Economy - Greater Belize Media

Coast Guard Celebrates 19th Anniversary with New Station

Today, the Belize Coast Guard celebrated its nineteenth anniversary by opening a brand-new station in Big Creek Village. This new facility will enhance their patrols along the southern sea and waterways. Since its inception in 2005, the Coast Guard has continually expanded, adding more boats, personnel, and training programs, with stations now spread across the country. News Five’s Marion Ali was at the ceremony and filed this report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

The Belize Coast Guard marked its nineteenth anniversary today by opening a brand-new station in Big Creek. This state-of-the-art facility enhances security for Belize’s southern waters and provides private security to the nearby Big Creek Port through a joint venture. Commandant Rear Admiral Elton Bennett shared more details about this exciting development.

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“This project here is a joint venture This project here is a joint venture with Belize Coast Guard, the government of Belize and the port of Big Creek. So they leased us this property, two acres property, for us to be able to collaborate better along with them. So our mere presence here we’ll need some of the demands that they have in place. Those international regulations, such as the International Ships and Ports Security Code, that they must have some elements of security system within the port for it to meet international standards. By the Coast Guard being here and for us to be able to provide water side security and water side patrols, that in turn adds to their security credibility.”

Marion Ali

“Because you have to give so much of your service or time to that private entity, would it take away from, if in the case there is an emergency elsewhere in the area?”

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett

“Very good question. What we’ve done is to develop a specific station that is called station Big Creek that is dedicated to supporting the port in different areas more than security, but for boarding, immigration support, customs support, and police support. So there’s a dedicated team for that. And then all the other Coast Guard functions continue to be conducted out at sea. So it’s a very necessary thing for the Belize Coast Guard to participate in this because the port is a vital infrastructure to the nation. All our training are international professional standards training. So, I have all the confidence that these sailors, these seamen who are here, they know their job, they’re always on alert, so whatever call they would get, they would be able to respond very quickly.”

The Minister of National Defense and Border Security, Florencio Marin Jr., announced that the Coast Guard will continue to see infrastructural and other upgrades at various bases. These improvements aim to better equip seafarers for any situation that may arise.

Florencio Marin Jr.

“These improvements aim to better equip seafarers for any situation that may arise. And we also have to do with other improvements in the bases. I mean, even the current base right on the main base still has a lot of improvements we need to do. We’re trying to improve our personnel as you’ve heard the admiral um I’ve spoken in his speech. Alright, we have a lot of plans that is ongoing and developing. Because you’ve noticed the threat keeps changing and we have to be able to be able to be prepared for them. Now, I mean, we’ve noticed we’ve had a significant decrease in the air traffic of interests. Significant decrease. But there’s also still the threat out there in our maritime waters. The Admiral reported what happened with Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. So we need to be prepared if at any point these things start coming into our waters.”

Stann Creek West Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson believes the new facility will boost security and lighten some of the responsibilities currently on his shoulders.

Rodwell Ferguson, Area Representative, Stann Creek West

“I would get the call from different organizations, different communities, and say this is happening in my community illegally. What I do, I call whatever uniform forces that should respond, either the police or the BDF or the Coast Guard. to respond to a particular issue. But I try not to interfere, it’s their job, I just pass on the message to them, and they do what they have to do. With this facility, especially with the port nearby, and the open sea, I believe this will definitely mitigate the amount of activities on the sea, and I feel that this is a potential area to make sure the entire country has some safe activities going on.”

Bennett says the facility was built at a cost of around one million dollars and was outfitted for another half a million dollars. Marion Ali for News Five.

Belize’s Foreign Exchange Holding on the Rise

Foreign exchange is vital for a small, open economy like Belize. Trading goods with other countries requires foreign currency, making Belize’s foreign exchange assets crucial. According to Central Bank Governor Kareem Michael, the country’s foreign holdings are in good shape. Right now, the entire banking system holds one point nine billion dollars in foreign exchange assets. Governor Michael shared more details during Wednesday’s Central Bank press conference.

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank

“Currently the foreign exchange assets of the entire banking system, those held by commercial banks and those of the Central Bank, stands at one point nine billion. And of this total the pool of official reserves by the Central Bank totals one billion, equivalent to four months of imports, comfortably above the three months benchmark. In contrast the pool of reserve held by the domestic banks are just under Central Bank’s one billion, at nine hundred million. And, this is the highest it has ever been on record. Factors driving this performance are tourism leading the way at one point two billion, up almost eleven percent for the year to date, January to September. Export Revenue is up marginally by point one percent or ten basis points and total seven hundred and sixty-three million, up to September. FDI very strong for the first three quarters of the year, by four-four percent, up one hundred and ninety-five point four million. BPOs helps to explain some of the labor market’s pressures or tightness, totals a hundred and sixty-nine point one million and up seven point four percent. Remittances up small, one point two percent, two hundred and twenty-two million. And loan disbursements, I don’t mind this one being down at all, fifteen point seven percent and total a hundred and forty-nine point four million dollars.”

