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Meet the Belmopan Municipal Candidates for the U.D.P. and P.U.P.

Tonight, we continue with our weekly coverage of the upcoming municipal elections. In this installment of Meet the Candidates, we take you to the City of Belmopan, the nation’s Capital. Both the People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party are fielding candidates for March sixth. So, who are these aspiring municipal leaders and why did they decide to run for office. News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled to Belmopan to hear from both mayoral candidates and a couple of their councilor candidates. Here is what he found out about them.

Pablo Cawich, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“I believe that the PUP is the best party in Belize. This party has been behind some of the movements the people have clamored for, for example independence. There are others of course. So, that would be one of the first reasons why. My dad was also a representative for the PUP for Belmopan as well as Cayo South and for myself, the option of which party it was, was very clear. This is the best party for representing the people.”

Jacklyn Burns, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“I always tell people that God dictates my journey because I never aspired to be a mayor or I never had it in my dream. But what I know I want to do is to be actively involved in assisting people, being in a mayoral seat, being a counselor allows for access to resources, it widens the expanse of what you are able to do, the amount of people you are able to reach and contributes to the development of your country. That is the whole goal, the bigger picture.”

Chris Enriquez, P.U.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“One of the biggest reasons I decided to enter into politics is because youths tend to shy away from politics and I wanted to encourage youths to be a part of politics. By us taking part in politics, it gives us an inclusive society for sustainable development and so I am trying to be the one to advocate for the youths and be the voice for the youths.”

Radin Santos, P.U.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“Yes I am son of the soil, born and raised in Belmopan, proud to say that I have attended scholl in Belmopan, right from the preschool, junior school, upper school, Belmopan Comprehensive and the University of Belmopan. I believe I am a people person. Majority of the people in Belmopan know me as a sport enthusiast. I have a passion for sports. In particular if I was to chose, I would say volleyball is my first preference, but I love all sports.”

Paul Casey, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“Most people know me as “Supa P”, the DJ. Born and raised in Belmopan, I am a song of the soil. Most people know my mother too. She is the person that created or started the first preschool in Belmopan, from 1984 to present. She is still there and I don’t know when she will leave. The way how Belmopan is right now, is not the way how we know it growing up when we had activities and people helped out each other and were united together.”

Leslie Zelaya, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“It is just the love for the community. As it is, through my business I have been able to reach and help a lot of people within the community, whether it be with assistance with medical or needing to send their kids to school and stuff like that. While it might not be much it has helped a lot. It just wants to get the networking and be able to do more for the community. Having a small business I am a bit limited in that, but not only that, but to see the community move forward.”

Who Will Take Over the Reins in Belmopan on March 6th?

There are a number of issues that Belmopan residents are expecting their elected municipal leaders to address. The upkeep of streets and drains are among those concerns, as well as debris and garbage collection. There is also a high demand for more family-friendly activities in the nation’s capital. On a political level, both the People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party have public perception to contend with. Outgoing P.U.P. Mayor, Sharon Palacio is considered highly controversial and the former U.D.P. Belmopan Area Representative John Saldivar, who the U.S designated as significantly corrupt, is a close ally of the U.D.P.’s mayoral candidate. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Belmopan stands out in the upcoming municipal elections, because it is the nation’s capital. It is considered the fastest growing population center in the country. Residents of the municipality expect their elected city council officials to meet the demands of this growing city..

Eva Aranda, Belmopan Resident

“Honest to you I live here for twenty years and where I live, the street, there is no light by the street. Everything dark and whenever people stealing stuff and different houses, we cant see them people, it really dark.”

P.U.P. mayoral candidate, Pablo Cawich says infrastructural development is high on the list of demands from residents.

Pablo Cawich, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“A couple of the main issues that they bring up are streets, drainage, because there are many areas in Belmopan that floods out when it gets rain, because Belmopan loved to rain. Another issue is lighting.”

United Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate, Jackyln Burns, says the residents she has engaged on the campaign trail are of the view that the city is broken. She contends that Belmopan has been neglected by the outgoing P.U.P. city council administration.

