Belize Electricity Limited wants the mean electricity rate to remain fixed at forty cents per kilowatt-hour throughout the 2024–2028 tariff cycle. B.E.L. officially made the request to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on March twenty-second. B.E.L. says this aligns with its overarching mission to provide safe, reliable, and sustainable energy solutions that bolster quality of life, productivity, and national development. B.E.L.’s proposal is backed by four reasons, including the introduction of new tariffs and pricing structures for electric vehicle charging, the retrieval of outstanding balances from prior periods, and the allocation of over five hundred million dollars towards capital projects over the ensuing five years. The PUC says that a public hearing will be held on Thursday, April eleventh at six p.m. at the Belize Biltmore Plaza.
A San Pedro man is claiming that he is being denied access to his land on the island. Fifty-eight-year-old Victor Gotay and his wife separated in 2020 but still live at the same address. He claims that he is being denied access to enter their shared business, Gotay Fruits Shop, or receive any profits from it. According to Gotay, the land is his, and all efforts to get authorities involved have failed. This is why he turned to the media to seek assistance.
Victor Gotay, San Pedro Resident “My issue is I’m concerned about my piece of land in San Pedro. I have an issue with my ex wife. We have a problem with the front of the land. The business that the two of us own. But the thing is that she seemed like she want to be the one who I want to have more rights over the land than me. And that’s why I told her I tell her the problem is here. I own the land and the way she talked the way how she won, but the way I say always she want to Like she just want to kick me out of the place and not make me have no rights for the piece of place And got me that back and only she have rights over the business.”
Britney Gordon
“And are you two officially separated yet?”
Victor Gotay
“Well, I dih go through the process right now. It’s not really official like that, but then the problem is that this problem here, she continue doing things inside the place without my concern. And they make, nice in the place and so the last time I come for work, I hear a lot of nice and so I tell them where are the problem there and the first thing they got a police there, they mind the business, and the police tell me the boss lady come and tell, tell me to come out of my own place. I don’t have nothing against the police, he’s doing his job, but he don’t know where they going there. That’s why he didn’t ask me where I was going. He asked me where I was going and take me out of my place. That really made me upset. Because I said, I’m the one who built this place. How can someone just come and take me out and, you know, and tell me to just come out and come out of it?”
Britney Gordon
“So, are you still having any involvement in the business at all? Are you still receiving any income from that? No kind of income.”
Victor Gatoy
“I have nothing to do with it. That’s how they treat me. They tell nobody. And that’s the way it really concerned me too. And the next thing when she do, she want put maintenance for me. And make me maintain the kids. I don’t have nothing wrong with maintaining the kids. But how is she, the way I see it, if she want make me maintain the kids and she must have the business. So I don’t understand what she want try do with me.”
‘Tis that time of year again when Christians, and anyone else who loves fish, make that trip to the fish market and pay a few dollars more per pound of fish, all in keeping with the practice that goes with Lent – make a sacrifice for the forty days and eat fish on Fridays. So on Good Friday, a great number of people will be eating their fish, which meant that today, they were out buying those fish, and the fishermen were there to accommodate. News Five’s Marion Ali was also there to get that story and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Whatever type of fish you prefer, you could get it today. The fish market off Vernon Street in Belize City was buzzing as boats rolled in with fresh catches and fishermen placed their prices. Harry Leng was one of them.
Harry Leng
Harry Leng, Fisherman
“I have kingfish, I have barracuda, snapper, a few little small grouper like Jimmy Hines and stuff like that, and some grunt, but most of the other fish dehn gone already. But the only problem with it, whenever this time comes around, it’s hard to get them.”
Marion Ali
“Really? I wonder why that is.”
Harry Leng
“I guess because they feel the Easter, and dehn probably know say people want eat them up so dehn disappear.”
Marion Ali
“The fish them smart, eh?”
At this time of year, the prices of fish soar because fish is in high demand. And they will also cost you by the type you want to eat. But Harry Leng says he’ll work with your budget.
Harry Leng
“This is the time when you’re playing with the price.”
Marion Ali
“Aha, okay, but I’ve heard your prices are $7, $8, $9, $10?”
Harry Leng
“$10. Yeah. Some people sell it for $12 and all that stuff, but I don’t go that high. I try to work with the people.”
Marion Ali
“Okay, so I could come out here and get wa pound ah fish for $7. What would I get?”
