by Khaila Gentle
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Oct. 20, 2022
Cabinet has endorsed the recently published list of public and bank holidays for 2023. The list, notably, reveals a total of ten long weekends for the upcoming year, including the weekend of July 29th to 31st.
Monday, July 31, will be observed as Emancipation Day instead of Tuesday, August 1. The UBAD Educational Foundation (UEF), however, says that having the holiday on any day other than that on which Emancipation Day actually falls is a disservice to Belizeans of African descent.
The Chairperson of UEF, YaYa Marin Coleman, in an interview with KREM News this week, highlighted the fact that the day of August 1, 1838, specifically, has meaning for African descendants globally.
“That was the day under British colonial rule that our African ancestors became legally liberated,” she said.
Marin Coleman has since sent a written request to the government that the African Emancipation Day holiday be observed on August 1.
The other public and bank holidays include New Year’s Day on Monday, January 2; George Price Day on Monday, January 16; National Heroes and Benefactors Day on Monday, March 6; Holy Week running from Friday, April 7, to Monday, April 10; Labour Day on May 1; St. George’s Caye Day on Monday, September 11; Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance Day on Monday, October 9; Garifuna Settlement Day on Monday, November 20; and Christmas Day & Boxing Day on Monday, December 25, and Tuesday, December 26, respectively. Independence Day will be observed on the day on which it falls, which is Thursday, September 21.