MyBelize.Net - Politics News

Fomer minister, Joe Coye, loses case against businessman

The case of former government minister Joe Coye versus Alfred Shackron came to an end today and it did not go well for Coye who has now lost both of the charges he brought against Shackron. The case goes back to April 2008 when Coye was first charged with obtaining property by deception and theft. Through his attorneys Elson Kaseke and Anthony Sylvestre, Coye accused Shackron of malicious prosecution and sought damages for defamation to his character. He claimed that Shackron had maliciously prosecuted him in the Putt-Putt Bar case

PM Barrow Won't Touch BNE Contract

This afternoon we also asked the Prime Minister about another burning issue – the matter of oil and specifically the revenues that government has been collecting from Belize Natural Energy. As we’ve reported, BNE has extracted more than 4 million barrels of oil and generated gross revenues of nearly $600 million. GOB however has only collected $104 million. That amounts to roughly 17.4 cents on the dollar – and while activists are outraged and are calling on government to act - the Prime Minister says he won’t. You can holler

Mark Espat: Belfast Telegraph Article 'Revolting'

November 14, 2007 that’s when we first reported on an oil find at Never Delay which is outside of Belmopan. An official release at the time said that testing began on October 26th, 2007. After two years of testing, that field was declared commercial on November fifth 2009 – which the Deputy Director of the department of petroleum and geology apparently didn’t find out until yesterday, January 13, 2010. And we can say that because on January 12, he told us with certainty that Never Delay was still in the

City Council can’t afford to break garbage contract

On Tuesday we reported of a shakeup and a proposed pay cut that is on the table for City Councilors. The bankrupt Council has run from one crisis to the next and still has the lingering problem of being unable to come up with payments to sanitation companies. The council pays over seventy thousand dollars a week to one of the companies, Belize Maintenance Limited; that’s adds up to a little under three point seven million dollars a year. One proposal has been to break the B.M.L. contract and have

City Council salaries deducted, but where did payments go?

The Belize City Council has been mired in numerous controversies of a financial nature. The latest to surface involves employee salary deductions intended for banks, business houses and even the Family Court. The Council employs close to three hundred persons who are the breadwinners for their families, a majority who have authorized the Council to make salary deductions for outstanding debts. But tonight it is confirmed that the council never forwarded the payments. The Financial Controller, Patrick Tillett, says he is not responsible. So who is? The Deputy Mayor, Dion

Shuffle at City Hall

There’s been a shuffle of portfolios at City Hall, which in actual terms means very little – considering the council’s financial state and its low public approval ratings but any tweaking of the political power base is news, so here goes. Councilors showed up at City Hall for a meeting yesterday and were surprised to find out that a shuffle of the portfolios was on the agenda. But it is the Mayor’s prerogative and as

Is the PM’s stimulus package smoke and mirrors?

In last Friday’s House meeting in the capital, it was an all out shouting match between the current and former prime ministers. The recession and economic depression were the source of the verbal blows between Dean Barrow and Said Musa. The Fort George Area Representative said quite vehemently “The so-called stimulus package that the Prime Minister announced in his budget speech was simply a recycling of the Capital Three foreign funded budget.” Musa meant that whether or not there was a recession, the government would have borrowed money from international

Finance Director Carlos Perrera Testifies at KHMH Inquiry

The public hearing into alleged corruption at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital began today with one witness. The witness was the hospital’s Director of Finance Carlos Perrera who testified for three hours. Previous witnesses had a lot to say about Perrera and today he had a lot to say about what he did and didn’t do. Here’s how it went. Keith Swift Reporting, KHMH Director of Finance Carlos Perrera who has controlled the KHMH’s finances since 2008

Barrow and Musa Spar in House

At today’s House meeting in Belmopan, the biggest news should have been the Draft Education and Training Bill. The Bill has had a long and sometimes difficult gestation in the public domain – and today – all the dissent was quelled, the dissenters maybe only temporarily hushed as some of the most sweeping changes to the education act ever were introduced. But while that was the biggest news – and we’ll get to it -

Mayor Moya vs. UDP in Supreme Court

Lawyers for Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers were also in the Supreme Court today. Representing the Mayor, Dr. Elson Kaseke and Godfrey Smith argued that the UDP’s national party council fundamentally violated the UDP’s own constitution when they removed Mayor Moya form that body. Surprisingly, the UDP’s attorney Michaela young agreed that there is a case to argue on that point when it goes to trial. Moya flowers attorney Elson Kaseke also argued