Some weeks ago, News Five brought you the story of the illegal jetty that an investor in Corozal had begun to construct in the Corozal Bay. The jetty, still not completed, was at least three hundred feet into the sea and work was still underway. The residents of the area had raised concerns because the structure was in an area that is part of the Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and they suspected that the investor had not gotten the necessary permits to build the jetty. News Five checked with the Department of the Environment, which confirmed that there was no permit given to have the structure built and today, Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai told us that the property owner has six weeks from the time the jetty was deemed illegal to remove it.
Anthony Mai
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, Dept. of Environment
“Before the jetty was constructed, or is constructed, he would have had to do an EIA, right, because that is what the law says.”
Marion Ali
“Did he do that?”
Anthony Mai
“The law says that any project within a protected area requires an EIA. So we informed him, he didn’t do the EIA and he went ahead and he constructed a portion of the jetty. When we were informed, we went and we issued a stop order and he was charged for that, particularly because it’s an offense to start a project without environmental clearance. When we were about to settle the matter, we were informed that he continued to construct and we met with him, and because of all the history in terms of the violation, we agreed with him that the jetty would be removed altogether. And so this came from him, from the owner: the owner agreed that because of all that has occurred, he agrees to remove the structure and we said that was the best option for us, the Department of Environment as well. And so we have written to him and we have given him a time period within which he needs to remove the jetty.”
PM Briceño then proceeded to emphasize that of every dollar government earns, only twenty-three cents is invested in social programs and infrastructure projects. He also spoke on public investment programs, including the expansion of National Health Insurance.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“In effect, seventy-three cents of every dollar simply keeps the machinery of governance running, leaving twenty-seven cents of every dollar for programs and projects. Now when we took office in 2020, the percentage of total spending available for programs and projects was at twenty-three cents on the dollar spent. In just three years then, we have managed to shrink government’s operating cost by more than five percent, allowing more money to finance programs and projects that will benefit the people. To a sampling of the principal capital projects that will be included in this year’s public investment programs. Of course, these all line up with Belize’s medium term development strategy, as well as the overarching goals of Plan Belize. Thirty-five million dollars to fund the continued expansion of NHI. Three point five million dollars for hemo-dialysis support programs. Twenty-one million to help fund the growing payables related to UDP land acquisitions. Ten million dollars for the repair and maintenance of major highways. Seven point five million dollars to support the ongoing expansion of solid waste transfer stations. Six million dollars for low-income homes and housing repairs. Five point seven million dollars for another phase of the PSW Goldson Highway rehabilitation, four million dollars for the upgrading of the Guinea Grass Road. The paving of the road, Abi Mai, yes.”
This morning, the twenty-seventh annual Belikin La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge commenced with much fanfare in the twin towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio. Over the course of four days, sixty-seven paddlers will compete against each other and the currents, as they race one hundred and eighty miles to Belize City’s BelCan Bridge on Monday. This year, hundreds of supporters eagerly await to see who will take home the prize in the event that is recognized for its ability to bring people together. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
This morning, the twin towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio were alive with activity as people from all over the country gathered to secure their spots on the banks of the Macal River for the perfect view of the 2024 La Ruta Maya River Challenge. This year boasted a large turnout, as sixty-seven teams would be vying to be the first to cross the finish line on Monday. The race began at its usual starting point, at the Hawkesworth Bridge in San Ignacio where it journeyed down the Macal River to Banana Bank. Among this year’s competitors are returning champs Slim and Trim Like Guava Limb, who stated they were felling the pressure.
Britney Gordon
“So you guys are the returning champs. How do you feel about that?”
Daniel Cruz
Daniel Cruz, Paddler, Slim & Trim Like Guava Limb “Well, we feel, proud and pressured, right? Because, you know, they will want to win us and we have to try defend it.”
Britney Gordon
“And are you confident that you and your team will be able to pull it off today?”
Daniel Cruz
“First God, yes.”
