Tensions up north have been on the rise as acts of violence in Chetumal, Mexico continue to plague the city. These violent crimes are due to heightened cartel activity in the area which many Belizeans are concerned will spill over into Corozal. We spoke with Minister of Home Affairs & New Growth Industries, Kareem Musa, who said that Belizeans can rest assured that the increase of border security has been a primary mission.
Reporter
“We know a couple days ago you held a meeting with the police department and other stakeholders in a free zone. Can you talk a little bit about the police’s operations to ensure that narco activity doesn’t trickle into Belize?”
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister, Home Affairs & New Growth Industries
“I cannot go in too much detail. As approximately a year ago we commenced operations in the north of our country along the Rio Hondo in particular villages. Along the Rio Hondo and in the Corozal free zone as well. And so the meetings that we had earlier this week was with the Ministry of Defense and Border security along with minister Marin, minister Mira of course general Loria. In terms of our collaborative efforts along the border to not just continue the good work that this unit has been doing, but to increase our presence along the border in light of the recent buildup in Chetumal. So we are deploying further personnel and again, I cannot go into further detail, but I can say we are deploying additional personnel.”
Reporter
“How successful was that operation?”
Kareem Musa
“I would say it’s been successful so far. I think one of the biggest threats coming out of the activities that have been taking place in Chetumal and the response by the Mexican government to deploy some two hundred National Guard and Marines is that there is a likelihood, a possibility rather that some of these individuals may try to seek safe haven in our country. And so it really is about preserving and protecting our borders so that these individuals do not come across.”
As we have reported, there has been an uptick in cartel-related violence in neighboring Mexico. News Five was in Chetumal on Thursday to find out how the recent spike in crime and the Government of Belize’s travel advisory are affecting the influx of Belizeans to Chetumal. We found that since Monday, there has been a decrease in traffic across the border. As we said, this is of great concern to businesses in the city. There is also a fear that the violence will spill over into northern Belize. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
On Thursday, a News Five’s team traveled to Chetumal to find out whether recent reports of increased cartel activities in the city are stopping Belizeans from traveling across the northern border. We found that many Belizeans are still going across to shop, for leisure and business, though the numbers have undoubtedly decreased this week. A genuine fear of encounters with cartel elements is on the minds of many.
Jonathon Cayetano
Jonathon Cayetano, Belizean in Chetumal
“Well you know when I have the overall look pan it, like you said it is something common in Mexico, so I am not surprised. It is just sad that it is getting closer and closer to home. I still feel secure and safe. Yo just nuh get yourself eena like any endangering predicaments or lingering where you nuh suppose to be. Just as long as you the yah and you keep aware of your surrounding. I believe everything safe for you. You just have to be cautious and know the danger do exist.”
On Wednesday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the situation in Chetumal. It says that the Government of Belize is monitoring the recent rise in violent crime in Chetumal. The ministry advised Belizeans to exercise caution when traveling in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. And, there is also a real concern that the violence can spill over into Belize.
Reporter
“And then as minister, because I think you’d understand that some people are fearful that in fact there may be greater consequences in Belize of what’s happening in Quintana Roo, we know that there’s collaboration with some already here, some criminal elements already here, and cartel operatives. What would be your advice to Belizeans and when they say our Belize Police Department and even military might not be able to compare to the weaponry that cartels have.”
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister, Home Affairs & New Growth Industries
“I would not agree with that. We are adequately prepared. We are adequately resourced in terms of our police department and our military to handle this type of situation. It won’t be any sort of mass incursion that we are expecting. And so just certain individuals me We are trying to prevent and to ensure that their tentacles do not spread further. And so, we are targeting certain individuals who our intelligence is suggesting has been have been working along with them targeting those individuals and again, nipping it in the bud.”
