Senators also questioned the fact that four government C.E.O.’s will be appointed as members of the board of directors. There were also concerns over renumeration and the level of oversight from M.C.C. that almost makes it impossible to get anything done without their approval. Here is more from the debate.
Bishop Alvin Benguche, Church Senator
“On the aspect of the board, part two eleven where it speaks to renumeration. I think we need to continue to note that aspect, whereby I would hope and even though there will be oversight, I would hope that as we speak to the issue of renumeration that it would involve those who in an authentic way should receive. I can see there than on the board, especially the voting members, and I think if I am right there about three C.E.O.s who are already receiving a salary and should be restricted in so far as they are already receiving a salary and additional renumeration that they would not have to fit into this category.”
Eamon Courtenay
Eamon Courtenay, Lead Government Senator
“The long and short of it is that this is U.S. taxpayers’ money primarily, and there are legal requirements in the U.S. that put in place checks and balances that must be imposed on countries that receive the grant. While we may have pushed back and revealed our concerns and continue to express the concerns of the roles and responsibilities of M.C.C. representatives, their hands are tied. Ultimately why one has to accept it, is that you have to pay a price. What the role of the M.C.C. is designed to ensure that there is value for money in terms of the money that is going to be donated and the government counterpart contribution.”
The Government of Belize, through the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), has started a project to upgrade a 3.9-mile farm feeder road in Trio Village, Toledo District. This project is part of the Resilient Rural Belize (RRB) Programme, a six-year initiative to help small farmers deal with climate and economic challenges and improve their market access. The programme is funded by BZ$50 million from international organisations like the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and local beneficiaries.
The contract for the road upgrade, worth approximately BZ$1.86 million, was signed with A&N Construction. The new road will provide year-round access for farmers, helping them transport their produce more easily and reliably.
Trio Village is home to the Cooperativa Los Buenos Amigos Co-operative, a group of small farmers who grow pineapples on about 31 acres. Currently, poor road conditions make it difficult for them to move their produce, especially during the rainy season. The new road will make transportation easier and more efficient for the co-operative and other local farmers growing cacao, coconut, and citrus.
The improved road is expected to benefit about 188 households and 899 people in Trio Village, as well as other farmers in the surrounding areas.
Christopher Coye, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment, represented Belize at a meeting of Central American Governors convened by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Guatemala City earlier this month. The gathering focused on the “America En El Centro: Development Program for Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic – 2024-2030.”
Minister Christopher Coye
The programme aims to address significant regional challenges such as low productivity, social disparities, fiscal constraints, and climate vulnerability, complementing national efforts by fostering cross-border development across Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Key priorities include enhancing productivity and economic integration, bolstering climate resilience, and promoting opportunities for women and youth through targeted investments.
During the meeting, Minister Coye emphasized Belize’s interest in establishing a new road infrastructure between Central America and Southeastern Mexico (Yucatan and Quintana Roo) via Jalacte, Belize, to serve as a vital logistics corridor. This initiative seeks to improve market access to Southeastern Mexico and CARICOM nations, potentially unlocking substantial trade and investment opportunities for Belize and the wider region. Additionally, Minister Coye expressed Belize’s intention to join the regional electricity transmission grid system (SIEPAC).
Minister Coye also engaged in discussions with Mr. Francisco Lima Mena, Secretary General of the Central American Economic Integration Secretariat (SIECA), regarding Belize’s aspiration to become an observer member of SIECA. This status would enable Belize to actively participate in and stay informed about regional economic integration efforts, including initiatives such as the Regional Master Plan 2035 on Mobility and Logistics.
