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
Today marked the first time we caught up with the prime minister since the cabinet announced its decision to reject BTL's proposed acquisition of Speednet. As we told you, the vote was supposed to have been taken this past Tuesday, but a release came out last week stating their position.
So how did Cabinet come to that position? And was each minister polled?
The PM was tight-lipped about the process.
Reporter "Why did Cabinet ultimately vote to reject the Speednet acquisition?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I think you need to understand that, uh, whatever we discuss in Cabinet is confidential."
"But, um, um, we, we felt that maybe at this time, and I know people will say, "Oh, you said at this time." But simply, I believe that, um, Cabinet in its wisdom decided that maybe, uh, we should not proceed."
Reporter "How, how did you all, how did you go about consulting other Cabinet members in the face of reports or, or suspicions that it was likely a unilateral decision?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Again, this is a matter for the Cabinet. I'm not free to discuss. What I can tell you, I did not make that decision on my own."
And while PM claims he did not make the decision unilaterally, he gave us his personal interpretation of the subsequent Speednet release. Yesterday, the NTUCB called it distasteful, as it basically threatened to up the ante to cut BTL's profits.
But the PM didn't see it that way. Here's what he told us.
Reporter "How do you view the Speednet release in the wake of cabinet's decision, um, seeing that others have seen it as a threat?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "No, I don't think it was a threat. I think he, they, they were... If you really look at it and read it, he were congratulating the public. You want competition, so there'll be competition. That's, that's how I read it. I didn't see it as a threat."
Reporter "Um- Is it your view, perhaps, have you considered, uh, asking or imploring on BTL to ask the PUC to repeal that SI that makes competition a bit more challenging for them?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "But how does it be more challenging? You all have been saying that you don't want prices to go up, and so what, um, um, BTL did... - What has happened in all this discussion, and it's something that the courts have already determined, that one, that there must be competition."
"I think it was the, the opposition that challenged, um, a contract that was given to, to Speednet, and the court ruled that there should be competition. So, um, that's one."
"Um, secondly, what the, the PUC was doing in, in, in their deliberations and, and, and consultations, and they, they did what... Again, the court has been saying that BTL is a dominant operator, and as such, then they had to, to do that and to declare that. And so, um, I, I, I don't know what, what else you're talking about."
Reporter "I'm just thinking in the face of SMART, uh, or Speednet being able to, um, essentially set their prices and perhaps even undersell, uh, where BTL now has to go through, uh, lengthy processes because of the SI to change their prices."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "No, that's not true. No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. What the SI said is that they cannot go, can't raise the prices, but of course a company can reduce its prices."
And in the wake of that release, the NTUCB's president called for a policy that would require that all government services remain with BTL. And as we told you last night, at the top of that list of demands was the removal of Chairman Mark Lizarraga and several other board members.
We asked the PM whether he is willing to comply with their demands but, according to him, the board did nothing wrong.
Reporter "The NTUCB and social partners are calling for the immediate removal of Chairman Lizarraga and several other board members. Will you comply?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "But did they do anything wrong? I think you all are jumping ahead of your time. The board did not decide to buy Speednet at that moment."
"The board decided to do more due diligence to see whether it was feasible to be able to buy. A decision was not made at that time for the board to buy. And so I don't know, so what is it that they did wrong?"
"Can we have another question? I, I really have to go."
Reporter "But there is this general consensus that, uh, the chairman did not act in the best interest of the general public. At least that's what the unions are saying."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "That is, that, that, that is, that is their view, and, um, I don't agree with them. Anything else?"
And in making demands, the NTUCB also set a 90 day deadline - particularly in relation to enactment of legislation. Here's how the PM responded when we asked him about it.
Reporter "In relation to the 90-day deadline that's been given by the NTUCB in relation to enactment of legislation, I think bringing into force one, um, legislation passed already, and also changes to, like, the PUC commission and I think the BTL board, um, will the government comply with those or see them in the streets?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We'll take a look at it."
Reporter "Do you see it being a possibility, a tripartite system, leadership system, uh, where at the BTL board level?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I would have to take a look at it. I can't comment on what I have not decided on,"
So what will happen if those decisions haven't been met within the 90 days? Well, we'll see what the NTUCB and social partners plan next.