Amir Padilla Espadas, the President of Canaco Chetumal, a private sector organization in Mexico, has called on the Belize government to swiftly address and remove this warning. He stressed that its continuation could adversely affect the influx of Belizean visitors, who significantly contribute to the local economy. Oscar Arnold, Belize’s Ambassador to Mexico, is scheduled to meet with Mexican authorities in Chetumal on Saturday. There was also a meeting held earlier this week with the Head of the Secretary of Government in Quintana Roo.
Oscar Arnold
Oscar Arnold, Belize’s Ambassador to Mexico
“They met with the business community to try to ally their fears, and to introduce the plans that they are rolling out and putting in place to ensure citizen security in that area. The police have also said that the, I don’t know if that when you visited Chetumal, when you drive around there is these small security booths at different intersections on the corners of streets, the police have said that you will see more security personnel at these security booths and there may be more road blocks where there will be enhanced due diligence where they will be asking more questions and maybe even searching vehicles. So, these are the types of things that Belizeans should expect if they want to go to Chetumal over the next few days to a week.”
Ambassador Arnold was asked if the cartel violence in Chetumal has primarily been between members of these gangs. He says that to date, no tourist has been targeted in any attack.
Oscar Arnold
“So far that is what is being seen. That is the intelligence coming out of the authorities now. However, if you will remember, because I have done interviews in the past when Belizeans have been killed in Tulum or in and around Cancun and the initial investigation on a few of those have revealed that Belizeans were involved in that sort of activity and get caught up in turf wars. As it relates to what has been happening, no Belizeans have been targeted, no tourist whether Belizean or any other nationality has been targeted. So, it does seem as though it would be between rival groups.”
Scheduled power interruptions continued today, as B.E.L. attempts to get a handle on a countrywide energy crunch. On Thursday, Chief Executive Officer John Mencias held a press conference to fully explain the situation that the country is presently faced with. According to the C.E.O., an interim solution is the use of gas turbines outside of Belize City and in San Pedro. But is that temporary fix cost effective and environmentally friendly? Tonight, we’ll look at the gas turbine alternative and what it means for additional energy being sent to the national grid to make up for the existing shortfall. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Belize remains in the throes of a major energy crisis, as the demand for electricity exceeds the available supply in the country. This is resulting in a significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to the local economy. This predicament has been brought about in part by excessive use of energy without adequate measures for conservation and efficiency. It is also triggered by limited energy resources. At two o’clock this afternoon, parts of Belize City were cut off, as load shedding continues. It happened at a time when there a considerable increase in consumption.
Omereyon Fregene
Omereyon Fregene, Manager of Energy Supply, B.E.L.
“Peak energy supply is really capacity. At certain times of the day, depending on the times of the year, our customers coincidentally all require a certain capacity during that time interval. So peak capacity is when, for example, in Belize, at two p.m., in the afternoon, children are returning back from school, office workers are returning back from lunch. So you have that sudden rush, an increase in capacity that is required. It is not consistent, it’s for short intervals, but BEL has to make sure that that capacity is available when our customers need it.”
…and the utility company is unable to do so. Blackouts continue as Belize Electricity Ltd. seeks to address the problem. Doing so, as a long-term solution, involves a combination of increasing energy production, improving energy efficiency, and promoting conservation efforts. In the interim, BEL is looking to bring online a gas turbine that is located in the West Lake community.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“Immediately, what we have in place is that we are upgrading our gas turbine, as I said, at mile eight, and that is expected to come back online by early next week. It was originally at nineteen megawatts, it’s being upgraded to thirty megawatts. So next week, thirty megawatts of additional capacity is coming online. Once that comes online, we will be able to bridge the generation shortage that we are experiencing right now.”
A gas turbine is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine.
Mario Vellos
Mario Vellos, Supt. Operations, Belize Electricity Ltd.
“The gas turbine is basically an aircraft engine, it was derived from the aero industry and it uses diesel fuel to burn, mixed with air and that drives the gas turbine. The gas turbine, in turn, drives the generator. The generator is synchronized onto the grid and power is produced to the grid. This plant, when we bought this plant, we bought twenty megawatts of power but in it better days we’ve seen up to twenty-two megawatts of power from this gas turbine. That would represent close to or maybe one-fifth of our grid right now, one-fifth of the total power of this grid.”
