Wednesday was a big day at the Senate Special Select Committee as former Director of Immigration Ruth Meighan closed her testimony. We have full coverage of the many revelations coming from that meeting in tonight’s newscast, but perhaps the biggest one was reserved for the tail end of the hearing, which concluded just before two […]
On Wednesday, we showed you how ex-Immigration Director Ruth Meighan took responsibility as senior officer for not taking advantage of the resources available to her to properly vet documents. But there is a greater mea culpa she took on, and that is for most of the entire state of affairs under her tenure. While she […]
Wednesday’s public hearing of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration touched many issues and provided many revelations. One is the extensive back and forth with regard to the issue of recommenders for visas and passports, and the contrast with letters from persons seeking investment opportunities or sponsoring family members to come to the Jewel […]
The Senate inquiry has revealed that Ministers wielded outsize power as it related to the workings of the Immigration Department. While Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse has contended that none of his fellow Ministers had the power to intimidate employees of the Department into doing favours for them, it turns out there was a lot […]
Jin Chen An. He or she, depending on who you ask, was a Chinese investor consultant working with one Roger Tien, seeking a visa to come to Belize. He was invited by Minister of Trade Erwin Contreras in 2012, despite apparently living in Belize from 2007 and even opening a place of business, National Bar […]
Thirty-nine-year-old Elsworth Morter is spending a second night at the Belize Central Prison after being sentenced to three years for drug trafficking. A GSU raid on his Oleander Street residence on Monday night yielded over thirteen pounds of cannabis. At the time of the sweep, seven others, including six adults and a minor, were inside […]
A gang of six would-be thieves, busted during a foiled robbery attempt at the Northern Fishermen’s Cooperatives on January tenth, appeared before the lower court on Wednesday. Taxi driver Gilroy Thompson, Dorian Blair, Aaron Flowers, Kenroy Vanzie and Collet Montero were previously arraigned for possession of a firearm with intent to commit a crime. They […]
The Statistical Institute of Belize has released figures for December 2016. From that information, it comes as no surprise that consumer prices were up by one point one percent. That figure is compared to the same period in 2015. The transport index increased by nine point nine percent and remained the key contributor to the […]
There was an encounter earlier today resulting in a heated exchange between local customs officials and Mexican contrabandists at the northern border in Corozal. Amateur footage of the incident was posted online this afternoon and that video has since gone viral. A rowdy mob of peddlers can be seen at the border crossing engaging the […]
It made the news back in June 2011 when businessman Patrick Menzies was charged with the attempted murder of a GSU officer and a woman who were socializing at a City establishment when a fight broke out. The original claims were that GSU personnel intervened to break up the fight and in the process officers […]
This morning, more than eleven million viewers watched the live streaming of the preliminary events of Miss Universe pageant held in Manila, Philippines. The top ladies from the swimsuit and evening gown will be named at the coronation event that airs here in Belize on Sunday, January twenty-ninth. Belize’s eyes will be watching closely as […]
The twenty-sixth of January is celebrated annually as World Customs Day and today the local Customs and Excise Department commemorated the day by setting up information booths inside the Battlefield Park in downtown Belize City. In April of 2008, the department joined the World Customs Organization and has since been upgrading the processes within the […]
Many are of the opinion that the role of the department is really to have customs officers stationed at border/entry points searching your luggage and groceries and fining you. But the mandate of the Customs and Excise Department is really for security measures at entry points. Leslie says that the event showcases risk management practices […]
It’s been just over two years since Belize and the world lost musical legend Paul Nabor. Nabi, as he was affectionately known, was a humble Garifuna fisherman, farmer, and musician, who through his parandero music took his cultural heritage to the world stage. That intangible heritage lives on through Punta Rock musicians and youths in […]
