The Belize Electricity Limited is figuring out how it will navigate through the dilemma of maintaining the country’s power supply. Out in San Pedro where the tourism season is still at its peak, there are concerns of potential health issues should people consume perishables that have gone bad. This evening, Area Representative Andre Perez says that he looks to B.E.L. to solve the issue, but he wants other questions answered as well.
Via phone: Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“Many things come into play, though. We’re talking about all kinds of things, even health issues come into play, especially with the heat right now. You have a lot of food poisoning. You’re hearing people dumping things out of their fridge. It’s very serious and it’s cause for concern, and I am just afraid that this can be something looming up ahead and the way how the B.E.L company is letting us know that they are going to be load-shedding out over the country and says that there is a problem and we need to address it. We’re extremely concerned as it relates to tourism as well – extremely important. Of course, this is still the busy season. This is not the slow season as yet because we are very busy and extremely concerned. According to what we have been briefed, B.E.L. is pushing aggressively to install a massive generator here on Ambergris Caye. I think it’s about a 20-megawatt-sized generator, and they’re saying that they’re hoping that they can have it up and running by the end of May, and we are hopeful. Two things here: one is that this is fossil fuel type of generator, which is not really helping at all in terms of what we are as a community that’s trying to move away from fossil fuels, right, in terms of electricity. But secondly, given the urgency of it, it needs to be installed because I’m telling you, it would be grief if we get affected here furthermore, and It can threaten not only the tourism sector, but indeed our economy. While you might blame Mexico for not providing, we have to look as well at the infrastructure. What has B.E.L done in the past 15 years? What caused these problems because the three outages caused is not by C.F.E, which is the Mexican Commission that provides electricity. It is showing that it is part of the infrastructure. So this is a concern firstly, as I see it, we have a concern here as it relates to the infrastructure that has not been addressed. And I think it’s manifesting itself now that San Pedro is actually consuming so much energy at this point in time.”
Marion Ali
Are people buying their own generators?
Andre Perez
“Lots of people have been buying up the generators right now, but that’s an additional expense that we don’t need, but we have to deal with it. When you drive around town here – yesterday when it was in the dark, a lot of people had these generators running, but this is a cost that nobody’s budgeting for, so it’s serious and healthwise.”
Over the past several weeks, residents across the country have been experiencing power outages that span from a few minutes to several hours. On Wednesday, residents of San Pedro underwent an exceptionally long outage which clocked in at around fourteen hours. These outages are the result of several factors, namely B.E.L.’s largest energy provider, CFE is no longer able to provide Belize with fifty-five megawatts of power as Mexico is facing its own energy crisis. C.E.O. John Mencias explained what B.E.L. plans to do to rectify the situation immediately.
John Mencia
John Mencia, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“But immediately, what do we have in place? Immediately. What we have in place is that we’re upgrading or 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’re experiencing right now. And then, by the end of May, we’ll be adding another twenty megawatts of capacity gas turbine in San Pedro. So that will, that means that by the end of me, we’re compared to where we are now, we’re putting back or we’re installing on the grid 50 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. And what that does, it gives us a window, but only a window to start to put in place and we must move immediately to put in place the capacity. The additional capacity that I just spoke to you about the additional solar, the battery storage solutions. And our wind, wind power plant as well. Of the past few weeks, Belize has undergone several disruptions in power. So that is what it does. Now, once we put the additional 20 megawatts of gas turbine capacity on San Pedro, it means that if we ever lose that cable, or we have a problem with the transformers we did last night, we will be able to resort to generation from the gas turbine that will be in San Pedro. Because the demand on San Pedro, we are seeing is increasing. Is probably around eighteen megawatts. The capacity of that gas turbine is about twenty megawatts that we be installing in San Pedro.”
B.E.L. has commenced routine load shedding, which limits power in various areas of the country. Today, several parts of Belize City will experience the scheduled outages as the company attempts to manage the capacity. B.E.L. General Manager Jose Moreno explained what we can expect of this scheduled outage.
Jose Moreno, General Manager, Belize Electricity Ltd.
