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And if you want to talk about panic, it was writ large today at a FECTAB press conference.  

And, quite understandably, FECTAB is the Federation of Cruise Tourism Associations of Belize, and its members are the small to medium sized operators servicing a cruise industry that has disappeared overnight.

So, for them, the COVID-19 pandemic means that their livelihoods have disappeared for an indefinite period. 

And, today, FECTAB publicly reminded the government of this stark reality at a press conference. 

Now, when ships are coming the folks at FECTAB are already known to be fiery and outspoken, so imagine, now, that the industry has vaporized.  But today, they came to the public with the intent of being humble, trying to convince the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, who are the co-chairs of the oversight committee, to ensure that their members get a share of the relief funds that the Government is setting aside for the tourism stakeholders.

But, that humility didn't last for too long when FECTAB's vice president decided to speak up. Here's how that went:

Yhonny Rosado - 2nd Vice President, FECTAB
"So, we are here to tell our government, our country, in a humble way that the finance has stopped for all of us. Please don't make the same mistake that we saw in the movie, Titanic, whereby you help the ones that are wealthy, with all the gold on top, and you leave the employees that are keeping the engine, having the ship run, drown first. We're seeing where you can fix things, and we're voicing our opinions in a humble way, that whatever you can do, do it as fast as possible without the bureaucracy. I got an email yesterday around 11:30 a.m., to fill out this farm. The first thing that captured my attention is if you don't have this document, you're not qualifying. BTB has employees, their own police task force. The BTB has its own system for cruise tourism, and they don't who has this paper or not? I just went through for my tour operator's license. So, the BTB has all the records fo all the tour guides and everyone who's working in cruise tourism. We're asking the Government not to make the mistake and put the money in the wrong hands. We have people who have been working hard for the past 20 years, and we need. If you don't want to believe us that we need cash, well, give us rice. Give us beans. Give us water. FECTAB does not represent the CEO's, nor the rich people of this country. We represent the poor, hard-working people who get up at 4 o'clock in the morning, and we don't know if we're going to bring any cash home."

David Almendarez - Vice President, FECTAB
"Mr. Barrow, it will require some draconian changes. All of us won't be happy. But, we need to start to stockpiling our food. We need to start getting some warehouses, where we stockpile, so each Belizean can get their little hampers when the thing hits the fan. Think, open your brain because it looks like you take simple pills, and you don't understand what's going on. We need to let the light bill have a contingency plan. If things hit the fan, the light will be free, water will be free. We'll set up hotspots in neighbourhoods for people who don't have internet, where they can log on. And that's how we'll communicate. I am not smart. Other countries are doing it. Poorer countries than us are doing it."

Tom Greenwood - President, FECTAB
"The first thing I'm asking the Government to do; we have this pandemic, shut the Belize international airport down. Shut it down. The second thing I'm asking the government to do, find non-bureaucrats, people who can think and move quickly. It's not making a bad decision that that's bad. It's not making several bad decisions that are bad. It's not making decisions at all. Don't be afraid, make a decision. There are 21 tour guide associations. You call the president of each tour guide association, and you say, okay, how many guides do you have? Well, I have 62 guides. Well, this is the money. You have to come and bring your list of tour guides to - say - the credit union. Well, here's my list of tour guides. Ascertain that they are who [they say] they are, and then they go in and collect their money. What's difficult about that?"

Yesterday, the house passed the General Revenue Appropriation Bill for 2020/2021, which includes 25 million dollars in relief funds earmarked for the tourism sector.  Tourism accounts for about 60% of Belize's economic production.