Ministers say they?re not compromised by party unity
And while on the subject of politics, although we did not ask the Prime Minister about the recent Cabinet retreat at Caye Chapel, we did catch up with two ministers who in the past have been accused of rocking the P.U.P. boat.
Cordel Hyde, Minister of Housing
?I think the party committed itself to returning to its genesis, returning to its roots to its social justice roots. Now that is not an overnight process, it will take a while to get back to where we need to be. But I think there is a sense of commitment there and most of the members, if not all the members committed to using our social justice conscience in deciding our government policies. Now that?s a tall task but it?s something that we have to do and I think we made some inroads. I don?t think that anybody expected any great revolutionary results, because as I said it?s not an overnight process of getting where we need to be as a party.?
Mark Espat, Minister of National Development
?There has never been a personality or a personal issue for me. The issues that I have spoken about are issues that are important to the Belizean people and my constituents. Issues of policies, fundamental issues facing our society and I intend to continue to speak about those issues whenever or wherever they arise. In terms of the retreat indeed it was a useful opportunity for the Cabinet to talk about our manifesto, to review the accomplishments over the last three and a half years, to look at the budget process, for the very first time this year we are starting the budget process seven months in advance of the new budget. We are looking at special projects, looking at where the needs are, how we are going to focus on poverty alleviation, education, health care, which are the priority areas that the Prime Minister has outlined and also looking at Vision 2025 and a long term strategic development vision for Belize. So all of those three exercises I think were very crucial and the discussions were very important for Cabinet.?