“As I think we have explained earlier, we have prepared a program or a schedule for load shedding based on a forecast, on a demand forecast that we have prepared for the day. That demand forecast establishes more or less how much demand we’re going to do by hour. Based on the generation availability at that hour, and given the restrictions imposed to us by the lack of supply from, the lack of adequate supply from CFE, and our own generation sources, then we established, you know, a plan, Taking into consideration areas that we can, where can we can do early, where it is better to do later at night and also we take into consideration the size of those areas, the size of those heaters. Belize City, I know it’s a business district, so we’re trying to, if we need to, because we need to right now, especially right now at three o’clock, We are going to be short of about thirty megawatts. That is, that calls for the outage of an entire Belize city. We’re not going to do that. So, if we touch areas in Belize City, we’ll do it at an earlier time than what we would do on a rural area. So, I think we have prepared a proposed schedule that I think Customer Care and PR have already shared with, with our customers and employees. And if the load materializes, if those restrictions continue, then those load sharing schedules are affected. So it’s something that is fluid, right? Let’s say to, in the next hour or so, we lose one of our generation sources. It will need to be adjusted. But, overall, we will follow a plan that takes into consideration the sensitivities of the areas where we plan to do. There are some areas that we did not expect to launch in Belize City at Six. That’s where the hospital is where the hospitals are. Areas of government offices in Belmopan. Health centers, police stations, and so on. So we take into consideration those areas. Areas that we might have of concern with respect to crime. So we are very conscious and we put all of those factors into the plan.”
The Joint Unions Negotiation Team met with representatives of the Government of Belize today after seven months. The union’s negotiating team is comprised of members from the Belize National Teachers Union, the Public Service Union and the Association of Public Service Senior Managers. The joint unions wrote Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde a few weeks ahead of today’s meeting proposing eight items for discussion. Among the proposals was a request to have the concluded Collective Agreement between the Government of Belize and the joint unions signed, a call for tax reform, and the establishment of a UN Anti-Corruption Commission. We caught up with the Deputy Prime Minister after the meeting in Belize City who spoke briefly about some of the outcomes from today’s discussions.
Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister
“I can tell you that the big deliverable has been the matter of the CBA that has been sixteen years outstanding. And the particular sticking point for all those years was proposal twenty-two. The big issue being that teacher, particularly at the secondary school level that are not government schools, government pays seventy percent of their salaries and the denominational management pay thirty percent. Upon retirement the government pays seventy percent of the pension, and the management pays thirty percent. But for many years a lot of those teachers who spent many years of their lives teaching were unable to collect their full pension because the managements have had difficulty with that. So, proposal twenty-two from the unions from way back as 2008 was about saying why don’t you take on a hundred percent of those salaries. At the high school level, the tertiary level, not just for teachers, but also for auxiliary staff. That has been a sticking point for all those years. in December the government finally agreed that we would cover that, that we would respond favorably to proposal twenty-two.”
We also heard from Nadia Caliz, the President of the Belize National Teachers Union. Caliz told reporters that both groups have agreed on June fifth to sign off on proposal twenty-two and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here is what she told us.
Nadia Caliz, National President, B.N.T.U.
“What we did is that we looked at a number of proposals that we sent to government approximately two weeks ago. We gave them time to go through it so today’s meeting was for us to discuss those things. WE did look at the increment suspension. We looked at tax reform, pension reform and the fact that we had additional suggestions for government, they will be going back to their teams to address those things and we will be going to our team to share with them some of the things we agreed to. To very important things happened on June fifth we will be signing off on proposal twenty-two and closing off the CBA and we got the government to agree to paying fifty percent of what is due to people who have retired, at least in the past thirty days because there are so many people out there hammering for what is rightfully there’s. And through today’s negotiations government has committed to giving those retired persons fifty percent of what is rightfully there’s, So for us that is a plus.”
In February, the Belize Tourism Board held a groundbreaking ceremony for the launch of a boardwalk in the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena. The project was to introduce a new park and boardwalk near the Macal River in hopes of increasing tourism activity in the area. However, it was put on hold following the re-election of mayor Earl Trapp, who said that he was never informed of the project’s proceedings. We spoke with Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Anthony Mahler today, who told us that the project is back on track.
Britney Gordon
“Sir can you talk about the Santa Elena San Ignacio boardwalk? I know there’s been some disruption to the project due to shifting town council. Can you elaborate on that?”
