The cabinet has approved the nationwide rollout of the National Identification System, along with a strategy to onboard citizens efficiently as part of Belize’s digital transformation.
It also endorsed an emergency response plan to address the current sargassum invasion, which includes funding for cleanup, transport, and disposal, as well as the development of a long-term monitoring system.
A Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiatives Bill also got the green light. The proposed legislation will set a legal framework for climate governance and encourage national participation in Climate Week 2025, set for 25–29 August in Belize City.
Cabinet ratified the WTO Advisory Centre Agreement and approved a new Municipal Government Act to consolidate city and town council laws. The Liquor License Act will also be modernised.
Amendments to Statutory Instrument No. 19 of 2025 will now set axle tax at $30 for foreign trucks and $0 for local ones.
Legislation will also be drafted to support CARICOM free movement with Barbados, Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
On the UB pay dispute, Cabinet noted it remains between the Board and Union. Meanwhile, preparations continue for the 2025 Investment Summit in San Pedro.
News 5 has learnt that plans are underway to transition the Belize Tax Services Department (BTSD) into a Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority (SARA) by December 2025.
Members of the Public Service Union (PSU) say this move could leave over a hundred employees without jobs.
Reports of this transition first emerge in early June during an interview with President of the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU) Nadia Caliz. “There is this allegation that the Belize Tax Service will become a statutory body. That is something we don’t agree with. So they will have another fight with workers, because that is something that should remain with the government,” Caliz said at the time.
News 5 has reached out to Prime Minister John Briceño for comment and will update this story when a response is received.
News of the major shake-up emerged during a meeting held on Wednesday between representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Public Service, and BTSD leadership. We are told that the presidents of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers (APSSM) and BNTU were invited.
According to information shared with News 5, legislation to create the new statutory body has already been drafted. According to employees at the BTS, they were given three options: either resign and collect their retirement benefits (if eligible), request a transfer within the wider public service, or retire outright. They were reportedly told that those who wish to continue working with the new Authority will have to reapply for one of the 153 positions expected to be available, significantly fewer than the roughly 260 employees currently on staff.
One employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told News 5, “Staff at the Belize Tax Service are worried, as plenty of them will be without a job come December…staff will be left without a job and currently we have 260 employees and only 153 positions will remain vacant and staff will have to reapply for those positions.”
The Belize Police Department is investigating an attack on one of their own. Twenty-nine-year-old Oliver Giron was released from the hospital after being stabbed in Belmopan in the wee hours of this morning.
Witnesses say Giron was attacked by four men. He was stabbed once in the right shoulder after exiting a nightclub at around 1 a.m.
Police are investigating the assault of a 17-year-old girl who says she was attacked at her home on Neal’s Penn Road in Belize City on Thursday night by a man she has known for two years.
According to police, the incident began around 8:30 p.m. while the teen was sitting on the bleachers of a nearby basketball court with two friends. She told officers that the 21-year-old man approached them and threw a pint bottle of 501 Beer at her but missed.
Frightened, she ran home. About an hour later, while she was standing on her veranda, she saw the same man coming up her front steps. She says she tried to lock the door, but he forced his way inside and attacked her.
The girl reported that she fought back, punching him in the face and pushing him out of the house. She suffered scratches to her left leg and the right side of her neck during the struggle.
Police have since detained the man, who remains in custody pending charges.
Israel has issued an apology and pledged an investigation after a deadly military strike hit Gaza’s only Catholic church on Thursday, killing three people and injuring several more.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed that the Holy Family Church, which has served as a refuge for Gaza’s small Christian community during the ongoing war, was struck directly by Israeli tank fire on Thursday morning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement expressing “deep regret” over what it called “a stray ammunition” hitting the church. “Every innocent life lost is a tragedy,” the statement read, adding that Israel is investigating and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged responsibility, stating that “fragments from a shell fired during operational activity hit the church mistakenly,” and that an inquiry is underway.
About 1,000 Christians lived in Gaza before the outbreak of the war, which has now lasted 20 months and left more than 58,000 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian officials.
Five men were shot while socialising on Aloe Vera Street in Belize City on Thursday night. According to police, the group came under fire around 10:15 p.m. when two men rode up on a bicycle and one opened fire.
Police say the gunmen approached from the direction of Mahogany Street. One of them got off the bicycle and fired several shots toward the group before both suspects fled toward Rosalind Bradley Street, which connects to Lawrence Avenue.
The injured have been identified as Aristotle Hughes, 20; James Young Jr, 29; Jermaine Smart, 18; Douglas Gill, 34; and Lismo Williams, 34.
All five victims were taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where they remain in stable condition.
Scenes of Crime Personnel retrieved 18 expended 9mm shells and collected blood samples from the scene.
Meanwhile, there’s a major ongoing public debate on the government-proposed 13th amendment, which aims to introduce several significant changes to Belize’s legal framework in the fight against crime and restore safety in crime-plagued communities. This week, Attorney Darrel Bradley called it “dangerous,” while the former Mesopotamia Area Representative Moses “Shyne” Barrow threw his support behind the 13th amendment.