Victor Wagner Hernandez, a 67-year-old pastor of the Toledo Faith Outreach Christian Center in Punta Gorda, Toledo and former president of the National Evangelical Association of Belize, was sentenced on Monday, August 17 to a 10-year prison term by High Court Justice Antoinette Moore following his conviction for two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against a female congregant.
The convictions stem from a six-year pattern of abuse between 2015 and 2021, including rapes at his business and residence as well as a sexual assault inside his church, where he exploited his position as her spiritual leader and threatened to accuse her of theft to prevent reporting.
Although guideline starting points for the offenses yielded provisional sentences of nine, ten, and three years imprisonment respectively, totaling 22 years, Justice Moore ordered all terms to run concurrently to ensure a fair and proportionate sentence, taking into account aggravating factors such as the abuse of religious trust and the presence of the victim's teenage daughter during the assault alongside mitigating factors like Hernandez's lack of a prior criminal record, his advanced age, and medical conditions including a stroke, hypertension, and Type II diabetes.
His sentence is effective from his August 3, 2026 conviction date and he has been remanded to the Belize Central Prison.
In other news, you may be doing a double take the next time you see your electricity bill.
In an official release, the Belize Electricity Board announced today that the company is implementing the cost of power adjustment mechanism that was discussed back in July, with effect this month. Jomarie Lanza went over the details of that release today and spoke with a representative from the PUC. Here's how she broke it down for us.
BEL announced today that it is implementing a new billing mechanism, which will essentially see an increase in the cost of electricity..
In early July The Public Utilities Commission announced its approval for an extra charge to your bill of up to 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour. This is referred to by BEL and the PUC as the Cost of Power Adjacent, or "COPA," which is expected to be reviewed on a monthly basis.
In their press release, BEL stated with this new mechanism, "fluctuations in the cost of imported power will now be passed directly and automatically onto your monthly light bill."
According to the PUC's official public notice, the regulator denied BEL's request to independently implement those automatic monthly adjustments. By law, the commission notes, only the PUC can approve rate changes.
BEL Chairman Lynn Young had previously explained what it could mean for consumers' monthly bills:
posted (July 3, 2026)
Lynn Young, Executive Chairman - BEL "So the suggestion was to try to smoothen the effect on customers rather than wait a year or two and then having to adjust the rates by six cents or five cents or whatever. And so it's going to be on a monthly basis that we'll take a six-month average of the cost of oil compared to what is in the rates. And let's say the rolling six months for the first, the last six months was 32 cents per kilowatt-hour, then that's two cents per kilowatt-hour more than what's built into the rates. But this mechanism is going to limit it at one and a half cents, the adjustment either way, right? So then the customer would get an extra one and a half cents as a cost of power adjustment on the bill. As I was explaining, most of the cost, about 70% of our customers are residential customers that burn about $200 per month. So a customer like that would probably see something like maybe a $5 adjustment to the bill if it was a full 1.5 cents. It could be less."
"The last year the company had some struggles trying to pay CFE and there were times when CFE actually said, 'Listen, if you don't come up with money, we're going to have to disconnect you.' So we can't continue to put the country's electricity supply at risk, right? So we have to try to put things in place to make sure that we eliminate that risk as much as we can."
In the press release BEL issued today, they stated that they would move forward with implementing COPA detailing that, quote, " The actual cost of power over the past 6 months exceeded the reference cost of power that the PUC approved by 4.3 cents /kWh. However, the Sandbox framework strictly limits the monthly adjustment to a maximum of 1.5 cents /kWh to insulate Customers against sudden price shifts."
We reached out to the PUC for comment and this is what their Communications & Consumer Affairs manager shared with us.
Sheena Garnett, Communications & Consumer Affairs, PUC "The COPA which is the Cost of Power adjacent was approved by the PUC only as a sandbox tool for testing during that same ARP period which is July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2027. The purpose of the COPA in a sandbox tool is to allow the commission whether the mechanisms work effectively and more importantly to ensure that regulatory principles of consumer protection and efficiency remain intact. So another important thing to clarify is that the Copa was not approved by the PUC as a permanent mechanism. The PUC approved Copa as a regulatory sandbox which is a controlled environment that allows the commission to test and evaluate under close oversight, transparency requirements and consumer protection safeguards. So if you look at the financial decision and the order that was shared in August there are very specific and clear mechanisms in place, conditions in place for BEL as they implement COPA on consumers as part of the regulatory sandbox."
