MCC $250 Million Dollar Grant Debated in House

Two weeks ago, the Millenium Challenge Corporation approved a two-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar investment grant in education and energy in Belize. The government-funded institution’s priority is to reduce poverty through sustainable and inclusive economic growth. G.O.B. is expected to sign the agreement in September, but it must first establish the Millenium Challenge Account Belize Authority which will be the implementing agency for the education and energy projects. That is the primary reason why today’s Special Sitting of the House of Representatives was called. P.M. Briceño says it’s free money and an opportunity that the nation must take advantage of.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I must commend the people from within our government that were directly targeted with this. I have to commend the minister of education because they were going to go through a lengthy analysis and discussion to try to find out what our top five priorities. We said we know we don’t need to do any studies. We want to look at education, education, education, that we have to  prepare our children with the economy of the future. At the same time realizing we want to grow the economy we have to look at addressing the energy of the country. This is the one time the opposition could not open their mouth because they are seeing we have been working on this from the day we got into government as to how we can address these challenges we are facing as a growing country. We went through the consultation and the analysis was undertaken. A proposed M.C.C. compact program was drafted, and negotiations were completed on the grant agreement in April this year. Two weeks ago the M.C.C. board approved two hundred and fifty million Belize dollars, a grant investment. Free money, two hundred and fifty million dollars. More than twenty percent of our entire national budget, to be invested in education and energy. This could have never happened under the thirteen years of the U.D.P. administration. Why you think they pick this government and not the next government?”