Central Bank Strengthen Credit Union Regulatory Framework

Central Bank Governor Kareem Michael also highlighted the ongoing efforts with credit unions nationwide. Since 2005, when the Central Bank’s governor was appointed as the registrar of credit unions and given regulatory and supervisory authority, Michael’s team has been busy. They’ve been working hard to strengthen the regulatory framework and liquidate inactive credit unions.

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank

“The Central Bank has also been working to bolster the resilience of the credit union sector. The entire financial sector has had to adapt with the evolving economic landscape and the Central Bank has undertaken initiatives to build credit union resilience and to enhance competitiveness. In 2005 the Central Bank assumed responsibility for the regulation and supervision of credit unions when the Central Bank’s governor was designated registrar of credit unions. Since then the Central Bank has made strides to address laxities in regulatory oversight and we have seen credit unions enhance their footprint in the sector with an asset growth of over one billion since two thousand six along with expanding their range of products and services. Redrafting credit union legislation ensures that regulatory frameworks keep pace with industry developments. Our second approach is to liquidate long inactive defunct credit unions. The credit union has identified nineteen nonoperational credit unions and have published a notice of liquidation.”

Decreased Banking Fees and Charges for Financial Inclusion

A few months back, domestic banks decided to lower their ATM withdrawal fees and online transfer fees. They also cut costs for account closures, maintenance fees, and early loan payouts. However, they did hike up fees for over-the-counter withdrawals and cashing checks. But are banks making more money from these increased fees? According to Michael, it’s unlikely, as most customers have shifted away from using checks and over-the-counter withdrawals.

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank

“I will say that the increases on this side should be less than the overall activity within the financial system. So, the way how online transactions have been growing and growing exponentially, versus how much people actually want to go into a bank and wait in line over the counter. I think it is slowly sinking in with those people who are still using checks that it is not the way to go. There are better ways to conduct financial transactions. But, I am not the one to tell somebody who has his entire system built around checks to move away from checks. It is unfortunate that there was a spike on the other end. But our objective is financial inclusion and increased access to services within the financial system and when we talk about services, more efficient and digital forms of payment. And one of the other projects which we talk about the next time is our file payments project. I want everything to be on the access from your phone. That is what we should be doing and moving towards.”

Belize’s Real GDP Growth Rates Outperforms Global Growth Rate

We begin our newscast this evening with welcome news from the financial sector. The Central Bank of Belize held a press conference earlier today to update the public on its operations and the nation’s economic standing. Governor Kareem Michael kicked things off by highlighting a remarkable rise in G.D.P. per person from 2020 to 2023. This figure represents the country’s economic output per person. Back in 2020, the G.D.P. per person was ten thousand, five hundred dollars. Fast forward three years, and it has jumped by five thousand, five hundred dollars. This means that each person is contributing significantly more to the G.D.P. now than they were three years ago. This impressive growth is reflected in Belize’s G.D.P. growth rate, which the Central Bank says is the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, and even surpasses the global growth rate.

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank

“Today we can confidently say that since the onset of the pandemic and these conditional external shocks, our economy has fully recovered. Indeed, real GDP for a person in 2023 was above what would have been implied by a continuation of pre-pandemic levels. If we didn’t have the shock, the dotted line here shows that real GDP per capita would have been somewhere around thirteen thousand five hundred per citizen per person within the population. As it is, we are some two thousand dollars above that at fifteen thousand, five hundred. On an annual basis, the Central Bank projects that the economy will grow to about seven percent in 2024. This annual growth outpaced the IMF’s projected 2024 growth rates for several Central American and Caribbean countries and is well above the average of two point one percent expected overall.”

High Cost of Food Locally Now Main Driver of Inflation

Despite the significant post-pandemic boost in the country’s G.D.P., Belize is still wrestling with inflation. However, there’s been a shift in what’s driving this inflation. Previously, Belize was importing inflation. Now, according to the Central Bank, over sixty percent of Belize’s inflation is influenced by domestic prices, particularly the cost of locally produced food.