"One of the oversight conditions is every month BEL must send in a submission to the PUC to be placed on any consumers bill and they have a specific time period that they need to send that in. One of the other conditions is that COPA can only be charged and applied equally across all customer categories except the social rate, and so scheduled 6C outlines the specific conditions where the PUC has close oversight and transparency requirements as well as some of the consumer protection safeguards in place as we review the COPA and see how we can test and evaluate how it works."
We had also reached out to the BEL for interviews but they referred us to the press release they had issued and stated that "this is simply the implementation of what was communicated" during the previous workshop that was held back in July.
A broader base rate increase of 0.03 cents per kilowatt hour took effect on January 1st.
At the top of the news, you heard from the PM about Cabinet's rejection of the proposed Speednet acquisition. The question remains whether they issued that decision ahead of the protest that was being planned by the NTUCB and the social partners in an effort to placate them.
Well, when we asked the head table at NTUCB's press conference yesterday whether it actually worked since the protest was cancelled, the Union Senator explained that they're still ready to hit the streets.
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "We have not canceled any action that was being planned. We have paused our actions collectively strategically so that we can decide what the issues are that we are going to keep on the front burner. BTL and the vote, the acquisition was one of those issues. It was not the only issue. So the teachers stand ready, willing and able with 24 hours notice to be on the street. The instructions have already been given and we are very clear, we stand for accountability, transparency, and good governance in the leadership of this country. Anything that smells like it is not that will trigger actions by the now, thank you guys very much for allowing us to come together, joint social partners."
"I am grateful to Mark Lizarraga for the foolish decision that he made. For bringing together, I want you to see, BCWU and BCWJ are here. We are kumbaya, everybody is kumbaya because when we were in front of Social Security Board I said it then, this is starting to feel a lot like 2005. So no, it wasn't them that decided we would stop. It's us who decided it was time to pause strategically and if we get the sense that they are playing and pretending just to let boots not hit the streets today, boots will hit the street immediately. I said so."
And whenever the time comes for the NTUCB to protest, the BNTU will be right there, but not just against the national issues. According to the president, it's time they started balancing those issues with the ones that specifically affect their membership. Yesterday you heard Nadia Caliz detail some of the challenges teachers are facing. But that wasn't all - she also explained that job security for teachers is low - especially because there are more problems than incentives.
Nadia Caliz, BNTU President "More and more of our educators are leaving the classrooms, more and more of our educators are signing up for participate learning and I want to talk about what is happening and I have to educate a lot of my young teachers who are coming into the system right now. When our teachers go for participate learning, their existing positions is actually available for them. So when you come in, you come in on what you call temporary employment, managements are not telling you, some managements are not telling you that it's temporary employment. It is not until you want to apply for long leave or certain benefits or get appointed, you find out they can't appoint you because you're not in a full time position. And you think you're in a full time position."
"Another issue is this and I talked about this before and I'm seeing more and more persons coming forward with it and so we are going to put out a call so we have one long list and deal with that. A number of our teachers applied for their full licenses. Some of them a renewal. And because the office did not furnish that license in time, that teacher had to leave that classroom. Now that's through no fault of the teacher but to fill the gap, the teachers have to apply for leave without pay. What kind of nonsense is that? I want you to see the amount of things that are happening why teachers are becoming discourage."
"Now to some of my managers. The BNTU has made multiple attempts to meet with all managers. The general managers for the major schools, the big ones, government, catholic, methodist, were not present at the meeting and majority of our members come from these managements. It's important that we meet, it's important that we discuss. If we don't come to a middle ground, we're going to continue to have challenges. The union is accused of being biased, we come to you to get your side, we come to you so we can look at the rules are saying and most of the time you get upset at us because what we will point out to you is the fact that what you're doing is wrong because the rules say it isn't so. But you don't want to be held accountable some of you."
At the end of July, the Revenue Authority Bill was tabled in the House of Representatives. It falls in line with the move to transform the Belize Tax Service into a semi-autonomous revenue authority. But the employees and the business sector have voiced concerns about it. And yesterday, the PSU president explained what he finds most alarming about the bill.
