作者： admin

Parmessar vraagt harde cijfers over illegaal verblijf en toelatingsbeleid

Rabin Parmessar, parliamentary faction leader of Suriname’s National Democratic Party (NDP), has put forward a series of demands to the Surinamese government targeting gaps in the country’s immigration and labor enforcement regime. Speaking during a Tuesday plenary session of the National Assembly, Parmessar called for full three-year statistical data on unauthorized foreign residency and pushed for a new mandatory health insurance requirement for all foreign visitors staying in the nation.

Parmessar opened his address by arguing that current enforcement of Suriname’s entry and residency policies falls far short of what is needed to protect public interests. He claimed that thousands of foreign nationals are currently residing in Suriname without valid residence or work permits, and called on the administration to provide clear public clarification on the country’s formal entry policy, including how authorities track incoming travelers, their stated purpose of visit, and the duration of their stay.

The NDP leader emphasized that the policy framework must strike a reasonable balance: while legitimate tourists should be able to enter Suriname without unnecessary bureaucratic barriers, the country cannot afford to maintain a fully hands-off, laissez-faire approach to immigration regulation. To build a clear picture of the scale of unauthorized residency, Parmessar is requesting granular data from the Surinamese Immigration Service covering foreign entry flows and residency patterns over the past three years, including specific counts of visitors who have overstayed their permitted residency periods.

Parmessar tied his call for stricter oversight to growing public concerns around public safety and neighborhood disruption linked to unregistered residents. He specifically cited increases in petty theft, unregulated prostitution, and traffic safety risks caused by unregistered foreign nationals operating electric bicycles, particularly in the northern district of the capital Paramaribo. Notably, however, the faction leader did not present empirical data to quantify the connection between unauthorized residency and these social issues during his address to the assembly.

One of Parmessar’s concrete policy proposals is a mandate requiring all foreign nationals entering Suriname to hold valid health insurance for the full duration of their stay. He argued that this requirement is necessary to prevent the Surinamese public from being forced to cover uncompensated medical costs incurred by foreign visitors during their time in the country. “If we do not put this requirement in place, we as a country will end up footing the bill for their medical care,” he explained.

Beyond residency regulation, Parmessar is also demanding answers on how authorities enforce work permit rules, noting that many unregistered foreign residents are also employed in Suriname without holding both valid residence and work authorization. He has asked not only for aggregated data on unauthorized work, but also for a concrete government plan to strengthen enforcement actions against violations of immigration and labor rules.

“What exactly is the Immigration Service doing to address this issue?” Parmessar asked, arguing that authorities need to improve end-to-end tracking of arrivals, departures, and individuals who remain in the country long-term without formal status. He concluded by stressing that the government can no longer allow the situation of widespread unauthorized residency to continue unaddressed, repeating his calls for enhanced border controls, full transparency around the true scale of unauthorized residency, and targeted policy interventions to reduce violations of the country’s residency and labor regulations.

20 8 月, 2026
PM Briceño Pressed to Block Mira and Marin’s Return to Cabinet

As of August 19, 2026, political pressure is mounting in Belize against Prime Minister John Briceño, with the country’s Public Service Union (PSU) demanding a firm public pledge that two former ministers, Oscar Mira and Florencio Marin Jr., will never be reappointed to the Cabinet.

Dean Flowers, president of the PSU, launched a scathing rebuke of elected officials who he claims break their oaths of office with impunity, arguing that Briceño now faces a critical test to demonstrate that accountability begins at the highest levels of his own administration. Under Belizean law, all 26 elected members of the House of Representatives are legally bound to swear an oath to faithfully uphold and defend the nation’s constitution and laws, and to commit to transparent governance that holds actors who betray the public trust accountable.

Flowers questioned the sincerity of these widespread pledges, arguing that many elected officials disregard their oaths without remorse, treating the voting public as gullible. He pressed Briceño to issue an immediate public confirmation that Mira and Marin Jr., who he said have already betrayed the public interest, will be permanently barred from returning to any Cabinet position.

