Economy - Channel 5 Belize

Price of 16oz Pack Bread Goes Up

As of today, the controlled price of a sixteen-ounce loaf of bread is up by thirty-five cents. The wholesale cost now stands at one dollar and eighty-five cents, while the retail cost now stands at two dollars and ten cents. But it is not the only bakery product that is seeing a hike in the price. Products such as burger bread, hot dog bread and dinner rolls will also see an increase. It is a decision that the majority stakeholders of bakeries across the country say had to be made, because the cost of raw materials and packaging have increased by eight percent. News Five’s Paul Lopez took a closer look at the price increase, by speaking with residents, stakeholders and one government agency that had the final say on these increases. Here is that report.

Paul Lopez reporting

The retail cost of a sixteen-ounce pack bread has gone up by thirty-five cents. Lennox Nicholson is the Controller of Supplies in the Supplies Control Unit.

Lennox Nicholson, Controller of Supplies, Supplies Control Unit

The final decision was taken to increase the price for the sixteen-ounce slice bread by thirty-five cents which will take the retail price that the consumer pays at the grocery store to one dollar and ten cents. The rationale for it is because the bakers have provided us with substantial information as to their cost of production.

Anthony Nicholas, Belize City Resident

My thing about it is that we dah poor people. Deh have to understand, the government have to understand how poor people have to survive.

It is the most affordable bread option on grocery shelves across the country. But as of today, consumers will have to dig a bit deeper to purchase a pack of sixteen-ounce bread.

Phillip “Fada” Henry, Belize City Resident

Can I take a moment of silence? I guess we just had a moment of silence. It is ridiculous for the fact that Belize has a huge amount of poverty and for both political parties that form government in Belize, we have ups and downs with both of them, but now it has gotten to the point with it gets to the bread. Families can’t even afford the ramen and when it comes to the bread that we were paying one seventy-five for you are talking about raising. I think the prime minister needs to go to the drawing board ASAP.

But it is not solely a government decision. In fact, bakers across the country have been clamoring for a wholesale price increase over the last two years. The Belize Bakers Association initially proposed a seventy-five-cent increase. After lengthy negotiations with the government, a price increase of thirty-five cents was agreed upon. We spoke with an association representative over the phone.

On the phone: Vic Chu, Representative, Belize Bakers Association

We suggested an increase of seventy-five cents

Paul Lopez

And what we got was

On the phone: Vic Chu

Thirty-five cents. The entire association is feeling a bit disappointed, because the price of the pack bread for the sixteen ounce has not been adjusted since 2008. When the price of the plastic bag, the butane price or the gas price for the gas, for the delivery was very low, and also the flour price and sugar.

Lennox Nicholson

It is something we have been grappling with at least since April of 2022 when we were first engaged to look at the control price for the sixteen ounce slice bread. In that time the government had taken decision to subsidize the sector, in the first instance to the tune of one point five million dollars and a further subsidy of some four hundred thousand was actually issued to that sector with a view to maintain that price to where it had been for some time. All of those resources have been disbursed to the sector and those programs have come to an end.

According to Chu, bakers are still underpricing their products even with the thirty-five cents increase, because almost two decades have passed without a price adjustment. And it’s not only the sixteen-ounce pack bread that is seeing an increase in price. According to Chu, other bakery products on grocery shelves will be seeing an increase of at least ten cents.

On the phone: Vic Chu

This increase is helping us to keep us momentarily break for the moment. It helps us to relieve a little bit of pressure because we also have to take into consideration that labor has also increased at the beginning of this year to five dollar and hour. After consideration the public reactions the entire industry made just a slight adjustment on the other category of the bread to a ten cents increase. The other categories are for example the burger bread, the hot dog, the polvo round.

Anthony Nicholas, Belize City Resident

People buy pack bread everyday cause dah everyday we need to eat and that is one for the cheaper options, sausage and pack bread so we cant go wrong with that brother.

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez

Dormant Committee Meets to Discuss New Developments in Hemp Industry

After months of inactivity, the Hemp Industry Oversight Committee which falls within the scope of the Ministry of New Growth Industries, met to discuss essential developments in the hemp sector earlier today. Those include the role of agencies in monitoring hemp developments in Belize. The meeting is a meaningful step towards enhancing the research and development framework for hemp, scientifically known as cannabis sativa. Throughout recorded history, hemp was utilized for its industrial fiber, seed and other oils. It is also recognized for its myriad health benefits. During its meeting, the committee also reviewed an application for hemp research.

