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150-BED HOSPITAL FOR BELMOPAN
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7 MAY
THE BELIZE TIMES
the capital of the entire country and, so, that this will be a referral hospital is right on planBelize’s script. This is no fluke. San Pedro is already seeing the dream of a hospital on Ambergris Island becoming a reality. Belmopan already had a new polyclinic. So did Caye Caulker and the story is similar all over the country. Health is priority. Wait…isn’t it
Housing? Or Education? Or the Economy? Or Crime mitigation? Or the Constitution? All of Belize is a priority in planBelize and John Briceño’s administration. No government has worked harder than this planBelize government and the people of Belize deserve a tertiary care facility to add to the National Health Insurance that is bound to get a bolster from the rechannelled Boledo money. This is the hope and af-
ter the exclusive license was revoked for lack of due diligence the sky seems to be the limit for how much Belize can take care of its people and their good health. As per the Cabinet release: “approval for a $90 million loan through the Saudi Fund for Development on highly concessionary terms for the construction of a 150-bedroom tertiary care/university hospital in Belmopan.”
BLUE
BONDS STILL MAKING
NEWS
Cabinet Brief Belmopan, 28th April 2023. The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño, met on 28th April 2023. • Cabinet received a full update on the incident involving candy, confirmed by testing to be laced with marijuana, that was ingested by a number of children and adults. Cabinet commended the excellent work of the doctors, nurses, and other members of staff of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, whose swift actions likely resulted in less severe health conditions. Cabinet requested that the Minister of Home Affairs bring all pressure to bear on the Belize Police Department to ensure that all those involved in this incident be brought to justice. • During the discussion on the incident involving the tainted candy, Cabinet determined to go further by looking into the types of food and beverages sold by vendors near school campuses. The Ministry of Education has confirmed that it will work with educational institutions to ensure ready access to healthier food and beverages for students through the Healthy Start Food Program. • Cabinet gave its approval for a $90 million loan through the Saudi Fund for Development on highly concessionary terms for the construction of a 150-bedroom tertiary care/university hospital in Belmopan. • Cabinet approved the updated Cruise Tourism Policy presented by the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations. The updated policy seeks to modernize Belize’s approach to cruise tourism and commits to promoting inclusive leadership, social equity, cultural integrity, responsible environmental stewardship, economic optimization, product development and resilience building. • The Cabinet considered and approved the regulations to complement the recent amendment to the Fiscal Incentives Act. These clearly indicate and describe procedures, fees, and penalties. The main points in the Amendment of the FI Act include a revised definition of MSME; MSMEs have fewer requirements for applicants requesting an incentive; allow MSMEs to apply for Import Duty, Revenue Replacement Duty, and Excise Duty exemption for an import value of not more than $1 million for a period of four years and may be extended to four more years; submission of audited financials will only apply to large companies, not MSMEs or for companies applying for One Off incentive; public notice procedures of application for fiscal incentives will only apply to large companies, not MSMEs or for companies applying for One Off incentive; MSMEs can apply for an incentive with the registration of a company name, identification document, registration at the Belize Tax Service and BELTRAIDE as an MSME. • Belize acceded to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in December 2016, demonstrating its commitment to implement convention measures to prevent and combat corruption. As part of Belize’s continued commitment to combat corruption, Cabinet has approved the tabling of the Civil Asset Recovery and Unexplained Wealth Order Bill 2023. This legislative initiative will assist in combating corruption and allow the High Court to freeze the assets of persons where those assets were acquired through unlawful means. It will place the onus on persons whose wealth exceeds their incomes to account to the court for their acquisition. These measures will enable the tracing of assets acquired through unlawful means. • Cabinet approved the enactment of the amendment to the International Limited Liability Company Act to change its name to the Limited Liability Company Act, to remove the tax exemptions from these companies, and to allow Belizeans to be eligible to form these types of companies which were formerly treated as offshore entities. • Cabinet also approved amendments to the Belize Companies Act to tighten disclosure requirements for nominee directors and expand the definition of bearer shares, among other amendments, which are required to meet the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force technical requirements. • Finally, Cabinet wishes all Belizeans a safe and happy Labour Day.
Minister Coye
on Bloomberg TV On April 26, 2023, Bloomberg BLive hosted Kevin Bender, Senior Director, Sustainable Debt, The Nature Conservancy; Hon. Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment, Government of Belize; and Jill Dauchy, Founder & CEO, Potomac Group LLC discuss debt-for-nature swaps as a tool for funding biodiversity efforts at speed and scale with Bloomberg’s Natasha White. Eighteen months ago, they helped put off the largest-ever debtfor-nature swap in Belize. This enabled Belize to buy back the infamous super bond from the market at a discount and allocate some of the savings towards marine conservation. Hon. Christopher Coye, Min. of State, “The economic outlook was certainly grim. We were in a deep crisis, fiscal economic debt crisis, but Covid simply exacerbated that situation where we were contracting around 13 percent. The debt to GDP ratio had increased from one hundred and thirty-three percent.” Debt for nature swap between Belize and TNC is the largest of its kind which has since opened out for other investors to partake such as pensioners. This goes to the partnership as TNC did their first debt-for-nature swap with Belize in the early 2000s. Jill Dauchy, Founder & CEO, Potomac Group LLC, “So, first of all, I'd like to say that the IMF has recently come out with a paper that said that there are fifty-nine countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. And so, the coming together of these two crises is well known and the countries themselves are starting to organize and they are starting to say that we need to solve these crises simultaneously.” The interest of the financial world in Belize's successful Blue Bond Debt-Nature swap is still strong. The bond was signed in 2021 and in 2023 we are still the focus of this unprecedented-level transaction. You can watch and listen to the entire discourse here https://www. bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-04-26/ blive-bloomberg-green-summit-debt-fornature-swap-video?sref=hc7V75nV
2023 Implementation of the CCJ’s Consent Order 2015 The Government of Belize wishes to provide updates to the Belizean public on the progress made on the implementation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Consent Order of 2015, and to share its position on the tension between some Maya and Non-Maya villages. Firstly, the CCJ Ruling does not give Maya villages Carte Blanche; the delimitation of the outer limits of Maya customary lands must be done with the direct involvement of the Government of Belize and in full consultation with those concerned. Consequently, a Maya Village ought not to place survey markers on any land which may be claimed. This can only legally be done by the Lands and Survey Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Government of Belize. Equally, where there is a difference of opinion as to the extent of a Maya Village’s customary lands, an aggrieved party needs to report the matter to the relevant government agencies and NOT seek to take matters into their own hands. The Government is therefore calling on all parties concerned to exercise restraint. We request that everyone refrain from engaging in any action in those areas which may have the potential to create tension until we finalize the process and procedure to address all parties' rights and interests whether Maya, Non-Maya Villages or third parties. We call particular attention to Jacintovillle + San Felipe, Yemeri Grove + Laguna, Barranco + Midway, and Mafredi and surrounding communities. The Government respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The government is also committed to implementing the CCJ Consent Order of 2015 and has adopted the FPIC Protocol by which we are guided in consulting with Maya communities. Additionally, the Government is committed to consulting fully on the draft Maya Customary Land Tenure Policy. Furthermore, the Government gives its commitment to move towards putting in place the required Legislative and Administrative framework to harmonize private ownership and communal land rights.
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14 APR 2013
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