Harry Leng
“If you get a pound a fish fi $7, I’d probably give you this size here. Normally these would sell for $5 but right now it’s $7. Even deh lee one ya I wa sell fi $5. I always work with whoever comes.”
The type of fish you buy is also significant because of the way you can prepare it, based on its texture. Devon Orosco says he will take home snappers to fry.
Devon Orosco
Devon Orosco, Cook
“For me, the reason why I like it da because I feel like it tastes better than the rest of the snappers, red snapper. And da da twa fish weh rare, you don’t really catch it like that. I wudda just half fry it, but put it with white rice or just stew it down or what’s not, yoh dig or mek wa soup outta it or fish tea.”
This Lenten season has provided fish cleaner, Shantel with a new means of income.
Voice of: Shantel
Voice of: Shantel
“I mi deh under the market di sit down and I say, you know what, better I get up and help, clean to. I see everybody di mek deh one, two, soh I step up and say I wa mek mines to same way.”
Marion Ali
“You find that around Lent and Easter, yoh mek more?
Shantel
“This is my first time.”
Marion Ali
“Oh, wow. Did it take you long to learn how to do that?”
Shantel
“No ma’am.”
Marion Ali
“But it comes with its risks, right, because you could get hurt.”
Shantel
“Yes ma’am, and then the bone could juck up yoh and stay eena yoh nails and thing.”
Marion Ali
“Has that happened to you yet?”
Shantel
“No, ma’am, not yet so far, praise God.”
If you didn’t get your fish in time for Good Friday, the fishermen and the cleaners will be out again on Holy Saturday, when the prices are expected to also be back to normal. Marion Ali for News Five.
The Ministry of Economic Development is currently in the process ofimplementing several projects that aim to increase the quality of living in the country. One of those projects includes improved security systems across the country. Through funding from CABEI, the ministry is seeking to build half a dozen police stations in specific areas across the country. We spoke with the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Economic Development, Doctor Osmond Martinez for more details.
Dr. Osmond Martinez, C.E.O., Ministry of Economic Development
“Under the resilient rural police program, which is under CABEI, presently we are in the process of building six police stations. So, one of the police stations will be in Santa Elena, the other one in Belmopan, the third one in Caye Caulker, the fourth one in Belize City, the fifth one in San Narciso, and the sixth one in Bella Vista Village in the southern part of the country. And the aim is to start the buildings or to have groundbreaking by July of this year. Presently the consultants are doing the feasibility studies and they have completed the feasibilities for the first three polling stations, which is Santa Elena, a Belmopan and Bella Vista. The second project under that same under that same bank, CABEI is the citizen security project, which is it will be the phase two of the surveillance camera, which will have an integrated system to an E-nine-one-one system, but at the same time, we will integrate everything into a system where it will have an AI component. And we will be able to collect the data, especially for the police department and the police department is the one who will manage the data and also use it as a way of preventing crime.”
Pressure is mounting on the government over the appointment of Gustavo Requena as the Director of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. Requena who is the brother of Cabinet Minister Oscar Requena, succeeded Greg Choc. Requena’s appointment did not come without concerns and criticism. The Toledo Alcaldes Association first fired off a press release saying they were not consulted and that Requena has publicly shared anti-Maya land rights sentiments. The association also expressed concerns over Requena’s familial relationship with the minister. Tonight, the Belize National Indigenous Council also expresses deep concern regarding Requena’s appointment. The council says that the government’s decision to appoint Requena is a lack of serious commitment to the plight of the Indigenous Peoples of Belize. The council says “What we are witnessing here is the setting up of an office that will be marred in partisan politics and from the eyes of the people lacking integrity.” According to the council, transparent selection processes are imperative for such a crucial position and Belize has individuals well-versed in indigenous and social matters.
On Wednesday, the Statistical Institute of Belize published the findings of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which is a direct measure of poverty across various dimensions of well-being such as health, education, employment, and living standards in Belize. The MPI seeks to move away from the single monetary dimension of measuring poverty and instead studies what percentage of the population is multidimensionally poor and what percentage of all the indicators poor households are deprived of. The findings of the MPI for September 2023 revealed that incidents of multidimensional poverty were down by ten-point one percent. Statistician Christian Orellana explains.