According to Chief Executive Officer John Mencias, BEL will also be installing a gas turbine in San Pedro in a few weeks.
John Mencias
“And then, by the end of May we’ll be adding another twenty megawatts of capacity gas turbine in San Pedro. So that means that by the end of May, compared to where we are now, we’re putting back, or we’re installing on the grid, fifty megawatts of additional capacity. That will put us in a position to be able to meet peak demand well beyond the next twelve months, and more than likely up to about eighteen months.”
It’s an interim solution that’s very costly. Gas turbines run on diesel, lots of it. In speaking with Mario Vellos, Superintendent of Operations at BEL, he gave us an idea of just how much fossil fuel is consumed when the gas turbine is in use.
Isani Cayetano
“This, I believe, consumes a lot of fuel to run. Explain that to us, perhaps relative to any other source of electricity that’s being brought on to the grid.”
Mario Vellos
“This turbine when running at full load, this would consume, to make it simple, like twenty-five gallons of fuel per minute at full load. So you can calculate that in an hour to see how much fuel we use in one hour. I think, for a day, depending on how we run the unit, we can burn up to thirty thousand gallons of fuel.”
All that fuel consumption will not come cheap.
John Mencias
“There is a very important implication to putting in place these gas turbines. These gas turbines will help us to overcome the current capacity shortage that we have, but they burn diesel. And to put that in perspective for you, just the cost of the diesel, of running the machines on diesel, per kilowatt hour, ranges between forty-five cents to about sixty cents, sometimes higher. You all know what is the price of electricity, right? Pre-tax, the average price is about forty cents. So when we’re running those gas turbines, we’re already losing money. There is a net difference of about anywhere from twenty cents to up to thirty cents or more.”
That difference will inevitably create an entirely new challenge for the already overwhelmed company.
John Mencias
“What does that do? It pushes up the cost of power. We have to find cash to pay for the fuel, for the additional cost of power and that cash is important for the investments that we need to make in reinforcing, and extending, and strengthening our transmission system. That cash is important to put a second transformer up at Maskall, for putting additional transformers throughout the country. It’s important actually, we need that cash to be able to install the second submarine cable to San Pedro.”
It will be another three weeks before the Belize Electricity Limited will be able to install a gas turbine capable enough to meet San Pedro’s increasing power demands. Earlier this week, the island town experienced two major power outages, and later suffered a third which lasted only two hours. According to Belize Rural South Area Representative Andre Perez, that last interruption was caused by a technical glitch on the island itself. He also said that the spate of blackouts in San Pedro has delivered a blow to the businesses that depend on power supply. News Five’s Marion Ali visited San Pedro today to get an idea of how the interruption of power supply has impacted the flow of business there. Here’s that report.
Ciani Castaneda
Ciani Castaneda, Nurse, San Carlos Medical Clinic
“For our medication that needs to be kept cool, we use the ice bags, so we can put them in a cooler and then keep them there to maintain its temperature that’s how it’s supposed to be kept.”
Marion Ali, Reporting
The series of power outages in San Pedro have forced businesses to return to days gone by, when electricity supply did not exist, and they had to find creative ways of keeping their perishable stocks and supplies cold. Nurse Ciani Castaneda shared with News Five that the interruptions in power supply have forced the staff at San Carlos Medical Clinic to resort to twentieth century techniques to refrigerate their supplies and samples. And for the rest of the time without power, they sanitize the clinic.
Ciani Castaneda
“During a blackout, we usually use that time for clean, which is the sanitization of the materials, the sterilization of equipment, and then we also used to clean the pharmacy, the shelves and other stuff. We still continue taking lab samples, blood samples, and as we say, use the same technique as with our medication. We use ice bags to keep it cool and then we send it to our lab. Sometimes it does affect because the doctor uses some equipment, especially the light to assess the patients, so it does affect us here.”
