Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, the Belize National Coast Guard and the Belize Defence Force are feeling perhaps slightly emboldened and empowered after they were emasculated and bullied on Belize's side of the Sarstoon on Saturday.
Here's how they held the line and did not stand down in Wednesday's Sarstoon showdown:
This was the tense situation on the Sarstoon this morning right in front of Belize's Forward Operating Base:
BDF Representative "We have the Rear Admiral Soberanes on his safe boat along with his CSAG."
"Also, he have two other Coast Guard vessels. In front of him, he have the GAF vessel, which is one of them is commanded by Captain Arriola. And the rest are GAF vessels, approximately five vessels."
"There is approximately five to seven men in each of the GAF vessels. BDF is still on the without right here waiting for higher ups to give the orders to deploy on the water."
And they did respond-leaving six Belizean vessels on the water to Guatemala's five-which led to a delicate and tense Sarstoon standoff with military vessels from each side holding their position, with the BDF and Coast Guard combined holding the Guatemalans at bay, on this day:
Outnumbered and in some sense outmaneuvered, the Guatemalans deployed what you might call a dirty tactic-they called on civilians for backup in a military-to-military standoff:
GAF Message "Sarstun abajo, Sarstún abajo, reportense, dicen que tiraron lanchas civiles, hay que ir a… a sacarlos. Eh, ya los compañeros alla de Cocoli, San Juan ya vienen. ¡Activense pues!"
The message calls out to the lower Sarstoon and says falsely: "Civilian boats were shot at [or targeted], we need to go… to pull them out. The guys over in Cocolà and San Juan are already on their way. Move it, then!"
That led to this showing on the river-a dangerous invitation for civilians to enter Belizean waters to tip the scales in a military standoff.
This afternoon in Orange Walk, the Prime Minister commented on the encounter. He said he would be willing to go to the Sarstoon:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Certainly, it's of grave concern to all Belizeans, including us as a government. And I have to commend the BDF on the way they act with such professionalism, because the reality is that we can't afford a flare-up whereby people are fighting out there, because it's obvious Guatemala is 18 million, we're 400,000. It's a fight we can't win, a physical fight. But we can win that fight diplomatically and in the courts, and that's exactly what we're doing at this moment."
Reporter: "Are you concerned that not as a matter of fact, but as a matter of force, that we have-we know the Sarstoon is ours-but we have essentially lost it because military and civilians like the BTV are prohibited almost from entering that part of the Sarstoon?"
We note that Guatemala could also be provoking trouble on the Sarstoon because of crime issues there. Reports in today's Prensa Libre say the government is considering implementing a State of Emergency in the province of Zacapa.
Belize did that 11 days ago for parts of Belize City's Southside, rural Belize District, and the Cayo District.
This comes after the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court judgment saying previous States of Emergency did not meet the legal threshold for public emergencies. It also upheld damages awarded to persons detained under that SOE.
So, is the government now exposing the state to more liability by going back to an SOE? We asked the PM:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "It took us some time before we declared an SOE, and we knew we had to be very careful and to look at the ruling from the courts to ensure that we do not go against the Constitution. So this time around, Minister Chebat, along with the CEO and the Commissioner, were very careful and targeted in how they declared this, because it seems that under the law you can't just throw a blanket, but you have to go into specific areas to make the case. I believe that they made that case, and that's why I agreed for us to declare an SOE. And we're trying our best to keep these people from killing one another, but it's difficult to stop them from killing one another as much as we try-as the police move from a corner, they come at the corner and things happen. What's important is that we have to keep our citizens secure and safe, and I believe we are accomplishing that as best as we possibly can."
"And for us, we just want to use the short period just for things to calm down, to cool down, to start to implement other strategies on how we're going to be able to fight crime on the streets of our communities."
Reporter: "Do you think the government is opening up itself to a liability considering the previous judgment?"
John Briceno: "Well, the possibility always exists, but we're trying to be as careful as we can, but at the same time we have to do something. If we do nothing, we are criticized; if we do nothing, we are criticized-so you know what, better we do something that we believe is the right thing."
