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, more is known about the intrigues surrounding politically connected companies and their supply lines into the Ministry of Defence.
We're looking at the top providers for BDF rations between 2020 and 2025, and the number two company, J & J Imports, has a direct familial connection to PUP Orange Walk North Rep Ramon "Monchi" Cervantes.
But today, he denied any involvement in their business.
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "That was his personal decision. I haven't spoken to him so it is his decision to make."
Reporter- "What is your relation to Enrique and Jamir Requena from J&J Imports?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "Enrique? I know Jamir Requena, he is my second cousin, he is the son of my cousin."
Reporter- "Were you instrumental in them receiving any contracts with the Ministry of Defense?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, not at all, not at all. I have nothing to do with that."
Reporter- "So you have no involvement in them getting the supply arrangement? They are the owners of J&J Imports."
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, I had no involvement in that at all, at all."
Reporter- "Did they supply your constituency with pantry or any grocery bags?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, they don't."
Reporter- "Did you speak to Minister Marin to give them a boost with the supply?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, I didn't speak to him."
Reporter- "J&J Imports was registered on May 3rd, 2022 by your relatives, the Requenas. Was the company established to benefit the BDF supply contracts?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "I don't know."
Reporter- "We are told that you are being considered to be assigned the Minister of Defence portfolio but the Prime Minister decided against it because of your connection with J&J Imports, which is a top supplier to the BDF. Is this true?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "I don't know if I was being considered and I have no connection with J&J."
And while Cervantes is clueless about J & J, Jules Vasquez found an interesting pattern when looking at the top four companies supplying the BDF: all of them were registered after the PUP was elected in 2020.
Here's his latest investigative report:
J&J Food Imports, A&Y Fresh Vegetables, and Kukulcan Company, they were the top three suppliers of rations to the BDF in 2023-2024.
But were these companies simply set up to cream off the BDF supply chain?
J&J Imports was registered in May of 2022, A&Y Fresh Vegetables registered in April of 2021, and Kukulcan, with its links direct to the Minister of Defence, established 17/03/2021.
And of course, trailing at a distant fourth, MP Farms, owned by Stanley Mira, according to this, established September of 2023.
So were these companies simply set up to profit off their proximity to ministerial power?
This Minister of State says no:
Reporter- "What is your relation to Enrique and Jamir Requena from J&J Imports?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "Enrique? I know Jamir Requena, he is my second cousin, he is the son of my cousin."
Reporter- "Were you instrumental in them receiving any contracts with the Ministry of Defense?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, not at all, not at all. I have nothing to do with that."
Reporter- "So you have no involvement in them getting the supply arrangement? They are the owners of J&J Imports."
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, I had no involvement in that at all, at all."
Reporter- "Did you speak to Minister Marin to give them a boost with the supply?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "No, I didn't speak to him."
Reporter- "J&J Imports was registered on May 3rd, 2022 by your relatives, the Requenas. Was the company established to benefit the BDF supply contracts?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "I don't know."
Reporter- "We are told that you are being considered to be assigned the then Minister of Defence portfolio but the Prime Minister decided against it because of your connection with J&J Imports, which is a top supplier to the BDF. Is this true?"
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "I don't know if I was being considered and I have no connection with J&J."
And while Minister Monchie says he had no connection, J&J was certainly on the fast track. Screenshots we have received show only a fraction of the payments made to the company and its owner, Enrique Requena.
We have only 195 records out of almost 1,500 in the SmartStream. The total volume traded is 1.4 million dollars, but, again, this is only about an eighth of the total records available. So it's a fair projection that the total recorded is over 10 million dollars in revenue from government business.
But even this small sample shows the same pattern: almost all the payments, 98% in this group, are under $10,000.
The highest total payout amount: October 12, 2022, $99,300.93 across 5 transactions.
On July 21, 2022, there was the highest transaction count: 13 back-to-back transactions, totaling $86,374.21.
And we know that in 2023/2024, J&J was the second largest supplier to the BDF, with 24% of the pie. The paperwork shows they were averaging revenue of more than a quarter-million dollars every month, translating to $3.02 million in annual earnings.
This large take comes out of an overall BDF budget that expanded rapidly, ballooning from $9.1 million in the previous year to $12.4 million.
The question is what drove it to balloon in 2023/2024, was it to provide public pork to preferred companies, or was it for soldiers to dine on conch and lobster?
