7 News Belize

Protest Against Pump Prices
posted (October 5, 2017)
A week ago, we told you about the Prime Minister's commitment to lower gas prices by mid-October. That's after pump prices have been steadily climbing higher and higher for months, with no decrease in sight.

Well, a group of grassroots activists decided to take to the streets to make the point clear that these current gas prices are breaking the backs of poor people.

Our news team was out there to observe it from start to finish, and Daniel Ortiz has that story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
In small groups, the morning's would-be protesters began to gather at the Constitution Park, and just before their march to the battlefield park. Firebrand Raymond Rivers started giving the on-duty police officers hard time, taking out his frustration with the Government unto the police.

The protest was organized by group of grassroots activists who call themselves the Belize Leaders for Social Justice. But, there were enough of the COLA personalities and their allies present at the demonstration to blur the lines a bit.

When it was time to move off from Constitution Park, the protest numbers began to grow, but at its height, they were only 163 strong. It was a small crowd made up of a fair numbers of "political operatives" and other well-known government critics.

But what they lacked in size, they certainly made up for in their message, delivered with all the fire and frustration they could vocalize.

Moses Sulph - Belize Leaders for Social Justice
"In the entire region we are the highest at the pump. We are paying $11.92. A person would have to work about 3 hours in Belize to buy one gallon of gas. That is unjust and that is unfair. We cannot expect the burden to pass down to our people alone, so we are asking the government to reduce the gas price and we are asking them to reduce it to $8.00 a gallon. You will reduce the cost of tax that you are putting on the gas, so that then the burdens to the Belizean people can be also lowered."

Fitzharris Howard - Activist
"We can't afford it anymore. I personally can't afford it anymore. I drive an 8 cylinder truck with 5.2 engine in it. I take a lick on a daily basis."

Wil Maheia - Activist/Politician
"Right now in Punta Gorda we have the highest prices in the country of Belize. In fact more than that - from Canada to Argentina and you check all the pumps, Punta Gorda Town is rated with the town that have some of the highest gas prices in this entire hemisphere. So we have to come out. The people have to come out and demand that this government lowered the gas prices, because we need that to operate. I know people right now who have farms, who their farms are deteriorating because they cannot afford to keep the machinery going and that's why especially farmers in this country should be considered whenever they are going to increase prices because at the end of the day we grow the food that people eat."

Albert Cattouse - Taxi Driver/Protester
"The government have taxi men under pressure, because you have a lot of rental cars out there, you have family members out there and the prices that the gas are under you have to run for small fare. The people say they don't have it, so taxi men are under pressure. I myself is under pressure too, but I try to work around the people and I try to monitor and I try. The prices are too high and like I said a while ago, this fight for crisis - we've been fighting this for over 10 years."

Hon. John Briceno - Protester
"We are here as citizens of this country. A call was made out inviting all citizens to come out to speak out or to show displeasure the government of Belize over the high cost of fuel. We are not here as the PUP, but we are here as concern citizens. If we would have been here as PUP, we could have mobilize thousands of people here on the streets, but we felt that it is important for us to show as a citizen that we are totally and completely 100% dissatisfied in the high cost of fuel."

And as they marched through Orange Street, they arrived at that famous section that floods out every time there is any consistent rain. It was interesting to see what to protesters decided to do, as they marched through that in the drizzling rain, risking a few wet shoes.

They moved on to Albert Street, and they made a circuit around Regent Street, stopping at the Battlefield Park, not worrying too much about the rain.

The discontent with the Barrow Administration appeared to be not only about the gas pain. Some of the activists sprinkled in other social ills that concerned them:

Raymond Rivers - Activist
"We are living in an immoral society where the police cannot arrest an evil politician. We are living in a society where youths are dying at an alarming rate. We are living in a society where we pay the tax and we living in match boxes. We are living in a society where streets and buildings are more important than little kids and youth."

Jose Espat - Activist
"We need better homes. I have seen people that get wet more inside their homes than outside when it rains. This is ridiculous and nothing will change until each one of you at home decide to take a stand. You are dying and being killed any way. You're being killed by poverty. You're being killed by lack of access to healthcare. Lack of access for your children to education. You are being enslaved not by chains, but by mental slavery."

The Belize Leaders for Social Justice hope that the Government is paying attention to their message. Moses Sulph told us that from his perspective, this is but a small sample of the discontent facing the Barrow Administration:

Moses Sulph - Belize Leaders for Social Justice
"I am very sure that the prime minister understands and know that what is out here is a simple sample of the discontent. He is a politician, I am not a politician. He knows that people are afraid of being victimize, but as we see there are a little amount of people out here who are thankful for. It is probably more a little over 100. I've also received a couple messages and texts that there are people who are not going to the pump today to buy gas. They are standing in solidarity by not going to the pump, so also that's another sign of subtle protest from those who can't come out here today."

But, among the protesters, we did spot a number of PUP politicians, and even fewer from the Belize Progressive Party. We asked tainting the message with a political hue.

Moses Sulph - Belize Leaders for Social Justice
"As a voice against the injustice in 2005, I can remember seeing hundreds of now leaders in political office who were out there at those demonstrations, because then they wanted the corruption to be stopped and they were out there. So I cannot stop any Belizean who wants to come out and support anti-corruption who calls for the gas prices to go down. I am not going to play those games. People knows what we are dedicated to and the prime minister knows that what we are doing is true and anybody who wants to come out, there are people from BPP, from VIP, from the Opposition PUP - I can't stop them from come out. If they don't come out, are the ministers going to come out here? Are those who sits in CEO offices and enjoy free gas going to be out here? No they aren't."

Hon. John Briceno - Protester
"We are align because we have the same stand on these issues. It does not mean that we belong to COLA or that COLA belongs to the PUP. We have the same issues. We are against corruption just like COLA. We are against the incompetence just like COLA. We are against the false promises that the government has made to the Belizean people, just like COLA. We are against the high cost in fuel just like COLA. This is not a PUP demonstration. This is a demonstration that's been organized by COLA inviting the citizens."

From the perspective of the grassroots activists, poor people from all political affiliations are feeling the pinch of the gas price and the high cost of living.

Moses Sulph - Belize Leaders for Social Justice
"There are many poor, suffering UDPs in this country and PUPs. Both are paying the high gas price at the pump. Both are paying for the cost of living that is increasing. Both are paying higher taxi fees. So it's affecting all of us."

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