We note that when he was in opposition in 2018, the Prime Minister said, quote: "Locking up gang members will not do anything to address the poverty and inequality on the Southside of Belize City."
On Friday, we reported that on November 1st, government budgets were cut by 25% across all ministries until the end of the fiscal year in April 2027.
When we asked the PM about it today, he explained that the government is trying to save money and reapportion it into several areas, including energy and the cost of living.
First, he explained that the reason Belize finds itself in this situation-and why many other countries are facing similar financial issues-is because of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He told us it was one of the main topics at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting he attended.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "There are numerous things that we have to be able to take a look at, and tomorrow I'm going to give more of a report through the National Assembly, but what we have done is trying to save approximately about 50 million dollars. If it wasn't because of the war in Ukraine and Russia-which we would have hoped would have ended a long time ago-and now the conflict in the Middle East, we would not have been facing these challenges. At our Heads meeting, the heads of the biggest and most powerful countries in the Commonwealth started off saying it is time for us to work as nations in the world to come together to force an end to the war in Ukraine and Russia, and also then to end the conflict in the Middle East. Because if we do that, things will settle. It will take time for things to recalibrate, but at least it's a start. And now with the results of the election in the United States, I'm hoping that President Trump would recalibrate his thinking, because apart from the war and the conflict, we also have to think about the tariffs that were imposed on different nations and other countries in the Caribbean-especially in the Caribbean and Belize. We import a lot from the United States, so when those products are imported into the United States, they have to pay these high tariffs, and when we buy it back, who did you think pays for that? It is our consumers. So again, we are hoping if that can be worked out to where it was before, it will help to start to reduce the pressures on small and open economies and to the world economy."
And so while those budget cuts are threatening to cripple the operational aspects of many government departments, the PM conceded that it is a balancing act-a kind of fiscal tightrope.
John Briceno: "So we have to find a balance because we also have to be responsible with the budget-we can't throw it through the window. So we are doing some cuts. We look at the recurrent part of the budget in areas where we are not tied down, like for instance salaries and pensions and scholarships-monies for scholarships that we can't take back. And in other ways, we are looking at reducing 25% and have the ministries for them to decide how best they are going to manage with that."
"And then we go to Cap 2; then we were trying to make some cuts there where we can save some monies and take that money to be able to use it to address some of the cost-of-living challenges that our people are facing."
And the PM claims that social outreach programs will not be touched-although we have heard otherwise. Still, he says even his office will get the cut:
Reporter: "How do you all prioritize, balancing, finding these monies with ensuring that the public service to the people is not compromised?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "That is a very good question. We have been very clear, especially when it comes to our social programs, that is not going to be touched-our social programs, education, health, and so forth. But what we are looking at is the recurrent expenses-for instance, office expenses, stuff like that-that is where we are doing the cuts. And I believe we can save a substantial amount to be able to help us that our budget does not go completely out of whack, that we are trying our best to keep our primary balance, which is what we promised to the IFIs, including the IMF, and at the same time we could have savings that we could use to address some of the challenges our citizens are facing."
Reporter: "So does the Office of the Prime Minister also embrace a 25% budgetary cut?"
John Briceno: "Yes, everybody, including my office."
While discussing the budget cuts, the PM also spoke about the crushing world price of diesel and how that's affecting the energy sector.
He explained that the Government of Belize has lost many millions from excise taxes on fuel.
He also added that BEL is still in deep debt to CFE, which has been worsened by the cost of diesel.
He told us the utility has signed a contract with a Belgian company to provide generators temporarily, with the caveat being that the true cost of generation is passed on to the consumer.