Belize Reactivates Hemp Industry Oversight Committee

The Hemp Industry Oversight Committee reconvened today to address critical developments in Belize’s hemp sector. A government press release says the agenda included the roles of various agencies in monitoring hemp activities, reviewing legislation, and evaluating an application for hemp research.

A primary focus was establishing a policy for approving hemp research and investments in Belize.

This meeting marks a crucial step in advancing hemp research and development in Belize. The release says that Belize aims to create a strong framework for scientific research and investment in the hemp sector by refining application procedures and regulations. It says this initiative also strengthens the New Growth Industries portfolio, enhancing its strategic marketing and investment potential.

Attendees at the meeting included Sharole Carr, CEO of the Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries; Hugh O’Brien, Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture; Zoe Roberson-Zetina, Managing Director of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA); Lincoln Blake, Director of the Investment Policy & Compliance Unit, Ministry of Investment; Ginéé Neal, Staff Officer and Lead for the New Growth Industries Unit, Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries; Francisco Gutierrez, Director of Plant Health, BAHA; and Frantz Smith, Investment Policy Officer, Ministry of Investment.

New Solar Legislation Raises Concerns Among Industry Stakeholders

A new piece of law regarding solar energy is raising serious concerns among stakeholders in that sector, including the Belize Solar Industry Alliance. Today, the BSIA brought forward several issues that it has with the solar legislation and argues that it flies in the face of Belize Electricity Limited’s mission statement. News Five spoke with Jeremiah Allen, a member of the Belize Solar Industry Alliance.

Jeremiah Allen, Belize Solar Industry Alliance

“BEL’s mission statement is as follows, I want to read it for you, I think it’s a good place to start. It says we deliver safe, reliable, sustainable energy solutions to enhance the quality of life and the productivity of enterprise and to support national development. So BSIA feels like, that BEL and PUC’s new legislation that was just introduced isn’t achieving these goals, this mission, as well as it should be and we want to ask them to come back to the table, let’s negotiate the terms and move forward together. The current legislation, in its current form has several different issues, the biggest of which is just the economic proposition that it offers for the investors, whether they’re individual homeowners or industries and businesses who want to invest in solar there needs to be an economic incentive to do so and this legislation effectively discourages that. There are many Belizeans who have wanted to invest in solar but because of the uncertainties in an unregulated environment, they have held off for now. With this new legislation discourages or disincentivizes investors in that the economics of it often don’t play very well to an investor. The economic modeling often puts the return on investments into the ten-plus year range, depending on the system size. Part of the difficulty is that calculating a return on the investment is very difficult because of the uncertainty of the fees associated under this new regulation. It’s been about nine months now since the PUC has opened up public discourse and we had been involved that entire time. We have gone and we have voiced our opinions. We have gone in private meetings and had off-the-record discussions and we feel like our voices are falling on deaf ears. Our suggestions have not been heard and this is evidenced by the fact that nothing has changed from the draft legislation that we saw nine months ago to the legislation that was implemented last month. As part of Belize Solar Industry Alliance, there are twelve business organizations that have large installations who have in excess of three to five thousand kilowatt hours per day that they could be feeding into the grid right now but they’re not. With the flick of a switch, they could be providing power into the grid, providing power for more than two hundred and fifty homes right here in Belize. It’s available, it’s installed, they want to supply it. All we need is a good regulatory framework which incentivizes that to happen.”

Energy Minister Discuss New Solar Legislation

We also spoke with Minister of Energy Michel Chebat, who weighed in on the advantages of the new solar legislation.

Michel Chebat, Minister of Energy

“The new legislation is actually geared at opening up the energy market and the energy sector and it is exactly intended for that so that people who are now using solar panels on their homes, in their businesses, may have an opportunity to sell the excess into the national grid. So it‘s quite the opposite of the statement.”

Reporter

But the new legislation will discourage the uptake of grid tied to solar in Belize. Your response to that…

Michel Chebat

“No, absolutely not. It is intended to have the excess going to the grid. I think this is, for the first time in Belize, in the history of Belize you see a piece of legislation that is actually opening up the energy sector and I think that is important because it has been dominated so far by BEL. And so, what this legislation does it really opens up the field for even new power producers. It opens it up so that people at their homes, individually, people who want to use for their businesses, people who want to use for their industrial sites can now link into the national grid, and so, for the first time in our country we are seeing where the energy market is being opened up to the entire public.”

