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Fairweather is one broker who's not been afraid to mince words about the serial inefficiencies at the port - which have persisted from private to public ownership. He listed specific failings today:

Delroy Fairweather, Customs Broker
"There's nothing efficient about this port right now. I'm telling you, you know, we are still having issues in terms of, loading, equipment failure, malfunction, malfunction. And again, like I said, you know, it's, it's something that needs to be addressed. You know, the country, it's growing, the country, it's it's, the importation is definitely growing much faster than what we think it would have been growing. And, again, like I said, we keep on having simple issues where we can't get containers loaded within a specific time."

"And I am not doing this to put them out there in a negative way, but it's just that we if we want, we, if we don't have a viable port, you know, if we don't have a viable port, then it translates to a lot of delays. And that's why, again, we end up in cases where we have to pay for these lines, detention and demurrage."

"Because, if, for example, one day, you know, you are held up at the port for one day, and you cannot get your stuff loaded, it creates extension on your time, you know, to get that stuff cleared. Even at opening hours of the port, you know, we're still operating as if we're operating under Covid,. You know by 430, once 4:30 comes, you cannot go into the port to load a container. Come on. You know, the port used to operate up until six, you know, so these are things that we are hoping that, you know, we could get these addressed."

"We understand that you know, what, you know, you don't have the most up to optimal equipment operating. But guess what? If you're having delays then if if we had the port open up to a certain time, then that would allow us to to get in there and, get containers out."

"There's a lot of people who know of what is happening at the port, but they kinda, for lack of better words, they don't want to be singled out, because they figure it out. If you open my mouth and I'm on the national television, I'm talking. Bwai, well you'll be placed in a corner. No, I'm a customer. You know, I have people that I have to answer to. You know, we are trying to ensure that we keep the cost down for importers as much as possible. Because if we could keep the cost down, then it doesn't translate to higher prices."

Jules Vasquez
"Are you heartened by the fact that when I reviewed the Gazette Extraordinary yesterday, I saw that the port of Belize is under the responsibility of the Prime Minister Belize, it is not under the responsibility of the Minister, with responsibility for Port authority, which is Michel Chebat. So that indicates that, you know, it has the highest level of executive importance. Are you encouraged by that."

Delroy Fairweather, Customs Broker
"Well, let's hope that, the, the business community can channel, being that he, he's a minister of finance also, and, make some kind of plea or pledges to him in terms of, look, the economic viability of the port is dependent on all the service that they could offer, get the port up and running properly, then that translates to more revenue more efficiency, basically it will translate into more monies in the government coffers, so to speak."