The tender shows that the BDF supplies included baby back ribs, conch, fish filet, lobster, and shrimp, whether soldiers got to eat that is another question.
We note that another top supplier, Mira's Fresh Fruits and Veggies, was registered in April of 2022.
And today, in response to the public dismay over the revelations, the Prime Minister today, kind of out of the blue, posted the following on all his social platforms.
Quote, "We have a compact with the Belizean people that we will be different. We're going to do a thorough investigation, we're going to get to the bottom of it, and if there is any wrongdoing, people will have to answer." End quote.
And, while the PM vows to take stern action, his Minister and Ministers of State are just keeping their heads low-because big shots are being fired. Here's how Minister of State Cervantes meekly put it today:
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education "Well as far as I know the Prime Minister has ordered an audit of the ministry and those same transactions you are talking about so I think that is a step in the right direction to get a clear and true picture of what transpired."
Cervantes's backbencher colleague Osmond Martinez has a unique perspective, though. As a former CEO from 2020 to 2024, he was an accounting officer.
And many of them know about another standard procurement practice that hasn't been heavily reported on. That is the one keeping contracts under the 50-thousand-dollar threshold so that they don't have to go to the Contractor General.
It's widespread, but in 2025 we came across a few of these that were signed by Osmond Martinez when he was CEO in 2024. They were for a popular contractor from his future constituency. We asked Martinez about those contracts, but he said we need to be careful:
JOMARIE LANZA- "We have seen that you have issued a number of contracts to contractors which are just under the 50K threshold. Were you trying to avoid scrutiny of the Contractor General by creating multiple contracts under 50K?"
Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Economic Transformation "Who, me?"
JOMARIE LANZA- "Yes."
Osmond Martinez "When?"
Reporter- "So none have been issued?"
Osmond Martinez "Not from me."
Reporter- "Well, your ministry."
Osmond Martinez "No, we don't give contracts like that unless it is a one contract that has to deal with it, but I think you have to be careful with that question. Do your background check the right way because we don't promote that kind of practice."
At least three of those contracts hovering near the 50-thousand-dollar threshold and made out to the same contractor were provided to us by the Ministry of Finance based on a Freedom of Information request.
And yesterday, Minister Orlando Habet-in responding to the allegation that one of his Ministry's most senior technical officers was extorting a forester-said sometimes a Minister just doesn't know what's happening until after the fact:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development "Many times we do not become aware of certain situations until after the fact. We have a very large ministry, maybe one of the largest ministries, and so I would get reports and updates on the status of certain situations post what is happening. I cannot be on every application for whether it is the Forest Department or the Department of the Environment or the National Biodiversity Office or the Sustainable Development Unit, which is large, and so we work together. We have meetings on a bi-weekly basis with all the heads of department and that's where most of the information comes to us and how we discuss the programs that will follow the policy direction that we have set in place to move forward."
And while Habet says he often does not have specific knowledge of the goings-on within his Ministry, the Prime Minister is on another level.
For sure, it's a tough task to be across so many things all at once-but that's the job. And we've observed that even when-or maybe especially when-an issue has flared out into a mini scandal, the PM seems particularly clueless. Jules Vasquez looked back at his record of "I don't know's":
The police senior command has announced a major change in how it interfaces with gangs and responds to social violence.
The Office of the Commissioner sent a message this morning announcing that a new unit named the Violence Prevention and Enforcement Team has been formed.
It will subsume the Special Patrol Unit but be established as a separate national unit under the command of ASP Rodney Jones. It will be responsible for, quote, "the coordinated management of high-risk offenders through targeted monitoring, preventative patrol, proactive engagement, and focused enforcement operations…"
ASP Jones will be answerable to Senior Superintendent Christopher Noble, who is being assigned overall supervisory responsibility for the Leadership Intelligence Unit, the GI3, and this newly established team. The police command says this will "integrate three complementary pillars of our gang violence reduction strategy."
A police message adds, "The integration of these three units under a single command will strengthen operational coordination, improve information sharing, eliminate duplication of efforts, and ensure a more effective response to gang violence and other serious criminal threats."
The changes represent a major shift in the approach to tackling violent crime and gang mediation. Noble is one of the pioneers of community policing.