What happens when home is no longer a safe place? In Spanish Lookout, a young woman’s life was cut short in the very place she should have felt most secure. Twenty-year-old Claritza Granillo Rodriguez was stabbed to death, allegedly by her brother-in-law, after what police say was an argument over loud music. Why did a simple disagreement turn deadly? Could this tragedy have been prevented? And what does it say about the hidden tensions in shared living spaces where stress, isolation, and silence often go unnoticed? Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Tonight, a quiet home in Spanish Lookout is at the center of a tragic story. What was once a shared space for a family of six has now become a crime scene. Twenty-year-old Claritza Granillo Rodriguez, a Honduran national, was fatally stabbed on Wednesday night, allegedly during a heated argument with her brother-in-law over loud music. Rodriguez lived with her husband and four male relatives on the grounds of a lumber yard where the men worked. That night, the group had been socializing after work when things took a deadly turn. Police arrived at the scene just after 9:30 p.m. and found Rodriguez’s lifeless body on the veranda, bearing multiple stab wounds. She was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late, she was pronounced dead on arrival. Three men were detained shortly after the incident, but one, her brother-in-law, Eris Gavarette, had fled. After a search earlier today, police confirmed they’ve taken him into custody. Rodriguez and her family were relatively unknown in the community, and efforts to reach her relatives have so far been unsuccessful. Media access to the property has also been restricted by the owners. Britney Gordon for News Five.
A bold, broad-daylight robbery in Belize City has left many stunned, not just for how it happened, but where. Just a stone’s throw from a police checkpoint on Vernon Street, two men on a motorcycle pulled off a daring heist at a busy intersection. As traffic waited at the light near Central American Boulevard, one of the men, his face hidden by a helmet, jumped off the bike, walked up to a car, and robbed the driver and passenger at gunpoint. The target? A shoebox. What was inside remains a mystery. But what’s clear is that the entire incident was caught on camera, and the suspects sped off down Vernon Street before police could respond.
It’s been just over a month since twenty-two-year-old Cassian Billary was found guilty of murder, but his sentencing is still on hold. Billary was convicted back in June for the 2020 killing of nineteen-year-old Micah Baltazar. But today, when he appeared before Justice Candace Nanton, he was told the court still isn’t ready to move forward with sentencing. Why? A key document, the Social Inquiry Report, is still missing. When asked if anyone from the Community Rehabilitation Department had spoken to him, Billary said no. That delay forced the judge to push the matter back once again, with no new date confirmed just yet. Billary, who was only eighteen at the time of the incident, claimed he acted under duress, that it was either his life or Baltazar’s. But the court didn’t buy that argument. Justice Nanton rejected his defense, pointing to the events leading up to the shooting, and ultimately found him guilty of murder. He’s being represented by attorney Leeroy Banner, and his next court appearance is tentatively set for July twenty-fourth at the High Court.
It’s one of the most talked-about pieces of legislation in recent memory and it’s stirring up strong opinions across the country. The Thirteenth Amendment Bill, introduced by the Briceño administration, promises tougher crime-fighting tools, including warrantless searches in so-called ‘special zones,’ a dedicated gun and gang court, and retroactive approval of past states of emergency. The government says it’s about restoring order in Belize’s most vulnerable communities. But not everyone’s convinced. While the Belize Police Department backs the bill, critics warn it could open the door to abuse of power and erode constitutional rights. On Wednesday, we took you to a public consultation in Belize City. Today, we hit the streets of Belmopan to hear what residents in the capital think about this controversial proposal. Here’s that report.
Reporter
“Do you know what the thirteenth amendment is?”
Belmopan Resident
Belmopan Resident
“Yes I think that it’s the government trying to make right some of their wrongs. I strongly believe that it infringes on the rights of the more the citizens who really need more and may not have someone to defend them at that point in time. But really and truly, I believe that they should find some way to better police and to and to take care of crime instead of trying to just grab anyone and punish them for something that they may or may not necessarily have done.”
Britney Gordon
“What is your immediate reaction to it then? Do you agree with it? Support it?”
Belmopan Resident
“ I think the government is trying to do what they think is best to keep us safe, but that’s about it.”
Britney Gordon
“Do you think that they’re doing enough to get the information out so that people understand what it is?”
Belmopan Resident
Belmopan Resident
“Well, based on my current amount of knowledge, I would say they could possibly do more.”
Philip Willoughby
Philip Willoughby
“The social programs that ought to be promulgated by the government should be done so as not to have the amendments proceed the way they are that will present a change to our constitution the way it is written at this time. Save and accept that they can provide us with a better piece of amendment that may not impede on the rights, the or fundamental rights and freedom. As citizens of this country or foreigners I don’t foresee us supporting it the way it.”
Belmopan Resident
Belmopan Resident
“Honestly, I feel like that’s very unfair. I know in other countries like the US they have, there’s an absolute requirement of that warrant and I feel like it is very unfair to like, just have your house searched without a warrant. No. Nothing like that and just have your house raided for whatever reason. Just because they suspect and it’s I feel like it’s very unfair, especially if you can’t challenge it.”
Belmopan Resident
Belmopan Resident
“Based pan what I di hear that the law can just ketch you and lock you up and do without a fair chance at justice. Dat no right. You need to get proven that you’re guilty or not. Because I deh right yah and figure if somebody tell you something bad about me, and they go report me and ney just go kerr you, lock you up for no reason and you not guilty. I mean that da wa waste ah time.”
Philip Willoughby
“Any law that erodes the rule of justice is no law at all.”
