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
Over the past two days, consumers have been venting on Facebook about the sharp spikes in their electricity bills. Some reported seeing their bills triple.
Today, the UDP issued a release demanding that PUC roll back the latest increase in electricity rates. That is, as we told you, the Cost of Power Adjustment charge, or COPA. In the release, they state that the cost of living is already high and Belizeans are struggling and cannot afford an increase in their bill.
Aside from the rollback, they're also demanding that GOB tell the public how the $40 million they have invested in the energy sector has benefited Belizeans and to address the growing complaints.
Well, today the media got a chance to ask the prime minister about the very high bills. He said he is concerned, but he doesn't believe the narrative that BEL is taking advantage of consumers:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Certainly it's something that myself as a citizen and more importantly as Prime Minister, I'm concerned. I've already spoken to Minister Chebat and I've asked him to meet with Executive Chairman Young and the people from BEL and PUC and to be able to meet with the media hopefully early next week, Monday, Tuesday, to discuss that and so it is something that we are taking a look at right now."
Reporter "Some people believe that BEL is taking advantage of consumers, is this something that you believe is true?"
John Briceno: "No, it is not true and the reality is that we are suffering 13 years of UDP neglect. For 13 years, the UDP did nothing to investigate in BEL, to invest in infrastructure, to invest in its transmission line, to invest in more production of electricity. And I know some will say well it's not government but government was interfering and did not allow the process."
And while Belizeans are feeling an extra bite with the increase in electricity rates, bus operators are saying they're only willing to absorb the gas pain for two more days before they go on strike.
We told you yesterday that they threatened to park their buses on Monday if the fuel subsidy was not reinstated. But the Transport CEO responded to their letter saying that Cabinet would be discussing the matter on Tuesday.
So today, the BBA sent another letter to the Minister of Transport stating that they will hold off on the strike, but if the subsidy isn't reinstated by the end of the business day on Tuesday, they will cease operations come Wednesday, August 26th.
That's T-5 days, but today the PM didn't seem fazed by the threat. Here's how he responded.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "This is a matter for Cabinet. The last time they came and they made a compelling case and we accepted to give them a subsidy. But you can't govern by fear. Come and make a case. Now they're saying they sent it a month ago, probably they did but the point is that it has not gone to Cabinet. We're going to take a look at it. If we can we will give them and if we can't we'll explain to them I'm sorry we can't do it at this moment. And it's up to them if they want to strike again, it is your right guaranteed under the Constitution."
And between the increase in electricity rates, the high cost of fuel and possible bus service shutdown, and the everyday affordability crisis, it's getting harder for Belizeans to get by with the basics.
The cost of living is a heavy burden on the backs of everyday people, but it's heaviest on those who can least afford it. The PM says he understands, but there's not much else the government can do.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Of course I'm very concerned about affordability, everybody is very concerned and I need to repeat to you, I've told you over and over most of these things we have no control over the price of fuel, we don't have control over the price of goods that are being imported into the country. We have not been raising taxes. We can control tax but short of that we can't. The truth of the matter is that we are trying to do everything that we possibly can to assist. Where we can control and where we can help we do. So what have we been doing? For instance we raised the minimum wage, and I know Senator Dennison was making a big deal, I'm going to be kind to him, I don't think he really understands the entire process because the minute we were to go $10 or $20, immediately the private sector would say we can't afford that and then we will create even bigger problems not only unemployment, businesses slowing down but even inflation so there are many aspects of different areas you have to look at as a responsible government. So what we have said we want to raise it to another dollar but we promised the chamber that we would sit down with them and have some more real discussions as to when would be the best time to be able to raise it. We would want to do it from yesterday but it is a process. But more than that, we have increased the threshold of exemptions from income tax, that puts more money in your pocket, we're expanding national health insurance, that put more money in your pocket, we've been giving free education I think most if not all government high schools are totally free, books, even uniforms, that puts more money in your pocket, so we've been looking in areas where we can do something, we do, but the importation and goods we import into this country, we do not have control over."
Reporter "And yet many Belizeans are saying in the face of all you are doing, it's not enough."
John Briceno: "And I fully understand but tell me what you want me to do?"
