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Residents of Belize have been facing growing sticker shock as monthly electricity bills climb higher in recent months, prompting widespread speculation about hidden rate hikes or manipulative practices from the national power provider. In a public address addressing these concerns, Prime Minister John Briceño has stepped forward to clear up confusion, laying the blame for the spike squarely on shifting weather patterns and increased energy use from households across the country. Briceño explained that unseasonably hot temperatures have forced Belizeans to run cooling appliances far longer than they typically would, adding significant extra draw to the national power grid. From non-stop operation of ceiling fans to more frequent openings of household refrigerators to keep food chilled, and extended run times for air conditioning units in homes that have them, every extra minute of use adds to the final monthly bill. The prime minister also acknowledged that a small, pre-approved base rate increase has contributed marginally to the higher totals, but emphasized that the vast majority of the growth in bills comes from elevated consumption, not underhanded changes by the power provider. To illustrate his point, Briceño drew a parallel to a recent upgrade project completed by the Belize Water Services Limited (BWSL) that improved water pressure across urban areas of the country. Before the infrastructure upgrade, many city residents struggled with low water pressure that limited how much water they could access at any given time. Once the new pumping systems were installed and pressure rose, households naturally began using more water for daily needs, which led to an immediate jump in monthly water bills that mirrored the current rise in electricity costs. “There is no nefarious plan that BEL somehow with a magic wand managed to increase all the meters to go up to charge more, it is simply because it is hotter and people have to use more electricity,” Briceño stated in his remarks. Summing up his message to the public, the prime minister emphasized that higher bills are a reflection of higher consumer demand driven by weather conditions, not deceptive practices by Belize Electricity Limited. This report is a transcribed excerpt from an evening television news broadcast published online.

On May 29, 2026, Lord’s Bank Village, Belize ushered in a landmark shift in local public safety as community leaders, residents, and senior government officials gathered to inaugurate the village’s first dedicated police substation – a facility years in the making that was developed in direct response to growing public anxiety over surging local crime rates.

The new facility is part of a broader national initiative led by the Ministry of Home Affairs to decentralize police services and bring law enforcement support closer to residential communities across the country. According to Home Affairs Minister Oscar Mira, the government plans to roll out a network of similar substations in under-served areas nationwide, built on the core principle that effective public safety requires collaborative partnership between police forces and the communities they serve. “We cannot tackle crime alone,” Mira emphasized during the opening ceremony. “Our goal is to make police services more accessible to every neighborhood, and that starts by meeting communities where they are.”

Six full-time officers and one supervisor will be assigned to the Lord’s Bank substation, operating on a 24/7 rotation to ensure continuous law enforcement presence throughout the village. In a boost to local patrol capacity, regional firm F.T. Williams and Associates has also donated a motorcycle to the substation, enabling officers to conduct more flexible and responsive patrols across the area. Mira praised the private sector donation as a perfect example of the cross-sector collaboration the initiative aims to foster, noting that the motorcycle will solve critical mobility gaps for officers responding to local incidents.

Local representative for Belize Rural Central Dolores Balderamos-Garcia echoed the widespread community relief over the substation’s opening, pointing to a recent string of unsettling criminal incidents that had left residents feeling vulnerable. “We’ve seen a steady uptick in crime across both Ladyville and Lord’s Bank in recent months,” Balderamos-Garcia explained. “Just recently, there was an attempted rape, multiple residential burglaries, and ongoing issues with unaddressed traffic accidents. Residents have been calling for greater protection for a long time, and this substation is a tangible response to those calls.” She added that the appointment of Corporal Andrews, a young native of Lord’s Bank, to lead the local officer team has generated extra optimism among residents, who see a local leader as more connected to the community’s unique needs.

This report is adapted from a transcript of an evening television news broadcast from Belize.