Today, at the twelfth annual North American, Central American and Caribbean Directors of Civil Aviation Meeting, Prime Minister John Briceño, stressed the significance of the aviation industry to the country, stating that fifty-five percent of the country’s G.D.P. comes from tourism, and over fifty percent of tourists travel by air. Considering this, Briceño further explained his goals to expand the industry, both domestically and internationally for Belize. Here’s more on that.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Aviation is of foremost importance to our tourism industry. For us in Belize, tourism accounts for fifty-five percent of G.D.P. More than eighty percent of our tourists who come to Belize will travel to one of our diverse destinations by air. Considering how important aviation is to GDP, And how vital it is to Belize’s economy, our government has declared aviation a priority sector of our country. Our projections for growth in tourism align with ICAO’s projections for growth in the air transport sector. Our overnight projections show a tripling of passengers who utilize the Phillip Goldson International Airport over the next fifteen years. Triple. Three hundred percent. At present, we are in the process of negotiating the development of an aviation master plan and expect that it will result in an all-around improvement of the aviation industry in Belize. The goal of our government, as stated in Plan Belize, our medium-term development plan is to expand the P.G.A., our International Airport, with a U.S. one hundred twenty-five million investment, to a new airport in San Pedro, a national airport next to P.G.A. to handle and to manage local air traffic, and a new airport in here down south in Placencia. All of them to be able to handle larger planes within Belize and who knows, probably handle short regional flights.”
Heavy rainfall has hit Belizeans in more ways than one. In Northen Belize, excessive rains have resulted in flooding not only in residential communities, but also in the agricultural sector. Several fields of crops have been destroyed or delayed production, resulting in scarcity and high price increases. Produce affected include items such as tomatoes, cilantro and peppers. News Five’s Britney Gordon visited the Michael Finnegan market today to learn how this has affected Belizeans.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
If you, like many other Belizeans, purchase your produce locally, then you would know that Tuesday is market day. From as early as five a.m., dozens of customers flock to the stands at their local markets to hunt for the best deals. These days, however, the search has become significantly more difficult, as the prices of fruits and vegetables skyrocketed within the past week. We spoke with Florita Tzib, a vendor for the past thirty-eight years at the Michael Finnegan Market, to find out how her business has been impacted by the change.
Britney Gordon
“You sell habanero, which is something that went up recently. How have you found customers react to this?”
Florita Tzib
Florita Tzib, Vendor
“I really have a lot of customers and my customers sometimes them tell us why the price is so high so I tell them we can’t explain to you because sometimes we bring our product and sometimes the product we bring, we sell it different price and sometimes when we buy we have to sell it expensive just like how we buy it because we have to make our profit. And sometimes when we ask the person that sell it if them could put down the price and they tell me no that is the price and that is the price and they no bring the price not at all. So, when my customers come and ask, I explain to them why the product is so expensive because we buy. And when I bring my things then I sell it different.”
There are several products, such as tomatoes and cilantro, whose prices have seen a sharp increase. But it is the cost of habanero peppers, that are selling anywhere between twenty and thirty-five dollars per pound, that have left many pepper sauce lovers reeling. Colin Gillett, a frequent shopper at the market, says that it is in times like these, that he makes do without certain items.
Colin Gillett
Colin Gillett, Customer
“I buy tomato, cabbage, cilantro, the usual stuff and fruits that are in a season, but I don’t know if that’s due to the flooding, they make the items expensive, but my pay noh di go up. So if I think the item is too expensive for me, I just don’t buy it.”
There are several factors contributing to the increase in prices, namely the recent excessive rainfall, flooding across the country and a combination of fungi and insects. Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai explained that while these are factors that contribute to a shortage every year around this time of year, the intensity of the rainfall has exacerbated the issue in the region.
Voice of: Jose Abelardo Mai
Voice of: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“At this time of the year, every year you have rainfall, you have fungus, you have bacteria. But this year, it is extremely hot and humid, and then excess rainfall one week after. So you have both extremes, and I’ve never seen it like this before. And that is what affected us, and now it’s an abrupt end of vegetables. You don’t see any vegetables. You see it last two weeks and now there’s none. And so it is very clear. It is very extremely strange, right? Not only to us in Belize, but even the Mexicans in the peninsula. But every year we have this type of problem, not as intense as this year. It’s expected that you will have a shortage of vegetables at this time of the year.”
