$2.5 Million for I.C.J. Referendum Campaign

We are five months away from what will be one of the most important days in Belize’s history. April tenth, 2018 will be the day when tens of thousands of Belizeans across the country will decide whether the Belize/Guatemala dispute should be taken to the International Court of Justice for final resolution. The I.C.J. Referendum Unit is in charge of carrying out an in-depth and countrywide campaign in which the public is expected to be educated on the pros and cons of such a decision. Many have criticized the campaign or lack thereof and according to Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, of the two point five million dollars budget for the campaign, a little less than a million dollars has been disbursed.

Joseph Waight

Joseph Waight, Financial Secretary

“I think we are appropriated to begin two and a half million dollars and we might have drawn a shade under a million dollars so far. I don’t have the numbers in front of me but it is goes fairly well. There is no slow down.  There is no pick up. There is no speed bump when it comes to funding the campaign. Most of the expenditure will happen before the new budget. Sometime before February/March, we may have to do more. There will some other cost; the funding of the elections process itself. So most of the expenditure will happen in the lead up. The referendum date itself there will be some cost and depending on the outcome then there will be other expenditure. Imagine for a second  a ‘yes’ vote and then we have to get into preparation mode, paying a lot of legal fees but that is stage two so to speak.”