The PM said GOB will not allow that to happen and that he has personally written to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Now we're looking at the budget, and in fuel so far we have lost in excise taxes approximately $30 million plus, and the projection is that if things remain as they are, by the end of March it'll be $60 million plus. BEL continues to cry out for cash because the price of electricity from Mexico continues to go up. We have a shortage, and then when they use their diesel engines, it goes up. As an emergency defensive measure, BEL signed a contract with a company from Belgium to bring their generators here for six months at a cost of $800,000 US a month-diesel engines to produce 20 MW of electricity so that we can mitigate against blackouts. When they made that decision, 1 MW of energy using the diesel engines was around 35 cents, and now it is over 80 cents. We, as a government, cannot allow BEL-no matter who owns BEL-to pass that onto the consumer, because under their agreement they are to pass on the cost onto the consumer. So we have to step in, and we've been trying to find innovative ways into putting in money into BEL, which we hope we will be able to get back in the few years to come, and so that's what we've been doing to keep them up. I wrote a letter to President Sheinbaum asking them to be able to continue to support us to ensure we can have reliable energy, and for them not to put other charges that CFE wanted to incorporate now. President Sheinbaum then had their technical people from the Ministry of Energy and from CFE at the highest levels meet with Mr. Chebat, along with Ambassador Lynn Young and other technical people from BEL, and they had a good meeting. So we're doing all of those things to try to bring sustainability and ensure we can have energy whenever we need it."
He added that they must also work on bringing the cost of electricity down, and they will do so through solar-powered energy. Here's how he explained it:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We declared an emergency earlier this year as a government. BEL informed PUC that there's a shortage of electricity, and then PUC went to the Ministry of Energy to tell them there's a shortfall and we need to act within a year to meet the shortfall. The Minister came to Cabinet and made the case as to why there's a shortfall, and Cabinet approved it. So now we've declared that; BEL has been negotiating with some companies, and there's several companies that are going to be solar energy. We expect, according to Ambassador Young, that by late December, early January we're supposed to get about 40 MW. We have another company in March that will come in with another 15, and with batteries by June, so once we get all of that, we will be able to start to bring down the price because the prices for solar are way cheaper than what we're getting from the other providers-so we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
While the energy crisis is unfolding slowly like a long national nightmare, the Corozal Free Zone is its own horror show.
It has been in the smuggling business with Mexican cartels for a long, long time, but now the zone is under heavy scrutiny from the Americans.
Recently, there was a major bust of Free Zone cigarettes inside Mexico. Today, we asked the PM how he is dealing with the pressure to keep the zone out of the hands of the cartels:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I know, as far as I know, we have closed that extra gate that they had through the back. The Americans have visited the Free Zone; we have shown them what we are doing with the operations, and we are doing as best as we can. If we export cigarettes from the Free Zone, it is exported legally. Now, what happens in Mexico, we can't-we have no control over that, so that is a matter that you need to ask the Mexicans."
Courtney Menzies: "Are the Americans bringing heat on Belize for the zone activities, and how intense is that heat now?"
John Briceno: "They have never come to me and asked me that we have to close down the zone. There have been concerns, obviously, earlier on that we have to ensure that we don't allow the cartels to come into Belize, which is something I have been saying from the beginning-that we have to do everything possible to keep them out of Belize, and we have been fairly successful for that. And, but we continue to work with Americans, and we always tell them we need help-we need help with the intelligence, with the assets to maybe move from point A to point B very quickly, to stave off these people trying to come into Belize."
Courtney Menzies: "Do you know whether any politically exposed person at the top of the zone hierarchy has had their visa revoked?"
John Briceno: "No, I think you have to ask the American Embassy."
One minister who may have lost his Cabinet seat due to his proximity to the zone is former Minister of Enterprise with responsibility for the Free Zone, Jose Mai.
That was a year ago. Since then, Mai has gone through knee surgery and rehab, yet the PM is still not ready to bring him back. We think we know why, but the PM said it's crowded at the top:
Courtney Menzies: "Are you considering bringing back Jose Mai into Cabinet? He says he is ready."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I would love to have Jose Mai in Cabinet. We know that he has been one of the best agriculture ministers that we have had before 1981, but as it is right now, I have already said that Cabinet... and you know, with the appropriate time, if we make any changes, I will certainly consider bringing Jose Mai back."
Courtney Menzies: "So there is nothing restricting you from bringing him back except for the fact that you already have a Minister of Agriculture?"
