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On Monday, a new publication of the British style magazine, LOVE, will be released to its over one hundred thousand followers. Interestingly, the biannual magazine is featuring Belizean beauty blogger Joyjah Estrada as the cover model for the publication. The southern freckled bell earned her spot in the magazine via a social media competition; her […]
Mere days after the Central Bank of Belize (International Immunities) Act and the Crown Proceedings (Amendment) Act were rushed through their stages at the National Assembly; they are under challenge from one of the two companies it is believed are targeted by their implementation. Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited (C.I.H.L.), previously known as B.C.B. Holdings, issued […]
Gun violence in the area of Conch Shell Bay in the Old Capital has seen a sharp spike since the start of the year. Murders and shootings connected to feuding gang factions in a drug war have placed the community under the microscope so much so that police plan to beef up their presence in […]
As we said, on Monday night, twenty-one-year-old Jaheel Goodger was shot during a brazen attempt on his life as he rode through Conch Shell Bay. His assailant has since been identified as a sixteen-year-old minor and has been charged in connection with the incident. But what was Goodger, a resident of Slaughterhouse Road, across town, […]
The Opposition People’s United Party was first off the mark in condemning a proposal by the Elections and Boundaries Commission to postpone the timing of re-registration of voters to after the 2018 municipal elections, but to conduct a re-districting exercise before then. One argument by the United Democratic Party is the cost, but today, P.U.P. […]
A court ordered mediation between the Belize National Teachers Union and the Ministry of Education has concluded. Although the outcome of that process will not be made public, News Five understands that both parties are yet to return to the Supreme Court to provide Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin with an update. The union and government […]
Written on February 2, 2017 | Posted in
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A senior drug operator for the Sinaloa cartel controlled by the ‘El Chapo’ Guzman has been caught by Mexican police. Roberto Najera Gutierrez, a.k.a. ‘La Gallina,’ is said to be the man charged for the trafficking and distribution of drugs in Southern Mexico and the northern area of Belize. A report in Por Esto newspaper […]
Miss Belize Universe Rebecca Rath…does she deserve to be gifted a brand new late model vehicle, despite not placing in the recently held Miss Universe Pageant? It’s an initiative that is being met with mixed reactions. The brainchild of well-known automotive salesman Emil Torres is for fans of the beauty ambassador to raise funds to […]
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It is not clear how many of Belize’s cayes and islands are privately owned, although quite a few have come up in the news recently as sites of tourist developments. These include Blackadore Caye, Harvest Caye, Caye Chapel and the Northern Two and Sandbore Cayes, as home to the failed Puerto Azul project come immediately […]
The Auditor General’s Report states that despite economic citizenship being ended in 2002, “replacement nationality certificates were fraudulently backdated and fraudulent nationality was given under the guise of registration and the Belize Economic Citizenship Investment Programmes.” But how was it done? The solution, according to the man then in charge of nationality, Gordon Wade, lies […]
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Prominent Ministers of Government, from former Minister of Immigration John Saldivar to Edmond Castro, have been named as being frequent visitors to the Department of Immigration in the time of the Auditor General’s Report. But were there others of lesser profile who could get similar business done without a raise of the eyebrow from the […]
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Also part of the “culture” at the Immigration Department was a tendency to take everything at face value – if the preparatory work had been done at the lower levels on particular files, only a final sign-off was needed by either then-Director Ruth Meighan or then-deputy Maria Marin to complete it. According to Gordon Wade, […]
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A Belize City mother is alleging that her son, Dean Nembhard Junior, is yet another victim of police brutality and that she has videos showing police taking advantage of him. Police, however, claim they saw Nembhard Junior disposing of a bag of weed in a bushy area of Krooman Road, Belize City on January thirtieth. […]
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A Crooked Tree resident will have to pay up to ten thousand dollars to the court after being found guilty of drug trafficking two hundred and thirteen grams of marijuana. Twenty-six-year-old Leon Aldana initially pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty when he appeared this morning before Magistrate Carlon Mendoza. Police found the drugs at […]
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The 2017 National Elite Basketball League tournament began in January of this year and a total of seven teams: San Pedro Tiger Sharks, Belmopan Bandits, Dangriga Dream Ballers, Cayo Western Ballaz, Smart Belize Hurricanes, Belize City No Limits and Orange Walk Running Rebels are making the bid for the coveted championship title. The next game […]
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On Saturday, for the first time in Belize, two teams will be competing in a Rugby-Seven match. The sport started in the nineteenth century by William Webb Ellis, who in the middle of a football match picked up a ball and ran to the end of the pitch. It started in a town called Rugby […]
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The National Library hosted a one day health fair today – it wasn’t held in 2016, but they say that the initiative is an annual one. A number of local health organizations participated to share with the public and invited schools on how to live a longer and healthier life by making smart lifestyle choices. […]
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On Wednesday we spoke with Dr. Adrian Coye, the C.E.O. of K.H.M.H. You heard him talk about the works being done to the operating theatre over the next couple months. Doctor Coye said that while the K.H.M.H. is making these big infrastructural investments, they are also focused on tapping into their international partnerships and training […]
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The Senate Special Select Committee sought to call three witnesses to today’s public hearing at the National Assembly in Belmopan. But only one made it – the former Office in Charge of the Nationality Section of the Department, Gordon Wade. We’ll tell you why the others – Ady Pacheco and Edgar Cano – were not […]
Written on February 1, 2017 | Posted in
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Won Hong Kim, the South Korean fugitive, who started the entire current Immigration saga, is hardly forgotten though his ultimate fate after a desperate bid to dodge extradition by claiming the nationality of the Jewel is not known. Kim was granted both passport and Belizean nationality through the machinations of former Minister of State for […]
Senior Immigration Officer Gordon Wade, who has been working with the department for twenty-seven years, also added layers to established testimony that Ministers of Government were in and out of the Immigration Department’s offices doing “business” on behalf of their constituents and favorites. While Prime Minister Dean Barrow has said that these appearances so far […]
Last week, ex-Director of Immigration Ruth Meighan sidestepped questions of whether she was a “rubber stamp” for final approval of applications for visas, passports, and nationality certificates. But she repeatedly made clear over her two appearances for testimony that she trusted her senior officials to ensure that what landed on her desk represented the complete […]
But what did Wade really see in those many files passing over his desk during those two years he was in charge? He said that a completed file with the relevant documents was presented, with the certifications from the accepting officers that the documents they received were true and correct. But something went wrong, somewhere. […]
Auditor General Dorothy Bradley made one major correction to her audit report of the Immigration Department – that former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Michael Peyrefitte, was allowed under the law to make a recommendation as an official for a passport. Other than that, she has said on the record, she stands by her […]
Turning to the courts….a sixteen year old has been charged for the most recent shooting incident in Conch Shell Bay area of Belize City. On Monday night, sometime after eight o’clock, twenty-one year old Jaheel Goodger was shot to the right leg as he rode his bicycle on West Collet Canal. He reported that one […]
Written on February 1, 2017 | Posted in
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