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The Battle of St. George's Caye
(10th September)  European settlement
in Belize was present in the early 1500's with the
visit of Christopher Columbus to the Bay of Honduras. The Spaniards
were intent on conquering and subduing the Yucatan coast in 1511,
inclusive of the Belize region. The first recorded European settlement
in Belize was in 1638 by shipwrecked British sailors. These British
settlers, known as the Baymen, cut logwood in Belize for export to
Europe. Periodic attacks by Spain to reclaim sovereignty ensued,
resulting in treaties between England and Spain, allowing the Baymen to
continue cutting logwood.
On September 10th, 1798 a battle between the Spaniards
and the
Baymen was fought at St. George's Caye. It was part of an outbreak of
war between Spain and Britain. Against unfavorable odds the Baymen
defeated the Spanish and they never tried gaining control over Belize
again. Britain gradually assumed more control over the settlement. In
1853, a Legislative Assembly was established and replaced the existing
simple form of democracy that was instituted as the Public Meeting. In
1871 Belize became a Crown Colony with Legislative Council and a
Lieutenant Governor. In 1884, Belize was governed by a Governor. Chicken prices fly thru the roof again!
 Chicken
now
costs 12 cents more per pound. Belize’s number one choice of meat, chicken, has once again risen countrywide – this time by .12 cents. The increase, which took effect on September 3, now takes the price from $1.94 per pound to a whopping $2.06 per pound. According to the manager of the Belize Poultry Association, Orlando Habet, Belizeans consume a little over 30 million pounds of chicken per year and producers can no longer absorb the cost, since the price of local and foreign feedstock has gone up. “There was a significant increase in the price of corn and soybean meal – the basic feedstock for the chickens. There was a five cents increase in corn last September, another five cents increase in May and now it has raised another five cents per pound,” said Habet. Similarly, he mentioned soybean meal had risen by approximately 20%. Habet says he recognises the implications the rise in price will have on the general public, adding that all segments of the industry would continue to work hard to try and keep poultry products as affordable as possible. At the same time, he argued that from an economic standpoint, the increase had to be made in order for business to continue. “Increment weather up north from Hurricane Dean, along with the destruction of 13,000 acres of corn, left us no other choice but to increase. This is significant because corn makes up about 70% of the feed.” When asked if the price of tabled eggs would also increase Habet expresed uncertainty. Belize currently has a population of about 300,000 people and it is estimated that each Belizean consumes some 125lbs. of chicken annually. With an increase of .12 cents on every pound, each individual will spend an additional $15 each year, resulting in well over 4 million being spent on Belize’s favorite meat. Read More NOTICES/LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say Will Durant |
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 www.grandcaribe.bz debbiewade@gmail.com
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