The first day of the workweek and the school week was lost for many today
as there was a four hour blackout across the city. Belize Electricity Limited
pulled the plug at 12:16 to repair a switch at the Belize City substation which
had overheated and burst at 9:16 am. To facilitate repairs, BRL says it had
to cut off the entire city. Power was fully restored at 4:19 this evening. For
many schools and businesses who had to operate in darkness, heat and without
water – they just had to call it a day and send everyone home. Serious
loses in school and work time – but don’t blame BEL – because,
of course, with that company, it’s always someone else’s fault.
BEL says that if it had the money implement capital projects, today’s
prolonged blackout could have been prevented. Before you use the sweat that
gathered on your brow all day to shed tears for the foreign owned power company
keep in mind that BEL’s gross earnings last year were a record $176 million,
add that $20 plus million in consumers’ that they held unto as fuel prices
went down – and you’ve got a company that’s making a windfall
while still declaring losses and lagging on maintenance.
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