Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, the Government is facing pushback from a familiar foe, even if it is on a new frontier of resistance. This morning, employees at the Belize Tax Services alongside members of the PSU protested against the newly approved Revenue Authority Bill.
Taking the most direct action possible, BTS employees simply walked off the job countrywide, sending a loud message: KILL THE BILL. Jaleeza Roberts was at the Eleanor Hall Building in Belize City:
This morning in the middle of the rain, Belize Tax Service employees staged a countrywide, simultaneous walkout in Belize City, Orange Walk, Belmopan, San Ignacio, Dangriga and Corozal to protest the recently approved Revenue Authority Bill and the Government's push to establish the Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority, or SARA.
Anisa Perdomo, First Vice President - PSU "Today, we are in support out here for the BTSD staff. And if you can see my placard, it says, Prioritize the BTSD staff. We have known that there is no consultation that's been happening lately. And so the BTSD staff is now over it. In the sense of, what are we going to do? And from this representation out here, this is what they're doing. Standing up for their rights."
Anisa Perdomo: "The BTSD staff will continue to stand up. And the PSU will continue to stand behind them. And hopefully, like we went on the news item stations yesterday, that the consultation process will be done in a very fair and transparent manner."
Tax workers will be required to re-apply for the jobs they already have under SARA, but the PSU says it will not stand for it. The Union warns of a society-wide impact:
Dean Flowers, President - PSU "The power is in the people, you know. The power is not in an elected representative. And so, at some point in time, the people have to retake their power and they have to checkmate their elected representatives who believe that they can dictate and effect laws that clearly is to the detriment of not only, in our case, public officers, but also to this country. And I encourage the members of the media to read the bill. Read the bill and understand how the bill will ultimately impact every single citizen. It is not only these officers that will be disenfranchised."
"The bill seeks to, in my words, take the oversight of our revenues, the oversight of our revenues which is currently in the Consolidated Fund and is subject to scrutiny by the Auditor General, subject to scrutiny by the Contractor General where procurement is concerned, subject to accountability by the Accountant General and scrutiny in procurement where the Contractor General is concerned. It seeks to remove those oversight bodies and invest it in the sole authority of the Minister of Finance who decides how money is spent and what is spent and who gets contract. The bill also empowers the CEO to pretty much run the authority as she sees fit and she's only answerable to the Minister. The bill also appoints or empowers the Minister to appoint an advisory board but the bill also tells the advisory board that you're only here to provide advice and you cannot provide any instructions or look after the interests of anybody."
And the Union President says that they plan to escalate and engage the public:
Dean Flowers, President - PSU "We have to lead by example. We cannot be calling on the public and calling on the NTUCB for wider protest action without us leading the way and so today is the first step of us leading the way and we expect that the affiliates will join us in subsequent move and we expect that the Belizean public for whom we're fighting for because like I said we're not only fighting for the job security and the constitutional rights and benefits of these workers. These workers were fighting for the safeguard of taxpayers' dollars. There must be accountability. How the hell can you pass a bill that says that you could create the procurement rules on goods and services and contracts and if I want to see those rules I have to pay. I have to pay. This is a shame what is happening in this country and I will call out the Belizean populace. When this country goes to the dogs of the likes like Haiti and those impoverished countries because of corrupt leaders you have to take the blame. You have to take the blame because you sat and you did nothing about it."
And you can hear this as the new chant:
Dean Flowers, President - PSU "The word should be kill the bill. I stand corrected. Kill the bill."
Reports are that the employees were being threatened when they walked out but after about 45 minutes they ended the walkout and the First Vice President delivered this message:
Anisa Perdomo, First Vice President - PSU "Don't let nobody listen to the noise in the market. Go check your change, right? We are here for you guys, and the PSU remains committed to ensure that you get a fair and transparent treatment going forward. You will be called upon again if we see that the consultation process does not happen. Please remember, listen. The chairs will be informed constantly of what is happening. You must remain engaged. Solidarity forever!"