Dean Flowers, PSU President "For me as a citizen, the most dangerous defect in the draft revenue authority bill has nothing to do with pensions and workers protection or how you will transfer the public officers therein. It has everything to do with who holds the checks and balances, who calls the shots. The draft bill creates a board that is called an advisory board. It strips that executive body of all executive authority where operations, supervision, or decision making is concerned. It even strips the advisory body from giving directions to the CEO. And it removes any ability to effect or implement any policy other than to advise. All the power instead flows from one person, a minister who appoints and removes the CEO. The CEO can only be appointed by the minister and can only be removed by the minister. There is no independence selection panel to even assess the competency of this individual and definitely the advisory board can't say who. Of course they have to pass it through the House but if you're electing incompetent people in the House then of course the I's have it. And so we must ensure that the manner in which the CEO of the soon to be Revenue Authority is established that there is a clear and competitive process whereby there is serious debate on the integrity and competency of that person."
"Let me be clear here comrades. If the CEO wants to do something, he seeks the approval of the minister. If the minister wants to do something, he instructs the CEO. And that is dangerous because that could very well set a precedent for how we will run all our statutory bodies."
And while several national issues were being laid out by the head table at that press conference, the Union Senator brought up perhaps the most pressing: the rising cost of living. It's a concern for every Belizean and those with the fewest resources are being squeezed dry. And according to Dennison, it's not surprising why some people turn to crime to get their basic necessities.
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "There is no plan to fight the rising cost of living. We need a sensible plan to deal with the cost of living because I think, I'm not sociologist, but I think a man would really want to work for a fair day's pay before he decides to go steal, rob and murder. but if a hard working man has to work all day and can't make ends meet, he will go to the shop to steal the potted meat and the sausage to take home for his kids. I think so. And I'm not talking arbitrarily, I'm telling you what I would do."
"But there are people out here who are committing crimes because they can't do better. We have to create opportunities for people out here to mind their kids, take care of their families. But I just have that one example. It can't be three hours of work for one gallon of gas because fuel is what feeds the entire economy. The man who wants to do a weed eater business, it's $15 for a gallon of gas for his weed eater. So when you can't lower the price of the things we need as input so that your labor can feed you and your family, we will be in a bad place as a country. The president told us earlier this economic hardship that is driving crime needs a proper plan for us to attack poverty. We need to create opportunities instead of ensuring that the people who finance the campaign are the people who get the bloated contracts, that's where all the money is going, do you see how much construction is going on right now? Lord knows we need better roads but why do those people get the contracts, why did we want to buy Smart? Why we want to buy cable companies? Because the plan is to make the wealthy get wealthier."
And while Senator Dennison says he might have turned to crime to feed his family, what are parents of infants and toddlers doing to afford the basic necessities?
Today, our newsroom took a walk through a grocery store with a simple question in mind: if you are a parent earning minimum wage, how much of your paycheck would it take to buy the essentials for your baby?
Jaleeza Roberts reports:
Diapers, formula, baby wipes… these are only some of the necessities you'll find in every home with an infant. And being able to afford these products could be the difference between a happy and healthy baby and one that's hungry and deprived.
But many parents only make minimum wage - $5 an hour. But is that enough?
Jaleeza Roberts, Reporter "What we'll do is we'll compare it to the cost of living and see exactly how persons are affording children."
We didn't go looking for luxury and we didn't fill a shopping cart with wants. We went looking for what we assumed were necessities. We picked up things like wipes, diapers, baby formula, milk, baby lotion, powder, baby oil, a bottle and other small items babies use.
And when the calculation was done, the total came to 186 dollars and 43 cents. That may not sound like an unreasonable amount of money but compare it with the paycheck of someone earning minimum wage, and the perspective changes.
Belize's national minimum wage currently stands at five dollars an hour. For someone working a standard 45-hour week, that's roughly 225 dollars a week, or about 975 dollars a month before deductions. That means our $186.43 basket represents roughly one-fifth of a minimum-wage worker's gross monthly income but if they were to be spending that weekly, it would be about 83%. And remember, the basket isn't the entire cost of raising a child. It doesn't include rent, electricity, transportation, healthcare and the cost of keeping food on the table for the rest of the family.
