Two veterans battle in Orange Walk Central
They are among the biggest names in Orange Walk and are increasingly prominent on a national level. But come August twenty seventh either Johnny Briceño or Ruben Campos will have his political career rudely interrupted. Patrick Jones had a chat with each of them.
Ruben Campos, U.D.P., Orange Walk Central
“My central theme is about trust, about respect and about giving employment.”
Johnny Briceño, P.U.P., Orange Walk Central
“It is certainly not about trust, because the people of Orange Walk Central certainly do not trust Ruben Campos and the U.D.P. It is about the economy; it is about jobs, jobs, jobs. Mr. Esquivel and the U.D.P. maliciously put a brakes on the economic train. And it is causing undue hardship and pain to the people of Orange Walk Central. Education, we have over-crowded schools, schools that are falling apart. Children are not going to school and even in the high school, children cannot get into high school and the third is crime. We are reaching to a point where the minute you leave your house alone, somebody would break into your house. We are no longer feeling safe as before to walk the streets sometime in Orange Walk.”
Ruben Campos
“In Orange Walk Central it’s about true representation. The people from Orange Walk Central are a people with needs and I believe that their needs have not been attended to for quite some time and I think it’s time they get real representation.”
Q: And they will get that from Ruben Campos?
Ruben Campos
“Always Ruben.”
Q: “Your opponent is a fairly successful politician. What are your chances of beating Ruben Campos?”
Johnny Briceño
“Well, we need to look at the People’s United Party. It is a party of vision; it is a party of ideas. It is a party of creating opportunities for all Belizeans. The People’s United Party, under its new leader honorable Said Musa and its host and cadre of young dynamic educated, well prepared young leaders, we are prepared to lead this country forward. And in Orange Walk Central, we are certain, for the past five years, I have been working for the people. I’ve been visiting them every single year and the people have shown their gratitude and appreciation for me that for the past two Town Board elections, they have given me their support. And I am confident that on election day, the people in Central want a true representative and not someone who is jumping from constituency to constituency and a person who is afraid to run on his record. I am confident that the people of Orange Walk Central will once again re-elect me on the twenty-seventh of August.”
Ruben Campos
“Well, I am also a successful politician and I believe that he as the actual representative, walking out from the house, he follows in the footsteps of his leader. You can’t trust one, you can’t trust the other. So if you can’t trust them, gotta trust always Ruben.”
Johnny Briceño
“Well, in Orange Walk Central, immediately we need to work on the infrastructure, streets, light, water, land, houses, for our people in Orange Walk Central. On the economy we must get the economic train moving. We have a lot going for us in Orange Walk. We have sugar, rice, beef, plantain, pepper – so many things going for us in Orange Walk. We need to find new markets for our products so that our people will be working, more money will be coming into Orange Walk and this country. We need to look at our education, we need to provide adequate and relevant education for our people. We need to provide more teachers, better classrooms. We also need to re-focus as to what direction we want to take our people in this world of technology, this changing world. That is why we are committed in Orange Walk Central to provide a computer lab in every primary school also, not only the secondary schools.”
Ruben Campos
“Going house to house campaigning gives us an opportunity to explain to the people what representation is all about. The U.D.P. record in terms of development, in terms of security, in terms of nation building, in terms of building as a whole, has a track record that is unmatched.”
Q: “So does Johnny Briceño have what it takes to stay one step ahead of Ruben Campos?”
Johnny Briceño
“I think it’s more than one step. But more importantly we are the party of ideas and of vision for the people to bring a better life for all Belizeans from Corozal right down to Punta Gorda.”
Campos, who has successfully run in two other Orange Walk constituencies, is looking for a place in the history books with number three. Johnny Briceño, the incumbent in Orange Walk Central, is also one of two P.U.P. deputy leaders.
