"Tax hit for rich Ulster oil barons"
By Julian Brouwer, The Sunday World
IRISH oil barons who struck black gold in a tiny Caribbean country are set to be hit where it hurts – in the pocket.
Ever since they found oil in Belize, Northern Irish company Belize Natural Energy has been pumping out giant quantities of the black stuff from the Spanish Lookout district of Belize, making oil the nation’s booming industry.
The oil strike is said to have made fortunes for Belfast-born businesswoman Susan Morrice and Enniskillen native Sheila McCaffrey, who run BNE.
But the honeymoon is now over for Morrice and McCaffrey with newly-elected Dean Barrow announcing plans to introduce a windfall tax which will ensure that the people of Belize finally get a slice of the cake.
“We are going to impose a windfall tax on Belize Natural Energy to make up for the loss of revenue (incurred by) switching from imported fuel to local fuel", Barrow said.
Exploiting
“We need to get more from the oil company for the people.”
Locals who reckon BNE has been exploiting them aren’t complaining.
As Niall Gillett – the former editor of the respected Belize Reporter newspaper – says: “BNE has its own share of dislike from the local populace. Most Belizeans feel the country did not receive enough of a share of this important asset.”
“There’s resentment towards both the old PUP Government for selling the country’s oil without apparent accountability and also for making too sweet of an agreement for BNE.”
Many locals resent BNE because they don’t think poverty-stricken Belize is seeing any of the money for the oil strike, even though the previous PUP government was supposed to get 40% of all profits.
“No one can seem to say where the oil money has gone,” adds Gilett.
Until BNE’s surprise oil strike Belize, which boasts a population of just 280,000, relied mainly on tourism and agriculture.
NOW BNE is pumping out oil said to be similar in quality to the prized low-sulfur crude which is drilled from the oil fields of West Texas.
Article sourced from Dialogue Ireland.