All eyes may be to the South and West as the Belize/Guatemala issue percolates. But there’s a financial storm brewing – with wind gusts of just over half of a billion, with a B. We’re talking about the arbitration award which comes due very soon, likely within a couple weeks. The Prime Minister was asked […]
Earlier, Briceño spoke about Guatemala using its unfounded claim to distract from the crises affecting its people. But here’s the thing – he says that to some extent that’s the same thing happening in Belize. According to the Opposition Leader, while everyone’s focus has been on Guatemala and related issues, Belize continues to experience serious […]
The Santander Group celebrated a milestone today with the exportation of its first shipment of raw sugar. A quota of fourteen thousand tons of unrefined grain is being trucked to the port at Big Creek. From there the containers are destined to the European market in the days ahead. The achievement has been a few […]
While projections are being made for increased production in subsequent crops, there are no plans as yet for the construction of a refinery. As it stands, Santander is wholesaling unprocessed sugar at a different cost than it would refined grain, with no preferential prices. According to Burke, they have not been able to look at […]
We have reported on illegal activities within the expansive Chiquibul National Park many times, in fact within the last week after three Guatemalans were detained while panning for gold near Ceibo Chico. But there are other national parks with lush resources, and the reality is that across the spectrum there are not enough resources to […]
Since the start of this week News Five has been bringing you the remarkable story of an alleged cross-border kidnapping, albeit a short-lived one. We’ve spoken at length with Roger Plett, one of the men who claimed that he was taken across the border by Guatemalan military and civilians, and tied up. On Wednesday night […]
That investigation is the focal point of the allegation, and any official diplomatic action which may or may not occur as a result of it. Officialdom weighed in on Wednesday in the persons of C.E.O.s George Lovell and Lawrence Sylvester, representing the Ministries of National Security and Foreign Affairs respectively. There was a suggestion from […]
As we reported on Thursday, Government has been forced to do a complete about-turn on a local refugee program which has come under intense and sustained scrutiny. Help for Progress, an N.G.O. working under the UNHCR, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, has literally received applications from hundreds of immigrants seeking refugee status. From […]
At the age of seventeen, Devaughan Goodger was charged for the stabbing murder of Jason Pott which occurred on Cleghorn Street, Belize City on March fifth, 2011. After being on remand for five years, Goodger took a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter at the start of his trial last week. At his […]
One of four men busted inside a car on February fifteenth, 2016 for firearm offenses will serve only two years and a half behind bars instead of a minimum of a five-sentence. Twenty-nine year old Anthony Robinson was sentenced today after he pleaded guilty to kept unlicensed firearm and ammunition which the GSU found inside […]
Ladyville resident, Shane Bahadur, is on remand at the Belize Central Prison for the May sixth attempted murder and wounding of Alrick Smith. This evening Bahadur, in the presence of his attorney Leeroy Banner, appeared before Magistrate Carlon Mendoza and was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until July eighteenth, 2016. Smith claims he was […]
There is a first confirmed case of Zika in Belize and it involves a woman in the north side of City. The Ministry of Health is carrying out surveillance in all neighborhoods of the City to avoid additional cases. Tonight, the message is to protect yourself from being bitten by any mosquito, especially the aedes […]
The Ministry of Education, through the Quality Assurance Development Service, is rolling out a new program to assist primary school children at the beginner level with reading. This morning, QUADS introduced My BZ Phonics, a locally flavored book which builds on the reading method involving letter recognition. According to Acting Director John Newport, the idea […]
The ushering in of the new program and accompanying textbook should see a more interactive approach to reading inside the classroom. Newport says the objective is to engage children in the reading lessons being taught. John Newport, Acting Director, QUADS “It introduces these sounds in a way which is systematic and it’s systematic based […]
Daily, between six and nine p.m., at the Memorial Park in Belize City, a small scale concert would end the day’s workshop for Belize Music Week, which is ongoing. Belizeans artists get the opportunity to showcase their talents to residents and others artists in attendance. But the week-long activities culminate on Sunday with the fifth […]
Morley Safer is one of the most recognized faces in broadcast journalism. His reports on CBS’s Sixty Minutes on Sundays attracted millions across the world for his distinctive style. As a CBS News correspondent, Safer also reported and wrote documentaries, including the “CBS Reports” series and CBS News special reports for at least five decades. […]
Six days after Guatemalan military and civilians allegedly came onto Belizean soil and abducted two men, along with a tractor and bulldozer, there is finally official comment from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Security. Today, the C.E.O.s of both hosted a press briefing to inform the public that they have indeed, despite appearances, […]
But there’s a problem straightaway with that response, firstly from the Ministry of National Security. The investigation is the first line of action in whatever government’s response will be. Just minutes ago News Five managed to verify with Roger Plett that Police have still not been to the actual site very near the border where […]
According to Colonel Lovell, they have been liaising with their counterparts and colleagues in Guatemala and at the O.A.S. since day one, verifying that no Belizean was still in Guatemalan territory. But that’s a cute situation. Verification by the O.A.S. that the Belizeans had been released, as we were told by Lovell, would seem to […]
So that’s where we were at that point – verification from no less than the O.A.S. that the Belizeans detained had been released. And that’s where the confusion comes in. What exactly are Belizean authorities waiting for? We’re not sure exactly what the problem is, although it is clear that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs […]
So with all the confusion and miscommunication arising out of what seems a very clear cut border incident, what happens next? Well…the Police investigation continues, of course, and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will do what it has to do, whatever that is. Ret’d. Col. George Lovell, C.E.O., Ministry of National Security “I […]
There is support coming from the Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on the territorial integrity of Belize. After weeks of tension between Belize and Guatemala since the death of Julio Alvarado Ruano, the government has been seeking support from its allies. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington met with the committee to discuss recent events happening […]
There was very significant news coming out of Cabinet on Tuesday, via a release sent to us via email three minutes before news time. It clarified that there is no formal agreement between government and the N.G.O. Help for Progress which has been facilitating immigrant applications for refugee status for the past months. Cabinet throws […]
An Orange Walk resident was killed last night in a traffic accident on the Phillip Goldson Highway. The driver of the vehicle that crashed into Richard Orellana is police officer Roberto Teck from San Narciso, Corozal. They were traveling in opposite direction when Teck reportedly came into Orellana’s lane and collided head on. Orellana died […]
On Tuesday evening, sometime after five p.m., Police were called out to a farm in the Blue Creek Village, Orange Walk District. There, they discovered the human remains of a man. Inspector Nicholas Palomo, who is the deputy commander of the Orange Walk Police, told News Five today that they have since contacted their counterparts […]
