$23.75M Rural Electrification Program Targets 3,000 Belizean Households

The Government of Belize and the Inter-American Development Bank are preparing to present a Rural Electrification Program aimed at expanding electricity access in underserved communities. A community presentation and stakeholder information meeting is scheduled for Friday at the Social Security Conference Room in Punta Gorda Town.  The IDB has approved a financing package of twenty-three point seven five million U.S. dollars for rural electrification in Belize. It includes a twenty-million-dollar loan and three point seven five million dollars in grants. Approximately three thousand rural households are expected to gain electricity access for the first time through solar-powered mini-grids, battery storage and extensions of the electricity distribution network.  Friday’s agenda also includes a presentation by Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Director Gustavo Requeña on the Free, Prior and Informed Consent process, explaining what communities can expect as the programme moves forward.  The meeting is being organised by the ministries responsible for Public Utilities, Rural Transformation and Economic Transformation. Public Utilities Minister Michel Chebat is scheduled to outline the government’s vision for rural electrification.  This upcoming initiative follows other electrification efforts undertaken this year. In February, the European Union, Belize Electricity Limited and the government inaugurated a rural electrification project in Indian Church Village. That project covers Indian Church and San Carlos in the Orange Walk District, along with San Benito Poite, Jalacte and San Vicente in Toledo.  For Indian Church and San Carlos, the work included a ten-mile connection to the national grid, along with poles, distribution lines, transformers, streetlights and home wiring. At the February inauguration, the partners reported that one hundred and fifty households were being connected, opening access to electricity for homes, farms and small businesses.