Usually all eyes and ears are tuned to the fireworks, insults, taunts and verbal sparring inside the House of Representatives. But today, attention was split as the opposition announced late in the week that they would be protesting on the steps of the National Assembly. While the most burning issue on the public plate has […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow will be leaving over the weekend for medical treatment in the United States, but this morning, he faced a firestorm in respect of the recent passport and visa scandals that have rocked the Ministry of Immigration and Nationality and have shaken his Administration to the core. A number of bills came […]
The second amendment is the Belizean Nationality Amendment Bill which seeks to make more efficient the process by which Belizean nationality can be obtained by registration. This revision also allows for increased penalties for breach of the provisions and the establishment of a nationality scrutinizing committee in which the Prime Minister indicated that social partners […]
Lastly, the Passport Amendment Bill also sees the introduction of stringent penalties for persons found guilty of unlawfully aiding the acquisition of a Belizean passport. This proposal is in light of recent measures taken by the Minister of Immigration, Godwin Hulse, to address the loopholes in the existing immigration system. And while the price for […]
With the proposed amendment bills out of the way, the sparring got underway. There was a fiery exchange between P.M. Barrow and Opposition Leader, Francis Fonseca, regarding the investigations into the passport and visa scandals. The prime minister’s took a walk down memory lane on what transpired during past P.U.P. administrations on the very issue […]
We left you with the sparring between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Well that continued with the excoriation of the former P.U.P. administration. Barrow addressed the 2002 immigration scandal involving erstwhile Minister Maxwell Samuels. The past prime minister, he says, did nothing to discipline Samuels when it was discovered that he […]
The Court of Appeal handed down a number of decisions today. This afternoon, it ruled in favour of Dunkeld International Investments Limited, one of the beneficiaries of the Telemedia shares that were acquired by the Government in 2009. The Government had sued Dunkeld and obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court preventing Dunkeld from proceeding […]
On Thursday night, there was a murder in the Salvapan area of the capital where another taxi driver lost his life. The body of the cabbie, Orlando Smith, was found dead with his throat slit; his vehicle was also recovered not far away between miles forty-four and forty-five on the George Price Highway. It is […]
Still on politics… The People’s United Party will be holding its convention for the Belmopan constituency this Sunday. If the past few weeks are any indication, Sunday’s election promises to be hard fought, spirited, and maybe even nasty. Four candidates have thrown their hats in the ring – political newcomers Jason Patrick Andrews and Oscar […]
All eyes have been on Edmond Castro recently because of the compelling nature of the corruption allegations against him. But the man who started it all is former Minister of State Elvin Penner. He wasn’t at the House meeting today. It’s a case of out of sight, but not out of mind…and apparently not out […]
While Landy Habet is paving the way to recall Elvin Penner, P.U.P. Belize Rural North political officer Arthur Saldivar is not far behind. His target is Edmund ‘Clear the Land’ Castro, who is accused of clearing the way for visas for Chinese nationals. The allegations against Castro are serious, and there are indications that much […]
In respect of the nationality scrutinizing committee….that issue was ventilated fully following the House Sitting when the Prime Minister faced the press for the first time since his return from the United States. When the Penner passport scandal broke, the committee was proposed to include social partners. Both the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and […]
As we reported earlier this week, Prime Minister Barrow will be traveling to Los Angeles where he is scheduled to undergo surgery on his ailing back. While it was rumored that the P.M. would be away on an extended leave of absence, he told the media, following today’s house meeting, that if the operation is […]
In the wake of the passport and subsequent visa scandals, there has been a call for a senate investigation. That request was made by P.U.P. senator Lisa Shoman during the last sitting of the senate on October second. According to P.M. Barrow, the auditor general has been tasked to conduct an audit of the Immigration […]
In July of this year, the Court of Appeal issued a complicated and hotly disputed decision in the counter appeal of the Maya Leaders Alliance (MLA) and Toledo Alcaldes Association (TAA) and the Government, affirming the Mayas’ rights to control communal land in thirty-eight Maya villages of the Toledo District. The decision was complicated because […]
A near fatal road traffic accident involving a passenger bus and a four-door vehicle resulted in the hospitalization of an elderly woman after sustaining injuries to various parts of the body. Shortly before three o’clock this afternoon, our Channel Five news team was returning to Belize City when upon reaching mile thirty-nine on the George […]
For many years, News Five has been covering the birthday celebrations held for April the Tapir. But after thirty years of being in existence and a main attraction at the Belize Zoo, April passed away on Thursday night. Duane Moody, Reporting World and national tapir day is celebrated every year in late April and […]
