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The Behaviour Modification and Conflict Management Services falls under the scope of the Department of Youth Services which finds the urban gun violence flare up concerning. But Deputy Director and Officer in Charge at D.Y.S., Kevin Cadle says that while they are providing wraparound services for at-risk youth, those who want to live a life […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Crime,
Featured,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Bringing Down the Hammer on Youth Criminals
News Five has confirmed with the family of Sir Colville Young that he will be retiring as the Governor General of Belize. According to the family, they were consulted and agreed, along with his doctor, that it is time. A message from the family to News Five says, “We have been planning for this eventuality […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Confirmed: GG to Retire this Year!
Auditor General Dorothy Bradley was in the crosshairs of the unions on Wednesday when they took aim at her and several others, including Financial Secretary Joseph Waight and Central Bank Governor Joy Grant. Bradley responded this afternoon by issuing a release correcting what she refers to as baseless assertions from the Public Service Union and […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Auditor General Responds to Unions’ Baseless Assertions
The reading of the national budget was scheduled for next Friday, March twenty-sixth. But today, word was circulating that it has been pushed back due to a request by the Public Service Union and other unions. Today, it was confirmed that the budget reading will be postponed by at least two weeks to allow for […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Reading of the Budget Postponed!
Belizean drivers are about to get shocked at the pump again. Regular fuel will increase by a whopping eight-six cents on Friday. Drivers will now have to pay almost eleven dollars a gallon, ten dollars and ninety-two dollars to be exact. Just days ago, diesel drivers had to “tek di lick” when diesel increased by […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Regular Gas Goes Up to Almost 11 Dollars per Gallon
The Belize New Car Dealers Association has harsh words this evening for the Ministry of Health and Wellness. The association is demanding the order for new vehicles made by the ministry through Belize Auto Zone be cancelled immediately and an investigation be launched into what they are terming “irregularities” surrounding it. The B.N.C.D.A. put out […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Car Dealers Association Demand Order of New Vehicles through Belize Auto Zone to be Canceled!
Efforts to improve sheep husbandry continue. This week, the Central Farm Livestock Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Taiwan Technical Mission hosted a workshop for farmers from the Cayo District involved in sheep production. The training focused on general sheep breeding management, herd health and nutrition, including pasture management. Facilitators included […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
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A man who was hauled before the Magistrate’s Court earlier this week on charges of Common Assault and Harm was today sentenced to nine months in prison after he pleaded guilty. Keshawn Dennison was sentenced to six months in the first instance for causing harm to Erica Sutherland, and to another three months to be […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on Keshawn Dennison: Guilty of Common Assault, Harm
Our profiles on Belizean women in various professions continue tonight with another woman in the sciences. This time she is a meteorologist and a veteran of the Met Service. Although she stumbled into this as a career, Michelle Augustine urges young women interested in math and physics to consider joining her and the other women […]
Written on March 18, 2021 | Posted in
Disasters,
Environment |
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First, the unions said both the U.D.P. and the P.U.P. had not done their jobs properly when in opposition. Now, they have called out the financial secretary for his own contribution to the fiscal disaster now confronting Belize. Joseph Waight has been the FinSec for three consecutive administrations. Despite this, the unions want him out. […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Joint Unions of Belize Call for Removal of FinSec Joseph Waight
The unions also referenced the Ministry of Natural Resources which has been famously described as a “hotbed of corruption.” They called for the replacement of Central Bank Governor Joy Grant, whose critical role, they say, is to ensure that the country does not lead down a path of debt unsustainability and mismanagement. Also, they are […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The Unions Also Call for the Removal of Auditor General, Central Bank Governor
The press conference held by the Joint Unions of Belize covered its counterproposal to G.O.B. as they fight cuts to public officer and teacher salaries and a three-year increment freeze. But the unions also raised the issue of the high cost of government vehicles and the thousands of dollars in allowances paid to senior government […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Cutting the Wastage in Government
The unions believe that enough time has not been given for them to properly respond to the proposals since the budget presentation is scheduled for next week Friday, March twenty-sixth. They are asking that the proposed increment freeze and salary cut be “put on hold to allow for proper consultations and negotiations.” In its counterproposal, […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Cost Saving, Revenue Enhancement Recommendations to G.O.B.
