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The five-year contract signed by the Director of Tourism Karen Bevans in April 2019 is the subject of much scrutiny, particularly since it has left the new P.U.P. administration hamstrung and cannot name a director of its own. In poring over the agreement, we note that the former Chief Operations Officer at Belize Telemedia Limited […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on More Details Emerge from the Karen Bevans Contract
Prime Minister John Briceño departed the country on Tuesday, January twelfth, 2021, on personal leave. This means that Lake Independence Area Representative Cordel Hyde is acting Prime Minister. Briceño will return on Sunday, January seventeenth. But before he left, the Prime Minister chaired a virtual cabinet session on Tuesday, during which several decisions were made. […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on PM Briceño Departs the Country, Cordel Hyde is Ag. Prime Minister
The U.S. Government will now require travelers to present negative COVID test results when entering their country. This is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, which has ordered that all travelers flying to the U.S. from abroad will have to show proof of negative COVID-19 tests before boarding their flight starting […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Travel |
Comments Off on B.H.A. Reacts to C.D.C.’s New Travel Guidelines
From concerns about new travel regulations to the growing concerns about the highly infectious new strain of the novel coronavirus, first detected in the UK last September. Experts say the new strain can become more common simply by being in the right place at the right time. The new strain has been recorded in fifty […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belize Testing Samples to Identify Stains of COVID-19
As we reported on Tuesday, in two weeks, after almost a year of dormancy, the Corozal Free Zone will reopen for business. Viewers will recall that in the first quarter of 2020, the Zone was closed to prevent the re-introduction of COVID-19 through the northern border, and all its economic activity came to a screeching […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Preparations Ahead of Free Zone Reopening
UNICEF handed over to the Ministries of Human Development and Health and Wellness P.P.E. supplies to support the national response to COVID-19. On Wednesday, two containers filled with synthetic blankets, N95 masks, face shields and other supplies were offloaded with assistance from the Belize Defense Force for distribution today. News Five spoke with UNICEF’s Monitoring […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on UNICEF Donates Over $157K Worth of PPE Supplies to G.O.B.
The psychological effects of the novel coronavirus are not limited to a victim, but can be experienced by an entire household and the population on a whole. Whether it has affected your income or your ability to socialize, COVID-19 indirectly and, for many, directly can affect with your mental health. News Five’s Duane Moody looks […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Living with COVID-19; the Psychological Effects
There was some controversy about who would succeed Collin Griffith as the next comptroller of customs. There were two frontrunners, senior customs officers Ian Haylock and Estelle Leslie. Both have the same qualifying skills, training, and education, but Leslie’s interview was successful. She was named the first female Comptroller of Customs. During the Senate’s Sitting […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on U.D.P. Senator Says G.O.B. Did Not Consult P.S.C. in Appointing Customs Comptroller
Senator for Government Business Eamon Courtenay quickly corrected Senator Peyrefitte. Courtenay produced a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister sent to the Public Services Commission, expressing the Prime Minister’s intention to appoint a new Comptroller of Customs. That letter, however, went unanswered, and the government proceeded with its plan. Courtenay stressed that the […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Senator Courtenay Corrects Senator Peyrefitte
And the unanswered letter from the PM to the Public Services Commission is telling. The Commission’s functions include the formulation of schemes for recruitment to the public service and the fixing of salaries and privileges. But there is the sense that the Commission has been non-function for some time. Union Senator Elena Smith says that […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Has the Public Services Commission Failed Public Servants?
Starting Monday, Belize will observe three days of mourning in honor of the country’s first Governor-General, Doctor Dame Minita Gordon. Gordon died on New Year’s Day in Inglewood, California, at the age of ninety. She served as Governor-General from 1981 to 1993. Dam Minita was respected across the country for her willingness and determination to […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
Foreign Affairs,
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Comments Off on Dr. Dame Minister A Respectful, Respectable Belizean Woman
Two billion people are registered users of the messaging service WhatsApp. It’s one of the most widely used apps across the world. And in these COVID times, it has helped many of us stay in touch with loves ones with their text, voice, and video messages and calls. But a recent update has left many […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on WhatsApp’s Revised Privacy Policy – What Will It Mean for You?
You would not have noticed as there is an obvious lack of fanfare surrounding the launch of this new product. It is a new brew hitting shelves across the country. We were invited to a quiet press launch at Pirate Beer’s company headquarters, located just outside of Orange Walk Town. This morning, Isani Cayetano journeyed […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on A New Local Beer is in Town!!
