On November 5, 2026, Belize’s upper legislative chamber formally greenlit a bipartisan seven-member Special Select Committee tasked with launching a sweeping, 16-month review of the nation’s embattled energy sector, following repeated warnings from national utility provider Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) that widespread power shortages and supply disruptions will not abate and are projected to stretch well into 2027. The cross-party committee’s wide-ranging mandate covers a full audit of systemic failures that have plagued Belize’s power grid over the past 10 years, spanning opaque power purchase agreements, volatile international fuel supply contracts, long-term electricity import arrangements with Mexico’s state-run utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), unvetted emergency procurement processes during past grid emergencies, and alleged regulatory gaps in the oversight functions of the Public Utilities Commission, the country’s primary energy watchdog. Beyond regulatory and contractual reviews, the panel is authorized to subpoena confidential government and corporate documents, summon current and former public officials, energy executives and industry stakeholders to testify under oath, and retain independent international energy technical specialists to conduct third-party audits of sector financial records, outdated technical performance reports, and decades of unimplemented national energy policy frameworks. In a landmark transparency measure, all committee public hearings will be broadcast live across national broadcast and digital platforms to ensure full public access to proceedings. The legislative motion that established the panel mandates that all public testimonies and fact-finding activities be concluded no later than March 31, 2027, after which the committee will compile a full, unredacted public report that traces problematic decisions and policy missteps across multiple successive national administrations, with the explicit goal of identifying actionable, evidence-based reforms to end Belize’s prolonged energy crisis and build a more resilient, affordable power grid for residential and commercial users.
分类： environment
-
Abinader urges stronger early warning systems to confront climate threats
Madrid, Spain – During the official proceedings of the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, presided over by Spain’s King Felipe VI, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader laid out a urgent, targeted call for scaled cross-national cooperation across all Ibero-American nations to upgrade early warning infrastructure and harmonize regional disaster risk management frameworks, as accelerating climate change drives more frequent and destructive extreme weather events across the Caribbean and Latin America. Abinader, whose small island Caribbean nation sits in one of the world’s most active hurricane corridors, emphasized that the Dominican Republic faces acute, recurring exposure to catastrophic storms, flood events and climate-fueled natural hazards that can wipe out decades of hard-won social and economic development gains in a matter of hours. Rejecting the notion that individual nations can build meaningful climate resilience in isolation, the head of state urged participating governments to formalize shared regional disaster prevention and rapid response mechanisms, including structured platforms to pool critical emergency resources, circulate technical expertise, and disseminate on-the-ground implementation best practices across the Ibero-American bloc. He framed the collective effort as a core act of cross-border solidarity, designed to shield vulnerable coastal and inland communities from preventable loss of life and livelihood, while drastically cutting the long-term societal and economic toll of climate-amplified natural disasters.
-
Davis administration looks to develop ‘holistic plan’ to better protect coastlines
By Keile Campbell, Tribune Staff Reporter
In response to mounting public frustration over recurring excessive sand accumulation and debris encroachment on New Providence’s busy West Bay Street, top environmental officials in The Bahamas have announced the government is crafting a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy to safeguard the nation’s vulnerable coastal zones.
Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy, Director of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), shared the update yesterday, while sounding a stark warning that disruptive events like unplanned sand surges and chronic coastal flooding will grow far more frequent across the archipelago as climate change alters longstanding weather patterns. “These incidents will not be isolated to New Providence. We will see them spread across all the Family Islands, stretching across every type of coastal terrain, and we have no choice but to implement targeted, adaptive solutions to keep communities safe,” she emphasized.
Multiple motorists told The Tribune this week that the thick layers of sand and scattered debris washing onto sections of West Bay Street have created hazardous driving conditions, with many local residents calling for urgent construction of additional seawalls as an immediate fix. But Dr Neely-Murphy cautioned against a one-size-fits-all approach to coastal defense, noting that haphazard seawall construction can often do more long-term ecological harm than good. “A seawall might be the right intervention for one specific high-risk stretch, but we cannot blanket every coastline with this infrastructure without rigorous assessment,” she explained. “Our holistic plan will combine targeted engineering interventions, carefully calibrated beach renourishment projects, and ecosystem-based restoration work tailored to the unique needs of each affected area.”