Reporter "Stores owned by the government?"
John Briceno: "We are working on the idea of trying to come up with community stores because right now we are trying to put the project together, you don't want to do something that 2 or 3 years later it becomes a drain of government finances so we want to do it where it is like a 5% markup on these things. I'm not in that grocery business so we're trying the right partners."
And we were able to speak to the PM outside of the House meeting while the Semi Autonomous Revenue Authority bill was being debated. As we told you, the PSU president sounded the alarm on Tuesday. Then last night, they issued a release rejecting the passage of the bill through the House and called on the members at the Belize Tax Service to ready themselves for whatever action may follow.
The PSU then explained that it submitted its comment on the draft terms of reference back in May, and was told a meeting to discuss the adoption of amendments following a review. Up to now, they say that meeting has still not happened.
The release continues to detail a timeline, one set by GOB that was not followed. After months of silence, the PSU collated everything the staff raised to them and turned a comprehensive submission over to the FinSec and the Director General on August 10th.
Then the Finance and Economic Development Committee met in Belmopan on Wednesday, August 12th to consider the bill. PSU says that to their understanding, neither FinSec nor the Director General presented the PSU's comments to the committee. The union says they followed every process and stuck to the deadline, but their comments were still disregarded.
Today the PM said that they lost out because they were a no-show at the committee meeting.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I have great respect for the Public Service Union as a whole but we need to understand something, we need to make something very clear, government sets policy, the union looks after its membership. And when I go in the House I will be able to spell out exactly what all we have done to keep the unions in place. The president of the union was a part of the team that reviewed this every step of the way, all the way to June and July and then I have it on record that they were asked to put in, to submit what changes they wanted to do. They put in none."
Reporter "They did."
John Briceno: "They did not, wait let me finish please. I am talking about in June and they should have put in something by July and they did not by mid July and we extended it some more and they still did not put in anything to the committee that was working on it. The Chamber did and the only changes the Chamber was recommending was the change to ensure that the employees at the tax service right now are going to be protected and those that stay in government can stay in the government and those that leave and go to work at the semi-autonomous revenue authority, SARA, will be able to have the same, they will be able to work under the same conditions as they were working when they were under government. And we made the necessary amendments to the legislation to ensure that that can happen. I am told now that they did, but they did not go to the House committee. It is their responsibility once it goes to House committee for them to show up and to say these are my concerns and they never did. We still hope we can work with them, we want to work with them but this is something that needs to get done to be able to have more effectiveness and efficiencies in the tax service."
Last night, we told you about the plight of the long serving butchery, Jun's Meat Shop, that had its locks changed by the Belize City Council at the Michael Finnegan Market. This comes just days after the murder of their worker, Tyrel Robinson.
Well, tonight Jun's has gotten legal representation to say that if the Belize City Council does not allow the business to reopen, they will be sued and will be liable for losses and damaged caused. Today we spoke with their legal representative OJ Elrington who says that the business was unlawfully evicted:
OJ Elrington, Attorney-at-Law, Jun's Meat Shop "The Belize City Council, I would hope that they would have the knowledge that you cannot simply if it is you want to evict somebody from a property or want to eject somebody from a property, not even the City Council has the power to simply go and eject somebody from a property, remove them, stop them from operating a business which they have operated for 20 years. If it is, they are saying that they are in breach of the law, then you go to a court of law, and that court of law will then determine whether or not, in fact, you have the right to remove somebody who has lawfully occupied a property for 20 years from that property. They did no such thing. They unilaterally, and we say unlawfully, and without any authority, removed and have stopped my clients from doing their lawful business."
"We have made it clear to them that if they do not correct their wrong within the next 24 hours that our clients will take legal action and they will need to compensate as it is, our clients for these days of which they have had them suffer damages by way of losses over the last few days. As you would know, Saturday is one of the biggest days for anybody who operates at the market. So, that is why we have said that this is imperatively important that they be restored to their position. Now to answer your question directly as to whether or not it is personal, it is my instructions from them. They don't know why, but they have said that they have experienced tremendous difficulty with dealing with the current or new, I think, I don't know what is the title, market manager? I believe that is the title that the young man holds, but that they have experienced tremendous difficulty in dealing with him, so much so that they have not been provided with their lease agreement, despite them having requested it over and over again, as well as a number of other discrepancies which they have described in dealing with him."
