Fuel Prices Ignite Clash in House as Lee Mark Presses PM on Rising Costs

Fuel prices and the ripple effect they’re having on everyday expenses stirred lively exchange in the House of Representatives on Thursday, as the cost-of-living debate took a more pointed turn. Seizing the moment at adjournment, Mesopotamia Area Representative Lee Mark Chang went straight at the Briceño administration, pressing for answers on soaring fuel costs and how they’re driving up prices from groceries to basic services. Chang didn’t stop there, he also put the government’s 2026 investment budget under the microscope, questioning whether those millions could be better spent easing the financial strain on Belizean households.

 

Lee Mark Chang, Area Representative, Mesopotamia

“And let me be clear Mr. Speaker, nobody is against development, nobody is against roads. But development must have priorities. Road alone cannot solve hardships, we cannot eat streets. A family struggling to buy food cannot feed their children with asphalt. A taxi operator cannot pay their bills with ribbon cutting. That is economy of Belize right Mr. Speaker, all of those are economy of Belize and the transportation cost. A farmer cannot move produce with press releases. And so I ask this government, in a time of fuel crisis, in a time of rising cost of living, in a time when bus strikes brought this country to a stand-still, is this the right time to be spending six hundred and six million dollars in Capital projects?”

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“Mr. Speaker, I think if you go and look at the reality the world is facing, is based on something that you look at any television station giving news you would know. But looking at that presentation it seems that we need to share some news on what is going on in the world now. There has been a situation in the Gulf of Hormuz, that is near to Iran, there has been a conflict going on there and it has created a problem with world prices for oil.”

 

The Government of Belize recently committed to resume publishing notices of fuel increase.

 

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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