John Briceno: "As Prime Minister, I have a responsibility to the entire Cabinet, and I am trying to see how best I could balance it. And that is what you always do-try and see how you can give it proper balance in the Cabinet, and that is what I am doing at this time."
Police may have one of the players in a recent crime ring terrorizing businesses across the country.
Twenty-year-old Jahdey Castillo is behind bars tonight, facing firearm charges and police questioning for several other crimes across the country.
He's the one who was caught breaking into the post office yesterday morning. Around 2:50 a.m. yesterday, police responded to a burglary in progress at the Belize City Post Office on North Front Street. Officers intercepted Castillo running with a brown SIG Sauer pistol loaded with 15 live rounds. He dropped the weapon on command and was taken into custody.
This morning, the Neal Penn Road resident appeared unrepresented before Senior Magistrate Mannon Dennison, where he pleaded not guilty to keeping an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. He was denied bail and remanded to the Belize Central Prison until January 22nd, 2027.
However, before Castillo could be transported to prison, CIB officers detained him at court and escorted him to the Queen Street Police Station. Police say Castillo is wanted in Belize City, Orange Walk, and Corozal in connection with multiple other investigations, and additional charges are expected.
The Christian Workers Union held a press conference today and started by announcing good news: after years of struggle with the Port of Belize-spanning the terms of multiple union presidents-they have finally reached an agreement on a Collective Bargaining Agreement. That agreement has now been sent to the Labour Department, and the CWU expects the matter to conclude shortly. Union President Leonora Flowers attributes part of this breakthrough to a change in PBL's administration.
Leonora Flowers, President, CWU "You all know that we have had a terrible time with the Port of Belize over the last three or four presidents of CWU. Well, today I can report that we have sent the stevedores CBA to the Labour Department for their review, so that means we have come to an agreement-a workable agreement for and on behalf of our stevedores members. And pretty soon we will be forwarding... just, I think, about two more conditions remain to conclude for the staff at the Port of Belize, the staff inside. This afternoon we'll be having another meeting, and hopefully in that meeting we will be concluding. So the Labor Commissioner hopefully will soon get that as well."
"The change in leadership has played a very big role for the stevedore members. There was actually an offer of increase in their rates and an increase in the containers. And the stevedores were able to come to an agreement with that. There was a compromise, it was acceptable, and they said yes. That's what moved that ahead. And very quickly."
"As long as the leadership and the single chair-as long as they continue to listen to us, dialogue with us, liaise with us, sit around the table, and have the social dialogue-we will have a good relation because we'll be able to say to them when our members are unhappy, and they'll be able to do something about it."
While one battle has been won, the CWU is still fighting others on behalf of its members. One of those battles is with the Belmopan City Council. Flowers explained that they have been waiting three years for the council to sign off on a CBA, and even though municipal elections are coming up again, they are no closer to an agreement. She also explained that the council refuses to negotiate a salary increase for the workers.
Leonora Flowers, President, CWU "There is another employer again coming from the City Council-in fact, this one I can call out the name: the Belmopan City Council, directly under Mayor Pablo Cawich. A friend of ours, a unionist, he will tell us that every time we sit down, and his city administrator will say they are unionists, but that leaves a lot to be desired. We are looking at a CBA that was signed in 2005, the old CBA. It passed Mayor Chanona, Mayor Simeon Lopez, we went through Sharon Palacio, Mayor Khalid Belisle, and we continue to negotiate. At the conclusion of Mayor Palacio's term, we had concluded all the discussions on the CBA and we had concluded an employee handbook as well under the then HR manager. When Mayor Cawich and his city admin took over, told us in our first meeting, 'We won't sign anything; we will go over the document.' No problem-we sat with them and we dialogued with them, and that was three years ago. Three full years ago, and to date our members are still working and cleaning the streets of Belmopan and picking up our garbage, and they have not been attended to. They're still out of uniforms; we get promises after promises after promises. Enough is enough. And so today we're speaking on their behalf. Come to the table, Mayor. The last meeting we had with the Mayor was 5th of August, and he said we cannot afford anything, we cannot afford to give a salary adjustment-but yet they continue to pack the City Council's pay sheet with additional people to work. If you can't give a salary adjustment to our people who are there, how can you then find money to pay people to come to work?"