"In this case, the defendants, my clients, said that they would make a sequence of payments, and the Belize City Council promised that they would ensure that my clients are able to continue their lawful business so long as it is they comply with this payment plan. They have complied with the payment plan. The City Council has illegally acted in now preventing them from going about their lawful business."
"I saw a good friend of mine, a good gentleman, who is an agent of the Belize City Council, and very boldly say that somehow the Council has the authority to take these actions. The Council has no such authority to do so. I think that this is a very simple matter. It's not a complex legal issue. Again, like where I began, I think every Belizean knows, in fact, Belizeans complain about it. Landlords complain about it all the time. Well, if you have to go about the process of evicting somebody, it is a process. It is not overnight."
Orange Walk South Area Rep Jose Mai made his return to the house of representatives today where he had not been seen in almost a year.
He spoke about what has been a long and difficult recovery, and how challenging it's been for him regaining full movement after a knee replacement surgery.
Reporter "What surgeries have you had?"
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South "I had a surgery on my shoulder and a surgery on my knee, knee replacement complete knee replacement that is the one that is giving me trouble right now the knee replacement."
Reporter "I recall it had been stated that you have issues with certain discs on your spine what about those?"
Jose Mai: "I have 2 herniated discs and one S1 that is desiccated actually there is not much of a disc there anymore and what the doctors had agreed with I think I had said it before is my posture was not helping me because of my knee the doctors they opted to do the knee surgery to balance the weight, correct your posture so you don't have pressures on one side of the vertebrae so with the surgery on my knee well after I got back to Belize the vertebrae got worse but I returned to Guatemala and the therapist made some changes and that has been helping me a lot but right now I am consciously trying to balance the weight so I don't put pressures on one side of the vertebrae."
Reporter "So no back surgery?"
Jose Mai: "Not at this moment."
Reporter "In the future?"
Jose Mai: "If it gets worse yes but I am hoping it doesn't and with the knee being to 90% recovery the doctors believe that with proper therapy and changing your lifestyle you can't do things you used to do before. It could be a while before you get surgery but any bad movement or any heavy incident would just lead to pain and discomfort which will eventually end up in surgery."
Reporter "Do you feel 80% 90%?"
Jose Mai: "Right now I am at 80% I think, right now like 80%. At times I have good days I have bad days at times so that's how it goes I guess."
And while his knee is returning to form, what about his political future? Will the PM be bringing Mai back to the Cabinet?
He told us today he isn't rushing to return to cabinet until he gets the green light from his doctor.
Reporter "Have you returned today to the House of Representatives to signal to the Prime Minister that you should be returned to Cabinet?"
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South "Well there is 2 things, parliamentarian and Cabinet are two different things we are expected to be parliamentarians, return to Cabinet is the Prime Minister's decision of course I miss my job but that does not mean that I don't participate in the Ministry of Agriculture activities and to guide them in whatever I can that is my forte that is my strength that is what my knowledge and experience is in so I contribute as much as I can to the ministry and to the farming sector."
Reporter "But have you had a conversation with him even a hypothetical one about being reappointed?"
Jose Mai: "We speak weekly the Prime Minister visited my farm I think Thursday last week we had a good sit-down chat we talked about many things and I am sure he wants me back in his Cabinet but that is his decision and I am not in any hurry I want to recover well yet and very well and then we can decide that but we have a very good relationship the Prime Minister and I speak a lot about the projects in agriculture, where we should be going in the near future so we have very good conversations on this matter."
Reporter "Aren't you eager though to get back in the saddle?"
Jose Mai: "I would like to recover a bit more to ensure I don't have to go back on these long leaves, actually the last few weeks one of the doctors in Merida I saw was saying you may need to open your knee back again and I said no please no that is not an option for me right because we don't have full, full flexing of the knee yet, and it is still painful and it gets inflamed so they were saying if it doesn't improve we might have to open and manipulate. What we had to discard is that there was infection so they would take a sample and do blood test and it went well so we are just hoping that it eases on the pain and inflammation for the last 2 days I am feeling well the last two days which is good but I am doing specific therapy to see if that works and it seems to be working well."