BDF soldier 31 year old Mark Anthony Nolberto, was convicted of two counts of rape against a 17-year-old girl following a closed-door trial before Justice Candace Nanton, with the most damning evidence coming from graphic video footage that Nolberto recorded on his phone showing him assaulting the victim and forcing her to perform sexual acts while verbally threatening her.
Although Nolberto maintained under oath that all encounters were consensual, the prosecution, led by Joseph Perez, successfully introduced the video evidence that directly contradicted his defense, resulting in guilty verdicts on the major counts.
The victim was 19 when she testified in May.
With his bail now revoked, Nolberto has been remanded to Belize Central Prison pending sentencing scheduled for July 24, 2026, after Justice Nanton ordered Social Inquiry, Victim Impact, Antecedent History, and Kolbe Foundation reports to inform the final punishment.
If, like everyone else, you've been struggling with sharp increases in your electricity bill, you'd better brace. The Public Utilities Commission has given an initial decision approving a new billing mechanism for BEL called "COPA". While BEL frames it as a move toward transparency, what it actually means is that fluctuations in the cost of imported power will now be passed directly and automatically onto your monthly light bill.
But, according to the PUC's official public notice, the regulator denied BEL's request to independently implement those automatic monthly adjustments. By law, the commission notes, only the PUC can approve rate changes.
So instead of giving BEL a blank check, the PUC is proposing what it calls a "Regulatory Sandbox" as a testing environment.
What does that mean for you? It means-if the COPA is fully approved-BEL cannot change your bill on a whim. Throughout this trial period, BEL must submit a detailed operational and financial breakdown to the regulator every single month. If the data doesn't back it up, the PUC won't approve the adjustment.
Today, BEL Chairman Lynn Young explained what it could mean for consumers' monthly bills:
Lynn Young, Executive Chairman - BEL "So the suggestion was to try to smoothen the effect on customers rather than wait a year or two and then having to adjust the rates by six cents or five cents or whatever. And so it's going to be on a monthly basis that we'll take a six-month average of the cost of oil compared to what is in the rates. And let's say the rolling six months for the first, the last six months was 32 cents per kilowatt-hour, then that's two cents per kilowatt-hour more than what's built into the rates. But this mechanism is going to limit it at one and a half cents, the adjustment either way, right? So then the customer would get an extra one and a half cents as a cost of power adjustment on the bill. As I was explaining, most of the cost, about 70% of our customers are residential customers that burn about $200 per month. So a customer like that would probably see something like maybe a $5 adjustment to the bill if it was a full 1.5 cents. It could be less."
"The last year the company had some struggles trying to pay CFE and there were times when CFE actually said, 'Listen, if you don't come up with money, we're going to have to disconnect you.' So we can't continue to put the country's electricity supply at risk, right? So we have to try to put things in place to make sure that we eliminate that risk as much as we can."
Reporter- "We know that the adjustment is capped at approximately 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, but under what circumstances would consumers experience the maximum increase?"
Lynn Young, Executive Chairman - BEL "That's a hard question because it all depends on the cost of power, especially as it's driven by the cost from Mexico. Like I said, sometimes we are getting like a dollar US per kilo for power from Mexico. And then sometimes it drops down to five cents. I think as we explained, we are doing things to try to manage that, like trying to get batteries online, trying to get more solar online, to try to be in a position where we don't have to buy expensive power."
We stress the PUC is inviting public comments as this decision is not final, and so at this time there is no change to your bill.
While the Public Utilities Commission rejected BEL's request to independently implement the adjustment, the company says it supports the regulator's decision to first test the mechanism through a regulatory sandbox:
Lynn Young, Executive Chairman - BEL "To be honest, we respect the PUC's approach and decision. You know, all of us have a role and I understand what they're saying. You know, it's a way to monitor this thing and to try to because under the law, if they pass the law, it would be rigid. In the sandbox environment, they can make changes as they go along. So if they find that what we've put in place can be tweaked, then they can tweak it. So from that point of view, we welcome it. I'll say again, maybe a little too frank, but for a utility, you know, to get financing, to get loads, etc., you have to have a certain amount of regulatory certainty to show the banks and the lenders and the shareholders that, listen, the company is going to be able to service its debt obligations, right? And the PUC is aware of that, so I think going forward we'll be in a good position."
Reporter- "So does this new mechanism increase BEL's profitability?"