"Frankly speaking, the CWU is tired of begging and begging and begging for them to put what is right for our people."
And the CWU says it's important to finalize the CBA as soon as possible-not just because another election might delay it further, but because their members are enduring inflation without a salary increase to help.
Leonora Flowers, President, CWU "It's very important because we know we go to election by next year, by March. So we are hoping they put something on the table for our members today. In fact, we've been begging them to do it for the last three years. First they said 2027 we'll give you something. Now it's 2028 and they're still not putting that in writing-give it to us in writing; that has not been done. I have said that personally to the Mayor in our last conversation: send to the CWU in writing that you're prepared to give whatever it is, Mayor."
Ella Waight, 1st Vice President, CWU "I don't think it's simply because of elections next year, but we have people who have families that have not had a salary adjustment for years, when they see the Public Service just got some recently, a salary adjustments. Other entities are getting under CWU-we're negotiating and we're getting salary adjustments; we just got one for the stevedores. So we have to ensure that this form of improvement in lives is spread out between all our members, all our entities, all our affiliates that fall under the CWU."
So what will the CWU members at the Belmopan City Council do? Is industrial action on the horizon? The CWU executives explained that it's not so simple:
Reporter: "What are the employees prepared to do to move the needle?"
Leonora Flowers, President, CWU "That's one of the hardest questions that you asked me here today. Because we're already broke, our pay is already small, we have children in school, and this is the only pay that I take home-yes, it's small, but I get to take it home. We must recognize that the people working at this City Council are the people who can least afford to strike or least want to strike."
Ella Waight, 1st Vice President, CWU "Whenever we have persons working at any city councils-because we represent Belmopan and Belize City Councils-we have to be very honest: it's hard for them to take any action because a lot of them were hired because of political affiliation. Whether it's UDP or PUP, that's the facts. So a lot of them have this mentality: 'I cannot go against my government; I cannot go against the person that hired me,' and we try to instill in them, from the fact that you joined a union, you are not here now to act on behalf of the area rep of the person who hired you-you're a union member. We go by movement, by what the majority is, and we move. And of course, as a responsible union, we would never go to strike-that's the last action you take as unionists. You go and ensure you dialogue, which is what we're trying to do. The next step is do soft measures, like Friday we're advocating for people to wear black. That shows your discontent with anything where you work. We then go to say, 'I will do a walkout,' so my 15 minutes break in the morning, I'll take it and walk out and I'll stand outside so no work will happen for 15 minutes, and then maybe in the afternoon we take two hours. So it then advances, but we are trying very hard, but it is difficult when it comes to these councils because they feel obligated or committed to the person that hired them."
We also asked the CWU's Vice President-who doubles as the NTUCB President-about Senator Glenfield Dennison's pop-up protests, or as he calls it, his public education campaign. He's still rolling basically solo, and she explained that as a union, they can't join without the mandate of their members. She then told us that the NTUCB will be a part of Friday's protest in Belmopan:
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB "I think Senator Dennison keeps saying it's a one man's protest. Senator Dennison chose to do those protests. He has not come to the NTUCB to request our assistance, I think because of the legal part of it-the gentleman is a legal-minded person. So he chose to do that. Remember, when the NTUCB takes on any action, especially a protest, we have to consult with our affiliates. I'm only the president of the NTUCB; I don't make decisions on behalf of our affiliates. It has to go to our affiliates, they then go back to their membership and they get a consensus, and then they will say, 'Let's go out.' And that's what we've done for the protest on Friday coming. We went to the presidents who have reached out to the membership, and I think you've heard the BNTU's stance on it-they're a very large group, to be able to get that vote by Friday would take a lot of work. So, and that's what the NTUCB has done, so some of the presidents will be out there on Friday. CWU has ask our members who can, especially those in Belmopan, to show up on Friday, and not just because of the "Enough Is Enough" protest, but because we still have our 11 demands that we are campaigning on. It's taking us a long while; there are some aspects of the 11 demands that will not happen overnight or in six months, but if we keep pressure on these demands, one day they will change-especially when we talk about the structure of PUC, the structure of BTL. We have to ensure that my fight-I might not be president anymore-whichever president comes along keep up this fight. That is the only way we will promote good governance and ensure that you, we, the citizens of Belize control these entities so they act on behalf of us."