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations
“We’re working it out. I had a good meeting with Mayor Trapp, and he and I are reasonable people, so we quickly saw eye to eye, and we’re going to work on projects to uplift the communities that you have spoken about or asked about.”
The Ministry of Health and Wellness received a one-point eight million U.S. dollar donation. This donation came from donors Edward and Patricia Lord, members of the Belizean diaspora, and Build Belize Incorporated. It consisted of equipment such as medical and birthing beds, defibrillators, patient monitors, infusion pumps, and vital sign monitors to be distributed across the country. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
For husband and wife, Edward and Patricia Lord, upgrading Belize’s healthcare system is a primary concern. Having worked in the US healthcare system for over ten years, the Belizean American couple understands the cost and effort it takes to elevate the standard of healthcare. With assistance from the Belizean diaspora and Belize Build Incorporated, the couple was able to gift the ministry over one million dollars worth of supplies. Health and Wellness Minister Kevin Bernard expressed his gratitude.
Kevin Bernard
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
“Let me first of all start by thanking Mr. Edward and Patricia Lord on their generous support and the people in the diaspora who also supported them. But it is their vision that really saw this through and we were happy to partner with them in terms of sourcing of the funding to get the shipping done. But definitely as the list of items, I cannot express how grateful we are as a country, as a people and as a ministry in receiving this very much needed equipment. As you can see, mentioned a lot of these things are going to help to improve service delivery to patients, not only at KT image, but across the country. And so it means a lot to us. When you talk about Additional ICU beds birthing beds, defibrillators patient monitors all these things that have been donated really equipment that is always in need and demand at our facility if we are to provide good healthcare.”
Although the handing-over ceremony occurred at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, the equipment will be distributed to several health facilities across the country.
Kevin Bernard
“There’s a list of identified areas that I know when mister Lord they had visited, they know, they have identified specific equipment that should be going to And as I had said in my message that when I spoke to them initially they have asked that we ensure that some of these equipment goes exactly where they have been recommended where to. So some of them are in various parts of the country, Western region hospital or regions and community hospitals. I don’t have that list in terms of exactly what’s going where, but I know that they have identified what is needed, where it’s needed and how then, so my CEO will be working along with them. So we are working with the team to ensure that these things are distributed in a timely manner, so we don’t want them to be sitting in a container, but they are now, the next step is to get them deployed into where it needs to go, so that we can start to utilize these donations.”
Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Anthony Mahler, said that while this donation will improve Belize’s ability to provide healthcare to visitors, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Belizeans is a priority.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
“It just gives us more equipment to give better service in all our hospitals and public clinics and centers that we treat people. So not only for the tourists, for me, but we need to get these things and make the necessary investments for our people first. And then we will be able to do the rest for the tourists.”
As the donation came from members of the diaspora, Mahler reflected on the work Belizeans outside the country have done to ensure the well-being of friends and family in Belize.
Anthony Mahler
“The diaspora unit is a conduit for people all around the world to be able to support us back home here in Belize. Whatever they’re sending back. So it could be in terms of donations. We have gotten sneakers, we’ve gotten equipment like this. We’ve gotten food supply. We’ve gotten a lot of stuff donated through Bill Belize and through the Diaspora Unit. The Diaspora already sends back close to two hundred fifty million through the official sources. That’s not the amount that comes through barrels and envelopes and suitcases and stuff like that. They contribute a tremendous amount. But these things are expensive to move. And so we did our part in terms of helping to raise the money for them to be able to ship it.”
Bernard said that the ministry will ensure that the equipment is properly stored and cared for. He hopes that more collaborations like this can occur in the future.
Kevin Bernard
“As I said, that we will make sure that these donated items are properly taken care of and distributed on a timely manner, so that, yes, we don’t want to see any of these things damaged. It took a lot of work, 1. 8 million U. S. dollars, close to 4 million dollars, and we need to ensure that these equipments are protected, but at the same time put to use. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Reporter
“Will you be collaborating with them in the future?”