Beyond the Cabinet reappointment fight, the PSU has also launched a direct challenge to Belize’s Auditor General Maria Rodriguez over the ongoing issue of destroyed public documents. Rodriguez has publicly alleged that sitting public officers have systematically shredded important official records and even blocked her team from accessing office spaces to conduct audits. Under Section 13(4) of Belize’s Finance and Audit Reform Act (FARA), the Auditor General is granted explicit legal authority to file formal complaints against offending officers with relevant oversight bodies.

Flowers is now demanding clear answers from Rodriguez about what concrete action she has taken to hold bad actors accountable. Specifically, he has asked how many formal complaints she has submitted to the Public Service Commission to pursue disciplinary action — up to and including termination — for officers involved in destroying records, as well as how many criminal referrals she has sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue charges under the Criminal Code and other relevant legislation. Flowers criticized Rodriguez for focusing on media statements rather than exercising the legal powers granted to her office, noting that she has recently highlighted her communications with a human rights activist who now serves as attorney general.

When reached for comment, Rodriguez told reporters that she has filed formal complaints multiple times in the past, but those submissions have resulted in no meaningful disciplinary or legal action against the involved officers.

This report is a transcribed version of an evening television news broadcast, with Kriol-language remarks standardized to written spelling for clarity.

20 8 月, 2026
Senator Dennison Demands Cabinet Secretary’s Resignation

In a dramatic escalation of political pressure in Belize on August 19, 2026, Union Senator Glenfield Dennison has publicly demanded the immediate resignation of Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie, over allegations that Leslie holds a hidden financial stake in RSL Group Limited. The demand comes as trade unions warn that the high-profile public controversy surrounding the BTL-Speednet infrastructure deal has drawn attention away from an unresolved procurement scandal at the nation’s Ministry of Defense, urging Belizean citizens not to let the growing questions about government contracting go unaddressed.

Speaking in a public address that drew sharp attention across the country, Dennison laid out his criticism directly to Leslie, highlighting the high public trust placed in the role of Cabinet Secretary. As the nation’s top-ranked civil service position, the role of Cabinet Secretary — formerly known as permanent secretary of permanent secretaries — has long been framed as the apex of public service, reserved for the most qualified and trusted public servants in the government, according to Dennison.

Using colloquial Belizean Kriol phrasing to emphasize his point, Dennison noted that the position has always held an expectation that its occupant would never be caught improperly benefiting from public office. “The Cabinet Secretary my brother, what is wrong with you. For those who don’t know, the Cabinet Secretary use to be the permanent secretary of permanent secretary. He was the top of the top, the dan dadda, because he was the brightest of the brightest, the best of the best. He would have never had his hands caught in the cookie jar or the spice jar. Suh RSL, if you have any semblance of integrity brother, resign, just resign, because you don’t belong there brother. You don’t belong there,” Dennison stated, with his comments transcribed directly from a live evening television broadcast consistent with local Kriol spelling conventions.

The unfolding scandal adds to existing political tension in Belize, as officials and activists continue to unpack potential conflicts of interest tied to senior government officials across multiple public departments. Trade union leaders have argued that the ongoing focus on the BTL-Speednet deal has created an unintended distraction, allowing less-reported procurement questions at the Ministry of Defense to remain under-examined, and are pushing for full transparency into all alleged conflicts involving senior government figures.

20 8 月, 2026
Old Irregularities, New Questions for Defense CEO

Nearly a decade after a national audit uncovered financial irregularities within the Belize Defense Force, the current chief executive officer of the Ministry of National Defense is set to answer questions from parliamentary overseers about how the issues have been addressed – even though the misconduct occurred long before he took office.

Francis Usher, who currently leads the ministry, confirmed he is scheduled to appear before the country’s Joint Public Accounts Committee in September 2026 to respond to concerns first raised in the Auditor General’s 2017 special report. The report centered on mismanagement and oversight gaps in non-public funds administered by the Belize Defense Force, which include the service’s general welfare fund, a benevolent fund for personnel, and recreational accounts for junior and senior officers known as mess funds.