And since being relieved of his portfolio in November of 2025, has Mai still been enjoying the perks of a minister? We're talking about the ministerial salary, the vehicle, and the security detail.
We asked him about those today:
Courtney Menzies: "During your leave, we received reports that you still have the security detail, are these perks that are awarded to you as just an area rep?"
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South "I don't know if it's perks, I only have one driver and government assigned vehicle and if you go to the records you will see that that vehicle is the least that uses fuel, I don't subscribe to that, if you see me in Orange Walk or anywhere else you will see me in my private vehicle. I do not subscribe to abuse of government vehicle and if I don't have to use it to come to Belmopan, I don't, I don't think anybody has seen me more than 3 times in my government vehicle in Orange Walk Town. And so I am conscious about that, I don't abuse it, if I need my driver, I tell him we're going to Belmopan or Belize like today but very little I use that vehicle."
Reporter: "But by right shouldn't it be returned?"
Jose Mai: "I am not sure what's the protocol."
Reporter: "And you've not cared to find out?"
Jose Mai: "No, I hadn't because I have not used the vehicle much but again that is a decision I think for the Prime Minister."
Courtney Menzies: "During your leave, your salary, has it remained at the $90,000 or has it gone down to the 38.."
Jose Mai: "It is the salary of the area representative."
Courtney Menzies: "Which is?"
Jose Mai: "I don't know. I don't remember."
Courtney Menzies: "You don't check your bank account?"
But although Mai has been out of the national spotlight, Belizeans haven't forgotten that he has been rumored to have possibly played some role in the kidnapping of Joseph Budna. It's out there on the whisper network, but Mai says it doesn't really bother him.
Reporter: "Does it bother you that there are these rumblings still linking you to the kidnapping of Budna?"
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South "Many other things bother me, not that one."
And in the midst of reports involving Budna and free zone narco activity, there were reports that Mai's U.S. visa might have come up for review. We asked him about it today:
Courtney Menzies: "Have you had any discussions with US Embassy officials regarding your US Visa?"
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South "No ma'am I have not."
Reporter: "You still have your US Visa?"
Jose Mai: "Yes so far I have my US Visa."
Reporter: "You don't intend to travel there?"
Jose Mai: "I intend to travel, you want to accompany me?"
But above the whispers, there's real work in agriculture, and it's most pressing in the sugar industry. This past sugar crop had the lowest yield in 35 years. We asked him about that, and about whether he believes the northern cane industry is a monopoly controlled by ASR/BSI - which he pounced upon.
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South "This was the lowest production in 35 years I think, I think 828,000 tonnes. It's bad. And it will get a lot worse before it gets better so my view and my advice to everybody in this sector is diversification has to occur. Sugarcane farmers with all due respect are the poorest right now in the agriculture sector and so many things that has cause that to be but yes the sugar industry is a very difficult position right now."
Courtney Menzies: "Do you feel it is a monopoly, the cane industry, because by law all the cane are directed to BSI? Wouldn't it benefit if there was another company that could provide the competition?"
Jose Mai: "Of course and I will blame you the media for that too because you only speak about monopoly of BTL but you don't speak about monopoly of the cane industry. By law we are forced to be in a monopoly because I think it's Section 61 that clearly states the first 1.5 million tonnes of sugarcane goes to BSI so you are obligated to sell to BSI. Now that section is unconstitutional and you all know it. But you the media people only speak about BTL and Smart, you forget the cane farmers. But that can be corrected easily and maybe that will open the doors for people who want to invest in something else."
Reporter: "Is this something you push for?"
Jose Mai: "I think we were fooled years ago by the English, they've fooled us into thinking sugar was the only product that could be generated, that could be profitable or that could be made from sugarcane. So everybody was thinking sugar but today it is not only that. I think energy is one of the main income streams for the cane industry. As a matter of fact some countries don't even call it sugar industry anymore, they call it a cane industry. Because there's cane, there's ethanol, alcohol, there is energy, there are candies and I think we have to diversify the case and two we have to add value to existing things. And I think that is where we have failed for a very long time."
