It has been legally due at least twice since it was first completed in 1997, but for various reasons was put off and postponed. We are talking about a complete re-registration of voters across the country, which should nominally take place every decade. Earlier, we told you that the Belize Progressive Party took a pause […]
The Elections and Boundaries Department has released the particulars for the next pit-stop in the race to March seventh. In our previous newscasts, we have showed you most of the aspirants for political office in the nine municipalities, but they are not candidates unless and until they have visited the returning officers in each municipality […]
As many a weary Belize City resident can tell you, we have learned to appreciate the silences between the outbursts of gun and other violence we report nightly on the daily news. The trick has become managing those periods of calm through mediation efforts like those led by Dianne Finnegan, Nuri Muhammad and ACP Chester […]
On Monday, Anglican Bishop Philip Wright also addressed the crime issue on a general basis. He said we must all acknowledge that crime masks a number of societal problems that must first be addressed in order to eliminate much of the problem. It comes down to making serious overtures to affected youth, and the mentorship […]
Twenty-eight-year-old Jason Noralez admits to swinging a machete at Llewelyn Courtenay’s bicycle tire and tube valued at thirty-seven dollars. But he says he was acting in self-defence during an altercation. Noralez appeared before Magistrate Michelle Trapp and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and damage to property. For the latter he was fined a hundred dollars […]
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a Belize City couple may be back together. But it may be difficult to celebrate for Allison Cuthkelvin, who is accused of breaking into his partner’s residence on January thirty-first and taking a microwave. Worse, he is alleged to have violated a restraining order put on him by the […]
Over forty persons received job preparedness training housekeeping and wait staff. The Belize Training and Employment Center presented certificates to the trainees today after they completed three weeks of intense trainings. For the past three years since it opened its doors, BTEC has trained over a thousand persons in a number of service related areas […]
A Bella Vista man has been arrested and charged with the heinous murders of two sisters: Cricencia and Jospehine Oh from the village of San Antonio in southern Belize. The hacked and nude bodies of the two siblings were found on January twenty-first and days later, police charged twenty-year old Wilmer Escobar, a man with […]
The theft and arson of a vehicle belonging to a member of the judiciary is not an everyday occurrence. But over the weekend Magistrate Shanti Morrison reported that her sixty-five-thousand dollar SUV went missing from the street in front of her house in Ladyville. On Saturday morning around four-thirty it was discovered burnt up near […]
There is a major arrest of a Canadian national with a long rap sheet who is wanted in Belize for murder. But it may be a while before twenty-eight year old Jordan Bacchus returns to Belize. He was nabbed during a drug bust in Sudbury, Ontario, north of Toronto, on Friday. Bacchus and a woman […]
A domestic of Belize City no longer faces attempted murder charges after the prosecution decided not to continue the case against her in the Supreme Court. Forty-two year old Hilda Locario was accused of attempting to kill Shirley Leslie on February fifteenth, 2012 on St. Thomas Street during a night out. Locario appeared before Supreme […]
Government is reportedly acquiring the services of another lawyer; he is Ben Juratowich, Queen’s Counsel from a British Law Firm Freshfield Brauckhaus Deringer. He will be representing the Government of Belize in the upcoming U.H.S. case at the Caribbean Court of Justice on March fourteenth. Juratowich’s C.V. features extensive representation of governments in international cases […]
On the diplomatic front…Belize has been without a resident ambassador from Guatemala since Manuel Estuardo Roldan was recalled to his Ministry for consultations. Relations were strained following the shooting death of young Julio Rene Alvarado in the Chiquibul in April 2016. Guatemala is now proceeding with the appointment of career diplomat George de la Roche […]
Uruguayan lawyer and politician Manuel Washington Abdala has been personally selected by O.A.S. Secretary General Luis Almagro to succeed Magdalena Talamas at the organization’s office at the Adjacency Zone. Abdala was a national representative for the Colorado Party from 1995 to 2010, along with Jorge Batlle, the elected President of the Republic of Uruguay. Abdala’s […]
While Guatemala is holding a referendum in April, a date for when Belizeans will go to the polls to decide on whether or not the matter of the age-old territorial dispute with Guatemala, is yet to be finalized. That announcement is expected to be made in the latter part of the year, following the March […]
There was a fire today in Belize City but quick action by the Fire Department contained the blaze and prevented it from spreading to nearby buildings. The fire started in the lower flat of a two-storey building on Kelly Street, which houses a business and a rental unit. Fire officials say it is too early […]
There weren’t any murders in the city over the weekend but there was an attempt on the life of a taxi man. Karl Lamb was shot around four on Saturday morning and Police say that a fifteen-year-old boy did it. Lamb told Police that he was on Gladden Street when a man who looked suspicious […]
Twenty-seven-year old Israel Perez left his home in Saint Matthews Village, Cayo District over a week ago and he has not been seen or heard from since. Perez’s family has become increasingly worried since they have also not been able to reach him by phone. The family is asking for the public’s help to locate […]
While women have been making greater appearances on the political ballot, Belize still has some way to go toward true gender equality. The Opposition People’s United Party has made greater strides than most, producing the country’s first woman parliamentarian, first female speaker, first female Cabinet Minister and a host of others. But this past weekend, […]
On Friday, a conference of Bishops of the Anglican Episcopal Churches of Central America and Mexico issued a statement on the planned cancellations of several U.S. programs for immigrants. These include Temporary Protection Status (TPS), the refugee permits for Central American minors (CAM) and the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals or DACA. The bishops condemn […]
For some time there has been talk that the country’s former chief negotiator Assad Shoman would be returning to work for the Government on the process taking the Guatemalan claim to the I.C.J. With tremendous experience as it relates to the dispute, Shoman has been meeting with government officials but the terms of his employment […]
Funding for the OAS’ office at the Adjacency Zone remains an area of concern for Belize and Guatemala, as efforts are continuous in finding monies to keep its doors open. At present, there is enough to hold over for some months, however, foreign ministers for both countries will need to seek financial aid from the […]
The Museum of Belize commemorates its sixteenth anniversary with a special exhibit of pieces from the national collection of Belize. To mark the occasion, the Museum invited students for free guided tours to learn more about the artists and what the Museum offers. Andrea Polanco tells us more. Andrea Polanco, Reporting The Museum of […]
In September, the Department of the Environment convened the first consultations with stakeholders on forming a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. Today, those consultations continued at the Biltmore Plaza, focusing on firming up whose responsibilities it will be to react first, whether by land or by sea. Environmental Officer with the Department, Maxine Monsanto, details […]
In the time period between the first and second consultations on the plan, the Petroleum Operations (Maritime Zone Moratorium) Act, 2017, was passed by the House of Representatives on December eighth and the Senate five days later. The Governor General made the formal enactment on December twenty-ninth. The new law imposes an indefinite moratorium on […]
