Features
$15 million Marine Parade Boulevard to be inaugurated
In October, the Government of Belize (GOB) and the Belize City Council (BCC) are expected to inaugurate the commercial capital?s newest and most modern boulevard, constructed in the Fort George area of Belize City.
Local traffic authorities say that tourist buses will use the multi-million-dollar boulevard as an entrance to, and exit from, the Belize Tourism Village, but they also encourage other drivers to use the route to help alleviate traffic congestion in the area.
The tangled web SSB, DFC, public finances and telecommunications
The ongoing controversy over the Social Security Board?s involvement in Government?s strategy of securitization?the sale of debt backed by a security to a third party?has revealed the web of financial challenges that the Government of Belize has been faced with over the years.
Currently, the Government of Belize is attempting to refinance its commercial debt with two of its major creditors: The Royal Merchant Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT) and the International Bank of Miami (IBOM).
John Alexander Watler: The roads to his literary genius!
In just a little under two years, John Alexander Watler has distanced himself from his literary contemporaries by adding a second novel to his resume. On Tuesday, August 31, at a brief ceremony held at Print Belize Ltd. new office on Mercy Lane, the new John A. Watler novel, Sea Lotto, was launched. Sea Lotto follows closely behind Watler?s first novel, Cry Among The Rain Clouds, released in 2002.
Amandala spoke with Watler at the launching of his new novel, which, unlike the first one that was printed in Guatemala City, comes as a complete Belizean package, which also heralds its printer/publisher, Print Belize Ltd., in the world of book publishing.
Heart specialist, cardiologist Dr. James Huhta, opens doors for children with heart problems in Belize!
He?s here again for the eighth time, to extend his gratitude, and help children in Belize who have been diagnosed with congenital heart defects. Because of the unavailability of this service and technique in Belize, it?s an opportunity parents don?t want to miss out on.
The kind-hearted professor, Dr. James C. Huhta, MD, a professor of Pediatrics & Ob/Gyn, with the Pediatric Cardiology Associates at the University of South Florida, has opened his doors to service children in Belize. This could not have been possible without the assistance of Rotary International.
?Good governance? ? Belize Governance Improvement Commission takes authorities to task over Social Security issue
?The Commission expressed concern about the apparent placement of SSB funds in high-risk low-yield instruments, contrary to prudent financial management principles.?
The Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, appointed 13 members to the Belize Governance Improvement Commission (BGIC) on July 1, 2004, in keeping, he said, with the People?s United Party?s manifesto promise to foster ?good governance.?
His party declared in its 2003 ?Keep Belize Free? manifesto that, ?Any dishonesty or corruption in public life poses a threat to democracy, produces instability, and slows down economic growth.?
DISCLOSURES ON SSB AND DFC
International Telecommunications Limited (Intelco) was birthed in January, 2000, under the tenureship of former Minister of Finance, Prime Minister Hon. Said Musa, by a former politician from his party, Glenn D. Godfrey.
That same year, the Government of Belize began to pool mortgages from three entities?the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which Godfrey chaired; the St. James Building National Society (SJNBS), which Godfrey controlled; and the Social Security Board (SSB)?to sell on the international market.
Lucy Lopez, Belizean in US Army, tells of Iraq war ?You don?t know if you?ll live to see tomorrow.?
BELIZE CITY, Tues. Aug. 3, 2004
Former Belize Defence Force Soldier, Lucy Areina Lopez, 26, returned to her hometown of Punta Gorda on Monday, August 2, after being stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, for a year with the United States Army.
Lopez enlisted in the Belize Defence Force in 1996, but three years later, in 1999, she went to the US to visit family. In 2001, she enlisted in the US Army.
Queen?s Square Market booms, but overspills
BELIZE CITY, Tues. July 27, 2004
The buzz of the Queen?s Square marketplace signals for some prosperity, but for others it gestures marginalization and economic depression. Many of the vendors who set up their stalls inside and around the new Queen?s Square Market, along the Collet Canal, will tell you it?s all about survival?about making ends meet. As the market place grows; however, they have to find new ways to keep with the game.
Traditionally, the Queen?s Square Market was intended as a fruit and vegetable market. However, you can find everything from books, stationery, shoes, candy, restaurant food, medication, hammocks, shoe polish, and even a Mexican product called ?Ven Dinero Ven? (Spanish for ?Come money, come?), which is supposed to be used to bathe away bad luck and bring good fortune for $20 a bottle.
Prominent Belizean artists create Association for Belizean Artists First
BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 21, 2004
Twenty-three of Belize?s most prominent artists, including painter Terryl Godoy and musician Brother David Obi, have banded together to form the Association for Belizean Artists First?an incorporated entity that seeks ?to promote and preserve Belizean arts and culture.?
According to the association?s public relations officer, Tony Wright, the idea to form the association came because of the annual Sound Fest, which a group of Belizean musicians have been hosting since 2002.
