Belizeans complain about the high cost of living daily. In his State of the Nation address today, Prime Minister John Briceño said that inflation is on a decline. The PM quoted a figure of three-point eight percent, down from six-point three percent in 2024. He also said that there is more than eight hundred million dollars in banking liquidity.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Inflation is down, falling from six-point-three percent in 2022 to three-point-eight percent in 2024. Banking sector liquidity is abundant, exceeding eight hundred million dollars. The Belizean dollar is stronger, with over one-point-nine billion dollars in foreign assets, and the public finances have been transformed in just four years, with public debt down to sixty-three percent of GDP from one hundred and thirty percent in 2020, fortified by a primary budget surplus of one percent of GDP.”
While the Prime Minister said that the rate of inflation has gone down by two-point-five percent since 2022, the Belize City residents we spoke with disagree. Today, we took our cameras downtown and asked consumers how they feel about the cost of living. They all believe that inflation is heading in the opposite direction, and that the prices that are going up are on basic grocery items.
Belize City Resident #1
Belize City Resident #1
“I don’t know where this come down because I see the price of basic things gone up. For example, you goh buy sugar, ih gone up and you can’t buy more than five pounds of sugar per person. You go and buy a soft drink, and ih gone up, two-twenty-five now. It was two dollars. The bread, the same thing. Ih used to be two dollars, two-fifty. Now, two-seventy-five, two ninety-five. Tell me where is the cost of living going down.”
Belize City Resident #2
Belize City Resident #2
“We deh out ya and we di see the economy, exactly what di happen. Tell and talk the truth to the people mek the people know because wi do have inflation da Belize and deh have it da America. Once ih affect America ih affect Belize, but dehn di trick the people. Come out and tell the people plain.”
Belize City Resident #3
Belize City Resident #3
“Cost ah living can’t goh down when every week nearly everything di goh up. Every other two weeks everything di nearly double the price. Cost ah living nuh di goh down. I da salesman, I di do business, mammy, I di tell yoh, everything di goh up. I di sell natural juice. Sometimes I got coconut water. Bottle di goh up, even the coconut offa the tree di goh up. From shilling – we used to pay twenty cents fi wa whole coconut to sixty cents today. Fi we coconut gone from two dollars a bottle to two-seventy-five, soh cost ah living could ah neva di goh down. I see everybody di complain and di punish, di tek lick. I goh da market and things soh expensive. Seventy-five cents fi one lee dry up lime. Orange gone from six or seven fi dolla to three fi dolla with the skin pahn it. Soh dehn can’t tell we that cost ah living di goh down.”
Belize City Resident #4
Belize City Resident #4
“I nuh think soh cause everything still expensive.”
Marion Ali
“When last you gone da the market and what you pay more pahn?”
Belize City Resident #4
“Vegetables, all. All vegetables.”
Marion Ali
“Significant increases?”
Belize City Resident #4
“Yes, increase by a lot. Everything increase by a lot. Even when yoh goh da the store. When yoh does pay three twenty-five fi wa can ah baking powder, now da seven change. Like ih double the price.”
Belize City Resident #5
Belize City Resident #5
“Nothing nuh di goh down. Everything goh up because from the time I di sell tamales everything still raise higher than weh yoh think and everybody nuh want pay the price fi the thing dehn cause dehn di goh up higher and higher every day. When yoh buy foil parer ih does cost seven dollars, now ih cost eighteen and thirteen dollars, depends pahn the type or brand ah foil paper yoh di buy cause dehn got different type and different size. Soh every day, life – cost ah living fi my kids dehn – chicken gone up long time. Wi deh da three thirty-five fi a pound a chicken right now. Masa done deh da – wi does deh da what, seventy-five cents. Now masa deh da one twenty-five. When yoh goh buy noodles, simple noodles gone from fifty cents to one-twenty-five, simple noodles. And ih look like ih gwein higher every next day.”
Prime Minister John Briceño also announced a new threshold for income tax exemption. All workers who make less than twenty-nine thousand dollars will be exempted from income tax. The threshold was set at twenty-six thousand dollars under the Barrow Administration. We spoke with PM Briceño after the ceremony. He explained the decision in greater detail.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“When the then prime minister introduced reforms to the then tax regime, I think it was in 20009, I remember taking some time out to show him in the House that what he has done is basically increase the tax on people. He said, the threshold is at twenty-six thousand, five hundred, but once you reach that figure you start to pay tax at twenty thousand. So, you were not really doing much for people. Our plan is to eventually get rid of PAYE. That is our goal. How long it will take us, that is dependent on how fast the economy can grow and how fast revenue can grow, because if we use the tax, we have to get it from somewhere. With growth we hope that we will be able to replace it. This is the first step. We took it up to twenty-nine thousand dollars. Anybody that is earning less than twenty-nine thousand will pay zero tax. And those above twenty thousand will pay. There was also an anomaly, the way the previous government set up the income tax, let’s say you are at a threshold of twenty-nine thousand and you get a raise for let’s say a hundred dollars, twenty-nine thousand, one hundred dollars for year, the tax regime says you jump into another bracket. In many instances the reality is that it eats up the raise that you are getting. That was happening especially in the tourism industry. So, I was told that a lot of people in the tourism industry and other industry were forced to pay that in cash, because the workers were saying, I will not take a pay raise, because I am going to get less money at the end of the day. We made that adjustment so that the tax will never be more than the raise.”
