And while the Portico developer said that at least three past Cabinet Ministers knew about the Portico project, he was also solicited for campaign financing in exchange for environmental clearance for the project, but he did not reveal the name of the person. And when he did not provide the funds, his project did not receive the clearance prior to the elections.
David Gegg, Developer, Portico Enterprises Ltd.
“Around the middle of September, after the August 28 NEAC meeting, which supposedly approved our environmental clearance, I received a message, and I interpreted that message as saying to me that the environmental documentation approved on August 28 would not be concluded in the absence of a significant campaign contribution.”
Senator Bevington Cal
Senator Bevington Cal
“That was mid-September of 2020”
David Gegg
“Correct.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“By whom?”
David Gegg
“I can’t say.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“What was the amount asked for?”
David Gegg
“Seven figures.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“Can you state the number, the figure?”
David Gegg
“Seven figures.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“And that, I would anticipate, was members of the then government, the then UDP government.”
David Gegg
“They were the only ones in a position to conclude the ECP. Let, me say also, after that there was another meeting of the NEAC called on October 15th. My analysis, by then they knew nothing was in the pipeline, and they were hoping for something smaller. And they didn’t get that either. And the fact that administration did not conclude our environmental clearance should put that issue to rest.”
The Social Security Board recently took a vote to designate three external directors to serve on the executive of a special purpose vehicle for the controversial Public Administration Campus. The appointments, described as unilateral, have been strongly criticized by the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. In a statement issued by the umbrella organization earlier today, the N.T.U.C.B. goes on to say, “the proposed five-member board composed solely of private sector members starkly contrasts a balanced private, public, and workers-formed construct. What is even most distasteful is the apparent view that the Government of Belize handpicks all five members. Instead of adhering to recommendations and advice for a maintained tripartite structure as prescribed by the law or a similar equitable representation of investors’ interest, the S.S.B. has once again disappointed the workers and people of this country”. The N.T.U.C.B. calls on the Briceño administration to immediately ensure that the special purpose vehicle which falls under the public/private partnership system be managed by a tripartite structure.
We have heard the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams talk about his interest in entering the political arena, though he has not made any official announcements. Recent verbal exchanges between himself and the Leader of the Opposition, playing out in the media, have had many questioning whether Williams is gunning for the Mesopotamia seat. As a Belizean, if Williams wants to run for office there is nothing that would prevent him from doing so. But, hypothetically, under what political banner would he run? Today we asked the Prime Minister if the P.U.P. would be open to welcoming Williams into the fold. Here is what he told us.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minster John Briceño
“I don’t know why they are making a big deal about it. He has not spoken with me about that, but like any Belizean if you want to put your name on the ballot you can. Jules has all the answers, he should put his name. Everybody should have the right to go in as long as they believe they can be productive legislatures and politician to adress the problems we have in this country.”
Paul Lopez
“How would you feel about a man like the Commissioner being a part of the party?
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well I think that he has competency. He has shown that he is about public service. He has been a police officer for several decades and highly qualified and I think he is liked and respected by everyone except the leader of the opposition and I wonder why.”
The Government of Belize officially inaugurated the Remate Road in the Corozal District. The road is also referred to as the Corozal bypass. It serves several communities in rural Corozal. It is also used as a short cut to get to the Belize/Mexico border. Millions were invested in the construction of the road, as Prime Minister Briceño pointed out following today’s ceremony. He also spoke on how this upgrade will serve the communities in the areas.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I think that for those of us that lives here in the north they will think about the Remate Road or the Corozal Bypass that during the dry season dust and during the rainy season mud. So many times we try to avoid using this road. But as I pointed out earlier this is Plan Belize at work, that the foundation of plan Belize is about people, how is it that we are going to make the lives of people better. And we are doing the Remate Road and upgrading the Phillip Goldsom Highway is all about that. We are spending about ninety-three million dollars of we are grateful to the United Kingdom approximately around thirty-seven million dollars as a grant and working with the CDB. And what is important to point out is that when would you hear the Ministry of Infrastructure Development or the Ministry of Works as it was then, building something for less than it was budgeted. That is exactly what MIDH has done. They had considerable savings that they could use in other areas.”
We will have more for you on the inauguration in Thursday’s news cast.
