PM Says Borders Can Reopen Safely and People Need Jobs

Prime Minister John Briceño also weighed in on the reopening of the borders to visitors only.  As you’ll recall, there was some opposition, primarily from doctors. But today, PM Briceño said it is all about achieving balance between safety and jobs.

John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

“We have to balance as to how and where we are. We have opened up the airport successfully by putting in strict protocols. We have opened up the free-zone successfully by putting strict protocols. At the free-zone we have had over two hundred thousand visitors, almost three hundred thousand visitors. And as they always say, knock on wood; we have not had a single case of COVID. So, we believe that we already have the systems in place and the very strict protocols that we implemented at the airport and the free zone we are going to the same at the land borders that we are now allowing tourists to come in and we are still not allowing Belizeans freely but we are allowing the tourists to come because people need also work. We need to create an opportunity and as a government we have to find balance between following the science and medical people but also looking at the issue of people needing to get back to work. Many time people don’t even have enough to eat and so we believe that the risk we are taking will be worth it but the minute we see something starting to not work we are prepared to close down the border immediately.  We have spent so much money and gone through so much money to be where we are, we are one of twenty-seven countries worldwide that the United States put us in category two or stage two and so that is a massive achievement. We are not just going to be reckless in dealing with that. So, we are going to be careful but our people need to open and tourism is getting back on its feet way faster than what we expected.”