Another protest took place today in Belmopan, the second for this week against the government. Today’s demonstration was mounted by the People’s United Party outside the Senate where a respectable number of supporters came out to take a stand against a long list of ills affecting the nation and to support opposition senators. It is […]
Just before six this evening, the senate concluded proceedings with a vote that defeated a motion for a senate investigation. It was a long session that had to do with a number of motions including the passage of two supplementary appropriation bills as well as the debate on the Special Audit of the Immigration and […]
That motion for a select senate investigation on the policies and processes as well as on the issuance of passports and irregularities and wrongdoings was seconded by senators representing the unions and the business community, respectively. Senator Elena Smith rose to state that the glaring disregard for procedures in applying for and receiving visas and […]
As we said earlier, Church Senator Ashley Rocke rose to support the motion on the senate floor when it was introduced to further investigate what went so wrong at the Immigration Department. Senator Stephen Duncan of the government side questions whether Senate was the proper body to carry out an investigation. Ashley Rocke, Senator for […]
Doctor Senator Carla Barnett did not necessarily reject an investigation, but questioned the usefulness of senate select committees. Barnett queried why the audit was not presented to the management of the department before it was tabled. She pointed out that the senate doesn’t have authority to hold people accountable. That aside, Chebat, who sat in […]
While the senate meeting today had a far more respectable ambience when compared to last Friday’s House Sitting, there was some back and forth. It came when Senator Paul Thompson quoted from the report on recommendations made by former minister of state Santiago Castillo. Senator Hulse was quick on his feet. Paul Thompson, P.U.P. […]
Senator Valerie Woods added significantly to the debate, supporting the motion for a select senate investigation. Woods said had one been held at the time of the issuance of a passport to Won Hong Kim, a number of irregularities would have been avoided. But when it came to Senator Godwin Hulse’s contribution, he threw a […]
Prior to the introduction of a motion for a senate select committee to investigate the Immigration and Nationality Department, the Senate was engaged in a debate over the Supplementary Bill. That piece of legislation would allow government to spend monies that were not included in the 2015-2016 fiscal budget which ended in March. The contention; […]
Beginning Thursday morning at seven-thirty, the Ministry of Health will assume management of ambulance services after being unable to reach an agreement with Belize Emergency Response Team (BERT) for greater funding of their service. BERT’s Director Yvette Burks, when contacted by News Five this evening, explained that her emergency responders will be reporting to the […]
A Guatemalan national lost his life on Tuesday night; his body was found behind a bus shed in Hope Creek, Stann Creek District. But it is not clear if it is a case of murder or self defense. Earlier in the night, Arnulfo Ramirez was involved in an altercation with Gustavo Castillo; both sustained injuries […]
Family members of the late George McKenzie Junior are preparing to lay him to rest within the next two or three days. But police are yet to charge the main suspects. Since the stabbing death of McKenzie Junior, two well-known street figures linked to the George Street gang were detained and released after spending forty-eight […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry has begun a campaign for Government to sign the United Nations Convention on Anti-Corruption, which it believes will help Belize obtain important resources to fight this issue. It is not the first time the Chamber has spoken out on this issue but according to President Nikita Usher, a […]
The Prime Minister said last Thursday that the Government of Belize is not going to sign on to the Anti-Corruption Convention. According to the Prime Minister, signing on would create more layers of bureaucracy, besides there are mechanisms in the system to deal with corruption. But that is not going down well in many quarters. […]
The Statistical Institute of Belize (S.I.B.) reports a continued slowdown in economic activity for the second consecutive quarter. The agricultural sector registered a decline and the good news came from the tourism industry. The stats are part of a battery of economic statistics released at their quarterly press conference in Belize City this morning. Correspondent […]
Rises in fuel and house rent prices are behind the average rise in the consumer price index, commonly known as inflation. Prices are up one percent from last July and point six percent through the first seven months of the year, according to statistician Angelita Campbell. Angelita Campbell, Statistician II, Statistical Institute of Belize […]
Meanwhile, trade contracted, with imports and exports down sharply. Statistician Tiffany Vasquez says that exports are on the decline for most major agricultural products. Tiffany Vasquez, Statistician II, Statistical Institute of Belize “In the period January to July of this year, Belize’s imports were valued at one point one billion dollars, down three point […]
The last Business Establishment Survey conducted by the Statistical Institute of Belize was done ten years ago. This past May some four thousand one hundred businesses were polled about their location, plans, development and business models. The full statistics will be issued later this year but from the preliminary reports, businesses operating in the primary […]
The two-stage survey also looked at the distribution of employment among the businesses surveyed. The most recent rate of unemployment is about eight percent and has been trending down for some time, but most businesses can be categorized as “small”, as according to the statisticians, who found that not many businesses employ a lot of […]
The Prime Minister slipped the media today following a cabinet meeting, but his ministers were out to do damage control on Friday’s outrageous House Meeting. Pickstock Area Representative Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington is the sole member of the House of Representatives to have risen and indirectly name fellow Cayo South’s Julius Espat for improper conduct during […]
During the fiasco on Friday, the presentation by Espat on the damming Special Audit, which exposes corruption at the Immigration between 2011 and 2013, was muzzled when Espat was physically removed by security forces. Seasoned parliamentarian Michael Finnegan rose to call for order in the House of Representatives. He, along with former Prime Minister Said […]
The Special Audit conducted by Auditor General Dorothy Bradley into the issuance of Belizean passports and visas during a two-year period spanning 2011 and 2013 still has currency and is being discussed just about everywhere else outside the National Assembly. While the debate was stifled with the suspension of Julius Espat, we asked Finnegan for […]
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales has made very unbecoming comments following the release of the O.A.S. report on the fatal shooting of fourteen-year-old Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano in April. The investigation on the shooting death of the minor was conducted by experts, Doctors James Hamby of the U.S. and Doctor Patricia Trujillo of Mexico. […]
Three unelected persons have been given top ministerial appointments in the Barrow Administration. But why have the elected representative been pushed aside? Following today’s cabinet meeting, the Press Office issued an updated list of Cabinet Ministers and Chief Executive Officers. The most recent changes are: first, the addition of Senator Doctor Carla Barnett as Minister […]
This afternoon, senior parliamentarian Michael Finnegan shared his thoughts on the new ministerial appointments. Isani Cayetano “It would seem as if though two of the most powerful portfolios within the respective ministries in government have been given to nonelected officials. Attorney General Vanessa Retreage is also the Minister of Natural Resources; that’s one of […]
This morning, the Hispanic arm of the Evangelical Church, led by Patrick Menzies, was back on Independence Hill where they marched against government’s decision not to appeal the Supreme Court ruling on Section Fifty-three. While Prime Minister Barrow and members of Cabinet were in session for the better part of the morning, Menzies and his […]
