February 2010 Archives

Belmopan, Belize 26 February (Belizean.com) Sir Barry Bowen, well- known Belize business magnate died today in an airplane crash just short of the runway at San Pedro Ambergris Caye according to radio and T.V. news reports monitored here. It is reported that Sir Barry was piloting his modified Cessna 206 turboprop when the aircraft experienced difficulties on landing approach, clipped a pole on a barge about half mile from the runway with its landing gear, and then crashed into a a marshy area near a boatyard adjacent to the San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye municipal airport.

Four other persons were in the aircraft including two children who also perished in the accident which happened at about 5:30 p.m. local time (Belize is minus -6 G.M.T). Sir Barry headed the Bowen group of companies that includes the Belize Coca Cola franchise, the Belikin Brewery (the only brewery in Belize) the Ford Automobile Distributorship, the Chan Chic Tourism Lodge and Belize Aquaculture Ltd. one of the largest shrimp farms in Belize. Sir Barry resided on San Pedro Ambergris Caye and commuted to work in Belize city on his private aircraft. This is a breaking story.

Updated February 27. State Funeral for Sir Barry Bowen who was also a former Senator is scheduled for Tuesday in Belize City. Picture of plane crash scene below courtesy of Ambergris Today:

Further Update 27 February: The identities of the other passengers who perished in the accident have been disclosed by local media as U.S. nationals Michael and Jill Casey and their two young children. The Casey family is from Albany, N.Y. and were employees of Sir Barry Bowen teaching at a school Sir Barry operated at Gallon Jug, Belize, near his Chan Chich Tourist Resort.

The situation at the Guatemalan border with Belize was congested today as teachers in that country maintained a campaign to immobilize the country by blocking all highways until they get a 16% raise of pay. The teachers are blocking the bridge on the Melchor de Mencos side of the border between Belize and Guatemala and allowing only pedestrians to pass.

They are blocking Guatemala's borders with Belize, El Salvador and Mexico, crippling the tourism industry in that country. It's also affecting Belizean tourism interests particularly in the Cayo district who stay in Belize but book trips to Tikal.

Of note there is also discontent amongst teachers in Belize who are in a dispute with the country's Minister of Education Patrick Faber who has refused to consider requests for cost-of-living adjustments for educators. Faber is in a tempest of controversy after stating on national radio and television that "...60% of Belizean educators are untrained and ignorant.".

The Belize CGA are majority shareholders in CPBL (51%) but cannot appoint their full complement of five out of the eight directors under the terms of an investment agreement with Banks Holdings. The dispute has an added dimension in that the board in control at CPBL is refusing to pay dividends this year citing operating losses. But CGA members say this is a strategy to bankrupt shareholders and force them to sell out control to the foreign company. The CGA is further accusing Banks of trying to break the  association by luring away big growers by suggesting that big growers should have more votes in contrast to small growers.

The dispute came to a head on Tuesday of this week when representatives sent a team headed by Banks Holding Chairman Sir Allan Fields to Belize to seek an audience with Prime Minister Dean Barrow. The citrus growers of Belize launched a protest that had the participation of up to 3,000 citrus growers and workers in the Pomona Valley of the Stann Creek district - the heart of Belize's citrus belt.

In comments published in Belize newspapers today Prime Minister Barrow stated that "We will not allow the CGA to fail. Government of Belize stands behind the CGA's position of one man - one vote." He added that while the Belize government cannot interfere in the operations of a private company it has facilitated negotiations with the executives of CPBL and the Citrus Growers Association.

The Prime Minister further stated that government met with each side separately and jointly in mediation and consultations but those meetings failed. He ended by saying that government may soon have to legislate on the matter, but for now, government cannot interfere in the operations.

CPBL has greatly modernized its factory and installed a state of the art Tetra Pack facility with a one million gallon juice storage facility. It has currently moved away from exporting citrus concentrate, to selling packaged value added juices under various labels to the Caribbean and Central America. It reportedly is in talks with Minute Maid and Tropicana to provide citrus juice and squash to these companies. The company is also using citrus byproducts to produce pelletized animal feed.  