Medical exams using electrical equipment are just one area of business that San Pedranos have had to endure inconvenience since Wednesday. Restaurants have also been affected by the setback. For Elvi’s Kitchen that already owns a generator, the impact is not as severe as having to throw away spoilage. But they still must incur expenses they ordinarily wouldn’t have to budget for, as chef and co-owner of Elvi’s Kitchen, Jennie Staines told us.
Jennie Staines
Jennie Staines, Chef/Co-owner, Elvi’s Kitchen
“We have been lucky that we have a generator, but the consumption of the fuel was very high for us because our generator is run by butane. And we had to tap the tank and the following day we had to do the same because we used 80 percent of the big tank. We have to absorb the loss. If we don’t balance out, we have to absorb it because we would never bring up any prices.”
A vendor at a tamales shop on Barrier Reef Drive told us off-camera that they have to close the business when the electricity is cut and they cannot grind corn to make more to sell.
Voice of: Tamales Vendor
Voice of: Tamales Vendor
“Whenever our first batch of tamalitos finish, we cannot grind anymore because the current is gone. Then we automatically have to close or stay – try wait to make the current come back, and if it not come back, then we have to close. We just manage it with what we make for the day. Once the current goes, then that’s it for the day. We close and we go home.”
We checked in with quite a few hotels and resorts that did not want to go public with their status for fear of losing more business. One resort manager did share with us that they lost money when a few tourists checked out early. That aside, they also incurred additional expenses to purchase ice and generator fuel, as well as to pay for portable generators to be connected. The economic impacts suffered across the town is one that sent the Belize Rural South Area Representative, Andre Perez into a meeting during the latter part of today with relevant parties to discuss the situation.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“I certainly cannot quantify it, but certainly the numbers are quite a significant amount here. As it relates to restaurants, hotels, not only that, but at home as well. People who are working, being fully employed, they lost as well. And including some damages as well in, in appliances. And then again last night we had another outage of about two hours and we were told that it was an emergency that they had to do at the southern part of the island.”
Perez says that B.E.L. has assured that the problem will be remedied by the end of this month. But Perez questions B.E.L’s investments on the island and asks for priority, considering that San Pedro is one of the nation’s most popular tourism destination.
Andre Perez
“I’m not here to point fingers, but rather is this is a indication of the growth of the economy. Especially as it relates to tourism, San Pedro has been growing by leaps and bounds. So I think B.E.L is playing catch up to supply that energy that we are consuming. While we are getting short-term solutions right now to just to deal with this for the month of May, we need to know what is going up ahead because we need long-term plans as well.”
C.E.O, John Mencias explained how BEL will expand its capacity over the next ten years.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O, Belize Electricity Limited
“For the period now – 2023 to 2032, the next 10 years, which is the plan that we expect a huge spike in demand because of the rate of the growth that we have been seeing. We are projecting that this is what the increase in peak demand will be in this country driven mainly, it seems by tourism and to an extent, by climate change as well. But then you also see the planned capacity additions. It’s made up of a combination of upgrades to the gas turbine at mile eight and the new gas turbine that will be deployed in San Pedro, about 80 megawatts of solar plant, about 40 megawatts of wind power plant, and about 40 megawatts of battery energy storage solutions.”
The uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price is crucial for the reliable operation of country’s economy. It directly impacts national security, economic growth, and the well-being of citizens. Energy security is important. So, what does the Leader of the Opposition think of what has been happening with blackouts across the country? Here are his views.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“Energy security promised, now we have shedding, as they want to call it and again, I appreciate Mr. Mencias’ honesty, but someone needs to be fired, someone needs to be held accountable. What has Micho Chebat been doing since he took on the portfolio at PUC? Where is Fortis, where is the billion dollar company, Fortis, who, I see, are posting in Facebook that they are making arrangements to get energy from the dam and they are doing all types of things. Why hasn’t this been a discussion for the last four years? And again, it is quintessential People’s United Party governance. No consultation, no inclusion. The opposition and other stakeholders should be at the table. I have a paper, a white paper here from the NTUCB where last year, they were giving recommendations for enhanced focus on energy efficiency, alternative tax measures to make the incidents of taxation more progressive when it comes to energy so that we could lower the exorbitant prices that have come about from the highest gas prices ever, strategies for reducing electricity cost for the consumers, sustained off-grid financing for rural communities. For us to be here now with John Mencias, the CEO of BEL saying well, you know, for ten years we knew that we had this problem but no one did anything is absolutely deplorable. It is devastating to the health sector, to the tourism sector, to the economy which is driven by our tourism.”
