The decomposed, skeletal remains of an unidentified man washed up on the Macal River bank in Cayo. It was discovered on Saturday morning in the vicinity of Black Rock Road. Police say that the individual had been dead for a while, and they believe that it is not the body of Miguel Caceros, who has […]
The Supplementary Appropriations Bill will tide the Briceño administration over until the start of the next financial year on April first after it goes before the upper house on Wednesday in a special sitting of the senate. The three-month period is an entire quarter that government would need to be financed. The dire strait it […]
During its first Sitting of the House of Representatives for 2021 on Friday, the new P.U.P. Administration tabled its Good Governance in Belize Motion. The motion is a model of the P.U.P.’s PLANBelize manifesto presented to the electorate before the November eleventh general elections. In the motion, members of the Briceño Administration pledge to uphold […]
…from a motion for good governance from elected officials to a constitutional amendment to expand the grounds for removal of Supreme Court judges. For years, there has been a backlog of judgments within the judiciary. It is not a situation unique to Belize but common in many of the Caribbean nations where the judiciary is […]
While Prime Minister John Briceño and his government table bills to alleviate the financial constraints, he has the hefty superbond payments hovering above his head. Early in the pandemic, then Prime Minister Dean Barrow decided that it would be better to ask bondholders for a deferral on the bond payment. Bondholders agreed to defer the […]
The government-owned bank, the National Bank of Belize, has a new board of management. The bank, which is headquartered in Belmopan, will now be headed by new chairman, Thomas Tillett. The rest of the new board includes Ashanti Martin, Arsenio Burgos, Oscar Arnold, and Carlo Habet. It is the Prime Minister who appoints the board […]
Of the eight bills that the government tabled on Friday, four are related to the government’s fiscal plan to address the challenges of COVID-19 and the recent weather-related disasters. One of those bills is the Central Bank of Belize Amendment Bill of 2021. Through this amendment, the Central Bank of Belize can provide for emergency […]
Through the Finance and Audit (Reform) (Amendment) Bill of 2021, Briceño’s government also proposes the establishing a Contingencies Fund to be used for urgent and unforeseen expenditure for which no other provision exists. It is the first time in history that a contingencies fund is being created. Prime Minister John Briceño “The constitution recognizes […]
The Barrow administration had been heavily criticized for issuing tens of millions of dollars in public contracts, especially in infrastructure, to what the P.U.P. describes as known U.D.P. cronies. These contracts would go through the office of the Contractor General for approval, but the former Contractor General Godwin Arzu failed to submit yearly reports as […]
On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources Cordel Hyde detailed a massive land scam that had been festering for several years. In his statement by minister’s address, Hyde named former Minister of Works Rene Montero and former Works C.E.O. Errol Gentle for allegedly gobbling up huge tracks of lands in the Mountain […]
Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde wasn’t buying Patt’s explanation and made it clear after his address. The D.P.M. told Patt that the U.D.P. government gave away millions of dollars to a single individual during economic hardships. He told Patt that the best thing they could have done is to leave the distribution of the parcels […]
While the current and former deputy prime ministers went up against each other in the House, outside the National Assembly Building, Prime Minister John Briceño spoke about the “Boots situation.” The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing repossessed a Bitumen Batching Plant on Friday from a property associated with former U.D.P. Minister Anthony “Boots” Martinez […]
A criminal investigation is underway at the Corozal Polyclinic where an employee is accused of embezzling almost sixty-five thousand dollars over a seventeen-month period. Adan Orozco, an assistant administrator at the healthcare facility, was reportedly double-dipping when he paid himself twice the sum of his monthly salary. If he thought that no one would discover […]
Another frontline healthcare worker has lost the battle with COVID-19. He is a well-known Doctor Baldomino Barboza, who was originally from Libertad Village in Corozal. Today, the Ministry of Health and Wellness expressed condolences to the family and friends and the community in Orange Walk, with whom Doctor Barboza worked. Late last year, Doctor Barboza […]
On December twenty-fourth, we showed you the touching video of Ingrid Vega, wife of late David ‘Dido’ Vega, as she left the Belize Healthcare Partners Limited following her battle with COVID-19. Ingrid Vega was hospitalized for thirteen days, half of which she spent on a ventilator. She was sent home on oxygen, and she has […]
Ingrid Vega was intubated on December twelfth, one day after her husband, newly elected area representative of Corozal Bay David ‘Dido’ Vega, died. Forty-seven-year-old Dido was intubated about a week before he died from COVID-19 complications. It was a tough time for the Vega family and one that Ingrid has still not come to terms […]
While Ingrid Vega slowly recovers, politically speaking, the People’s United Party has to be quick and decisive to retain control of the Corozal Bay Division. David “Dido” Vega was the P.U.P.’s gentle giant in the division, flipping the constituency and defeating the U.D.P.’s Pablo Marin. Vega must be replaced with a formidable successor for the […]
It was back to school day today. And like all things in the pandemic era, today was very different. Secondary and tertiary schools resumed virtual classes why primary schools dissipated their first batch of learning packages. It is a continuation of the distance learning that began in the last term. How have all parties involved […]
But what should have been a happy day for the teachers and staff at Saint Luke’s Methodist School was shattered. When they arrived at school this morning, they discovered a break-in and many valuables stolen, including laptops, instruments, and a sound system. News Five’s Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting A new term for […]
A pair of stolen vehicles, one found with a stash of marijuana and two high-powered assault rifles, remains in police custody in Belmopan after being recovered from the Corozal District on Friday evening. One of the vehicles was reported stolen in Mexico. It is not clear whether the car’s illegal contents were stolen along with […]
Iris Salguero is the new Miss Universe Belize. The latest beauty ambassador was chosen via a virtual casting call that included several rounds of interviews with a local and international panel of judges. The crowning took place live on Channel Five, and News Five’s Duane Moody files this report. Duane Moody, Reporting Miss Universe […]
It looks like an invasion. Videos posted online show entire walls and ceilings blanketed by the pesky bugs. Some residents are concerned as they think the bugs are mosquitoes and put them at risk for Dengue or other vector-borne illnesses. We reached out to the Ministry of Health today, who said they are aware of the situation. They clarified […]
Prime Minister John Briceño chaired his first House meeting today. A marathon sitting that just concluded less than a half-hour ago. During these COVID-19 times, the chambers have been retrofitted with plastic cubicles separating the area representatives. The P.U.P. Government commenced with explosives details about a land hustle in the Department of Lands. When the […]
Minister Hyde then spoke of another incident of clear land fraud. According to Hyde, the victim this time was a man named Florencio Talbert, and the alleged perpetrator was the former C.E.O. of the Ministry of Works, Errol Gentle. Hyde told the House that Gentle reportedly acquired lands in the Mountain Pine Ridge area in […]
Minister Hyde then revealed that the investigation into the Lands Department uncovered the unthinkable; something he says he would have never thought would have been done. In these challenging times of COVID-19, Hyde says that the land compensation budget ballooned with the then Barrow Administration issuing out fifteen million dollars in compensation in September alone. […]
