Public Utilities Minister outlines plans to expand electricity and internet countrywide

Published by BBNTEAM at July 15, 2022

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Posted: Friday, July 15, 2022. 3:14 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: Villages across the country are being met with plans to introduce electricity from renewable and other sources as well as the infrastructure for Internet and telephone, according to Minister for Public Utilities Michel Chebat.

With Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) and others, in September 2022, a 400-kilowatt solar-powered microgrid will be inaugurated to power the neighboring Toledo District villages of Indian Creek, Medina Bank, and Golden Stream, and a German-sponsored 110-kilowatt system will be installed in Corazon Creek.

4.5 million Euros plus matching funds from BEL will power southern villages from Jalacte to San Benito Poite, while a proposal is being developed for a similar system in Otoxha.

BEL connected 11 more villages in the Corozal, Orange Walk, and Belize Districts in 2021 as well as Caye Caulker, according to Chebat.

Internet service will reach as far south as Barranco, as far west as the Mountain Pine Ridge, and as far east as Glovers Reef and St. George’s Caye in the 2022-23 fiscal year and fiber connectivity will be further expanded to villages as far south as Silk Grass, Stann Creek District, and as far north as Corozal.

Regarding schools specifically, a new ConnectEd program in conjunction with Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) will supply WiFi service to 197 schools countrywide – and not just in computer labs, the Minister said, but in each and every classroom.

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