To alleviate the severity of the issue, the ministry is currently working towards opening greenhouses across the country so that farmers will have an extra supply of produce when weather conditions damage their crops. Mai said that while this may not end a scarcity, it will minimize it.
Voice of: Jose Abelardo Mai
“We have issued hundreds of greenhouses throughout the districts, and this is where climate smart agriculture comes in. You have an alternative to production out in open fields. You have no greenhouses. So the greenhouses are supposed to kick in now to have your cilantro, to have your hot peppers, your sweet peppers, and a few cabbages. You don’t have a lot like you have open production, open field production, but you’re still supposed to have a little to supply the market.”
Earlier we heard San Pedro Mayor, Wally Nunez say that islanders have been taking early precautionary steps to prepare for Beryl in the event it dips in its track and comes closer our way. And as has been the case, when there’s an emergency, merchants and shop owners begin to price gouge, but that will not be tolerated in San Pedro, according to Mayor Wally Nunez. He told us that the San Pedro Town Council has been getting out that message clearly on the radio station and the various media platforms on the island.
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“They cannot be doing that. It is illegal and they can face consequences, especially through their trade license. If they are caught increasing any of those prices, because this is a time when we’re supposed to unite and help each other and not take advantage of people. And our staff has been out there checking on the different stores, grocery stores and the hardware stores to make sure that they are not decreasing the prices of the goods.”
Marion Ali
“Okay, so there is monitoring of that, yes?”
Wally Nunez
“Yes, definitely. We are monitoring that but if there’s anybody who has information of any establishment that is increasing the prices to please let us know through our Facebook page or call the Town Council.”
It is the largest oil-producing plant in the world and earlier this year, Belize experimented with the idea of growing the nut that makes African Palm Oil as an alternative to naturally-produced cooking oils. Experts in the agriculture industry believed the African Palm Oil had great potential for Belize, and at a summit held late last year, Guatemalans in the industry had offered their advice to Belizean farmers on how to grow and manage the crop. This week’s edition of Belize on Reel takes a closer look at the African Palm Oil and found out that while it produces a very healthy cooking oil, the labour it requires for harvesting is a challenge. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Jose Abelardo Mai
File: Jan 18, 2024: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“I believe that one other option is African palm oil. Although the environmentalists have a little concern about it because in other countries when they planted African palm oil, they had to clear a lot of land. In this case, it’s not that, because the lands are very clear for citrus. It’s just replacing the dead orchards with another product.”
Marion Ali, Reporting
Back in January, the African Palm Oil industry showed a lot of promise. At an investment summit, Guatemalan agro producers shared their interest, expertise and knowledge with Belizean farmers who were previously involved in declining crops like citrus and bananas. But there hasn’t been much advancement since then to establish an African Palm Oil Industry.
Hugh O’Brien
Hugh O’Brien, Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture
“Belize so far, it’s not like any physical research has begun. We were at an exploration stage in terms of the African oil palm industry. The oil generated from the oil palm, from the African oil palm dominates just about between 33 and 34 percent of the oil market in the world, of the plant oil market, if I can call it that. You’re comparing it to soybeans, to sunflower and other oils that are used, coconut oil and so on. So it’s the biggest – it is the largest oil-producing plant in the world. It’s a plant that can produce 3,000 pounds of oil per acre.”
Aside from its economic potential, the product from African Palm Oil is considered among the healthiest naturally produced oils for cooking. In addition, it is also used in different types of cosmetics.
Hugh O’Brien
“You can export in its crude form, and there are other companies in the world that will buy that, and then purify it more, and use it in cosmetics, and consumption oil and facial creams and soaps and it’s a wide range of products that is produced from African Oil Palm.”
But why has the discussion on the product not gone past the exploratory stage? Advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture, Hugh O’Brien says there were some challenges that were identified that this crop would pose for Belize.