Decades of gradual erosion have worn away at New Providence’s entire northern coastline, driven in large part by natural weather events including tropical storms, seasonal cold fronts, and the series of unusually severe king tides recorded over the past three months, Dr Neely-Murphy confirmed. The DEPP already has a track record of successful targeted coastal restoration work across the island: Cabbage Beach and Montagu Beach have both seen significant erosion reduction after teams installed sand stabilization fencing, restored native dune vegetation, and deployed supplementary nourishment sand in partnership with private sector stakeholders. The 2012 Montagu Beach redevelopment project, a joint initiative between the Bahamian government and Kerzner International, utilized groynes, native plantings, and new sand deposits to stabilize the entire beachfront, delivering measurable improvements for public access and ecological health. A 2009 government contract valued at $464,438 previously completed critical seawall repairs at four high-risk West Bay Street locations: Delaporte, Rock Point, the zone opposite the Caves, and the stretch east of Gambier. Most recently, DEPP rolled out targeted erosion control recommendations for Cabbage Beach, which included new fencing and support pilings, a proposal that sparked constructive public feedback from local beach vendors concerned about maintaining unobstructed public access to the shoreline.
The upcoming holistic plan for the West Bay Street coastline will integrate a diverse mix of protective measures, including restored coral reef breakwaters, expanded mangrove buffer zones, strategically placed seawall segments, and targeted beach renourishment projects. The initiative aligns directly with the policy priorities of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who has repeatedly highlighted The Bahamas’ extreme national vulnerability to climate-driven hazards including accelerating coastal erosion and global sea level rise. The Prime Minister has publicly committed to scaling up long-term government investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and nature-based coastal defense solutions to shield both residential communities and critical public roadways across the archipelago. -
Antigua and Barbuda Environment Officials Participate in Pre-COP31 Sessions Ahead of Global Climate Summit
A core team of technical representatives from Antigua and Barbuda’s Department of Environment has arrived in Antalya, Türkiye, to kick off formal pre-conference negotiations ahead of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31). On-ground delegates Arry Simon and Garth Simon are currently engaging in closed-door working sessions with hundreds of international climate stakeholders, ranging from national negotiating teams to multilateral agency officials and civil society advocacy groups, to hash out preliminary positions on high-stakes agenda items before the official World Leaders Summit and the full conference’s formal launch. These pre-COP convenings serve as a critical collaborative space for small island developing states (SIDS) like Antigua and Barbuda to align core negotiating priorities, build cross-regional consensus on unaddressed climate action gaps, and lay foundational agreements that will define the trajectory of the global climate agenda for the next two years. The full national delegation to COP31 will be led by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who is scheduled to deliver a national address and participate in high-level bilateral and multilateral roundtables during the World Leaders Summit, where heads of state and government from across the globe will converge to make binding commitments on emissions reduction, loss and damage funding, and equitable climate action. Joining Prime Minister Browne in the official delegation is Michael Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs, who will travel to the conference venue during the second half of the two-week summit. Minister Joseph has received a formal appointment from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to serve two pivotal regional leadership roles at COP31: he will lead the bloc’s entire engagement on climate science policy, and act as one of three CARICOM ministerial leads for global climate finance negotiations, serving alongside his counterparts from Barbados and Belize. In these dual capacities, Minister Joseph will coordinate cross-Caribbean alignment on the latest peer-reviewed climate science underpinning global action frameworks, and push for scaled, accessible, low-cost climate financing to support vulnerable low-lying nations on the frontlines of climate disaster. Rounding out Antigua and Barbuda’s official COP31 cohort are Ruleta Camacho-Thomas, national Climate Ambassador and Director of the Department of Environment, and Gita Nicholas, a senior technical official from the Department of Environment, who will support ongoing negotiating working groups across the full duration of the conference.
-
Mennonieten en de ontbossingscyclus
On November 5, 2023, agroforestry specialist Dr. Rudi F. van Kanten published a critical commentary highlighting emerging threats to Suriname’s globally significant forest ecosystems, triggered by a 2023 alert from a Bolivian colleague regarding a real estate agent named Adrian Barbero advertising massive tracts of Surinamese forest land to Mennonite communities for large-scale agricultural operations. The proposals initially targeted 30,000 hectares of primary forest, with potential long-term expansion to a staggering 300,000 hectares.
Suriname, the most forested nation on Earth, holds a unique strategic natural asset that extends far beyond simple forest coverage statistics: its intact primary forests deliver irreplaceable ecological services for current and future generations, from carbon sequestration to watershed regulation and biodiversity preservation. Dr. van Kanten emphasizes that the country’s long-term prosperity cannot rely on extractive, exploitative resource extraction, but instead must be built on a balanced portfolio of sustainable economic sectors: responsibly managed mining, certified selective logging under the national Celos Management System, long-term vision aligned low-impact agriculture, and community-focused nature tourism.