In comments to reporters, Usher explained that his team has been working closely with legal advisors to review the full 2017 report, which he received only a few weeks prior to the public announcement of his upcoming committee appearance. While no final hearing date has been locked in as of August 19, 2026, Usher emphasized that most of the corrective recommendations outlined in the auditor’s findings have already been fully implemented.

Key reforms put in place since the report’s release include the appointment of a dedicated Inspector General, a professionally trained auditor who conducts regular reviews of all non-public BDF accounts. All spending from these funds now requires multiple authorized signatories and layered approval processes, and most accounts have completed mandatory annual audits to bring them into compliance with national financial governance standards. Usher added that the ministry will continue to refine its oversight processes to address any remaining gaps.

The long-delayed public review of the 2017 audit comes as Auditor General Maria Rodriguez highlighted a broader ongoing backlog in official government financial reporting. Rodriguez noted that annual public sector audit reports are years behind schedule, because the Accountant General has failed to submit required completed annual financial statements for review.

This report is adapted from a transcript of an evening television newscast, with Kriol-language testimony standardized to conventional written English spelling for clarity.

20 8 月, 2026
Will Your BEL Bills Keep Changing Monthly?

As of August 2026, all Belizean electricity customers except low-income social rate users will see a new variable charge line item on their monthly bills from Belize Electricity (BEL), following approval from the nation’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The new mechanism, called the Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA), is being rolled out under an innovative regulatory sandbox framework, with an initial charge set at 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first billing cycle. The charge was introduced to address a growing gap between the regulated base electricity rate and actual power generation costs, which BEL reports ran 4.3 cents per kWh higher than the approved reference price over the preceding six months. To soften the immediate impact on household budgets already strained by high living costs nationwide, the PUC has capped any monthly rate increase at 1.5 cents per kWh, preventing what would have been a far steeper jump in consumer bills this cycle. Under the terms of the new framework, the COPA adjustment is not fixed: each month, it will be recalculated to reflect actual changes in global fuel costs, supply chain expenses, and other variable inputs that impact power generation pricing. Depending on market conditions, the adjustment could increase, decrease, be eliminated entirely, or even result in a credit issued to consumers, pending formal approval from the PUC each billing cycle. BEL officials emphasize that the new monthly adjustment system is designed to serve two core goals: maintaining the utility’s long-term financial stability while shielding consumers from the far more disruptive sudden large price hikes that come from delaying cost adjustments over multiple years. The company also added that the COPA charge is exempt from the national Goods and Services Tax, and low-income households enrolled in the social rate program will not be subject to the new charge at all. Despite these safeguards, the new pricing model has left many ordinary Belizean consumers with pressing concerns. With the national economy already facing high living costs, households are questioning what the new monthly variable charge will mean for their long-term energy budgets, and whether the system will deliver on promises of greater transparency or simply normalize constant, unpredictable increases to a core household expense. The rollout of COPA has sparked broader public debate: is this a pragmatic, flexible approach to managing volatile energy costs that protects both the stability of Belize’s power grid and consumers from sudden shock, or is it another unplanned financial burden that shifts market risk directly onto the shoulders of ordinary households already struggling to make ends meet? This report is a transcribed excerpt from an evening television newscast, with Kriol language portions transcribed per standard spelling conventions.

20 8 月, 2026
Guinea Grass Dreams Shattered at El Pozito

On the northern edge of Belize, just a short distance from Guinea Grass Village, lies El Pozito — an archaeological site holding irreplaceable remnants of the ancient Maya civilization that once dominated this region. For years, the tight-knit agricultural community of Guinea Grass pinned substantial hopes on this patch of land, envisioning a future where conservation of the site would unlock sustainable economic opportunity, much like it had for neighboring communities with well-preserved heritage sites. That vision has been completely destroyed, leaving residents reeling from shock and anger as authorities launch an investigation to identify those responsible for the damage.

