Lake I’s Composition to Remain the Same

Cordel Hyde

The redistricting exercise is being described as a painful one. But according to Lake I area representative Cordel Hyde, the proposal does not recommend any changes to his division. Hyde recounts when he lost a third of his division almost fifteen years ago during a previous redistricting exercise.

Cordel Hyde, Area Representative, Lake I

“I don’t want to get into all the details; I don’t know all the details. I just know what I saw there did not pass the smell test.   And ultimately what we present to the people, what we agree on at the national assembly should be something that pass the smell test, should be something that the Belizean people can accept as close to compliance to the constitution as possible.”

Duane Moody

“Will there be any changes to your division?”

Cordel Hyde

“Not in that proposal it was contemplated. But I mean, fifteen years ago, they took away twenty-three hundred voters from my sixty-three hundred voters that I had then; a full one-third of my constituency, including the area where I grew up. So it was a very painful exercise. So on a selfish level, I am good with this proposal. But that’s not what it is about. Ultimately it is about making sure that we are in compliance with the constitution, making sure that representation is as equal as is possible across the country, taking into consideration certain things. So I may be okay with not being touched, but ultimately we have to be in compliance with the constitution.”