And even though the SARA Bill has gone through all three readings, Flowers is optimistic; he believes that the Government will listen to the people and find a reasonable middle ground:
Dean Flowers, President - PSU "I expect that the government will listen. I've taken this fight to several ministers. I've heard the Minister of Public Service, who should and who has a duty to look after your best interest this morning, saying that he shares the sentiment of you all. And so I expect him to now lead the charge in Cabinet to tell them they must fix this nonsense that was sent to the House. They must fix this nonsense that was sent to the House to ensure that you get the protection that you deserve and if they don't want to give you the protection, then pay you your money in accordance with the Pensions Act, having now abolished your office. Pay you off your money as if you have achieved the age of 55 and let you go in peace. This department functions without you all. Never forget that. This department functions because of you all. It is because of you that this department functions. And so you need to understand the strength and you need to understand that they can't just bring nobody in to run this department."
"To the Deputy Prime Minister, leader of the government negotiating team, we are asking you to intervene on behalf of the workers of the BTSD to get this bill corrected. Like I said, there are several options. We negotiate an exit package for these people in accordance with the Pensions Act or we allow these people the freedom to decide how they want to continue protecting their pension that is already enrolled. You cannot cut somebody off at 9 years and 13 years and just send them home. That is inhumane and you were not elected to do that."
And as you heard, the union's rallying cry is for the Government to kill this bill as they believe it is not beneficial to the public:
Dean Flowers, President - PSU "The bill is not good. Every minister that voted for this bill needs to be voted out of office. This bill is not good. This bill seeks to empower the Minister of Finance to control a billion dollars answerable to no one. The bill does not even recognize the office of the Accountant General who by the Constitution has oversight of all money that is deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The bill does not even recognize the Contractor General. The bill says the Minister set his rules and if you want to see the rules you have to pay those rules and the Minister gives the CEO instruction and she shall carry out those instructions as she sees fit and she can rule this authority with her iron fist with absolutely no protection. There is no protection for the staff in the bill. Absolutely none. There is no guarantee for the abolishment of their office as is provided for in the Pensions Act. There is a section of the Pensions Act which provides that these officers must be retired as if they had attained the age of 55 if their office is abolished. That bill says the TARPA is repealed and it says that the SARA is established. The offices have been abolished. Nobody has spoken with these officers about their rights. They want these people to apply for a job that they already hold. These people have a right to continue earning a pension and the bill does not provide for that. The bill provides that the Minister may, if he wants, create one pension fund. We know that. Why is it that everything else the bill has that his instructions shall be carried out? But where it concerns the staff is simply you go home, you apply for a job and by the way, not all vacancies will be published because a couple of brown-noses have already been given a job. That is in the bill and then the rest have to apply by competitive process and then it discriminates against them, not only amongst them but it also discriminates them when it comes to the CEO who is able to be a public officer. But then the people who need the protection do not have that privilege to be a public officer. So read the bill."
Power problems continue to plague Belize, from soaring electricity bills to random blackouts.
And last night at 7:30 there was an almost nationwide outage that lasted close to four hours for some.
BEL reports that at 7:28 p.m., it experienced, quote, "an unplanned system collapse following a temporary loss of power from CFE in Mexico due to issues on the Mexican power system… This resulted in outages across several service areas countrywide until the supply from CFE was restored at 10:54 p.m."
Last night, BEL was getting about 20% of its power from CFE, and when that was taken offline it caused a system collapse.
The company says, quote, "in-country generation continues to be constrained by a combination of seasonal and maintenance-related factors. Certain renewable generation sources remain unavailable due to seasonal conditions, while some generating units are out of service for maintenance, and others are operating at reduced capacity."
And the power problems persist tonight. In fact, some areas are already experiencing planned load shedding.
CFE has already "informed BEL that they may need to curtail power due to high demand on their side." The company today published a tentative load shedding schedule.
