The House of Representatives met today in a chilly Belmopan for the first time in 2018. The widely anticipated 2018 General Revenue Supplementary Appropriation Bill dealing with the UHS judgment was presented for first reading. This follows the arrival of the official certificate of judgment from the C.C.J. on Thursday, which sets the tab at […]
The Prime Minister repeated in greater detail his earlier sentiments from the November twenty-second press conference which seemed to present a legal basis by which Parliament could decide not to pay the judgment. He cited cases, lawyer-style, from other Commonwealth jurisdictions facing similar issues, and even suggested means in which the Crown Proceedings Act or […]
The Prime Minister indicated that there will be at least a month’s grace period to the next House meeting when the debate takes place. In that time, the interest continues to accrue. But apart from the legal arguments, the moral question is a much easier one for the Prime Minister to respond to: in short, […]
As noted in our top story, Prime Minister Dean Barrow is going ahead with the Commission of Inquiry agreed on with the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. But before any appointments can be made and a schedule set, the Congress has to draft terms of reference for review by legal authorities. Prime Minister […]
The other major issue debated by the House today is a motion to approve a Taiwan ICDF loan to Belize Telemedia Limited for its Internet program. That loan is to cover ninety-six million dollars for a national broadband program which has already been rolled out to San Pedro. But the primary objection by the Opposition […]
In reply, with assistance from Mesopotamia representative Michael Finnegan, Prime Minister Dean Barrow attempted to show how circumstances have changed. As the P.M. said, B.T.L. is majority-owned by the government and the Social Security Board, and it is a public service. He also noted that such government guarantees are par for the course, and suggested […]
Five days into the New Year, there’s news that consumers don’t want to hear. Fuel prices are going up at midnight so hurry up to the gas station. Today, the Belize Bureau of Standards posted on its website that there will be an increase on all types of fuel, except for regular gasoline, which will […]
George Bull was arrested and charged for the murder of thirty-five-year-old Jaime Pelayo Junior. The Carmelita Village resident was on the run since the second week of December, following Pelayo’s murder, but cops finally caught up with him. Bull was charged for killing Pelayo on December fifteenth in Orange Walk. Pelayo was out socializing with […]
Fareed Ahmad was killed on December twenty-eighth and a woman police constable traveling in his vehicle on that tragic night has been charged for his murder. That case, however, continues to unravel with more questions than answers. The family of the well-known barber from Hattieville believes that law-enforcement officers had a hand in his execution […]
The Police Department is under severe pressure in the investigation of one of its own, Woman Police Constable Michelle Brown for the murder of Fareed Ahmad on December twenty-eighth. In a release issued this evening, police say that their investigation, “has unearthed no evidence that [Ahmad’s] death was a “state- ordered” execution… The Commissioner of […]
Minister Wilfred Elrington has also weighed in on the Fareed Ahmad homicide investigation. He reiterates what the lead investigator for the Professional Standards Branch indicated on Tuesday, that there is no evidence to suggest that other police officers were involved in the Ahmad’s murder. As for the troubling messages that were allegedly sent to members […]
There is a disturbing report by a fourteen-year-old female student against her stepfather, who could also be the father of her unborn child. On Tuesday, the minor along with her sister reported to the Orange Walk Police Station that on two separate occasions in the months of July and September of 2017, her stepfather sexually […]
The ceremonial opening of the Supreme Court on Monday will possibly buy Andrew Bennett additional time to lawyer up and prepare a defense ahead of extradition proceedings. That is if Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington endorses paperwork compiled by the Attorney General’s office on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Bennett is wanted by U.S. authorities […]
The Public Utilities Commission today issued a paid statement opposing news reports this week on the ongoing audit of its finances. But Prime Minister Dean Barrow as Minister of Finance is aware of the allegations being made against the Commission and spoke of what he knew today. While he is yet to see a completed […]
Heavyweight boxer Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is on a rise to the top of boxing with his name used in the same sentence as some of the greats in the past. Maybe you’ve seen one or two fights with him in recent years, but what you may not know is that he is a Belizean-American. […]
Like many who have made resolutions to lose weight this year, some couples are planning to welcome a new baby in 2018. The health of the mother is important even before pregnancy and expecting mothers are encouraged to make early bookings to ensure a healthy baby. News Five’s Duane Moody heads over to NHI on […]
