Gas gahn up again? That's right the price of a gallon of regular gas will zoom up by 86 cents at midnight - putting it at $10.92 per gallon, surpassing the price of premium.
The last change to fuel prices came only six days ago, March 12th, and before that was March 9th.
The prices for premium gasoline, kerosene, and diesel will remain unchanged at $10.40, $6.75 and $10.15 per gallon, respectively.
A year ago, regular gas was 69 cents cheaper at $10.23. Premium, however, was more expensive at $10.92.
At that time, Kerosene and diesel also cost less than they do now, at $6.62 and $9.24 respectively.
FFB Presents National Team
On March 25th, one week from now, Belize's National Football Team, the Jaguars, will playing its first match in Round 1 of the Qualifiers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The first match for Team Belize is an away game, which will take place next Thursday, against Haiti. The second game against Turks and Caicos would have been a home game scheduled for March 30th. But, as viewers are aware, it is still illegal to play contact sports in Belize due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Belize had to make a difficult, deadline decision to play that game in the Dominican Republic instead. It's a disappointment for the local football community, but the National Team and the FFB have done the best they could to prepare for these matches.
You'll remember how they had to lobby the Government to allow the team to practice in camp in complete isolation from the rest of the population. Today, the FFB hosted a press conference to introduce the players who will represent the country in these World Cup Qualifier matches. It was done virtually, and 7News tuned in.
Here's the announcement from the FFB about the final roaster of Player:
Maurice Jones - Presenting National Team "We have the goalkeeper, Mr. Woodrow West, Mr. Eithon Wagner, Mr. Isaac Castillo, Ian Gaynair, Norman Anderson, Collin Westby, Jose Urbina, Asrel Sutherland, Evral Trapp, Andres Makin Jr., Jordy Polanco, Ean Lewis, Jesse August, Krisean Lopez, Nahjib Guerra, Desmond Wade, Deshawon Nembhard, Angelo Cappello, Mike Atkinson, Nana Mensah, Carlos Bernardez, Deon McCaulay, John El Zein. Head Coach is Mr. Dale Pelayo Sr.; Assistant Coach, Mr. Marvin Ottley; Goalkeeper Coach, Mr. Stanley Reneau; Physical Trainer, Mr. Dennis Serano; Physical Therapist, Ben Aba; Equipment Manager, Herbert Trapp Jr.; Manager, Raynard Garbutt; Doctor, Carlos Crespo. And that's the list of delegates."
Earl Jones - General Secretary, FFB "About a month ago, FIFA had a conference along with CONCACAF countries that are representing the CONCACAF region in the World Cup Qualifiers. And in no uncertain terms, the representative from FIFA said to us, cancelation is a no. You have the resources; play the game. Find a way to play the game. We spent those resources, in excess of $200,000 within our economy, right here in making sure that our players had the best. This morning, we are proud to present them to you. It's a joyful moment to know that all are safe up to this point in time."
Angelo Capello - Member, Belize National Team "I think in this camp, I think everyone knows how hard it has been for everyone, being away from family, being away from everyone who has kids. It's very hard, and I think the team will really show when we go out that we have been putting in all the hard work."
Deon McCaulay - Captain, Belize National Team "We need each and every one of you guys, the Belizean people, your support, your positive energy because we cannot do [it] without you. We hope that in June, we'll be able to play our home game in Belize so that we can represent our country on home soil. But regardless of where we play, we will always play with pride, honor, respect, and always give a 100%, on and off the field as professionals, nothing less."
Sergio Chuc - President, FFB "Having these players commit themselves to be here 24/7 has shown a lot of determination, a lot of courage, a lot of strength, and I want to take this moment, instead of a welcome, take it as a thank you to our players and our coaching staff, who have sacrificed a lot this past month in being here at the FFB facility, locked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so that they could prepare themselves to the best of their ability, to the best that Coach Dale could prepare them."
The FFB has told 7News that they will be providing detailed information for the Belizean fans about how they can tune into these matches to support the Jaguars.
A Platform For The Unemployed
The Health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to ease up, but the devastation to the economy persists at this time.
Belizeans know all about the pain because many people lost their jobs when the pandemic first hit. And now, the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labour and Local Government has come up with a plan for job seekers to hopefully return to the labour force. It's called the online Employment Services System (ESS). It's basically a portal for potential employers to connect with the persons who are looking for a job, and today, the Ministry held a press conference to publicly unveil its features.
Here's what the creators of the ESS had to say about how it works:
Francisco Gonzalez - Senior ICT Officer, CITO "The Employment Services System is a web-based application that was developed by the Central Information Technology Office, in partnership with the Labour Department. The Employment Services System, as mentioned earlier, collects information from job seekers, and employers or businesses, via digitized questionnaires that were developed with input and guidance from the Statistical Institute of Belize. The system validates applicants against the Social Security Board's database of insured persons and is also populated with credible information that was provided by the Belize Tax Services Department and the Ministry of Education. The system also has a built-in workflow that will allow the Labour Department's employment officers to review, vet, and approve information submitted by applicants. They will also have the ability to maintain and update the data that was provided by the Belize Tax Services Department, and the Ministry of Education, ensuring that the system remains current and accurate. The system also sends notifications to applicants via multiple channels. It makes use of Digi's application programming interface or API, to send SMS notifications, in addition to emails, to applicants. The application was developed with internationally recognized best practices for security and has 2-factor authentication enabled for anyone wishing to use the system. Upon every log-in, users are sent a token to the phone number and email provided upon registration to confirm log-in to the system. Obviously, given that information provided is sensitive and personal, this provides a much-needed, additional layer of security to prevent fraud."
Hon. Oscar Requena - Minister Responsible for Labour "If all is in order, the information is then approved, and finally, the system then matches the education, experience and skills of all the job seekers against available vacancies and generates a list of candidates for a particular job. This is very information-driven, and it operates in real-time. It is also very user-friendly and provides the convenience for you to upload your information on any day, at any time, and from anywhere in Belize. Another thing is that any vacancy can be posted by any employer for a full-time job, a part-time job, a clerical job, a managerial job, a technical job, a job for the CEO, and other jobs for domestic, gardeners, drivers and farmhands. So, whatever available vacancies in your organization, please feel free to access the system and to post them, and we're also encouraging all job seekers to please go to our website, access the system, and upload your information."
Anne Marie-Thompson - Labour Commissioner "What we want you to take away from here, it's not [only] that we have a cutting-edge system, but we have a credible one. So, please feel free; your information is safe and secure."
As you heard in our story, the online Employment Services System was developed by the Central Information Technology Office (CITO). The Labour Department invites employers and jobseekers to visit the online Employment Services System at https://employmentservices.mlgrd.gov.bz/
