Energy Minister Discuss New Solar Legislation  

We also spoke with Minister of Energy Michel Chebat, who weighed in on the advantages of the new solar legislation.

 

Michel Chebat, Minister of Energy 

“The new legislation is actually geared at opening up the energy market and the energy sector and it is exactly intended for that so that people who are now using solar panels on their homes, in their businesses, may have an opportunity to sell the excess into the national grid.  So it‘s quite the opposite of the statement.”

 

Reporter

But the new legislation will discourage the uptake of grid tied to solar in Belize.  Your response to that…

 

Michel Chebat

“No, absolutely not.  It is intended to have the excess going to the grid. I think this is, for the first time in Belize, in the history of Belize you see a piece of legislation that is actually opening up the energy sector and I think that is important because it has been dominated so far by BEL.  And so, what this legislation does it really opens up the field for even new power producers.  It opens it up so that people at their homes, individually, people who want to use for their businesses, people who want to use for their industrial sites can now link into the national grid, and so, for the first time in our country we are seeing where the energy market is being opened up to the entire public.”

PM Briceno is Optimistic About CFE Meeting

As we’ve reported, Prime Minister John Briceño is headed to Cancun, Mexico on Saturday, following an official funeral for former Toledo East Area Representative Mike Espat.  The purpose of the weekend visit is to meet with Mexican officials in an effort to resolve the energy crisis that has gripped the country over the past two weeks.  Accompany him for the meeting are officials from Belize Electricity Limited.  When we spoke with PM Briceño earlier today, he shared his optimism that CFE will be able to provide Belize with at least sixty megawatts of power.

 

Isani Cayetano

“PM, you’re heading to Mexico once again this weekend to meet with CFE representatives regarding our current energy crisis.  Is there any optimism on your end that you will be able to return with something favorable for us as consumers?”

 

             Prime Minister John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I’m very optimistic and excited about what can be accomplished.  I think, the most important thing is that I believe at this point, I spoke with CEO Mencias yesterday.  We managed to get the Mile Eight, on the Western Highway, generator going.  Once that is working well we’ll be able to barely hold on but we’ll be able to do well with our energy needs, we’ll be able to meet them and when we get the San Pedro twenty-one megawatts generator going.  That will also ensure that we can be self-sufficient.  But let us not forget that when we connect to CFE there are certain hours of the day, like around two or three o’clock in the morning, we can get energy at two cents and three cents per kilowatt.  So the plan is that we are going ask CFE if they could increase the maximum that they can sell to Belize.  Presently, it’s at fifty-five megawatts and we’re hoping that we can get that at least to sixty, because when they can give us the sixty because it’s cheaper, we buy from them and then when it’s more expensive we can switch over.  So it’s a matter of being that balancing act to ensure that we could get the best possible rates for our consumers.”

Rapid Economic Growth Requires Energy Security

Belize’s high energy demand is the result of a growth spurt that has surpassed the existing supply that is being fed to the national grid.  It’s a gift and a curse.  While the economy continues to grow, the need for additional energy is not being met.  Here’s the prime minister on the pending solar alternative.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“What has happened to both the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize is that, for instance, we are victims of our success.  Our economy has been growing so fast that it has been difficult for BEL to be able to keep up with the energy use of the country.  We are presently using the projections of 2028.  That’s where BEL projected that in 2028 we are going to be, here we are in 2024.  Our government, from the day we got in we started to… we knew it was coming, but we did not expect that it was going to happen in 2024.  So we’ve been working on other projects, solar in particular, and a battery.  I think it’s a forty-five megawatt battery storage with the World Bank.  With the Saudis, when we spoke to them, they immediately said yes, we’re prepared to lend you, it’s seventy-seven million, I think, US dollars.  Once they approve that, dehn noh wahn write you wahn check, then we have to come up with the actual designs and place where we are going to put it. The area has been identified, it’s going to be in Bomba, you know, by the Maskall area, and we expect that by July or August of next year, the first twenty megawatts is going to be online.  Now BEL’s challenge is to ensure that they continue to work on improving their transmission lines.”