This week, dozens of stakeholders from across various organizations are gathering to participate in the Multi-sector Marine Spatial Planning Workshop. This workshop is one of many carried out for the advancement of the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan. The purpose of the workshop is to kickstart activities that for the delivery of commitments related to the Belize Blue Bond Agreement. Today’s events covered what marine spatial planning is and possible areas for new biodiversity protection zones. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Marine spatial planning refers to a process where stakeholders plan what activities will be restricted to certain areas of the ocean to ensure that the sea space is being used with conservation in mind. To meet the milestones outlined in the Belize Blue Bond agreement, consideration for biodiversity reserves and sustainability must be kept in mind when making these decisions. That is why a Multi-sector Marine Spatial Planning Workshop was held today in Belize City. Samir Rosado, MSP Process Lead at the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute, explained how these topics would be covered in today’s workshop.
Samir Rosado
Samir Rosado, MSP Process Lead, CZMAI
“During the workshop, day one of course, would be setting the stage for what spatial planning is. Specifically, what Marine spatial planning is. Giving the definitions, the context and really setting the stage for day two. which would be actually getting into the work. So we’ll be looking at existing conditions, in order to plan for the future, we definitely need to understand what the demands for space are currently. We’ll also be looking at compatibility between uses. Within our ocean space, as we refer to it there are a lot of different demands for related to various activities, fishing, tourism, so on and so forth. And so we need to see spatially, where overlaps exist if they are complementary or if they conflict. And really the purpose of day two and part of this workshop is to really determine where those conflicts would be and to assess whether or not, they can be assessed and separated to avoid any sort of negative effects to the delivery of the activity.”
Jamani Balderamos, a marine spatial planning specialist at The Nature Conservancy, told us that part of the workshop would be learning how to make use of a tool designed specifically for spatial planning. He said that the Marxan is publicly available on the internet and can be used by anyone with a graphic information system.
“Marxan is actually a spatial planning tool, and it’s to help achieve conservation goals and objectives. So it will look at the entire ocean space, and in Belize we’re considering our internal waters, territorial seas, and exclusive economic zones. You can put in data such as ecosystems and human uses, and Marxan will look at how all these things are valued and try to minimize tradeoffs. you can customize the program to help you determine the best use of space to meet particular objectives. So if you want to look at the blue economy, you And we want to look at allocating space for tourism and so on. Marxan can then look at the tradeoffs and help us to determine the best use of space.”
A key component in the Belize sustainable Ocean Plan is the Belize Blue Bond agreement, which enables the country to reduce debt-burden and increase long-term ocean conservation. Safira Vasquez of the Blue Bond and Finance Permanence Unit explained how this factors into today’s discussions.
Safira Vasquez
Safira Vasquez, Senior Technical Officer, Blue Bond and Finance Permanence Unit
“The Belize Blue Bonds have several conservation milestones and commitments. And today’s event is actually a part of us leading up to our milestone four which we should meet in this year, November 2024, which is the for the designation of. up to twenty-five percent of our ocean space in biodiversity protection zones. So today’s event is basically they will be building upon some of the ground work that has been done by the coastal zone management authority, which is the government lead agency for our Marine Spatial Plan, which is known as the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan. And so they will be building up on some of the work that they have been conducting with our various ocean users.”
Rosado said that allocating space within the ocean for varying uses such as fisheries, tourism, coastal development, and protection for ecosystems is a necessary step in conservation.
Samir Rosado
“There’s a lot of power in assigning space for activities because it takes away the instability of these activities and ensures that moving forward, these activities are sustainable over time. And really, the objective of marine spatial planning is to assign the space with a view to balance the multiple objectives that these activities may have. There’s environmental uses, there’s social uses, recreational, and then there’s economic uses. And the idea is to have, establish that balance to ensure that all of these objectives are satisfied through one process.”
Since September 2022, the Belize Tourism Board has undertaken the task of making Belize City a beautiful municipality. The beautification project involves planting greenery throughout the city and creating spaces that are attractive for residents to socialize in. While it was estimated that the project would be nearing completion by now, there have been an overwhelming number of setbacks for the team; mainly, theft and vandalism. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke to Elena Usher, one of the lead consultants on the project for more details on the situation.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
The Belize Tourism Board’s City Beautification project is in dire need of an intervention. For nearly two years, a team has been diligently planting greenery across the city to cool the atmosphere and create a more pleasing aesthetic. However, the team has been discouraged and angered by people stealing and destroying the plants. Elena Usher, one of the two lead consultants on the project, aired her grievances with us.