On Monday pastor and former president of the National Evangelical Association of Belize Victor Hernandez Wagner was sentenced to a maximum total of 10 years in prison following his conviction on two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. Justice Moore ordered the sentences for all three counts to run concurrently.
Today, NEAB issued a release acknowledging the conviction of its past president, saying, quote, "it is important always that victims are placed as the top priority in situations like these…and encourage the body of Christ to pray for the victim who bravely told her story. We continue to offer prayers and support for her as she heals from this traumatic incident. The offense was unacceptable, as well as criminal…."
The 67 year old Hernandez - who recently suffered a stroke - will be eligible for parole in 5 years.
And taking you now to today's House Meeting, the item on the orders of the day that surprised the opposition was a 100 million US dollar loan motion from the government of Taiwan. The Leader of the Opposition criticized the government for more borrowing, and the area rep for Mesopotamia pointed out that the motion had no specifications for what it would be used for.
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition "Our concern is not with Taiwan clearly not but the government as the prime minister has just outlined will be able to draw down from this amount in the first instance before the end of this year 40 million US dollars. This on the heels that we had to do budget realignments to the tune of $55 million and this National Assembly is yet to get a report on what programs and initiatives had to be cut in order to facilitate that $55 million adjustment in the national budget."
Lee Mark Chang, Area Rep., Mesopotamia "Look at the motion. And what is the stated purpose? General financing, budget balancing, sound just like that, budget balancing. It's not specific to any hospital, school, highway, bridge, not a specific investment named in this motion. It says the money is to support government's overall annual financing requirements."
"If got more time to research it and I didn't get this last night I would probably do better in my research. You know when this came? Last night? I think it was after 8? After 10? After 10 when we received this. Why bring it so late? Two hundred million dollars. When I got up this morning I saw it on my phone I said oh my God. Is this the government want us to be, unprepared, so at least we could have a proper debate and so I don't have to guess what is Libor or SOFR?"
The Minister of Foreign Affairs then rose to clarify that this loan motion is nothing new - it's one that's negotiated every 5 years. Here's how he explained it.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs "Throughout those 36, 37 years, we have established a framework for economic cooperation, a bilateral economic framework for cooperation and every government regardless of which party is in power has over those 37 years negotiated a 5 year, generally a 5 year, depending on cycles, some governments are not in office for 5 years, the UDP had several, I think we had 3 elections in 7 years under the UDP. So generally 4 years, 5 year cooperation frameworks are negotiated. That is done under respective governments and this is what this is. One framework agreement has expired, it came to an end last year and government negotiated a new economic bilateral cooperation framework, this one will go until 2029. This is what it is, there is no need to create some hysteria about what is going on, it's a standard framework based on our cooperation between our two countries, between Belize and our good faith partners in development, Taiwan."
Thirteen years, that's the average number of years a child spends in the classroom, from preschool through high school. But every August, before that first bell rings, parents face another annual reality, finding the money to send their children back to school properly equipped. Jaleeza Roberts went shopping and found out what it would cost to purchase what's on your child's back to school list:
According to a Facebook poll on our 7News page, 95% of respondents claim to have seen a big difference on their bills with the recent cost of power adjustment, while only 4% said they saw no difference.
Today we asked the PUC Communications and Consumer Affairs Manager about the reports of excessive bill increases. She told us via phone that we have to remember that there have been two approved increases in electricity rates:
Sheena Garnett, Communications and Consumer Affairs Manager - PUC "The PUC recognizes these concerns, and we just wish to remind you that there have been two recent electricity-related adjustments. If you recall, one in December, I believe, 2025, an increase of approximately $0.03 per kilowatt-hour was implemented. And more recently, the PUC approved the cost of power adjustment, which is 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for August. So both of these adjustments are driven by the cost of power."
And while many complain and lament what they feel is robbery by the monopoly utility, how many are prepared to put it in writing and challenge BEL's billing directly? Garnett says that's what has to be done for consumers who want a real result:
Jules Vasquez "I think that what's happening there is a voiding of confidence in both BEL and the PUC."