Jackyln Burns, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“People feel like Belmopan is broken. The potholes are not something we are use to. We are use to our green areas being nicely tapered. We have a certain pride in saying Belmopan is our home and we want it to reflect this nicely kept area. That is a priority for people.”

The U.D.P.’s campaign slogan in the Capital City is, “Make Belmopan Vibrant Again”. It is a reflection of the demand for more youth and family-friendly activities. Both parties are hoping to fill this gap with the youthful candidates that they are fielding.

Voice of: Belmopan Resident

“Belmopan is known to be the dead and “boringess” place in the country of Belize. We need some recreational centers mainly for youths, not mainly for youths, the general public.”

Paul Casey, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“I am a DJ at trade, for entertainment part that is my strong hold. I will know what activities to do and create, because we have the kids, the high schoolers. We have the tertiary level, the adults and the senior citizens. So we have to think outside the box whereby everybody can work together or something for everybody to help each other and something attractive where it can be family friendly, because that is one of the major complaint, we don’t have any family friendly stuff.”

Chris Enriquez, P.U.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“For me, advocating for the youths, many of them feel comfortable reaching out to me. A lot of the concerns are that there is not enough activities in terms of sports, afterschool programs, academics. So for me to be in the position to advocate for them, I know what we like. It puts us in a good position because we now have a voice. Many times in politics it is the same older heads over and over and so for us to have fresh ideas, perspective and the energy to address pressing issues, I think it is a plus.”

But there is a dark cloud over the People’s United Party’s in Belmopan that stems from public perception of the outgoing city council. Mayor Sharon Palacio was elected three years ago under the P.U.P. banner as the first woman mayor in the Capital City. But, she was easily one of the most controversial mayors the city has seen to date. Will Mayor Palacio’s performance cause the P.U.P. to lose significant support in Belmopan?

Pablo Cawich, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“The support for, specifically for this team has been overwhelming. We have been getting a lot of support from residents. Everybody has said that we have this already, but we can’t take that for granted. We have to continue pounding the ground, putting in the work and ensure that we listen to all the concerns that residents have.”

Burns, on the other hand, contends that residents are looking to the U.D.P. to take back the reins in Belmopan.

Jaclyn Burns, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“It is definitely what I am hearing in the campaign trail so we will see what it translates into the ballot box come March sixth nuh, and it is my expectation we will see the results we are expecting.”

And, Burns’ candidacy is shrouded by its own controversy. Her opponents erected a billboard along the Belmopan Ring Road displaying her face next to former Belmopan Area Representative, John Saldivar. It is no secret that in November 2022, the US State Department designated Saldivar as ”significantly corrupt”, barring him from entering the U.S. Taking a stab at Burns’ campaign slogan, the billboard reads, “Make Belmopan Significantly Corrupt Again”.

Jackyln Burns, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“In our school we teach our kids not to be bullies, so I would not expect that at this level of a leadership competition, but about my face being tied to John Saldivar I have no issues with that. I have worked for John Saldivar, I have been his friend for so long and people who might not know him might believe all that I said about him, but having worked closely with him, having lived two houses down from him every since I was a little girl and having seen the work that Belmopan has gotten as a result of his leadership. I can say I am proud to be affiliated with the gentleman.”

Leslie Zelaya, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate, Belmopan

“Without trying to be bias, if there was something to say, if there was some sort of proof, Mr Saldivar would be going to court and to make Jackie guilty by association is, I would like to think we are all innocent until proven guilty.”

Pablo Cawich, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan

“The sign itself, I don’t agree with it, but it is a reality in politics and sometimes the residents need to be reminded of the past and associations. Birds of a feather flock together right.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

“Fawda” Henry Withdraws from P.D.M.

He’s been campaigning daily for himself and his fellow candidates with the People’s Democratic Movement, under the leadership of Esteven Perera Senior. But now, there’s been a fall-out between them and Henry says he is no longer a part of the P.D.M. team. It has to do with money issues and Henry told us that even though he has been informed by the Elections and Boundaries Department that his name cannot be removed from the ballot, come March sixth, don’t vote for him.

