PM Briceño Defends Land Clinic in Belize Rural North

Prime Minister John Briceño has weighed in on a recent land distribution hosted on Friday in the Belize Rural North area.

The event raised questions about whether applicants were required to be registered voters or if Belizean citizenship alone should qualify individuals for land ownership.

PM Briceño explained that land distribution clinics require significant financial resources that the government does not always have available. As a result, Leal Jr. and his father, Marconi Leal Sr.—often cover the costs themselves, including lodging and expenses for ministry employees who facilitate the process.

“Now the candidate, they pay thousands of dollars to have employees who come to work, because they work late at night, and they have to host them in hotels. So what is it that you want to do? You want to make sure that you can take care of the people that you want to serve,” the Prime Minister explained.

Briceño suggested that the wording of the public notice might have been clearer, saying that instead of specifying “registered voters,” it might have been better to refer more broadly to residents of the area. He pointed out that in past land clinics, individuals from outside the constituency had taken advantage of the process, potentially limiting opportunities for those actually living in Belize Rural North.