Darrel Williams’ family pulls the plug Posted: 05/02/2010 - 11:09 AM On Monday night, the Southside of Belize City experienced a series of frightening shooting incidents that have left their tragic marks in the lives of many persons - still traumatized and saddened by the impact of the apparent inescapable, random violence 17 companies contracted to look for oil in Belize Posted: 05/02/2010 - 10:42 AM Most of Belize’s 8,867 square miles of territory and much of the waters offshore have been parceled out in petroleum contracts (concessions) to 17 different companies with a range of foreign shareholders from as close as the USA and as far off as Taiwan. Glenston Martinez, 33, murdered Posted: 05/02/2010 - 10:41 AM This morning the city awoke to the tragic news that yet another man had been murdered in cold blood — bringing the total number of shooting victims since only yesterday evening to five and the fatalities to two, with one man clinging to life on a life support machine at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Most of the recent carnage occurred on one stretch of street — Central American Boulevard in its Port Loyola section. More tax, same bite Posted: 05/02/2010 - 10:29 AM BNE reports $652.2 million in crude sales; GOB’s take $151.6 million, company profits $111 million... Serious questions have been raised over the nearly $400 million that BNE has charged in expenses between 2005 and 2009... “I don’t believe that we can do any better...” says P.M. Barrow Brazen Guate thieves steal $350,000 Works grader Posted: 04/02/2010 - 09:20 PM The three attackers tied up operator and took the grader across the border to Guatemala... CEO in the Ministry of Works Cadet Henderson says “no expense will be spared” to recover a 2000 12H Caterpillar open-cap grader, valued at $350,000, swiped from its operation post on the Young Gial Road in the Cayo District on Wednesday afternoon. Murder conviction rate dismal—available figures say 7% Posted: 04/02/2010 - 06:45 PM “Drug and utensil possession” most common reason for imprisonment... Information that Amandala has obtained from the Police Department and the Kolbe Foundation (which manages the Belize Central Prison) signals a persistent trend of extremely low conviction rates for Belize. “We were screwed!” says BNE oil investor of Ireland Posted: 04/02/2010 - 06:40 PM Where there is big money, there are usually huge fights over the wealth. The situation with Belize Natural Energy (BNE) is no exception, as the $600 million plus, which the company has earned in revenues since it struck oil in 2005, has been big talk lately, especially with reports of even more petroleum finds at Never Delay (Cayo) and the upward revision of the Spanish Lookout oil field prospects from 14 million barrels to 20 million. “Share the wealth!” COLA’s message to GOB! Posted: 02/02/2010 - 01:27 PM Protesters focused on Belize’s oil industry... The group Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action (COLA) staged a street protest this morning organized around the Belize oil industry and the perceived inequitable distribution of revenue generated from the millions of barrels of Belize light, sweet crude oil that has been exported. Sugar isn’t so sweet right now! Posted: 02/02/2010 - 01:21 PM The new $126 million bagasse cogeneration facility, Belize Cogeneration Energy Limited (BELCOGEN), sits atop Tower Hill in all its majesty — the realization of a dream that dates back to the 1990’s for some sugar industry stakeholders, but for some cane farmers, today’s multimillion-dollar nightmare. Neville “Tete” Thomas shot to death in home invasion Posted: 02/02/2010 - 01:19 PM Was murder the result of a quarrel over a cell phone? Neville Thomas, Jr., 53, of Orange and West Streets in Belize City, was a U.S. Army veteran and devout Rastafarian who was not known to be involved in the gang trouble and in the other crime and violence plaguing the streets of the old capital.