Photo: Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize
KHMH to get its CT-Scan; Crown Counsels to get outstanding 17% raise; $2.5 million allocated for Christmas Cheer 2023
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 11, 2023
The Briceño Administration presented a supplementary appropriation for $86 million at Thursday’s House Meeting. According to Prime Minister John Briceño, $30 million alone is going to Health, and another $18.5 million to infrastructure (mostly disbursements from existing loans for the Caracol Road, Remate Bypass and Philip Goldson Highway upgrade). $3.6 million is being allocated for the construction of the Sarstoon Forward Operating Base, the renovation of the Belmopan Magistrate Court, the improvement of the Charles Bartlett Hyde building to accommodate the Vital Statistics Unit and Family Court and the building of a new fire station.
Out of $11.8 million, Crown Counsels will receive their 17% salary adjustment, which the Prime Minister said they should have received with increases seen years ago by other public officers. That payment is bundled with what the Prime Minister called legacy land acquisition costs, court and other settlements, judgments and indemnities mostly left unpaid by the previous administration originating in the ministries of Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Finance and the Attorney General’s Ministry. It also includes moneys for land compensation.
Importantly, from the bulk of the funds being assigned to health, $3.1 million will go toward the acquisition of a Fuji 128-Slice CT scanner for the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority (KHMHA), expected to be operational by March 2024. Minister of Health Kevin Bernard explained that the delay is due to the need for an upgrade of the diagnostic room, including electrical works. The machine itself is scheduled to arrive in January, while additional batteries have been ordered for the end of December. Bernard says the installers from Miami have conducted pre-inspections and other inspections are scheduled. Staff is to also be trained to use the machine.
Other spending in the health sector will include $24 million that is to be allocated for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, including cancer care and diabetes treatment as well as hypertension meds, which Prime Minister John Briceño says had not been previously procured.
For the education sector, there is $4.3 million comprising grant funds for quality improvement programs and for educational grants for students from low-income families. There will also be a component of building repairs for three schools, including the Belize Rural Primary School, which was damaged during Hurricane Lisa.
Additional sums of $2.9 million for social protection and $500,000 for youth and sports programs is included in the supplementary appropriation. Also, through this supplementary, the Government intends to provide Christmas Cheer of $2.5 million.
The Senate Special Select Committee is receiving $150,000, while $750,000 is to be provided for the municipal elections to complement an existing equal amount, and $400,000 is set aside for the operationalization of the government lotteries. Another million goes to the purchase of 25,000 new passports and $350,000 for the amnesty program which the Prime Minister says is winding down.