The delayed national budget was tabled in the House of Representatives this morning. The forty two page document delivered by the Prime Minister is themed “Exercising Discipline while Preserving Growth.” On the expenditure side, the P.M. says there will be no increase over last year which means that we will generally see a continuation of […]
The P.M. says that the budget is not austere, but to swap words it is certainly spartan. He signaled the need for everyone to tighten their belts ahead because the country does face declining oil revenues, increased interest and amortization payments for the Superbond and he referred to “exercising a heightened level of fiscal discipline […]
The P.M. says that provisions are also being made for support to alternative education, especially the community resource centers in the south side of Belize City, and, the ITVET. The National Health Insurance programme will also continue and funds have been to the upgrade of the Toledo District Highway to the Guatemalan Border. But the […]
The Opposition side this term is robust with fifteen parliamentarians, some who made their maiden intervention today. While the budget will be debated on July twelfth and thirteenth, we got an early reaction from the Opposition side when we caught up with former Leader of the Opposition and current Orange Walk Central Area Representative John […]
While the Prime Minister was presenting his first post election budget, outside the National Assembly building, a handful of demonstrators kept up the pressure against crime. Jasmine Lowe, the murdered thirteen year old girl from Santa Elena, was central to the demonstration. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports. Isani Cayetano, Reporting What should have been […]
A jury of twelve had a tough time deciding the fates of brothers, Emory and Maurice Felix, who were on trial for the murder of twenty-nine year old Mitchum Heredia. After four hours of deliberation, the jury first emerged shortly before five o’clock this evening, but were undecided. Justice Herbert Lord sent them back to […]
Brian Brown is out; he was released this afternoon after Justice Adolph Lucas granted him bail at the Supreme Court. His attorney, Ellis Arnold, submitted that Brown should be granted bail because of non-compliance with an order made by Judge Lucas on June nineteenth when Arnold initially made attempts to get him bail. Judge Lucas […]
And now back to the budget, a large part of the public debt is still undecided as the cost of nationalizing Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited has not been worked out. Now that both utility companies are government properties, Barrow says that B.T.L. is investing fifty-one million dollars in capital improvements this year, […]
There are few new initiatives in the budget. The prime minister brought back the construction of a basketball arena, which the Mexican government was initially committed to. He hopes that with support from B.T.L. and Social Security, the sporting facility will finally come to fruition. Dean Barrow “Under Infrastructure, I must as well mention […]
There were other activities taking place aside from the budget. Across the Caribbean, today is recognized as Regional HIV Testing Day. The initiative was started by the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS in collaboration with the Pan Caribbean Partnership on HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) in 2008. For the first time it is being implemented locally with […]
Streets in the downtown area are getting a much needed face lift. The roster includes ten streets that are heavily trafficked on both the north and south sides. The novelty is that nine will be paved with cement instead of asphalt, which City Hall says will better withstand the traffic and elements and is cheaper. […]
Carnival is less than two months away and bands are already gearing up for this year’s fete. Pickstock Carnival Band Leader, Gareth Gill, says that this year they’re going all out and are kicking off their moves this weekend with the Miss Pickstock pageant. The show will feature six young girls, which Gills says promises […]
