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Was the timing of the Auditor General’s reports on the National Sports Council and Julian Cho Technical High School designed to undermine the Deputy Prime Minister whose portfolios as Minister of Education, Youth and Sports includes those two institutions as he heads to the leadership convention? It’s a question that was bluntly put to DPM […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Were the Release of the Auditor General’s Report Timely?
In respect of the damning audit of the National Sports Council, in a memorandum dated February twenty-eighth, 2019, Director Ian Jones reacted with an eighty-five pages memorandum. The majority of pages are full of procedural information, job descriptions, and the entire handbook. As we have been reporting, the Auditor General’s team found massive fraud and […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on National Sports Council Contacts F.I.U. on Fraud at Council
Deputy Prime Minister Faber says he was the one who commissioned an audit of the National Sports Council when both previous junior ministers demitted office. Those ministers of state also included Herman Longsworth who has now taken up an appointment as Consul General in New York. The audit report indicates that he too was involved […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on DPM Faber Speaks on Damning NSC Audit
This afternoon on adjournment in the House, Caribbean Shores Area Rep Kareem Musa also weighed in on the Lev Dermen scandal, stating that because it is a federal case before the U.S. courts, the names of the two accused ministers have already been disclosed. He, too, is calling for the names to be made public […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Make the Names Public!!
And while he may not have been close to Lev Dermen, Deputy Prime Minister was asked once again about his involvement with convicted murderer William “Danny” Mason. You will recall that upon defeating John Saldivar to become Deputy Party Leader of the U.D.P. several years ago, Faber visited Mason’s Intelco Hill residence where he had […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Faber Says No to Receiving Mason’s Money
Minister of National Security John Saldivar was not present in the house this afternoon when Cayo South Area Rep Julius Espat took square aim at him for his open affiliation with nefarious figures who have since been imprisoned. Those persons include William “Danny” Mason and now Lev Dermen. In referring to the security minister’s associations, […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Julius Goes In on John Saldivar
Late this afternoon, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry acknowledged that at three-twenty-five p.m., it received two packages addressed to the president containing the Procurement and Contract documents for the Coastal Highway Upgrading Project, which were granted to Imer Hernandez, and worth one hundred and thirty million dollars. The B.C.C.I. says it will review […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Finally, BCCI Gets Contract Documents for the Coastal Highway Upgrading Project
It was an emotional day today for the family of Mark Tuyul Junior, who was laid to rest this afternoon at the Eternal Garden Cemetery at mile thirteen on the George Price Highway. The three-year-old was sexually assaulted and murdered allegedly by his stepfather, Kenrick Longsworth, exactly one week ago at his house in an […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Mark Tuyul Jr. is Laid to Rest
Back to the issue of the audit of the National Sports Council, the Belize Youth Movement is expressing outrage at the fleecing of public funds at the National Sports Council by ex-ministers and cronies of the government. It notes that in a single year, according to an audit, close to one million dollars was not […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belize Youth Movement Expresses Outrage About the National Sports Council Audit
As you know, a new government took over in Guatemala this week. The president is conservative Alejandro Giammattei, and while not much was heard from him in respect of the territorial claim during the campaign, on Thursday he spoke on the matter. Now, Guatemala is make submissions this year in the International Court of Justice […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Guatemalan Prez Wants to Meet with G.O.B.