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank

“Inflation has retreated from its 2022 peak of six-point three percent. We are at the red dotted line, to three-point six percent. It is expected to dip further to around three percent below in 2025. This range may be the new normal, two to three percent. Inflation experience has not been unique to Belize, but all countries have grappled with higher inflation since 2021. We see that in 2021, and 2022 inflation was largely externally driven, imported through fuel and other imported food items. This accounted for sixty-five percent of inflation. This trend flipped in 2023. With increases in the prices of domestically produced food items alone contributing to forty-four-point two percent of inflation. Adding, in services and domestically generated inflation accounted for sixty-two percent of inflation in 2023. This will persist in 2024 with the domestic component largely reflecting local food cost, restaurant food cost, and to a lesser extent home rental costs contributing to sixty-three percent of total inflation.”

Eradicating Single-use Plastic on the Campuses of Belize

At the beginning of the year, Wesley Junior College jumped into the Plastic Tide Turners Challenge, a worldwide youth initiative aimed at tackling plastic pollution by spreading awareness and taking action in their communities. Teaming up with the Sea of Life Organization, students got tech-savvy, using technology to clean up their campus and conduct waste audits. Fast forward nearly a year, and the school is making impressive strides toward eliminating single-use plastics on campus. We visited the school today to catch up on their progress. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with story.

Britney Gordon

Wesley Junior College is making great progress in cutting down on single-use plastics on campus. Back in January, students rolled up their sleeves for a campus cleanup and used the Trash Blitz app to track the most common litter. Since then, they’ve installed a refillable water station and stopped selling plastic water bags on campus. Paulita Bennett-Martin, the Director of Programs at Sea of Life, shared that they’ve conducted four Trash Blitz exercises since then, and the results are looking very promising.

Paulita Bennett-Martin, Director of Programs, Sea of Life

“We’ve done four waste audits on the campus and back last time you were here, we were finding hundreds of the shilling water or ideals pouches, right? And now I will say that number has decreased dramatically. I can’t give that number because we’re gonna have a report in February that tracks waste across the nation. But we’re seeing huge improvements to the amount of single use plastic water pollution on campus. And we’re also starting to see more awareness of plastic pollution as a whole because we’re also incorporating murals on the campus. We’re also doing classroom education. So there’s a few different things happening in addition to the refillable campus.”

To further increase awareness about the projects, the school partnered with local artist Keon Griffith, who was commissioned to paint three murals on the outside of the school. He has been working on the murals for about a month.

Keon Griffith, Artist

“It’s more like a give back type of stuff. So I asked her that, yes, I know you want a concept with this, but I think instead of formulating a concept, let’s just go on the school grounds and engage with these students and Let me bring in a photographer to capture these pictures so I can fully showcase my talent and fully be comfortable with the style that I do so we can have the best results partnering for this campaign. So that’s what we’re doing out here. So there is real students, actual students that goes to the school here. It’s on, it’s plastered on the wall, big, lifelike. And they love so far. They love the interaction is nice with the students engaging with the mural passing, identifying their classmates, so it’s nice.”

A key part of the project is getting young people excited about conservation. Fourth-form student Kayla Choc shares that she’s made a big effort to cut down on single-use plastics in her daily life.

Kayla Choc, Student, Wesley Junior College

“I’ve grown to know that single-use plastic is making our environment unhealthy, where it’s an unhealthy space to learn in, and if we have a healthier space to learn in, we can be more open-minded about what’s going on. And not only that, but we’re against this, we’re, our school is right across by the sea. It’s our neighbor. So we want to not only think about us, But think about the sea life. So those are some stuff that I’ve learned.”

Tyrone Harris, the Head of the Science Department, assured us that the campus water is top-notch, thanks to a reverse-osmosis process that filters out all sediments and purifies it. Plus, the school has exciting plans to install a second water fountain in the coming months.

Tyrone Harris, Department of Science, Wesley Junior College

“We definitely want them to be more aware and so it’s the goal of having them being aware of having a clean environment, having participating in conservation and also being an institution that is near the sea, have a care for the marine ecosystems and the flora and the fauna that play a vital role in us surviving, providing food and also jobs as well.”

With more funding, Sea of Life hopes to expand this project to other schools across the country. Britney Gordon for News Five.

Tackling Belize’s Pollution Problem Through Technology

Screwworm Detected in Mexico; What does it Mean for Belize?

On Sunday, the Mexican government announced that the U.S. has hit the pause button on importing Mexican cattle. This decision came after a case of New World screwworm was found in the lakeside town of Catazaja, located in southern Chiapas. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shared that Mexico’s top vet had alerted them about a screwworm found in a cow at a checkpoint near the Guatemala border. These pesky maggots sneak in through open wounds and feast on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The USDA cautioned that these infestations can be tricky to spot initially but can show up as growing wounds, creamy larvae, and signs of discomfort. So, what does this mean for Belize and its cattle industry? Earlier today, we had a chat with Fermin Blanco, the country rep for OIRSA in Belize, to get the scoop.