Phillip “Fawda” Henry, Withdrew from P.D.M.

“We call several meetings at Mr. Perrera’s house to ask about the fundraising, and I believe that we have a secretary, we have a treasurer.”

Marion Ali

“For the campaign?”

Phillip “Fawda” Henry

“For the campaign.”

He’s not saying what he wants to hear in any, one of our meeting. So we are not going to stand in solidarity if a person doesn’t want to say things that we need to hear about. We need some funds to be campaigning with. And we are not getting there. We are not getting, receiving it. And I have lots of people who wants to vote for the P.D.M. because I am there. So I am saying to the entire city, the people in Belize City, that I will not run with any movement if it’s not about the people.

Phillip “Fawda” Henry

“I stepped out because when we call meetings, he is not fair to the ten of us. So if the others want to stay, I have nothing to say to them, but I will not stay because I don’t feel comfortable. My question is fair enough, is to ask the person we trust to put before us how much he collects and we need our finance money to be campaigning.”

Marion Ali

“And the response has been what?”

Phillip “Fawda” Henry

“The response has been a lot of negative words. So I am not going to be on the same ballot as the P.D.M. I will not be there.”

Marion Ali

”So when Election Day comes and your name appears on the ballot still, you’re telling people to not vote for you on the ballot?”

Phillip “Fawda” Henry

“I am saying that I am not a member, and when I say I’m not a member, when you see my name on that ballot, don’t vote. You don’t want to vote for Philip Henry because this is not my time.”

Jamie Usher Steps Down as BHS Principal

Jamie Usher has been the principal of Belize High School since it was established over a decade ago. But tonight, she is no longer head of the private secondary school here in Belize City. In a message earlier this evening, Usher confirmed her departure from B.H.S. stating, “I am humbled to have been able to share my talents, gifts, and ideas for just under fourteen years. The service to the future of education in Belize has been my passion, and my energies will continue to serve the students of Belize, especially in leadership and robotics. I look forward to the next chapter. Always Team Belize, always a robotics enthusiast, and always a STEAM educator.”

Belize Joins Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation

United States Ambassador Jessica Lapenn concluded a whirlwind visit to Belize earlier today where she met with senior members of the Briceño administration, as well as several civil society organizations. The trip was occasioned by Belize’s recent inclusion to the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, an initiative established by the U.S. government in September of last year. More commercial and shipping traffic crosses the Atlantic than any other ocean and it is home to more than half of the world’s fisheries. The meeting with local stakeholders was with a view to conserve the ocean, recognizing its importance to our lives and future. Belize, as the newest member, is committed to the goals of advancing a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and safe Atlantic region. News Five sat down with Ambassador Lapenn earlier today ahead of her departure.

Jessica Lapenn, U.S. Ambassador

“I’ve really had a chance to meet with the stakeholders in Belize on its marine and maritime issues. So government, civil society, also international partners. I’ve gotten, I think, a good understanding or the start of an understanding for what’s happening in the blue space in this country. The reason I came was because of the very welcomed decision by the Government of Belize to join the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation. Government announced that decision yesterday and my visit was an opportunity to talk to them about what does the partnership look like, what will it mean for Belize and what will Belize bring to the partnership.”

Isani Cayetano

“The Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation is a fairly new initiative. Talk to us about that and perhaps the buy-in from other countries to be a part of this initiative.”

Jessica Lapenn

”So it’s very new. The partnership was launched last September. So it was September 2023 with thirty-two countries, and with Belize it’s now thirty-eight. So it is a meaningful reflection of Atlantic coastal states. Much of the states on the Atlantic are now part of this initiative. The initiative is designed to do a few things. First, to say that we are an Atlantic region. The countries around the Atlantic, in the north and south, have things in common: experiences and challenges. It doesn’t mean that everyone has the same experience and we know that there are important capacity differences, but we share an ocean and the ocean is increasingly important, whether from the perspective of trade or climate. And so, as the states on the ocean we’re going to come together to think about what we have in common and how do we want to solve our common challenges.”