A new health clinic opened its doors in the West on Wednesday. It will offer a much-needed service to a very high-risk population and relieve them of risky inter-district travel. Tonight in Healthy Living, we take a look at the opening of the Ramona Linda Dialysis Clinic in San Ignacio, Cayo. Marleni Cuellar, Reporting […]
Written on January 14, 2021 | Posted in
Health,
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Comments Off on Healthy Living: Cayo Dialysis Clinic
On Friday, the contract for B.T.B.’s Tourism Director, Karen Bevan’s, was leaked to the public. Since that time, the details of the employment agreement signed on April first, 2019 have been causing much debate as the public continues tallying up the benefits outlined in the lucrative contract. The five-year contract starts with an annual salary […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Tourism Minister on Karen Bevans’ Contract
The board that the minister has selected to spearhead the country’s tourism rebound is led by Evan Tillett. Tillett is a former colleague of Minister Mahler and is no stranger to the industry. Both worked together at the B.T.B. Tillett was Director of Finance until 2009, when his contract was not renewed. That was under […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Evan Tillett is the New Chairman of B.T.B. Board
Minister Mahler also shared the key performance indicators for 2020. Since the reopening of the international airport in October 2020, overnight tourist arrivals were at three thousand one hundred and seventy-nine for that month, down by eighty-seven point five percent compared to 2019. That percentage carried through to November where four thousand eight hundred and […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Tourism Arrivals Down by More than 70% for 2020
The Senate had its first sitting for the new year today in Belmopan. As the government, the People’s United Party now has control of the Senate with six members mainly debating opposition senators, led by Michael Peyrefitte as Lead Opposition Senator. Unlike Friday’s House session, today’s Senate Sitting was shorter, but the debate was robust […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Senate Spars Over Supplementary Appropriation Bill
Responding to Peyrefitte was Senator for Government Business, Eamon Courtenay. After P.U.P. Senator Christopher Coye explained the expenditures, Courtenay stressed that the Briceño government did not breach the constitution and reminded Peyrefitte that it was the former Chief Justice who ruled that former PM Dean Barrow acted in contravention of the Belize Constitution. Eamon […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Senator Courtenay Defends Supplementary Budget
The Senate also debated the People’s United Party’s Good Governance in Belize Motion. The motion contains ten covenants that the twenty-six elected government officials pledge to uphold during their term in office. It includes eight pledges and promises that the Briceño Administration says it will see during its five years in office. These include the […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Peyrefitte Tells P.U.P. to “Do it!”
Senator for Government Business, Eamon Courtenay responded to Peyrefitte’s criticisms of the motion by reminding the senators on the other side that the motion places on House and Senate record the covenants of the P.U.P. government. Courtenay explains that through the motions, the elected area representatives can be held accountable. Eamon Courtenay, Senator for […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on “This Da No The Best Is Yet To Come!”
Reacting to the Government’s Good Governance Bill were three social partners senators. While they applauded the government for tabling such a motion, they also have concerns and criticism of what the motion contained. Osmany Salas, Senator of N.G.O.s “I think it is a good thing that this motion is being tabled here today and […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Social Partner Senators React to G.O.B.’s Good Governance in Belize Motion
The state funeral for former Governor-General Doctor Dame Minita Gordon will be held on January twentieth, here in Belize City. The interment of the first Governor-General of Belize will culminate three days of mourning during which the Belizean flag will be flown at half-mast across the country. The body of Dame Minita Gordon arrives at […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on A State Funeral for Dame Minita Gordon on January 20th, 2020
The tragic story of baby Leroy Juan Choc’s death is one that is fitting for any parent’s worst nightmare. The two-year-old boy was found in a latrine in San Miguel Village in Toledo on Sunday. According to baby Leroy’s grandmother, the family was distracted by an animal inside their home and soon realized the toddler […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Two-year-old Toddler Perishes in Latrine
Since taking office in late 2020, the Briceño Administration has moved ahead with the formal introduction of the hemp industry as a viable means of economic growth for Belize. The ensuing conversation has spawned multiple perspectives, including objection from the religious community. But there’s a strong argument to put forward, particularly when one looks at […]
Written on January 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Marijuana Expert Joins Belize’s Great Cannabis Debate
