Where the dreaded loss of correspondent banking relationships is concerned, PM Barrow says there is little to report following the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting held in Placencia recently. Coming out of that meeting a decision was taken to send a high-level mission on a round of meetings with federal regulators and other pertinent agencies. […]
The derisking phenomenon is an offshoot of continued pressure from the U.S. to crack down on money laundering and other financial improprieties, real or perceived. The superpower feels that illegal money could be used to fund the narcotics movement into the US or even terrorism. Belize has been feeling the pinch of crippling financial regulations, […]
Is your electricity bill going up again in the months ahead? This afternoon, the Public Utilities Commission held a press conference to make public its initial decision to increase the mean electricity rate for the Full Tariff Period as of the first of July, 2016. The increase is part of an application made by Belize […]
B.E.L.’s submission included a proposed increase in the Mean Electricity Rate from thirty-five cents per kilowatt hour to thirty-nine cents. John Avery, Chairman, Public Utilities Commission “So at the next rate review there will still be some corrections to be made in the favor of consumers because during this six months period we’re in […]
In the court, Miguel Vanson, a first time offender, was imposed a mandatory non-custodial fine for drug trafficking of one hundred and sixty-two grams of cannabis which were found hidden inside his pants. The Mayflower resident was busted by GSU officers with the cannabis and when he appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers, he immediately pleaded […]
A resident of Jane Usher Boulevard, Belize City, was also before the court today for two criminal offenses. Thirty-seven year old Eldon Bevans was charged for burglary and wounding after he found out that his ex-common-law-wife was in a relationship with another man. Bevans is accused of illegally entering the house of Calbert Ferguson with […]
Where does the People’s United Party stand on going to the International Court of Justice? It hasn’t been exactly clear. There are those who are obviously in favor of resolution through the Court if that is the decision of the people in a referendum. And then there are those who nix the idea completely, claiming […]
It didn’t make it into Tuesday’s news, since the 2016/2017 Budget took center stage, but was a significant political change on the Opposition side of the gallery. The expected change was that newly sworn in Leader of the Opposition John Briceño would change position to reflect his leadership role. But what wasn’t expected is that […]
Against the backdrop of the Budget, bills were passed which may have flown below the radar of first scrutiny, but they are significant. For example, one piece of Immigration legislation pushed through the House will allow the Minister of State in the Ministry of Immigration to sign documents, like passports, when the Constitution specifically gives […]
And finally for political news tonight, we asked Prime Minister Dean Barrow about his new title of Right Honorable conferred on him recently. Generally it’s offered to government leaders in their second term of office, as it was to former Prime Ministers Said Musa and Manuel Esquivel, but Barrow now earns that distinction in his […]
About fifteen hundred residents of Maskall Village, located on the old Northern Highway, will within a year have access to reliable potable water. The million dollar project will be funded by the Caribbean Development Bank and managed by the Social Investment Fund. Today ground was broken on the first stage which includes the construction of […]
Latin America and the Caribbean is the second-most urbanized region in the world with eight out of ten people living in cities. During the last sixty-four years, the region has urbanized significantly to eighty percent since 1950. That being said, the Inter-American Development Bank, in partnership with the Belize City Council, is conducting a citywide […]
The House of Representatives met in session this morning, and in short order there was the much anticipated presentation of the budget for fiscal year 2016/2017. It’s Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s ninth budget over three terms of a United Democratic Party administration, and is being called Stability in a Time of Change. Barrow prefaced his […]
Petrocaribe money played a very significant role in the spending which characterized the 2015/2015 fiscal year. The Barrow administration has taken significant and continuous flak for its spending of the three hundred and twenty-five million it has accessed since 2012. As he always has, though, the PM defends the government’s use of the money, accusing […]
Speaking on the adjournment in response to a question raised, the PM also spoke at length about a current crisis facing the citrus industry. In a release issued late last week, the Citrus Growers Association informed growers that making payroll in the immediate future will be an iffy proposition. As explanation, the CGA claims that […]
P.U.P. leader John Briceño has been openly forecasting that the budget would be a dismal one based on a variety of factors, including industries which seem to be falling and failing for one reason or the other. Faced with the same realities and the same figures, PM Barrow says that public finances are sturdy and […]
Not surprisingly, PM Barrow wasn’t impressed by Briceño’s preliminary analysis of his Stability budget. He says that it wasn’t about overspending to buy the affections of the people, but rather investing in the people in a way which is now reaping full dividends. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I would think that the people of […]
In the prime tourism destination of San Pedro Ambergris Caye, two persons were murdered adding to the list of homicide statistics since the beginning of the year. A Cayo resident was brutally beaten allegedly by three police officers on Friday and passed away on Monday morning after slipping into a coma and undergoing two rounds […]
Domestic violence reared its ugly head again in a murder in San Pedro Ambergris Caye. Last Thursday, a woman from the Salvapan community in Belmopan was killed due to domestic violence. Over the weekend on the island, a man lost his life when he was attacked by his wife of thirteen years. She is a […]
The third murder involved the fatal weekend shooting of an Independence resident following a home invasion on Saturday night. Police in that southern community are trying to ascertain, if it is drug related. Forty-eight-year-old Glen Logan was accosted by a pair of armed intruders as he entered his home that evening. The duo reportedly demanded […]
Embattled F.F.B. President Ruperto Vicente’s ad hoc suspension has been ruled invalid. A legal team representing FIFA flew into the country over the weekend and met with three executives from the Football Federation of Belize to discuss a number of internal issues plaguing the organization. Those concerns included an attempt by First Vice President Sergio […]
Notwithstanding the disappointing outcome of Sunday’s meeting, Gamez told the media that they are all working in the best interest of football and will continue to serve under Vicente’s leadership. Chuc, on the other hand, says that F.F.B. is continuing with its current election cycle. Cruz Gamez, Executive, F.F.B. “We had a long discussion […]
Much cruise port speculation has been making the rounds after representatives of G.O.B. met with interested party Waterloo last week. Initial reports, unofficial, indicated that Ashcroft affiliated Waterloo was not interested in revisiting the construction of a cruise port at the site of the ill-fated and abandoned Carnival project. But today, the PM dispelled those […]
There was an altercation in the Chiquibul last Thursday which resulted in the B.D.F. shooting a Guatemalan in the leg. Belize Defense Force and Friends for Conservation and Development rangers were about six hundred meters from the Belize/Guatemalan border when they came upon a marijuana plantation, guarded by two men. One of those men, Francisco […]
Barrow’s administration has come under fire for recently increasing the import duties on fuel. That action in effect caused Regular and Diesel pump prices to go up, even as the acquisition costs went down. While it wasn’t a popular decision, PM Barrow maintains that it was better than any other taxation alternative. And it’s been […]
