At the start of today’s debate, Pickstock area representative and Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington said he is not a fan of Thursday’s demonstration outside the National Assembly. But it is not necessarily because he disagrees with the intentions of the Belize National Teachers’ Union, at least according to him. Elrington instead contends that students […]
With less than a month to go, eyes are on the voters of Guatemala, who on April fifteenth will go to the polls to decide whether they accept the International Court of Justice taking charge of the unfounded Guatemalan claim. No one is watching more closely, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington, […]
Cayo South area representative Julius Espat is chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. The Committee met last year with Auditor General Dorothy Bradley to go over the process of compiling the 2012-2013 audit report. But according to committee member Patrick Faber, the last three meetings of the Committee have been canceled. Still yet, Espat says […]
RJB Construction Limited, a company owned and operated by U.D.P. insider Romel Berges, entered into a contractual arrangement with the Belize City Council months prior to former Mayor Darrell Bradley leaving office on February twenty-eighth. The four-year agreement is for works to be done on a number of carriageways, including Raccoon and Ebony streets. The […]
Since being sworn into office on March fourteenth, Mayor Wagner has been reviewing all existing agreements between CitCo and private contractors, a majority of those deals being described as products of campaigning. He contends that the ethical course of action that his forerunner should have taken was to avoid embarking upon capital projects in the […]
The assignment of portfolios within the newly constituted Belize City Council has been finalized, with Oscar Arnold being named deputy mayor responsible for budgeting. The exercise, according to Mayor Wagner, was carefully thought out and deliberate in order to find the ideal fit for each councilor. While all ten members have been designated specific duties, […]
In other agricultural news from Belmopan, Orange Walk South area representative and the P.U.P.’s spokesman for agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai, dropped a stunner during his Budget presentation. There is currently a scarcity of limes on the market, as the humble fruit has taken a beating from citrus greening disease in the south and other factors. […]
Earlier, Cayo South representative Julius Espat spoke about the PAC. He also spoke about the ways the monies are spent – and in his view, misspent – over the last decade of the U.D.P.’s administration. He sought to lay a trail back to this year’s Budget of how monies used, for instance, with Petrocaribe on […]
It hasn’t come up much during the Budget debate, but the House still has to contend with the repayment of the thirty-six million loan to Belize Bank, guaranteed by Government, for Universal Health Services. While no decision has been taken apart from the Supplementary bill presented in January while the matter is before the Caribbean […]
Like his veteran representative father Said Musa, Caribbean Shores representative Kareem Musa has become a must-see attraction during the Budget debate and today was no exception. He differed slightly from Opposition Leader John Briceño, who on Thursday said the budget lacked “Barrow-gance.” Musa assured that it’s still there, but it was more of the “punch-drunk” […]
On Thursday, the teachers protested on Independence Hill following a rally at the civic center and a march through the streets of the Capital City Belmopan. They were championing the safety of women and children, who in recent times have increasingly become victims of violence and sexual abuse. As they did back in 2016, the […]
The teachers went on to endorse Manifesto for Linda as their demands are included in the document. With the support of the Ministry of Human Development and the Speaker of the House, the proposal is to make changes for a safer Belize for our children and women, who are victims of violence and sexual abuse. […]
The national football team played its first international game on Thursday night. Though just a friendly match, the team showed its mettle when it took on Grenada’s Spice Boyz. It all leads to the CONCACAF Nation’s League set to commence in September. Once the ball got rolling at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium, the Belize Jaguars […]
Today, the U.S. Embassy in Belize organized two informative and motivational talks with students in Belize City. In the first session, Rhea Rogers of the Ministry of National Security spoke with one hundred and eighty Saint Catherine Academy students about women, peace and security. The second talk saw Belizean biochemistry researcher and PhD student Aimee […]
Flores is a biochemistry researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles who is making big waves in the research field in the U.S. As a student, Flores excelled in school locally and eventually relocated to pursue studies, where she is wrapping up a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology. She is currently doing research […]
With a new sheriff in town at 109 North Front Street, are there any projects that were started under the previous administration that Mayor Wagner is looking to complete? That’s what we asked this afternoon, considering that many, if not all, governments come into office with their respective mandates. He says that re-floating the existing […]
The final round of competition for the Belikin Deejay Championship takes place tonight inside Club Elite. Eight up-and-coming disc jockeys from across the country are vying for the coveted title in a competition that is organized by Belize’s Musical Ambassador Shyne Barrow. For the grand finale, popular Brooklyn deejay Max Glazer has been brought in […]
The second annual “Light Our Hearts” march and rally takes place this weekend at the Memorial Park in Belize City. It is organized by Shakera Young who remains steadfast on her mission to fight for peace and humanity in the Old Capital following the murder of her son, seven-year-old Tyler Savery, which occurred back in […]
Tonight at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts, a group of artists have been pooled together for a great cause – to help eleven-year-old Jamir Valentine, who was recently diagnosed with bone cancer. Valentine is the eldest son of performing artist Positive Vibes, who has been working around the clock to put off this […]
Day-one of the budget debate started this morning in Belmopan and up to news time it continues in an energized National Assembly, that had been downgraded from cold to near-Arctic. The 2018-2019 General Revenue and Appropriation Bill was tabled two weeks ago. The P.U.P. leader, John Briceño, assailed the vision of Prime Minister Dean Barrow […]
Is the Government running a game with the share price of Belize Telemedia Limited and what the company is really worth? That’s the thinking in some sectors since G.O.B. is considering selling more shares of B.T.L. to the Social Security Board. In 2017, S.S.B. bought seven million shares at five dollars a share, despite the […]
Lake Independence area representative Cordel Hyde, speaking after Belmopan representative John Saldivar, called the budget a “slap in the face” after the recent municipal election results. According to Hyde, despite the people’s decision on March seventh, the government has insisted it will not alter course, and that may prove to be a fateful decision. […]
Later, former Prime Minister Said Musa went after the Government’s estimation of the economy. Scorning the charge that the economy was “on the rebound,” he noted that Government hoped to cover up the holes in the budget by applying the pressure of more taxes, including the addition of the General Sales Tax to data services […]
Turning to crime…thirty-one-year-old Kearny Thompson lost his fight to survive injuries received during an armed attack on March third in Belize City. He succumbed to gunshot wounds on Wednesday at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after two and a half weeks of treatment. The shooting, now upgraded to murder, has not yielded any fruit for […]
A father and his two sons are recovering from gunshot wounds after being fired upon by a farmer in the Stann Creek District on Sunday night. Forty-four-year-old Raphael Choj, along with fourteen-year-old Ernesto Choj and his younger brother Raphael Junior, received multiple injuries when they were shot at inside a cornfield. According to Santo Cucul, […]
