Prime Minister Dean Barrow hosted an extended press conference today, following an equally lengthy hiatus from the public eye since his return from medical treatment in Havana last month. This morning’s brief touched on a raft of national issues, from Belize’s economic performance to the pending I.C.J. referendum and all points between. The PM first […]
Perhaps the most striking of his many responses during the subsequent question and answer session is the fact that Cabinet has not discussed or sanctioned a series of proposed excursions to Gracias A Dios via the Sarstoon River. Last Tuesday, the Ministry of National Security announced on its social media page that planned visits to […]
Still on the Sarstoon…the establishment of a protocol between Belize and Guatemala to govern the movement of people along the Sarstoon River is long in the making. In 2015, representatives of both countries met in Istanbul, Turkey to hammer out an agreement, but that has not materialized. Despite a concerted effort by the Organization of […]
The proposed legalization of marijuana by Opposition Leader John Briceño has elicited responses from all corners. Government has come out strongly against the idea, blasting Briceño for suggesting that a legitimate marijuana industry can and ought to be established in Belize. Not only did Cabinet pan the thought, today Prime Minister Barrow said such a […]
While all is not lost in the legalization debate, PM Barrow says that the Ministry of Agriculture is looking into the possibility of establishing a hemp industry for the export market. The Office of the Attorney General, says the PM, is drafting the necessary pieces of law to accompany the proposal. Prime Minister Dean […]
The date for eligible voters to determine whether the territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala should go before the I.C.J. is fixed. The referendum will be held on April tenth, 2019 and, according to PM Barrow, there is no possibility of postponing the exercise. The Leader of the Opposition, in a one-on-one with the prime […]
Is government’s education awareness campaign already running out of cash? With pledges for financial assistance from a number of countries, including Mexico, the United Kingdom and Turkey, funding for the countrywide rollout has been defrayed through the O.A.S. and U.N.D.P. and not from government. At today’s press conference, Ambassador Alexis Rosado painstakingly explained how the […]
There has been a great deal of concern from business owners in the north who are fearful that a pending change of economic activity in neighboring Mexico will adversely affect their bottom line on this side of the Belize/Mexico Border. Not only has PM Barrow gone on record to say that Chetumal will not become […]
The PM says that there is a new master plan for the Commercial Free Zone in Corozal which will be rolled out in the coming months to revamp economic activity in the Corozal District, with exemptions being made for businesses willing to relocate to the CFZ. Government is also going to be boosting tourism activities […]
Government will be spending millions of dollars on infrastructural projects across the country, including ninety million dollars on the Caracol Road. Tourism is the main driver of the economy and continues with record breaking number of arrivals. Citrus is on the way to recovery and the sugar industry is seeking I.D.B. investment loan funds to […]
The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision in the matter of Attorney General versus Caleb Orozco. Up until six o’clock, the court heard arguments in government’s appeal to part of the 2016 Section Fifty-Three ruling by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. Two years ago, the Chief Justice handed down a historic ruling in the matter […]
After the hearing concluded late this evening, Solicitor General Nigel Hawke spoke to the media, explaining that there are fundamental and public issues present in the case that should be left for parliamentarians to decide. Hawke was specifically speaking on the definition of sex and the Chief Justice decision to expand the meaning to include […]
Two men charged with murder were freed by Supreme Court Justice Colin Williams today. They are twenty-five-year-old Christopher Sosa and thirty-five-year-old Ashton Anderson. Both men had been charged for the 2011 murder of fifty-three-year-old taxi driver, Romel Palacio Senior. The crown’s two main witnesses refused to testify before the courts which led Crown Counsel Kileru […]
A third missing piece of heavy-duty equipment that the Belize City Council was searching for has been returned. The John Deere tractor which was purchased for fifty-four thousand dollars was secretly delivered to the council’s works compound on the George price Highway about three weeks ago. No one knows who took it there or how. […]
Police are investigating the mysterious disappearance of an impounded SUV from under the noses of the officers attached to the Orange Walk Police Station. According to ACP Joseph Myvett, last Tuesday night, a Range Rover SUV with Dangriga license plate carrying what appeared to be a questionable insurance sticker, was retrieved by a patrol on […]
A criminal and internal investigation is ongoing in Dangriga following the police shooting of a gunman on Saturday morning. Thirty-nine-year-old John Elijio was shot to the right leg around four a.m. by an officer as he reportedly attempted to retrieve a firearm from his waist. Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph Myvett says that the police […]
The body of a San Pedro resident was fished out of the Haulover Creek near the Swing Bridge. It is believed that Manuel Mendoza drowned sometime and his body spotted in the water sometime around eight-thirty on Saturday night. Residents gathered along the bridge and Scenes of Crime personnel from the Police Department arrived at […]
One person is detained pending further investigation into a fatal hit and run incident in the south. Alta Vista villager, forty-four-year-old David Cunil was discovered dead on the Southern Highway sometime after nine o’clock on Saturday night in the village. Police investigation has so far revealed that Cunil was drinking with friends that day and […]
There were two robberies over the weekend in Belize City for which two persons have been detained; one has since been arrested and charged. The first occurred on Friday during the lunch hour. Two thieves carried out the brazen broad daylight robbery at Pacheco’s Jewelry Shop on East Collet Canal. One armed with a gun, […]
On Saturday night, United Grocery and Laundromat on Euphrates Avenue was targeted by thieves. According to the Bangladeshi owner, four robbers, one armed with a firearm escaped with five hundred dollars in cash and two cell phones. ASP Alejandro Cowo told the media today that a minor, who is well-known to the law, has since […]
A school warden is in big trouble with the law after she was found in possession of approximately four point three pounds of weed. Forty-four-year-old Billie Jean Pitts was arrested and charged on Saturday for drug trafficking after she was caught red-handed picking up a parcel from the BPMS Office in Belize City. Pitts has […]
There was also a sizable drug bust in Dangriga, for which a couple has been charged for trafficking. Last Thursday, police conducted a search at the home of Andrew Garcia and Annabelle Perez which turned up approximately four point six pounds of marijuana. ACP Joseph Myvett says that both Garcia and Perez are well-known to […]
Attorney General Mike Peyrefitte is one of four United Democratic Party candidates contesting Sunday’s convention in Port Loyola. He enjoys the full support of Area Representative Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez who is retiring from electoral politics in 2020. Boots is highly opinionated and has a knack for words, but did he put his boots in his […]
Former City Councillor Phillip Willoughby and former Deputy Mayor Dean Samuels also have their hats in the ring as does one A.C. Castillo for the November fourth convention. Today, P.U.P. Standard bearer for Port Loyola, Gilroy Usher Senior, chimed in on the fight between the U.D.P. candidates. He says he is confident that he’ll take […]
There was a fire at the home of Damian Burns in Belmopan on Sunday night and all indications are that the blaze was deliberately set. Burns reported to police that he had an altercation with a tenant and after filing the report with officers at the station, the forty-four-year-old returned to find his Toucan Avenue […]