PM Briceno is Optimistic About CFE Meeting

As we’ve reported, Prime Minister John Briceño is headed to Cancun, Mexico on Saturday, following an official funeral for former Toledo East Area Representative Mike Espat. The purpose of the weekend visit is to meet with Mexican officials in an effort to resolve the energy crisis that has gripped the country over the past two weeks. Accompany him for the meeting are officials from Belize Electricity Limited. When we spoke with PM Briceño earlier today, he shared his optimism that CFE will be able to provide Belize with at least sixty megawatts of power.

Isani Cayetano

“PM, you’re heading to Mexico once again this weekend to meet with CFE representatives regarding our current energy crisis. Is there any optimism on your end that you will be able to return with something favorable for us as consumers?”

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I’m very optimistic and excited about what can be accomplished. I think, the most important thing is that I believe at this point, I spoke with CEO Mencias yesterday. We managed to get the Mile Eight, on the Western Highway, generator going. Once that is working well we’ll be able to barely hold on but we’ll be able to do well with our energy needs, we’ll be able to meet them and when we get the San Pedro twenty-one megawatts generator going. That will also ensure that we can be self-sufficient. But let us not forget that when we connect to CFE there are certain hours of the day, like around two or three o’clock in the morning, we can get energy at two cents and three cents per kilowatt. So the plan is that we are going ask CFE if they could increase the maximum that they can sell to Belize. Presently, it’s at fifty-five megawatts and we’re hoping that we can get that at least to sixty, because when they can give us the sixty because it’s cheaper, we buy from them and then when it’s more expensive we can switch over. So it’s a matter of being that balancing act to ensure that we could get the best possible rates for our consumers.”

Rapid Economic Growth Requires Energy Security

Belize’s high energy demand is the result of a growth spurt that has surpassed the existing supply that is being fed to the national grid. It’s a gift and a curse. While the economy continues to grow, the need for additional energy is not being met. Here’s the prime minister on the pending solar alternative.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“What has happened to both the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize is that, for instance, we are victims of our success. Our economy has been growing so fast that it has been difficult for BEL to be able to keep up with the energy use of the country. We are presently using the projections of 2028. That’s where BEL projected that in 2028 we are going to be, here we are in 2024. Our government, from the day we got in we started to… we knew it was coming, but we did not expect that it was going to happen in 2024. So we’ve been working on other projects, solar in particular, and a battery. I think it’s a forty-five megawatt battery storage with the World Bank. With the Saudis, when we spoke to them, they immediately said yes, we’re prepared to lend you, it’s seventy-seven million, I think, US dollars. Once they approve that, dehn noh wahn write you wahn check, then we have to come up with the actual designs and place where we are going to put it. The area has been identified, it’s going to be in Bomba, you know, by the Maskall area, and we expect that by July or August of next year, the first twenty megawatts is going to be online. Now BEL’s challenge is to ensure that they continue to work on improving their transmission lines.”

Overnight Without Water in Belize City, Adding to Utility Woes

The entire Belize City was shut off from access to running water from early afternoon on Thursday all the way into Friday morning. When the water began flowing once again on Friday morning, it was only to some homes and the water pressure was extremely low. This morning, the Belize Water Services Limited notified its customers in Belize City that the water pressure would remain low up until six p.m. for the entire city. Residents in Ladyville and Lord’s Bank were also affected, though the outage was not as extensive for most of those residents. The issue, according to a release from B.W.S.L., was a break on the twenty-four-inch main service line that provides water to Belize City. According to B.W.S.L., the leak was caused by ongoing power fluctuations. They explained that the fluctuations inadvertently created a twenty-three-foot break in the service line. According to B.W.S.L., crew members worked through the night to fix the pipe and restore water. This morning, we visited the location where the work was being conducted. We also spoke with a couple residents.

Voice of: Carlos Cortes, Ladyville Resident

“Ih just buss and start srpay by itself and that was all I see.”

Paul Lopez

“And how flooded was it?”

