Mayor Palacio Takes Aim at Colleagues in Belmopan CitCo

Sheran Palacio

Belmopan Mayor Sheran Palacio gave the welcome remarks at the start of the Independence Day ceremony on Thursday.  While the primary addresses were delivered by the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister, respectively, Palacio’s statement during her speech was also of particular interest.  That’s because she took square aim at her detractors at the Belmopan City Council.  As we’ve reported, there has been friction between Mayor Palacio and several councilors in municipal government.  Here’s part of what she shared with the public during her time at the podium.

Sheran Palacio, Belmopan Mayor

“As the first female mayor of our Garden City, I have had to stand firm for principle and be the David amongst giants to accomplish the impossible.  Ladies, don’t you ever think for a second that being a woman in leadership in Belize comes with any special privileges.  Women, we have a long way to go.  To change the trajectory for women in politics, we need our men.  Remember, we do need two wings to fly and if one wing becomes incapacitated, the bird will not be able to fly.  Despite not having our convention coming to the council to support our operations due to debts, and I won’t call names, but of course it was incurred by my predecessor, the UDP administration.  I found a bed of corruption, everything that you can possibly imagine, but we won’t go there because today is a day to celebrate. The Belmopan City Council, as I said before, was a sunken ship and when this administration took office, one must appreciate the tremendous effort employed simply to keep us afloat.  One would think that with intelligent people in office and I am referring to my own council, they would be ready to support development.  For those of you who don’t know, we had and still have the opportunity to invest in a ten million dollar bond to help develop our nation’s capital.  Even after I agreed to the added conditions imposed by my council, they have refused to sign.  In trying to undermine my leadership, let it be known that our people are looking and they deserve better.  Citizens and the nation’s highest leadership, I challenge you to take this matter up as a case in point for problem solving, for the benefit of the citizens of my beloved Garden City.  When you have plenty of enemies following you, bumper-to-bumper, and praying for you to fail, you must cleverly sidestep their landmines and coast to victory, leaving a legacy.  With only six months remaining for me to deliver this Garden City, I want to reassure the People’s United Party that I stand ready to deliver the City of Belmopan once I am given the opportunity.”