It includes parts of Orange Walk, Corozal, Belize City, San Ignacio, Independence, Ladyville, Belmopan, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. The outages are tentatively scheduled between 6:00 p.m. and 11:59 p.m., and BEL says the schedule could change based on energy demand and available generation.
Explanations offered by BEL fail to satisfy the Opposition.
At a press conference earlier today, UDP Leader Tracy Panton addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding BEL's proposed rate adjustments. Panton warned that higher electricity rates create a domino effect across the economy, driving up the cost of basic goods and services and ultimately burdening everyday consumers.
In response, the UDP Leader outlined a series of specific demands for both BEL and the Government of Belize, calling for immediate measures to safeguard the public against unfair rate hikes.
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition "The United Democratic Party joins every Belizean in calling for an urgent, independent review of the affected accounts, the meter readings, the billing periods, the rate classifications and the methodology being used to calculate these bills."
"For every project, we call on the Government to provide updates, selected sites, contracts awarded, construction dates, commercial operation dates, capacity to be delivered and reasons we have had such extended delays."
"We ask BEL to publish the number of complaints received after the meter replacement and you know what my colleagues, we don't know who has the contract to supply the meters in the first place but it would be worth exploring. We ask BEL to tell us the number of meters that have been independently tested. We ask BEL to tell us the number of bills that have been corrected, we ask BEL to tell us the method used to reconcile the old meters' final reading with the new meters' opening reading."
And the LOO also called for a portion of the recent 100 million US dollar Taiwanese loan to be put towards the energy sector to provide relief for households.
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition "So we ask the government to put aside 40 million dollars Belize to provide direct relief to households. second, suspend disconnection and late penalties on genuinely disputed accounts while an independent review is underway. Payment plans cannot substitute for the determining whether the bill is correct or not. We also recommend that BEL and the government commission and independent audit of contested bill, meter readings, and billing classifications with mandatory credits or refunds wherever over billing has been established. We ask the government of Belize and BEL to expand the social or lifeline tariff to low income families, pensioners, and vulnerable consumers so they can be protected from the full force of these cumulative increases. And finally we ask BEL and the PUC because we haven't heard from the PUC yet whose job is to monitor and regulate tariffs on the consuming public. But we ask them to public the complete COPA calculation, the cost of imported and local energy, the use of emergency generation, and any amount that is being recovered from consumers."
While she hasn't heard from the PUC, the public seems to have heard enough from the Minister of Public Utilities Michel Chebat.
On Monday, he argued that Belizeans should be able to absorb increased electricity costs given the administration's efforts to ease financial burdens in other areas.
So how did social media feel about this? Courtney Menzies has a look:
It's the comment that started a social media storm-in Monday's joint press conference with BEL and the Ministry of Public Utilities, Michel Chebat said this:
Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities "As you know we have expanded free education through this country, we have increased minimum wage and we promise to increase it to $6 and I think the discussion with the business community needs to be intensified. We have also spread an increase in NHI coverage throughout the country. And so what we're hoping is that when our citizens don't have to pay the cost of these things, they're going to have to pay other things they're facing with but it's difficult when a single mother comes to you and says listen, I have three kids, school is starting, I can't pay my electricity bill, those are difficult circumstances and we need to address it in a very serious way."
What made it worse is that Chebat then doubled down on the comment:
Jules Vasquez: "But you're also saying you need to rob from Peter to pay Paul. You don't need to pay medical anymore but pay BEL."
Michel Chebat: "It's not robbing, it's taking away the cost of these things from the consumer so they have extra in their pockets to face these circumstances."
That launched a frenzy of social media posts and comments calling out the Minister for being tone-deaf.
Many comments also suggest that the Ministers should sacrifice their salaries and allowances, even living on minimum wage.
Others lamented that NHI provides minimum savings and the "free education" isn't actually free.
But mostly, people were appalled that Chebat expected them to take the little they might be saving to spend on yet another bill.
And going back to the UDP press conference, we asked Panton about the departure of executive members Juliet Thimbriel and Audrey Wallace.