Elena Usher
Elena Usher, Consultant, BTB Beautification Project
“When we started, everything was going very well. And then the hurricane came, which was the first hurdle. But that was nature, natural, so that was not a problem. After that, we started to have people stealing the plants. Tremendous amounts of plants have been stolen. And it has been frustrating because to have to replace all of these plants, we cannot see the progress that we need to make. That we should have been seeing at this time of the project. If it’s not the stealing of the plants, people just vandalize them people just root them out leave them there or people school children high school children just walk and just, tear out the plants from where they are. They just destroy them. That is one of the most frustrating thing is the theft of the plants. The job is not a problem it’s just the people that don’t appreciate what it is that BTB is trying to do for the city, besides the aesthetics of it being very nice, it will cool down the city. It will create new environments, beautiful areas to sit, to walk. To be able to just move around the city and be in a very nice atmosphere”
Usher said that the team had plans to finish in about two and a half years, but due to the hurdles, they have been pushed extremely behind schedule. She explained that some of the smaller plants range between ten to fifteen dollars while large plants can cost five hundred dollars or above.
Elena Usher
“We wanted to do basically palms and big trees to make it really shady and cool in the city, but that could not happen. And then underneath all of this, we wanted to do ground covers that would eliminate. The Belize City Council having to send their people out there to do cutting and weeding.And so we wanted to do beautiful ground covers and have the over big trees to cover the area to make it cool. The smaller plants are what people are just stealing. It’s easier for them to just pass and route it up or drive by in a car and just take amounts that they want.”
Usher explained that he team has been working on some areas since it was launched and although there have been setbacks, she anticipates that the BTB will expand it to other areas upon completion.
Elena Usher
“We are still working on the Central American Boulevard. That’s the first area we started. We have redone Constitution Park, and we have also done the Mahogany Street project marketplace. We are now working on the Memorial Park, and then we have the other areas like the Albert and Regent Street, which is the next project we’re going to do. Princess Margaret Drive, the New Tongue Barrack area, Marine Parade, and um, Cemetery Road.”
She said there have been attempts to hinder acts of theft and vandalism, but it remains difficult to prevent them entirely.
Britney Gordon
“Have the BTB taken any precautions to prevent people from stealing or vandalizing?”
Elena Usher
“Yes. For example, in the Constitution Park when that park was being redone, they stole the windows, the doors, the plants, they destroyed. What has happened is the cameras have been placed in these areas and burglar bars have been put on the building. The wire fence have also been put in because people were also using the park as a bathroom. So these are some of the things that have been done, other than that, It’s hard.”
Despite the challenges, Usher says she is determined to see this project completed and hopes that Belizeans can enjoy the benefits of the endeavor.
Elena Usher
“At the end of this project, I would like to see the city very green. I would like to see great green spaces parks that can be very healthy and soothing for all of us. That would be enjoyable for everybody to come and sit, to have a good time, to just relax. And the cooling of the city. To make it so green that When you’re walking or driving, it’s, there’s not that tremendous air of heat just surrounding you, with the greenery, it should make it feel a lot cooler. That’s my main goal.”
Central American economies have flourished in the pandemic’s aftermath due to the region’s lower-than-average inflation, allowing central banks to impose more-accommodative policies than larger economies worldwide.
However, the region received a further boost in 2023 owing to record-breaking remittances and an improving labor market, buoyed mainly by the near-shoring boom, thriving tourism and continued profitability across the commodity spectrum. As a result, Central America’s combined GDP is estimated to have grown 3.5% year-over-year (YoY) in 2023, significantly above the global average of 3.1%, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac).
In the banking sector, continued efforts toward further digitalization—one area in which the region still lags—and commercial loan portfolio growth were the main drivers of profitability among the more prominent players.
In Belize, the winner, Belize Bank, grew its investment and loan portfolio to maintain its position as the country’s largest bank in assets and profitability. It held a commanding 1.9 billion Belizean dollars (approximately $939 million) in assets as of July 2023, according to the Central Bank of Belize.