Even before the proposed large-scale Mennonite agricultural projects, Suriname’s forests already face mounting pressure from five interconnected, unregulated harmful activities: uncontrolled artisanal gold mining, illegal unmonitored logging, unregulated wildlife trafficking, narcotics smuggling routes through remote forest corridors, and human trafficking networks linked to other transnational crimes. All these activities directly degrade fragile rainforest ecosystems and erode the foundation for long-term sustainable natural resource governance.
Beyond these existing stressors, new preventable risks are emerging, chief among them the clearance of vast swathes of untouched primary forest for industrial agriculture. Widespread deforestation for farming does not only accelerate catastrophic biodiversity loss: it also drastically elevates the risk of destructive wildfires, disrupts regional hydrological cycles, and dries out entire ecosystems to make remaining vegetation far more flammable. Multiple Amazon Basin nations have already experienced recurring, large-scale wildfire events that cause cascading damage to local economies, public health systems, and native flora and fauna. Suriname has so far largely avoided major wildfire outbreaks thanks to its naturally moist forest soils and minimal natural ignition sources, but unplanned large-scale forest clearance could upend this delicate balance entirely. Dr. van Kanten points to Bolivia’s well-documented experience, where widespread deforestation for industrial agriculture has led to years of devastating, recurrent wildfires that have inflicted severe, long-lasting harm on local communities and ecosystems.
The commentary outlines specific structural risks associated with unregulated large-scale Mennonite agricultural settlement in Suriname’s forests. Mennonite communities typically operate with tight internal organizational structures, closed social networks, substantial accumulated financial resources, and an established track record of expanding agricultural settlements across new frontiers to support growing farming operations. Their strong collective coordination, existing political connections, and shared collaborative frameworks often enable them to roll out very large agricultural projects at a pace that outstrips local regulatory oversight. This dynamic risks creating a self-perpetuating deforestation cycle: communities clear a section of forest for intensive farming, but after several years of continuous cultivation, soil fertility and crop yields decline, creating pressure to acquire and clear even more untouched forest land to maintain productivity. Speculative intermediary land traders stand to earn massive profits from facilitating these sales, and will actively lobby to frame the projects as beneficial for local economic growth to avoid regulatory pushback.
Dr. van Kanten concludes that Suriname’s core policy challenge is to reconcile inclusive economic development with rigorous, science-backed forest governance. By implementing proactive, timely preventive regulations, scaling support for sustainable low-impact agricultural practices, and prioritizing the protection of remaining intact forest quality, the country can avoid the cascade of environmental crises that have plagued other parts of the Amazon region. He explicitly praises President Simons’ recent decision to expel the Mennonite groups seeking access to the forest land, noting that protecting the country’s healthy, intact rainforests is not just a national environmental responsibility, but a critical long-term investment that will deliver shared prosperity for generations of Surinamese citizens to come. -
Saharan Dust Causes Moderate Air Quality in Antigua and Barbuda Until Friday
The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda is grappling with its 34th substantial Saharan dust event of the 2026 calendar year, prompting the national Meteorological Service to roll out a Level II public air pollution advisory amid steadily declining atmospheric air quality. The official public bulletin, released on Tuesday, November 3, confirms that spiking concentrations of fine inhalable particulate matter classified as PM2.5 and PM10 have blanketed the entire national territory, pushing air quality metrics firmly into the moderate risk bracket. Forecasters project these dust-laden atmospheric conditions will remain in place through to Friday, November 6, with no significant natural dispersion expected before that timeline. The latest Air Quality Index (AQI) forecasts peg daily readings between 51 and 80 for the duration of the event, a range that falls under global environmental health guidelines for moderate air quality. For the vast majority of the general population, the current conditions carry only a minimal overall health risk, but meteorological and public health officials are urging vulnerable subgroups to take targeted precautionary measures to avoid adverse impacts. High-priority at-risk groups include residents living with asthma or other chronic respiratory conditions, individuals diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, adults aged 65 and over, and young children whose respiratory systems are still developing. Officials emphasized that for most people, current air quality levels are broadly acceptable for routine daily activities, but the elevated particulate concentrations can trigger noticeable discomfort for a small subset of unusually sensitive members of the public. Active children, physically engaged adults, and anyone living with pre-existing respiratory conditions are specifically advised to cut back on extended periods of strenuous outdoor exercise while the Saharan dust cloud lingers over the islands. The Meteorological Service also issued a critical long-term health reminder, noting that repeated cumulative exposure to even mild to moderate degraded air quality can lead to lasting adverse health outcomes, even if no obvious immediate symptoms present during individual dust events. National weather authorities have confirmed that the active Level II alert will remain in full effect through November 6, and have encouraged all residents to check regular official forecast updates for any unplanned shifts in air quality conditions that could prompt adjusted public guidance.
