Motorists will experience a slight relief in the cost of fuel at midnight, as the price per gallon of premium gasoline will decrease by thirty-eight cents. The new price as of April twenty-seventh will be eleven dollars and twenty-six cents per gallon. All other prices, including regular gasoline, kerosene and diesel remain unaffected at ten […]
In more from the B.N.T.U. protest today, some in the union are pushing for a boycott of certain media houses. According to President of the Union, Senator Elena Smith, this is in response to the airing of certain anti-union government ads. But, the union is reportedly being specific in the media houses they are targeting. […]
Day two of the national budget continued today inside the National Assembly. But it was outside where all the action happened. The joint unions, galvanized by a common stance against G.O.B., brought out the numbers, as well as the drums and dance moves. It was a lively and colorful scene as the union members demonstrated […]
And so there you heard the unions say that they are not backing down from their industrial actions. The B.N.T.U. has informed the Ministry of Education that teachers will go on strike on Monday. It is not clear for how long they will not be teaching but they say that they are prepared to go […]
Deputy Prime Minister and member for the Lake Independence division, Cordel Hyde says he views the public service wage cut as a necessary action, even in the face of discontent from public servants. During his budget speech, Hyde said the salary adjustment will be reviewed every six months in partnership with the unions. He pleaded […]
Area Representative for Corozal North, Hugo Patt criticized the 2021/2022 budget as being a bill that creates additional burdens for the Belizean people. He noted that while the U.D.P. administration was criticized for its borrowing practices, they never cut the salaries of public servants. And while the records will show that the former administration did […]
Corozal Bay area rep Elvia Vega Samos, the newest member of parliament, spoke for only fifteen minutes. Her brief comments were filled with disapproval of the U.D.P.’s Corozal North Area Representative. She pledged to provide better leadership in Corozal Bay. Elvia Vega-Samos, Area Representative, Corozal Bay “I cannot fathom the idea how the member […]
The Department of Lands will be going after private landowners with exorbitant outstanding tax payments. According to Minster of Natural Resources Cordel Hyde, approximately four hundred and sixty-four persons or companies own up to eighty-two percent or three point two million acres of land in Belize. And, as Minister Hyde puts it, most of these […]
While the Lands Department is beefing up its tax collection unit, area rep for Fort George, Henry Charles Usher is blaming the former administration for the current land tax deficit. Usher revealed that the former administration signed off on fifty years’ worth of land tax for two hundred and sixty thousand acres of land bought […]
On Tuesday, Public Service Minister Henry Charles Usher informed cabinet of his intent to fix the salaries of public officers. According to a cabinet brief released on Thursday, the minister in his decision is considering the deteriorated state of public finances and the views of the joint unions. The records suggest that the last time […]
The joint unions have been calling for the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNCAC. As Attorney General Magali Marin Young explained today, UNCAC is not a piece of legislation to be imported into this jurisdiction. Belize has already signed on to the convention, but those good governance measures are slow in coming. […]
While the salaries of public servants will be fixed, the Office of the Attorney General is facing a shortage of legal drafters. Currently, the office has only two, so outsourcing legal drafters is an option the AG Ministry is exploring. Magali Marin-Young, Attorney General “I don’t know if it is being lost on the […]
Prime Minister John Briceño began wrapping up the budget debate a little after five p.m. today. PM Briceño responded to accusations from Mesopotamia area rep Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow who accused the Prime Minister and his administration of selling off public assets and engaging in spending sprees on vehicles over the last five months. Well, PM […]
And, finally from inside the National Assembly chambers, Prime Minister Briceño sought to set the record straight about why the public service wage bill has become unsustainable. PM Briceño referred to the three salary increases for public officers that the U.D.P. administration approved over the past decade. PM Briceño went on to say that the […]
Tonight we can confirm that since Thursday, three COVID-related deaths have been recorded by the Ministry of Health and Wellness. This brings the death toll to three hundred and twenty-one. There were also fifteen new cases recorded, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to twelve thousand five hundred and ninety-nine. While no patients recovered […]
The quiet of Punta Gorda was interrupted on Thursday night when shots rang out near the Uno Gas Station and the Courts superstore. In the aftermath at the property adjacent the superstore, Kevonn Wade lay on the ground dead. Duane Moody, Reporting Around seven-thirty on Thursday night, Kevonn Wade sat on his veranda on […]
One union that will not be taking part in any industrial action against the government is the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital’s Workers Union. That’s because during discussions this week between Prime Minister John Briceño and the executive from that union, the PM assured that he will endeavour to not have the K.H.M.H. subvention reduced as […]
Baird said that the K.H.M.H. employees have already given up quite a lot of their salaries and benefits. Some of these sacrifices date back to 2015. Andrew Baird, Vice President, K.H.M.H. Workers’ Union “If you may recall, when public officers received eight, six and three percent (raise) in three years from the government, we […]
The union leader told News Five that while the K.H.M.H. Workers’ Union has no qualms with the government at this time, one thing its members would like to have addressed is a government pension. Aside from the Social Security pension scheme, K.H.M.H. workers are not on any retirement plan. Andrew Baird, Vice President, K.H.M.H. […]
One of the considerations that came up during the meeting between the K.H.M.H. Workers’ Union and Prime Minister Briceño on Wednesday was a request for a 2015 M.O.U. which stipulated that the three hundred and eighty union members would have board representation. Andrew Baird, Vice President, K.H.M.H. Workers’ Union “From 2015 when we had a […]
The Belize Medical and Dental Association has surveyed its members and found a majority are against a salary cut and increment freeze for public health care workers. The B.M.D.A. represents medical specialists and dentists from the public and private sector. Of the one hundred and fifty-nine participants in the survey, fifty-eight percent do not agree with […]
During this week’s cabinet meeting, the government authorized that fifty thousand tonnes of sugar cane from Orange Walk and Corozal sugarcane famers be delivered for milling by the Santander Sugar Group. According to a letter from C.E.O. Servulo Baeza of the Ministry of Agriculture, the reason is a shortfall in the amount being milled by […]
Because B.S.I. cannot mill the estimated tonnes of sugarcane it had initially informed farmers it would do, this has left thousands of tonnes of sugarcane in the fields. Osorio says the decision to take the sugar cane to Santander appears to be the right one. Although B.S.I.’s mill is operating efficiently, there are other factors […]
We also asked Osorio if this decision to take fifty thousand tonnes of sugar cane to be milled at Santander would affect the prices for the farmers. Here’s what he had to say. On the Phone: Marcos Osorio, Chairman, Sugar Industry Control Board “No, no, it shouldn’t in anyway. We have had discussions with […]
Well-known track and field athletes, Ashanti and Ashonti Carr, have received athletic scholarships. They return to Jamaica this Sunday where they will continue to acquire their degrees at the University of Technology. The twins have been track and field athletes for the past nine years in various disciplines and their dedication is now reaping rewards. […]