Christian Orellana
Christian Orellana, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“For the period September 2023 the incidence of multidimensional poverty is twenty-six point four percent. That means that twenty-six point four percent of the population is multidimensional poor. The intensity of multidimensional poverty is thirty eight point four percent. That means that on average, a poor household had a deprivation score of thirty eight point four percent. And our national MPI is zero point one zero one. We can also look at poverty statistics in two ways, for the total population of the country and for the households of the country, a total of one hundred three thousand niner hundred forty-four persons were multidimensional poor among twenty-four thousand ninety-six households. We now compare the 2023 MPI results to the 2021 MPI results. A decrease of ten point one percent was observed for the incidents. This is a result of thirty-eight thousand five hundred ninety-six individuals among eight thousand nine hundred two households coming out of being multidimensionally poor since the 2021 pandemic landscape, notably due to decrease in the share of the population that experienced deprivations in areas such as underemployment, food insecurity, employment, and cooking fuel. Now, when we compare the intensity between the two years, it can be observed that the severity of poverty among the poor remains the same with very little change from thirty-nine point two in 2021 to thirty-eight point four in 2023. It was observed that among the seventeen indicators, we saw improvements, with the exception of improved sanitation. But it is important to highlight the top five that saw the biggest decrease, and that is underemployment at 1fifteen percent food insecurity at ten point three percent cooking fuel at five point nine percent and unemployment at five point five percent.”
If you’ve always had a knack for themes, this is your chance to win some extra cash. The National Celebrations Commission launched the September theme competition for Belize at forty-three. The annual competition is open to anyone and the Director of the Institute of Creative Arts, Kim Vasquez went over the details of it for us.
Kim Vasquez
Kim Vasquez, Director, Institute of Creative Arts
“We have this annual competition, and the cash prize is 1, 000. It’s open to anyone. So if you want to get your creative writing juices flowing you can send in a couple entries. Definitely you want to keep in mind, ideas like patriotism, unity, cultural identity, where we are with our development as a nation. Those are some things to brainstorm around if you want to participate in the competition.”
Marion Ali
“And the deadline?”
Kim Vasquez
“The deadline is the 26th of April and you can send your submissions in by email. You can go on the social media page, the Facebook page for the National Celebrations Commission. Or, if you want, you can drop them off by hand at the NICH headquarters at Government House.”
The Senate inquiry into Portico’s Definitive Agreement that was scheduled for today was postponed and the notification from the National Assembly building didn’t give a reason for it. However, the Principal of the Port of Magical Belize project, David Gegg, who was expected to give testimony at the hearing today did not attend. Gegg says that the invitation was found on his driveway by his assistant and addressed to his late father, Edgar Gegg. He also wrote a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Eddie Webster, about the Senator leading the inquiry, Janelle Chanona. Gegg tells Webster about a letter sent by Waterloo Holdings C.E.O. Stewart Howard to Senator Chanona a couple of days before she had announced the launch of the inquiry lends itself for anyone to infer an appearance of bias by Chanona, and says that this without mention of other matters, suggests that Chanona is compromised and that she is incapable of objectivity. In the letter, Gegg casts criticism on Chanona and opined that no objective Belizean would believe the timing of the letter from Waterloo was merely coincidental. Gegg wrote that he will not subject himself to questioning by anyone who he thinks is biased. Gegg said that he is prepared to appear before the Committee, but on the condition that Chanona recuses herself. He also took a jab at the committee for referring to its own communication as an invitation instead of a summons. Gegg indicated that he needs notice three days prior to appearing before the committee to give him time to consult with his attorneys. News Five tried to reach Chanona for her reaction to Gegg’s letter but we did not get a reply.
The Statistical Institute of Belize held a press conference today to present its G.D.P. estimates for the fourth quarter of 2024. As well as the consumer price index, external trade statistics for February 2024, and the Consumer Confidence Index. Also shared was the breakdown of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which is a measure of poverty across various dimensions of wellbeing, such as health, education, and employment. And living standards. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
According to the Statistical Institute of Belize, the economy grew by three point two percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. This growth was attributed to the tertiary sector, which observed an eight point eight increase of about seventy point three million dollars in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2022. SIB credits this growth to the strong performance of the industries within the service sector.