While that protest is scheduled for Friday in Belmopan, it will be a little too late to disrupt the House Meeting, since the sitting will be held on Thursday. Also missing is the kind of momentum we saw earlier this year when the Speednet acquisition was still on the table. So what is the NTUCB's expectation for Friday? We asked Waight:
Reporter: "What is your expectations for the protest on Friday? I know there's mumblings on social media, but I don't feel personally that there is a momentum that was there when the BTL issue was still hot on the table. So what's your expectation?"
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB "Remember that proposition took all of us, all Belizeans, at a point where we said if we have to hit the streets, that is what we'll do. And yes, there was a momentum, but we keep looking at the NTUCB: we are not there to protest-that's not what we wanted to achieve. We achieved what we wanted to achieve; they did not go ahead with the acquisition. It was more important for us to say just make demands of making permanent change, long-lasting, long-term change-that's what we're here for. And we don't just do that with national issues, and I'm so sad there's not an opportunity for NTUCB to sit down with the media to explain to you what we're doing when we talk about labor movement work, about work that will directly impact workers. We need that opportunity with the media, not just national issues, because there's a lot going on with the NTUCB. But going back to your question: so yes, that momentum was there, but we felt it more important to do the demands to ensure we have meaningful change. What to expect on Friday? I am not sure; I'm not a mind reader. My hope is that Belizeans, instead of going behind these things and typing their discontent, that they do show up-especially those that can show up that are in Belmopan."
Last week, the Senate voted unanimously to launch a Special Select Committee to investigate the energy sector.
While the government side did support the motion, we've seen the administration undermine special select hearings before when the finger starts pointing to Belmopan. So we asked the PM if they genuinely support this one:
Reporter: "How do you view the decision to launch an inquiry into BEL and its operations?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I welcome it-I welcome it because we believe that from our end we have done everything possible. As the former CEO for BEL pointed out, this crisis came about because in the 13 years of the UDP government, there was no new resources of energy, no new sources of energy when they should have done that. You see, energy, when it comes to electricity, it is not like you are at the corner shop and can go and buy a flashlight-it is something you plan years ahead, and that was not done. When we got into government, you know, we are busy and trying to fix a million problems, including in that we are hoping that BEL and the PUC could have worked that out, and obviously it did not happen, so we had to get involve. So if we could have found a way where both entities could have worked earlier-you know, earlier in '22, '23, or '24-we would have already had some energy. But with that said, here we are, and we have managed to find a common ground between BEL and the PUC and the government, and now we are moving forward."
On Monday, we told you that Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith's visa had been revoked by the U.S. Embassy. He concluded that this action was taken because he has been actively recruiting influential figures to visit China on educational tours.
So what does the PM think about the actions taken against his former political colleague? Here's what he said:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I was not aware that Godfrey Smith is China's man, so..."
Courtney Menzies: "That's what he says."
John Briceno: "Well, if he says so, he says so, but I can't tell you-I was not aware of it, so I need to start with that. But like in everything, when we apply to a visa, it is because we want to go and visit a country; we are guests in their country, and that country can decide whether or not they want you to go there as a guest, if they want you to visit their country or not. And is that is solely in the hands of the United States government as to whether they want to give a visa to anyone, including Godfrey Smith."
