The northern border may be seeing some extra traffic over this holiday, as Belizeans go over to neighboring Chetumal to shop while others go to holiday at Mexican destinations. The Mexican Embassy in Belize wants to remind travelers of the procedures at the border. Hugo Suarez tells us some of the main things you should […]
Operation ACT, acronym for Addressing Crime Together, was launched on October twenty-seventh as a direct law enforcement response to the escalation of violent crimes in Belize City. With the establishment of twenty-four hour police presence in three hotspots on the south side, the frequency of gang-related incidents, including murder, has been curbed noticeably. Police have […]
The Children Advisory Board is a platform used for child participation to support governance at the municipal levels. The boards are established in all nine towns and cities in Belize to aid in the mayor’s municipality child friendly initiative. It is used to get feedback from children to provide insights when considering policy decisions in […]
The Salvation Army gave out eight-hundred food hampers to needy families today. It is an annual event for the Salvation Army – they use monies raised and support from donors such as the Belize Bank and other corporate institutions to make the hampers. News Five went out to the Salvation Army’s Regent Street office where […]
As the national referral hospital for the country, many Belizeans rely on the services of Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for life saving procedures. While many times, it’s only the cases of alleged negligence that make it to the news, there are many more stories of new and successful treatments coming out of the hospital on […]
On Tuesday night we brought you Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington’s broadside against Senator and former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay. Not only does he disagree with the proposition to immediately amend the Maritime Areas Act to restore Belize’s full portion of territorial sea and other entitlements in the south, he attacked Courtenay as seeking […]
Following debate in the Senate a week ago, Senator Courtenay was slightly dismissive of Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte’s stated concern that Belize was jumping the gun in terms of allowing negotiations to play out. But today he offered a more measured response as to what could happen if either country says no at referendum time […]
Another issue Courtenay addressed today relate to comments made by Elrington in a News Five interview on November twenty-eighth in Belmopan, following a Cabinet meeting. The Caribbean Court of Justice made a series of rulings against the Government in the settlement of Universal Health Services and Belize Telemedia. There was also one against Elrington personally […]
As Courtenay says, Elrington was seen to be taking advantage of Progresso Heights Limited’s principals, abusing his position of power. Even so and despite denying their relationship, he won the case at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. But at the Caribbean Court of Justice, it was a different story, as according to Courtenay, […]
The sudden unraveling of Jorge Jaen’s dubious past has set tongues wagging. The Miami-based developer has managed to wangle a memorandum of understanding for a multi-million dollar development project for the Efrain Guerrero International Airport in San Pedro. A little digging by local media has uncovered previous convictions for fraudulent activity in the U.S. dating […]
This evening, we caught up with People’s United Party leader John Briceño at a political event. We will have more from that on Thursday, but we asked him to clarify the reasons why the P.U.P. chose to introduce the motion to debate the amendment to the Maritime Areas Act through the Senate rather than the […]
And in financial news, there is information to News Five that as much as sixty million dollars of Belize Bonds traded on Tuesday at a fire sale price of thirty-four cents to the dollar. From what we have learnt a private Swiss Bank bought the bonds but the seller is not confirmed at this time. […]
There was a freak accident in Independence on Tuesday evening, when a man who was cutting down a few limbs from an almond tree was suddenly electrocuted. Hugo Polanco was operating a chainsaw as he was cutting off several branches from the tree, when he accidentally made contact with a high-tension wire. The intense electrical […]
In mid-November, a pair of officers attached to the Placencia Police Substation found themselves in hot water after taking nude photos of male cadets who were on a camping trip sometime earlier. Tonight, the Youth Cadet Corps is once again getting a bad rap, this time the Pomona chapter is being investigated by the Professional […]
Remanded for the holidays, that’s what Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford ordered when fifty-three-year-old Dennis Bodden appeared before her in Courtroom Number Two. The sanitation worker, employed with the Belize City Council, was arraigned on three charges stemming from the brutal machete attack on Monday afternoon, during which his co-worker, forty-year-old Michael Tesecum, was chopped twice […]
A second man was charged with the robbery and aggravated assault of thirty-six-year-old Dorian Usher of Monica’s Pawn Shop. Twenty-three-year-old Kendale Carcamo of Ebony Street, Belize City, was arraigned in Court Number Two before Senior Magistrate, Aretha Ford. In court, Carcamo was unrepresented and was read two criminal offences; robbery with a firearm and one […]
In August, we brought you the story of banana businessman John Zabaneh’s five-year fight to remove himself from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control list of alleged trafficking ‘kingpins.’ Zabaneh’s Meridian Enterprises, and other related companies which controlled much of the banana industry in the Stann Creek and upper Toledo Districts, lost close […]
Hold your horses on a U.H.S. showdown. The twenty-one day waiting limit for the Belize Bank to acquire notice of the Caribbean Court of Justice’s decision has expired. That decision allows enforcement of the thirty-three and a half million judgment for re-payment of a loan guaranteed by government on behalf of Universal Health Services, now […]
About two months ago, we told you about the telethon initiative to raise funds for hurricane victims in the Caribbean that was being led by the Belize City Council and the Council of Churches. Today the group called a short press briefing to give an update on the monies raised and to present the funds […]
As the clock ticks to the celebration of Christmas, across the country many are sharing the Spirit of Christmas with underprivileged children and their families with the gift of giving. In the city today, two corporate citizens in the north and south sides ushered in the festive season for hundreds of children. News Five’s Isani […]
Not to be outdone by its social partners, the Belize Police Department is also busy handling its share of gift giving. From Secret Santa to hampers for the needy, the men and women of law enforcement are hitting the streets hard this week. Earlier today, we followed several north side cops as they covered the […]
It seems even the People’s United Party has finally caught the Christmas spirit. This afternoon, we were invited to a celebration for some forgotten City residents – the elderly population. They were treated to an afternoon and evening out at St. Martin de Porres’ Parish’s Swift Hall, complete with music, food, drinks and special activities. […]
Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington is back from the recent SICA summit in Panama where he met with his new Guatemalan counterpart, Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, appointed in August after the exit of Carlos Raul Morales. We will have more on their discussions including progress in the setting up of the I.C.J. referendum shortly, […]
Foreign Minister Elrington made note that the Cabinet is reviewing the amendment to the M.A.A. But he went on the offensive against Courtenay, accusing him of all sorts of things and trying to take advantage of the situation for two reasons. He argues that the slightest spook of the Guatemalans could postpone the April referendum, […]
It is closing in on two years since the government was forced to temporarily close access to the Sarstoon River after Guatemalan military personnel started enforcing its claim to the entire river including Sarstoon Island. The government proposed working on an accord with the Guatemalans concerning treatment of persons traveling up the river, whether B.D.F. […]
