Standoff at border continues over new fees

Meanwhile, another hot issue brewing on the front burner is that of the standoff between importers and government officials at the Western border. Today representatives of the Border Management Agency, the Ministry of Finance, and the Organization of American States met in Benque Viejo in an attempt to find a solution. The situation has brought commercial traffic at the border to a standstill as importers have refused to pay customs duties in protest to a number of new fees implemented by B.M.A. But late this evening one the largest brokers in Benque, Edgar Garrido, told us that the pressure truckers and brokers been putting on Government looks like its working.

Edgar Garrido, Western Brokerage
“There is a complete shutdown of the border right now, no duties are being paid until we hear if this will be discontinued. We are getting good—people calling us saying, yes, this will be discontinued but we need the official word from the Government.”

Janelle Chanona
“Are you satisfied that you did what you had to do in the manner that it should have been done, that this was the proper action to take?”

Edgar Garrido
“Yes we did. We are very professional, at no time there was bad intention on our behalf. The police was working with us, everybody got message, that it was peaceful thing, that it was the benefit to the people of Belize, to the to the poor people of Belize and so enough enterprises and enough companies backed us up yesterday and today, so I think the message is very clear to the Government and it looks very positive.”

Today the Belize Chamber of Commerce issued a statement in support of the importers and joined in the call for Government to revoke the B.M.A. fees. And while Garrido was confident that the new charges will be lifted by tomorrow, when we spoke to B.M.A. General Manager Herman Morris this evening, he told us that nothing has been handed down to him.