The unions spoke of tens of thousands of dollars being paid to duplicate public officers in the system. We are told that a social security number is attached, but is not valid, yet a monthly salary is being paid to these phantom persons. The joint unions are asking for immediate actions by the government to […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Joint Unions Want Phantom Workers out and Whistleblower Legislation
As we reported on Tuesday, Cabinet met at the House of Culture in Belize City in a marathon session to discuss a range of issues, most pertinently the joint Union’s response to government’s proposals. Although members of the media waited all afternoon for comment, at the end of the meeting, the ministers zipped past them […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Featured,
Politics |
Comments Off on Cabinet Continues to Review of Union Proposals
There was a murder in Belize City on Tuesday night. A man in his early twenties was gunned down on south side. While the shooting claimed one life, it has left the residents in the area shaken and traumatized. Reporter Andrea Polanco tells us more in the following story. Andrea Polanco, Reporting Tyrique Gentle […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Crime,
Featured |
Comments Off on 22-Year-Old Belize City Man Murdered on Elston Kerr Street
And while Tyrique Gentle lost his life on Tuesday night, another youth is in the hospital as the gun violence continued today. Percival Pilgrim was shot multiple times just before three p.m. on Banak Street in Belize City when a shooter approached him and fired several shots in his direction. Pilgrim was hit in the […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Percival Pilgrim Shot Multiple Times in Belize City
Lab technicians across the country are being trained in the detection of severe fever-related illnesses, including COVID-19, using modern technology. A partnership between the Ministry of Health and Wellness and Baylor College of Medicine in Texas has led to a cohort of lab techs learning how to identify a variety of diseases using samples from […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Lab Techs Learn How to Detect Febrile and Gastrointestinal Illnesses
Prior to the partnership with Baylor, Belize’s capacity to diagnose certain illnesses was limited and the turnaround time for samples sent abroad for testing was rather lengthy. What the technicians are also learning is how to detect other variants of the COVID-19 virus. Dr. Kristy Murray, Professor of Pediatrics “Before we started this, capacity […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Detecting Other Variants of COVID-19
Seventy-one-year-old Gwen Jackson, a Belizean-American visitor, arrived at the P.G.I.A. this morning where she was required to present a negative COVID-19 test result. Believing that the document she presented to local health officials was valid, the New Yorker grew livid when she was asked to take another test which she had to pay for. As […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Elderly Visitor Says She was Duped at P.G.I.A.
Gillnets will just not go away, although a ban on the destructive fishing gear was signed into law last November. Aside from the nationwide gillnet ban, G.O.B. signed an agreement with OCEANA and the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries to help licensed gillnet fishers transition to other sustainable forms of livelihoods. But four months later and […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment |
Comments Off on N.G.O.s Call Out Ministry of Blue Economy on Gillnet Ban Lawsuit!
But tonight, the Ministry of Blue Economy says hold up – that’s not what is happening. Earlier today, the ministry issued its own press release to counter the joint statement from OCEANA Belize and the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries and by this afternoon, the ministry had called a virtual press conference. According to the ministry, […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
Environment |
Comments Off on Ministry of Blue Economy Hits Back on Gillnet Issue!
During today’s press conference, the joint unions also responded to comments made that public service and the teachers have not made any sacrifices. The unions maintain that its members have. But are they being inflexible? A.P.S.S.M. President Sharon Frazer says that until after all cost saving measures are exhausted and there is still a gap, […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Economy,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Unions Flexible to Changing Position, If and Only If…
Was preferential treatment afforded to a particular auto company in the recent procurement of vehicles for the Ministry of Health and Wellness? That is the allegation being made by Caribbean Motors upon learning that a fleet of six pickup trucks had been purchased with the approval of the Ministry of Finance. The unproved assertion comes […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Did M.O.H.W. Bypass Bidding Process for Vehicle Purchase?
Overcrowding, ticketing, erratic schedules and buses that have seen better days have long plagued our country’s public transportation system and caused headaches for commuters. Now, Belize may be getting some help from a country that also had to modernize its own transport system, South Korea. Today, the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Logistics announced […]
Written on March 17, 2021 | Posted in
People & Places,
Travel |
Comments Off on South Korea to Help Improve Belize’s Public Transport System