Fellow Guava Limb team member, Andres Cabb stated that they have put in about four months of training and plan to recite a prayer before the race to prepare.
Andres Cabb
Andres Cabb, Paddler, Slim & Trim Like Guava Limb
“Well right now we just did, we’ll do a prayer and then we’ll get in the water. Warm up. So we don’t stretch no muscle when we start.”
As one of Belize’s biggest events of the year, the race garners a lot of tourist attraction to San Ignacio. Visitors from all over the country travel to witness and participate in the activities. We spoke with first team manger of the first time competitors, the Panthers, Jim Berriman, who is a past paddler himself. Berriman stated that the team is representing BATSUB and while, they did not have a lot of time to prepare, they are excited to participate.
Jim Berriman
Jim Berriman, Team Manager, Panthers Team
“They’ve done a few training sessions only two training sessions actually. First one was about twelve miles, second one was thirty-seven, so they’re not the most experienced, but we’re here to take part.”
Britney Gordon
“Alright, so are you guys confident in your performance today?”
Jim Berriman
“Oh yes, very confident. I think we’ve got a good chance of the win. Yeah, we’ve been eyeing the trophy up, so yeah, definitely.”
The race not only exists to garner tourist attention, but it brings attention to the cultural and environmental significance of the river. Event organizer, Roberto Harrison, highlighted the significance of these aspects to us.
Britney Gordon
“This event started as a way to get people of San Ignacio together to have an event for the long weekend. How has the event elevated itself since its beginning?”
Roberto Harisson
Roberto Harisson, Event Organizer, La Ruta Maya
“First of all, we were looking at something to replace the one day event, the ninth of March, the Baron Bless Day. Normally, small events happening, but nothing much and at the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend. So we coined the idea of putting something that would be more than just San Ignacio. And we came up and finally agreed that we would try this for the event. It’s been a very trying thing over, over the years because initially we looked at promoting not only the race as a sport, but looking at the culture the different communities along this river. There’s a history behind this river.”
Harrison explained that there are several key factors to consider when highlighting the importance of the river, historical, environmental and cultural.
Roberto Harrison “It was the business highway for people from San Ignacio to Belize city and Belize city to San Ignacio, we look at the environmental side because then, and now there’s quite a bit of difference in the banks of the river. So we wanted to look at how we can promote or create that awareness to replenish some of the green in the riverbanks. And we also look at the historical aspect because, again, history has it that this river was used by the Mayas to transport food from up Belize down or down Belize and up to San Ignacio. We looked at the communities themselves during the logging period where we knew that those communities were significant on how the goods were transported up on the road. So we look at the race in three parts; environment, history, and the culture of the river itself.”
Typical for the race is the overturning of canoes, as paddlers battle with the currents rushing against them. One team that encountered this setback was the Belize Coast Guard, which still managed to place third, despite the initial drawback at the start of the race.
Wilberto Daniels
Wilberto Daniels, Captain, Belize Coast Guard Team
“We placed top three today. Unfortunately we had a bad start and that’s the consequences of a bad start, right? But as a team captain, I’m always, my job is to keep the motivation high in my boat. So that managed to pick up back a momentum and start closing back the gap on the other teams. And today was one of the hardest day ever in my years of pulling La Ruta Maya, we really work hard today. Maybe if we had a little more time, maybe we would have closed the gap a little more, but yeah that’s a part of race. And we still have three more days and anything can happen in a race.”
The race ended with a close call as returning champs Guava Limb finished with a point five second lead over Team Lucas Oil Male, which encountered an obstacle just before the finish line. We checked in with today’s victors post-win for an update.
Britney Gordon
“So you just finished the race and you came in first place. How are you feeling?”
Andres Cabb
“First of all, I want to give thanks to God and that have given the opportunity to win the race. And we’re feeling tired and well, we are feeling tired but happy at the same time.”
