Is Party Politics Permeating Coronavirus Relief?

In an effort to assist as many Belizeans who are in dire straits as a result of the sudden economic downturn, government has been bolstering initiatives such as the Pantry and BOOST programmes.  The assistance, however, is being dispensed through partisan vehicles which prevent others, particularly supporters of the opposition, from qualify for relief.  Earlier today, P.U.P. leader John Briceño decried the practice of granting aid through political programmes.

John Briceño

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“There is a lot of need right now, I mean thousands of people have lost their jobs and before that there were thousands more that didn’t have a job and now they can’t do any kind of [work] and are trying to do any kind of hustle, like washing cars or going to mow the lawns, etc… There’s a desperate need and people need food and we need to try to get it to them as quickly as possible, I need to start off with that.  But as you know, the pantry programme is a U.D.P. programme because this has been handled by the U.D.P. party.  They have been using government resources to play politics with it and whilst these people that are on the pantry programme they need and I do not have a problem with the people on the pantry program, I do have a problem with how it has been administered over the years.  Like I tell you, I have not been able to get not a single person in Orange Walk Central registered to the pantry programme.  You could ask Cordel or Francis or Kareem, Said, anyone of them in Belize City or down south if they have gotten anybody on the pantry programme.  They have not because that’s a U.D.P. pantry programme that the U.D.P. politicians use Belizean taxpayers to be able to try to control these votes.  And now we are told that the twelve dollars they had to pay, even that is being taken off.  Good for the people that are benefiting from it, but again, this is a U.D.P. programme.”