Despite Additional Funds, Financial Relief is Still Only a Drop in the Bucket

John Briceño

Government is stepping up efforts to raise public funds to aid Belizeans, and while it is now looking at an initial one hundred and twenty-five million dollars in financial relief, co-chair of the National Oversight Committee, John Briceno, says it is still only a drop in the bucket.

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“Today the prime minister outlined some of the economic steps that we are taking at this time and we want to assure Belizeans that it doesn’t end here, we just di tel yo right now, we‘re going step by step.  I wish we could get up here and tell you wih wahn do dis, we wahn do that… As we progress, for instance when we met at the first meeting we had no idea about the twenty-five million dollars.  Then we spoke about the twenty-five million and immediately we agreed that we could get the twenty-five million dollars through the Central Bank.  And then after the next meeting now we find out that we could get another fifty million dollars, so the other fifty million dollars that we are going to move around from the international partners, the loans that we have, that we expect to be told by C.E.O. Hyde that we can move around, we‘re at one hundred and twenty-five [million dollars].  One hundred and twenty-five [million dollars] is just a drop in the bucket and we have to do more and I see my job as the co-chair with the prime minister is to push as hard as we can and to look everywhere we can to be able to raise the necessary funds.”