Belmopan, Belize 14 February (Belizean.com) Prime Minister Dean Barrow told Belizeans this week that the worst is yet to come and he asked the nation to have "understanding" and to be "patient."

In what will go down in history as one of the most somber press conferences ever held in Belize, the Prime Minster stood before the nation and said: "The upcoming fiscal year is going to be the hardest of the UDP term."  He went on to say that the numbers were not good.  "The Financial Secretary and his team, tells me that we are looking at a deficit of about $60 million."

For Belizeans the numbers not adding up mean nothing in the face of their everyday reality.  The rising cost of basic food items; the fear of losing their jobs and the unceasing crime and violence, are evidence of the fact that things are not adding up in Belize.

In the business community the number of Belizean business persons who are one step away from bankruptcy increase by the day.  The lack of any real stimulus to help small businesses and those in the agro productive sector has led to an ever increasing lack of confidence by bankers and investors. The amount of mortgage foreclosures published in the newspapers increase on a weekly basis signaling the difficulties faced by Belizean families to meet their basic needs.

At the same time, the 60 million dollar shortfall in government revenues can only lead to further cuts and a decrease in government's services.  To make matters worse, the fear that the Prime Minister will resort to an increase in taxes is also increasing.

And on the other side of the economic ledger, public officers will not only not get a cost of living adjustment to ease the steep escalation in prices, but there is growing concern that the axe will soon swing. And we all know it won't start with the fat salaried contract officers.

Belize's single largest foreign change earner, tourism, has been without a captain of the industry at the helm of the Belize Tourism Board for months, and turf wars and personality conflicts have determined that we are assured of yet another lost season of opportunity. Even if the industry rebounds in other places we can be sure that Belize will be the last to see those benefits.

Belmopan, Belize 11 February (Belizean.com) The Prime Minister of Belize Hon. Dean Barrow has urged caution on the part of Belize Defense Force army activities on the southern border with Guatemala. Guatemala maintains a territorial claim over Belize and the border between the two countries is in dispute.

The Prime  Minister made the comments on national television news monitored in Belize today following reports in Guatemalan newspapers that Belize soldiers were harassing Guatemalan villagers in the border area at the Sarstoon River in southern Belize.  Guatemalan newspapers, including Prensa Libre are reporting complaints that Belize Defense Force soldiers have been taking fishing boats and nets and intimidating Guatemalan villagers in the area and described these alleged actions as provocative.

In addressing the issue, Prime Minister Barrow stated that:

"You might talk to the Foreign Minister of Guatemala and get one position and then our ambassador is called in by the Comision de Belice and he has another position. But overall we believe that there are, whether wittingly or unwittingly, things happening that unless we are extremely sensitive or careful, could provoke a shooting incident.

"The National Security Council is very much aware of the situation. The Belize Defense Force have orders to be extremely prudent, extremely careful while not backing off when it comes to the maintenance of Belizean sovereignty.

"I don't know if I can put it any higher than that or get into any further details because it's so much a judgment call on the ground when these things happen. So we can give from the N.S.A and from the point of view of the Minister of National Security and the B.D.F. high command a sort of general direction but the risk that some incident could take place on the ground remains very real."

Belmopan, Belize 10 February (Belizean.com) The Prime Minister of Belize Hon. Dean Barrow has roundly condemned the threats from O.E.C.D. nations against tax havens such as Belize. In radio reports monitored in Belize Mr. Barrow stated that:

""Our financial services efforts are a means of trying to diversify at trying to diversify. At a time of a global recession when these people are doing nothing to help us to try to put pressure on us to try to cut off; throttle a legitimate means of economic diversification I think is thoroughly outrageous. That having been said they have the power and we have tried as small countries to get together and to lobby them, and to petition them and to scream at them; it has gotten us no where so we clearly have to comply. Belize is in the process of complying, we have already signed three of the tax information exchange agreements. I believe the magic number is 12. We have seven lined up and two more lined up with two of the Dutch speaking Caribbean countries. We are confident that we will meet the threshold and the deadline in order to avoid the imposition of the sanctions."

