Opposition Challenges BEL Share Purchase

Government says it wants to invest in Belize’s power future, but the opposition says taxpayers are being asked to write a seventy-three-million-dollar cheque without enough answers. The proposal would see government purchase additional shares in Belize Electricity Limited using money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Prime Minister John Briceño introduced the plan during Friday’s House Meeting, presenting it as an investment in the national utility. But Opposition Leader Tracy Panton is questioning whether the move is an urgent necessity or a bailout for BEL, arguing that the public deserves a clearer explanation before government moves ahead.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“The Belize Electricity Investment Bill 2026 seeks to provide the legal authority for the Government of Belize to be able to acquire a significant equity interest in Belize Electricity Limited, BEL th4rough the purchase of eight million, one hundred and thirty-eight thousand and twenty convertible, redeemable, shares. This bill seeks authorization for Government to buy shares in BEL with funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.”

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of Opposition

“BEL belongs overwhelmingly to the people of Belize. And we want it to succeed. GOB owns sixty-six percent of the shares and SSB owns a little over thirty percent. This debate is about something more fundamental. It is about whether parliament is being asked to authorize the expenditure of seventy-three million dollars of tax payers money without being provided all the information necessary to discharge that constitutional responsibility.”

 

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities

“What the leader of the opposition fails to admit is that Belize’s strong economic growth is placing a significant increase in electricity demand, requiring BEL to makes substantial investments to expand and modernize the country’s transmission and distribution network.”

 

 

The bill is expected to be debated inside the Senate on Tuesday.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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