The wholesale importation of golf carts in San Pedro over the past couple years has entered new and creative means recently. Golf cart rentals are now resort to disassembling the vehicles into parts and then transporting them onto the island. Today, Belize Rural South Area Representative, Andre Perez told News Five that because of the traffic congestion, permits are not being granted for any more golf carts to be imported in San Pedro. It is a problem that Perez says his office will be collaborating closely with the town council to enforce traffic rules and regulations, and where necessary, to get the Ministry of Transport involved.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“I have reached out to the Minister of Transport and the CEO that we may need some kind of additional support, maybe at the port that they go there and inspect these things because they need to have permits. They need to have a permit. While you may say you have a dealership license, that does not give you. Open packet for you to bring in a hundred golf carts because you have a dealership license, right? So we have to have some kind of, enforcement there going. And we have reached out and they took for, support there as well. We have to cap it and say no more, because at this point in time, you can go there and rent a golf cart and you’ll pay a rock bottom price for it because the supply is plentiful. Now I’m not saying that we want to increase prices for our tourists, but finding the balance is that enough is enough, and the tourists will understand. When I have the traffic problem and the congestion, we realize that we’ve reached our point. That we have to say, no more. Secondly, enforcing the quality of the golf cart that’s being rented. Beca we have to cap it and say no more, because at this point in time, you can go there and rent a golf cart and you’ll pay a rock bottom price for it. Because the supply is plentiful. Now I’m not saying that we want to increase prices for our tourists, but finding the balance is that enough is enough, and the tourists will understand.When I have the traffic problem and the congestion, we realize that we’ve reached our point. That we have to say, no more. Secondly, enforcing the quality of the golf cart that’s being rented. Because often times you see, some of those tourists are stuck, middle of the street, right there, they broke down.use often times you see, some of those tourists are stuck, middle of the street, right there, they broke down.”
An environmental study is currently being conducted on the northern end of Ambergris Caye to determine the placement of sewer ponds to facilitate the growing population on that side of the island. Today, Belize Rural South Area Representative, Andre Perez says that while the population was growing over the past decade, nothing was being done to expand the sewer system, until now.
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“We came in to look at the studies and see what can be done on the northern part of Ambergris Caye. And that again, I want to highlight is the water, the sewer system was installed many years ago, and that is where it’s at, no expansion, no growth on it, no plans ahead. And that is another utility that we’re dealing with, apart from electricity and the sewer and water as well, is that there was no plans for the last 15 years, no kind of plans, no expansion, nothing for infrastructure. So now that this infrastructure is virtually the same as it was 20 years ago. Nothing has been done. So that’s another issue we’re dealing with. I think, in fact, I know, only the town core is hooked up to the sewer system. Environmentally speaking, right now, it’s a concern as well. So we need to work on that as well. That’s another issue that we’re working and looking at it. As you say, it’s in the pipeline, but we are seeing that this should have been done many years ago. But it can’t happen overnight. It costs millions of dollars, the funding as well as money, and that is where our government is working, is seeking those funds that are available.”
