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The House of Representatives began debate on the Referendum Act (Amendment) Bill, on its second reading, shortly after its break to consider the first reading bills. That debate lasted nearly three hours, and passions were brought to the fore on an amendment that, as several debaters said, was intensely personal to all Belizeans. The basic […]
Holders of the Belize 2038 Bonds, also known as the Superbond, are considering Belize’s offer to amend key points in the package, which was made as of Thursday. Interest on the Superbond is offered to be cut from as much as six point seven-six-seven percent starting in August, a step-up from five percent annually, to […]
Written on January 16, 2017 | Posted in
Economy |
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Forty-one-year-old Geovanni Ayuso, a salesman of San Jose Palmar Village in the Orange Walk District, lost his life earlier today when the motorcycle he was riding collided into pickup truck near August Pine Ridge. The fatal road traffic accident happened sometime around eleven o’clock this morning, when Ayuso slammed into a vehicle driven at the […]
Written on January 16, 2017 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
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There were two separate shootings in the City over this weekend. We start first with the shooting incident where thirty-five-year-old Deon Bennett of Mayflower Street was shot multiple times. Sometime around seven-thirty on Sunday morning, Bennett was riding his bike on University Drive when a SUV approached him from the opposite direction. Bennett told police […]
Written on January 16, 2017 | Posted in
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A total of sixteen grenades have been discovered and removed from the streets of Southside Belize City. Most have been without incident, but there have been three explosions, two of which produced fatalities. More than eight years after the first instance of violent and criminal use of a grenade on Mayflower Street, Belize City, the […]
Written on January 16, 2017 | Posted in
Crime,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
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Rebecca Rath is among ninety delegates from countries all over competing for the crown of Miss Universe. Only once has Belize been able to make it among the top ten was in 1970’s, Rath hopes to break and improve that record. But the challenges for the girl from Dangriga are immense. Tonight, she is in […]
In other news….five persons were killed and fifteen others wounded after a shooter opened fire at a nightclub in Playa del Carmen resort, Mexico. The coastal resort town, which is a popular location visited by many including Belizeans, was the venue for the annual ten-day Bartenders, Promoters, Musicians (BPM) Festival that sees music lovers and […]
Written on January 16, 2017 | Posted in
Crime,
Travel |
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Good evening, I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday. [Feature on sporting highlights including Belize Jaguars at the Copa Centro Americana Games in Panama…]
Written on January 16, 2017 | Posted in
Sports |
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The House of Representatives held its first sitting of the New Year in Belmopan today. The session continued through the afternoon with extensive debate on the amendment to the Referendum Act. We’ll have that coming up, but the first order of business was the installation of a new speaker. Nurse Laura Longsworth, president of the […]
Absent for this first sitting of the House of Representatives in 2017, was Cayo South area representative Julius Espat. He has not seen the halls of the National Assembly since he was forcibly removed after being suspended on August twenty-sixth. But it is now a new year, and while no one will ever forget the […]
The House introduced six new Bills and read four others held over from the last meeting. The most important of them is the amendment to the Referendum Act, which proposes to lower the threshold for validity of a referendum to take the Guatemalan claim to the ICJ, from sixty percent of registered voters participating to […]
Debate on the amendment was fierce and robust. Members of the Opposition focused on other issues that need to be addressed before any referendum is considered, such as a re-registration of voters, reaching out to the Belizean Diaspora, and settling outstanding issues such as the Sarstoon Protocol. But the most important, and, by some views, […]
In the context of the discussions on the amendment to the Referendum Act, a nearly quarter-century old piece of legislation that once split the United Democratic Party was brought back onto the stage. The Maritime Areas Act was passed under the second administration of the late George Cadle Price after then-President of Guatemala, Jorge Serrano, […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been consistent in opposing payment of arbitration awards to the former B.C.B. Holdings and Belize Social Development Limited in respect of action over the Settlement Deed and Accommodation Agreement. The Government did not participate in the original arbitration hearings and when B.C.B. tried to enforce their award in Belize, the […]
The Prime Minister pointed out, surprisingly, that in Belize all the cases he has resisted with regard to arbitration awards, the Government has won. But what has been the economic cost? It has been much more than we won, according to Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, who spoke to reporters while the House was […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Politics |
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A sixty-two-year old man who left his home to go fishing on Thursday never made it back home in the Gungulung community, Belize City. Salvador Rivera Marquez suffered a horrible and cruel death, but it is not known why or who took his life in a remote area off the George Price Highway. Police, however, […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Crime |
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The Gang Suppression Unit is under fire once again, following allegations of police brutality at the hands of its officers. Forty-three-year-old Earl Belisle, his girlfriend and their seven-year-old son stopped by our office late this evening to voice their displeasure with the conduct of GSU personnel. The family was visiting a relative in the Pickstock […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
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Back to the House…the Immigration Department has been seeking a new home, and the owners of Chon Saan Palace in Belmopan have stepped forward to offer shelter. It is not lost on anyone that the President of the Senate and owner of the building, Lee Mark Chang, made the multi-million offer to G.O.B. months ago. […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
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Harvest Caye, the exclusive island property owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines in the South of Belize, continues to be a sore point for some tour operators, who complain that they are being cheated out of customers who believe they are calling in Belize City instead of at the island. They have also complained of heavy […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
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While inside the House, the amendment to the Referendum Act was thoroughly debated, outside a small group of protestors also had their say. A protest against the amendment was organized by the Belize Territorial Volunteers. While the numbers were small, the message was strong against the amendment and taking the unfounded territorial claim for resolution […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
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It is widely speculated that the budget for the new financial year will contain increase taxation due to the current economic crunch. The country is in recession and facing debts that grow by leaps and bounds. Today at a protest outside the National Assembly, B.P.P. Leader Patrick Rogers, who is a professional accountant, provided some […]
After years without a functioning Integrity Commission, on Thursday, a group of seven Belizeans was formally appointed with a mandate to scrutinize declared statements of assets and liabilities of elected persons, in the fight against corruption. Belize Progressive Party Leader Patrick Rogers says that he expects the Commission will identify those politicians who “commit crimes […]
Are the multi-beam and sea seep survey done once and for all? We can confirm that the activities have been cancelled – but what we don’t know is if it means that there is no possibility of this kinda of proposed activities in the future. Earlier this week the Ministry of Economic Development issued a […]
If you haven’t done any of your health checks for the New Year, Saturday may be a good time to start. The Belize Family Life Association is hosting its first health fair for 2017 off Albert Street on Church and Bishop Streets. There will be health information, routine testing and even games. We spoke with […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
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Rebecca Rath arrived in Manila, Philippines earlier this week and has been busy already. Since landing, she has met the other delegates and attended press interviews as a part of the journey to the Miss Universe crown on January twenty-ninth. The Belizean beauty ambassador has been sharing snippets of her activities in Manila – including […]
Written on January 13, 2017 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
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