Christopher Hulse
Christopher Hulse, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“The tertiary sector went from seven hundred ninety-seven point one million in quarter four of 2022 to eight hundred sixty-seven point four million for quarter four of 2023. This is an increase of seven point three million or eight point eight percent mainly driven by an increase in the hotels and restaurants industry, transportation. We see arts, entertainment, recreation. The industries that have a tie to the increase in tourism movement. Looking at the other services, admin and support services went up by four point five percent as we see an increase in BPO’s and also travel agencies and tour operators. So two things that are increasing, the call centers and since we have tourism movement we see the travel agencies and tour operators also increasing. We have increases in real estate, one point eight percent, human health, two point four slight decreases for wholesale and retail trade, communication, and other services. Adversely, the primary and secondary sectors contracted, undergoing a three-point one and two-point eight decrease, respectively. This puts the primary sector down by an estimated five million dollars and the secondary sector down by eight point eight million dollars. These declines were attributed to poor weather conditions that negatively impacted water levels and subsequently resulted in low crop outputs and electricity generation. Now, for Banana, if we look at the levels, that 21 3 is still low, But 2022 was such a down year that when we compare the two periods together, we will observe an increase. But compared to before 2022, we see that overall banana is still down. So we will have that trend for most of the crops, that for the entire year. If we look at the sum of it, it will be down due to the weather conditions for most of them. Now conversely, we see an increase for livestock. So overall, livestock saw an increase of eighteen point four percent, where we had cattle up by twenty-four point five percent, pig up by twenty-two point one percent and poultry up by eleven point two percent. So even though we saw declines in the crop, livestock offset that decrease, and that’s why when we look at the primary sector overall Even though the crops were affected, we saw zero point eight percent decline because of the livestock going up.”
External Trade reports from February 2024 revealed an increase of thirteen point seven percent of imports and an eight point one percent decrease of domestic exports. The most notable contributors to the increase in imports were machinery and transport equipment, as well as minerals, fuels, and other lubricants. The decrease in domestic export revenue was attributed to several key exports.
Ronald Orellana
Ronald Orellana, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“Animal feed revenue plummeted from ten point one million to two point eight million as exported quantities fell by more than two thirds during the period. Likewise, sugar exports saw a notable decrease of six point eight million, dropping from ten point seven million to three point eight million, with earnings down by sixty-four percent. Reduced exports of lobster products and shrimps during the period. Led to trip led to a three point eight million decline in revenues from marine products dropping from seven point one million to three point two million. Diminished volumes of orange concentrate also contributed to a downturn in exported citrus declining from four million to one point seven million. Despite the general decline in domestic exports, Bananas experienced a significant increase of seven point four million, surging from five point one million to twelve point five million, with quantities more than doubling for the period. Additionally, other exports category went up by one point eight million, from six point two million to seven point nine billion, due to wooden furniture and crude soybean oil.”
The Consumer Price Index shows that Belize experienced a three-point, nine percent increase in the cost of basic goods in February 2024. As observed throughout 2023 and into early 2024, higher food prices were the primary contributor to the overall inflation rate, followed by prices for restaurant services and home rental costs. The effects of the increase were slightly offset by the price of motor vehicle fuels, liquified petroleum gas, and international airfares, which were all lower than they were in February 2023. Statistician Melvin Perez explains.
Melvin Perez
Melvin Perez, Statistician II, S.I.B.
“So now looking at the major categories affecting the cumulative inflation rate of four point one percent. First, we have the food and non-alcoholic beverages category with prices increasing by seven point five percent and I must mention that this was the main contributor to the overall increase. It was followed by the restaurant and accommodational services, with prices increasing by twelve point six percent. Then we had the hosting water, electricity, gas, and other fuel, with prices increasing by two point one percent. Now looking at the last category in our list, we have the transport category, which recorded a decrease of eight point one percent. So now that we have identified the major categories affecting the cumulative inflation rate, now we will break down each one of them to see what contributed to the increase or decrease within the category. So first let’s look at the food and non-alcoholic beverages category with prices increasing by seven point five percent. The food subcategory alone was the main contributor in the category increasing. As prices rose across all types of food items, such as cereal products, fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meats, and cooking oil. Looking at the table, we can see that most of the items went up by almost more than ten percent. Specifically, natural milk, evaporated milk, powder milk, orange, celery, cilantro, onion, green corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, plantain, black beans, and sugar. Nonetheless, there were lower prices recorded for some items, such as flour, lime, cucumber, and sweet pepper. Now looking at the first two months of the year 2024, we can observe how food prices decreased from January to February. While looking at the same period in the year 2023, we can observe an upward trend in food prices, but when we compare the cumulative inflation rate averaging both January and February of 2024 to the same period of the year of 2023, food prices for the year of 2024 are still higher compared to the same period of the year 2023.”
