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Thirty police officers completed basic training in criminal investigation. The course spanned a period of three weeks during which officers were training on professional and effective investigation in skills, attitude, and aptitude. The course was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy of Belize which also provided facilitators with technical expertise. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on 30 Police Investigators Successfully Complete Training
There’s a virus linked to respiratory tract infections that has killed several persons and sickened hundreds more. The new strain of the coronavirus was first detected in China. Today, the second case of the virus was detected in the U.S.A., after the first case was confirmed earlier this week. There are no known cases in […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on MOH’s National Surveillance Team Activated to Monitor Coronavirus Outbreak
One of first agencies you meet at the border points is the Customs Department. At the Philip Goldson International Airport, you will see them checking luggage as well as collecting taxes. But their work is evolving to areas of trade facilitation and security. Today, on the occasion of International Customs Day, they mounted displays and […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on International Customs Day is Celebrated in Belize
Hostility while patrolling the borders can result in crossfire between law enforcement officers and contrabandistas in buffer communities along the Belize/Mexico border. The enforcement officers of the Customs and Excise Department have been strategic, often times partnering with the police to carry out operations in villages such as San Victor in the Corozal District. Ronald […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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People & Places |
Comments Off on Tackling Contrabandistas in the North
The World Pediatric Project is hosting its annual plastic surgery mission on Sunday. A team, made up of two surgeons, is arriving from Richmond, Virginia this weekend and will be treating patients up to the age of twenty-one. They will be seeing patients with a number of conditions, some of whom may require plastic surgery. […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
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A week-long of activities promoting drug awareness at Canaan High School on Coney Drive in Belize City concluded today with a parade through the streets of the city. One hundred and two students from first to third form marched to send a message and say no to drugs as the band led the procession while […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
Education,
People & Places |
Comments Off on “Send a Message; Stay Drug Free”
There is new information tonight in the case of Lev Dermen, an Armenian national with U.S. and Belize citizenship that is causing tremors inside the U.D.P. as it heads to a leadership convention on February ninth. Dermen is the accused mastermind in a scheme that defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of the United States of […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Regional / International,
Trials |
Comments Off on An Official Exhibit List in the Case of Lev Dermen; John Saldivar is Named
The allegation of text messages between Jacob Kingston and John Saldivar as court exhibits prompted reaction from Belmopan. The PM did not give interview, but instead issued a four-paragraph statement this afternoon to cool down temperatures. In the statement, the PM concludes that there is still no evidence of wrongdoing and as such, the texts […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Prime Minister Barrow: Still No Evidence of Wrongdoing
A statement from John Saldivar was short and curt. It states that nothing has changed from his position outlined in a statement on January fifteenth, 2019. Saldivar also echoes what the PM has said; that the information being circulated regarding expected testimony in the U.S. proceedings contains no allegations of any wrongdoing against him.
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on John Saldivar’s Statement on Evidence List
The text message referencing Minister Saldivar was also the focus of a statement by Opposition Leader John Briceño. He is calling on the Prime Minister to fire Saldivar from his cabinet. Speaking on the scandal that is rocking the U.D.P. government, Briceño asserted that the text messages must contain important content for the prosecution to […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Politics |
Comments Off on Opposition Leader Calls on John Saldivar to Resign
According to Briceño, if the Prime Minister wanted to act, he could have already done so. Today, Briceño advised the PM to check with the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to obtain the documents and have the Financial Intelligence Unit contact the Justice Department in Utah for further information. In response to Briceño’s statement, the Prime Minister […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Briceño Gives Barrow Advice in Figuring Out which Minister Took $25K
As we said, the Lev Dermen scandal has been unraveling for days. Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a press conference on the recent allegations. At the time he said that he was being hamstrung on immediate action against whomsoever in his cabinet is named until proven to be culpable for having accepted bribes […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Revisiting PM Barrow’s Threat of Termination
As the scandal rocks the U.D.P., the likelihood of the upcoming U.D.P. convention being affected by the pending trial in Utah was a question that was placed squarely to the prime minister. At the time, PM Barrow said that if necessary, he will remain in office until general elections are called. Reporter “Sir, do […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Politics |
Comments Off on Does the Status Quo Remain Ahead of Leadership Convention?
