Cordel and Tony butt heads in Lake I
It’s the largest electoral division in the city…and if the TV ads are any indication, then it is also the scene of one of the old capital’s biggest fights. Over the last few days I got to spend time with each major candidate in Lake Independence and found that confidence is not lacking on either side.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
As individuals, both have made their mark on Belizean society…one a successful businessman; the other, the youngest minister in the history of local politics. But that’s where the similarities end between Cordel Hyde and Tony Leslie. In the run up to March fifth, theirs has been an open contest of wit and will. The political ping-pong has been played out on television…and in print.
Janelle Chanona
“Is it personal between you and Mr. Hyde?”
Tony Leslie, U.D.P. Candidate, Lake Independence
“No, it’s not personal. In fact four and a half years ago when Mr. Hyde won back here and became the area representative, I even donated a refrigerator, worth over a thousand dollars to some school back here, so I’ve even helped Mr. Hyde.”
Cordel Hyde, P.U.P. Candidate, Lake Independence
“For me no, I don’t even know Mr. Leslie, to be honest with you. They have bordered on being personal over the last few months I think, but you can’t take things personally in politics, you have to have a thick skin, and you have to get up everyday prepared to go out there and war. And that has been our approach, to put our best foot forward and to try and provide for all our constituents, whether they be red or blue or yellow or green.
As one of Hyde’s challengers, Leslie says his campaign to the voters of Lake I is built on broken P.U.P. promises.
Louis “Tony” Leslie
“A massive housing project to create three hundred jobs has not materialized. He promised us, I was a resident of Lake I also, he promised us, three police booths in the area, that has not materialized. Every single day, I get hundreds of people coming to see me, wanting school fees money, wanting light bill money, wanting water back here.”
But as the incumbent, Hyde says his deeds over the last four years will speak for themselves.
Cordel Hyde
“We’ve focused a lot on education in our constituency. We’ve built over forty classrooms, we’ve provided assistance to all our schools in the areas of school feeding programme, textbooks, beautification of schools, basketball courts, football fields, we’ve tried to be there and we’ll continue to be there. We’ve built over a hundred and fifty houses all over the constituency because we don’t have one area where we can put a hundred houses, because of the swamp situation. But we continue to build more houses because there’s the need for more.”
But there’s no denying that there is much more to be done for the hundreds of Belizeans still living in these kinds of conditions. The issue of eradicating London bridges has been a sticking point for both parties, and it is here Tony Leslie has come with his promises for a better tomorrow.
Tony Leslie
“We are trying to push the P.U.P. at this point in time to do as much as they can for the people of Lake Independence, because when we get in, we are going to show Mr. Musa, Mr. Hyde and the P.U.P. how real men work.”
The situation on the southside has been a sensitive subject for the People’s United Party, but they staunchly defend their attempts at honouring their manifesto.
Cordel Hyde
“You should have seen it five years ago. Five years ago people were living on London bridges two, three hundred feet long. We’ve put in over ten, almost twelve new streets in the Rootsville and Police Street area, but the infrastructure there is late in coming because the people went there before the infrastructure was put in. People built bridges, as I said, three hundred feet long, and the task of any government is to try to keep up with that development because people aren’t waiting for the government to issue them lands, they are just going in there. In some cases we have had to acquire eighteen acres of private property where people have squatted on for the last ten years and try to get it surveyed and provide the people with the necessary land documents that they need so that they can also help themselves.”
Both candidates say their plans for the next five years include improvements to housing, education, employment opportunities and crime reduction.
Tony Leslie
“We are going to be dealing, like I said, with people empowerment and teaching people how to create their own jobs, working closely with a U.D.P. government in Belmopan to secure the financing to be able to help these people to be able to get going on their own, things which were promised by the P.U.P. and have not been done.”
Cordel Hyde
“I just try to be for real and just try to be myself and I think that the people of Lake Independence they know me and they want me to continue to be myself, and if I continue to be myself and continue to work hard for their issues, and continue to represent them to the best of my ability, then we should be okay.”
“We will continue to repair their homes, because we still have a lot of homes that are in disrepair, we’ll continue to try to pave our streets, continue to put in new streets, we’ve put in over twenty-five new streets, gotten rid of seventy-five percent of London bridges, but the challenge is still there. So we’ll continue to work at that, continue to support our residents and constituents in everything possible.”
Also in the Lake I race are independent candidates Hubert Elrington and Patrick Rogers.