Guinea Grass Village Chairman Benito Uk explained that the harm to El Pozito was discovered earlier this month by a team of archaeological researchers conducting routine site checks. The site sits surrounded by sugarcane fields, with a recently sold nearby parcel of land owned by Mennonite farmers adding to the context of ongoing land activity in the area. What makes the destruction even more devastating for locals is that just one month prior, stakeholders including representatives from Belize’s Institute of Archaeology and a research team from the College of East Texas had gathered with villagers to outline a development plan. The proposal laid out how proper preservation and sustainable tourism development at El Pozito would deliver long-term benefits to the entire community, creating new jobs and alternative income streams beyond the village’s traditional reliance on agriculture.

The potential of this vision was already proven just a short distance away at the Lamanai archaeological reserve, managed by the Programme for Belize. Edilberto Romero, the organization’s executive director, noted that the Lamanai model demonstrates how protected heritage sites can transform local economies. Each year, the reserve injects more than $1 million into surrounding communities through employment, tourism revenue, scholarship programs, and sustainable timber operations. Most of the reserve’s staff are hired directly from nearby villages, creating a cycle of shared benefit that has lifted livelihoods while preserving cultural heritage. That same opportunity was expected to come to Guinea Grass through El Pozito — until the destruction.

Beyond economic loss, the damage to El Pozito represents a profound cultural blow to all Belizeans. The Northern Maya Association of Belize released an official statement Wednesday condemning the destruction, emphasizing that El Pozito is far more than a collection of ancient ruins: it is a living connection to Maya ancestors, a critical educational resource for future generations, and a core part of the shared national cultural inheritance of all Belize. Uk stressed that the destruction was no innocent accident. The site is clearly marked as protected crown land reserved for archaeological use, and every resident of the area has long been aware of its protected status. “Those responsible did not just damage rocks and old structures,” Uk said. “They robbed an entire community of its future.”

Uk is calling on local residents to come forward with any information that could help law enforcement identify and hold accountable those responsible. The case also shines a light on longstanding systemic vulnerabilities that put Belize’s cultural heritage at risk. For years, conservation advocates have pushed for stronger protections for El Pozito, but successive governments have transferred surrounding land parcels to political supporters in Guinea Grass and nearby August Pine Ridge, leaving the core archaeological site exposed to incremental encroachment and damage.

This report was compiled by Shane Williams, News Five, from northern Belize.

20 8 月, 2026
Guinea Grass Swimmer Survives Crocodile Attack

On a quiet early Sunday morning in Guinea Grass Village, a routine swim turned into a life-or-death struggle that has upended community trust in one of the area’s most beloved local recreation spots. Twenty-nine-year-old Leomar Narvallez became the victim of a sudden crocodile attack in New River Park, a riverside space that for decades has served as a go-to cooling retreat for residents during warm Belizean summers. He has survived the terrifying encounter, but the incident has left the community demanding urgent action to prevent future tragedies.

When reporter Shane Williams visited the site days after the attack, the normally crowded riverbank told the full story of the community’s new fear. On a picture-perfect warm summer afternoon, the calm, cool waters that once drew crowds of swimmers sat completely empty—no families picnicking, no teenagers cooling off, no locals gathering to relax after a week of work. The quiet that now hangs over the park is a direct result of the horror that unfolded here just days earlier.

Narvallez, speaking to reporters by phone from his home after release from the hospital, recounted the split-second shock of the attack. “I went in the river; I was swimming and that when I feel like something grab me in my head,” he said. “And that’s when I feel like it shaking. The crocodile shook my head like two times. So in my mind I just asked what is this, because I never expected that to happen.” Through a desperate fight for his life, Narvallez managed to escape the crocodile’s jaws. He was rushed to Northern Regional Hospital, where clinicians closed his wounds with roughly 28 stitches before clearing him to go home.

The attack was not a completely unforeseen risk, according to Guinea Grass Village Chairman Benito Uk. He revealed that local leaders had already flagged crocodile activity in the area more than a year prior. “Last year, I did a post on my village council page in regards to the crocodile,” Uk explained. “I took a video because the same time we were cleaning early morning we were cleaning there as usual and I saw the crocodile around that area and then I posted that. But usually, our community usually use that for recreation and so forth.” Even with the prior warning, the community continued to rely on the free, accessible riverside spot—until last week’s attack.

