Julius Says G.O.B. is Spending Millions on Political Gimmicks While Border is Infiltrated

Julius Espat

The Chiquibul has been in the news since Danny Conorquie was executed at the Caracol Archaeological Site.  On Wednesday night, we showed you the concerns and recommendations coming out of a trip to the Chiquibul by representatives of the People’s United Party. While nothing new, the concerns are real, and the recommendations are sound. For the P.U.P. reps, the visit was an eye opener – a shocking look at a situation which has been neglected for years. In the Party’s press conference on Wednesday, the message was clear that this is an issue which transcends political lines. But that didn’t stop Deputy Leader Julius Espat from throwing jabs at the government, which he says is spending money on political gimmicks, rather than on the protection of our borders.

Julius Espat, P.U.P. Deputy Leader

“We can come to the House of the Representative and we can talk about political spending but we don’t havee the interests to protect thousands and thousands of acres, to protect Belize. When you see those professionals out there and they are professionals working with the bare minimum, it saddens you. You have FCD that has to provide equipment for B.D.F. to come out and come into the area. I mean it is totally ridiculous and FCD, as party leader has said, has approximately six rangers…if you count all their people. They are competing against Guatemalan incursions, they were saying between a thousand to a thousand five hundred ex-military people that operate and cut down the mahogany in the middle of the night using candles. I mean they are so incredibly adapting to that environment more than us and we have six people trying to defend Belizean territory. There is a telethon coming up. We have to do everything in our power to help this organization get funding. We have to call the prime minister so that he can better fund the B.D.F. and the police. This is something that is critical for our nation and we are taking it lightly. They spend more monies on parties and political conventions than they are spending to protect our country. This problem that we are having in December where they are giving away money to the middle class; that money should be used to defend our territory, to give uniforms and equipment to the B.D.F.  That is what I am talking about that annoys you. You guys need to be out there to feel it, to understand it and you get a better appreciation that we are losing our country. We are losing our country every single second of every minute and we have to take it seriously. And the party leader is right; this is not a political thing. It is something that we have to work together as Belizeans or not you will lose it. It is like if you own this property and you have the squatters come in and you give them permission and you don’t do them anything. Under the laws of Belize, they will end up having legal rights to the land and that is a fear that we have.”