The South

Our News Five team, Brent Toombs and William Neal are just back from the Southern towns of Dangriga and Punta Gorda. Here?s the report of what they found.

William Neal, Reporting
As the sun rose in scenic Punta Gorda, the day started as usual with postcard-like images of life in a coastal town. On election day, however, that imagery would soon fade with the opening of the polls at seven a.m. marking the official start of the battle to control the affairs of the town. As Election and Boundaries official and the scrutinisers performed the opening rites, a scene repeated at every polling station throughout the country, the political representatives outside the polling station were gearing up for a long day.

Punta Gorda?Belize?s southernmost municipality?has three polling areas and more than two thousand, six hundred registered voters that have been courted by the red, blue, and purple over the last few months. One of the first to cast his vote was former Mayor for four terms, former area representative, and political activist Alejandro Vernon.

Alejandro Vernon, Voter
?Well I wanted to be one of the first in line because in the later hours we?re going to have a big crowd coming in, so I have some work to do, so I decided to come early.?

Vernon has been involved in politics since 1965 and is presently a supporter of the P.U.P., who believes that while progress had been made there is more to do.

Alejandro Vernon
?We need more playgrounds, parks and other amenities for the town. We also need a proper town hall because the offices that are used right now that house the town board offices and the mayor?s offices are inadequate. We need a proper hall where you can have a chamber, a council chamber, or that people can attend; the public can go in and attend the meetings and witness the deliberations carried out by the council.?

William Neal
?Any predictions, you think, with regards to results for this election??

Alejandro Vernon
?From what I?ve seen, I think it will be close. The odds, the People?s United Party has the odds, I think they will come in. But it?s going to be a close election, because you have an independent candidate who was once a P.U.P. Mayor, Mr. Anthony Westby, and he has made some inroads. It seems as if he will garner some votes. This may affect the People?s United Party, but the hope is that the People?s United Party will slide in.?

And ?sliding in? is exactly what Anthony ?Mac? Westby is hoping to do as an independent mayoral candidate. The former P.U.P. Mayor of P.G. is asking people to mix it up.

Anthony Westby, Independent Mayoral Candidate, Punta Gorda
?We know that the town council don?t have a lot of money, so people don?t expect you to do the world of things. In my campaign I have never promised people that I will pave the streets with gold and all this stuff for them, because they know, I know the budget of the town council. But if you spend it wisely, you can do something for your town.?

?My prediction is that I?m going to win the Mayor, but I think that the U.D.P. will take the majority of the councillors if not all. That?s my prediction?

But Punta Gorda?s U.D.P. mayoral candidate Charles Selgado is hoping to take that majority a step further, to include himself as mayor. Selgado has been involved in politics for close to three decades, offering himself as a candidate for the U.D.P. in both the Toledo East and West constituencies.

Charles Selgado, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Punta Gorda
?Well I brought all the experiences that I have had before with this party and I believe that the town is ready for my services as a mayor.?

William Neal
?What are the critical issues for P.G.??

Charles Selgado
?The critical issues of P.G., both locally and nationally, you know that our problems here in Punta Gorda — the cost of living is so high here in Punta Gorda, right, it?s due to the taxes, heavy taxations and the corruption that is going on right now presently with the Government; that is our problem here in Punta Gorda.?

The man who is hoping that Selgado is completely off track is the incumbent, Carlos ?Obeah? Galvez. Galvez, who loves his nickname, is hoping to work his special kind of magic again and control the town for a second term.

Carlos ?Obeah? Galvez, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, P.G
?I?m confident, all in all, because of the work that we have been carrying out over the last two months. Certainly the turnout?when we put out this morning our machinery together, we had everybody in place, everybody showed up. And I?m certain that at the end of the day, what you put in is what you gonna get out.?

William Neal
?So your prediction??

Carlos ?Obeah? Galvez
?I?m going to be victorious, champion the cause. I?ve been there, I?ve done it before, and certainly I?m very optimistic. I?m confident.?

Meanwhile in Dangriga, the race was solely between the Red and Blue teams. For town mayor, the more than four thousand five hundred registered voters were choosing between seasoned veteran and incumbent P.U.P. Cassian Nunez and upstart newcomer U.D.P. Frank ?Pawpa? Mena.

Hoping to three-peat, Nunez philosophised about his victory based on his years in the mayoral seat.

Cassian Nunez, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, Dangriga
?The awareness that we?ve brought in the past two terms, I believe is the hallmark, in my view, of what we have achieved. The awareness is more important to me than all of the physical structures that we have brought. We have done tremendous infrastructure, we?ve built up quite a bit, schools, we?ve paved streets. But although those are important, the most important thing is the awareness.?

William Neal
?How well oiled is your machinery to handle today?s election??

Cassian Nunez
?Well you know the oil is there, we?re watching the process. It?s so sensitive that wherever we see a lack, we lubricate.?

But U.D.P. mayoral candidate Pawpa Mena has had to do more than just lubricate his political machinery after a freak accident took him off the campaign trail for close to a month.

Frank ?Pawpa? Mena, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Dangriga
?While I was in the hospital, the amount of people that came, the amount of people that cried, the amount of prayers that I was blessed with, it gave me a kind of renewed energy. And so I could only fulfil and complete this dream for my people.?

Mena claims to understand, at the age of thirty-two, the young voters. But his passion to address the issues facing all people in Dangriga makes him the only choice.

Frank ?Pawpa? Mena
?I feel so confident that I can?I walk to check the polling station and my people are just going in and ?Respect I done gone in Pawpa.? ?Yes, respect I gone in Pawpa.? You know, that?s a good feeling. Outside of the politics, William, I?ve paid my dues to my people come hell or high water. And I noh pay it because I had political intentions; I pay it because I love it. Come hell or high water, me dah fuh yah and I wah stay yah and I wah work yah.?

William Neal from Dangriga for News Five.

News Five would like to thank Paul Mahung and Marlon Kuylen for their support on the ground in P.G. and Dangriga respectively.