PM Barrow’s Promises for 2020
In his twelve-minute long New Year’s message Prime Minister Dean Barrow spoke on several challenges that the country faced in 2019. Barrow touched on agriculture, tourism, the economy and citizen security. The latter part of his message focused on promises for 2020. Fifty million U.S. dollars will be invested in small farmers and vulnerable citizens. Barrow projects that tourism is expected to grow with a new air service between Belize City and London. And while those are 2020’s expectations, Barrow’s political opponent in his New Year message points out the maladies of 2019. Opposition Leader John Briceño reminds the country of the current recession that the economy is experiencing, and the struggles of the agriculture industry on which thousands of families depend.
Dean Barrow
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Investing in our people will be further nourished by another tranche of World Bank financed social protection measures. Fifty million U.S. dollars will be divided in two; twenty-five million to assist out most vulnerable citizens and twenty-five million to support the agriculture sector, especially the small farmers. Next year’s rapid recovery from the climate change induced hurdles from 2019 will, we expect, be led by the growth catalyst of our generation, tourism. Belize already has the most diversified international airlift in the region. That is why, despite the fallout from sargassum overnight tourism at the end of November was still up two point nine percent over the 2018 and in 2020 these increase flows will keep escalating as we initiate a new air service between London and Belize and direct flights between Washington DC and New York City. Beyond tourism, 2020 will also bring the first genuine opportunity to market and sell Belizean exports to the expansive Taiwanese market of twenty-three million consumers.”
John Briceño
John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition
“After more than a decade of U.D.P. governance our nation is poorer, our economy is more fragile and our development is stagnant. Today our economy is once again in recession and our once strong agriculture sector is in trouble. After a decade of the U.D.P. the citrus industry is in crisis, the sugar industry is struggling, the aquaculture industry is all but lost and now tourism is coming off from one of its worst years in recent history. Already the papaya industry is gone, the Corozal Free Zone is a shadow of itself and too many of your people have to travel many miles every day just to find work. Tourism has seen the new phenomenon of sargassum a new challenge brought on in part by climate change. This along with the increasing drought has caused massive lost but with no plan situation by the government.”