When you examine what a minimum wage worker earns and compare it with the cost of basic necessities, what does that tell you about the purchasing power of that worker? Because a wage isn't simply about how much money appears on a payslip, It's really about what that money can actually buy.
The minimum wage was increased from $3.30 to $5.00 an hour in January 2023, a significant increase that was intended to improve the income of some of Belize's lowest-paid workers. But based on our calculations, the baby necessity basket consumes approximately 19% of gross monthly minimum-wage income. Or put another way, after buying these selected necessities, a worker would have roughly $788.57 left from gross monthly wages and that money would still have to cover their remaining expenses. And that's also before taxes, Social Security and other deductions that may reduce take-home pay.
So we walked into the supermarket today expecting to come out with the basics. Instead, we came out with a number that raises a much bigger question. If it costs nearly $200 just to begin providing the basics for one child, how much does a minimum-wage paycheck really buy in Belize? Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
The store we chose to do our shopping is a popular Asian establishment on the Central American Boulevard.
Yesterday we showed you the moment when Channel 7's News Director received the Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom Award in Georgetown, Guyana. The award recognizes outstanding journalism, courageous reporting and meaningful contribution to the protection and advancement of media freedom across the Caribbean.
The ceremony saw plenty of speeches discussing the importance of journalism in a democratic and modern society and the fearlessness required to pursue the truth at any cost.
Courtney Menzies has an overview of the ceremony. Here is that story.
What does it mean to be the Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom? Last night, at the 57th CBU Annual General Assembly, that was the question that sought to be answered as the award was presented to Channel 7's News director Jules Vasquez.
Its the first time this award has been bestowed and it was established between the Caribbean Broadcasting Union and the Center for Media Integrity of the Americas. The CMIA director, Ambassador John Feely, announced the winner but first, he explained the important role free and independent journalism plays in a democracy.
Ambassador John Feely, Director, Center For Media Integrity Of The Americas "A democracy without a free press is a democracy without a memory, without an independent witness, and ultimately without an effective means of holding power accountable. In short, it is not a genuine democracy despite the electoral edifice it may inhabit. The right to speak freely is not a luxury of democratic society and the right to report freely is not a privilege granted by those in power. It is a very condition itself of democracy."
"Perhaps the best test of a government's commitment to freedom of expression is not how it treats journalists who praise it, it's how it treats journalists who might challenge it. That distinction matters because freedom of the press is not designed to protect the government or an ambassador from embarrassment it's designed to protect the citizens from a government without scrutiny."
"That scrutiny is not disrespect it is accountability. And accountability is not an obstacle to good government. Accountability is what makes good government possible."
Vasquez followed that speech with a personal reflection of his audacious and irreverent style of journalism - the very style that won him the title of Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom. He then posed an important question to journalists: what are you in it for?
Jules Vasquez, Channel 7 News Director "How I got here - to this esteemed podium I will never know. I will only say - never underestimate the motivating energy of self-loathing and imposter syndrome. Especially when I am at these events, among these gilded exemplars of excellence in our profession - I recall the great singer, Leonard Cohen, "I was born like this, I had no choice, I was born with the gift of a golden voice." Well, I was born with a stutter and a face and figure - my mother might charitably offer - was best suited for radio. But while I did not have Cohen's golden voice, I was born with the gift of a certain determination, an audacity, some would say an outrageousness, and - while certainly not fearless - an ability to disregard fear, an affinity to face down danger, in pursuit of the greater good: that the public needs to know and understand the society they live in."
"News is a public utility, just as important as water or electricity. A modern democratic society cannot survive without it - we provide the oxygen that makes a democracy breathe. Those who define and defend that space, our colleagues, I say, respect, but we need to do more, much more."
"Telling the truth can be dangerous. We must have that courage. And if you don't believe this as a journalist, then I have to ask you, what are you in it for?"
After the presentation of the award, Guyana's president gave the keynote address. Dr Ali spoke about the CBU's vision of unifying the Caribbean and ensuring the media reflects the regional identity and integration. And he reflecting on the roots of Caribbean broadcasting that led to the establishment of the CBU.
Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana "There was a time when the most powerful piece of technology in the Caribbean household was a small radio. It might have been sitting on a kitchen table, it might have been on a verandah. It might have been beside a bed, it might have been in a rum shop, a village shop, or a taxi. And when that radio came alive, something remarkable happened. People gathered. They listened. They argued. They laughed. They learned. They heard the news from home. They heard the Cricket commentary. They heard calypso, reggae, soca, chutney, and gospel. They heard politicians debating. They heard the weather forecast. They listened nightly to the death announcements. They heard the voice of the announcer who sounded as if he or she lived next door. And perhaps most importantly, they heard themselves. And our societies seemed much closer and more personal than it is today. The little radio was more than an instrument for transmitting sound, it was an instrument for transmitting our Caribbean identity."
The other nominees for this award were Trinidadian journalist and press freedom advocate Wesley Gibbons and the Media Institute of the Caribbean.
The CBU's 37th Media Awards Showcase is being held tonight.
It's a joint effort between multiple GOB entities, UB and the Turneffe Atoll sustainability association, which are all working together to safeguard our marine space and protect our fisher flats. A signing ceremony was held for the Turneffe conservation land trust deed this afternoon and Jomarie Lanza was there to see it happen. Here's her report.
Our newsroom has found a mobile coffee shop and barbershop but tonight, we're bringing you a mobile car wash. At 25 years old, Quincy Neal traded in his degree and office job for a pressure washer, suds, and entrepreneurship, betting on himself, one vehicle at a time. Jaleeza Roberts visited MQ Mobile Detailing Services, bringing the car wash wherever you are. Here is that story.
And finally tonight, with a focus on advancing digital skills development, the Ministry of E-Governance has donated a VEX V5 Classroom Super Robotics Kit to the University of Belize. The donation, which was made yesterday, was in support of UB's Jaguar Tech Studio, an initiative dedicated to advancing student learning and innovation in robotics and technology.
In a press release issued by the Ministry of E-Governance, they detail that " The VEX V5 Classroom Super Kit is a comprehensive educational robotics platform featuring more than 1,500 components, including a Robot Brain, Controller, Smart Motors, a rechargeable battery and charger, sensors, and a wide range of structural and mechanical parts."
The ministry also promised to donate robotics kits to other schools across the country.
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Today marked the first time we caught up with the prime minister since the cabinet announced its decision to reject BTL's proposed acquisition of Speednet. As we told you, the vote was supposed to have been taken this past Tuesday, but a release came out last week stating their position.
"But, um, um, we, we felt that maybe at this time, and I know people will say, "Oh, you said at this time." But simply, I believe that, um, Cabinet in its wisdom decided that maybe, uh, we should not proceed."
And while PM claims he did not make the decision unilaterally, he gave us his personal interpretation of the subsequent Speednet release. Yesterday, the NTUCB called it distasteful, as it basically threatened to up the ante to cut BTL's profits.
And in the wake of that release, the NTUCB's president called for a policy that would require that all government services remain with BTL. And as we told you last night, at the top of that list of demands was the removal of Chairman Mark Lizarraga and several other board members.
Victor Wagner Hernandez, a 67-year-old pastor of the Toledo Faith Outreach Christian Center in Punta Gorda, Toledo and former president of the National Evangelical Association of Belize, was sentenced on Monday, August 17 to a 10-year prison term by High Court Justice Antoinette Moore following his conviction for two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against a female congregant.
In other news, you may be doing a double take the next time you see your electricity bill.
"So the suggestion was to try to smoothen the effect on customers rather than wait a year or two and then having to adjust the rates by six cents or five cents or whatever. And so it's going to be on a monthly basis that we'll take a six-month average of the cost of oil compared to what is in the rates. And let's say the rolling six months for the first, the last six months was 32 cents per kilowatt-hour, then that's two cents per kilowatt-hour more than what's built into the rates. But this mechanism is going to limit it at one and a half cents, the adjustment either way, right? So then the customer would get an extra one and a half cents as a cost of power adjustment on the bill. As I was explaining, most of the cost, about 70% of our customers are residential customers that burn about $200 per month. So a customer like that would probably see something like maybe a $5 adjustment to the bill if it was a full 1.5 cents. It could be less."
