Price Gougers Are Across the Country

Lennox Nicholson

The Supplies Control Unit has ticketed fifty-nine businesses across the country so far, for violating the law. These businesses are either price gouging, failing to place prices on products or failing to produce invoices to inspectors. Out of the one hundred and twelve establishments visited recently, fifty-nine were in violation. Nine of these groceries stores were in Belize City- four located on Mahogany Street, three on Central American Boulevard, one on New Road and another on South Street. In San Pedro, all the grocery stores visited were in violation. The Controller of Supplies, Lennox Nicholson, explained that recent legislative changes increased efficiency and enabled the unit to address infractions promptly, without court involvement.

Lennox Nicholson, Controller of Supplies

“There are three core violations. All of them are interrelated. There are the entities that are in violations who outright charge above what they ought to charge. You go into the establishment. The item is on the shelve. It has the price. They give you the invoice. You do the calculation. They are in excess of the regulated mark up. That is one matter. Then there is the other matter of those establishments who simply failed to put a price on the item. You have people going into these establishments, going to purchase at these establishments asking for a product. A product is taken off the shelf and given to them. There is no price on it. So essentially that consumer finds out what he is being charged for that product when he goes into his pocket and takes out money. That is unacceptable. In some ways not disclosing the price to the consumer is actually worse that marking the price on the item and charge him above. So that’s the second violation. The other core violation has to do with refusal or failure to provide the invoice that would allow us to make a determination whether the price is within the mark up. Whichever one of them they are in violation of, we issue the ticket. In the past, when you see those low number between 2009 and 2022 in many instances inspections were frustrated simply because people said that I don’t have the receipt, all sorts of different reasons. Those explanations are not being accepted right now. That is a violation in and of it itself because you are failing to provide the necessary information to allow us to assess compliance.”