Education Campaign to Intensify Ahead of Upcoming Referendum

Patrick Andrews

The question of funding for the referendum campaign, however, remains a concern since it is a massive undertaking by the government.  Estimated to cost roughly nine million dollars, the countrywide campaign is being led by Ambassador Alexis Rosado who heads the Referendum Unit.  According to the Foreign Minister, the campaign will intensify in the weeks and days leading up to the national vote and government is actively seeking financial assistance from its international allies.

Patrick Andrews, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“The public awareness campaign is going to be a very costly exercise.  The Government of Belize, as it has been announced before, has provided us with two point five million Belize dollars.  The budget is for much more, in the region of about eight point nine million or thereabout.  So we have and we continue to basically reach out to donors, to friendly countries to assist us and I can tell you that at this point in time we do have enough monies to continue operating the public awareness campaign.  In the next week or two weeks, by mid-August, I think, you will see an increased visibility all leading up to the information process that we have ongoing with the public to educate them, to inform them of the process and hopefully leading up to the referendum come April tenth.”

Wilfred Elrington, Foreign Minister

Wilfred Elrington

“The education campaign is being conducted under the directorship of Alexis Rosado and his team and all that the team is doing is giving information.  He has a graduated program where the further he gets into it the more emphasis he’s going to place on certain areas and perhaps a time may welcome when they may take the position that they articulate the suggestion or idea that people should vote yes.  But that is not what is happening now at all, at all.  What is taking place now is just the dissemination of the available information, and so the suggestion that we are saying to people that they should vote yes is totally and completely untruthful.”