2 B’s – Barrow & Briceño ‘mano a mano’ on income and business tax act

The sparring was not limited to Said Musa and Anthony “Boots” Martinez; there was also an exchange between the two leaders, Dean Barrow and John Briceño.  It came during the presentations on the Bill to amend the Income and Business Tax Act.  The bill offers a small tax relief to working persons earning up to twenty-nine thousand dollars per annum and lowers the rate of business tax from twenty-five percent to nineteen point five percent for Belize Telemedia Limited. Here’s how Barrow and Briceño went at each other.

John Briceño

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“The only time that this government swings into action is when they want to make a fight. Meet with the private sector, or the bar association, with the judiciary or the unions. That is when you see them all jump and start to get into action when their number one responsibility, their number one priority Mister Speaker suppose to be how they are going to create more jobs for the Belizean people. Mister Speaker, if this nation was a business and the Prime Minister was its C.E.O., Mister Speaker, this nation would have been in receivership a long time ago.”

Dean Barrow

dean barrow

“The leader of the Opposition, who in the same vein, as we have seen today on a daily basis by way of his propaganda organs: CTV 3 Fiesta Radio, repeats these kind of line, except I’m sure than the radio and television personalities he has have to be more effective than he is. They have to do more better in making the presentation.”

The other bill passed was the Finance and Audit Amendment Bill, which provides for sanctions for violation of the act and enhances transparency in the tendering process for government procurement and sales contracts. Six bills were introduced, including the firearms bill to increase the minimum age for which a person can apply for firearm or ammunition licenses.