A proposed loan by the Social Security Board to the Belize Airports Authority is making the headlines tonight. The said loan is to finance construction of the Caye Caulker Airstrip Runway. Tonight, S.S.B. Chair Doug Singh says the Investment Committee has yet to consider the application before it even gets to the main S.S.B. board. […]
In Friday’s House meeting, Prime Minister Dean Barrow said that the amount being asked for was four million dollars and that the Board had yet to consider it. Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia told reporters days before that winning contractor Imer Hernandez has already been advanced funds; though he did not say from where. In […]
Since the confirmation of the incumbent United Democratic Party’s slate in August, the announcement for the unveiling of the People’s United Party slate in Belize City has been hotly anticipated. The press was able to tease details from Briceño during this afternoon’s press conference, such as the name of the mayoral candidate, who he confirmed […]
By far, C.E.O. of Belize Telemedia Limited Rochus Schreiber’s salary and benefits, amounting to more than seven hundred thousand Belize dollars, is the most paid to anyone in that role in Belize. In fact, even ministerial salaries are beneath that amount. Opposition Leader John Briceño raised it in the House on the occasion of the […]
The battle over custody of the three surviving Cannon siblings continues in the Family Court. They are the younger siblings of the late Faye Lin Cannon, found dead with severe trauma at a San Pedro resort in July. Initially questioned about the death of the child, the siblings’ adoptive parents, David and Anke Doehm, were […]
The Court of Appeal concludes its business for the current term on Friday, but one of its judges is facing a fight to keep his job. Recently appointed Franz Parke continues to face criticism over his lack of judicial experience and ties to Prime Minister Dean Barrow and shortly before his appointment, P.U.P. Leader John […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow promised a significant fuel price reduction at a press conference, but he asked for a couple days grace for it to happen. According to the Prime Minister, the fuel shipment was on its way from Venezuela. Effective Wednesday, regular gas prices are down sixteen cents, to ten dollars and thirteen cents […]
While Social Security dominated this afternoon’s press conference, the first issue raised by P.U.P. Leader John Briceño was crime, which has dominated this week’s news as it has many weeks. And the solution could be on his way back very soon. Former Southside Commander Chester Williams, according to Briceño, is slated for a return. But […]
A seven-year-old Saint Joseph Primary School student is tonight recovering back at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital from a gunshot wound to the back which exited her abdomen. Malli Herrera was injured along with her grandmother just before news time on Tuesday night as they sat inside their home on New Road, in Belize City. […]
As seven-year-old Malli Herrera recovers at the K.H.M.H., Cardinal Andrews continues to fight for his life and remains on a ventilator inside the I.C.U. The twenty-eight-year-old Belize Water Services employee was targeted on Wednesday afternoon around four o’clock, as he walked on Partridge Street in the Saint Martin de Porres area in Belize City. No […]
While no one has been detained for either of the shootings in the city, on Ambergris Caye, a construction worker of the San Mateo area of San Pedro Town has been charged for the attempted murder of a woman. Police say that just before four p.m., Alexia del Carmen Melendez was walking to her home […]
Twenty-one-year-old Bernard Cayetano, aka Unlimited, a local artist was arraigned on Wednesday in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court for allegedly obstructing and assaulting a police officer, and resisting arrest. He was released on bail but today another artist, Shikell Nunez, aka “Cross Di Nitro” was also taken to court and arraigned, but he did not […]
The recent decriminalization of a small quantity of marijuana for personal use is not unique to Belize. In fact, it follows a similar model that has been implemented in Jamaica where a greater amount of two ounces, the equivalent of fifty-six point six grams of cannabis, has been permitted for individual consumption. According to Kamina […]
Along with decriminalization is a broader conversation of legalizing the marijuana industry as a viable contributor to a country‘s Gross Domestic Product. That prototype would be similar to a model that has been implemented in Denver, Colorado where significant economic growth has been recorded, following legalization of the drug. Kamina Johnson-Smith, Foreign Minister, Jamaica […]
A session of the Public Accounts Committee during which Auditor General Dorothy Bradley was scheduled to appear, was called off earlier today when four U.D.P. ministers who sit on the working group failed to show up for the meeting. The scheduled sitting would have seen the auditor general responding to questions about irregularities described in […]
The Caribbean’s judicial officers have for the past few months been consulting on an issue of region-wide importance. With an increase reported in sexually-based offences, particularly here in Belize in the cases of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse and similar offences, there are more persons left vulnerable and subject to stigma and discrimination, not to mention […]
Tonight, my colleague Marleni Cuellar is in San Francisco, U.S.A. where she is attending the tenth World Conference of Science Journalists. Marleni is teaming up with Channel Seven’s Courtney Weatherburne and fellow team members Tameka Lundy and Deanya Knowles of the Bahamas. The team is participating in the international forum on science journalism as a […]
The Ministry of Health released the 2016 Annual HIV Statistical Report and the numbers show that there were fewer persons infected than in 2015. As in previous years, the report shows that not as many men were tested, but even so, more men were HIV positive. The Ministry of Health says that while there were […]
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital has had to suspend elective surgeries because ten days ago, it reported that there has been a shortage of available blood due to a limited blood supply and restrictions imposed by the Blood Bank of the Ministry of Health. Tonight, we can tell you that the Ministry is being accused […]
The spike in violent crimes across Belize City, as well as allegations of state-sanctioned killings as a possible solution to the rampant homicides that have gripped the Old Capital, has raised serious concerns among the citizenry. This is in light of allegations of an extrajudicial assignment to be undertaken by a special unit of the […]
The Ministry of Works signed a contract with Italian consultancy firm Politecnica for a feasibility study and detailed designs for the upgrading of the coastal road. Politecnica is the same firm consulted for the rehab of the Haulover Bridge. For the coastal road, the consultancy fee is nine hundred and ninety-five thousand U.S. dollars or […]
In contrast to the debate in the House of Representatives which centered on the salary of its C.E.O., the Senate’s debate of the International Banking (Amendment) Bill focuses on Belize Telemedia Limited’s efforts to obtain a loan for the Internet to houses broadband program, costing thirty-five million U.S. dollars. It intends to obtain a portion […]
An amendment to the Immigration Act proposes to create a new class of persons with legal immigration status in Belize. As the name suggests, temporary residency supposes that holders who are active in Belize but maintain other residences and legal statuses would be allowed to claim Belizean-ness for as long as they wish without having […]