As we told you, they resigned separately in the past two weeks.
What's behind it? Panton said it was not due to internal tensions:
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition "Let me say categorically that both Ms. Audrey Wallace and Ms. Juliet Thimbriel are valuable members of the UDP. They have contributed and they continue to contribute to the rebuilding of the UDP. For reasons that are both personal and professional they indicated to me that they're not able to take on the substantive role of being the chair of the Public Relations Committee or having to take on the role of National Campaign Manager respectively. But make no mistake, they continue to work very closely with the leadership team. In fact, tomorrow morning I will be on Wave Radio along with Ms. Thimbriel. She continues to lead the charge in terms of the unraveling of the misuse of the public purse and public resources by the kind of investigative work she's doing on Wave Radio and Wave Television. So let's not be distracted by those whose only intention is to try and create disruption or who try to undermine the efforts of this party to rebuild, to stand on its strongest leg and to be ready to govern this country whenever the next elections are called."
And when Chairlady Sheena Pitts took the podium, she criticized the Government for the financial burden it has put on citizens. She spoke of the Belize Bus Association's plight, the proposed increase in hotel tax, and the new security fee at the municipal airports-something that the Minister of Civil Aviation, PM John Briceño, still hasn't explained.
Here's a snippet of her address.
Sheena Pitts, UDP Chair "Government made some Belizeans feel like it's the bus operators are the problem, that they are greedy and unreasonable. But at the very same time, the Government has come to the House with Public Transportation Investment Bill 2026 which is designed to formalize Government's investment in the National Bus Company, transfer public transportation assets including terminals to that company and grant it tax and duty exemptions. That creates a very serious question of fairness. How can Government tell an independent bus operator that the public purse may not be able to support a diesel subsidy while Government is simultaneously transferring state assets and granting tax and duty advantages to a company in which Government itself holds interest."
"Government's own 2026 tourism document describes tourism as contributing 40% of GDP when direct, indirect and induced effects are included and supporting around 35,000 jobs yet we have a proposed accommodation tax to increase from 9% to 12.5%, over a 33% increase in tax rate."
"Imagine our self-proclaimed cash cow is imposing new taxes. Wait, there is more. Cabinet has approved a $10 aviation security fee on every departing passenger using Belize's municipal airports."
"We call for an immediate review of the tax component of fuel prices and a targeted fuel stabilization mechanism for productive sectors and public transportation. We call for the proposed hotel tax increase to be suspended until Government can publish an independent economic impact assessment showing its likely effects on occupancy, visitor spending, employment and small tourism businesses. But I will go further and I hope you can join me. Let's demand that Honorable Anthony Mahler account for the tourism monies. We also call for a review of the new domestic aviation fee and its cumulative impacts on Belizeans."
"We call seriously soberly for the Public Transportation Investment Bill to receive the kind of scrutiny and continued scrutiny the Senate has been giving to bills, including disclosure of the National Bus Company's current ownership structure."
Pitts was even more animated when responding to reports that the former leader, Shyne Barrow, is suing the current leader.
Pitts explained that it's not a new lawsuit but that Barrow is trying to pressure them for financial damages on an old judgment. Here's how she put it.
Sheena Pitts, UDP Chair "Do you recall that Jamal Moses Michael Levi Barrow took-there is no new lawsuit by Mr. Barrow against the Honorable Panton or the party. If you could recall after the October 2024 convention, he did take and ask the court for interim relief after we had occupied the headquarters and we were in court for that. You saw when our lawyer flew in and you saw when we gave interviews on it. It is that same case he has now sought a way to change and include a claim for money as against the Honorable Panton. So there is nothing new. Same old lawsuit and the matter is before the court."
"Needless to say this fickleness that people sometimes feel whenever they hear anything from him in relation to the party, I think it's about time we take a pause to appreciate this. The Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, when his son was charged and prosecuted in the United States he attended court every day, we saw him. After his son was incarcerated and institutionalized for all those years the Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow visited him and made him have a soft landing in Belize after he was deported. I will go further. The Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow came to the UDP and enjoined his fellow UDP to help hug and shoulder his fallen son."
