Thousands of Belizeans rolled out to Belmopan on Tuesday, November 18, to express their support of Prime Minister Barrow’s use of the Petro-Caribe funds for national development.
The morning started with a countrywide downpour but that did not dampen the spirits of enthusiastic supporters. Belizeans from Toledo came out of their homes from before 4 a.m. Supporters from Stann Creek boarded buses around 6 a.m. Corozalenos left their homes from 5 a.m. Orange Walkenos departed at 5:30 a.m. Belize City supporters started boarding at 6:45 a.m. and from the rural villages of the Belize District at about 6:15 a.m. Benque residents left shortly after 7 a.m.
By 8:30 a.m. the capital City Belmopan was already flooded with supporters of Prime Minister Barrow. The most common phrase on T-Shirts and placards was “We de with wi PM”. The second most common statement was “Petro-Caribe is Transforming Belize”. One group from Belize City held signs saying, “Leave our jobs alone.” The crowd continued to swell as 10 a.m. approached. There were two groups with Garifuna drums and this prompted a period of singing and dancing. People from all over the country- of different religious convictions, ethnicity and socio-economic backgrounds-gathered together in unity for one cause, national development.
Prime Minister Barrow and members of the Cabinet greeted the swarm of supporters at the steps of the National Assembly before heading to the National Assembly. Embraces were so warm that PM Barrow’s well-documented ailing back seemed to have been granted a period of relief. The symbolic nod of approval gave him an extra kick in his step to enter the National Assembly to pass the Petro-Caribe Loan Motion.
Before moving the loan motion in the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Barrow paid homage to the late great Comandante Chavez. President Hugo Chavez’s vision was to stabilize the economies of countries in the region using energy. He was committed to ensuring that opportunities are provided for poor people of the region to uplift themselves. Prime Minister Barrow compared Chavez’s vision to the United Democratic Party’s pro-poor mantra.
Prime Minister Barrow explained that the Petro-Caribe Loan Motion is a strange creature. The constitution requires that the Government take a motion to the House for approval of any loan that is more than $10 million. When this was pointed out in a question from Jules Vasquez of 7 News, Prime Minister Barrow reflected and conceded that it was perhaps best to take it to the House. However, even taking it to the House is a complicated matter. The Government cannot know how much will be received as the finance portion of the sales until the shipment has already arrived and the sale is completed. They cannot determine the terms of the loan until after world market price is set. Therefore, Prime Minister Barrow asked, “Do we wait until after the amount surpasses every $10 million? Or do we wait until the end of the year and bring the entire sum to the House?” Either way the loan motion will have to be tabled after the funds have been received; therefore, “it is the latter that we are doing.”
Prime Minister Barrow then went on to list a number of projects being made possible using funds from Petro-Caribe. Using funds available through the Petro-Caribe Agreement, in just two years, Prime Minister Dean Barrow has already committed over $160 million to development projects. The National Bank of Belize opened its doors on September 2 of 2013 with $20 million in startup capital from the Government of Belize’s Petro-Caribe funds. $10 million was earmarked for teachers and public officers and $10 million for other middle income would be first time home owners. However, in just over ten months more than $12.1 million was already approved for mortgage loans to teachers and public servants and almost $7.6 million was approved for mortgage loans to middle income earners from the private sector. Due to this great demand for affordable financing, the Government of Belize inject additional capital in the Bank in the sum of $10 million.
Using Petro-Caribe funds, the Government has already committed more than $67 million to roads and streets countrywide. $9 million has been spent on the Lake Independence Boulevard and Chetumal Street Bridge with $4 million outstanding. $10 million has been earmarked to Belize City for concreting of streets. An additional $2 million was spent for emergency street work in Belize City after an extended period of rain. $2 million has been earmarked for upgrading of secondary earthen streets in the city. $8 million has been spent on streets in district towns and another $10 million has been committed. $2.5 million was spent to rehabilitate the sugar roads before the start of the season. $2.2 million was spent on road repairs for hotspots countrywide. $15 million has been committed to improve roads across the country and $3.1 million has been committed to construct roundabouts on the George Price Highway and Phillip Goldson Highway where they connect to the Lake Independence Boulevard and Chetumal Street.
The Government has also committed more than $60 million for signature multipurpose facilities in each district town and city. The Belize Infrastructure Limited (BIL) currently has eight projects at the design stage and one project already under construction. In Belmopan City the Isidoro Beaton Football Stadium will be renovated to world class standards at an estimated cost of $3.5 million. Construction is already underway on Falcon Field in San Ignacio Town for a roofed, outdoor court facility with restrooms and a refurbished stage. The facility will also feature a playground, sidewalks and a bus stop at an estimated cost of $850,000. Also in San Ignacio, the Victor Galvez Recreation Field will be upgraded to international standards at a cost of more than $1.3 million. Two football fields will be built in Santa Elena at the Victor August Football Stadium for recreational and organized competition at an estimated cost of $2.25 million. The Benque Viejo Del Carmen Football Complex and Facilities will be upgraded to FIFA standard at an approximate cost of $4.5 million. Belize will have its first synthetic turf field in San Pedro Town for the San Pedro Football Field expected to cost in the neighbourhood of $3.25 million. Multipurpose facilities will be built in Dangriga and Punta Gorda for up to $5 million each. The Belize City Center is at the design stage being drafted by Anthony Thurton and Associates. A total of $30 million has been earmarked for construction.
Using Petro-Caribe funds the Government of Belize has set aside money as a contingent liability for the nationalizations of BTL, BEL and IMARBE. And coming this December, Belizeans countrywide will benefit from $2.5 million out of the Petro-Caribe funds committed for this year’s Christmas Cheer Program.
Prime Minister Barrow closed in exclaiming, “We are doing all this through Petro-Caribe.” He asked the Opposition to “do the right thing for once and support the motion… Petro-Caribe Roll It”.
