s nothing new, it seems to be getting much worse. It has become commonplace for accused criminals to spend up to five years on remand before their Court session is called. As you can imagine, that causes no end of problem at every level […]
In September 2014 Government moved legislation to amend the Legal Profession Act. That legislation removed mandatory membership in the Bar Association and paved the way for attorneys to form or join a new Association…or not. The amendment was sparked by a period of hostilities between then Attorney-General Wilfred Elrington and the Bar Association, which he […]
A resident from the village of Caledonia, Corozal went missing on the morning of January fifth, 2016. His vehicle, a KIA Sportage, was found abandoned off the main highway near the junction of the roads leading to Buena Vista and Caledonia. When it was discovered, there were bullet holes on the vehicle and inside, Police […]
Tonight, twenty-seven year old Daniel Rios, who is being accused of raping a nine year old child remains in custody at the Belize Central Prison. A preliminary inquiry has determined that his case will be tried at the Supreme Court. Rios is accused of committing the heinous on April twenty-eighth 2015. The P.I. took place […]
While on patrol on Crayfish Caye, Turneffe atoll, the Belize Coastguard made a bust this morning for the Fisheries Department. Three men from Belama Phase Two, Belize City were found in possession of two hundred and forty-three lobster tails which is a violation since the lobster season is closed. By this afternoon at two, Fisheries […]
In the past year there has been a perceived escalation in hostilities between Belize and Guatemala. That perception gained wings when thirty-seven Belizeans were basically kidnapped by Guatemalan military in Belizean waters and taken to Livingston. It flew higher still when Guatemalan military attempted to turn back Belizean vessels intent on circling Sarstoon Island. So […]
Reporter Duane Moody and I are among a group of regional media personnel who will be participating in a Media Law Workshop to be held in Barbados which is funded by the Canadian Government. The two-day event is entitled Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice). A release from the organizers says IMPACT […]
The Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission was named a few weeks ago. The breadth of its work is the implementation of a Consent Order by the Caribbean Court of Justice. That directive mandates government to take measures to protect rights arising from Maya customary land tenure. Today, the Toledo Alcalde Association met to discuss the […]
Also discussed during today’s gathering was the Director of Public Prosecution’s decision to proceed with legal action against the Santa Cruz Thirteen. They were arrested and detained last year for unlawfully imprisoning Rupert Myles who is occupying a portion of land at the ancient Maya city of Uxbenka. Mis provided an update to that situation. […]
Today, students of Nazarene High School culminated a week of drug education with a march through Belize City streets and a rally. It was an intensive session in which the Belize Police Department played a critical role educating youths on the dangers of drug use and abuse. Counselor Jeniecia Sanker told News Five today that […]
There is trouble brewing at the government owned Belize Telemedia Limited. This afternoon during their lunch break, dozens of staffers, members of the Belize Communication Workers Union, assembled outside of the Esquivel Telecom Center, the company’s headquarters on Saint Thomas Street. They met for approximately thirty minutes to discuss a range of issues affecting workers […]
The Twenty-Seventh Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM concluded in Placencia on Wednesday. Much of the discussions during the three-day event centered around major regional concerns, including the issues of correspondent banking and the Zika virus. While those topics remained at the front of the agenda, the CARICOM Development Fund, […]
According to the economist, CDF’s directives come from sessions such as those recently held in Belize where keen attention is paid to the needs of lesser developed countries. Isani Cayetano “You’re in Belize on a working visit that goes along with the recent CARICOM Heads of Government, the intersessional meeting. Can you speak to […]
Police continue to search for a person of interest in the murder of Honduran national Johana Samantha Mendez Barrios. The waitress of Compadres Bar in San Pedro was cut to the throat inside her apartment on Tuesday morning at the Basil Paris Apartment Complex. Mendez Barrios sought assistance from her friend on the lower flat […]
An independent study shows that about six percent of newborns are not formally registered and that presents difficulties for the individuals later on in life, especially in accessing health care and education. But there is another side to that coin because a number of Belizeans in bordering towns are registered locally, as well as across […]
If you’ve visited the Vital Statistics Unit recently to request a birth certificate, a marriage license or even a death certificate then you would be quite familiar with the apparent chaos at the Hydes Lane office. The perennial complaint is that files are haphazardly deposited and employees of that department are largely inefficient in accessing […]
As we reported last week, Fruta Bomba Limited and Belize Food Packers are packing up and leaving Belize for other destinations. The exporters of Caribbean red papaya say labour costs are cheaper in places such as Dominican Republic, despite the many duty exemptions granted to the company. The company expects to take six months to […]
Earlier we told you about the rumblings at B.T.L., but that is not the only place where there is discontent. At news time, we are told that the executive of the Football Federation of Belize has been meeting all day on the future of its president, Ruperto Vicente. The executive is not happy with Vicente’s […]
Recent adjustments to the price per pound of Grade C rice and white sugar have prompted the Belize Bureau of Standards to strengthen market surveillance activities for Controlled Price Goods. A total of one hundred and fifty stores have been visited across the country. Of that number, thirty businesses were found to have been gouging […]
A mitigation plea was heard today for a sixty-four year old Honduran grandmother living in Belize for over twenty years. On February tenth, 2016, the grandmother was found guilty of human trafficking of a fifteen year old Honduran girl after the girl gave compelling testimony of how she was brought to Belize under false pretences and […]
The popular disc jockey, Disc Jockey James Busch of More FM, is in trouble with the law tonight. After two weeks of hospitalization, thirty-four year old Marlon Geovanni Chavez has made an official report to the Belize Police Department requesting court action against Busch, for what he says was a near death ordeal. This morning, […]
Women are living longer than men in Belize and life expectancy stands at seventy-five years. But elderly persons continue to be vulnerable. In fact, as it relates to pension, as much as sixty percent of the seenagers have no pension. This morning, the National Council on Ageing held a workshop which addressed a number of […]
We have been reporting extensively on the loss of correspondent banks which was top on the agenda of the Twenty-Seventh Intersessional Meeting which concluded in Placencia on Wednesday. The ‘de-risking’ by the US banks is affecting negatively critical services such as remittance transfers, credit card settlements and has the potential to severely impact the tourism […]
