While Mahler anticipates an increase in traffic to and from Belize in the coming weeks, he also supports the idea that it’s time to fully reopen the country, but not without certain rules in place to minimize the spread of COVID-19. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations “It has been steady. I […]
The Belize Electricity Limited wishes to clarify that it did not request an increase in rates in its recent Annual Review Proceeding submission to the Public Utilities Commission. B.E.L. points to a press briefing on January sixth during which its General Manager of Legal and Corporate Service, Dawn Sampson-Nunez said “We proposed in our submission […]
The President of the Caribbean Development Bank is on his inaugural visit to Belize. On Monday, Dr. Gene Leon met with Christopher Coye, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment. According to the Government of Belize Press Office, Minister Coye welcomed the C.D.B. team and President Leon underscored the C.D.B.’s […]
The president of the Caribbean Development Bank, Dr. Gene Leon, is heading a delegation to Belize this week. According to the C.D.B., Dr. Leon will meet with Prime Minister John Briceño and the Cabinet, the Governor of the Belize Central Bank, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre. […]
At last Friday’s House Sitting, Prime Minister John Briceño presented a Bill to amend the Central Bank of Belize Act. The Bill proposes to increase the authorized capital of the Bank to fifty million dollars and to adjust the profit-sharing ratio of net profits from a ten-ninety split to a thirty-seventy split. Here’s how the […]
Two political parties have teamed up to blast the government on the current fuel prices. The Belize People’s Front and the Belize Progressive Party issued a joint press release today saying they have remained silent since the general elections out of respect for the choice of the electorate. They say now they feel they have […]
While the two parties have lambasted the government for hiking fuel prices, Prime Minister John Briceño said on Friday that his government is committed to lowering the price of gasoline. But, he says it is the government’s largest source of tax revenue and G.O.B. still relies on it heavily. Prime Minister John Briceño “We […]
While the cost of gasoline and other goods may be going up, Belizean consumers will not have to worry about an electricity rate hike— at least, not in the near future. Today the Public Utilities Commission announced that their final decision, after receiving public comments and looking at the Belize Electricity Limited’s 2021 Annual Review […]
The national budget has another month or so before it is presented in the House of Representatives, and it will be interesting to see which ministries get an increase and which don’t. The Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development, Julius Espat has been critical for years of the skeletal budgets allotted for the oversight bodies […]
The seventeen members of the Belize Agro-Productive Sector Group have written to the Prime Minister with a list of concerns about the government’s handling of recent events, out-of-date legislation and tax structures that are affecting investor confidence. The first issue raised is government’s failure to enforce the law when criminal acts are committed against investors […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry has fired off a letter of its own to the Prime Minister, echoing the sentiments raised by the Agro-Processing Group. The B.C.C.I. points to recent cases or, as they term it “certain actors,” who have been squatting on private property, damaging property or illegally blocking access to businesses […]
Minster Mahler also spoke about the cruise tourism industry amidst the spread of the Omicron variant. Unlike the devastating standstill experienced in 2020, he says Omicron did not pose any major threat to the sector. In fact, he says only two ships did not dock in Belize. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism and Diaspora […]
The strike at the Port of Belize is now in its eighth day, and the latest indications are that the port will be seeking legal redress against the Christian Workers Union for what is being termed their illegal strike action which has already cost P.B.L. an economic loss of one million dollars. But, even before […]
Delroy Fairweather, Vice President of the Belize Custom Brokers Association, was also a guest on the morning show. He spoke about the number of ships that have had to return to the U.S. with cargo, as well as the logistical problems that arose when containers are diverted to the only operational port in the country […]
And, while ships are diverting to the Big Creek Port only on a temporary basis at this time, drawn out conflict at the P.B.L. could result in businesses moving their operations there full time. A.S.R./B.S.I. permanently migrated to the Big Creek Port back in 2021 to export its raw sugar. Fairweather says what is currently […]
Minister Hyde also chimed in on the state of affairs at the Port of Belize Limited, as well as the negative effects that it is having on the nation’s economy. He is hopeful that a resolution is drawing near. Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister “No, I think it is a really difficult situation. These […]
Data from the Statistical Institute of Belize shows that for December 2021, like the previous month, imports and exports were significantly higher— but so was the cost of living. News Five’s Marion Ali takes a look at how the economy performed for that month in this report. Marion Ali, Reporting According to the SIB, […]
Last night, you heard from the Joint Union Negotiating Team after yesterday’s meeting with the government counterpart. We learnt that several financial documents were presented and reviewed during the four hour meeting. We were also informed that a second meeting is scheduled for February sixteenth, where the Union leaders expect to get a clearer picture […]
The standstill at the Port of Belize Limited is now in its seventh day. Some ships have already turned back, causing importers to activate contingency plans. Shipping agents are looking to their only alternative, the Big Creek Port in Independence Village. But where the Port of Belize Limited offers proximity to many of its clients, […]
In an attempt to loosen the logjam at Port of Belize Limited brought on by the striking stevedores, the Minister responsible for Logistics, Michel Chebat has reportedly been in conversation with both P.B.L. and the C.W.U. Reports are that the Government of Belize has proposed a compromise to the union and the P.M. says a […]
And while the impasse continues between stevedores and the Port of Belize, shipments that were destined to be processed through that entry and exit point have been channeled through the Big Creek Port in Stann Creek. While that has not created any bottlenecks in the traffic at that southern facility, the impasse is creating higher […]
This week the neighboring state of Quintana Roo, Mexico went to level orange on its five scale COVID-19 alerts. Orange is second highest, just below red, with a number of restrictions in place. That orange will be activated for the next week. But so far, the plan to reopen Belize’s land borders by February first […]
This morning, before today’s meeting, Prime Minister John Briceño praised the efforts his Administration has made in growing the local economy over the last year. But, what will those successes mean for teachers and public servants? Prime Minister John Briceño “I believe we are going to be having a long meeting. We are going […]
In early December, we reported on an effort to encourage women and youth in entrepreneurship through a project called Enhancing the Economic Empowerment of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in the COVID-19 Post-Pandemic Era. With support funding from the Government of Taiwan, seven recipients were handed twenty-five thousand U.S. dollars to advance these […]
A visit to the island of Caye Caulker today was different than it was six months ago. Tourism activity on La Isla Cariñosa was palpable, with many tour boats out at the reef and tourists basking in the sun and sand. The return of employment for most of the island residents has been welcome. News […]
