Mayors meet to share progress and problems
Town Councils throughout the country were today without their top brass as Mayors and their deputies travelled to Belize City as guests of the City Council. The occasion was the first meeting of the Mayors Association since the March fifth elections. And while there were some new faces in the room, many of the old issues are right back on the table for discussion. Host Mayor David Fonseca of Belize City says that a lot has been accomplished during the previous term and the hope is that even more will be done this time around.
David Fonseca, Mayor, Belize City
“We’ve been able to get things like the property tax ordinance amended, the Trade License Act amended and the Liquor License Act amended, which improves the services and the operations of the councils throughout the municipalities in a better form and also improved the revenue position for each municipality throughout the country.”
Said Badi Guerra, Mayor, Benque Viejo
“Before we can discuss anything else, my biggest concern is that there has existed in the past, this division, this ice, this barrier between U.D.P. and P.U.P. And I would like that to change; I would like us to work in unity as politics is over right now. We have been elected, as I’ve told many people, I am not a U.D.P. mayor, I am Mayor of my town, my people. So one of the things I would like is for us to all work together in unity.”
David Fonseca
“I think very firstly one of the most important issues that we have started to discuss in the last term, which we will continue immediately upon again is to look at the matter of having local government enshrined in the Constitution of Belize. Presently it’s not. We have a local government ministry, but it’s not enshrined in the constitution. So we would like to get that enshrined in the constitution as quick as possible, so we’ll move on that right away. Other matters are going to be looking at how we govern the municipalities. We’re looking at other areas such as our methods of arriving at subventions for our municipalities from the Government of Belize and the possibility of looking at even further revenue sharing.”
During the meeting, new executives for the association were elected. Belize City Mayor Fonseca will head the group for the next year, while Mayor of Dangriga, Cassian Nunez, will be his under study. P.G. Mayor Charles Galvez is the new treasurer, while Belmopan Mayor Anthony Chanona is Secretary. The Mayors Association meets monthly. The next meeting is scheduled for May eighth in Dangriga.