"With that backdrop, I am sure as I am told he has been on the international media, you have seen him on social media speak the worst of a father who has done everything to secure his transition and keep his head above water."
"Now I say to you that person who can say that about his own father and his own brother is a person you must now absolutely reject and evict from the recesses of your mind."
And UDP Senator Patrick Faber spoke on the Education Bill 2026, which was recently introduced in the House. It seeks to modernize the Education and Training Act. Faber criticized it for not being clear about what exactly it is changing.
Patrick Faber, UDP Senator "What it is that is in this new bill that we're trying to pass now that will revolutionize our education system and make it more productive for our Belizean citizens. I ask the media to deep search it and find out what is in there. In 2000 yes corporal punishment and licensing for teachers, there were clear things outlined, even though the PUPs couldn't get it through and the UDP pushed through that agenda and it was not popular many times but we pushed through and there were concrete things that aimed to revolutionize our education system."
"There is a lot that needs to be fixed but it takes time and it takes proper consultation and it does not come by ramming down legislation down the throats of the stakeholders. And let me be careful because I know what the Government will say, well, we have consultations. You heard me say the Honorable Tracy Panton and the Honorable Godwin Haylock who are our representatives on the House Committee for Education, they spent days I want to say it's three days but it might be more at least 3 days receiving testimony from stakeholders like GAMAS and BNTU and others who have an interest but that's not enough. You know how long we consulted when we did the Education and Training Bill of 2010? Months if not years."
"All of those days of consultations in the House Committee for Education and even the debates in the House of Representatives the stakeholders are saying, no this can't fly and the Government is saying it's going to go through because we need the United States money. How is it do we get to the point where money is going to dictate however we are going to utilize and please don't get me wrong I don't have a quarrel with the United States, we're grateful for, they say you don't look a gift horse in the mouth but sometimes we have to. You're giving us this money we need it desperately but then how is it you get to dictate to us what we are going to put in our legislation? That's not democratic."
Preventing smoking before it starts is the primary focus of a new youth-centered health push.
Recognizing that young people face the highest risk of peer pressure surrounding tobacco use, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has joined forces with the Belize Cancer Society. Today, the organizations rolled out their latest initiative: "Youth Leading Change for a Tobacco-Free Belize."
Jomarie Lanza was at the event and brings us the story.
The Belize Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids have partnered to launch "Youth Leading Change for a Tobacco-Free Belize."
Bringing together students and community leaders, the project empowers youth to drive advocacy for tobacco control policies and deter tobacco use among young people.
The Associate Vice President of the Tobacco-Free Kids Campaign, Patricia Sosa, gave us more details on what they hope to accomplish:
Patricia Sosa, Associate Vice President, Tobacco-Free Kids Campaign "The Framework Convention for Tobacco Control which was a treaty negotiated by the World Health Organization has been ratified by 183 countries, it is the only public health treaty that has been ratified by that many countries and we have seen a major impact in terms of reduction in terms of tobacco consumption of tobacco products in the world and we would like to see Belize to benefit from those policies, in particular one policy that we are very committed to working in Belize is smoke-free environments which is banning smoking in all indoor spaces without exceptions and we are talking about public spaces, now we are not banning the product and we are not banning the product consumption in any private spaces it is all just public spaces in order to particularly reduce exposure to second-hand smoke by people that are not smokers and should not be exposed to second-hand smoke."
Sosa noted that as older tobacco users pass away, tobacco companies have targeted the younger generation, using alternative devices like e-cigarettes and vapes to recruit a new user base. She says it's easier to target the younger population to stop usage before it even begins.
