Way back in August, the Government of Belize recouped the US$10 million grant from Venezuela, secretly diverted to the Belize Bank by the last administration, but even as the year closes, those funds – which Prime Minister Dean Barrow had indicated would be disbursed by Christmas – have still not reached the intended recipients.
Venezuela gifted a total of US$20 million to Belize almost a year ago – US$19 million for housing development for the poor in Belize. However, the first half of it was squandered in the weeks leading up to the February 2008 elections – some of it under the guise of home renovations that were never done.
Seeing that there has been no announcement on how the second half of the funds would be disbursed, we asked Prime Minister Barrow for an update today, and he told our newspaper that the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Housing is due to present the “final draft” guidelines for disbursement, which, he said, should be tabled at Cabinet on Tuesday, December 30, 2008. The Prime Minister said that the approval may be given for disbursement after that meeting of Cabinet.
Of note is that after the recent floods which caused widespread devastation in the Cayo, Belize and Orange Walk districts, the Government decided to use $1.5 million to offer relief to flood victims.
According to the Prime Minister, the Government is replacing household items, such as appliances and furniture, for families who suffered losses during the flood, and the process is continuing even into the Christmas season.
Barrow had told our newspaper after August that the money would be distributed equally among all 31 constituencies.
He told us today that he would want to see the disbursement of the balance of the Venezuelan funds proceed at least by mid-January, 2009, but that he does not foresee individual area representatives getting those funds to distribute. It is more likely that they will have to make their submissions for disbursement to Cabinet.
We understand that the Government’s initial plan to have an oversight committee make recommendations on the disbursement of the funds has “fallen through” due to differences between the Government and the social partners who were to sit on the oversight committee.