Prime Minister Dean Barrow hosted a press conference this afternoon, his first in at least six months. So you can understand that there were many questions. In fact, the session went on for more than three hours. The first segment was dedicated to Belize City Council news, and we’ll get to that in due course. […]
While the PM took his initial jab at ROC, he pulled no punches when it comes to the unions who are behind ROC, and claims that the agitation of the Unions at this time is self-serving. A salary increase should kick in on July first and the PM says that while government has committed to […]
PM Barrow says that the IMF is actually telling the government to retrench public officers, as is being done all over the region. And it’s more than that. Teachers and public servants have made additional demands, including health insurance and payments for so-called lost increments. The PM says those demands are irrational and will not […]
Then the PM turned from the unions to the group which organized the rally on Saturday. BGYEA wants to plant corn on about sixty acres of buffer zone at Harmonyville and government immediately slapped them with an injunction. So BGYEA took centre stage at the ‘Plant di Corn’ rally. PM Barrow says they can plant […]
The Auditor-General’s report on corruption in Immigration surrounding the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner passport scandal was handed over on March twenty-first to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Immigration. Since then there has been no word on the findings from official circles and there wasn’t any either today. COLA has requested a copy of […]
And that brings us to the man at the centre of the scandal, former Minister of State Elvin Penner. According to PM Barrow, any suggestion that there is a cover-up is simply not true. In fact, he says, the ball is in the D.P.P.’s court and any decision to prosecute or not lies with her. […]
Gang rivalry was at the root of a spate of shootings that started over the weekend and continued through Tuesday. As many as nine persons were shot and injured including Rafael Cruz, who is clinging to life at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after he was ambushed on Tuesday morning. Then on Sunday, five persons […]
Alfredo Ortega has been the face of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association for years. First as Chairman and now as Vice Chairman, he has been at the fore of negotiations between the BSFCA and the Belize Sugar Industries on payment for bagasse. But tonight, the well-known outspoken cane farmer is in trouble with the […]
A Valley of Peace resident is tonight admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Western Regional Hospital following a stabbing incident on Tuesday afternoon. Sometime around two p.m., forty-three year old Luis Guevara, was stabbed with a machete to the right side of the chest at his home at Santos Amaya’s farm located four […]
Minister of State Mark King came under fire recently for comments he made, claiming that they represented the policy of his government. King claimed that the government looks after, “U.D.P.s first, Belizeans second and P.U.P.s last.” Leader of the Opposition Francis Fonseca immediately demanded an apology from U.D.P. leader Dean Barrow on behalf of King, […]
In the same interview in which those comments were aired, Minister of State Mark King stated that he is lobbying Norwegian Cruise Lines on behalf of a security company he owns. King wants to provide security for the cruise tourism destination down south at Harvest Caye. PM Barrow has no problem with that. He says […]
Ministry of Health C.E.O. Peter Allen has come under serious and sustained fire recently. There have been public allegations made against him by parties in the Ministry of Health who claim that he is an incompetent and manipulative manager. He’s also been written up in audit reports on the misappropriation and misallocation of public funds […]
You heard earlier about Prime Minister Barrow’s comments on Health C.E.O. Peter Allen. He also touched on the comprehensive audits at the Southern Regional Hospital and the Central Region. But there are reports that other audits in other areas are also highlighting financial irregularities. Barrow says that where audits are concerned it’s damned if you […]
The reappointment of Justice Samuel Awich has been opposed by the Opposition and the Bar Association which went as far as to issue a resolution saying it did not support the reappointment of the justice. His contract matured on May fifteenth, on the day he delivered a significant ruling of the cases involving the nationalization […]
Today’s press conference started with a focus on Belize City Council matters, and the matter on the top of that list is the political future of Mayor Darrell Bradley. Earlier this week, Bradley was still uncertain whether he would run for a second term in office or would throw his hat into the ring in […]
Since its grand introduction on the French Riviera a few weeks ago, to coincide with the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, the Puerto Azul development project, a proposed multimillion dollar tourism initiative to be established within the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, has raised more questions than answers. The conservation community has come out hard against the proposed […]
The thirty million dollar Belize Municipal Development Project was the focus of a workshop in Belmopan today. The BMDP was rolled out a year ago, and so far there have been continuous discussions; today municipal authorities from all over the country were invited to discuss the outcome of the Municipal Development Planning Initiative, which is […]
The Belize Tourism Industry Association, Orange Walk Chapter, on Tuesday in a release complained about the bad state of streets in Orange Walk Town. While works are currently underway on fifteen streets under the responsibility of Kevin Bernard and his Town Council, two main thoroughfares, the Philip Goldson Highway and the San Antonio Road are […]
Kenrick Williams, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a minor in 2004, will remain incarcerated at the Belize Central Prison after a panel of judges at the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction. Williams appeared before the bench today where attorney Phillip Palacio argued on his behalf to have the sentence quashed. […]
