Home » January, 2021
You are currently browsing entries posted in: January, 2021
There were zero COVID-19 deaths recorded over the weekend, and today the Ministry of Health and Wellness reported three deaths from Covid-19. The recent statistics show the daily positivity rate trending downwards and a slight improvement in the cumulative positivity rate. The Ministry of Health and Wellness has embarked on a number of campaigns to […]
Written on January 25, 2021 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Update on Acquiring COVID-19 Vaccine in Belize
The Ministry of Health and Wellness today handed over a million dollars worth of equipment to improve the COVID-19 services at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The equipment was acquired under the Briceño administration. The national referral hospital had requested the equipment in March of 2020 for its COVID Isolation Unit. The unit has since […]
Written on January 25, 2021 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on M.O.H.W. Acquires a Million Dollars Worth of Equipment for COVID Services at the K.H.M.H.
The Belize City Center was inaugurated with much fanfare when it opened its doors on April thirtieth, 2018. That was at least two years before COVID-19 became a reality. In the time before the pandemic made its way to Belize, the building was hardly in use, despite the number of scheduled events necessary for its […]
Written on January 25, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Sports |
Comments Off on The White Elephant that is the Belize City Center
Going digital is the new direction that the Government of Belize plans on taking. It is expected that this administration will introduce significant changes during their five-year mandate. The Minister of Youth Sports and e-Governance is tasked to increase efficiency and cost-effectiveness in delivering public services. The work began last week with an e-Governance Task […]
Written on January 25, 2021 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on e-Governance is the Way to Go!
As for CITO, government’s Central Information Technology Office, it will be the digital hub for delivering those internet-based services. The idea, says the Minister of e-Governance, is to convert ninety-five percent of the existing services to the online platform by the end of this term of office. Kevin Bernard, Minister of e-Governance “The […]
Written on January 25, 2021 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Making the Change to e-Governance
Several government officials have confirmed that there should be an adjustment to the existing COVID-19 regulations at the start of next month. We don’t know the details of those changes as yet. But with all the talk about the curfew, whether it is unconstitutional or needs to be adjusted, we decided to take a closer […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Fewer COVID Cases, but Belize Remains Far From an All-Clear
On Thursday, the new U.S. President Joe Biden signed a flurry of executive orders within his first twenty-four hours in office. But one of those executive orders can have grave consequences for tourism-based economies like Belize. The Biden Administration now requires a recent negative COVID-19 test result before departure and quarantine on arrival as per […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Foreign Affairs,
Health,
People & Places,
Regional / International,
Travel |
Comments Off on Prez Biden’s Executive Order on International Travel Affects Tourism Countries
Initially, Belize’s health and tourism sector were already preparing for the testing requirements for return travel to the United States. The Ministry of Health approved additional COVID-19 testing sites in Belize City and popular tourist destinations. One of the ministry’s other undertakings is the active surveillance for the newly discovered variants of COVID-19. Belize cannot […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on 70K COVID Tests Conducted in Belize
Thanks to the Taiwanese Embassy in Belize, there can be even more rapid test drives. That’s because, on Thursday, the Embassy of Taiwan handed over a donation of fifteen thousand COVID-19 antigen rapid tests to the Ministry of Health and Wellness. The gift comes at a value of three hundred thousand Belize dollars. The tests […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Foreign Affairs,
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Taiwan Donates 15,000 COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Tests
The Corozal Free Zone reopens on February first. The reopening is one of the campaign promises that the P.U.P. made before the election. Since the new government made the decision, an inter-ministerial committee that includes the Health, Home Affairs, Agriculture, and Tourism Ministers has been reviewing plans and protocols for a safe reopening. Businesses must […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on U.D.P. Not Oppose to Re-opening of CZL Free Zone, but Wants Details
According to Acting Director of Health Services Doctor Melissa Diaz-Musa, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is still consulting with stakeholders ahead of the reopening, but the final say rests with the ministry. Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Acting Director of Health Services “At this point we are meeting with the stakeholders, we are actually […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Preparing for CFZ’s Grand Reopening
On Wednesday, Corozal Mayor Rigoberto Vellos renegotiated the one point three-seven-seven million-dollar contract with U.D.P. contractor Imer Hernandez. The agreement was signed between the former U.D.P. Mayor Hilberto Campos and Imer Hernandez Development Company in February 2017 for ten years. Since taking office, Vellos complained that the contract was unsustainable because, between January and March […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Corozal Mayor Renegotiates Contract with Imer Hernandez
Voter registration for persons wanting to participate in the upcoming municipal elections ends on Monday, January twenty-fifth. With the deadline for registration looming, the Elections and Boundaries Department has issued a public notice that all offices countrywide will be open on Saturday, January twenty-third, from eight a.m. to four p.m. The weekend shift is to […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Election Fever, Why Isn’t It Here Yet?