Tonight, there are portions of the country that are presently without electricity. In fact, this has been the case since ten a.m. when electricity was cut off in certain areas of Orange Walk District. The scheduled power interruptions will continue until eleven p.m. That’s because Belize is facing an energy crisis and B.E.L., its sole electricity provider, is scrambling to meet demand levels that have soared as high as one hundred and twenty-five megawatts. As it stands, the maximum in-country generation capacity is ninety-five megawatts and its supply from CFE in Mexico remains uncertain. The effect of the hours-long power interruption was most felt in San Pedro on Wednesday, and we will have full coverage of that untimely experience elsewhere in our newscast. Earlier today, the Chief Executive Officer of Belize Electricity Limited and other senior managers of the utility company held a press conference to inform the nation of the latest challenges that B.E.L. is faced with. C.E.O. John Mencias began by discussing the country’s present consumption.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“The local peak, well the peak for Belize goes up usually about a hundred and fifteen megawatts, but it can go as high as it did earlier this year to a hundred and twenty-seven megawatts. There are times during the day, especially during the night when it falls to a hundred and fifteen megawatts which means that in-country supply is able to meet that peak. However, we had to take our Mile 8 gas turbine out of service because we are upgrading it and so we lost nineteen megawatts and that puts the local in-country generation capacity below a hundred megawatts which means, therefore, that once we’re in that situation to be able to meet demand most of the time, we have to rely on the fifty-five megawatts that we get from CFE. Whenever we can’t get power from CFE and we’re in that situation, then we have to resort to load shedding. So we were in a situation like that on Monday whereby CFE said we have to meet demand over here in Mexico and we are unable to supply you with the fifty-five megawatts that you need. In fact, you need to go down to zero at this time, and when they do that, we are unable to match demand with supply.”
According to Mencias, what has been taking place is load shedding, a controlled process of temporarily reducing electricity consumption across different areas to ensure the stability and continuous operation of the national electricity grid. During the presser, the Chief Executive Officer also informed that CFE, Belize’s energy supplier in Mexico, was only able to provide twenty megawatts to the grid until three o’clock this afternoon.
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“So we have to load shed and that is what happened on Monday. And that is actually what is happening right now as we speak, that CFE has agreed today to supply us about twenty megawatts up to 3:00 this evening. It’s three o’clock already? But as of three o’clock they are going to cut it down to zero which means that we have to take off even more feeders throughout the country. So those are the reasons for the recent power interruptions. There’s a shortage of generation capacity in the country. Now, I want to make it abundantly clear to everyone that CFE is not acting outside of the contractual arrangements with BEL. What we purchase from CFE is called opportunity cost energy. It use to be called economic energy which means that it is interruptible at any moment’s notice. However, CFE has worked with us, they have tried to give us two hours notice, sometimes it is less. The relationship with CFE goes way back. It goes way back to the 1980’s. They have been a reliable provider of electricity for Belize. They have enabled us to keep our costs down, but importantly, also, they have provided us with great support and to put that in context, our systems are interconnected. We are very small compared to them. Any jolt in our system, they are able to handle it for us and that is the importance of being connected to a big brother like CFE. However, we have been aware for some time that they have also been having generation shortage problems of their own and also what we call transmission congestion problems. And that is why we have been emphasizing that we need to build in-country generation capacity to a level to be able to meet our peak demand within our own country. That does not mean that we’re saying we don’t want to continue our relationship with CFE. We want to continue that relationship with CFE. They provide us, as I said, with grid support and when the price of energy from CFE is low, we want to purchase it. it’s to our advantage. However, our focus has been since 2019, on energy security. Well from before. But we have made a point, we are driving the point that we have to stop relying on CFE to meet peak demand in country.”
