Since the announcement last week, there has been growing public outcry over the awarding of another contract to Imer Hernandez, the family of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Gaspar Vega. This afternoon, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a press conference seeking to quell the firestorm on the cost of the works as well as over […]
As to the tendering for the award of the lucrative contract, you heard the Prime Minister say he solicited estimates from two contractors before settling for Hernandez. He had also consulted with U.D.P. mayoral candidate Dion Leslie. He calls this process, limited tendering, to expedite the works. The contract was signed last Thursday and by […]
To bolster an explanation on the seemingly exorbitant cost of the Faber’s Road project, government brought in an engineering consultant who has had extensive history working with the Ministry of Works. Avondale Moody handles a majority, if not all, of the internationally funded projects and after a detailed breakdown of expenditure, he claims that the […]
The Prime Minister opened the conference by specifically challenging the charge that the Finance and Audit Act was violated by the use of the selective tendering process rather than open tendering. He also defended against claims that the contract should have immediately gone to the National Assembly for review. The Act, said Barrow, provides that […]
Does Imer Hernandez’s family ties to former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega place him under intense public scrutiny insofar as the Faber’s Road project and other past contracts are concerned? Interestingly, PM Barrow says the nephew of the Orange Walk North Area Representative is not known for any party political allegiance. Barrow adds that the […]
It has now been over a month since any member of the Police Department last gave an on-camera interview to the press concerning criminal matters, not counting Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie. In that time, by our count, there have been eighteen murders reported countrywide, no less than a dozen of them in Belize City […]
This evening, Caribbean Shores area representative Kareem Musa issued a statement on social media declaring that he would not contest the position of party leader of the People’s United Party against incumbent John Briceño. Musa’s name was raised shortly after the National Party Council meeting of September thirtieth as a potential challenger in the upcoming […]
The Donald Trump administration has put restrictions on U.S. banks from doing business with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and put the equivalent of ‘kingpin’ designations on President Nicolas Maduro and certain executives of the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. So what does that mean for the prices at the pumps? Well, Prime Minister […]
The controversy surrounding the cost of the Faber’s Road reconstruction has also managed to tear away the crust over the healing wound that is Lake Independence Boulevard. That stretch of road from its junction with Faber’s Road and the George Price Highway to the Chetumal Street Bridge was built within the past two years and […]
San Ignacio Police are yet to charge an American national who is currently in their custody for the alleged attempted abduction of three students from El Progresso Seven Miles Community in the west. News Five is being told that there is still not enough to charge the detainee, who has been in police hands since […]
Almost a week after well-known taxi man and activist Albert Cattouse was executed on Hicatee Street on south side Belize City; there is finally an official report on what happened to the seventy-two-year-old Lord’s Bank resident. It didn’t come from the Police Department or any person from within the Ministry of Home Affairs, but in […]
The Senate Special Select Committee is moving closer to its conclusion, but it took a slight detour for today’s session. The two witnesses called – Labour Commissioner Ivan Williams and Assistant Registrar of the Vital Statistics Unit in the Attorney General’s Ministry, Patricia Hinkson – may not at first glance appear to be connected with […]
The Labour Department has a standing relationship with the two industries most in need of working labour – banana and citrus. But according to Commissioner Ivan Williams, there are concerns involving the employment of workers from neighboring Central American countries, particularly Guatemala. As we have reported, there are questions of whether Guatemalans seeking to become […]
The Vital Statistics Unit is at least partly computerized although a vault of the old books with manual entries of births is still maintained. The newly-appointed Assistant Registrar for the Unit, Patricia Hinkson, notes that it is still possible for anyone to walk in to register although most are done at the hospitals. But as […]
Hinkson indicated that the office does not do any vetting of its own concerning persons seeking birth certificates apart from the signature and I.D. scanning. But what can prevent someone seeking a certificate and paying off someone in the office to do so? Not much, Hinkson said, except the integrity of the system and her […]
It appears Chairman Aldo Salazar was at variance with his colleagues on the worth of today’s witnesses, but as indicated in his comments at the end of today’s session he bowed to their wishes. He issued a summary of the importance of the testimony for the Senate’s process. Aldo Salazar, Chair, Senate Special Select […]
The bulk of Salazar’s post-Senate interview concerned its future. He confirmed that Minister of Immigration and fellow senator Godwin Hulse is next to appear before the Committee, in two weeks’ time on November first, as there is a full Senate hearing due next Wednesday. As the chairman has previously indicated in media appearances, he is […]
The extent to which Belize’s economy depends on tourism generated by the threatened Belize Barrier Reef World Heritage site was revealed today by a new report from World Wildlife Fund and partner organizations. The report, “Natural Heritage, Natural Wealth,” aims to highlight the incredible resource the country is at risk of losing. The results of […]
The University of the West Indies Open Campus Auditorium on Princess Margaret Drive was the venue for a one-day seminar that targets the role of Human Resources Units in both the public and private sectors. Directors, managers and officers across Belize came together to discuss critical areas of strategic management, as part of the university’s […]