Patricia Sosa, Associate Vice President, Tobacco-Free Kids Campaign "We know that if you begin smoking before the age of 18 you are likely to become a lifelong smoker so it is of great interest for the industry to target young people what has complicated the situation right now is a target to young people through social media, using influencers and very targeted advertising they are very present where young people are so us as adults that are trying to protect the health of our young people are not aware of many of the things that were so for tobacco control engaging youth in essential is that you cannot be effective in doing tobacco control if you do not engage the young people because you need to know what the industry is doing and telling them."
Belize Cancer Society President Kim Simplis Barrow explained that the initiative aligns directly with the organization's mission to promote cancer prevention, specifically by curbing primary risk factors like tobacco use.
Kim Simplis Barrow, President, Belize Cancer Society "The campaign will really, we are doing our strategic planning right now and it is we have a number of young people in the room who will be guiding this campaign so at the end of the session we will know what this campaign will look like because it will be, the strategic planning is youth engagement for them to give us the direction in which they would want to see, what Belize did they envision in terms of a smoke-free Belize."
"Prevention is one of the main pillars of the Belize Cancer Society and it is a major objective of ours over the next few years that we will be focusing on as we know tobacco is one of the main causes of cancer in the world and so for us this really aligns squarely with the work that we do at the Belize Cancer Society."
BTL's Executive Management pursued the Speednet acquisition with ardor for years, and now they have officially abandoned it with nary a whimper.
A chastened letter from CFO Ian Cleverly sent on Monday to the PUC simply says "BTL no longer intends to proceed with the acquisition of Speednet Communications Limited… the proposed acquisition of Speednet Communications is no longer being contemplated."
And what's the reason given for this sudden abandonment? The letter simply says there's been a "change in circumstances."
Of course, the change in circumstances is that the social partners, the independent media, the opposition and a large cross section of the society rejected the acquisition that would have netted the Ashcroft Alliance and the Briceño family 80 million dollars in proceeds from the sale. With the threat of heavy protests, Cabinet was forced to declare that it did not support the acquisition-and that was the end of that.
As we have been reporting, the US State Department is pressuring regional governments to send home their Cuban Medical brigades. They call it forced labor.
Belize is resisting, but it can only resist so much. Following a recent official visit to Honduras, the Minister of Health is reportedly exploring efforts to recruit Honduran healthcare professionals to bolster the local workforce.
And that led activist Will Maheia of the People's National Party to post this video today from the airport:
We did ask the CEO in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on the video, and he said he would provide one tomorrow.
But the Minister of Health told XTV, quote, "The recent social media post circulating which insinuates that Cuban doctors are being sent home one by one is totally fabricated. As you are aware these persons, including Cuban health care workers, take vacation leave during the year. Currently there are ongoing diplomatic talks between Belize and Cuba on these and other matters."
Consumer prices in Belize rose by 4.1 percent in July 2026 compared to the same period last year, driven largely by price increases in fuel, utility tariffs, and staple food items.
Data released by the Statistical Institute of Belize shows three primary sectors accounted for more than three-fourths of the total inflation: Transport, Housing & Utilities and Food & Beverages.
Healthcare expenses also jumped 7 percent following higher hospital and surgical fees.
Regionally, San Ignacio and Santa Elena experienced the highest inflation rate at 5.3 percent, while San Pedro recorded the lowest at 3.0 percent. National year-to-date inflation currently stands at 2.7 percent.
Last night was night 2 of Mas Camp 2026 with Black Pearl Junior Band, Fantasy Explosion Senior Band, Sunshine Masqueraders Junior Band and Fort Revelers Senior Band. Our team was out there from start to finish and in the midst of a countrywide power outage. But blackout or not, the show did go on. Jaleeza Roberts files this report:
Our team is back out there tonight and we'll have some more for you in tomorrow's newscast.
Ahead of the new school year, the Good Deeds Initiative hosted a back-to-school giveaway today at Trinity Methodist Primary School in Belize City. A total of 120 backpacks were distributed to students, with help from Miss Universe Belize, Caleigh Rose West. Here is a look at the event.