-
Geen regen in zicht, hete donderdag
The latest official meteorological update, published on 05 November at 04:55 local time, outlines a stretch of unseasonably warm, largely dry weather across the region for the upcoming Thursday. The day will kick off under predominantly clear, sunny skies in the early pre-dawn hours, with mercury readings hovering between 22°C and 24°C. Temperatures will climb rapidly as the morning progresses, hitting roughly 28°C by 9 a.m., with minimal cloud cover and an almost negligible chance of any precipitation throughout the first half of the day. The midday to late afternoon period will bring extreme heat, as unobstructed sunshine pushes peak temperatures to a sweltering 35°C to 38°C between noon and 4 p.m. Barely any scattered showers are projected for this window, and a gentle to moderate east-to-northeasterly breeze will fail to deliver meaningful relief from the high heat, leaving little natural cooling for residents. Even after the sun sets, the unseasonable warmth will linger: at 6 p.m., thermostats will still register 33°C to 34°C. While cloud cover may increase slightly later in the evening, the likelihood of rain remains very low, and temperatures will only dip gradually to a mild 26°C by the late overnight hours. The accompanying infographic (hosted at https://www.starnieuws.com/temp/0e109f26bee5330fa10ce0e1b9250bb0.webp) visualizes the full temperature trend for the 24-hour period.
-
Solar energy to support another 55 pumping stations in Santiago de Cuba
SANTIAGO DE CUBA – Local authorities overseeing hydraulic resources have unveiled a new phase of a renewable energy rollout designed to insulate the province’s water distribution networks from frequent disruptions tied to national power grid generation shortfalls. Wilmer Destrades Heredia, the Santiago de Cuba delegate for Hydraulic Resources, confirmed to state publication Granma that 55 additional water pumping stations across the nation’s most topographically rugged province will be fitted with photovoltaic solar panels, joining 88 operational stations that already use solar as an independent energy backup. The announcement comes shortly after the full resolution of a service outage that impacted 16 hydrometric sectors in the provincial “Hero City” last Thursday, triggered by a rupture in a 900-millimeter main pipeline in the Zona Alta district. Parallel infrastructure upgrades are also in motion: construction is advancing on a dedicated new power line for the Gota Blanca reservoir to Quintero pumping system, which delivers potable water to over 70% of residents in Cuba’s second-largest urban center. Over in the Contramaestre municipality, crews are completing upgrades at the Maffo pumping station, including the installation of a new high-efficiency motor and dedicated, stable power access. The Electric Utility Company has already completed targeted investments to decouple the Maffo site from overstretched power circuits that regularly suffer unplanned outages due to systemic national energy generation deficits. Destrades Heredia noted that rural and mountainous communities across seven municipalities – Contramaestre, Mella, San Luis, Songo-La Maya, Palma Soriano, Segundo Frente, and Tercer Frente – have already seen substantial improvements from the solar and equipment upgrade program, with nearly 50,000 residents previously plagued by frequent conventional pump failures now accessing far more consistent water service, a problem that had no viable short or medium-term solution prior to the targeted investments. Even with the measurable progress, the hydraulic resources delegate emphasized that the multi-pronged initiative will not fully eliminate the longstanding complexities of equitable water distribution across the province, noting that a number of hydrometric sectors in San Luis, Palma Soriano, and Songo-La Maya still operate on water delivery cycles that stretch beyond 90 days, with additional long-term infrastructure work required to resolve those gaps.
