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The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Government’s appeals against arbitration awards upheld in lower courts in Washington, D.C. earlier this week. Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited and Belize Social Development Limited are claiming between them one hundred million dollars in judgments handed down by the London Court of International Arbitration – judgments in which […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Finally today, government spoke of the international hoax that is the multimillion dollar Puerto Azul tourism development project. It was endorsed by the G.O.B., particularly by the Minister of Tourism Manuel Heredia Junior and Minister of Economic Development, Erwin Contreras. The proposal to construct a seven-star, exclusive resort on Northern Two Cayes and Sand Bore […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Should government apologize internationally for openly backing a fraudulent endeavor which promoted the Blue Hole and other aspects of the World Heritage Site as the principal attraction for tourists? According to Hulse, much thought hasn’t been given to that notion, neither did government consider dismissing the proposed project altogether when the investors failed to produce […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Hulse Says Government Hasn’t Decided on Reaction
The Superbond has been on everyone’s minds this week. The Government has been told by bondholders that without a medium-term plan to address credit risk in light of the third restructuring in a decade, they would not consider the plan presented to them for restructuring. While Government has committed to giving the bondholders what they […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Will Government Succeed with Superbond? Business Community Not Sure
If debate of the amendment to the Referendum Act at Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives was raw and passionate, the usually genteel Senate was only slightly less so. After all, the future of the nation is at stake, as both Belize and Guatemala prepare for a suddenly looming referendum on taking the claim […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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In December 2016, the Belize National Teachers’ Union and Ministry of Education were ordered to mediation by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin to resolve a dispute over attempts by Government to withhold teachers’ salaries for the eleven days they were on strike in October. They also hoped to resolve the matter of teachers making up class […]
When the N.G.O. Act amendment came up for debate later in the meeting, the Opposition renewed its attack on the amendment as, as put by lead Senator Eamon Courtenay, is confusing at worst and ambiguous at best, but it does not specifically do what it was intended, which is to provide for the N.G.O. community’s […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on How Broken is the N.G.O. Act?
The Government of Belize has contracted with the Republic of China (Taiwan) for fifty million Belize dollars in general budgetary support. While the money is being borrowed from a Taiwanese commercial bank, it is being underwritten by the Government of Taiwan. The House had passed the motion without comment on Friday, but the Senate, especially […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Police believe they have cracked the murder of fifteen-year-old Jaheem Mahler. Tonight, twenty-eight-year-old Carl Reneau is in custody after being charged earlier today with the Tuesday night murder of the minor. The deadly shooting took place on Iguana Street Extension where the student was riding a bicycle in the company of two other teenagers. It […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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The family of Jaheem Mahler, the fifteen-year-old student gunned down in Belize City, is preparing to put him to rest. But even as preparations take place, there are more questions than answers over the brutal shooting that ended his young life earlier this week. Police today charged a twenty-eight year old Belize City man, who […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Early this morning, Ladyville police detectives were called out to an area near mile eight on the Phillip Goldson Highway where a body had been spotted floating in the Belize River. The officers arrived to find the body of a man face-down in the water; construction workers in the area say they came out to […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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Today marks nine years since musical icon Andy Palacio passed away. Known across the world, Palacio put Belize on the map and left a rich legacy of the Garifuna culture and music. Palacio released three albums, seven E.P cassettes and a several music videos. At forty-seven years old, Andy was at the height of his […]
Written on January 19, 2017 | Posted in
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People & Places |
Comments Off on Andy Palacio, 9 Years Later, Through Families
The latest victim to fall to the vicious cycle of crime in the south side of the city is only fifteen-years-old. Jaheem Mahler, a student, was riding his bicycle on Iguana Street Extension when he was targeted. As many as nine bullets found their mark on the young man, who from many accounts is not […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 15-Year-Old Jaheem Mahler Ruthlessly Killed
The committee of creditors for the Belize 2038 Bonds or Superbond’s outright rejection of the Government’s first offer for a drawn-out period of interest payments at reduced percentage followed by three “bullet” principal payments has not surprised many. But apparently, the Government itself is not fazed, following the tough negotiations that took place in 2012 […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Deputy Finance Minister Says Negotiations Continue on Superbond
Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, however, has a different take. He says that he is not surprised that the bondholders would reject the proposed restructuring of the superbond because PM Barrow failed on his commitments in the terms of the 2012 superbond restructuring agreement. Briceño says the Barrow Administration guilty of mismanagement, incompetence and […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Opposition: Prime Minister Got It Wrong
According to Briceño, the prime minister failed to take note of the stipulations of the 2012 superbond agreement, which states that if government was to default, it has to pay an eleven percent penalty on the five hundred million plus U.S. dollar debt. Briceño says that would cost Belize an additional hundred million dollars. The […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on When Will Higher Taxes and Retrenchment Come?
