Nomination Day on Belize City’s South Side
This morning, five candidates from the People’s United Party, including Cordel Hyde, Paul Thompson, Allan Pollard, Gilroy Usher Senior and Oscar Arnold, whose constituencies are on the south side of Belize City were nominated ahead of the upcoming general elections. On Euphrates Avenue around ten-thirty a.m., Pollard was accompanied by a motorcade of supporters before entering the nomination centre with six endorsers. At the Muslim Community School on Central American Boulevard, Gilroy Usher Senior entered the building to formally enter his name as a P.U.P. candidate and at Gwen Liz after eleven, Oscar Arnold emerged to cheers from Collet supporters after having been nominated. We caught up with all three following the day’s formalities.
Allan Pollard, P.U.P. Candidate, Queen Square
“Everything is official now, you know, I’ve already signed my documents and it’s set in stone now so I am very excited. It’s a feeling that I can’t explain. It’s my first time being nominated in national politics, my first time doing nomination day here and I’m overwhelmed. I have my family here, my friends, supporters, campaigners, everybody present. It’s definitely something I can’t explain.”
Allan Pollard
Isani Cayetano
“What has it been like for you on the campaign trail? I know you’re trying to get as many supporters to come out amid COVID times. What has this experience been like?”
Allan Pollard
“It has been very difficult in terms of the COVID regulations and whatnot because my candidacy I think is one that excites a lot of people and a lot of people would like to join but we can’t have that crowd and mass gathering. Even today with coming here, it was quite a hassle.”
Oscar Arnold
Oscar Arnold, P.U.P. Candidate, Collet
“On February twenty-first, 2018, that was my first nomination. That was for city council and almost thirty months later we’re here today on October twenty-first, twenty-one days from the general elections. It’s satisfying, this is just another step and I’m glad to be over with this so that we can continue with the campaign, we can continue working for the residents of Collet. This is really an honor for me representing a mass party, not very many people get that chance or that opportunity. So we are not lost on the amount of work that needs to be done, election day and the preparations to election day will also be of paramount importance to myself and my team. I want to thank the residents of Collet. I want to thank the individuals who stepped out today to nominate me. My family who has stood by me the entire way.”
Gilroy Usher Sr.
Gilroy Usher Sr., P.U.P. Candidate, Port Loyola
“I’m confident that we’re on the road to victory. As I move around the division, I just get the feeling from the people that they are ready for a change after fifteen years of U.D.P. in the division. People are landless, they are jobless, they have problems getting access to education and they need access to land. Those are the four things that my campaign is based on: land for the people, jobs for the people, proper housing and educational opportunities for the people. And as I said, fifteen years of U.D.P. with millions of dollars and nothing, no kind of progress in Port Loyola.”