Overnight Without Water in Belize City, Adding to Utility Woes

The entire Belize City was shut off from access to running water from early afternoon on Thursday all the way into Friday morning. When the water began flowing once again on Friday morning, it was only to some homes and the water pressure was extremely low. This morning, the Belize Water Services Limited notified its customers in Belize City that the water pressure would remain low up until six p.m. for the entire city. Residents in Ladyville and Lord’s Bank were also affected, though the outage was not as extensive for most of those residents. The issue, according to a release from B.W.S.L., was a break on the twenty-four-inch main service line that provides water to Belize City. According to B.W.S.L., the leak was caused by ongoing power fluctuations. They explained that the fluctuations inadvertently created a twenty-three-foot break in the service line. According to B.W.S.L., crew members worked through the night to fix the pipe and restore water. This morning, we visited the location where the work was being conducted. We also spoke with a couple residents.

 

                  Voice of: Carlos Cortes

Voice of: Carlos Cortes, Ladyville Resident

“Ih just buss and start srpay by itself and that was all I see.”

 

Paul Lopez

“And how flooded was it?”

 

Voice of: Carlos Cortes

“It was flooded for real and all of our material, right now we need to go work and all our sand wash weh. All the stand weh and we need to go deliver sand right now and cant do that. To me they did a good job. They come quick and respond quick and thing, because what they took an hour for the truck to come and start work. They did a good job. Ih nuh really affect me but I had to go buy refill water to bathe, cause I drink crystal water so Ih never really affect me.”

 

Paul Lopez

“So you showered with crystal water.”

 

Voice of Carlos Cortes

“Refill water, not crystal water, refill three dollars.”

Paul Lopez

“So it was a desperate situation.”

 

Voice of: Carlos Cortes

“Yes, I need fih guh bathe with the kind of work I do out here. I carry cement and them kind of things, I need fih guh bather.”

 

Voice of: Shayanne Garcia, Ladyville Resident

“Yesterday afternoon we saw water like sometime after one. And then we realize that they had a pipe that broke below ground right in front of the restaurant fine dining. The management and supervisor reached out to the boss and the called the BWS truck and they started working on the issue.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How much water was coming from underground at that time?”

 

Voice of: Shayanne Garcia

“A lot, because the entire front of the restaurant was flood and then the water came adjacent to the street, from the restaurant and went down from the back alley, so it was a lot of water. I live in an upstairs house at Lord’s Bank and mein I was so tired and I wanted to take a shower but I was not able to take a shower because we didn’t have any water. So I had to wait until late yesterday evening to take a shower.”

Tackling Road Safety Concerns as Fatal Accidents Increase

In April, there was an increase in road traffic accidents across the country, many of which involved the deaths of motorcyclists. It’s alarming, and the Ministry of Economic Development wants to curb the number of traffic fatalities. A program specifically designed to spread awareness of motorcycle safety is expected to be launched soon. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the first look.

 

Survivor

Survivor, Road Traffic Accident

“I was on the roundabout heading home, when I saw this car just merging into the roundabout as well.  I thought it would stop as it’s supposed to, right? But it didn’t stop, so that’s when it hit the back of my bike. Then I went flying into the air, and at that moment I, the only thing I could do was put my hands down to protect myself as well as I can. Because of the lack of protective gear. I suffered some really deep cuts, some abrasions, really bad scrapes, the nurses really had to clean me out really well. They had to scrub all my injuries. That was one of the worst experiences and worst pains I’ve ever felt.”

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting 

If you’ve noticed an alarming increase in road traffic incidents across the country, you’re not alone. April alone registered a record number of road traffic fatalities, several of which involved motorcyclists. To address the increase in these incidents, the Ministry of Economic Development launched its second phase of the Belize Road Safety Initiative, which works to increase public safety on the road through the spread of information and training. Sylvian Neal, office administrator of the project, spoke with us today about the initiative.

 

Sylvian Neal

Sylvian Neal, Office Administrator, Second Belize Road Safety Project

“We deal with initiatives such as  a road user and education awareness component. We have an enforcement component. We have post-crash care as one of the components.  And many of our activities, they go under one of these components, and the basic idea is again to improve road safety in Belize, build the awareness of everybody in Belize, and to improve the culture on our world.”

 

Neal said that the team has observed an increase in the number of motorcycle crashes and is preparing to launch a campaign specifically geared towards motorcycle safety.

 

Sylvian Neal 

“It’s more of an educational campaign because we do have various campaigns geared towards speeding. are geared towards not drinking and driving. We have been rolling out many of those campaigns as the year has progressed up to now, no? And the specific campaign that I am referring to with regards to the motorcycle riders or users  is basically one that we are still undergoing right now, and that includes  developing flyers pamphlets, and then of course we have the videos that we try to send out to the media and also post on our social platform on the Facebook pages and TikToks and whatnot, no? All of that campaign includes those different aspects.”