Hugh O’Brien
“We have not made a decision to go full scale ahead. We have not closed the doors on the opportunity, but based on how things are with our other industries, interest from our farmers we’re going to make that decision. It is just like coconut is, it does take an amount of labour to get the fruits harvested to manage your farm. All our industries are struggling right now. The papaya people are having challenges getting workers. The coconut farmers are having challenges getting workers. In fact, this year we’re going to be losing between 150,000 to 200,000 boxes of oranges because we have been unable to harvest it fast enough because of labour challenges.”
We visited a residence in Teakettle Village where African Palm Oil trees are grown but for decorative purposes only. Marion Ali for News Five.
Cost of living was up almost four percent in the first five months of this year, compared to the same period in 2023. But it wasn’t as if you didn’t know it. The comments on the talk shows and social media reflect the impact of the prices of grocery items on the pocket. Today, the Statistical Institute of Belize confirmed those comments and gave a breakdown of those figures. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The information coming out of the Statistical Institute of Belize today shows that the cost of living for the first five months of this year was up by almost four percent, when compared to the same period last year. Statistician, Melvin Perez provides some details.
Melvin Perez
Melvin Perez, Statistician, S.I.B.
“Prices increased by 3.9% for the first five months of 2024 when compared to the same period of the year 2023. The main contributor to the overall cumulative inflation rate was the food and non-alcoholic beverages category. Higher prices were seen for food items, restaurant services, home rental costs, personal hygiene products, household cleaning and maintenance products, cultural services, alcoholic beverages and medicine products.”
The Director General of the institute, Diana Castillo-Trejo explained that that the problem is not unique or confined to Belize.
Diana Castillo-Trejo
Diana Castillo-Trejo, Director General, S.I.B.
“Your cost of living has to do with how high prices are, like how high in general the level of prices are while your inflation rate talks about whether it’s going up or down and how fast it’s moving. So what we reported today was the inflation rate. What we are seeing in terms of the general trend is that last year there were some very high rates of inflation. It is slowing a bit now, but price levels still remain considerably higher than they were a few years ago because of this high level of inflation that we have been seeing for the past couple of years. And we have been seeing Food prices continue to rise. It is one of the items for which inflation is persistent. And I think that this is not unique to Belize. This is something that countries around the world are facing. However, on the other hand, things like fuel, the rise in prices in fuel has been slowing down and to a certain extent even reversing a bit. And likewise for things like butane where we’ve been seeing small drops in the price there.”
Annia Mejia shared statistics on a labour force survey conducted in April. That exercise revealed that three thousand households were randomly selected across Belize and interviewed on the status of their employment.
Annia Mejia
Annia Mejia, Statistical Officer, S.I.B.
“In April 2024, the national population was estimated at 409,357 persons. The working age population is estimated at 298,464 persons or 72.9% of the national population. The labour force is comprised of 57.4% of the working age population. The unemployed population makes up 3% of the labour force, while the employed population makes up 97% of the labour force. Within the employed population, 2.5 % of the employed persons makes up the under-employed population.”
The unemployment rate of three percent, according to Diana Castillo-Trejo, is higher than it was a year ago. But many people disagree with this figure that the unemployment rate is so low, so we asked Trejo to explain how they work that out.
Diana Castillo-Trejo
“The unemployment rate actually, if you compared to last April, it is up slightly. We have seen a small increase in the number of unemployed, persons. And if you look at the big picture of what we presented today we also include a lot of information on persons who are not in the labor force. Which that is about 120,000 plus persons who are of working age, but they are not active in the labor force. And of those, about 5,000 are what we would say, they can easily be moved into the labor force. Maybe they are not looking for work right now, but they are available. So we do also report on that. It’s just that the classification is a little bit different because the definition of unemployment includes persons who are actively seeking employment. And actively seeking is a very loose term. It’s a very loose term. If someone has even asked around does anyone know of a job that counts as actively seeking.”
The stats also indicate that total imports for the first five months stood at one point two billion dollars, which represented a fourteen percent increase. Total exports were a hundred and sixty-five point six million dollars, or four-point six percent higher.