Voice of: Carlos Cortes

“It was flooded for real and all of our material, right now we need to go work and all our sand wash weh. All the stand weh and we need to go deliver sand right now and cant do that. To me they did a good job. They come quick and respond quick and thing, because what they took an hour for the truck to come and start work. They did a good job. Ih nuh really affect me but I had to go buy refill water to bathe, cause I drink crystal water so Ih never really affect me.”

Paul Lopez

“So you showered with crystal water.”

Voice of Carlos Cortes

“Refill water, not crystal water, refill three dollars.”

Paul Lopez

“So it was a desperate situation.”

Voice of: Carlos Cortes

“Yes, I need fih guh bathe with the kind of work I do out here. I carry cement and them kind of things, I need fih guh bather.”

Voice of: Shayanne Garcia, Ladyville Resident

“Yesterday afternoon we saw water like sometime after one. And then we realize that they had a pipe that broke below ground right in front of the restaurant fine dining. The management and supervisor reached out to the boss and the called the BWS truck and they started working on the issue.”

Paul Lopez

“How much water was coming from underground at that time?”

Voice of: Shayanne Garcia

“A lot, because the entire front of the restaurant was flood and then the water came adjacent to the street, from the restaurant and went down from the back alley, so it was a lot of water. I live in an upstairs house at Lord’s Bank and mein I was so tired and I wanted to take a shower but I was not able to take a shower because we didn’t have any water. So I had to wait until late yesterday evening to take a shower.”

Tackling Road Safety Concerns as Fatal Accidents Increase

In April, there was an increase in road traffic accidents across the country, many of which involved the deaths of motorcyclists. It’s alarming, and the Ministry of Economic Development wants to curb the number of traffic fatalities. A program specifically designed to spread awareness of motorcycle safety is expected to be launched soon. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the first look.

Survivor, Road Traffic Accident

“I was on the roundabout heading home, when I saw this car just merging into the roundabout as well. I thought it would stop as it’s supposed to, right? But it didn’t stop, so that’s when it hit the back of my bike. Then I went flying into the air, and at that moment I, the only thing I could do was put my hands down to protect myself as well as I can. Because of the lack of protective gear. I suffered some really deep cuts, some abrasions, really bad scrapes, the nurses really had to clean me out really well. They had to scrub all my injuries. That was one of the worst experiences and worst pains I’ve ever felt.”

Britney Gordon, Reporting

If you’ve noticed an alarming increase in road traffic incidents across the country, you’re not alone. April alone registered a record number of road traffic fatalities, several of which involved motorcyclists. To address the increase in these incidents, the Ministry of Economic Development launched its second phase of the Belize Road Safety Initiative, which works to increase public safety on the road through the spread of information and training. Sylvian Neal, office administrator of the project, spoke with us today about the initiative.

Sylvian Neal, Office Administrator, Second Belize Road Safety Project

“We deal with initiatives such as a road user and education awareness component. We have an enforcement component. We have post-crash care as one of the components. And many of our activities, they go under one of these components, and the basic idea is again to improve road safety in Belize, build the awareness of everybody in Belize, and to improve the culture on our world.”

Neal said that the team has observed an increase in the number of motorcycle crashes and is preparing to launch a campaign specifically geared towards motorcycle safety.

Sylvian Neal

“It’s more of an educational campaign because we do have various campaigns geared towards speeding. are geared towards not drinking and driving. We have been rolling out many of those campaigns as the year has progressed up to now, no? And the specific campaign that I am referring to with regards to the motorcycle riders or users is basically one that we are still undergoing right now, and that includes developing flyers pamphlets, and then of course we have the videos that we try to send out to the media and also post on our social platform on the Facebook pages and TikToks and whatnot, no? All of that campaign includes those different aspects.”

Also working on the project is a member of the Belizean Youth for Road Safety, Jada Brown, who was trained by the team to educate drivers and assist in making Belize’s roads safer.

Jada Brown, Member, Belizean Youth for Road Safety

“So now we have more people wanting to know about road safety, they’re interested in learning about road safety. So a big part of what we do is share important messages for fellow drivers and also people. Just road users on a whole, not only drivers.”

Britney Gordon

“How about when it’s closer to the holidays? Do you guys increase your efforts around that time in order to combat, the increase of traffic and alcohol usage?”

Jada Brown

“Yes. A big part of what we do, we around those times we would spread more messages like the infographics and commercials geared around those times because there’s a spike of crashes and incidents around those times. So we tend to push more messages around those times, especially for people drinking and driving, wearing helmets and seatbelts.”

