Could BEL’s $20 Million Debt Leave Belize in the Dark?

CFE has not threatened to pull the plug on Belize, at least not yet. But with BEL owing the Mexican supplier twenty million dollars, Chairman Lynn Young says the consequences of continued nonpayment are clear. If BEL fails to meet its obligations within the required timeframe, CFE could eventually discontinue service. That possibility raises new questions about BEL’s finances and the security of Belize’s imported electricity supply.

 

Lynn Young, Chairman, BEL

“Right now we owe them something around twenty million Belize dollars, overdue.”

 

Reporter

“And does this keep accumulating?”

 

Lynn Young

“We monthly have to look at different suppliers, because we have diesel we also have to pay. I can tell you that diesel alone in September was running about eighty percent of our collections. That is just in diesel. So in the month of September we had to turn to the government of pay CFE. Currently some of the over due to CFE is because we cant get U.S. dollars to pay them. So we have enough Belize dollars to meet the June and July Bill. Those are still outstanding and the August. The money we got some assistance from the government to pay those bills. Like I said the cost of fuel is affecting everybody, and it is putting a strain in the U.S. dollars economy.”

 

Reporter

“Is CFE threatening to cut out BEL if you do not pay substantially towards this debt?”

 

Lynn Young

“They have not threatened to cut us out directly. Under the contract we have with them they can make a demand for outstanding payment and if we don’t meet the demand by a certain time they have a right to discontinue service.”

 

Chairman Young says BEL has a meeting scheduled with CFE tomorrow to discuss some of these issues.

 

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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