There is a worrying trend beginning to emerge in the business sector and this trend is the closing down of businesses which once thrived only a few years ago in what was once a growing economy.
Since Dean Barrow announced the recession in April 2009, Belizeans have been surprised almost weekly as businesses once fixtures on the Belize's business scene have been quietly closing their doors and pulling down the shutters.
Last week the local business universe shifted on its axis when it was reported that two businesses within the Mena Group of Companies, Fresh Catch Belize Limited and The Wood Depot had been forced into receivership by First Caribbean Bank, and that the Belize Bank had appointed accountant Stanley Ermeav as their receiver for Belize Aggregates Limited.
Fresh Catch Belize has been exporting thousands of pounds of their product to Guatemala, Mexico and the United States since 2002. It is a multi-million dollar investment that employed 90 Belizeans. It is a pioneer and mainstay in the farm fish business, and other jobs will be lost in the ancillary and support industries such as transportation, and so on.
The bank has already reduced operations, drastically cut back on the work force, and is expected to try and maintain minimal operations while it seeks a buyer.
The Wood Depot and Belize Aggregates are both victims of the massive slowdown in the construction industry. The simple fact is that construction in Belize has been simply grinding to a halt. Equipment and construction suppliers have been going out of business "hand over fist" the past two years. They join the likes of Maestre's windows business, and will probably be joined by Fabro's Glass Shop.
Figures from the Statistical Institute of Belize show that importations into the Corozal Free Zone have fallen by nearly a half over the past two years, and that reflects the closure of many operations there, and the consequential loss of hundreds of job.
The ripple effect of those closures are being felt throughout the local district economy and analyses are concluding that unemployment in our northernmost district, as the sugar crop grinds to a halt, could be as high as 60%.
Reports are that this year's sugar crop will be one of the worst ever. Severe processing problems at the start and the early onset of the rainy season coupled with a high TCTS (Tons Cane to Tons Sugar) ratio have all but doomed any chance of reaching earlier production targets. Cane farmers will be further outraged when they receive second payments next month that will be a third of the prices they received last year.
The Belize Tourism Board will soon report a huge downturn in overnight arrivals of a promising start that showed signs of recovery. This year's tourism slow season has all but ground to a halt.
There are persistent reports that several large and veteran businesses are also teetering on the edge of receivership or outright foreclosure. The list is said to include to of Belize's largest retailers and a standout restaurant, marina, tourism center.
Even bus lines owned and operated by politically connected cronies of the Barrow administration and who were brought in to take the place of what were thriving lines are now threatening to throw in the towel.
Not even the heretofore fast growing call center services industry has been affected by what will soon be Belize's deepest and longest recession. Pinnacle became the first of these companies to shut up shop in Belize and that is now going to be joined by a recently opened telemarketing centre, Clear Call Center, who just this week suspended their operations indefinitely in Belize. The business located on Pickstock Street on the second floor of the old DFC building, is an outbound calling center specializing in telemarketing sales to mostly clients in the United States. It is believed that the firm was forced to suspend its operations after unresolved issues with its partners in the United States. The shut down means that 40 more Belizeans are out of a job.
The Barrow administration seems neither to have a clue as to what is happening nor what to do about it. Barrow's famed "stimulus package" was announced well over a year ago, and instead of perking up economic activity is nose-diving. Economists, entrepreneurs and investors meanwhile are all mystified as the Government of Belize continues to pursue an aggressive tax collection policy to go with the recent 25% increase in the General Sales Tax.
If only they were as aggressive in trying to attract new investments to Belize one observer opined. If only they were as determined to support local businesses and help them find away to survive what is fast becoming an economic meltdown.
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Source: The Belize Times
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