Effective tonight at midnight, the price of diesel at the pumps will increase by forty-six cents. This takes the retail price of the fuel from eight dollars and seventy-four cents to nine dollars and twenty cents. Last week, the cost of regular gas went up by fifty-one cents and is now being sold at nine […]
Millions tuned in to the Super Bowl on Sunday, including many here at home who were glued to the TV screen to see one player in particular: Rakeem Nunez-Roches. He has roots in Belize, and so Belizeans were cheering him on. Nunez-Roches is Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman, and his team defeated the Kansas City […]
Doctor Giovanni Solorzano has been appointed as the new chair of the National AIDS Commission and Country Coordinating Mechanism. Doctor Solorzano’s appointment was made effective on Wednesday, February third. He succeeds former Chair Laura Tucker-Longsworth. Doctor Solorzano has more than twenty-five years in the medical field and has worked with the government since 1991. Currently […]
Tonight, the family of Rafael Patrick Garrido is seeking the public’s assistance in locating him. He was last seen on Wednesday, February third. Before his disappearance, Garrido had made a trip to Orange Walk to conduct a business transaction. Garrido was dropped off at mile thirty-one on the Philip Goldson Highway on their return, and […]
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees donated medical and personal COVID-19 protective equipment to the Valley of Peace community isolation facility. The donation includes divider panels, bed sheets, pillows and covers, blankets, towels, hand soap, and sanitizers, as well as cleaning supplies. According to the UNHCR, the supplies are to “enhance access to health services, […]
Today, the Taiwan Embassy handed over five hundred and twenty-three bales of fabric to the Ministry of Human Development, Families, and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. It was a donation from the Taiwan Embassy in Belize at the cost of ninety-four thousand six hundred and two dollars. The donation includes polyester, rayon, and spandex, distributed to women’s […]
The House of Representatives met today in a regular session where several bills were tabled for a second reading. Before getting into those proposed pieces of legislation that include an amendment to the Finance and Audit (Reform) Act, there are new developments regarding Belize Infrastructure Limited. The special purpose vehicle established under the Barrow administration […]
According to Minister Espat, the investigation shockingly revealed that records of BIL’s financials were purposely purged – as in destroyed – for the period before 2019/2020. Legally, all companies are required to keep a record of their financials for six years. So, when BIL purged its previous records as they claim they did not have […]
The Border Management Agency, which is tasked with overseeing operations at various frontier points, including the western and northern borders, is another hotbed of corruption. A recent investigation conducted by the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, which includes the Border Management Agency, has unearthed a series of improprieties where public finances were abused. According […]
Pointing to one example of gross financial abuse, Minister Mahler said that a whopping four hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars was paid for a faulty IT network at one of the agency’s offices. According to Mahler, all the IT expert needed to do was simply plug out and reconnect a cable to render the network […]
Government’s COVID Cash Transfer Program commences next week as an initiative to financially assist roughly twenty-five thousand families that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its rollout complements existing programs such as the Ministry of Human Development’s Grocery Bag. In explaining the purpose of the Cash Transfer, Prime Minister John Briceño pointed out that the […]
Belize continues to push for its quota of vaccines through COVAX and other agencies. An initial shipment of vaccines is scheduled to arrive in-country by the end of the first quarter. According to Minister of Health and Wellness, Michel Chebat, twenty thousand vials of Sputnik 5 COVID-19 vaccines will also be accepted from Russia. […]
And while the public anxiously awaits that access to vaccines, Belize passed another sombre milestone on Thursday; there are over twelve thousand confirmed COVID-19 cases. Today’s report appears promising with only five persons testing positive out of the three hundred and fifty samples. However, there are one hundred and sixty persons under investigation. No one […]
The nine men nabbed following the drug plane landing on February fifth today received Supreme Court bail. The men were charged with possession of a controlled drug with the intent to supply after being found with two bales of cocaine. They were also charged for breach of curfew. Special Patrol officer Tyrell Talbert, Police Constable […]
And while those nine accused were receiving bail, elsewhere in the country, police were destroying almost a ton of cocaine from that very same drug plane. News Five’s Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting The sweltering heat emission from the burning pile could be felt from afar. This man-made pit was set up by […]
The Ministry of Home Affairs will introduce a new National Crime Fighting Strategy by mid-February. The Belize Police Department will implement the plan of action to tackle the scourge of violent crimes across the country. The strategy will also look closely at the issue of domestic abuse since incidents of such offenses have gone up […]
Shifting from crime to economic recovery…As we showed you on Monday, the Corozal Free Zone reopened for business after being closed for ten months. Some eight hundred persons were employed, under strict COVID-19 protocols. Minister of Agriculture, Abelardo Mai, who sits on the inter-ministerial committee that plans and reviews COVID-19 protocols for the Corozal Free […]
One of the questions the press put to Minister Mai was about the business’ state at the Corozal Free Zone. He says the opening days were busy and anticipates that it will continue to progress as more vendors are certified to open their shops. Abelardo Mai, Minister of Enterprise “After the first two days, […]
The Minister of Enterprise spoke about improving economic activity in the Free Zone. That business activity may slow down in the week to come. That’s because the Governor or Quintana Roo, Carlos Manuel Joaquín González, announced this week that starting Monday the state’s status would be switching from light-medium risk yellow to high-risk level orange. […]
Health officials in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo have watched with concern the reopening of the Corozal Commercial Free Zone. The Mexican authorities estimate that about three thousand persons visited the zone on the day of the reopening. It is unclear, at this time, whether the state’s shift to high-risk status starting Monday will […]
Mexico has recorded the third highest number of COVID-19 deaths. Just Wednesday, the country had one thousand seven hundred and seven confirmed coronavirus deaths in one day. Last month, the new UK Variant was detected in that country. We asked Doctor Aguilar, who tests and treats COVID-19 patients in a public clinic in Chetumal, whether […]
A dubious land transaction in Port Loyola that took place just before the November eleventh General Elections has deprived many residents of an opportunity to acquire properties from the Government of Belize. Title for a tract of land equivalent to eight house lots was reportedly transferred into the possession of a well-known political operative in […]
Adjusting to the inconveniences brought about by the pandemic means that House meetings will be held virtually very soon. This morning, The Prime Minister tabled a motion in the House of Representatives for meetings to be held via Zoom or another virtual platform. It’s the direction that board meetings have been forced to take in […]
There was a testy exchange in the House this morning where Cayo South Area Representative Julius Espat got into a tiff with Mesopotamia Area Rep Shyne Barrow. The heated back and forth led the House Speaker to get on her feet to bring the exchange under control. It’s a rare occasion when the Speaker has […]
Four hundred and twenty-four families and counting – that’s how many houses have been gifted through the Hand in Hand Ministries’ Building for Change Programme, improving each family’s quality of life. The neediest of the needy goes through a screening process with the humanitarian organization. Then, with the support from corporate citizens, two-bedroom wooden houses […]