The media also asked the PM about the proposed airport in San Pedro. He has said previously that tourism numbers are projected to increase and the current airport may be running out of space. Islanders dispute this, and many-including the BTIA-say the John Greif II Airport is sufficient. However, the PM doubled down today, saying they are planning for the future:
Reporter: "That arrivals on the island have not reached back to pre-pandemic levels, and so stakeholders on the island are disputing what you are saying."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Don't miscon-don't misrepresent or interpret..."
Reporter: "Misinterpret."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Don't interpret what I said wrongly. I am saying that there are certain times during the day, during the height of the tourism season, where we have a number of landings-we have about 55 landings per hour. I had no discussion about whether we do better than pre-what? Pre-COVID or anything like that. All I said was that during the height of the tourism season, there are days where at certain times we are landing more than 55 planes per hour. And that could be dangerous, and so we have to be able to think long-term as to how best to address that. And one of the ways we address that is by getting bigger planes, but you can't land bigger planes where it is because it limited on the runway, and so we are starting to think about planning for the future. If this proceeds, we still have to go and talk to the stakeholders in San Pedro, so I don't know why everybody is getting so excited. We are working on the plans-we have been working with the airlines-and the plans have not finished, and once they are finished, we are going to be meeting with them and showing what is it that we are planning."
For more than two decades, we've been reporting on the multiple, related failed attempts to develop a cruise port with berthing piers in the Belize District. All best and worst efforts have failed. Now, Belize risks losing calls by mega cruise ships tired of tendering. So which development will rise to the occasion: the government-backed Port of Belize, or Olo Caye, which the receiver has brought in to take over Stake Bank? They held a public launch today, and we were there:
While there was no BTB representative at today's event, the Belize Hotel Association was there. That group represents overnight-not cruise-interests, so we asked Malik what his interest was in Olo Caye:
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association "Well, listen, cruise tourism is a different beat, and I will not speculate much because that is not my area of expertise. I attended today because, as you saw, there is an element... there is a hotel element to the Olo Caye development, and Mr. Dibattista himself is involved in not just cruise tourism, but also in overnight accommodations sector as well. So I don't know enough about cruise to even venture an opinion about what that will mean, but I did note the differentiation that they tried to make between ferrying and tendering. That was an interesting one, so I will have to dig into that a little bit more and figure that out for myself."
Hotel Association Welcomes New Frankfurt-to-Belize Flight via Costa Rica
Speaking about something closer to his segment of the tourism sector, the press asked Malik for his views on the flight from Frankfurt to Belize via Costa Rica, which starts next year.
We asked Malik if overnight interests have any concerns about its first stop in Costa Rica. He explained that it is a good thing for travelers in Costa Rica who have an interest in visiting Belize:
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association "No, not necessarily, because of two things. One, in speaking with those in the airline industry-I was in London last week and had the opportunity to speak with a few people-in their parlance, because when the flight lands in Costa Rica the passengers bound for Belize will not have to deplane, in their parlance they consider it to still be a direct flight. So that is one. And two, I think that by sharing the route with Costa Rica, who is popular as well, I think it mitigates our risk in terms of losing the flight, because now you have interest in the flight being created by multiple destinations at the same time. So I think that is a fair enough way for mitigating the risk for our first connection from Europe."
Reporter: "So when those coming to Costa Rica deplane, there is an opportunity in Costa Rica for other people in Costa Rica to come to Belize?"
Reynaldo Malik: "That is correct. I would want to think from a logistical standpoint what you are looking at:Europeans, as we know from the data, travel much longer than North Americans. So a European, when they look at journeying to the other side of the world for a vacation, they are not coming for four nights, they are not coming for seven nights-they are coming for two weeks, sometimes three weeks, right? So the hope is that what we are looking to create is a multi-stop vacation for them, where a traveler that originates, let's say, in Germany be coming and maybe, if they want to share the vacation, stop in Costa Rica. You will have some that come directly to Belize-Belize is the only destination-but I believe that you will have some that will come and stop in Costa Rica first and then make the hop to Belize, stay in Belize as well, and then make the journey back at a later date."
