The Belize National Teachers Union and the Ministry of Education are at odds again. The B.N.T.U. says a number of its members will be disenfranchised by the “finalized” listing of re-categorised hardship schools. The list was introduced by the Ministry of Education at the start of the school year, but the B.N.T.U. says the exercise […]
The Council also looked at the issue of day offs, half day or a full day, granted to teachers only at the end of the month to collect salaries at the banks. Back in November 2010, it was agreed that eligible schools with proper justification would be allowed to take the last Friday off in […]
The Minister of Education Patrick Faber, however, came down hard on the B.N.T.U. saying that they had been part of the process to finalise the list of hardship posts. Faber says that the B.N.T.U. has it wrong and it is the Ministry of Education that makes the final determination on policy matters. Patrick Faber, […]
Nine of eleven teachers at the Claver College Extension on Punta Gorda were fired earlier this week on Tuesday. The teachers were let go when they could not agree on the terms of a contract on their salaries to be paid every two months. Board Chair Lisel Alamilla sent them home and is looking for […]
On Monday morning, the top brass at the Ministry of National Security appeared on Open Your Eyes, the first stop in a media round speaking in support of a ‘YES’ vote to take the Guatemalan claim to the International Court of Justice for resolution. Senior officials of Belize’s three security arms, Coast Guard Rear Admiral […]
A fifty-two-year-old woman was violently attacked and raped in broad daylight while at her house. On Wednesday, Dangriga police were called to the Southern Regional Hospital where they saw the woman with injuries to her face. The victim told police that she was at home in Pomona Village doing laundry when a man who she […]
Shots were fired on Wednesday night on Faber’s road in the Old Capital. Residents of the area say that they heard the sound of gunshots at around seven o’clock. When police responded they discovered that no one was hurt. ASP Alejandro Cowo told the media today that the shooting resulted from a dispute between residents […]
A fight between two men who were supposed to be friends led to a shooting incident in Armenia Village, Cayo. Twenty-nine-year-old Roni Diaz and fifty-nine-year-old Miguel Funez were at a bar in the village socializing on Wednesday when a verbal disagreement ensued. It got physical with Funez pulling out his nine-millimeter pistol and shooting Diaz […]
San Ignacio Police are investigating an armed robbery which occurred on Wednesday afternoon. Delivery man and driver for Vega’s Imports, Ellsworth Martinez told police that he and the two coworkers stopped on Carrillo Puerto Avenue in Santa Elena Town to make a delivery. He and one of his coworkers exited the vehicle and upon returning […]
The Taiwanese Government has gifted the Police Department one million dollars in motorcycles and crime fighting equipment. Last year, the then Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Ellington lobbied for the monies to strengthen the department’s capacity to tackle crime. The sum of five hundred thousand dollars was awarded by the Taiwanese, for which the department […]
The U.S. Government has awarded over a million U.S. dollars to the four organizations through the CARSI-ESF programme. Since 2008, over seven million U.S. dollars been awarded to various N.G.O.s. Today’s funding is just one part of over forty million U.S. dollars awarded through the CARSI programme to Belize. The focus of the 2018 disbursement […]
The cost of living went up in the month of August. Data from the Statistical Institute of Belize shows that the cost of living inched up by one percent due to the hike in the price of fuel. The prices for food items and non-alcoholic beverages, however, went down. The S.I.B. also reports that imports […]
The Garifuna Collective is heading to Spain for the famed World Expo of Music, having secured the necessary funding. As you know, the Collective has performed on international stages, but WOMEX is a big deal. This morning, the National Institute of Culture and History announced it will be making available the remaining thirty thousand dollars […]
There has been a mass firing of teachers at the Saint Peter Claver College Extension in Punta Gorda. As many as nine teachers, who represent ninety percent of the teaching staff, were first asked to pick up their cheques and then handed their termination letters on Tuesday. The firings have sent the adult education centre […]
The decision was unilaterally taken by the Board of Saint Peter Claver College Extension. But that board consists of only the Chair, Lisel Alamilla and the treasurer, Mark Miller. The teachers are questioning if the decision is valid since the board is operating without representatives from the teacher, the student body, the Ministry of Education […]
Alamilla became chairperson of the institution back in November of 2017 and since then, the student population has doubled. There have also been various improvements at the facility. She contends that there was a lack of proper accounting and the proposed payment plan was designed to put in place proper controls. Alamilla acknowledges that applications […]
The Supreme Court has handed down a hefty fine on Orange Walk South area representative Abelardo Mai to pay over two hundred and twenty thousand dollars in damages to the family of Julia Arana. On April first, sometime around eight in the night, Mai was driving along the Philip Goldson Highway when he knocked down […]
Today’s ruling was monumental. It sets a new precedence in amounts to be paid to grieving families in Belize for fatal traffic accidents. Attorney Sheena Pitts explained that the conventional award for loss of life is usually three thousand five hundred dollars, but today her client was awarded twenty thousand dollars. She explains how this […]
Eight lawmen jointly charged for murdering forty-six-year-old Ariel Audinette had the charges dismissed this morning when they appeared in the Orange Walk Magistrate Court. Police officer Lennart Cajun; B.D.F. soldiers Mateo Bolon, Patrick Villagran Senior, Patrick Diego, Elvis Cob, Edmar Petillo, Bladimir Escarraga and Francis Sho were accused of violently beating Audinett to death at […]
According to attorney Oscar Selgado, the Crown told the court that the case file is not ready because the prosecution has not received further instructions from the Office of the Public Prosecution. Oscar Selgado, Attorney for Defendants “To my surprise also the prosecutor a very junior member of the police force, h e was […]
The Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber will be holding a press conference on Thursday where he will be asked about the situation at the National Institute of Culture and History. Its president, Sapna Budhrani, has been on administrative leave as ordered by cabinet pending the results of an external audit by Baker Tilly Hulse following […]
The San Pedro Town Council has declared the sargassum beaching a natural disaster and is calling on its residents to come out on Thursday and Friday for a massive cleanup. News Five has been following the sargassum attack on Belize’s beaches for weeks. Tons of the microalgae have washed up on beaches across the country, […]
For the past two days, the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission has been meeting with consultants to develop a draft of a Maya Customary Land Tenure Policy. On Tuesday, the consultants met with various stakeholders and today with members of the commission to determine the next step in laying out a framework to comply with […]
But the Maya Leaders Alliance and the Toledo Alcalde Association have often complained of not being included in the discussion and that government doesn’t show the political will to respect their communal land rights as mandated by the C.C.J. before which they have appeared more than once. According to Alamilla, while they might not agree […]
A team from the International Monetary visited Belize earlier this month and met with government officials as well as with the private sector and unions. It has released a preliminary report on its findings. While the IMF says that Belize is on the road to economic recovery and that government debt has been reduced, it […]
