Sunday, August 29, 2010
SUNDAY AUGUST 29, 2010
The Belize Times
Issue No. 4708
1
$1.00 www.belizetimes.bz www.pup.org.bz
NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE (NHI) STILLBORN
Before being born baby NHI has died! Last week, on August 13th, 2010 to be more specific, the Private Hospitals who supply d e l ive r y s e r v i c e s t o t h e NHI for expecting mothers of the South-side Belize City got a Memo from the Social Security Board/NHI infor ming them, that in accordance to contract they were being given ninety days notice before these ser vices would no longer be required . The effective date for the ter mination of deliver y ser vices is November 12, 2010. This alarming announcement is sending red f lags all over Belize City among suppliers of ser vices to the NHI. Suppliers of ser vices to t h e N H I a r e wo n d e r i n g if this is the beginning of the dismemberment of the NHI. When we contacted one of the owners of a Pharmacy, she said it is very disturbing what is happening. After all the investment these suppliers have done to service the NHI, the
last thing they need is to have their contracts ended. Suppliers: phar macies, labs, clinics, etc are all ner vous with this announcement as this augurs bad for their businesses. This, they say, will affect their ability to keep
personnel employed and will affect the viability of the businesses. However, we wonder here at the Belize Times what will the patients and residents of the south-side say when they lear n about this decision. What will our expecting
mothers of Belize southside say when they learn that they will no longer be able to access the services at the private hospitals? This means that expecting mothers of the South-side Belize City, who could access delivery services from Private Medical Institutions like Belize Medical Associates and Belize Health Partners, while paying only a small copayment, will no longer be able to do so. Effective November 12, delivery services through t h e N H I w i l l c e a s e ! Yo u will have to go to the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) says the memo and pay the current rates. When the PUP envisioned the NHI it was always with the idea of increasing ser vices and expanding the coverage. Another e-mail sent out to the Primary Health Care Providers (PCPS) on the same date and by the same person infor med these health care providers that referrals should no longer be made to the (Continued on pg. 3)
just $5.00. But those days soon came to an abr upt end with two of the principals from the San Pe d r o B e l i z e E x p r e s s s e ve r i n g their ties with the company a little over a year or so later, in September 2009. The pair, Giovanni Marin and Maribel Marin, still hungered
apparently for the water taxi business, and having the political connections to Belize Rural South area representative Manuel Junior Heredia, and having successfully recr uited for mer UDP Par ty Chair man and Por t Loyola R e p r e s e n t a t i v e H e n r y Yo u n g , today they are again back in the water taxi business with San Pedro Jet Express. Fo l l ow i n g t h e M a r i n s departure from San Pedro Belize Express, the company’s managers a n d o p e r a t o r s a n d r iva l s C ay e Caulker Water Taxi Association a g r e e d t o “ c o - o p e t e ,” t h a t i s jointly setting fares and sharing r uns. In May of this year the Marins petitioned the National Transport Board for a license to operate and today they are back (Continued on pg. 3)
New water taxi service opens
The news tonight is that B e l i z e ’s n e we s t e n t r y i n t o t h e hotly competitive water taxi business had its first accident this afternoon when one of its boats ran into a pier in Caye Caulker. Our reports are that there were n o s e r i o u s i n j u r i e s. I t i s a l s o news that the ser vice debuted last Friday without fanfare, or cer tainly without the level and type of scr utiny and controversy that signaled the last entr y into the industr y. In July 2008, the San Pedro Belize Express debuted to fanfare and controversy to challenge the l o n g e s t a b l i s h e d C ay e C a u l ke r Wa t e r Ta x i A s s o c i a t i o n i n providing ser vice primarily to the islands of Amberg ris Caye and Caye Caulker. It was controversial, provoking demonstrations,
r e m o n s t r a t i o n s a n d t h e Po r t Authority inter vening to move fishing boats in the harbor. The competition between the rivals soon prompted the radical slashing of prices to the point where there were some days when a one way fare to Caye Caulker from Belize City was reduced to
To all Belizean Students, have a safe and successful school year