Turning to the scandalous Puerto Azul scam which continues to unravel…the Minister of Tourism Manuel Heredia Junior, who along with the Minister of economic Development, were fetted at the Cannes Film Festival when the luxury project was launched is travelling and no one on government would speak on how crooked investors were able to hoodwink […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Opposition Leader Points Fingers at G.O.B. on Puerto Azul
The sitting of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration continued today in Belmopan. Current C.E.O. in the Ministry of Transport and National Emergency Management Ruth Meighan, a career public officer, appeared before the Committee on Immigration. She appeared without legal representation. Meighan was grilled on activities during her tenure as Director of Immigration, from […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Ruth Meighan Speaks to Senate Committee; Can’t Explain Triple Dip in Immigration
The senate select investigation into the Immigration irregularities exposed another foray into the murky world of Belizean immigration through the issuance of permanent residency. A hard-and-fast rule that was nonetheless broken with apparent impunity was the required one-year residency for non-Belizeans. But former Director Ruth Meighan insisted that her review of the various files brought […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Why Permanent Residency was Another Entryway into Immigration Scandal
Ruth Meighan was extensively questioned on the process of sponsorship and recommendation for visas, which according to the Report was one of the easiest ways into the fast-track world of Belizean identity. The Department, according to Meighan, had accepted policy that if needed, sponsors would be able to establish proof of financial viability for visitors […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Ministers and Others Not Prohibited from Recommending Visa Applicants; Sponsors More Tight
The afternoon session of the Committee opened with a look at an internal report concerning an apparent illegal sale of visa stickers to then-Deputy Mayor of Belize City Eric Chang by an Immigration officer. Chang’s name was also called in the infamous Won Hong Kim case. The scheme was reported by another officer, who later […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Why Immigration Did Not Pursue Visa Foil Sellers
Corozal police are seeking public assistance in confirming the identity of an elderly cyclist who was knocked down and killed on Tuesday night near the outskirts of Corozal Town. The fatal road traffic accident occurred in the village of Buena Vista sometime after six o’clock in the evening. Reports are that the sixty-year-old man was […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
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A sizeable haul of powder cocaine, packaged into twenty-five individual bricks, is said to remain under strict police security pending destruction in the coming days. The find which is worth an estimated half a million Belize dollars was the result of privileged information provided to San Pedro police. That intelligence led them to a location […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Police Step Up Drug Interdiction on Ambergris
A resident of Pink’s Alley has been arraigned for the New Year’s Day murder of Collin Sutherland. Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Caine is charged for the callous, January first execution of the Conch Shell Bay resident and is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after appearing in court today. It has been seventeen days since the […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
Travel |
Comments Off on Daniel Caine Charged for Collin Sutherland Murder
Agassi Finnegan, the daughter of Minister Michael Finnegan, was this afternoon called to the Bar in a ceremonial session held in the chamber of Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. The induction was witnessed by many including Finnegan’s family, friends and legal colleagues. Notably present for the ceremony was Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber as well as […]
Written on January 18, 2017 | Posted in
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