Nectali Ico Says Vital Stats Lost His Information
The Elections and Boundaries Department will be distributing voters I.D. cards in more than one hundred and sixty villages countrywide. The I.D.s distributed will be for persons whose applications were accepted in the months of July and August of last year and subsequently approved at revision court. The distribution began on March sixteenth and is expected to conclude on April seventh, three days shy of the April tenth I.C.J. Referendum. But for Dolores Village resident Nectali Ico, his opportunity to vote on April tenth has been stripped away. According to Ico, he applied for a birth certificate through the late registration process twice last year to register as a voter. He was told that his birth certificate was finally prepared but when he went for it this morning at the Vital Statistic Unit, Ico was told that there is no information about him in the system.
Nectali Ico, Dolores Village Resident
“I came in here. Took a day off from work and there is no information about Mr. Ico in the system.”
Hipolito Novelo
“And then you were told what?”
Nectali Ico
Nectali Ico
“I need to do a next late registration application form. I was given another late registration and I don’t k now. I don’t understand what is wrong with the system?”
Hipolito Novelo
“So you missed the deadline to vote for the ICJ because you are not registered?”
Nectali Ico
“I missed.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Did you have the intention to vote for the April tenth, ICJ referendum?”
Nectali Ico
“I had the intention and then I don’t. My intention was to vote in this April tenth referendum but now I missed it. I am tired of this situation with this office. I come here with the same excuse saying that how my application is not being recorded or is not in the system and they can’t find any information of me. I don’t know who to blame. Is it to blame the person who received it or to blame the management or whosoever is managing the institution or the place? They are misplacing people’s documents or they want to collect money under the table which is unfair.”
There’s no bus from Dolores and no vehicles in the village so Mr Ico probably had to walk two hours to Otoxha Village around 1 in the morning in order to reach in time to take the 3am bus. the bus only travels on Mon. Weds. Fri. and Sat. Then he would have taken this bus to Dump from where he could take a bus to the City. The total trip from Dump would take about 5 and a half hours so he could reach Belize City around 11 in the morning. And after abiut 10 hours of travel by foot and bus, Mr Ico would have arrived at Registry only to be told to come back again because they have lost his documents. Wow.