Lynn Young "No, because BEL is not allowed to make profit on the cost of power. So, again, the way it is structured, the value added of delivery, that 14 cents is where BEL makes its profit. If BEL wants to make profit, it has to manage its cost. We have to reduce our cost in terms of delivering the power to customers, but accounting-wise, we account for it and it shows as a loss on our financials. But strictly speaking, like I said, the 60 million in excess cost of power that the company paid last year, they didn't recover. The PUC in its decision has shown that there's like about 75 million that's owed to the company that over the future as cost of power goes down, hopefully the company will see that return to it."
But BEL is not flush with cash, having sustained losses of up to 23 million in the past year. Young says that was caused by the fluctuating cost of power:
Lynn Young, Executive Chairman - BEL "The company did its best to try not to have to ask for a rate increase over the last few years. There were things that nobody could have anticipated. Like we said, the war with Ukraine, the war in Iran, the problems with shipping, tariffs-you know, a lot of things kept piling on that you reach the point where now we have to address it, right? But the lights are on. The company is delivering power. And even though people complain about blackouts here and there, right,"
"You've got to give somebody some credit for keeping the rates at 44 cents for over 40 years and for increasing the reliability of the system to where it is today. And in all of that year, there were some missteps, I agree, but there were some good steps too. Had to have happened, otherwise we wouldn't have been making the progress."
And many have complained that their electricity bills have increased. Could it be because of the newly increased Smart Meters? Well, according to the chairman, it has nothing to do with the meters or any scheme to gouge customers.
He says it is simply because of the increase in energy being used in warm months:
Lynn Young, Executive Chairman - BEL "All the complaints that we have gotten and we looked at to start off with is that May was the hottest period in the year and every year we looked at the numbers and we can show you the graphs, etc. Every year we get a lot of high bill complaints because of the heat. Electricity use in Belize is driven a lot by heat. So your refrigerator is going to work harder, your fans are going to work harder, your AC units are going to work harder. And so, and then on top of that, what happened to some customers we found is that there's a threshold of $100 for GST. So if your bill was normally $95 and then because of the heat it jumped to $105, so you get an extra $10 on your bill because of the higher usage. But then you jump the threshold now and you get a 12.5% GST on that whole $105, which adds to it, right? There were also, that happens often in the industry, is that sometimes the meter reader goes to read a meter and cannot access the meter because of some issues or whatever, and they do an estimate billing. And sometimes that causes some disruptions, you know, variations. So if you get an estimate bill in, say, in February-like February, March, April were very cool months-you know, if you get an estimate based on those months and then May comes in high, then when the real bill comes in, you get a drop, right? And it tends to hit you hard. So then compared to the previous months, it looks kind of high."
"I'm just saying that all we can do is look at the data. We've investigated every instance that was brought to us. And in no case have we found that it was as a result of these new meters. And the meters are tested and we have the test results for them. So I'm pretty sure each person who has a high bill will have their own."
The Caribbean Court of Justice has ruled that Belize's company filing requirements for CARICOM-linked businesses do not violate the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
The decision came after the High Court of Belize referred a legal question involving Anwar Barrow and a raft of companies against the Financial Services Commission. The court sought clarification on whether the requirement for CARICOM companies to maintain and file documents through local registered agents breached Article 177 of the treaty.
The CCJ found that Article 177 targets anti-competitive conduct by companies rather than regulatory measures imposed by governments, confirming that Belize's requirements are lawful. Here's that part of the decision:
Hon. Justice Winston Anderson, CCJ President "The Court clarified that while in its original jurisdiction it could not provide authoritative guidance on whether Belizean domestic legislation was breached, it was competent to interpret Article 177 of the RTC. The Court therefore considered whether the requirement for CARICOM Inc. and linked companies to maintain and file documents through local registered agents amounted to the application of unequal conditions to parties undertaking equivalent engagements in commercial transactions, thereby causing a competitive disadvantage as prohibited by Article 177 of the RTC. The Court undertook a contextual interpretation of Article 177 within Chapter 8 of the RTC and that establishes the community competition policy, the goal of which is to prevent anti-competitive business conduct that would frustrate the benefits of the CARICOM single market and economy."
"The Court held that Article 177 per se is concerned with the conduct of enterprises, not regulatory measures of the State."
"Article 177 of the RTC does not prohibit a regulatory requirement that local companies with shareholders or directors from CARICOM jurisdictions and the companies incorporated within CARICOM countries maintain and file documents through local registered agents. Article 177 is concerned per se with the anti-competitive business conduct of enterprises and not with the regulatory measures of a member State."