Malik Says Seasonal European Travel Will Boost Overnight Tourism
Malik also discussed seasonal travel for European tourists and how it should boost the overnight segment:
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association "So data suggests that European travel season would be our shoulder months, or correspond to our shoulder months, which would be August, September, October-that is their time when they are looking to travel as well. But the airline also have... remember, this is not the first time Discover Air is venturing over to the Western Hemisphere; they already have other long-haul destinations, so they are relying on their data as well, and you have to look at what is the best time of the year in Belize in terms of weather. They are looking at all these things. My hope is, though, that once the interest in Belize is generated to start with, that it will then escalate into or grow into something that will cause Discover Air to say, 'We are going to go all year round.' Now, from where I am sitting, if we can get the growth to happen in our August-you guys have seen the Q3 numbers, right?-so if we can get the growth to happen in those months, then now we are really starting to talk about sustainable tourism growth, because you don't want to grow too much more in your late December, January, February, March, because now we are starting to overpopulate the tourism destinations. We have plenty of rooms, thousands of rooms unoccupied in the third quarter, and if we can grow responsibly in the third quarter, that is one way of growing our overnight accommodations sector without creating overtourism for Belize."
Email
Print
Tonight, the Belize National Coast Guard and the Belize Defence Force are feeling perhaps slightly emboldened and empowered after they were emasculated and bullied on Belize's side of the Sarstoon on Saturday.
"Certainly, it's of grave concern to all Belizeans, including us as a government. And I have to commend the BDF on the way they act with such professionalism, because the reality is that we can't afford a flare-up whereby people are fighting out there, because it's obvious Guatemala is 18 million, we're 400,000. It's a fight we can't win, a physical fight. But we can win that fight diplomatically and in the courts, and that's exactly what we're doing at this moment."
We note that Guatemala could also be provoking trouble on the Sarstoon because of crime issues there. Reports in today's Prensa Libre say the government is considering implementing a State of Emergency in the province of Zacapa.
While the energy crisis is unfolding slowly like a long national nightmare, the Corozal Free Zone is its own horror show.
One minister who may have lost his Cabinet seat due to his proximity to the zone is former Minister of Enterprise with responsibility for the Free Zone, Jose Mai.
Police may have one of the players in a recent crime ring terrorizing businesses across the country.
The Christian Workers Union held a press conference today and started by announcing good news: after years of struggle with the Port of Belize-spanning the terms of multiple union presidents-they have finally reached an agreement on a Collective Bargaining Agreement. That agreement has now been sent to the Labour Department, and the CWU expects the matter to conclude shortly. Union President Leonora Flowers attributes part of this breakthrough to a change in PBL's administration.
"You all know that we have had a terrible time with the Port of Belize over the last three or four presidents of CWU. Well, today I can report that we have sent the stevedores CBA to the Labour Department for their review, so that means we have come to an agreement-a workable agreement for and on behalf of our stevedores members. And pretty soon we will be forwarding... just, I think, about two more conditions remain to conclude for the staff at the Port of Belize, the staff inside. This afternoon we'll be having another meeting, and hopefully in that meeting we will be concluding. So the Labor Commissioner hopefully will soon get that as well."
While one battle has been won, the CWU is still fighting others on behalf of its members. One of those battles is with the Belmopan City Council. Flowers explained that they have been waiting three years for the council to sign off on a CBA, and even though municipal elections are coming up again, they are no closer to an agreement. She also explained that the council refuses to negotiate a salary increase for the workers.
Ella Waight, 1st Vice President, CWU
We also asked the CWU's Vice President-who doubles as the NTUCB President-about Senator Glenfield Dennison's pop-up protests, or as he calls it, his public education campaign. He's still rolling basically solo, and she explained that as a union, they can't join without the mandate of their members. She then told us that the NTUCB will be a part of Friday's protest in Belmopan:
On Monday, we told you that Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith's visa had been revoked by the U.S. Embassy. He concluded that this action was taken because he has been actively recruiting influential figures to visit China on educational tours.
While there was no BTB representative at today's event, the Belize Hotel Association was there. That group represents overnight-not cruise-interests, so we asked Malik what his interest was in Olo Caye:
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association