 

Also working on the project is a member of the Belizean Youth for Road Safety, Jada Brown, who was trained by the team to educate drivers and assist in making Belize’s roads safer.

 

Jada Brown

Jada Brown, Member, Belizean Youth for Road Safety

“So now we have more people wanting to know about road safety, they’re interested in learning about road safety. So a big part of what we do is share important messages for fellow drivers and also people. Just road users on a whole, not only drivers.”

 

Britney Gordon

“How about when it’s closer to the holidays? Do you guys increase your efforts around that time in order to combat, the increase of traffic and alcohol usage?”

 

Jada Brown

“Yes. A big part of what we do, we around those times we would spread more messages like the infographics and commercials geared around those times because there’s a spike of crashes and incidents around those times. So we tend to push more messages around those times, especially for people drinking and driving, wearing helmets and seatbelts.”

 

The Road Safety Initiative also aids in promoting road safety through the training of public service members who operate vehicles daily. Krishner Ramirez from the Department of Transportation shared his experience with the program.

 

Kirshner Ramirez

Krishner Ramirez, Traffic Warden II, Department of Transportation

“It gives me a lot more knowledge on a broader sense to basically educate the public and have the public have an insight of what Really traffic and what basically everything that has to do with traffic on the road and the highways, the vehicles. It gives more knowledge to them to the work that we’re doing. So I praise these guys for basically having this energy to do this kind of work for us so that the public can have more knowledge of what’s going on.”

 

Ramirez said that the initiative is a noble cause, as lives can be saved through sharing information, no matter how small.

 

Krishner Ramirez

“To tell you the truth I would have to go with educating the public. Like I said we in Belize tend to have a tendency, me working on the ground in the field, and you stop and check these guys at the checkpoint scene.  They give you information like, Oh, we didn’t know this. We didn’t know that. We didn’t know this, so with these guys, influentials, bringing these flyers out and educating the youths, them from a younger age and even the adults, it’s a beautiful thing. I think it’s one of the best things we’ve been doing since years. We’re just trying to promote more safety and more safety because of the fact that exactly what you just said, we’ve been seeing a lot more higher percentage in these incidents, especially on the motorbikes. And it’s sad, it leaves family broken, kids alone, and it’s a sad thing.”

 

As the number of drivers on the roads increases , Neil reminds motorists to be diligent and abide by traffic laws.

 

Sylvian Neil

“To motorcyclists, we urge our motorcycle riders to try and wear proper helmets, right? Wear the fully covered helmets, the ones that fully cover your face, DOT certified helmets, because those are the ones that are going to better protect you in case you crash, in case of a collision, right? It fully protects your head from head injuries, right? And We don’t want to see people riding with helmets on their handles, right? Because the helmet isn’t really there just for style. It’s really something to protect you, right? From impact.  So we ask that you wear seatbelts, lock it, reduce speeding, don’t overtake”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.

PM To Meet With Mexican Electricity Supplier Over Power Outages

Tonight, we begin the news with a recurrent issue that has become a serious concern for anyone who does not have access to a generator – power outage. Earlier today parts of the country experienced a power outage that lasted almost six hours. But while Belize Electricity Limited has reasoned that load-shedding, which is even distribution of the power outages, is necessary to maintain the stability of the national grid, it did not offer a reason for the extended blackout. The outage was beyond annoying, especially for people whose job sites and homes are not equipped with generators to beat the heat. B.E.L. has not given notices of the continuous “load-shedding”, which suggests that the outages are not planned. It mentioned in a notice that its teams continue to work to restore power with the help of its Westlake gas turbine. Prime Minister John Briceno says he will be northbound on Saturday to meet with CFE representatives in Cancun, Mexico.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

“BEL’s mandate is transmission and distribution and I know that in many instances, BEL was trying to also produce energy, but that’s not their mandate. What has failed is the process in the previous government with the PUC and I know that the PUC and BEL have always been having this struggle and my message to both of them is we have to stop this foolishness and we need to be able to work together and I believe that we’re seeing that now. The PUC, BEL and the Ministry of Energy all have to be able to work together. So on Saturday, after the funeral of the late Honourable Mike Espat then I’ll fly to Cancun to meet with AMLO and officials from CFE to see how they’d be able to stop the blackouts in Belize. As the CEO of BEL has explained, we have two engines that are going to be commissioned. One is this week, which is about 30 megawatts and once we do that, then we would be able to hold out own. Fortunately, we have already bought a 21 megawatt [engine] that is already stationed in San Pedro. That should be commissioned by the end of the month. Once we have that, that would give us a capacity of about 51 megawatts of electricity. It means that is CFE would need to cut off Belize, these generators could take over without anybody losing electricity and then once CFE can provide to us then we can shut down these engines and get again from Mexico. I know some people ask why would we buy from the Mexicans. We buy from the Mexicans because it is cheaper than using the diesel engines. So we have a plan. I understand the frustration. Myself get upset when my house gets blackout because my house gets blackout too.”