The illegal airplane landings have increased in recent years and civil aviation and security authorities believe that a new radar system will help to crack down, or at lease track these previously undetected planes once they are within Belize’s airspace. The twelve million dollar primary radar system will boost the way civil aviation manages air […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Civil Aviation to Get $12 Million Radar
On Thursday night, the Ministry of Human Development and National AIDS Commission held a public consultation in Belize City as a part of its community outreach to get feedback on the Equal Opportunities Bill. The seventy-five page document, which seeks to address issues resulting from close to twenty different forms of discrimination, was developed following […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Equal Opportunities Bill Consultation is Held in Belize City
So, following those three presentations, as well as remarks from Enrique Romero Executive Director of the National AIDS Commission, the public had the opportunity to make comments and give feedback on the Equal Opportunities Bill. There was a mixed crowd – with support from the bill coming from a wide cross section of society. Here’s […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Support for the Equal Opportunities Bill
And while there was support for the bill – there was a group of independent persons who wanted clarity on some of the points. But there were many who didn’t support the bill. Many of them offered comments identified as Christians and/or members of a certain religious group. Most of their contention centered on elements […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Candid Comments from Non-Supporters of the Bill
Battle for control over the Santa Cruz Village Expansion project continues in the south. We first reported the issue in January 2019 when a public meeting was held to clarify certain concerns raised by villagers with regards to the project. One of those concerns was that the U.D.P. Stann Creek West Standard Bearer Ivan William is […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Santa Cruz Land Woes Continue
The Santa Cruz Village Council is also facing another threat. According to Chairman Vincent Scott, more than thirty farmers have been cultivating land at the rear of the village for some eleven years but now there are moves by a company to purchase two thousand acres of land, including the land of the farmers. He […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Santa Cruz Farmers Fear Losing Farm Lands
Last year we were there when a group of Belize City youths completed an apprenticeship programme. Today, we were at Youth for the Future Drive, when they happily received their certificates. The occasion was energized with the participation of Daniel Loveless from What You Know as well as a former graduate of the programme, Akeem […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Apprenticeship Programme, Inspiring the Youth
The popular YouTube show “What Yuh Know” will feature Belize in one of its upcoming episodes as the twenty-year-old founder embarks on a tour to promote education through an entertainment show outside of the region. The social media icon travels around the world seeking answers to a variety of questions to expand his knowledge. Daniel […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on “What Yuh Know” in Belize
Earlier this week, a meeting was held to present the findings of an Agri-Tourism study of Ambergris Caye. The twelve-month study looked at agricultural produce that is consumed by the tourism sector. Now, for the first time in 2019, the tourism industry met its goals in exceeding half a million overnight guests and so the […]
Written on January 17, 2020 | Posted in
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Travel |
Comments Off on Agricultural Production is Not Meeting the Demands of the Tourism Sector
Still reeling from the Lev Derman scandal, the government is hit by yet another black eye. An audit of the finances of the National Sports Council by the Auditor General is revealing massive fraud involving well-known names. The report outlines serious breaches in government regulations at the N.S.C., where huge amounts of cash were paid […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Audit Reveals Half a Million Dollars Embezzlement at Sports Council!
Prime Minister Dean Barrow received the report months ago in October 2019. On Wednesday, he told the media that the report will be tabled on Friday at the Sitting of the House of Representatives. When asked what could be done regarding the findings, PM Barrow says that it can be turned over to the police. […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on PM Says Audit Will be Handed Over to Police
There is a developing story tonight on a caravan of Central American migrants heading north in search of a better life. Thousands of men, women and children left Honduras a few days ago via San Pedro Sula and have reached as far as Peten, Guatemala. A group of them have left the main caravan and […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Migrant Caravan Spotted from Cadenas Outpost
The Lev Dermen debacle, the recent political scandal to plague the Barrow administration, brings to light the importance of the Integrity Commission, as well as a need for campaign finance regulations. With allegations being made against two U.D.P. government officials who were the recipients of monthly twenty-five thousand U.S. dollar payouts from the accused Armenian/American […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Integrity Commission and Campaign Financing in Light of Dermen Scandal
The issue of campaign financing, as well as the absence of laws to regulate donations to political parties and their candidates, has resurfaced in light of the Lev Dermen scandal. While it cannot as yet be confirmed which so-called U.D.P. ministers received the twenty-five thousand-dollar bribes from Dermen, PM Barrow painted a picture that receipt […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Campaign Finance Reform, is it a Possibility?
There is more to report on Lev Dermen’s ties to Belize, including an application through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for him to be appointed Honorary Consul to Las Vegas. PM Barrow says that Dermen initially approached Minister Michael Finnegan, who in turn referred him to the Foreign Ministry with the request. When the application […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on How Dermen’s Application for Honorary Consul was Rejected
