A Roundup of Interesting News in the Jewel

Belize.com News Letter for August 16 15 2005

Belize is apparently floating on a sea of oil. Wildcatters have struck oil in commercial quantities for the first time - at the Spanish Lookout Mennonite Community. The first well is yielding 500 barrels a day of what is now dubbed Belize Sweet Light - 38 API petroleum of the highest quality as tested by labs in Texas. Belize Natural Energy Limited and its partners are drilling more wells and also looking for natural gas. They hope to extract a modest 20,000 barrels of oil a day from the first oil field. The find comes after the failure of large companies such as Gulf and Exxon in the past to find oil in commercial quantities in Belize.

Belize is taking a pummeling in the British Press over an alleged incident involving three British schoolgirls at a jungle lodge in the Cayo district. Local media reports suggest that the Kent schoolgirls traveling with the U.K. Tour Company Adventure Lifesigns were drinking at several bars in San Ignacio before the incident involving their tour guide occurred at a lodge near Georgeville Village. Mr. Nazim Juan, father of the alleged perpetrator Aaron, told the press after a night on the town, five girls, were playing a game of spin the bottle with a bottle of Caribbean rum in their cottage. His son was sent to investigate the ruckus around 3 in the morning. The girls then allegedly pulled his son Aaron into their room where an incident involving drinking and other mischief took place.

Over 100 cases of Dengue Fever have been reported in Belize, mainly in the Belize, Cayo and Corozal Districts and also in the capital Belmopan. Dengue, also known as "break bone" disease because of the strong body aches associated with it, is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is active during the day. Dengue causes flue-like symptoms and pain in the eyes. There is no vaccine and Tylenol (acetaminophen), bed rest and lots of fluids is the recommended treatment for the disease which runs its course in five to ten days. Aspirin should not be used in the treatment. Dengue fever is common in all tropical countries during the rainy season.

Hollywood megastar Leo Di Carpio, star of the Titanic and The Aviator, has purchased Blackadore island near San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. Di Carpio reportedly paid US$2.4 million for the 104 acre island. The star will reportedly build an eco resort on the island. Di Carpio joins other Hollywood notable Francis Ford Coppola who owns an eco-resort in the Mountain Pine Ridge.

Real Estate tax increased to 15% for certain nationalities. The Belize House of Representatives recently approved a hike in real estate tax for foreigners. "Stamp Duty" is now 15% for all buyers except Belizeans and nationals of CARICOM (Caribbean Community) who now pay 5%. This is part of a continuing rollout of new tax measures to attempt to shore up government’s precarious financial situation following a spate of corruption scandals, bad investments and the bankruptcy of the government’s development bank the Development Finance Corporation. The move is seen as an anti foreigner move as those most affected are US, Canadian and British citizens who previously paid the 5% tax just like Belizeans. Some Belize attorneys have already found a way to avoid this tax however, by using offshore vehicles to purchase property.

Belize First Magazine reports that tourism growth in Belize is lagging despite the rosy picture painted by the government controlled Belize Tourism Board. The magazine looks at the 2004 arrival figures for Belize and Central America and says that "…a look at these figures suggests that Belize is not doing as well as it could in tourism development, and the growth rate since 2000 seems to show that Belize is falling farther behind its neighbors.  Belize has the slowest growth rate in tourism arrivals of any country in the region, even though it is growing from a smaller base. "

Annual Tourism Arrivals in Central America, 2004
Costa Rica     1,454,000
Guatemala     1,182,000
El Salvador      966,000
Panama            652,000
Nicaragua        615,000
Honduras        611,000
Belize              231,000
For comparison, here are tourism arrivals for selected other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean:
Mexico      20,618,000
Brazil          4,725,000
Dom. Rep.  3,450,000
Argentina    3,353,000
Cuba           2,017,000
Source: World Tourism Organization and Belize Tourist Board for Belize

Total increase in Overnight Tourism, 2000-2004:
Panama        57%
Guatemala    43%
Honduras     43%
Costa Rica   34%
Nicaragua    27%
El Salvador  22%
Belize          18%
Source: Sistema de Integracion Centroamericana (SICA).

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