Ashley Lightburn, Good Deeds Ambassador "So the school bag initiative is something that we do yearly but this year is the biggest one that we have done overall I think we have donated or in the process of donating 450 school bags, today at Trinity Methodist we are donating 120 of the supplies that we got, we have partnered with Ishel Caribe which is ran by Charlotte Nal, Nicole Cane who is in the states and she did the organization for us and Aldo Rey Industries who provided us with 200 bags of the 450 that we are donating."
Reporter "So is it just school bags, does it have anything inside or?"
Ashley Lightburn: "Well we are doing school bags and supplies so each school bag has a pencil case fully packed with pens, pencils, erasers you have your notebooks and everything a child really needs to start, unfortunately we can't give them everything I know each child needs like 10 books to start the school year but we just believed that if we could have given the parents just a little bit or a push to just start the school year then it would have been better than having to source everything. We got donations from local Belize businesses too so they gave funds to buy all these things from the States they were packed up and I got like 15 boxes of supplies so what we could not give in terms of backpacks that are packed with supplies we are donating supplies as well."
Caleigh Rose West, Miss Universe Belize 2026 "I had the opportunity to give backpacks to my own village, Mahogany Heights Village and it was a beautiful event I got to play with the kids and hang out, just share some words of encouragement and now with that being under our wings and getting us going this was nothing but beautiful to see all the parents and the children here as well as just being able to get into my community and get more acquainted."
Bella Vista Village is likely the fastest growing community in Belize, and today their Market Project was launched through a collaboration with the CARICOM Development Fund and the Ministry of Rural Transformation.
The modern, climate-resilient market building is expected to benefit 10,000 residents of the Toledo District. Here are highlights from the launching ceremony today.
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Tonight, the Government is facing pushback from a familiar foe, even if it is on a new frontier of resistance. This morning, employees at the Belize Tax Services alongside members of the PSU protested against the newly approved Revenue Authority Bill.
"Today, we are in support out here for the BTSD staff. And if you can see my placard, it says, Prioritize the BTSD staff. We have known that there is no consultation that's been happening lately. And so the BTSD staff is now over it. In the sense of, what are we going to do? And from this representation out here, this is what they're doing. Standing up for their rights."
"The power is in the people, you know. The power is not in an elected representative. And so, at some point in time, the people have to retake their power and they have to checkmate their elected representatives who believe that they can dictate and effect laws that clearly is to the detriment of not only, in our case, public officers, but also to this country. And I encourage the members of the media to read the bill. Read the bill and understand how the bill will ultimately impact every single citizen. It is not only these officers that will be disenfranchised."
"The bill is not good. Every minister that voted for this bill needs to be voted out of office. This bill is not good. This bill seeks to empower the Minister of Finance to control a billion dollars answerable to no one. The bill does not even recognize the office of the Accountant General who by the Constitution has oversight of all money that is deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The bill does not even recognize the Contractor General. The bill says the Minister set his rules and if you want to see the rules you have to pay those rules and the Minister gives the CEO instruction and she shall carry out those instructions as she sees fit and she can rule this authority with her iron fist with absolutely no protection. There is no protection for the staff in the bill. Absolutely none. There is no guarantee for the abolishment of their office as is provided for in the Pensions Act. There is a section of the Pensions Act which provides that these officers must be retired as if they had attained the age of 55 if their office is abolished. That bill says the TARPA is repealed and it says that the SARA is established. The offices have been abolished. Nobody has spoken with these officers about their rights. They want these people to apply for a job that they already hold. These people have a right to continue earning a pension and the bill does not provide for that. The bill provides that the Minister may, if he wants, create one pension fund. We know that. Why is it that everything else the bill has that his instructions shall be carried out? But where it concerns the staff is simply you go home, you apply for a job and by the way, not all vacancies will be published because a couple of brown-noses have already been given a job. That is in the bill and then the rest have to apply by competitive process and then it discriminates against them, not only amongst them but it also discriminates them when it comes to the CEO who is able to be a public officer. But then the people who need the protection do not have that privilege to be a public officer. So read the bill."
