What Does the Maaga Season Have You Doing Differently?  

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s January—the month that feels like it drags on forever, thanks to the financial pinch it brings. After the holiday splurges and loans, many are tightening their belts, leading to what’s known as “Maaga Season.” This period forces people to stick to the bare necessities. For the average person, this might mean packing lunch instead of buying it, while businesses may need to offer special deals to attract customers. In this week’s edition of Belize on Reel, Marion Ali found that even vegetable sales at a market stall are sluggish this month.

 

Melany Yestrau, Owner, Pallet Furniture

“I even started a food business. I sell food at the school now. And still do my palleting at the same time. But not as before.”

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

You’ve probably seen her featured on our news before. She is known as the pallet furniture lady. Melany Yestrau has been doing pallet furniture for a few years now, but during this maaga season she says that pallet furniture sales have slowed to a screeching halt that she has had to turn to cooking and selling food and other items to survive this month.

 

Melany Yestrau

“ I’m trying to even do things for sale. Like a little TV stand and a table. But, you know, everybody wants their little money. Saving for the bills and things like that because of the Magga season. So, things have been a bit hard. The Christmas was better for you? Um. On the pallet? For the pallet, yeah.  From the middle of December to the, to right now to January, it’s been very slow that I had to do something to pick up back in, in, you know, to pay your bills and everything. And you know, I’m hoping, I’m hoping this change by this end of the month..”

 

At this time of year, it is the high season for the tourism industry because Belize gets visitors from North America to visit and stay overnight. But while business is good right now for the resorts, owner of Black Orchid Resort in Burrell Boom, Douglas Thompson says that the visits from Belizeans this month have fallen to just forty percent of what it is during the summer time.

 

Douglas Thompson, Owner, Black Orchid Resort

“During January, after the Christmas holidays, it slows down in terms of, I guess, the resources that locals have to spend. And, uh, yes, it’s a high season for tourists, but for locals, it slows down until maybe around December.  May, June, July, and going in for the summer when we get the diaspora comes in also. But, so what we are doing here at Black Orchid, we are starting a loyalty program, whereby we, uh, folks that normally come here becomes members of Black Orchid. Belizeans that come here, become members, and they have a discount whenever they are here. That, that will be true, so even during the margaret season. They could still come and enjoy Black Orchid.”

 

And while we do have to eat daily, even the vegetable stalls at the market have seen a scarcity of shoppers, like Annie Aguilar told us.

 

Annie Aguilar, Owner, WG’s Fruits and Mini Shop

“ Right now business is very slow. I think because of the season, you know, everybody will probably has bills to pay and December just left so, normally, well, this year is more slower than other years. So economic is very right now things are very expensive. So I think maybe because, um, because of that because watermelon, there are two dollars a pound. Okay, and then the customers aren’t coming? And the customers are not coming. So everybody’s just picking one or two things and that’s it.  Do you find you have to throw out a lot of your vegetables? Do they expire? Yes, a lot. When it comes to, um, tomatoes, sweet peppers, um, onions, carrots.”

 

Aguilar projects that business will return to normal in February. Marion Ali for News Five.