An article today from local news ----
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Cuba Gives Belize The Light-Bulbs
With 10% GST added on, average electricity rates have gone up 34% in the past 15 months. But now the same government that was elected on a platform of lower utility rates, has launched a programme to lower your electricity consumption. The programme is being launched in conjunction with the Cuban government and through it, the incandescent light bulbs that are in most homes will be replaced with florescent bulbs that use less power.
The first shipment of 157,000 out of 330,000 bulbs are already in the country and this afternoon Minister Cordel Hyde and Prime Minister Said Musa were on Fern Lane in the Lake Independence area changing light bulbs like true electricians. Today Musa told us that it's all about making your light bill that much smaller.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister
"We believe it will go a long way in helping our people. It will be very beneficial to the people, particularly the low income people in saving on their light bill and it is a very happy day for all of us."
Hon. Cordel Hyde, Lake I Representative
"We consider it to be a big project. Essentially what we are trying to do is replace all the old incandescent bulbs with energy saving fluorescent bulbs. We have enough bulbs for the entire country, for all households but we're starting in Lake Independence and I am might proud that we are. As I understand it, about these fluorescent bulbs, they provide the equivalent lighting of the old incandescent bulbs but they are much cooler and they burn in some cases six times less energy. So that should result in lower electricity costs for our people and I think that is a key commitment of ours. It is one that we haven't had enough success on and so I think we are trying to approach it in a unique way and thanks to the people and government of Cuba we have in the first instance 150,000 of these bulbs to cover the entire Belize District. There are some twenty thousand plus households on the BEL roster of customers. So every single household will have an opportunity to have a bulb or get up to eight bulbs or whatever amount of bulbs are needed."
The project will see 12 Cuban volunteers and 50 Belizeans go house to house changing light bulbs across the country.
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OK - interesting article --- and it leaves me sad ---
There are approximately 250,000 people living in Belize. The government estimates that there are 330,000 lightbulbs in the country.
That is a pretty direct illustration of the level of poverty here.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