Sheena Garnett, Communications and Consumer Affairs Manager - PUC "So they would first have to make a formal complaint to that specific utility service provider. And if they do not find a resolution, they did not come to an agreement, then they would bring their complaints to us, bring all their documentation, all the emails, bring their actual electricity bill over a six-month period or the period that they are, you know, unsatisfied with. And then we would go through our investigation process by, of course, reaching out to the utility service provider back and forth and come up with some form of solution."
"For those who prefer to send an email, they can to info@puc.bz, on our website we have our Consumer Affairs tab and when you go in that tab there's a complaints option and once you select it you submit what your complaint is. And it would be sent to the Consumer Affairs Office. Or you can visit us at the office or I would take some of the complaints by calls as well. And we would be back and forth. But whatever it is, whatever platform you choose to share your concern, it has to be a form of a protest which is a written complaint, right?"
"So even if you just want to pick the phone up and call, you would still need to follow up with documentation and some form of written process for us to proceed."
This morning the Social Security Board held a Mixer to give the media a preview of some of the presentations that would take place at their SSB connect event later this afternoon.
The mixer created a space for exchange between SSB and journalists to ask questions and share concerns that the public may have about the institution and its operations.
We asked Jerome Palma about some of the major misconceptions they find when it comes to the exchange of info and services between SSB and their contributors. Here's what he shared with us.
Jerome Palma, CEO, Social Security Board "Well some of misconceptions are aligned with whether benefits are being paid, you know we can start there for sure, benefits are being made substantial millions are being paid every year in terms of benefits some misconceptions are in respect to contributions how contributions should be paid in, whether everyone is contributing to the fund, how it should work and everything else. Obviously there is always concerns of investments, what are we doing with investments how it goes, the due process we feel it is important not just to say that we are investing in this particular area whether it be a bond or a debenture, equity deposit but to highlight the due process and that due process does include analysis review of recommendations that comes from an investment committee that is independent of the board you know the sign off by the board, the approval public notification and by law the public notification are needed but we also go beyond the law, we do it on our Facebook page, we send out on our website so you know we do our best to actually put the public out there but after all is that is done we still have the legal documentation to ensure the paperwork is done and critically monitoring, so we want to make sure we can highlight those for the SSB Connect we also want to dive a little deeper, dive a little deeper for some of the emerging things, things that we do consultation on, things that will impact then the fund moving forward and also to look a little beyond the numbers. We can show a surplus of 45 million and that surplus is driven by different things, it is driven by contribution revenue increasing, driven by the impact to the benefits you know we want to be able to go and look a little deeper there so SSB Connect affords us the opportunity to do that so not just a surplus of 45 and how did we get there, what changes were made in this instance 5-6-7 years ago and what we are seeing today but also to be dynamic, what are the change that may need to take place and come in the next 3-4-5 years that will impact the fund moving forward."
And while some of those presentations will discuss the level of growth SSB has seen within the past 5 years, they are also charting a way forward with investments. We asked Palma what they hope to achieve in the coming 5 years. He says they are keeping an eye on their pension payments.
Jerome Palma, CEO, Social Security Board "Well from a fund perspective I would say we are still in an accumulation phase by that I mean that it is still expected that the contribution revenue will exceed the benefit outgo at least within the next 3 to 5 years. That does not mean that we should then be or feel like, 'Oh we are safe,' it will reach a tipping point because what we are also seeing is a significant increase in the retirement benefit particularly. In 2025 alone we saw an increase of about 8 million in just pension payments which means that an additional 8 million that is not just going to be paid in one year that will be paid moving forward for the rest of life for beneficiaries, those are the streams we are seeing and if you really think about it in 3-5 years that would mean 8 million a year multiplied by 3-4-5 that turns into 35-40 million very quickly of additional benefits that the Social Security Board will be paying out. We have to prepare for those so the next 3-5 years is not just about making those payments but recognizing them, preparing and then moving beyond that because pension payments won't be for 3-5 years in many instances it may be 10, 15, 20 years or even more."
Today Cailyn Ramclam returned to Belize after immigration authorities in Kingston, Jamaica, had problems with her passport and denied her entry.
She was placed on a Copa Airlines flight back to Panama, where she spent the night in a holding area at Tocumen airport, and then sent back to Belize this morning. Her passport was kept by the airline until she arrived in Belize today and was not returned to her during that time.