With the municipal elections a little more than a month away, the opposition United Democratic Party has only finalized one slate here in Belize City. KREM News reporter and anchor Orson Picart is leading the U.D.P. slate as the mayoral candidate. But on March third, there will also be a by-election in the Corozal Bay […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Hilberto Campos Re-emerges as U.D.P.’s Candidate for Corozal Bay
Today, the wife of Prime Minister John Briceño was officially appointed the Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children. Rossana Briceño, an educator by profession, is an advocate for special needs and helped develop a programme for students with diverse abilities at the Saint Peter’s Anglican School in Orange Walk. Flanked by her […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Rossana Briceño, the New Special Envoy
The Inspiration Centre at mile one and a half on the George Price Highway provides health and therapy services to children with disabilities. It was created by the former Special Envoy, Kim Barrow, back in 2012, but the institution remains underfunded. At today’s press conference, we asked about the potential for collaboration with the existing […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places |
Comments Off on What Will Happen with the Inspiration Centre?
On Thursday, the new Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs addressed the Caribbean Court of Justice and stated that her appointment signals a new day of respect for our Maya sisters, brothers, and other indigenous people. On that same day, Minister Dolores Balderamos Garcia and her team also met with the National Garifuna Council leaders. The […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Art & Culture,
People & Places |
Comments Off on National Garifuna Council Meets with the Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs
At their press conference on Thursday, the United Democratic Party said it would sue the Briceño Administration over the land matter brought to light during the Sitting of the House of Representatives earlier this month. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources Cordel Hyde revealed that the past government paid six million dollars to Barbara […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on U.D.P. Plans to Sue Briceño Administration over Land Matter
From defending the land transaction to defending his predecessor’s borrowing. While criticizing Briceño’s economic response, Faber defended the Barrow administration’s daily million dollar borrowing to meet the wage bill. Faber says, “it was not a bad thing.” Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition “If it is Mister Prime Minster that is costing you a […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on How Will PM Briceño Address Ballooning Wage Bill?
The Legal Year 2021/2022 was officially opened on Monday, but unlike the many years in the past, this year, the official ceremony and speeches were pre-recorded and aired in a virtual ceremony. During the speeches, the Chief Justice, Attorney General, and President of the Bar Association would express concerns, reveal issues, and applaud achievements relating […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on U.D.P. Defends the Judiciary
Twelve new homes for twelve deserving families; it is a charitable initiative that Heritage Bank Limited is undertaking. The donation is in celebration of the bank’s twentieth anniversary. In partnership with Hand in Hand Ministries, the bank has committed to donating one new home each month this year. According to a bank release, customers who […]
Written on January 22, 2021 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Heritage Bank Donates 12 New Homes in 2021
During news time on Wednesday night, shots rang out in the Monument Site area of Dangriga. A fisherman, Dennis Robinson, from the area had been gunned down. The family believes that this murder is retaliatory and is blaming the police for putting their family at risk. News Five’s Duane Moody finds out why. Duane […]
Written on January 21, 2021 | Posted in
Crime,
Featured |
Comments Off on Dennis Robinson Executed in Front of His House in Dangriga!
The United Democratic Party today called a press conference to address matters of national importance. It was held at the party’s headquarters on Youth for the Future Drive in Belize City. Opposition Leader Patrick Faber was flanked by U.D.P. Senators Michael Peyrefitte and Sheena Pitts as well as Mesop area rep Moses Shyne Barrow and […]
Written on January 21, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on When Will the Curfew End?
The opposition also criticized the Briceño administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Opposition Leader Patrick Faber blasts the government for continuously politicizing the pandemic and blaming the past U.D.P. administration. He says that everything that the Briceño administration has done to battle the pandemic was merely building upon the foundation that the U.D.P. had laid. […]
Written on January 21, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Opposition Leader Faber Slams P.U.P. Government over COVID Tests
From COVID to alleged corruption. Opposition Leader Patrick Faber was asked about his colleague, former Minister of Works Rene Montero. The government wants Montero to face criminal charges for alleged acts of corruption during his term in office. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing has forwarded documents to the Commissioner of Police and the […]
Written on January 21, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Faber Comments on Montero and Allegations of Corruption
