Four men were arraigned this morning in the Orange Walk Magistrate Court for drug possession and trafficking of forty pounds of heroin, worth ten million dollars. It follows a huge bust by the Anti-Drug Unit of the police department in front of a bar at the South End entrance of Corozal Town. There was no […]
A fisherman was heading home to Oleander Street in the City on Tuesday night when he was ambushed in his boat. Pedro Ayuso Junior, also known as Pete, was in the area of Belcan Bridge when someone travelling in another skiff opened fire on him. The salvo of bullets found their mark on the father […]
While no one has been charged for the murder of “Pete” Ayuso, a prison inmate was this afternoon arraigned for a murder that happened five years ago. Twenty-nine year old Lorenzo Smith Junior is serving a ten year prison term for arson and was soon to be released when his past caught up with him. […]
But in the south, there’s a complicated story in Independence village which we’ve been following for the past week – one which involves a Policeman, a minor, and to some extent, a jealous wife. Independence Police haven’t had much to say when we’ve contacted them, but we note that the Police sitrep for today does […]
The protracted standoff between the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association and ASR/B.S.I. has been in the news headlines for weeks, but is the crisis finally coming to a resolution? That’s what we asked B.S.C.F.A. chairman, Ezequiel Cansino, today when we sat with him exclusively. Despite factions of the association proclaiming that they are signing the […]
Still yet, the petition to gather as many signatures approving the endorsement of the agreement has been described as B.S.C.F.A. yielding to pressure being brought by government, as branch directors have gone on record to voice their discontent for not getting the best deal. But farmers are cash strapped and after Thursday’s press conference by […]
Regarding the use of Fairtrade funds being paid out to farmers, Cansino says that the suggestion to replace the spent monies with PetroCaribe dollars is a singular idea coming out of a splinter group of the B.S.C.F.A. While agreeing that the disbursal will lead to decertification, Cansino says that the ball is already in play […]
Government has gone on a PR push to counter an abundance of flak for their role in the recent sugar debacle. While it is true that farmers have decided to sign on with ASR/B.S.I., effectively ending the impasse, many are doing so under protest. The prevailing sentiment is that G.O.B. turned its back on the […]
There has been some confusion as regards a court case in 2010, when other associations took legal action to fight for the right to deliver cane to the factory. That matter played out to an uncertain end – with both parties making concessions through a consent order. Government undertook to make amendments to the Act, […]
One of the three biggest stumbling blocks which stood in the way of resolution was the issue of ownership of the cane. The factory has maintained that farmers must relinquish ownership of the cane once it is delivered and weighed. Farmers are of the view that they share ownership with the factory, since they don’t […]
Twenty-three year old Hattieville resident, Gian Stiane, is behind bars tonight on the first day of a three year conviction. Staine appeared before Magistrate Herbert Panton on a charge of drug trafficking. He is accused of having one hundred and three grams of cannabis for the purpose of supplying it to another person. Staine pleaded […]
Acting first on behalf of cane-farmer Lucilo Teck, and latterly on behalf of the B.S.C.F.A., attorney Audrey Matura-Shepherd sought an order of Mandamus from the Court. That order would effectively instruct the Sugar Industry Control Board to declare a start date of the crop, and force the factory to mill. The hearing is, or was, […]
While it has not to our knowledge become an official inquiry, there is increasing discussion in the B.S.C.F.A. asking government to roll Petrocaribe monies into the Association. According to officials, thanks to the forced disbursement of Fairtrade monies recently, there will be almost immediate layoffs and the shutting down of projects. They figure that since […]
This morning at the Saint John’s Anglican Primary School in Belize City, education stakeholders turned out in numbers. The occasion was two-fold: the construction of a new building gifted to the school as well as the signing of a tripartite agreement between the Ministry of Education, the University of Belize as well as the Bridgewater […]