Now, Uk says the village is calling on national authorities to act immediately. The incident has left residents not just mourning the loss of their go-to recreation spot, but worried that a lack of intervention could lead to another, deadlier attack. Uk is pushing for the crocodile to be relocated from the area that villagers regularly use for swimming and bathing. “I was expecting that the Department of Environment contact us to see what measures we could take with the community and with them to see what we could do to, I don’t know, to either the crocodile be placed in another area,” he said. “I don’t know what else we could do to not have them around the area where our community go and take a bath there.” For now, the village chairman is urging residents, especially parents, to remain alert and keep unsupervised children away from the river, as the community waits for a response from environmental authorities.

The attack serves as a sobering reminder for communities across the globe that even the most familiar, frequently used bodies of water can hide unexpected dangers. This report from Shane Williams was produced for News Five.

20 8 月, 2026
Labor Department Pushes Fairer Workplace Resolution

In a landmark push to create a more equitable and efficient working environment across Belize, the nation’s Labor Department has joined forces with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to revamp the country’s existing workplace conflict resolution framework. Throughout this week, the Ministry of Immigration, Governance and Labor has hosted a multi-day slate of capacity-building activities, all designed to shore up Belize’s national labor dispute system and expand equitable access to labor justice for both employees and employers across the country.

At the core of the collaborative effort is a comprehensive structural review of Belize’s Labor Complaints Tribunal, led by a senior ILO labor relations specialist. The review process is focused on identifying systemic gaps and actionable upgrades that will allow the tribunal to deliver faster, fairer outcomes for all parties involved in workplace conflicts. Beyond the internal review, the gathering brought together labor stakeholders from three Caribbean nations – Belize, the Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago – for a cross-regional knowledge exchange. Participants shared successful policy frameworks, practical lessons learned, and innovative strategies to cut down on persistent workplace conflict and strengthen dispute resolution institutions across the region.

To build long-term local capacity, the initiative also included targeted professional training for Labor Department officials, business leadership representatives, and trade union delegates. The training curriculum focused on advanced negotiation and conciliation techniques, with hands-on role-playing simulations that let participants practice de-escalating tensions and reaching mutually acceptable resolutions to common workplace disputes.

Ministry leadership emphasized that this collaborative project is not a one-off intervention, but part of a sustained, long-term strategy to strengthen Belize’s core labor institutions. The ultimate goal of the work is to foster a culture of collaborative dialogue between employers and worker representatives, laying the groundwork for more stable, productive workplaces across every sector of the Belizean economy.

20 8 月, 2026
Turneffe Treasure Secured for Future Generations

On August 19, 2026, Belize marked a historic milestone in marine conservation with the signing of a landmark agreement that permanently protects 17,000 acres of ecologically critical mangrove habitat at Turneffe Atoll, keeping the iconic coastal ecosystem in Belizean stewardship for all future generations.

The agreement was formalized between Belize’s Ministry of Blue Economy and the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association (TASA), closing years of negotiations and resolving outstanding legal gaps that delayed the project after an initial framework was established by the previous administration. Prime Minister John Briceño noted that while the prior government initiated the protection deal, hasty drafting left multiple legal issues that required correction before the pact could be finalized.

A key secondary component of the partnership repurposes a $2.2 million land deposit previously made by the Turneffe Atoll Trust to fund the construction of a state-of-the-art marine research center for the University of Belize, hosted within the protected atoll. Originally held in an external trust fund, the capital has since been transferred to a Belizean-owned and managed trust, with stakeholders agreeing that redirecting the funds toward research and capacity building would deliver far greater long-term value than a refund. Briceño called the outcome a clear win-win for all parties involved.

