Fuel Prices Creep Up; Drivers Feel the Weekly Squeeze

Fuel prices are hitting Belizeans where it hurts, right at the pump. Across Belize City, drivers say they’re paying more than ever just to get from point A to point B, turning everyday commutes into a growing financial strain. What used to be a routine fill-up is now forcing many to rethink travel, budgets, and even daily routines. Tonight, we take you on the road to see how rising fuel costs are affecting the lives of ordinary commuters. Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Today we are conducting a small nonscientific survey in Belize City to find out how much money people use to spend on fuel per week before as prices went up, versus how much they are spending now with the high cost of fuel.

 

Belize City Resident #1

“Barrow was very good, not these madaf***a yah..sorry bout that f**k bway. Ih rough, rough, rough.

 

You can feel the frustration at the pumps.

 

Belize City Resident #1

“Ten dollars gas dah nothing now. You look at it like lee bit.”

 

We spoke with more than a dozen motorists.

 

Belize City Resident #2

“Right now I usually spend a lee fifty every two three days, but ih feel like right now I the spend that every day and a half. For me I am someone that always the move round. So I feel like I the feel the lick everyday. Ih mek I feel bad, because ih look like we have no better the come. Ih look like dah only worse so if I had the extra money and a tanker ih sound like better I invest some money and store my gas.”

 

Fuel hikes are quietly draining wallets across the country. Since mid-March, drivers say they’re now spending an extra ten to fifty dollars a week just to keep their vehicles running. Even motorcycle users, who normally spend less, report paying about ten dollars more weekly. It’s a steady increase that’s adding up fast for anyone who depends on the road every day.

 

Belize City Resident #3

“I does put in eighty for the week for my vehicle. And now I deh about one ten a week. For my cycle I does put in twenty for the week. Now I deh dah like bout thirty on the cycle for a week.”

 

Belize City Resident #2

“For we job dah for move round and cut bout. Can’t park, he dah wah lock smith, I dah wah entrepreneur. When someone locks up their car and tell me they are at Save U, I have to go there.”

 

In one case, a mother says that before the price hikes she spent about eighty dollars a week on fuel to carry children from Belama to schools across the city every week regularly. Now she says costs jumped seventy dollars weekly, bringing her bill to one hundred fifty. In another case, a pickup driver who travels for work says his weekly fuel costs have climbed from about three hundred dollars to more than four hundred dollars.

 

Belize City Resident #4

“I use to spend fifty dollars on fuel and it use to last me a whole week, because I use it daily. I dah from Orange Walk. I come way to Belize City. I put gas daily to catch the bus at terminal and reach work. But right now with the fuel prices, two days it last now. It really the hurt mih. We need to do something about it. I don’t know if the prime minister need to cut more taxes or what more need to cut. But right now ih the hurt we big time.”

 

Today at the pumps, many motorists are choosing premium fuel, since for the first time in years, the price of premium fuel has dropped below the cost of regular fuel. So, whether it’s ten dollars or even over one hundred dollars more, the reality at the pumps clearly shows rising prices are directly squeezing pockets and reducing overall purchasing power. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

 

Dealers Cry Foul as Government Scraps 20-Year Fuel Formula

 

Fuel dealers are turning up the pressure, and they’ve put the clock on government. Tonight, the Belize Service Dealers Association says the Briceño administration has just seven days to answer its concerns over a major shake-up in how gas stations earn. Earlier this week, we told you about the dispute. Dealers say government moved on its own to scrap a pricing formula that’s been in place for more than twenty years. Under a 2004 agreement, service stations earned a ten percent margin based on the landed cost of fuel. That’s now gone. In its place is a flat rate, and dealers say that change hits them hard. They insist they raised objections before the decision was finalized. Despite early consultations, they claim government pushed ahead anyway, ignoring their concerns. Now, operators warn the new structure will squeeze profits and make it harder to cover basic costs like rent and wages. They also point to the original agreement, which they say requires both sides to sign off on any changes. With tensions rising, the association has reportedly started seeking legal advice as it weighs its next move.

 

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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