-
Progress or Disruption? New Airport Plan Divides Ambergris Caye
A contentious $600 million airport redevelopment plan for Belize’s Ambergris Caye, earmarked for a remote site near Secret Beach on land held by the Social Security Board and backed by proposed Inter-American Development Bank financing, has ignited fierce debate among local residents, business operators and public officials over long-term growth priorities and immediate community impacts. The core flashpoint of the disagreement centers on official indications that the long-serving, centrally located John Greif II Airport in the heart of San Pedro Town would eventually be decommissioned once commercial operations shift to the new northern site, a outcome that local stakeholders say was not part of initial public discussions that framed the project as a dedicated facility for private aircraft. Father Eduardo Montemayor, pastor of the San Pedro Catholic Church, a licensed pilot who has led the congregation for six years, noted that the project’s stated purpose shifted abruptly from a complementary private aviation hub to a replacement for the existing municipal airport, a pivot he describes as deeply unwise. The church had planned to redevelop its property, positioned directly across from the current airport, into a revenue-generating shopping district whose proceeds would fund education initiatives across all of Belize, a plan entirely dependent on the John Greif II Airport remaining operational. Longtime local business leaders such as Jennie Staine, executive chef at iconic San Pedro eatery Elvi’s Kitchen, argue the new airport project is wildly premature, noting that the island’s already strained infrastructure, including poorly maintained local roads and unplanned urban sprawl, requires far more urgent investment decades before a new airport could be justified. A site visit by News Five reporter Paul Lopez confirmed that travel from central San Pedro to the proposed Secret Beach airport location takes roughly 30 minutes along a route that includes large stretches of unpaved, underdeveloped roadway, a gap that residents warn will drastically extend travel times for tourists, delay emergency medical and disaster response operations, and deliver a catastrophic blow to the downtown San Pedro tourism economy that has grown up around easy access to the existing airport. Area Representative for Belize Rural South Andre Perez has defended the project, stating that any transition away from John Greif II Airport will follow a slow, phased timeline, with full decommissioning not expected until at least 2030, and that market demand will dictate the pace of the shift rather than a rigid government mandate. Perez also pushed back against widespread resident complaints that local stakeholders have not been given meaningful input into the plan, arguing that public project presentations hosted by the San Pedro Town Council constituted formal consultation. Community members, however, have rejected that framing, stating that a one-way informational presentation that does not incorporate community feedback into final design decisions cannot be classified as genuine consultation. As of November 4, 2026, no final binding decisions have been released, but local residents say they will continue pushing to ensure their concerns are prioritized before any irreversible commitments to the new airport project are made.
-
Could Your Concrete Home Be Raising Your Light Bill?
Published on November 4, 2026, this report unpacks a little-noticed energy drain affecting households and commercial properties across Belize, where concrete construction has long been the default building standard to withstand the region’s frequent severe hurricane seasons. While thick concrete walls deliver life-saving structural resilience during tropical storms, the Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) has flagged a major unintended downside for consumers’ monthly utility expenses. As the material absorbs and traps solar heat throughout the sweltering daytime hours, it slowly radiates that stored warmth back into indoor spaces long after the sun sets. This continuous residual heat forces air conditioning systems to run far longer and work at higher capacity to offset the warmth, creating hidden, unanticipated cooling costs that many residents never attribute to their home’s building material. Karique Marin, BEL’s General Manager of Energy Solutions, broke down the root of the issue during a recent broadcast interview. “For decades, Belize’s construction norms have prioritized hurricane resistance over passive cooling design, leading nearly all property owners to default to full concrete builds without realizing the material’s extremely poor thermal performance,” Marin explained. “Many residents walk into their homes after dark and notice their walls are still hot to the touch, and they don’t realize their air conditioner isn’t just cooling the air in the room — it’s wasting large amounts of energy first bringing that heat-soaked concrete down to a comfortable temperature. That’s a massive untapped opportunity for energy savings across the country.” Marin outlined a two-pronged path for consumers to cut these unnecessary costs: first, implementing targeted energy efficiency upgrades, including switching to low-energy lighting, sealing air leaks around windows and door frames to prevent cooled air from escaping, and adopting passive design adjustments that reduce heat buildup before it penetrates interior spaces. For commercial property owners and larger operations, Marin noted rooftop solar can be a viable supplementary solution, but emphasized that no property should invest in a solar system without a full, customized feasibility assessment first. “We’ve seen some solar projects deliver exceptional long-term savings, but others fail to meet consumer expectations because they were installed without a proper site analysis,” Marin added. “BEL’s team offers free, no-obligation consultations for any residential or commercial customer looking to explore energy efficiency improvements or evaluate if a solar setup is a cost-effective fit for their property.” This report is adapted from the network’s evening television newscast, with all Kriol-language segments transcribed using a standardized official spelling system to preserve full accuracy.