PM Briceño Appeals to Fuel Dealers to Absorb Rising Costs 

Prime Minister John Briceño is appealing to fuel dealers across Belize to do their part in helping ease the burden of rising fuel prices. Speaking on the matter, the Prime Minister acknowledged upfront that he has a personal conflict of interest, noting that his family operates a service station, and that he has therefore deliberately distanced himself from direct negotiations on the issue, leaving it in the hands of the Financial Secretary. 

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “I have left that with the financial secretary and I know they’ve tried to ask to meet with me but again it’s, I have to declare my interest I mean we have a service station in our Orange Walk Town so I try to stay away from such topics. But the reality is that when that formula was set in 2004 the prices were way lower and presently the prices continue to go up and the government has been cutting, we sent you all the data, millions of dollars in taxes that we are forgoing. The public is taking a hit because the price continues to go up and so the dealers are expected to do their part. And we hope that they would understand that it’s not something that we do out of malice or anything, but we’re all in this boat together. You know, so everybody has to do their part. It’s like with unions during COVID, you know, when we got into government we had to appeal to them to accept a salary cut because then everybody was going through a difficult time. So I’m appealing to them and I’m hoping that common sense is going to prevail.”