On the phone: Fermin Blanco, Country Representative, OIRSA

“The detection of that screwworm fly in Mexico has put everybody on alert because of damages that it causes, but that ban that the US puts on Mexico, that stays between both countries. In our case, we export to Mexico. Belize is still free of screwworm, so our protocols for exportation remains the same until there is a detection in Belize then the whole protocol will change and they will add in more restrictions. Since CENASICA knew of the detection in Guatemala, they have heightened their protocols, they have increased their inspections and sanitation and everything that it’s kind of difficult for export from Guatemala to Mexico, but because Guatemala has reported officially the presence of the screwworm. Belize has not, up to now, we are still free. In the region, the OIRSA region, El Salvador and Belize are still free, so our protocols for export to Mexico remains the same, unless there is a detection which we don’t have at the moment.”

Isani Cayetano

“What changes in respect of the protocols should there be a detection in Belize?”

Fermin Blanco

“CENASICA has indicated that they might heighten sanitary measures which will include each animal being inspected and has to be certified free of any wound, any ticks, any flies that can attract the flies. Plus, they’ll have to spray the animals with insecticides, including an ivermectin injection to guarantee that the fly does not travel with the animals. That protocol is not in place for Belize. That protocol has been placed for animals in Guatemala that’s coming in from that area to Mexico.”

Crooked Tree Parent Says Students are Struggling to get to School

Students in Crooked Tree Village are having a tough time getting to school. Last week, during our extensive coverage of the flooding across Belize caused by Tropical Storm Sara, we showed you how residents had to use boats to get in and out of the village. This week, the struggle continues, and it’s the students who are feeling it the most. Today, we spoke with Steve Anthony Perriott, a Crooked Tree resident and parent of a student at Edward P. York High School. He shared his hopes for his child and all the other students in the community.

Steve Anthony Perriott, Resident, Crooked Tree

“It’s just getting around the village around the village. It’s the idea that life stops for us, literally, when we have to get Coast Guard and BDF to come into the village. First of all, we want to say enough respect and thank you to the Coast Guard and to the BDF for coming every time. Respect to the MIDH too, because they raised the road up to five feet in some places. And even with the road raised, the water is like two and a half feet in some places above the road. The reason why that is because we have two small bridges. Sixteen feet of opening to flush out this whole lagoon. That’s not enough. It’s a half a mile lagoon, so we need a better drainage for the lagoon. What happened is that I heard the chairman mention that, is it, what’s the place back there? New River or something? That could be a drainage for crooked tree but that’s blocked. So what he’s proposing is that we dig a channel so that could help drain crooked tree. Because the road is higher, the water come in even more, into the village. Normally, before the road was raised, when the water got to a level, the Audubon building used to be the place for the Coast Guard and the BDF. Now what we find out is that, because the roads, the road has been raised, when the flood come, the water come in all the way to the Baptist Church. So now, that should be designated. for the BDF and Coast Guard in times of emergency. The next thing is with the kids. These kids have to get up at three o’clock every morning. They have to get out there four thirty to try to get a boat. There’s like sixty kids at least. Now, a boat carries twenty. One carry eight and one carry six. And for a few days, you know, the kids have been missing the boat. I believe the chairman along with the Coast Guard and the BDF, they worked out something so that the kids are getting there on time. But the problem is they shouldn’t even have to go to school in any of the rural areas or any place that have flooding like this. The kids should be getting home schooling, you know, because if you get up at three o’clock by the time you get to school, you know, you’re in no way for one to learn.”

Crooked Tree Resident Pleads for Long-Term Flood Relief Efforts

While the residents of Crooked Tree appreciate the government’s efforts to ease the challenges of getting in and out of the village, they’re still hoping for long-term solutions. Resident Steve Anthony Perriott shared that villagers face significant hardships after every storm. He emphasized the need for better solutions to reduce the struggles faced by the younger generations.

Steve Anthony Perriott, Resident, Crooked Tree

“The kids were trying to get to school because the Ministry of Education failed to put out any directive on the kids that are in the flooded areas. So they had kids getting up, lining up out there, you know, bare feet and eventually some of them missed the bus or they missed the boat. So that was a problem. But again, we act surprised. And when I say we, I mean everybody in flooded areas. We act surprised when this happen. This is happening a lot. So, I watch people trying to figure out where the water gonna go. We know where it’s gonna go. We know how long it’s gonna take to get there. But every time the water go down, we forget about it. We go about, and the next time it happen, we surprised again.”

Should Crooked Tree Lagoon Connect to New River?