The Court also reaffirmed that it has exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and will provide guidance when national courts seek clarification on its provisions.
Digi held its annual Scholarship Awards ceremony this morning, distributing a total of 47 scholarships to both high school and sixth form students from all across Belize.
It is the largest number of scholarships they have awarded, and Jomarie Lanza found out why they chose to do so:
And we also got to ask CEO Tesecum about Government's and Social Security's public-private partnership. That's the $54.5 million dollar construction of the Public Administration Campus on Chetumal Street/Boulevard being executed through what is called a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named "Public Administration Campus 1 Limited."
But reports say government-which is the minority-has gone ahead and appointed Troy Gabb as General Manager without consulting their Social Security partners.
And at least one of the members of the board also happened to resign. That's Tesecum, who told us his hands are just too full:
Reporter- "Were you a part of any special purpose vehicle that was developed by the government and according to them you have resigned from special purpose vehicles?"
Ivan Tesucum, Chief Executive Officer, DIGI "I was a member of one for the, I believe for the Social Security Board being the finance individual, but yes afterwards I resigned from it as well."
Reporter- "Why was that?"
Ivan Tesucum, Chief Executive Officer, DIGI "Just personal, I don't have time. I am running DIGI at the end of the day and that is my focus. My focus is to ensure that I continue to create value for the great shareholders of Belize because each and every one of us who are here, all of you who are interviewing me, are shareholders of that because when we make a profit and we are able to declare dividends, that goes back to the Government of Belize, Social Security Board, through the Central Bank and through the 1,500 plus shareholders. So my focus is ensuring that DIGI continues to grow and we continue with our mandate to ensure that we transform our country and continue to lead in digital transformation, so I have to focus."
Adolfo Garcia Alvarez and Santos Eduardo Lopez Zepeda had both spent over 5 years on remand for the murder of 59-year-old Rosa Chinchilla. And today, Adolfo Alvarez walked free from his trial for murder following a nolle prosequi after the only evidence linking him to the murder was ruled inadmissible. That piece of evidence was a caution statement given to the police.
Justice Nigel Pilgrim was also not convinced that Santos Zepeda was guilty of the murder of Chinchilla, and so Justice Pilgrim upheld a no-case submission made by Zepeda's attorney, Erin Quiros. Zepeda was then acquitted of the murder of Chinchilla.
Next week Friday, July 10, the UDP will be hosting a protest in the city to rally against the government. Today, we asked the NTUCB if they will be joining, as one would recall they joined the last protest against the SMART acquisition, but President Ella Waight says they try to stay away from political rallies:
Ella Waight, President NTUCB "We have begun the conversation on general council. As everyone is aware, that is how we make decisions. It would not be my decision. It has to be a democratic process throughout the general council. The conversation has started."
"I think, of course, we've always tried our very best to avoid political. We would not want to support any political party, but the concept of what we or the issue that we're facing right there in this country, yes, we would definitely want to ensure that we support."
"So we are looking at maybe not fully going and gathering in front of our political office, but definitely having representation at the rally."
The quality and cost of military boots purchased for the BDF and the Coast Guard have been much in the news this week.
We have certainly received reports that at times soldiers and Guardsmen have been given dry-rotten and substandard boots.
Yesterday, when we spoke with the BDF Commander-he did not elaborate-other than to say "all is well":
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF "Well, what I can tell you, that my, my, my purview is that we get boots, and over the past few years, our policymakers have placed a lot of interest and attention on BDF, and today, we're far different, in a far different place than we were a few years ago. So, our soldiers are kitted, they have their boots, we, we, we have, we did a recruiting intake last year, we're doing one now, we'll do one immediately after this, and we'll do another one next year. So, we are increasing the size of the force, we are recruiting, and we're getting the kit and equipment for our soldiers. Gone were the days back then, when we did not have boots to equip our soldiers. We do have boots, and we have equipment for them."
And we have also received credible reports that the BDF and Coast Guard have-in the past-received substandard weapons, but again the Commander says all is well on the western front:
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF "The BDF headquarters, we do not do procurement, okay? That's handled at the ministry level. If that happened, then I can't, I don't know about it. Should we receive any substandard weapons, then we will be sure to make our policymakers know. We have received quality weapons, what we ask for. We ask for the best weapons available for our soldiers, and we have received those. Just the other day, the government had bought for us about 340 quality weapons that we need, and that our soldiers deserve, and they are training with those weapons, and using those weapons on operations as we speak."