Kevin Bernard
“Absolutely. Of course, we are grateful to them, and as Minister Mahler also mentioned to Ambassador Murphy, who, again, through Build Belize Inc. And in support with the Lords we are very much open to ensure that we continue to collaborate. I know that as they mentioned, there were some little inks in between the whole process. It took 10 years for them to really get this to where it is now and those are the little things that we have to figure out. But at the end of the day, they have my support as a minister of health. They have my ministry support, and we are going to continue to lobby and accept things like these. Because at the day, it benefits not me personally, but it benefits the Belizean people.”
Last Thursday, Brigadier General Azariel Loria, Commandant of the Belize Defense Force, led a group of reporters to Sarstoon where the B.D.F. inaugurated a newly reconstructed forward operating base at the mouth of the river. During their time at the FOB, Brigadier General Loria also took the media on a tour around Sarstoon Island, a contested land mass in the middle of the river that is also being claimed by Guatemala. The Guatemalan Armed Forces, once again engaged in an exchange of words with the B.D.F. contingent. Over the weekend, video of a press conference held by the Guatemalan military was in circulation online. Earlier today, Prime Minister John Briceño was asked for a comment on the recent face-off between the B.D.F. and the Guatemalan army.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well I think I want to leave that for the minister, we agreed that he is going to answer that but as always, we always stand up to defend what legally and historically belongs to Belize, and the Sarstoon is the boundary between both countries and that has not changed, and then we are going to follow the due process with the OAS, the friends of Belize and everyone to ensure that we can keep Guatemala in check. But the foreign minister can give you more details.”
On Monday, the Belize Electricity Limited informed its customers that CFE Mexico is encountering difficulties in maintaining power supply to our grid. As a result, CFE has asked the company to make the necessary arrangement to supply Belize’s demand from our local generation sources. According to B.E.L.’s statement on Monday, the nation’s demand for electricity is currently over one hundred megawatts, while the maximum available in-country capacity is around eighty-four megawatts. So, what does that mean? Well, B.E.L. will have to carry out significant load shedding to maintain the stability of the grid. In simpler terms, the company must temporarily cut off electricity to certain areas to prevent the entire system from failing. Belize Electricity Limited held a press conference this afternoon where Jose Moreno, the General Manager of Distribution Services, told reporters that the company is working to increase its supply capacity to the country.
Jose Moreno
Jose Moreno, General Manager, Distribution Services BEL
“Last night was one of those days where they called us and told us we need to curtail your supply and you guys need to zero the transfer of power at the interconnection point. When that happened we had to bring up all the generation possible and that was not enough so that we could zero and that was not enough. We had to do some load shedding. We opened some of our distribution feeders to meet that requirement. What is happening to us is something we saw happening and we took action. We went ahead and purchased another gas turbine and we have deployed that to San Pedro however that is still not commissioned. It is expected to be commissioned by the end of May early June. We have another project that is really impacting our decisions, is the availability of the gas turbine at Mile Eight. That unit is undergoing another upgrading project. We are almost at the end of the third week in that project. We have GE and other contractors working on turbine replacement. That is why we went ahead and notified our customers that during these thirty days we will be very vulnerable because without the additional mega watts of capacity, we take that twenty megawatts from our in country equation, we lose the capacity to have those emergency or block start procedures in case we lose the system. That happened this morning.”
According to Moreno, since Monday night there have been numerous interruptions to electricity supply across the country because of high demand and inadequate supply. B.E.L. is urging customers to curtail their use of power. He noted that with the commissioning of the upgraded feeder at Mile Eight, power supply should be back to near normal this weekend. But until then, there will be numerous inconsistencies in the power supply.
Jose Moreno, General Manager, Distribution Services B.E.L.
“This evening is CFE curtails us again we will have to rotate some outages, we will have to affect some feeders given that the demand today is high as it was yesterday. Normally it happens at the tie that CFE goes through its peak. That happens between seven to ten o’clock at night. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we are doing an upgrade of the gas turbine at mile eight. With that upgrade we should be getting ten additional megawatts to the twenty that the unit was rated earlier. That unit is supposed to start commissioning by this weekend. We expect to have that unit online by early next week. The process of restoring the system is kind of complex. We have to make sure we match generation to the demand we have. Sometimes the generating units become unstable when you add new load. Some of them will go off, their protection takes them off because of frequency or voltage and it cascades the whole system and that is what happened this morning.”
