It has not been since 2002 that a Country Poverty Assessment (CPA) has been conducted in Belize. There may well be a good reason why the People’s United Party government had chosen not to commission such a report since it would have been obvious that they were doing very little to improve the poverty situation in the country. In fact it could be argued that they were the reason why the latest CPA is showing the figures that it is.
It has been seven years since the last CPA and the figures are less than pleasing. Household poverty has increased from 25 % to 33% and individual poverty has gone from 34% to 43%. Severe poverty has gone from 8% to 10% for households, while the population indigence has gone from 11% to 16%. Poverty increased in all districts with the exception of the Toledo district where there was a reduction. The highest increase in poverty is reflected in the Corozal district which is now being classed as having the second highest level of poverty second to the Toledo district. While there is an increase in the level of poverty in the country the largest portion of the population is not poor. Two thirds of households are not poor. There is also no indication that very many people are going hungry.
Still, the figures are a cause for concern; however, there is no way that the blame for the poverty level at this point in time can be put at the feet of this current government. Five of the seven years under review in the poverty assessment fall during the tenure of the People’s United Party government. Anyone can determine that during the PUP’s term in office corruption and general misdirection of funds that ought to have benefitted the poor never made its way to where it was supposed to have gone. One of the most significant examples of this is the 40 million dollars which was granted by the Venezuelan government for the construction of new homes and home improvements for the poor. These monies never made it to where it should have. Instead 20 million dollars was diverted to settle a UHS debt and the other 20 million dollars was used in the run up to the elections of 2008 in an effort by the PUP to buy votes. Thankfully, the UDP was able to retrieve the UHS 20 million dollars and hundreds of Belizeans are now benefitting from that move. Hundreds of Belizeans now have new homes and a better quality of life through the assistance that the money is being used to give them.
It is notable that during this UDP administration the country suffered greatly through natural and manmade disasters. The northern districts for example suffered greatly during the floods of 2008, the global economic crisis also directly impacted business at the Corozal Free Zone and by extension the people of that district. Despite the adversities however, the UDP has been able to, in the past two years, invest significantly in the areas of infrastructure, education and health. Take for example the extensive work that was put to improve the sugar feeder roads in the sugar belt. Then there is the upgrading of large stretches of highway which have been upgraded; failing culverts and other necessary infrastructure are being repaired. Access to education, especially to those who can least afford it, is now more a reality than ever before. Students who would not have been able to go to school in the Toledo district for example have a new high school at Corazon Creek. Young persons in Belize City who would not have ordinarily been able to go to secondary school are now being given an opportunity to do so because of a new evening division program being implemented at Gwen Lizarraga High School.
Time and space would not suffice to continue to list the numerous efforts being done by this government to address the poverty issue.
No one can deny that poverty is indeed a problem in this country but based on the efforts that this government is making at helping the situation, we are safe to assume that within the next couple of years, the upward trend that poverty saw in the past seven years will likewise see a downward move in the coming years.