PM Briceño was also asked if the new income tax regime is being used as a political tactic to garner support ahead of the 2025 general elections. And, if less income tax goes to the public’s coffer, what will the government do to replace that lost income? Here is how the prime minister responded to those questions.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“No, absolutely not. We said it from early on, this is something that we want to do. We want to be able to see how we could give relief to the middle class. The middle class are the ones paying these taxes. And so, this is the first stop. Remember, when we got into government we got a bankrupt government. We were borrowing a million dollars a day. There is no way we could afford it. So we have to make sure we can grow the economy. When you see that our economy has gone for less than four billion in 2020 to over six billion dollars now, it shows tremendous growth. Now, we have to ensure we collect the taxes. In doing that, we will be able to give more relief to our citizens. What we did is that we looked at the tax rolls from the Belize Tax Service and they said these are the people that are registered. But I believe that with doing this I think we will be able to capture more people within that amount that they will be able to register and pay as a tax payer.”
Reporter
“The total revenue basket must remain the same. So what increase in revenue collection will there be to offset the lose incurred from the income tax break?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“As I said earlier, as the economy continuous to grow we expect more taxes. With the growth we are projecting, the first quarters of this year we had a ten percent growth. We believe that will be able to offset those revenues. But you are right, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If we give something we have to get it from somewhere else. So we expect with the growth in the economy we will be able to offset those loses.”
Elmer Nah was set to be arraigned in the High Court today for the December 2022 triple murder of Jon, David and Vivian Ramnarace in Belmopan. But the court could not proceed with the arraignment due to some technicalities that arose. Nah was to be indicted on five counts, three counts of murder, one attempted murder and one use of deadly means of harm. He appeared before Justice Nigel Pilgrim and was represented by attorney Lynden Jones who appeared in person and Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, who appeared virtually. The prosecution was represented by Terrence Williams. In court, Justice Pilgrim brought to the parties’ attention that count five which is the charge for use of deadly means of harm upon Yemi Alberto was not properly before the court. Justice Pilgrim explained that under the Indictable Procedures Act, the charge of use of deadly means of harm is to be heard by a judge and jury. The prosecution then asked for time to rectify the indictment, which was granted for September twenty-sixth. The attempted murder charge also stems from Nah’s alleged attack upon Yemi Alberto. Relatives of the murder victims were present outside of the courtroom.
On Monday, we told you about twenty-six-year-old Daniel Cal, who died late last week after being released from police custody. Cal had been arrested a few days before for handling stolen goods and would later be discovered in his cell with clear signs of injuries. A postmortem examination revealed that Cal had died from an inflammation of the lungs and chronic alcoholism. Cal’s family, however, are still not satisfied with his treatment while in police custody and intend to take the matter to court. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams maintains that police provided adequate care to Cal while in detention and that the timing of his death was circumstantial. He told us today that he is prepared to take the matter before the court if the family chooses.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“On one occasion, prior to the second occasion when he went and subsequently died. So it shows that the police were responsive to his needs and the family members also came and told the police that he was on some medication. medication. And they were allowed to bring those medications for him. And he was taken to the hospital. Again, with a view to make sure that he was cared for. While in the police care. So, we can rule that out now. That the police had nothing to do with his death. The family members might still have their own views. And I respect that they have lost someone. I think that almost anybody in their position would. want to have their own views, so I’m not going to say nothing to condemn them, but rather to see how we can work together with them so that they can really and truly come to understanding and realization that the death of their loved one had nothing to do with the police.”
Reporter
“They do have an attorney, however, and I believe they’re planning to take this matter to court. Are you prepared for that, considering that while the police may not have assaulted him or touched him in any kind of way, He was in their care. And while they had facilitated the trip to the first trip to the hospital, the family says that they were not informed of any of this. The stitches and everything that happened to him was a surprise to them and the state in which they found him on the floor that also shocked them, left them with this very traumatic image in their head.”
Chester Williams
“Well, the families do have that entitlement. I can’t take that away from them. I can’t speak ill of them for doing that. If they believe that their loved one was treated in some inhumane manner, or that the police had something to do with the death of their loved ones, then they have all right to take the matter before the courts. And our duty then is to defend it. And I believe that we have substantial proof, even medical proof that the police did not cause his death. So it’s a matter for the court to decide when that time comes.”