Beyond core conservation goals, TASA Executive Director Valdemar Andrade highlighted emerging economic opportunities tied to the permanent protection of Turneffe Atoll’s intact ecosystem. Andrade explained that the preserved mangrove habitat, a critical global carbon sink and biodiversity hotspot, opens new pathways for Belize to generate sustainable revenue through blue carbon credits and biodiversity credits, adding a new stream of economic value that complements existing benefits from commercial fishing, local tourism and recreational activity in the atoll.

All conservation and research initiatives outlined in the agreement went into effect immediately following the official signing, cementing Turneffe Atoll’s status as one of Belize’s most well-protected marine assets.

20 8 月, 2026
Belize Awaits Big Night at Annual CBU Awards

As the Caribbean’s annual celebration of outstanding regional media kicks off this evening in Georgetown, Guyana, Belize’s media industry stands poised to claim national recognition on a major regional stage. The 57th Annual General Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) is hosting this year’s CBU Media Awards, where Belize’s largest media group Greater Belize Media (GBM) has secured an impressive 26 nominations across categories honoring excellence in journalism, digital content creation, and technical broadcasting. This places GBM among the top three most nominated media outlets across the entire Caribbean, trailing only Jamaica’s RJRGLEANER Communications Group which earned 29 nods, and ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Guardian Media with 18 nominations. The momentum is already on Belize’s side this year: veteran Belizean journalist Jules Vasquez has already been awarded the prestigious CBU Caribbean Media Defender Award, marking a major win for the nation before the main awards gala even begins. GBM carries strong momentum into this year’s event after a standout performance in 2025, where it took home 10 awards and four special mentions.

This year’s CBU assembly centers on a timely and critical theme: “Caribbean Media and AI”, a topic that has dominated opening discussions among regional media leaders. CBU President Anthony Green opened the assembly by emphasizing that the conversation around artificial intelligence’s growing role in journalism cannot be imported from global powers – it must be shaped by a distinct Caribbean perspective. “AI is already reshaping how we gather news, create content and connect with audiences,” Green explained. “While it delivers major gains in speed and efficiency, it also forces us to confront tough questions about journalistic accuracy, content authorship, newsroom employment, public trust, and the core values that should guide AI adoption. These are questions we cannot outsource to outside voices; we must answer them for ourselves as a region.”

UNESCO Regional Representative Eric Falt echoed this balanced approach to AI integration, noting that the technology brings unique opportunities for small regional newsrooms that have long operated with limited resources. “UNESCO approaches AI neither with panic nor with unthinking enthusiasm,” Falt told attendees. “AI can help journalists analyze large datasets, translate content for diverse audiences, improve accessibility for disabled audiences, preserve decades of historical media archives, spot emerging trends, and streamline daily workflows. For small news operations across the Caribbean, these benefits are particularly transformative.”

Discussions at the assembly have also centered on a core principle that unites regional media: that technological evolution must never come at the cost of journalistic integrity and public trust. This year’s awards will recognize exceptional work across high-impact categories including environmental reporting, child rights advocacy, investigative journalism, and promotion of Caribbean arts and culture – highlighting the media’s role in addressing pressing regional priorities beyond daily news coverage.

Vasquez, the newly honored Media Defender, used his platform to reaffirm the fundamental role of a free press in democratic societies. “News is a public utility, every bit as essential to daily life as clean water or electricity,” he said. “A modern, functioning democracy cannot survive without an independent press.” That sentiment was echoed by John Feely, director of the Center for Media Integrity of the Americas, who pushed back against growing global narratives that frame independent journalism as an antagonist to government. “A free press is not an enemy of any government,” Feely said. “A responsible, independent press is one of democracy’s most critical safeguards. It will always be irritating, it will always be persistent, and it will sometimes make mistakes – and when it does, it has a responsibility to correct the record. But that is not a flaw in democracy; that is democracy working as it should.”

Tonight’s awards gala will be broadcast live to Belizean audiences on GBM’s channels at 8 p.m. local time, with News Five correspondent Britney Gordon reporting on the ground from Guyana, covering the anticipation among the Belizean delegation and the meaning of this widespread recognition for Belize’s growing broadcasting sector.

20 8 月, 2026