Britney Gordon
“Do you feel that this win has eased some of the anxiety as the returning champs? “
Javier Guardado
Javier Guardado, Captain, Slim & Trim Like Guava Limb Team “Well, I guess so. So like we want today so tomorrow maybe will be a better day for us.”
The feelings of the paddlers may be mixed, but the race has only just begun and that coveted title is still up for grabs. Britney Gordon for News Five.
The International Monetary Fund has wrapped up its Article Five consultation. In its concluding statement, the I.M.F. reported that Belize’s economy has continued to perform well. The report noted continued G.D.P. growth over the last three years, adding that this growth has been led by the expansion of tourism, construction, and the business process outsourcing sectors, among others. The I.M.F.’s report further stated that unemployment has decreased from fourteen percent in 2020 to three point four percent in 2023. The report also provided a positive outlook for Belize’s inflation rate and G.D.P. growth. Today we caught up with, Christopher Coye, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, who told us more.
Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance
“I think the IMF article four consultations reflect and the concluding statement reflects what we have been experiencing in Belize. We have been experiencing a resurgence of the Belize economy. The growth continues to perform for Belize, relatively well. I think in this last calendar year we experienced an estimated five percent growth. I think they are estimating four point five, Central Bank is estimating the same number. I believe we will outperform that a little bit. But nonetheless, it is around five percent growth. They also highlight our debt dynamics. Our debt fiscal position remains robust. We expect a primary surplus once again this year and the inflation continues to moderate. They are estimating that inflation for 2023 will be a little over four percent, for 2024 it will reduce to a little over three percent and then reduce further to about one point three percent thereafter. The unemployment rate, their estimate is about three percent there about and that we would remain at or above full employment for the foreseeable future. So, all in all, the consultations went quite well and the report indicates how the economy and the government has been performing in a positive way.”
The average prices of select food items, including rice, ground beef, evaporated and powdered milk, as well as cheese have gone up. That’s according to the latest figures released by the Statistical Institute of Belize. The Consumer Price Index shows that there has been a four point three percent increase in the national inflation rate. In January 2024, prices within the food sub-category were up by eight point two percent, as increases were observed in the cost of fresh vegetables, dairy products, meat products and cereal products, including rice, flour and bread. The cost of restaurant and accommodation services rose by fourteen percent. The External Trade Bulletin indicates that imports were up twenty-eight point two percent, while domestic exports were down thirty-one point six percent in January 2024. Total imports for January 2024 stood at two hundred and seventy-two million dollars which is attributed to a considerable increase in the importation of machinery and transportation equipment.
Today, the World Bank shared its findings of a review on Belize’s public spending, primarily in areas of education, health and climate change resilience. The bank is of the view that Belize could reduce its debt to below fifty percent of G.D.P. by undertaking reforms in these areas particularly. The report also found that budget credibility and fiscal discipline remain a challenge and a high public sector wage bill continues to limit spending power. News Five’s Marion Ali has a report on the review.
Marion Ali, Reporting
For the first time, the World Bank has presented the findings of a review that it has conducted on Belize’s public spending and how the government could improve its ability in addressing specific areas of need if it were more efficient in how it manages the public purse. Senior Economist with the World Bank, Anton Dobronogov, broke down the figures.
Anton Dobronogov
Anton Dobronogov, Senior Economist, World Bank
“As of 2023, the risks to sustainability of public debt were judged as moderate. which is a major achievement for the country which experienced multiple debt restructurings in the past. Revenue collection in Belize remains lower than in most of the Caribbean countries. Since this report was on the expenditures and not on revenues, we did not go in we did not do in depth analysis. But I would like to highlight this point because Belize still needs to continue fiscal consolidation and increasing revenues needs certainly to be a part of this effort. As you can see at the next slide total expenditures which was at 23 percent in 2022, has an even larger gap between Belize and the Caribbean average. Obviously, this is a consequence of the fiscal consolidation and for a while this gap, is likely to persist.”
The World Bank found that one of the main challenges for Belize in public spending is its huge wage bill, which in 2022 accounted for 41 percent of total public spending.