Understanding the Importance of PAC

According to Ambassador Lapenn, in joining PAC, Belize will adopt the Declaration on Atlantic Cooperation. She then went on to mention that Atlantic states are also linked by common challenges that threaten livelihoods and exacerbate food insecurity.

Jessica Lapenn, U.S. Ambassador

“There are a lot of new and different challenges, particularly in the climate space, that all of us are grappling with individually, but the truth is, none of us can solve these challenges alone. And so, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation is then a platform for working across nations, across geographies, across regions and coming together to solve problems.”

Isani Cayetano

“It’s a brief visit. Nonetheless, what are some of the concerns that you’ve gathered, having met with civil society partners?”

Jessica Lapenn

“So I’ll say first, I was really impressed with the experience and the knowledge, the commitment and track record of civil society here. My meetings with them went late and long because I just kept saying, “I want to learn more.” And I, think that’s interestingly one of the things that’s most exciting about Belize joining the partnership is how much others will learn from Belize’s experience. Specifically, we will do work within the partnership on marine spatial planning and, here, Belize has been a leader.”

Isani Cayetano

“From our perspective, we’re looking at this being a Foreign Affairs initiative, as much as it is for us a Blue Economy initiative. How do these two departments of government come together to fulfill the mandate or what is set forward by PAC?”

Jessica Lapenn

”It’s such a great question. I think that all of these issues are inter-ministerial. In every government, the Government of Belize, the Government of the United States, we need a range of ministries and agencies to work on these issues and to work together. So interestingly, the partnership really thinks about how do we work across countries and within countries. So here I have an opportunity to meet with the range of actors within the government and see how they work together. It’s really impressive. That, for me, was the real takeaway. The understanding is that these are real inter-ministerial challenges and organizations within the government need to work together. I don’t think that’s easy in any case and here it’s very impressive how that works.”

Belize Reaffirms Established Partnership with E.U.

The Government of Belize has reaffirmed a longstanding partnership with the European Union with the signing of a Green Growth, Trade, and Border Management Program. The initiative will funded by the E.U. as part of a financing agreement for twelve point six million Euros, the equivalent twenty-seven million Belize dollars. Present at today’s signing was Marianne van Steen, EU Ambassador to Belize.

Marianne van Steen, E.U. Ambassador to Belize

“Today was an important day because we signed a document which is actually the result of hard work from my team here, I have a team in Belmopan, but also the team from the government and many, many people who were involved to kind of look at what are the main areas in which the European Union can continue to provide support to Belize’s development plans. So we signed a document today where we actually confirmed our willingness to address a number of areas with a sum of 12.6 million Euros, I’ve just made the calculation, that must be about a little bit more than twenty-seven million Belize dollars. That is not our entire package of support to the country, I have to make that clear, but it’s an important part of our bilateral envelope. And I am saying thanks to everyone who contributed to that because it’s been a very consultative process. It’s not like we come here and we say want to help with one, two, three. We actually talk, both with the government and civil society, and we’ve come up with a couple of very important initiatives for the country. You will be interested to know which ones they are. The first one is, it’s not hard to see and everyone knows, we’ve agreed that the main priority, the main needs in this country is the south. I mean, the south really needs an extra push. It needs help with its local development plans, it needs help with micro-credits. It needs help for, let’s say, the most vulnerable participants in society, the women, the children, to get that extra push in order to allow them the possibility to participate more in society and to create livelihoods for them.”

Strengthening the Partnership Between Belize and E.U.

Ambassador van Steen emphasized the importance of the partnership between Belize and the E.U., as well as the new program which has the potential for significant transformational potential for economic prospects in southern Belize, particularly along the border with Guatemala.

Marianne van Steen, E.U. Ambassador to Belize

“It was very important, this agreement. It was the result of hard work and it really illustrates what a good relationship we have with Belize. I was congratulating the prime minister and it was actually the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, we’ve been working very closely together as to how this government has been able to put Belize on the map. So I am very happy about that and looking forward to meet the new foreign minister as well, but what I wanted to say is not just about a donor/recipient relationship anymore. It used to be like that in the past but now we have a very comprehensive relationship with this government and with the country and with the people of Belize. We are very proud of that because we’re not just talking about funds, grant funds and loans and assisting the country and reaching the sustainable development goals. That is very important but we do a lot more, we dialogue about what’s happening in the world. There’s a lot of political dialogue, we talk about trade and we talk about investments. So I am very happy that we have such a strong relationship with this country.”

