U.D.P. manifesto: heavy against corruption
On Monday the People’s United Party threw a blue and white extravaganza to launch its election year manifesto…and today it was the U.D.P.’s turn to paint the town red. This morning I joined my media colleagues and an enthusiastic throng of party supporters to see what the freshly printed document has to offer.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
With the twenty-seven male standard bearers decked out in shirts and ties and its women clad in U.D.P. red, let’s get it right, the United Democratic Party is plying to win.
Dean Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.
“This manifesto of the United Democratic Party is the best we have ever produced, if only reason of the fact that so much effort, so much consultation, has gone into the production of the manifesto. Ours therefore is the vision that can repair Belize’s social compass, rescue her economy, reinvigorate her democracy.”
Built largely on the planks of anti-corruption, it took nine members of the United Democratic Party to present snapshots of their big picture for Belize.
Dean Barrow
“We are going to pass a law setting up this new offence of unjust enrichment. A reconfigured integrity commission will have the power and the duty to investigate any minister or elected official who is seen to be enjoying a lifestyle or acquiring visible assets that his or her salary cannot justify. In the absence of a sufficient credible explanation, that official will be liable to being arrested, charged, prosecuted and jailed. As well ladies and gentlemen, all government contracts above a certain figure will as a matter of law have to go out to public tender.”
“No government contract above a certain figure, as a matter of law, will be able to be signed by the Executive unless and until the terms and conditions of that contract have been publicly disclosed.”
Doug Singh, Chairman, U.D.P
“Job creation will be one of the number one priorities of the next U.D.P. government. Jobs will be created by re-channelling funds into infrastructure development and into enterprise development. The U.D.P. will create enabling environments for Belizeans to earn their own keep, thereby offering economic independence instead of handouts.”
Erwin Contreras, U.D.P. Candidate, Cayo West
“The U.D.P. government will create a land application registry through which all land applications will be processed without ministerial manipulation according to the order in which they are received.”
Diane Haylock, U.D.P. Candidate, Pickstock
“We will re-institute the office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministries, thereby restoring the impartiality and continuity of the senior management of the civil service.”
Gabriel Martinez, U.D.P. Candidate, Corozal S. West
“For students and their families, the U.D.P. will institute a system of book rental to reduce the cost of textbooks to parents.”
Marilyn Williams, U.D.P. Candidate, Albert
“Ladies and gentlemen, the U.D.P. will not burden the taxpayers with additional contributions for N.H.I.”
Oscar Ayuso, Deputy Leader, U.D.P.
“Implement and strictly enforce mandatory safety standards for public transport providers and private motor vehicles, addressing issues such as the road worthiness of motor vehicles, overloading, driver training and passenger comfort.”
Patrick Faber, U.D.P. Candidate, Collet
“We will develop more creative ways to deal with first time juvenile offenders, this will include providing counselling and mentoring to steer juvenile offenders away from crime and towards a responsible and productive life in this Belizean society.”
Eden Martinez, U.D.P. Candidate, Toledo East
“The U.D.P. will establish a Beverly Smith Lopez endowment fund as a vehicle for obtaining and channelling funds to dance and drama groups.”
For Dean Barrow, this first U.D.P. manifesto under his leadership will convince even the most cynical of voters.
Dean Barrow
“There are no wild promises. There is no promise of fifteen thousand jobs; there is no promise of twenty thousand houses, nothing like that. Precisely because we understand that the electorate is cynical, and precisely because we are determined this time around to ensure that the things we say we will deliver on. We’ve therefore made the elements of our manifesto, absolutely pragmatic and absolutely doable.”
But while Barrow was preaching to the choir, a footnote to the U.D.P. manifesto was waiting downstairs… Approximately fifty employees of Novelo’s Bus Line, along with their boss, David Novelo, lined the street to protest the U.D.P.’s allegations that G.O.B. gave the company a fifteen-year exclusive contract.
David Novelo, C.E.O., Novelo’s Bus Line
“It’s lies and we want to ask the Leader of the Opposition… our company deserve an apology, don’t use us for any political gain… We want to put to an end to this political football. This company is being utilized, and when it is being utilized in such a scenario that it questions the foundation of its economics, it’s finances, it really puts in jeopardy everybody’s job.”
Dean Barrow
“We as the next government will want to work with Mr. Novelo, we want to secure the employment of his employees, but it is not going to be at the price of giving him any fifteen year exclusive license.”
Copies of the U.D.P. manifesto are available from the party’s standard bearers and at the U.D.P. Secretariat at the foot of the Bel-China Bridge.
