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Belize Supreme Court Grants Judicial Review to former P.M.

March 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

said-musa-belize-prime-minister.jpgBelmopan, Belize 12 March 2009 – (Belizean.com) The Belize Supreme Court has today handed a significant victory to former Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Said Musa in granting him leave for judicial review against a charge of theft lodged by the newly installed United Democratic Party government.

Belmopan Magistrate Earl Jones had comiitted Rt. Hon. Musa to the Supreme Court for theft but Chief Justice Hon. Abdulai Conteh agreed with the defense that magistrate Jones' lower court order was rife with fallacies, inconsistencies and errors in law and jurisdiction as to warrant a judicial review.

The current Belize government has been engaged in what is widely regarded as a politcal witch hunt against its political rivals since it took office a little over a year ago.

To date the U.D.P. government has not been able to employ a Solicitor General following the resignation of the substantive official appointed by the U.D.P. – a highly regarded professional trained in the U.K. – and the subsequent flight of two imported crown counsels from Canada who abandoned their appointments amidst allegations of a politicised executive legal branch.

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Minister Kicked Out of Belize Cabinet

March 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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Belmopan 10 March 2009 (Belizean.com) Mininister of Youth, Sports and Culture Hon. Marcel Cardona has been kicked out of office by Prime Minister Dean Barrow following a spat over a a multi-million dollar tourism contract. Hon. Cardona tangled with Barrow National Institute of Culture and History appointee Dianne Haylock over the award of a license to establish a restaurant and tourism trinket shop within a protected conservation area.

Belize Telemedia reports that "For weeks speculation had been rife that a Cabinet reshuffle would be imminent after the municipal elections. Well today, the first order of business, even before Cabinet met, was the announcement of the anticipated reshuffle, the first for the Barrow Administration. It did not amount to a major shake up in Belmopan and the loser is Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Marcel Cardona, who has been removed from Cabinet and will now sit in the back bench."

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Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow Wedding

February 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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Belmopan, Belize 12 February (Belizean.com) – The Prime Minister of Belize Hon. Dean Barrow wed his long time Belize girlfriend Kim Simpliss on February 7 – the first anniversary of his United Democratic Party gaining power in General Elections in 2008. The wedding took place outside of Belize, in Savannah, Georgia U.S.A. The couple have a daughter Salima.

Belize's main money earner is tourism and critics have pointed to promotions hawking this English-speaking Central American country as the ultimate wedding and honeymoon destination.

Ms. Simpliss was quoted in local media as "..wanting to get away from the fuss in Belize.." where the U.D.P. is facing myriad problems including an unprecedented crime wave, a deteriorating economy, an escalating cost of living and a strike by sugar cane farmers where the police shot and killed a farmer and wounded at least eight others.

In an a televised interview, the Prime Minister reluctantly addressed the question as to why he decided to get married in the U.S.A. instead of in Belize:

Adele Ramos, "Can you address questions raised by some Belizeans as to why the Prime Minister of their country has gone to the U.S.A. to get married?"

Hon. Dean Barrow, "There are all sorts of reasons for that and I don't think I need to get into those reasons. I mean no disrespect to anyone to say that that sort of decision was and remains a private decision.

"I don't get married as Prime Minister, I get married as Dean Barrow an individual. So I apologize if there are those who don't see it that way but there were good and sufficient reasons and I'll leave it at that."

More images of the wedding can be found here.

Special thanks to Mr. E. Meighan for submitting photographs.

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Belize – Newcastle Disease Spreading

December 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment

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Belmopan, Belize 24 December (Belizean.com – Despite the best efforts of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, the dreaded Newcastle Disease has begun to spread to most areas of Belize after being initially confined to the Spanish Lookout area.

The poultry ailment, virulent Newcastle disease, started out in Spanish Lookout,
and has now spread to other parts of the Cayo District as well as the Belize
and Stann Creek Districts. The Belize Agricultural Health Authority reports
that it is affecting all commercial and backyard poultry. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture has launched an emergency vaccination program..

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Lord Michael Ashcroft Speaks out on Belize

December 21, 2008 By Leave a Comment

lord-michael-ashcroft-belize.jpgBelmopan, Belize 20 December (Belizean.com) Investor confidence in Belize has sank to an all-time low following revelations from British Peer Lord Michael Ashcroft, the largest single investor in Belize. Lord Michael revealed in a nationally televised interview that his group of companies was the largest single contributor to the United Democratic Party. This is the very same party that is now trying to drive out the British Ashcroft group of companies from Belize, Central America.

The U.D.P. government regime has embarked on a systematic campaign aimed at destabilising the Ashcroft Group of Companies and other independent companies it has placed on a hit list. This includes an unprecedented law that levies an onerous tax of 25 per cent on company gross income. Some local commentators have begun to refer to Belize as the Zimbabwe of Central America 

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Full Text Belize Guatemala Special Agreement

December 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

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Belmopan, Belize 10 December (Belizean.com) The full text of the Belize-Guatemala Special Agreement to take the two countries' territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has been released. The agreement was signed on Monday December 8 at the Organisation of American States Headquarters in Washinhgton.

The Foreign Minister of Belize Hon. Wilfred Elrington stated that  "This marks a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to settle this aged dispute. Signing of this special agreement is a manifestation of a deep commitment on the part of the Government of Belize to put this claim behind us."

" We Belizeans have always maintained that Guatemalan claim in unjust and wrong but while having recognised Belize's independence and the right of its people to self-determination, refused to acknowledge Belize's territorial integrity and the inviolability of its border. We are now at that crossroad, having exhausted negotiation efforts, we are at that stage where we must contemplate submitting our case to legal scrutiny by the highest judicial order of the United Nations."

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