Belize Network of NGO’s Set Striving towards Good Governance

The Belize Network of N.G.O.’s alongside the Belize Audubon Society has launched a new project with the objective of bolstering society’s democratic foundation. The project, funded by the European Union, seeks to increase capacity building for local civil society organizations, elevate gender equality and amplify the voices of youths, and marginalized communities such as people with diverse abilities and the LGBTQ. We attended the launch of the event today to get better insight into this endeavor. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

The Strengthening Civil Society participation in democracy through effective, inclusive, good governance, reform and oversight project was launched today at the Belize House of Culture. The project seeks to ensure good governance through a series of campaigns, policy reforms and activities to uplift marginalized communities. It is a collaboration with the Belize Audubon Society and the Belize Network Of NGOs. We spoke with BNN Executive Manager, Emerson Codd for more information.

Emerson Codd, Executive Manager, BNN

“The main focus of the project is again, as you can see from our billboard here, it will focus on capacity building for local CSOs to engage in national level policy dialogue. We will also focus a lot on promoting gender equality, women and youth empowerment and inclusion. And we are focusing on promoting an enabling environment on behalf of vulnerable communities with attention to digitization.”

Although the event was officially launched today, Codd informed us that the project has begun its work already.

Emerson Codd, Executive Manager, BNN

“We have hit the ground already. We have conducted a series of workshops geared towards a very important of beliefs that is ongoing, the constitutional reform process. So in terms of the constitutional reform process, we are partnering with the People’s Constitutional Commission, and we have mobilized broad based civil society participation in a series of workshops that has been concluded in November and December.”

The project is funded by the European Union with a value of around six hundred thousand USD. Ambassador of the European Union to Belize stated that the Union seeks to aid Belize’s objective of bolstering the society’s democratic foundation.

Marianne Van Steen, Ambassador of the European Union to Belize, Jamaica, and The Bahamas

“The European Union thinks that democracy, respect for the rule of law, respect for human rights are essential and they’re very high on our agenda when we work with other countries. So when you go to another country and you would like to contribute and make sure that there is good development in that country, you need to make sure there is a well functioning democracy. So it is pretty new that we start working in different countries to strengthen the role of civil society, but that is because we have understood that in order to have a democracy that works well, you need to have a very vibrant voice of civil society. So it’s a bit of a milestone, this project. It’s a bit new. We’ve been working with civil society a lot, but on particular themes or objectives. But now this is really about strengthening the voice of civil society, because it has an important role.”

Codd stated that the project aims to be as inclusive as possible and works alongside every civil society organization in Belize.

Emerson Codd, Executive Manager, BNN

“We are targeting all civil society organizations in Belize. We are trying to be as inclusive as possible and we are working with a cross sector of civil society organization in Belize. So, it’s not geared towards maybe one specific sector of civil society organization. We’re actually targeting the cross sector of civil society organizations that represent vulnerable communities, vulnerable populations here in Belize.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Compactor Truck from Japan Will Be Used in Hotspots

As the mayor explained, the other garbage truck will arrive in the coming weeks and will be used to complement the Council’s sanitation efforts. Wagner explained that while the council has existing sanitation contracts in place with the Belize Waste Control Company, the compactor trucks will be used in those areas of the Old Capital that are garbage dump sites and hot spots.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor Belize City

“We wrote the concept paper to the Japanese Grassroots Board and they approved it for two new compactors which will really enhance, again, our ability to look at the hotspots. We do have existing contractual obligations with B.W.C, but we still have our obligations as well to the city in ensuring that those hotspots are addressed in a timely fashion. We have our night team. These will not be used for commercial, residential garbage. It’s just to enhance our night team support system.”