Anton Dobronogov
“The public expenditures in Belize are rather rigid. About 81 percent of expenditures are non discretionary. In part, this is a consequence of the lack of fiscal disciplines, of lack of fiscal discipline, which persisted for a fairly prolonged period in the country. And the most important rigid expenditure in Belize is the public sector wage bill. As of 2022, the wage bill including transfers to public high school and public hospitals allocated for salaries accounted for slightly over 40 percent of total public spending, 50 percent of total revenue, and 55 percent of recurrent expenditure.”
Minister of State in Finance, Chris Coye says there has to be a way to effectively address the issues that were raised.
Chris Coye
Chris Coye, Minister of State, Finance
“I think you, you look at the recommendations, and those are recommendations that, that have to be seriously considered. Certainly, the size of the workforce is, one. But also the, compensation, the pay scale is compressed. The skill side is underpaid versus the broadness of the lower-mid or mid-level workers within the system. Those are areas that we actually have to spend a lot more time in looking at how do we develop probably a new pay scale structure, a new compensation structure. So that is quite a bit of work, but that is something that needs to be undertaken.”
The review singled out areas of education and health that have also given serious challenges to the government over the years. The bank’s Country Director for the Caribbean, Lilia Burunciuc spoke on these.
Lilia Burunciuc
Lilia Burunciuc, Country Director for the Caribbean, World Bank
“A key recommendation is the need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending in key sectors such as health and education. And these are the two and these are the two very important sectors for the country. for the people of, the country. We will learn more about this today, but I would like to highlight that in education, worldwide, study after study, has shown that the factor number one that determines the results in terms of the learning outcomes in education is the quality of teachers. And this is one of very important area that Belize needs to really pay attention to, to improve the quality of teachers and, teaching. In health, it is important to make sure that the money, that public money that goes into this sector really delivers the results, and the citizens can see the benefits in terms of improved services that they get from, the health sector, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of spending in health.”
C.E.O. in the Ministry of Education, Dian Maheia, pointed out that the ministry has already begun to correct some of the weaknesses that existed in previous years.
Dian Maheia
Dian Maheia, C.E.O., Ministry of Education
“There are a few things to take away here. One is that this is a review that really incorporates data leading mostly up to 2019. There are significant changes that have been made since 2019, and there’s data that has yet to be collected. I think that yes. What happens from 2020 on especially from 2021 on because with 2021, we were fully back after the pandemic, I think is going to be interesting as we move forward. So that’s one thing, because this was a review, s I said, with data up to 2019. That’s one thing. Another thing to take away from this is the fact that They’re not a whole lot of surprises. It’s true that we absolutely as a government, have to be aware of the fact that we spend a lot of our money on education and we should expect that our system would be more efficient.”
A lot of money is spent on teacher training C.E.O. Maheia said, but the fruits of that are still just beginning to have bearing. Marion Ali for News Five.
The Financial Services Commission has issued a warning notice informing the public that Alberto Villanueva, promoter of Belize Title and Closing L.L.C., is not licensed under the F.S.C. Act to provide, carry on, or transact any financial services set out in the Financial Services Commission Act. As such, Villanueva, a resident of 5 Alamina Drive in Caye Caulker, is directed to cease and desist from engaging in those activities which constitute an offence under the Laws of Belize.
Is the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC) unduly marking up prices on agricultural produce they supply to wholesalers? A recently released political ad claims that the statutory body is placing a sixty to three hundred percent price markup on imported produce such as potatoes, lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli. The ad alleges that a group of P.U.P. cronies are collecting up to two hundred thousand dollars weekly as a result of these markups. BMDC was established under the Ministry of Agriculture with a mandate to ensure food security and affordable prices among other objectives. So, we reached out to the administrator at the BMDC, Valentin Carillo, to find out if there is any truth to the claims being made in the ad. Here is what he had to say.