Power problems continue to plague Belize, from soaring electricity bills to random blackouts.
Explanations offered by BEL fail to satisfy the Opposition.
"The United Democratic Party joins every Belizean in calling for an urgent, independent review of the affected accounts, the meter readings, the billing periods, the rate classifications and the methodology being used to calculate these bills."
While she hasn't heard from the PUC, the public seems to have heard enough from the Minister of Public Utilities Michel Chebat.
"As you know we have expanded free education through this country, we have increased minimum wage and we promise to increase it to $6 and I think the discussion with the business community needs to be intensified. We have also spread an increase in NHI coverage throughout the country. And so what we're hoping is that when our citizens don't have to pay the cost of these things, they're going to have to pay other things they're facing with but it's difficult when a single mother comes to you and says listen, I have three kids, school is starting, I can't pay my electricity bill, those are difficult circumstances and we need to address it in a very serious way."
And going back to the UDP press conference, we asked Panton about the departure of executive members Juliet Thimbriel and Audrey Wallace.
"Government made some Belizeans feel like it's the bus operators are the problem, that they are greedy and unreasonable. But at the very same time, the Government has come to the House with Public Transportation Investment Bill 2026 which is designed to formalize Government's investment in the National Bus Company, transfer public transportation assets including terminals to that company and grant it tax and duty exemptions. That creates a very serious question of fairness. How can Government tell an independent bus operator that the public purse may not be able to support a diesel subsidy while Government is simultaneously transferring state assets and granting tax and duty advantages to a company in which Government itself holds interest."
Pitts was even more animated when responding to reports that the former leader, Shyne Barrow, is suing the current leader.
"What it is that is in this new bill that we're trying to pass now that will revolutionize our education system and make it more productive for our Belizean citizens. I ask the media to deep search it and find out what is in there. In 2000 yes corporal punishment and licensing for teachers, there were clear things outlined, even though the PUPs couldn't get it through and the UDP pushed through that agenda and it was not popular many times but we pushed through and there were concrete things that aimed to revolutionize our education system."
Preventing smoking before it starts is the primary focus of a new youth-centered health push.
"The Framework Convention for Tobacco Control which was a treaty negotiated by the World Health Organization has been ratified by 183 countries, it is the only public health treaty that has been ratified by that many countries and we have seen a major impact in terms of reduction in terms of tobacco consumption of tobacco products in the world and we would like to see Belize to benefit from those policies, in particular one policy that we are very committed to working in Belize is smoke-free environments which is banning smoking in all indoor spaces without exceptions and we are talking about public spaces, now we are not banning the product and we are not banning the product consumption in any private spaces it is all just public spaces in order to particularly reduce exposure to second-hand smoke by people that are not smokers and should not be exposed to second-hand smoke."
Kim Simplis Barrow, President, Belize Cancer Society
BTL's Executive Management pursued the Speednet acquisition with ardor for years, and now they have officially abandoned it with nary a whimper.
Consumer prices in Belize rose by 4.1 percent in July 2026 compared to the same period last year, driven largely by price increases in fuel, utility tariffs, and staple food items.
Ahead of the new school year, the Good Deeds Initiative hosted a back-to-school giveaway today at Trinity Methodist Primary School in Belize City. A total of 120 backpacks were distributed to students, with help from Miss Universe Belize, Caleigh Rose West. Here is a look at the event.
"So the school bag initiative is something that we do yearly but this year is the biggest one that we have done overall I think we have donated or in the process of donating 450 school bags, today at Trinity Methodist we are donating 120 of the supplies that we got, we have partnered with Ishel Caribe which is ran by Charlotte Nal, Nicole Cane who is in the states and she did the organization for us and Aldo Rey Industries who provided us with 200 bags of the 450 that we are donating."
Caleigh Rose West, Miss Universe Belize 2026