We also asked Prime Minister John Briceño to weigh in on the current state of the Belize Police Department. There were no mentions of any reforms to the department in his State of the Nation address. Considering the recent death of twenty-six-year-old Daniel Cal and other reports of alleged police abuse, PM Briceño was asked for his thoughts on ways in which the department can improve its service to the nation. Here is how he responded.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“It is important for me to put on record, the tremendous work that minister Musa has been doing. If you don’t know, over a hundred police have been interdicted or fired for whenever there is any feeling of misconduct, or their behaviors are unbecoming of a police officer. So, he is trying his utmost best and so has the commissioner of police. We have been doing a lot of training. We also added a lot of counseling to these police men and women because they are under tremendous stress when they are out in the streets. I have seen it before…When you are at a party or out drinking and they are trying to break a fight and people are hitting them in the back. They are humans and whenever they would respond, somebody would say, oh police brutality. Not suggesting it does not happen. I am just trying to explain the environment which police officers work in. I think we need to look at where we were and where we are today. Do we have more to do? A lot more, a lot more training has to be done. We have to work on changing the culture of the police department. On this issue you mentioned, it is very unfortunate. Quite likely in insight you have twenty, twenty vision. Somebody should have contacted the family to say, hey something is wrong. I am told they have taken out the report to show that while he had some bruises he died from, it seems he was an alcohol and other medial issues and not necessarily from police brutality. But one it to a prisoner is one too much. It should not be tolerated.”
Police Inspector Christopher Martinez was recently handed a five-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to wounding detainee Aaron Flowers. The jail time follows a report filed by Flowers alleging that he was beaten over the head with a padlock. Martinez also claims that Flowers injured him, resulting in the officer being charged for common assault. The conflict allegedly stemmed from claims that Flowers had fired shots at Martinez’s home, prompting him to retaliate while Flowers was in police custody. We spoke with Commissioner of Police Chester Williams about instances of police abusing their power over detainees. He told us that while he believes that the sentence is excessive, it sends a message for other officers in the force.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Mister Martinez took full responsibility for what he did. I believe that he came to the realization that he was wrong and he got guilty to the charge. I personally believe that the sentence is excessive in nature. It’s a matter for him to decide if he’s going to appeal the sentence or not. And I hope that police officers are watching. Again, we’re seeing a number of instances where police officers are being accused of committing different types of crimes. And they will see that the court system is not plain when it comes to police. We start with Kareem Martinez where we saw an unusual sentence likewise excessively high and then now we have Martrinez. It’s Something for police to watch out to look at to make sure that they don’t commit themselves.”
On Monday, we told you about Hersel Garcia, the Belize City police officer who was caught on video trying to pawn two stolen chains valued at twenty and thirty thousand dollars. The jewelry belongs to American firefighter Gilbert Lightburn Junior, who was caught in an altercation a few weeks ago at Shisha Nightclub. Lightburn was charged for the attempted murder of three individuals after he stabbed them, however, he claims that he was robbed that night and reported over fifty-seven thousand dollars’ worth of items missing. An investigation was launched into officer Garcia who was caught on surveillance footage with the items. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams tells us that police have yet to locate all the missing items.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“According to the complainant in this case, the same guy who spoke about the firefighter, he was involved in an issue at Shisha nightclub in Belize city. And during that process he lost two chains, I think one was valued seventy-five thousand dollars an at eight ounce gold chain. And subsequent to that, he made a report to the police and police went and checked the pawn shops. And at a particular pawn shop in Belize City, the police were shown a video which depict the police officer going to that pawn shop to pawn that gold chain that belongs to the firefighter. Based on that, the police did what needed to be done and the police officer was arrested for handling stolen goods.”
Reporter
“It was only the one chain he was carrying?”
Chester Williams
“Yes. He was, the chain was not found with him. When he was detained by the police, he had disposed of the chain and we have not been able to recover it.”
Last week, a domestic dispute in Belize City took a dangerous turn when a police officer allegedly fired her boyfriend’s service weapon at him. She is twenty-nine-year-old Jeneah Arzu, who is accused of firing a shot at fellow police officer Kendale Nunez during an altercation. Nunez filed a report against her but would later drop the charges. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says that they will proceed with charging Arzu for firing a gun in a public space and that the department is looking at solutions to address the misuse of weapons issued to officers.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I know that the police officer was charged, the female officer was charged and the charge was subsequently withdrawn by her common law husband. And I had since given instruction that she must not be charged for discharging a firearm in public. We don’t need the evidence on the common law in terms of that. And so the police will be proceeding in that manner in respect to the woman officer who discharged the firearm in that area.”
Reporter
“Minister Musa spoke about how cops receive this type of emotional and religious training because they are dealing with firearms. But that sometimes they are humans and React in that case, do you feel like there’s more training that’s necessary?”
Chester Williams
“It might not be a matter of more training. It’s more a matter of knowing how to control yourself and how to control your own. As human beings we all get excited at times about issues. We tend to overreact over incidences due to our own inner emotions at times. And so we must know how to deal with those. that live within us. It is difficult for some people to control that. I also said to them that we need to take a second look at our firearm policy in terms of who can and who cannot take firearm home. And if we have any police officer who is constantly involved in domestic issue, those police officers must never have a gun at home. Even if it’s a license gun, we’re going to take it away until they can undergo counseling or something to be able to help them to overcome those issues that they are confronted with. And when it comes to our issued firearm we will not issue them none to take home. If they’re working in an area that requires the use of firearm, they’ll get one. When they come after you, they’ll hand that firearm back into the station. So we’re looking at that likewise to make sure that we address this whole issue with police officers misusing firearms.”