On tourism, Statistical Officer, Jacqueline Sabal presented on the Tourism Satellite Account 2019, which involves data about the supply and demand of tourism-related goods and services and summarizes the contribution tourism makes to production and employment.
Jacqueline Sabal
Jacqueline Sabal, Statistical Officer, S.I.B
“For the year 2019, we have a direct share in tourism industries, Gross Value Added at $343.1 million, the direct share in other industries – $142.2 million, the direct share in taxes less subsidies – $73.6 million, which brings us to a total tourism direct Gross Domestic Product at $558.9 million. Internal tourism consumption totalled $1.1 billion, the tourism direct Gross Domestic Product stood at 11.8% of total G.D.P., the number of establishments in the tourism industry was 2,244, the number of persons employed in the tourism industry was 24,999, and the tourism industry was the second largest contributor to G.D.P. and the largest foreign exchange earner during that year.”
In that same year, the total number of persons employed in the tourism industry was right around twenty-five thousand. Marion Ali for News Five.
The consumption of marijuana in small doses has been decriminalized in Belize since 2017. However, in the United States, it is still not federally legalized. The disparity has caused American banks to resist conducting transactions with cultivators of the drug. On Monday, at Belize’s second Annual Anti-Money Laundering Conference, which is jointly hosted with the Embassy of the Unites States, Minister of New Growth Industries, Kareem Musa was asked if marijuana will continue to impose on Belize-U.S. banking relations. Here is his response.
Reporter
“In relation to this particular conference, you have been a proponent of new growth industries and specifically the legalized cultivation of marijuana. Are you anticipating or are you hoping that the outcome of this conference will be a mechanism whereby the commercial banks who have been very cagey about receiving any sort of deposits from marijuana cultivators would be in a position that they could receive the deposits of farmers who have been cultivating marijuana without it being viewed by American authorities as being the illicit proceeds of an illegal activity?”
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of New Growth Industries
“Yeah, I believe significant strides have been made on the cannabis front especially in the United States where most of our correspondent banks sit. There was a recent reclassification of cannabis from the schedule one to a schedule three drug and so that will allow for greater banking possibilities within the United States, and it’s expected that will translate to greater banking opportunities for Belize as well. As I mentioned, we do have correspondent banking relations. We want to preserve that by all means. And so I don’t see it again as before. I don’t see it being a big issue because so long as it’s a cash industry per se. But we do want to move away from it being a cash industry in the future. And so with these new classifications, it will help the banking of it.”
BELTRAIDE’s second Micro-Small and Medium Enterprise Roadshow opened this morning in Orange Walk Town. The event aims to give economic support to these businesses to start and keep their operations running. This is key in Belize’s development, since M.S.M.E.s are responsible for as much as seventy percent of our country’s G.D.P. This second roadshow has seen adjustments to the initial one in 2022, according to Executive Director of BELTRAIDE, Doctor Leroy Almendarez, and the inclusion of two more destinations. News Five’s Marion Ali and Darrel Moguel were in Orange Walk Town for the launch and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Belize currently has roughly two thousand micro, small and medium enterprises that are registered with the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service. And with the launch of BELTRAIDE’s second roadshow today, the organization hopes that this number will increase significantly. Today, the prime minister noted the importance of having these mini businesses in a developing Belize.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“M.S.M.E.s fuel our communities, create jobs, and they drive innovation. They are diverse, ranging from family-owned mom and pop shops, such as what we see from farmers’ daughters to tech startups on service providers to artisans. They fuel our orange economy most importantly, and listen to this, they contribute to more than 50 percent of G.D.P., approximately 70 percent of employment.”
A major part of the success that these small businesses enjoy is access to financial capital. They can access funding to either get started or to remain open. International financial institutions, like I.D.B., are key partners in this process. Rocio Medina-Bolivar spoke of relevant ways that I.D.B. has been instrumental to M.S.M.E.s.
