Youth arm of P.U.P. talks about national budget shortfalls

Alberto Vellos

And while the topic of the week has got to be Marcel Cardona’s condemnation of his own party and his subsequent removal, the matter of the budget is still not dead.  The youth arm of the People’s United Party, the Belize Youth Movement, has done its review of the document and came up with their own list of shortfalls.   But the youth movement is going further than just criticizing the budget. B.Y.M. Public Relations Officer, Alberto Vellos, dropped by our studios and says they are also calling on youths to form one voice.

Alberto Vellos, Public Relations Officer, Belize Youth Movement

“What we’re saying Marion is that the youth of Belize are in a crisis situation and this is not a statement of emotion, it’s a statement of fact. If you look at the Dr. Herbert Gayle Report released last year, it tells us about the crisis the young people are facing. It tells us that one-third of the children are not attending primary school; that two-thirds of fathers are not at homes in South Side of Belize; it tells us that two-thirds of the secondary school youth population do not attend secondary school; it also tells us that a merger four percent of the youth are attending tertiary institutions. Doctor Gayle actually tells us it is worse than that. He tells us that the situation of youth is a time bomb situation, which means that anytime it’s ready to explode. In addition to that, there is also evidence that if we were investing in young people, he benefits to our national development would be great. The CARICOM Commission on Youth Development released a report last, which I was a part of—the Minister of Youth then received that report. It told us that if we tackled the issues of youth development, HIV & Aids, teenage pregnancy and unemployment, the G.D.P. growth would see an increase of fifteen percent. Right now, under this last budget, we’re seeing a G.D.P. growth of two point something percent. We’re asking young people to form a coalition. We want to bring together as many youth organizations as possible and send out a statement and also actions to the government—that the time to invest in young people is here, it’s becoming late; we’re seeing it every day. The murder statistics are crazy, the violence in the streets is getting out of hand and it needs to really stop.”

Marion Ali

“While you may have very valid points, you speak from a political stance because the B.Y.M. is the youth arm of the P.U.P., and you’re also the editor of the P.U.P.’s Belize Times.  So while you may have a very valid point, your thoughts, your views, your ideas might not be deemed as important or as significant as they would had they come from somebody else form another sector.  What’s your response?”

Alberto Vellos

“I am one of the many who believe that politics should not be involved when you talk about youth issues. And I am not trying to do that, I am not trying to include the politics of this whole thing—the party can deal with that. But the youth arm must remain on the sole issue of youth and the conditions that are affecting young people. The issue is the same with women. I don’t politics should be involved in women, but when women are facing issues you would want to see women of all kinds, from everywhere join and focus on issues. Well, that is what we’re asking.”

Vellos says the B.Y.M. is asking that the National Youth Policy and the Youth Act, which have been in existence since 2006, be enacted to address issues directly affecting youths.