Reporter- "Okay, and lastly, can you speak about the Taurus rifles that were obtained for the BDF at one point? Are any of them still in service?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF "Yes, those rifles are obtained for the BDF, and they are in service, and they are being used by our soldiers."
And we close on this Friday night with footage of the high school super nationals crowning ceremony which took place this afternoon at the Civic. IT celebrates Belize's best high schools athletes…
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Tonight, more is known about the intrigues surrounding politically connected companies and their supply lines into the Ministry of Defence.
Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State Education
And while Cervantes is clueless about J & J, Jules Vasquez found an interesting pattern when looking at the top four companies supplying the BDF: all of them were registered after the PUP was elected in 2020.
Cervantes's backbencher colleague Osmond Martinez has a unique perspective, though. As a former CEO from 2020 to 2024, he was an accounting officer.
"Who, me?"
"Many times we do not become aware of certain situations until after the fact. We have a very large ministry, maybe one of the largest ministries, and so I would get reports and updates on the status of certain situations post what is happening. I cannot be on every application for whether it is the Forest Department or the Department of the Environment or the National Biodiversity Office or the Sustainable Development Unit, which is large, and so we work together. We have meetings on a bi-weekly basis with all the heads of department and that's where most of the information comes to us and how we discuss the programs that will follow the policy direction that we have set in place to move forward."
The police senior command has announced a major change in how it interfaces with gangs and responds to social violence.
BDF soldier 31 year old Mark Anthony Nolberto, was convicted of two counts of rape against a 17-year-old girl following a closed-door trial before Justice Candace Nanton, with the most damning evidence coming from graphic video footage that Nolberto recorded on his phone showing him assaulting the victim and forcing her to perform sexual acts while verbally threatening her.
If, like everyone else, you've been struggling with sharp increases in your electricity bill, you'd better brace. The Public Utilities Commission has given an initial decision approving a new billing mechanism for BEL called "COPA". While BEL frames it as a move toward transparency, what it actually means is that fluctuations in the cost of imported power will now be passed directly and automatically onto your monthly light bill.
"So the suggestion was to try to smoothen the effect on customers rather than wait a year or two and then having to adjust the rates by six cents or five cents or whatever. And so it's going to be on a monthly basis that we'll take a six-month average of the cost of oil compared to what is in the rates. And let's say the rolling six months for the first, the last six months was 32 cents per kilowatt-hour, then that's two cents per kilowatt-hour more than what's built into the rates. But this mechanism is going to limit it at one and a half cents, the adjustment either way, right? So then the customer would get an extra one and a half cents as a cost of power adjustment on the bill. As I was explaining, most of the cost, about 70% of our customers are residential customers that burn about $200 per month. So a customer like that would probably see something like maybe a $5 adjustment to the bill if it was a full 1.5 cents. It could be less."
The Caribbean Court of Justice has ruled that Belize's company filing requirements for CARICOM-linked businesses do not violate the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
"The Court clarified that while in its original jurisdiction it could not provide authoritative guidance on whether Belizean domestic legislation was breached, it was competent to interpret Article 177 of the RTC. The Court therefore considered whether the requirement for CARICOM Inc. and linked companies to maintain and file documents through local registered agents amounted to the application of unequal conditions to parties undertaking equivalent engagements in commercial transactions, thereby causing a competitive disadvantage as prohibited by Article 177 of the RTC. The Court undertook a contextual interpretation of Article 177 within Chapter 8 of the RTC and that establishes the community competition policy, the goal of which is to prevent anti-competitive business conduct that would frustrate the benefits of the CARICOM single market and economy."
Ivan Tesucum, Chief Executive Officer, DIGI
Adolfo Garcia Alvarez and Santos Eduardo Lopez Zepeda had both spent over 5 years on remand for the murder of 59-year-old Rosa Chinchilla. And today, Adolfo Alvarez walked free from his trial for murder following a nolle prosequi after the only evidence linking him to the murder was ruled inadmissible. That piece of evidence was a caution statement given to the police.
"We have begun the conversation on general council. As everyone is aware, that is how we make decisions. It would not be my decision. It has to be a democratic process throughout the general council. The conversation has started."
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF