3 days ago
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Belize is moving ahead with the implementation of its 180-million-US-dollar Compact with the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The money will be used to address two major areas, education and energy. The United States is putting 125 million US dollars into the five-year programme, while Belize will contribute close to 55 million US dollars. At this morning’s ceremony, United States Ambassador Andre Bauer spoke about where Belize stands in its relationship with the United States. He described Belize as one of the best countries to work with in the Western Hemisphere.
Andre Bauer, United States Ambassador to Belize: “I would say this is not a tit for tat. There are no strings attached. This is a demonstration of a long-term relationship the United States has had with Belize, before Belize was even Belize. We were working with this country. We believed in this country. But what you’re seeing now is a reprioritization of the Trump administration. They have decided to reprioritize funds heavily in the Western Hemisphere. And this is one of our best partners in the Western Hemisphere. We import more than any other country to this country. We have more tourists come to this country than any other country. And we consider this a major friend in the Western Hemisphere and a safer Belize is a safer America. And so our commitment to invest in this country is many folds but that being Belizeans that have opportunity and Americans that want to invest in here, the better the workforce, better opportunities there are for other people to invest in this country and for us to have mutual growth and prosperity.”
A portion of the funding will go into secondary education and technical and vocational training. The work will include training for teachers and school leaders, assessing how students are performing and better preparing young people for the jobs available in Belize. On the energy side, the programme includes a new high-voltage submarine cable connecting the mainland to Ambergris Caye. The cable should provide a more dependable electricity supply for the island and cut down on the need for costly emergency generation. The Compact also calls for changes in the way the energy sector is managed and regulated. And while most of the money is coming from the MCC, Belize is also expected to provide its share. Prime Minister John Briceño explained that much of the country’s contribution will not be paid in cash. Instead, it will come through staff, property and other resources used to carry out the projects.
John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “I think it was important from our end to show a total commitment to the goals that have been set out. And how best can you do that by saying that we’re going to put also our money. When there was a realignment within the compact from education to energy, there was a shortfall. And we as a government decided that we’re going to cover that shortfall because we still wanted to meet the goals that were set initially. And with energy, with replacing the submarine cable, it’s not only the submarine cable, we also have to run new transmission lines from the substation by Bomba and that’s also very, very expensive. And I also need to make the point that the compact that we signed, we also have to set monies aside to ensure that those projects can finish, that even if there should be for any reason, and I hope it doesn’t happen, any budget overruns we will have to be able to put in that money. So it’s in our interest to be able to get this done as quickly as possible and to keep down the cost.”
The programme will run for five years, with both the Government and the MCC required to meet agreed deadlines and complete the projects and reforms included in the Compact. The goal is to help more Belizean students leave school with skills they can actually use in the workplace, while improving the reliability and cost of electricity for homes and businesses.
English (US) ·