Sir Barry Manfield Bowen’s legacy
Despite his great business success, Sir Barry Bowen in life was not one to seek media attention; in fact he rarely gave interviews. But he did last year when he fought legally for the rights of landowners and access to the courts. The decision of an appeal in this case is still pending. Bowen is survived by his wife, Lady Dixie, four sons Kevin, Michael, Alexander and Dustin and two daughters: Shelly and Courtenay. In addition to the loss suffered by the Bowen and Casey families, the business community has lost one of the largest investors in the country. The magnitude of his business is so extensive that there are high chances that you know someone employed by the Bowen group of companies and the stability of those companies affect the economy of the country. One of his long standing employees is Public Relations Officer, Hilly Martinez, he and Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia, gave testimonials of the magnate in many of our local industries.
Hilly Martinez, Public Relations Manager, Bowen and Bowen
Hilly Martinez
“Business continues as business per normal. There’s no change; business continues in all the organizations that mister Bowen was involved in.”
Jose Sanchez
“What all different organizations did he start?”
Hilly Martinez
“We have the Bowen and Bowen group which we do Coca-Cola products, Fanta, Sprite, Crystal Water, Crystal Juices. Belize Brewing does Belikin Beer, Belikin Stout, Guinness, Belikin Premium, which is the brewery section. Then you have Belize Estate and Produce Company, which is involved with Ford motor vehicle agency. You have Belize Aquaculture, which is the shrimp section of the business and they provide also B.E.L. with ten megawatts of electricity. We have the Gallon Jug agro industry section where we have cotton, lumber, we do coffee, hot sauces, jellies. We have an eco hotel there. So those groups remain operational today as they were before Friday.”
Jose Sanchez
“In addition to those businesses you also have schools?”
Hilly Martinez
“Yes we have the Island Academy in San Pedro and we have the Gallon Jug Primary School in Gallon Jug.”
Manuel Heredia
Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism
“Indeed it was a big blow to the country.”
Jose Sanchez
“I understand he’s part of a fundraising effort that should have happened last night.”
Manuel Heredia
“Yes definitely what I heard is that they were having a fundraising effort last night at his school. It’s a very sad situation because he was one of ours here on the island for many years now. He was very cooperative on the island. Particularly, I can recall his last project was the bridge he financed for our municipality. I think it is a big loss not only to our island but to entire Belize since he hired practically over twelve hundred people. I regret it personally because he was a personal friend of mine and I think that definitely my respect to him.”
Jose Sanchez
“How many people would you say are employed by mister Bowen and his different companies?”
Hilly Martinez
“It’s over a thousand people is directly employed by his group of companies.”
Jose Sanchez
“Would you say his impact is country wide?”
Hilly Martinez
“It’s definitely countrywide. Lots of businesses in Belize either sell one of his products and we touch people in various aspects and various stages of life.”
Jose Sanchez
“Is there anything particular would you say Mr. Bowen contributed that no other investor has done?”
Hilly Martinez
“Well I can say this up front that he is probably one of the only investors who has invested everything into Belize. no foreign investment, everything he has is in the productive sector. He has the state of the art shrimp farm, state of the Art Brewery, Gallon Jug, he started his eco-hotel, the cattle – artificial insemination was introduced there, commercial coffee up to a certain extent.”
Sir Barry Bowen: dead at sixty-four.
