…And what will B.E.L. do without Fortis?

And while it’s swim or sink for B.E.L., cutting its expenses simply won’t do to balance off the ten point eight million dollars in losses suffered. But that’s not the only headache that C.E.O. Lynn Young has to consider. Last night Fortis C.E.O., Stan Marshall said in no uncertain terms that they will not invest any further in a company that is losing money. But the real question is what will B.E.L. do if Fortis decides to jump ship?

Lynn Young, C.E.O., B.E.L.
“If Fortis walks away from B.E.L. we have to continue to provide electricity. We’re gonna have to find some other investor or the government would have to then step in place of the investor and we make the company again a government department or whatever. Whether we like it or not, this country will have to continue to attract foreign investment. I don’t personally think that Fortis is a bad investor, but then again that’s not for me to decide. That’s for the government and the people of Belize to decide. If they feel that they don’t want Fortis in Belize then we as Belizeans will have to come up. And so far, I don’t see where we are going to find two hundred million—or including the hydro, four hundred million dollars. There’s much more better things that we can do with four hundred million dollars than try to buy back B.E.L. from Fortis.”

Marion Ali
“But do you think that B.E.L. has been performing with the efficiency that it ought to in order to attract would-be or potential investors?”

Lynn Young
“Oh yes.”

Marion Ali
“So there’s investor confidence?”

Lynn Young
“There was. We had built up good confidence over the ten years. Our return on investment had been averaging between ten and twelve percent. Am I satisfied with what B.E.L. is doing? I think there’s a long way for us to go. But we’re also a member of the Regional Electric Utility Associations and we know that B.E.L. is as good as any of the utilities out in the Caribbean and as good and better than many of the utilities in Central America. But at the end of the day no company can improve if it is losing money, none. And we have to recognise that and as a country we have to understand that the utilities have to make at least a reasonable level of return if we expect to get a good service.”

Last year’s loss of ten point eight million dollars, which B.E.L. recorded, was in sharp contrast to its 2007 profits of twenty-nine point nine million.