On Thursday, People’s United Party senators Eamon Courtenay and Valerie Woods brought public attention to the lack of accountability and transparency in government expenditures. This is in respect of monies that were reportedly spent on relief and cleanup in the wake of Hurricane Earl in 2016, as well as unbudgeted funds that were also made […]
Accompanying the Finance and Audit Reform Act are Fiscal Transparency and Responsibility Regulations. That set of guidelines contains sixteen steps, including a fiscal outlook and mid-year review report, none of which have been presented to Auditor General Dorothy Bradley. While the citizens of Belize clamored for these measures to be put in place to ensure […]
In an unprecedented move, six of the non-government parliamentarians, including church senator Ashley Rocke, sided with Senator Eamon Courtenay on Wednesday when a call was made to bring the Financial Secretary before the upper house. While the People’s United Party is devising a plan of action, business senator Mark Lizarraga has turned in a report […]
Two brothers were caught in an explosion inside their family bakery in Sand Hill, Belize District, this morning. One of them is dead and the other is hospitalized following an accidental blast that happened inside an oven in the kitchen. The IN-n-Out Bakery has been in operation for more than five years, it’s the first […]
At Price Barracks in Ladyville this afternoon, it was out with the old and, especially, in with the new. The national army is now forty years old and has had seven Belizeans in charge. Today, an eighth accepted his new responsibilities under the watchful eye of Governor General Sir Colville Young. He will lead a […]
Surveillance footage captured last week showed an alarming occurrence at the western border between Belize and Guatemala. Taken from inside the Customs office, a trio of Guatemalan soldiers dressed in what appear to be the military fatigues of the elite Kaibil unit are shown walking over from past the O.A.S. office to the Customs/Immigration building. […]
The Ministry of Finance continues to investigate how a significant quantity of outdated military equipment scheduled for disposal ended up in the hands of three civilians, including a Mexican national. As it relates to the Belize Defence Force, a senior officer from the Air Wing was found to have communicated with one of the men […]
A cane farmer was knocked down and killed in San Narciso Village around six-thirty on Thursday evening. Police say that thirty-five-year-old Gerardo Chable was driving his vehicle on the San Narciso main road heading towards San Victor Village when his vehicle hit fifty-two-year-old Hermenejildo Patt on a bicycle. The vehicle reportedly dragged Patt a couple […]
On Thursday evening, police officially arrested and charged a duo from Ladyville for Tuesday night’s double murder. This afternoon the two youths were brought to court for the murders of Casey Lozano and Marlon Spain and injury to Jonah Gray and Sydney Humes. Twenty-three-year-old Jessie Mejia and twenty-two-year-old Darwin Prado also appeared before Chief Magistrate […]
Teenage siblings Josephine and Crecencia Oh were chopped to death in the southern community of San Jose, Toledo on Sunday night, while they were returning home to San Antonio Village. Earlier that day, the sisters had attended a church service and visited with their brother before heading home on foot some ten miles away. But […]
Thirty-six year old Chester Noralez, accused in the brutal beating and home invasion against senior citizen Patrick Grant in 2015, was acquitted of the charge today before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer. Both Grant and his sister, Gilda Diaz, were to have testified in the trial but both are now deceased. Grant’s twenty-one inch Toshiba television […]
Earlier we heard from Private Sector Senator Mark Lizarraga on dated government expenditure that has just gone before the senate. Senator Osmany Salas, who represents the N.G.O. community, also spoke on government’s extreme tardiness in bringing forward the expenditure for approval from the senate. It has been seventeen months since Hurricane Earl devastated parts of […]
The twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena are in full gear for the March seventh municipal elections. Both parties are on the ground campaigning house to house and holding small assemblies. Like in other municipalities the issues are of national importance as well as local. The area is commonly known as the red […]
In the west, water levels rose cutting off access at Iguana Creek Bridge to the Spanish Lookout Community. Several other villages such as Santa Teresa and San Marcos are inundated. According to Assistant NEMO Coordinator Johnny Ramclam, western Belize experienced continuous rains, which started from six-thirty on Thursday through to this morning. In Benque Viejo […]
International Customs Day was observed around the world today in honor of this vital cog in the international financial and trade machine. As has become tradition, Belize’s Customs and Excise Department planned an outdoor open day in downtown Belize City at the Battlefield Park to bring its work to the general public along with selected […]
The news makes regular reports on persons caught with uncustomed goods, usually contraband from the free zone and Mexico. Often these matters are settled by the department without a need to go to court or even arrest. But does the law change when the offenders are repeaters and occasionally flagrant violators? Comptroller of Customs Colin […]
Ann-Marie Williams is moving on up. She is leaving her Executive Director position with the National Women’s Commission (NWC) for a regional job. Williams is heading to the CARICOM Secretariat to serve as the Deputy Program Manager for Gender and Development. She is finishing off her work at the NWC after having resigned a few […]
Earlier this week, News Five sat down with outgoing Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley in his final days as head of the municipal government. The two-term mayor spoke candidly about the need for good governance, as well as the doing away with corruption in public office. Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor “We need strong […]