 

Reporter

“You don’t have a generator?

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I don’t have a generator (chuckles) so I understand the frustration and it has a direct impact on all the work that we’ve been doing these three years, in tourism, the economy, the call centres, in agriculture, production, so we cannot afford this.”

PM Says Belize’s Rapid Economic Growth is Responsible for Power Supply Issues  

The Prime Minister said that the country is experiencing power outages because of the rapid rate of the country’s growth. He described it as being victims of our own success.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“BEL projected the level of energy that we’re using, we would have been using it in 2028. We are a victim of our own success. The economy has grown so fast that we’re consuming so much energy for 2028 in 2024 and that is why we’re caught in this, but no excuses. We have to make sure to fix the problem.”

Portico Developer Says He Hired Morales/Peyrefitte to Draft Definitive Agreement  

As you heard last night, developer David Gegg said that someone from the previous government solicited campaign financing from him prior to the 2020 general elections and informed him via message that it would be the requirement for him to receive environmental clearance for the project. Gegg said that he did not facilitate the stipulation, but after having several meetings with the relevant parties, he felt certain that the project would materialize and hired the law firm of Morales-Peyrefitte to draft up the Definitive Agreement.

 

David Gegg

David Gegg, Portico Developer

“Having provided all the necessary documents to all parties, and with our environmental studies nearing completion, and having no reason to believe that they would not pass muster, we retained the services of the law firm of Morales Peyrefitte LLP, as a Definitive Agreement was now needed. That firm was recommended to me as a firm that had experience with the drafting and negotiating of agreements with the government. I, at that time, instructed Mr David Morales to draft the Definitive Agreement in conjunction with attorneys from Boskalis in the Netherlands. After several months and after amendments were made by the relevant parties, the draft Definitive Agreement was forwarded on June first, 2021 to Ministers Panton, Peyrefitte, and Contreras.”

David Gegg Says He Did Not Question Former Minister’s Authority

Gegg said he did not think that Contreras, an agent of the state, needed approval from any other minister of government, certainly not Panton, who was a junior minister, or the former Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte, who was an unelected minister, in order to sign the agreement. But Gegg said the agreement would not be signed until Portico had obtained environmental clearance, which his attorney indicated was possible.

 

David Gegg, Portico Developer

“I consulted with Mr Morales, who advised this was doable and he proceeded to amend the agreement. He sent it to me, and I in turn shared it with Minister Contreras. Several days later, I was told that the signing of the Definitive Agreement would be on October 1, 2020 in Belmopan. I attended that meeting and the document was signed. I don’t question whether Minister Contreras could have signed that agreement. I must say that I was not aware of any protocols or procedures which the government at the time may have had, but I knew that he was the substantive minister appointed by the governor general. He was an agent of the state. In my view, he did not need permission from Mrs Taegar-Panton, a junior minister or Michael Peyrefitte, an unelected minister, especially as those persons were clearly and openly supporting other competing interests.”

 

 

Businessman Sunjay Hotchandani Says He Sold Land To Portico Enterprise

The first witness to appear during yesterday’s senate inquiry proceeding was Sunjay Hotchandani, a resident of Belize City who said that he was the director of several companies that deal with real estate business. He opened with a prepared statement. Hotchandani refused to answer many of the questions that were asked, on the advice of his attorney. His reasons for refusing to answer was, “it does not relate to the terms of reference of the inquiry”.

 

                               Kevin Herrera

Kevin Herrera, Senator

“Are you familiar with the company Key Star Limited?”

 

Sunjay Hotchandani, Businessman

“Yes.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Fire Star Limited?”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“Yes.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Vision Project Limited?”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Alkaline Limited?”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“Yes.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Building Blocks Limited?”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“Yes.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Inaudible…”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“Yes.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Build Zone Limited?”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“Yes.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Are you a director of any of those companies or all of those companies?”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question because it does not relate to the terms of reference.”

 

Kevin Herrera

“Are you a shareholder of those companies?”

 

Sanjay Hotchandani

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question because it does not relate to the terms of reference.”

 

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