The Road Safety Initiative also aids in promoting road safety through the training of public service members who operate vehicles daily. Krishner Ramirez from the Department of Transportation shared his experience with the program.

Krishner Ramirez, Traffic Warden II, Department of Transportation

“It gives me a lot more knowledge on a broader sense to basically educate the public and have the public have an insight of what Really traffic and what basically everything that has to do with traffic on the road and the highways, the vehicles. It gives more knowledge to them to the work that we’re doing. So I praise these guys for basically having this energy to do this kind of work for us so that the public can have more knowledge of what’s going on.”

Ramirez said that the initiative is a noble cause, as lives can be saved through sharing information, no matter how small.

Krishner Ramirez

“To tell you the truth I would have to go with educating the public. Like I said we in Belize tend to have a tendency, me working on the ground in the field, and you stop and check these guys at the checkpoint scene. They give you information like, Oh, we didn’t know this. We didn’t know that. We didn’t know this, so with these guys, influentials, bringing these flyers out and educating the youths, them from a younger age and even the adults, it’s a beautiful thing. I think it’s one of the best things we’ve been doing since years. We’re just trying to promote more safety and more safety because of the fact that exactly what you just said, we’ve been seeing a lot more higher percentage in these incidents, especially on the motorbikes. And it’s sad, it leaves family broken, kids alone, and it’s a sad thing.”

As the number of drivers on the roads increases , Neil reminds motorists to be diligent and abide by traffic laws.

Sylvian Neil

“To motorcyclists, we urge our motorcycle riders to try and wear proper helmets, right? Wear the fully covered helmets, the ones that fully cover your face, DOT certified helmets, because those are the ones that are going to better protect you in case you crash, in case of a collision, right? It fully protects your head from head injuries, right? And We don’t want to see people riding with helmets on their handles, right? Because the helmet isn’t really there just for style. It’s really something to protect you, right? From impact. So we ask that you wear seatbelts, lock it, reduce speeding, don’t overtake”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

PM To Meet With Mexican Electricity Supplier Over Power Outages

Tonight, we begin the news with a recurrent issue that has become a serious concern for anyone who does not have access to a generator – power outage. Earlier today parts of the country experienced a power outage that lasted almost six hours. But while Belize Electricity Limited has reasoned that load-shedding, which is even distribution of the power outages, is necessary to maintain the stability of the national grid, it did not offer a reason for the extended blackout. The outage was beyond annoying, especially for people whose job sites and homes are not equipped with generators to beat the heat. B.E.L. has not given notices of the continuous “load-shedding”, which suggests that the outages are not planned. It mentioned in a notice that its teams continue to work to restore power with the help of its Westlake gas turbine. Prime Minister John Briceno says he will be northbound on Saturday to meet with CFE representatives in Cancun, Mexico.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“BEL’s mandate is transmission and distribution and I know that in many instances, BEL was trying to also produce energy, but that’s not their mandate. What has failed is the process in the previous government with the PUC and I know that the PUC and BEL have always been having this struggle and my message to both of them is we have to stop this foolishness and we need to be able to work together and I believe that we’re seeing that now. The PUC, BEL and the Ministry of Energy all have to be able to work together. So on Saturday, after the funeral of the late Honourable Mike Espat then I’ll fly to Cancun to meet with AMLO and officials from CFE to see how they’d be able to stop the blackouts in Belize. As the CEO of BEL has explained, we have two engines that are going to be commissioned. One is this week, which is about 30 megawatts and once we do that, then we would be able to hold out own. Fortunately, we have already bought a 21 megawatt [engine] that is already stationed in San Pedro. That should be commissioned by the end of the month. Once we have that, that would give us a capacity of about 51 megawatts of electricity. It means that is CFE would need to cut off Belize, these generators could take over without anybody losing electricity and then once CFE can provide to us then we can shut down these engines and get again from Mexico. I know some people ask why would we buy from the Mexicans. We buy from the Mexicans because it is cheaper than using the diesel engines. So we have a plan. I understand the frustration. Myself get upset when my house gets blackout because my house gets blackout too.”

Reporter

“You don’t have a generator?

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I don’t have a generator (chuckles) so I understand the frustration and it has a direct impact on all the work that we’ve been doing these three years, in tourism, the economy, the call centres, in agriculture, production, so we cannot afford this.”