"The COPA which is the Cost of Power adjacent was approved by the PUC only as a sandbox tool for testing during that same ARP period which is July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2027. The purpose of the COPA in a sandbox tool is to allow the commission whether the mechanisms work effectively and more importantly to ensure that regulatory principles of consumer protection and efficiency remain intact. So another important thing to clarify is that the Copa was not approved by the PUC as a permanent mechanism. The PUC approved Copa as a regulatory sandbox which is a controlled environment that allows the commission to test and evaluate under close oversight, transparency requirements and consumer protection safeguards. So if you look at the financial decision and the order that was shared in August there are very specific and clear mechanisms in place, conditions in place for BEL as they implement COPA on consumers as part of the regulatory sandbox."
"We have not canceled any action that was being planned. We have paused our actions collectively strategically so that we can decide what the issues are that we are going to keep on the front burner. BTL and the vote, the acquisition was one of those issues. It was not the only issue. So the teachers stand ready, willing and able with 24 hours notice to be on the street. The instructions have already been given and we are very clear, we stand for accountability, transparency, and good governance in the leadership of this country. Anything that smells like it is not that will trigger actions by the now, thank you guys very much for allowing us to come together, joint social partners."
"More and more of our educators are leaving the classrooms, more and more of our educators are signing up for participate learning and I want to talk about what is happening and I have to educate a lot of my young teachers who are coming into the system right now. When our teachers go for participate learning, their existing positions is actually available for them. So when you come in, you come in on what you call temporary employment, managements are not telling you, some managements are not telling you that it's temporary employment. It is not until you want to apply for long leave or certain benefits or get appointed, you find out they can't appoint you because you're not in a full time position. And you think you're in a full time position."
"For me as a citizen, the most dangerous defect in the draft revenue authority bill has nothing to do with pensions and workers protection or how you will transfer the public officers therein. It has everything to do with who holds the checks and balances, who calls the shots. The draft bill creates a board that is called an advisory board. It strips that executive body of all executive authority where operations, supervision, or decision making is concerned. It even strips the advisory body from giving directions to the CEO. And it removes any ability to effect or implement any policy other than to advise. All the power instead flows from one person, a minister who appoints and removes the CEO. The CEO can only be appointed by the minister and can only be removed by the minister. There is no independence selection panel to even assess the competency of this individual and definitely the advisory board can't say who. Of course they have to pass it through the House but if you're electing incompetent people in the House then of course the I's have it. And so we must ensure that the manner in which the CEO of the soon to be Revenue Authority is established that there is a clear and competitive process whereby there is serious debate on the integrity and competency of that person."
And while Senator Dennison says he might have turned to crime to feed his family, what are parents of infants and toddlers doing to afford the basic necessities?
"What we'll do is we'll compare it to the cost of living and see exactly how persons are affording children."
Yesterday we showed you the moment when Channel 7's News Director received the Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom Award in Georgetown, Guyana. The award recognizes outstanding journalism, courageous reporting and meaningful contribution to the protection and advancement of media freedom across the Caribbean.
Ambassador John Feely, Director, Center For Media Integrity Of The Americas 
"How I got here - to this esteemed podium I will never know. I will only say - never underestimate the motivating energy of self-loathing and imposter syndrome. Especially when I am at these events, among these gilded exemplars of excellence in our profession - I recall the great singer, Leonard Cohen, "I was born like this, I had no choice, I was born with the gift of a golden voice." Well, I was born with a stutter and a face and figure - my mother might charitably offer - was best suited for radio. But while I did not have Cohen's golden voice, I was born with the gift of a certain determination, an audacity, some would say an outrageousness, and - while certainly not fearless - an ability to disregard fear, an affinity to face down danger, in pursuit of the greater good: that the public needs to know and understand the society they live in."
"There was a time when the most powerful piece of technology in the Caribbean household was a small radio. It might have been sitting on a kitchen table, it might have been on a verandah. It might have been beside a bed, it might have been in a rum shop, a village shop, or a taxi. And when that radio came alive, something remarkable happened. People gathered. They listened. They argued. They laughed. They learned. They heard the news from home. They heard the Cricket commentary. They heard calypso, reggae, soca, chutney, and gospel. They heard politicians debating. They heard the weather forecast. They listened nightly to the death announcements. They heard the voice of the announcer who sounded as if he or she lived next door. And perhaps most importantly, they heard themselves. And our societies seemed much closer and more personal than it is today. The little radio was more than an instrument for transmitting sound, it was an instrument for transmitting our Caribbean identity."