Valentin Carrillo
Valentin Carrillo, Administrator, BMDC
“I saw the ad and I saw that they have a price quotation in the ad and certain Mexican commodity has a certain price. First of all I would like to explain that it is not as easy as the people might think that we just go buy, bring it over and sell it. If they see and article or a product in Chetumal for let’s say twenty-two pesos, we come bring it twenty-two pesos is about three dollars, we come and we sell it for three-twenties for instance. That is not how it works. Let me explain a little, for example let us say for onion which is one of our strong commodities, we have been offered onions for twenty-two pesos a kilo. We cannot buy those onions. The onions we bought are almost double the price. For various reasons, because twenty-two pesos is the one they contraband and move cross the border, but the one we buy has to meet certain standards if not BAHA won’t allow us to bring it in. The one at twenty-two pesos, the conditions and the quality is inferior and as soon as it reaches here our wholesaler will complained which has happened with certain commodities. So these are things we need to be careful if you notice right now, I got a price quotation from Cheduarea. The price of a kilo of onion, similar to what we import is up to fifty-nine pesos. And if you go in the market at Chetumal, the regular market where the inferior quality is, you can find it for twenty-two pesos, even twenty-five. Those we need to be mindful. We cannot bring those commodities. Similarly, the broccoli which was in scrutiny also, the ones we import is especially placed in garbage, the black bag, filled with shaved ice so that they can be transported across the border and meet certain standards.”
Carrillo further noted that the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation does not receive subventions from the Government of Belize. He says the corporation’s finances are managed autonomously. And, because of this, there are certain overhead costs that they must meet from the profits they obtain. Carrillo sought to ensure Belizeans that they only mark up their prices by twelve to fifteen percent.
Valentin Carrillo, Administrator, BMDC
“Each head of lettuce is labeled with one of our labels and that is extra cost in the Mexican side. They have to open each case and a case brings twenty-four. If we bring, imagine, fifty cases, seventy-five, each case has to be opened and labeled individually for us only. And we are not a big wholesale. In Mexico when they export those people are exporting by containers and we import only cases. So it brings a heavy cost to us, but to meet certain standards we have to do it.”
Paul Lopez
“Is that to say that the prices quoted in the ad are accurate or close to correct?”
Valentin Carrillo
“They are not accurate. Some of those things, I saw in the ad it says in bulco and in Mexico a bulco is a bag and it comes different for Mexican than for us and in Mexico we buy in case and that is specific for us to meet some of our standard. A part from that let us say the price is similar. We have duties to pay which we cannot avoid. We have freight to pay. We have Mexican fees to pay and we have Belize fees also a part from the duty. For example on the Mexican side we have loading fees, phytosanitary fees that is on the Mexican side. The loading and unloading is very heavy over there. On the Belize side we have local fees, landing permit, border management fees, BAHA permit fees, freight also. All of these things it comes to a good amount when you add it up. This is the best price. We mark up at twelve percent, fifteen percent. Remember these are perishable goods that they would not last. We import Mondays and Thursdays. These things, if you just leave them, the broccoli we bring in Mondays the wholesalers don’t want to buy those Thursdays and you can interview anyone and you can see we have left with certain commodities. We try to play and make a balance between one and the next, but not to increase the price so much, but it is not more than fifteen percent.”
Belize is among a list of eleven countries across Latin America and the Caribbean that has developed and implemented a Multidimensional Poverty Index to assess and address poverty. This morning, the United Nations Development Programme and the Ministry of Economic Development, along with the Statistical Institute of Belize, signed an agreement to develop a Monetary Poverty Measure. It will serve to complement Belize’s Multidimensional Poverty Index in measuring the prevalence of monetary deprivation in Belize, allowing for a more comprehensive assessment of poverty. A government release following the agreement signing says, “being able to use this powerful tool to diagnose the condition of poverty and identify changes over time can lead to innovative and articulated actions within and across the government and civil society organizations that will better address the specific needs of the country’s population”. The agreement comes with six deliverables that are expected to be completed by July 2024.
