Fuel Prices Soar

Tonight, there is some good news on the fuel scene – the long delayed fuel ship is in port and is in the process of being offloaded. But that’s it for the good news and the rest is all bad. At midnight on Tuesday, the price of regular fuel increased by a very extreme one dollar and fifteen cents – to eight dollars and eighty-nine cents per gallon in the city. So why the increase at this particular time? We’ve been able to confirm with ALBA Petrocaribe Belize Energy Limited’s Deputy Chairman John Mencias that it has absolutely nothing to do with the shipment which arrived today, which means that it can’t be explained away with the familiar phrase – acquisition costs. We also asked Minister of Finance, Dean Barrow, about it when we got the opportunity today.

Dean Barrow

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“I wasn’t even aware that it had gone up. I haven’t seen the statutory instrument yet. I’d have to do so to be able to give you an answer. So I can’t answer that just at a moment.”

News Five has tried repeatedly to contact Financial Secretary Joe Waight for an explanation, but he hasn’t returned our calls. A quick check of the world oil market shows that since January 2015 to March 2015 the price per barrel of oil has fluctuated between forty-five and forty-nine dollars, but remains below fifty dollars per barrel.