Mr. Barrow added that while very unfair, Belize intends to comply:

"All you have to do is meet the deadline. You have until March and you see what it is they require you sign a number of these tax information exchange agreements: twelve. I am saying we have already signed three and nine are in the pipeline and in the pipeline in a fashion that ought to see us complete the signing of that additional nine agreements before the deadlines for the sanction in fact materializes. Again, I just want to make the point that they tell you to sign these twelve TIA's as they are called Tax Information Exchange Agreement but you have to then turn around and go and beg people to sign with you. The OECD countries which are pressuring you to sign these agreements do not say and look we have a list of our members lined up for you. Here is the model of our agreement; you are willing to sign we will get members; no, no, no. They tell you sign and if you do not you will be sanctioned so you don't sign at your pert.  But in order for you to sign you must go out there and beg people to give you a chance; it is horribly unfair and I need to put that on record. But anyway we are doing it."

Belmopan, Belize 7 February (Belizean.com) Crime continues out of control, the cost of living continues to climb and public confidence in our elected officials continues its plummet to the lowest point ever.  Yet, the hottest issue on the "Queen Square Market Floor" is not any of these but "oil".  A newspaper article out of Ireland published on the internet has created quite a stir and has Belizeans asking a couple of long overdue questions.  How much oil is being extracted from our country and who is really benefitting? 

 

Since 2005 when the first well in Spanish Lookout began producing, Belize National Energy (BNE) has seen its production reach almost 5,000 barrels per day.  With oil prices fluctuating from as high as US$143 to a current US$83 per barrel, that's quite a fistful of dollars.  The government of Belize (not to be confused with the people of Belize) has realized a little over 17% of the take.  Considering the fact that some oil producing countries enjoy as much as 80 percent of revenues from their oil, the current sharing ratio from our wells leaves our representatives looking woefully inept negotiators indeed. 

 

Compared to large oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or Nigeria, Belize's find thus far is relatively small.  With only slightly over 300,000 mouths to feed however, we don't need much to improve the condition of our citizens. "Much" is nowhere near what we have been receiving and most consider our share to be closer to the sum of"none". 

 

Belize is in a unique position with many different models to learn from.  In Kuwait for example, oil revenues have been used to totally eradicated hunger and poverty and has been used to finance social welfare, public works, and elaborate development programs.   Among the benefits for Kuwaiti citizens are retirement income, marriage bonuses, housing loans, virtually guaranteed employment, free medical services, and free education at all levels.  The Kuwaiti government occasionally disburses a portion of its budget surplus as a grant to all its citizens. In 2006, approximately $1,500, known as the Amiri grant, was made available to every citizen of Kuwait. In 2007, the government implemented a debt forgiveness scheme for all citizens amounting to just over U.S. $1 billion.  That's how you share the wealth!

Belmopan, Belize 3 February - Belize Rapper Shyne has reportedly been denied entry into the U.K. according to a television news report monitored in Belize today. According to the Channel 5 T.V. station, "Moses Leviy, the rapper also known as Shyne, has maintained a low profile on the local Belize scene but big names in the music industry have been trekking to Belize in connection with a new album in the pipeline.

The television station reported that "The recording would be his first since his release from prison. But the news tonight is that over the weekend Shyne packed up and headed to London via Cancun but he ran into trouble with immigration officials over some glitches in his travel documents. The rapper was denied entry into the UK and was turned back." Full Story Here.

Belmopan, Belize 31 January - The Opposition's response to the crime situation in Belize has been the boilerplate, politics-as-usual approach to call for the resignation of the Minister of National Security as if someone from the government or opposition benches could do a better job.

I thought at first it was a joke: the Commissioner of Police saying at a press conference that criminals were deliberately ramping up crime at the end of 2009 to make him look bad; so crime stats for 2009 could look as bad as in 2008.

It's difficult to decide which is more dispiriting: his honest belief that criminals were sending up stats or his belief that the department's interpretation of its statistics was of real value to the evaluation of crime in Belize City.

So what if the crime stats at the end of 2009 were marginally better than in 2008? Would that have been due to better policing and crime prevention or bad weather that kept criminals indoors for more days in 2009 than in 2008?

People feel that their personal security is in greater jeopardy because it is. There is an increase in daytime assassinations, random and targeted grenade attacks and the ratio of unsolved crime to solved ones.