Scheduled for publication on May 29, 2026, this feature story from Belize’s *Looking on the Bright Side* profiling a trailblazing campus that is redefining what 21st century education can look like when communities come together. As part of the Ministry of Education’s national MoRE Campaign – an initiative that challenges schools across the country to “be more, do more” by expanding learning beyond four classroom walls and prioritizing growth in technology access, student wellness, and community collaboration – Chapel School in the Orange Walk District has emerged as a gold standard for the movement.

When a News 5 reporting team led by correspondent Sabreena Daly arrived on campus to profile the school’s work, they were greeted with a vibrant celebration: a student drumline performed at the main gate, under a decorative balloon arch, followed by a traditional student dance performance that set the tone for the story of community transformation unfolding inside the school’s halls. Serving 230 students across all primary grade levels, Chapel School’s standout approach to the MoRE Campaign’s goals centers on a single core mission: closing the long-standing divide between school and home to build a shared investment in student success.

For parent and Parent-Teacher Association president Gustavo Castaneda, the impact of this approach is visible in his own son Emilio, a Standard 1 student. “Emilio likes the school because everybody is friendly, and, um, everybody gets involved in his education,” Castaneda explained, noting that the warm, inclusive environment has helped his son grow into a more confident learner.

That intentional culture of inclusion and partnership did not develop by accident, according to Chapel School principal Heidi Tejeda. Tejeda frames the school’s work as a deliberate effort to “bridge the gap” between the school and the surrounding community, repositioning the small Christian campus as a welcoming space for all stakeholders: parents, students, teachers, and local residents alike. “I want the people and the community, to see our Christian school as embracing everyone, embracing the parents, the students, and the teachers, and that we work as a team,” Tejeda said.

The school’s approach challenges the long-held traditional mindset that education is solely the responsibility of campus faculty and staff. Instead, Chapel School actively integrates parents into every layer of student learning, operating on the principle that responsibility for a child’s growth is shared equally between teachers, families, and learners themselves. “It is very important for us to include our parents because the responsibility is shared among the teacher, the parent, and the student. And the more the parents they come, the more engaged the students are,” Tejeda added.

This focus on inclusion and shared responsibility has delivered measurable, tangible results: the school has recorded clear increases in both student attendance and academic motivation since rolling out its community-centered model. Beyond parent engagement, Chapel School has also reimagined in-class learning by moving lessons beyond traditional classroom spaces when it supports student growth. A unit on composting, for example, turned into a hands-on school-wide project to build a campus botanical garden. The school offers every student access to coding classes in a fully outfitted computer lab, alongside robust sports and creative arts programs that welcome all participants – including students with disabilities, who are fully integrated into every campus activity. The school has fully adopted competency-based learning frameworks that prioritize individual student growth over one-size-fits-all testing, aligning perfectly with the MoRE Campaign’s vision for education innovation.

Hector Morales, the Principal Education Officer for the Orange Walk District, highlighted that Chapel School’s work is exactly the kind of transformative practice district officials hope to spread to every campus across the region. “And that’s what we want to do. We want to highlight the kind of activities, kind of work that Chapel is doing, and we want all the schools to do the same, regardless if they are recognized or not,” Morales said.

Launched to reshape Belize’s national education landscape, the MoRE Campaign has found a standout leader in Chapel School – a campus that has not only met the campaign’s challenge but has set a benchmark for other institutions to follow. What makes the school’s transformation unique, however, is that it has nothing to do with extravagant new infrastructure or high-priced administrative overhauls. The real change has happened in the attitudes of parents and community members, who have shifted from viewing education as a service to delegate to the school to a shared responsibility they all own.

Castaneda summed up that cultural shift, noting: “Traditionally parents would say, ‘Well, I will hand the school our education, the education of my child,’ which is not so. Education comes from the school as well as from the parent, from us parents, and from the community itself.”

That collaborative synergy, that shared commitment to “paddling in the same boat,” does more than just give students a place to learn each day. It builds a strong foundation for long-term life success. When a whole community commits to being more inclusive, more engaged, and more invested, it gives children the power to achieve more than they ever could alone. Reporting for *Looking on the Bright Side*, I’m Sabreena Daly.