Julius Espat Believes Redistricting Will Not be Fair

Julius Espat

The sprawling Cayo South division has below eight thousand registered voters. The P.U.P. has been lobbying for a re-registration exercise to take place this year, but the process has been delayed twice.  Now the Prime has announced that redistricting will take place after re-registration set to take place in 2018 and after the municipal elections. Julius Espat chimed in on the issue, saying that it is a political move taken by the Prime Minister to seek yet another term in central government for the United Democratic Party.

Julius Espat, Area Rep., Cayo South

“Political decisions…Dean Oliver Barrow will only redistrict if it is in his benefit. No ghost fool yo. He noh wah redistrict because he want it fair because if he wanted it fair, we wah bruk up Belize City into maybe five, six constituencies and divide it up ina di rest of the country—if yo want it to be fair. So the fair way of doing it…let’s assume how many people should be in a constituency. I have presently going close to eight thousand; I think every area rep should handle more like ten thousand. With the proper resources, you can do it. We di do it with zero resources basically, so you can do it. So imagine you divide the country one hundred and fifty thousand—that’s more or less what you have voting—you divide that by ten thousand, you will have fifteen constituency. Now that would be more efficient. But what they want now, they want change it from thirty-one to forty-one…yow ah got ten more thieving minister with ten vehicles more, with ten staff more, with ten misuse of money more. Is that what we want? Can we afford that? In a time of recession, do you increase your spending or you do analyze what you have and try find it more equitable, more efficient? And so I di tell you again, no make nobody fool yo, if Dean Barrow redistricts, it is because they want get more U.D.P. seats. It is not because they want fairness.”