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Since Monday there have been a string of countrywide power outages. The national blackouts began on Monday evening, continued on Tuesday, and then struck twice this morning. In Belize City, the outages went for 45 minutes to an hour, but in San Pedro, where the service industry depends on an uninterrupted power supply, they didn’t get electricity back until almost noon. Keith Swift found out what caused today’s outages and why there’s so much scepticism on the streets.

Keith Swift Reporting,
This damaged insulator two miles outside of Orange Walk Town is what caused this morning’s power outages. BEL says that the damage was most likely due to the recent extended dry and dusty weather conditions. But that’s what BEL says – what people believe is a whole other story; the fact is that many people we spoke to just plain don’t believe BEL anymore.

Man #1: I don’t believe them none at all. Quite frankly I don’t believe them because they made the threat and they threatened us and later on we see the threat is coming to pass right now.
KS: So you think they are doing this out of spite?
Man #1: Well I believe so because they can’t get what they really asked for and they see that all the Belizean people are against them.

Woman #1: I don’t know what to say. I only know we are getting blackouts and I can’t say nothing else about it.
KS: Do you believe them?
Woman #1: No.
KS: Why not?
Woman #1: Because they wanted to raise the price.

Woman #2: I don’t know what to believe.
KS: Why don’t you outright believe them? They are your power company.
Woman #2: I don’t know because on the news they are saying they want a raise on electricity, I don’t know if that is why the outages are often occurring.

KS: BEL says that it was because of a problem in Mexico and now they have a problem in Maskall. Do you believe them?
Man #2: I don’t believe them.
KS: Why not?
Man #2: Because of certain situations.
KS: What situations?
Man #2: How they are resting out dah road.

And while BEL laments the fact that the public disbelieves them, the truth is that this is a public relations war in which BEL’s principal shareholder, Fortis President Stan Marshall let go with the opening salvo – when he made this now famous threat.

[May 20th, 2008]
Stan Marshall, Fortis CEO and President
"..if this is not done, BEL will not have the cash to purchase power from Mexico in the coming months. Without power from Mexico, BEL will be forced into rotating blackouts. Immediate action is required. I cannot understate the seriousness of this situation."

He said that on Tuesday and within 6 days, intermittent national power outages had started. And you can’t tell the consumers it isn’t spite.

Man #3: I think it is just revenge man. I think they should chase back that white man from here and let Belize start doing its own thing.
KS: So you think they are being spiteful?
Man #3: Oh yes, they are spiteful.
KS: They said it was a problem in Mexico over the weekend and then today a problem in Orange Walk. You don’t believe them?
Man #3: That is a lie, I think they are just trying to revenge.

Man #4: Those people are a gangsta, they already have money and they want more money.

And those we spoke to have their own ideas about how to put BEL in check.

KS: How can we fix this problem with BEL?
Woman #3: Well if we run our own currency, we won’t have to deal with those kinds of things. We want our own thing. We are an independent country so we should have our own thing.

Man #1: As Belizeans we have to come together and put a stop to this because we see in the last few years all our utilities have been sold out and given away and nobody weren’t saying anything so I believe we should come together and show the people that we could get back out things.

Repair on the 115 kilovolt line that caused the trip concluded at 4:00 pm. BEL cancelled an interview with us this evening. Corporate Communications Manager Dawn Sampson says President and CEO Lyn Young didn’t have time to talk to us because there is a blackout in the western and southern zones – which includes Belmopan, Stann Creek, and Dangriga. Prime Minister Dean Barrow is expected to discuss government’s strategy for BEL at a press conference tomorrow morning.