We spoke with Cailyn after she was sent home form a sister CARICOM nation:
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Over the past two days, consumers have been venting on Facebook about the sharp spikes in their electricity bills. Some reported seeing their bills triple.
"Certainly it's something that myself as a citizen and more importantly as Prime Minister, I'm concerned. I've already spoken to Minister Chebat and I've asked him to meet with Executive Chairman Young and the people from BEL and PUC and to be able to meet with the media hopefully early next week, Monday, Tuesday, to discuss that and so it is something that we are taking a look at right now."
And while Belizeans are feeling an extra bite with the increase in electricity rates, bus operators are saying they're only willing to absorb the gas pain for two more days before they go on strike.
Last night, we told you about the plight of the long serving butchery, Jun's Meat Shop, that had its locks changed by the Belize City Council at the Michael Finnegan Market. This comes just days after the murder of their worker, Tyrel Robinson.
"The Belize City Council, I would hope that they would have the knowledge that you cannot simply if it is you want to evict somebody from a property or want to eject somebody from a property, not even the City Council has the power to simply go and eject somebody from a property, remove them, stop them from operating a business which they have operated for 20 years. If it is, they are saying that they are in breach of the law, then you go to a court of law, and that court of law will then determine whether or not, in fact, you have the right to remove somebody who has lawfully occupied a property for 20 years from that property. They did no such thing. They unilaterally, and we say unlawfully, and without any authority, removed and have stopped my clients from doing their lawful business."
Jose Mai, Area Rep., OW South
But although Mai has been out of the national spotlight, Belizeans haven't forgotten that he has been rumored to have possibly played some role in the kidnapping of Joseph Budna. It's out there on the whisper network, but Mai says it doesn't really bother him.
But above the whispers, there's real work in agriculture, and it's most pressing in the sugar industry. This past sugar crop had the lowest yield in 35 years. We asked him about that, and about whether he believes the northern cane industry is a monopoly controlled by ASR/BSI - which he pounced upon.
On Monday pastor and former president of the National Evangelical Association of Belize Victor Hernandez Wagner was sentenced to a maximum total of 10 years in prison following his conviction on two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. Justice Moore ordered the sentences for all three counts to run concurrently.
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition 
"Look at the motion. And what is the stated purpose? General financing, budget balancing, sound just like that, budget balancing. It's not specific to any hospital, school, highway, bridge, not a specific investment named in this motion. It says the money is to support government's overall annual financing requirements."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs 
According to a Facebook poll on our 7News page, 95% of respondents claim to have seen a big difference on their bills with the recent cost of power adjustment, while only 4% said they saw no difference.
Sheena Garnett, Communications and Consumer Affairs Manager - PUC
"Well some of misconceptions are aligned with whether benefits are being paid, you know we can start there for sure, benefits are being made substantial millions are being paid every year in terms of benefits some misconceptions are in respect to contributions how contributions should be paid in, whether everyone is contributing to the fund, how it should work and everything else. Obviously there is always concerns of investments, what are we doing with investments how it goes, the due process we feel it is important not just to say that we are investing in this particular area whether it be a bond or a debenture, equity deposit but to highlight the due process and that due process does include analysis review of recommendations that comes from an investment committee that is independent of the board you know the sign off by the board, the approval public notification and by law the public notification are needed but we also go beyond the law, we do it on our Facebook page, we send out on our website so you know we do our best to actually put the public out there but after all is that is done we still have the legal documentation to ensure the paperwork is done and critically monitoring, so we want to make sure we can highlight those for the SSB Connect we also want to dive a little deeper, dive a little deeper for some of the emerging things, things that we do consultation on, things that will impact then the fund moving forward and also to look a little beyond the numbers. We can show a surplus of 45 million and that surplus is driven by different things, it is driven by contribution revenue increasing, driven by the impact to the benefits you know we want to be able to go and look a little deeper there so SSB Connect affords us the opportunity to do that so not just a surplus of 45 and how did we get there, what changes were made in this instance 5-6-7 years ago and what we are seeing today but also to be dynamic, what are the change that may need to take place and come in the next 3-4-5 years that will impact the fund moving forward."
