There is breaking news of a shooting in the city. It happened at around six-forty p.m. in the Saint Martin’s De Porres area. One person, identified as Jason Cortez, was shot at the corner of Electric and Western Avenues and reports to our newsroom is that the victim has succumbed. We’ll have more on this […]
The public hearings of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration have moved into high gear and today under oath, a bombshell was dropped from an unexpected corner. In the first six sessions of the Committee, from the end of November to the end of January, not counting holidays and other breaks, just three witnesses […]
Castellanos went on to accuse immigration officers of treating ‘civilian’ officers like herself as ‘intruders’ at the Department and even cannibalizing their own who were doing the right thing. She added that efforts by Maria Marin as Acting Director, among others, to clean up the Department were undercut by the lack of support from the […]
While the cases of Won Hong Kim and the eight visa foils are dominating recent headlines, there was no shortage of scandal at the Immigration Department that necessitated immigration officers being taken before the Public Service Commission for various offenses. At today’s hearing, Teresita Castellanos charged that the Department made recommendations for pursuing such matters […]
The second witness to appear at the Senate Special Select Committee this afternoon was George Reynolds. He is entering his twenty-seventh year with the Immigration Department and in 2013 was the Port Commander in charge of Immigration Services at the Department’s Belmopan headquarters, in charge of visas and other temporary permits such as for students […]
As a senior man in the Immigration Department, George Reynolds saw his share of important people coming in and out – even a Minister or two. But he told the Senate Special Select Committee that he personally saw little of them in his area and their interventions played a role. He also commented on the […]
From the senate to the courts…Belize’s highest court, the Caribbean Court of Justice, has ordered changes to the appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal. Today, the CCJ dismissed a claim by the Bar Association of Belize against the Attorney General concerning an amendment to the Constitution on the appointment and tenure of judges, […]
The Prime Minister currently has power to recommend the appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal, after consulting with the Leader of the Opposition, while the Judicial and Legal Services Commission has power over appointments to the Supreme Court. More importantly, by making only recommendations and not orders, Marshalleck concedes that only when the […]
As we reported earlier, the Senate Special Select Committee has called multiple witnesses on several occasions for public hearings in the past few weeks. While there have been rescheduling of witnesses due to various circumstances, only one invited witness, Immigration Clerk Ady Pacheco, has been unable to attend due to complications of pregnancy, and no […]
Is this the end of the line as far as the matter is concerned? Chairman Salazar said the Committee is considering its options and has not ruled out litigation, although the details are to be worked out privately. But how will this impact any findings of the Committee in relation to the pair and can […]
If you are a driver who uses the Cinderella Plaza area, you may just want to pay attention to avoid an accident waiting to happen. Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley was taken to task today about those traffic lights that are not functioning, specifically at the heavily trafficked intersection. The Mayor wasn’t too pleased with […]
But the mayor had positive news about the streets…If you are living in the south side divisions of Port Loyola, Lake I and Collet; you can expect to see some street works happening in your area. Mayor Bradley told us that cementing of streets will continue but these will be reinforced with some tar work. […]
In sporting news…for the first time, a Belizean now leads the Central American Table Tennis Federation, or CONCATEME. He is Arturo ‘Tux’ Vasquez, who was elected at the general assembly of the Federation in Guatemala City last Friday, February tenth. Vasquez is currently president of the Belize Table Tennis Association and with his presidency joins […]
The case against three men, who shot a police officer, fell apart today two weeks after it begun before Justice Adolph Lucas. The shooting of Police Constable Nigel White occurred on March twenty-six 2011 while he was on duty at the Belama Phase Two police station on Albert Hoy Street. The alleged brazen gunman was […]
Two others also walked free today of a charge of attempted murder when the office of the D.P.P. entered a case of nolle prosequi. They are notorious figures, Tyrone Meighan and Osman Mitchell, both of Belize City. According to the crown, the nolle prosequi was necessary due to the circumstances involving the witnesses in the […]
For about eighteen months the Belize City Council and its partners have been working on a gateway monument on North Front Street just below the Swing Bridge. Well, that project was officially opened today with a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of two plaques. This project segues into a bigger plan that the City announced […]
It has been more than a month since PASA informed the Solid Waste Management Authority that they would not be carrying out anymore works at the transfer stations and the regional sanitary land fill at mile twenty-four. While this is a matter between Central Government through the Solid Waste Management Authority and PASA, the Belize […]
The Youth Apprenticeship Program got a boost today with a donation that will go a long way in providing jobs for at-risk youths in the city. At the program headquarters on Youth for the Future Drive, a number of apprentices happily received the donation made possible through the CAPS project, between the Government of Belize […]
Healthcare is everybody’s business. The national referral hospital has been encouraging the private sector to invest in the K.H.M.H. Well, Atlantic Insurance has stepped up and retrofitted a room within the medical ward. The private room has been transformed into a recovery room and will hopefully bring in revenue for the hospital. News Five’s Duane […]
Today, the Ministry of Labour held an inauguration ceremony to reactivate the labour advisory board, tri-partite body and the national child labour committee – made up of members from government agencies, the Belize chamber of commerce and the unions. These committees were formed a couple years back but they never quite functioned as they were […]