Rocio Medina-Bolivar
Rocio Medina-Bolivar, Country Rep., I.D.B
“We have the promotion of digitalization of M.S.M.E.s and governance services, providing digital training to workers and supporting approximately 200 M.S.M.E.s to enhance their business processes inclusively. With our private sector window, I.D.B. lab, we are supporting projects like Let’s Go Belize, which assists M.S.M.E.s in tourism by enhancing their digital presence and leveraging technology to improve their services, or B.C.C.I., that supports the adoptions of digital technologies within M.S.M.E.s with a gender lens. Also, recognizing the importance of global market exposure for M.S.M.E.s, the trade facilitation investment project funded by the I.D.B. empowers local M.S.M.E.s to become exporters, establishing together and supporting the government to establish a single trade window for small and medium exporters.”
Tyree Lizama is the owner of Farmers’ Daughters, a small enterprise she opened in 2022 when COVID was wreaking havoc on lives and businesses.
Tyree Lizama
Tyree Lizama, Owner, Farmers’ Daughters
“My husband and I, we thought it was a good idea that we come up with some kind of business that we can help our family with. And we were inspired to help our daughters. I have two daughters ages nine and 10 and from this project, we wanted to teach them entrepreneurship. And so we started the, we started first with making cooked beans for businesses in Belize City. And from there we ventured off into making seaweed products. So I started with Bell Trade in 2022. I was one of the winners from the roadshow events. And from the funds that I received, it helped me to buy equipment and further my business.”
Executive Director, Dr. Leroy Almendarez explained to us that BELTRAIDE helps entrepreneurs with their businesses from the point of conception.
Dr. Leroy Almendarez
Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE
“We hold your hand until you let go of ours. And so once you’re registered and you’re working with us and we continue to tell, we continue to say register because there’s so many benefits. I mentioned benefits like economic incentives. If you want to get custom duty or exemptions for products from materials that you need in your business for inputs. Once you’re registered, it’s easier than because you have a tax identification number that you use with customs in order to access or get those exemptions. And so if you, if they find out they’re having challenges, they can always call Bell Trade. In fact, they do. If and don’t be afraid. Someone, we have advisors that cover this country as well. We start to help you from your conceptualizing. What is it that I want to do? What market do I want to get to? Because that’s another thing. Don’t just go into a market. Know what’s operating within the market. So we collect market intelligence and can guide you and say that market is full. It’s flooded. If you’re going there, it’s going to cost you more and the benefits, the profits have already declined. So start something new. Never be afraid to be a leader so we can provide that market intelligence to you.”
Ishmael Quiroz is the Executive Director of the Economic Development Council. It is government’s official mechanism for dialogue between the public and private sectors.
Ishmael Quiroz
Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, Economic Development Council
“One of the things that we champion in addition to innovation is business climate reform, so anything that facilitates being able to do business in Belize, and that includes making it easy for small enterprises to participate in the formal economy.”
Marion Ali
And if there are challenges that they’re facing, would you play a role in trying to get them back on track?
Ishmael Quiroz
“Absolutely. So one of the functions of the public private desk unit in the office of the prime minister is to bring both public and private sector stakeholders together to identify and deliver solutions to make it easier to do business in Belize. Sometimes that involves digitalization of government services. Other times it means simplification of processes, and sometimes it just requires good communication and standardization of information.”
Prime Minister Briceno pledged to make accessing to financing and support systems much easier for small businesses.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“We are committed to building on this momentum of the roadshow through championing access to finance by streamlining loan processes and exploring innovative financing solutions, reducing the burden of regulation by simplifying legislation, policies and procedures that foster a business-friendly environment, promoting buy Belizean by encouraging government procurement from local businesses and empowering consumers to choose Belizean made products, investing in skills development by promoting training programs that equip M.S.M.E.s with the tools they need to thrive.”
The roadshow will travel to Punta Gorda June twenty-seventh to the twenty-ninth. Marion Ali for News Five.