The Lev Dermen saga has been coming up in many ways. At the sitting of the House of Representatives on January seventeenth, Caribbean Shores Area Representative Kareem Musa suggested that the names of the government ministers in question could have been sought through diplomatic channels via a request from the Prime Minister to the U.S. […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on No Request for Ministers’ Names from U.S. Embassy
Charred remains were found this morning inside a delivery truck belonging to the Salvador W. Habet hardware store. The vehicle was set on fire in a remote area in the village of San Juan, Stann Creek District. A News Five crew was down south where police have been processing the scene. At news time, the […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Charred Remains are Discovered in a Burnt Flatbed Truck in the South
Police are looking for the suspect in a string of robberies in the south. He is Luis Marin, who is being linked to robberies on the Coastal Road. Marin is also known to visit Vernon Street in Belize City and rural communities such as Lucky Strike, Manatee, and Bermudian Landing. Anyone with information on Marin’s […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Luis Marin is Wanted by Police
Around eleven o’clock this morning, a shooting occurred in Punta Gorda Town. Information to News Five is that police fired shots as they pursued a man wanted for questioning into a recent murder investigation. Luckily, nobody was injured in the incident and police were quick to apprehend the person.
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Shots Fired in PG; Wanted Man Detained
The People’s United Party’s case against the Government of Belize regarding the spending of over one point three billion dollars, including the PetroCaribe funds that were borrowed from Venezuela, has yet to conclude. The P.U.P.’s legal challenge revolved around four key points, including that according to the Finance and Audit Reform Act, public monies exceeding the […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Another Delayed Judgment; P.U.P. Extremely Frustrated
The Belize Bank Limited, the country’s oldest banking institution, has been assigned an investment grade rating by the Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services. CariCRIS is the Caribbean’s leading credit rating agency and is an associate company of the globally-recognized rating agency Standard and Poor’s. The designation is a first for any entity in Belize. […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on CariCRIS Assigns Belize Bank “Investment Grade” Rating
The assigned rating augurs well for other local companies wishing to improve their profiles on the regional and international markets. It is in line with some of the more prominent and larger regional banks across the Caribbean and thus provides a platform to attract talent across the region, as well as to assist initiatives to […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
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People & Places,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on What Does Investment Rating Mean for Belize Bank?
As we reported on Wednesday, the Turneffe Atoll Trust has acquired the remaining seventeen thousand acres of land within the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve. This is in the form of an agreement signed with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Immigration for which the […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Lands Minister on Turneffe Land Trust Agreement
Weighing in on the matter was Opposition Leader, John Briceño. According to Briceño, under the National Lands Act, to transfer a large piece of land, such as the seventeen thousand acres in question, it must be approved by parliament. If not, he says, that the transfer is illegal. John Briceño, Leader of Opposition “For […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on P.U.P. Leader Says Transferring 17,000 Acres of Land without House Approval is Illegal
According to Executive Director of the Turneffe Atoll Trust, Alex Anderson, forty percent of the land mass at Turneffe was already sold to private entities and this move reserves the sixty percent of mangroves, sea grass beds and terrestrial property left. Anderson says government received funds, but it’s neither a purchase price nor a private […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Turneffe Atoll Trust on Land Trust Agreement
Today, National President of the Belize National Teachers Union Senator Elena Smith was in southern Belize, at Julian Cho Technical School where she met with the school administration. The B.N.T.U. is concerned that the school has been operating without an official principal for months. The U.D.P. standard bearer for Stann Creek West, Doctor Simeon Coc, […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Education |
Comments Off on B.N.T.U. President on Julian Cho
We also found out that Senator Elena Smith’s patience is running thin. The senator says organizations are tired of waiting for U.D.P. Senator Aldo Salazar to present his report on the findings of the Auditor General’s Special Audit Report on the Immigration and Nationality Department. It took the Senate Special Select Committee thirteen months to interview […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Senate Report on Immigration Yet to be Completed