On Wednesday, residents of San Pedro underwent a fourteen-hour power outage. This came amidst tourism high season, forcing hotels that were able to use generators to accommodate guests, while smaller hotels made do without. In a press conference today, B.E.L. C.E.O. John Mencias said the most recent outage was caused by faulty equipment. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Amidst the tourism high season, Belize’s premier tourist destination underwent a grueling thirteen-hour power outage. What began at ten twenty a.m. on Wednesday, lasted until the early hours of Thursday morning in some areas. This power outage was not the first residents of the island experienced recently, as just a few weeks ago, power supply to the island was cut. This was caused by a submarine cable, which supplies energy to the area, surpassing its max capacity. To protect the cable, the feed from it was temporarily dropped by Belize Electricity Limited. At a press briefing held by the energy providers, BEL CEO, John Mencias expanded on the events that caused the breach to occur.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd
“So about three or four weeks ago. We had power interruptions. I think it occurred on Saturday. A power interruption in San Pedro. It affected feeder to San Pedro, which is the portion of the feed the system that feeds to the north where most of the resorts are. That lasted for probably an hour to two the most. And the reason for that poor interruption is that the cable, the capacity of the single submarine cable that feeds the island was breached, meaning that demand on the island surpassed the capacity of the cable. The cable is rated for somewhere in the region of seventeen megawatts just above, and the demand in San Pedro went to seventeen point six megawatts. And we move quickly. To protect the cable. And that is why we dropped a feeder to out there. But afterwards, what we did, Is that we got in contact with various resort owners. We asked them if they could go on their standby generators when they did. So that reduced the demand for electricity in San Pedro and we were able to reduce supply below the capacity limit of the cable.”
Mencia said that the high demand in San Pedro continued for about two weeks, causing larger hotel owners to rely on personal generators. Mencias said that eventually the levels normalized, and the company was able to meet the demand once again. Yesterday, however, the power supply was cut off once again. This time, because of malfunctioning equipment.
John Mencias
“However, yesterday early in the morning, we started to encounter, voltage fluctuations at or Mascal substation, which supplies San Pedro. And when we further investigated on site we found that there was leakage and there was smoking of one of the major components of the transformer. And we had to move quickly to protect the transformer. And we had to drop the entire circuit that feeds San Pedro. That is from ten twenty. We realized very quickly that we could not do anything about fixing the transformer in the meantime and we moved quickly to deploy a mobile transformer. That we have in place to the Mascal substation.”
After several hours, BEL employees were finally able to replace the faulty transformer and restore power to the island.
John Mencias
“We started to move right away. It took us about two and a half to three hours to dismantle that mobile substation. I say transformer. It’s actually a full substation. It was by mile eight the George Price Highway. It took us another five hours to transport that because it is huge and wide. It could not go through the normal route to Mascal. It had to go all the way up to Carmelita and then down along the old Northern Highway. And even two of the bushings on that mobile substation broke. Had it not been for that, we would have been able to get back San Pedro online by about nine thirty last night. Remember, from ten twenty in the morning, we up to then, we actually got back online until forty-eight minutes after midnight, which is this morning.”
Mencias said that the company is going to repair the transformer that caused the power outage as the mobile substation used to restore power is just a temporary solution and is at max capacity.
John Mencias
“What we’re doing now, we have brought in some help from a contractor based in Guatemala who specializes in fixing those components. I think he should be here today. One of their representatives is here today. And we hope to get the transformer back in service within the next three to four weeks. But in the meantime, the mobile substation is capable of supplying the capacity out there. I will see the demand out there. I will say, though, that mobile substation is at its capacity limit, too, so we will have to continue to manage the man in San Pedro. So that is the San Pedro situation. We also had a transmission line failure. Go to that before the day before that.”
Among the issues with the equipment, BEL’s largest power supplier CFE has been unable to provide power to Belize, resulting in several power outages across the country. Minister of Tourism and Diaspora relations, Anthony Mahler said that he is hopeful the issue can be rectified soon.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations
“Hotels. The bigger ones do, yes. It is problematic for us, but. We had a discussion in cabinet yesterday about it, and BEL is working feverishly to try to rectify the situation. It’s not the best situation. We’re still in high season right now, per se. We believe that we’ll get the solutions implemented pretty soon.”
Reporter
“But we see these constant blackouts happening, and they may continue because of Mexico’s load shedding. Is there anything being done to ensure that tourists don’t have to endure this?”
Anthony Mahler
“We’re talking to Mexico as well. And so hopefully this can be rectified sooner rather than later.”
