Belize City Mayor, Zenaida Moya, said each of nine municipalities?all controlled by the Opposition United Democratic Party?was promised $20,000. That?s $180,000, or 90% of the total celebrations pie that has been pledged to the municipalities, which suggests that spending could be much higher than budgeted, since there are several independent groups and committees, such as the Carnival Committee, who are also seeking a bite of the pie.
Today, the claim is that the $20,000 pledged to the Councils is, in some instances, going into the wrong hands. In the case of Dangriga, the claim is that the money has gone to the former mayor, of the PUP, leaving the present UDP mayor out in the cold.
According to Mayor Frank Mena, he meets with former mayor, Cassian Nunez, who is now the ruling party?s standard-bearer for Dangriga, at 8:00 a.m. Friday. It is alleged that it is Nunez who got the celebrations money for that town.
We were told, from the Government?s side, that Nunez got the money because of some events he?s organizing in Dangriga, but our source could not say under what umbrella these events are being organized.
But the difficulties are not only being faced by the political Opposition. The Carnival Committee?s chairman, Michael Enriquez, said they are doing their rounds at mas camps tonight; but Carnival is coming up this weekend and they, too, are facing a serious dilemma. He told us that they had put in a budget of $83,000 to the September Celebrations Committee, and need a minimum of $40,000 to pull their events off.
Much of that is for prize money for the various bands and the Kings and Queens Contest, for 1st, 2ndand 3rdplace prizes in the junior and senior categories.
Enriquez said that to date, the September Celebrations Committee has not given them a clear guarantee that they will get any money, and in the meantime, they have been borrowing from the Belize Tourism Board to get the ball rolling. They borrowed an initial $5,000 from the BTB for the King and Queen competition held last weekend, and are trying to get another BTB loan to pull them through the weekend?s events, he added.
Meanwhile, the financially challenged Belize City Council has been asking for their $20,000 to help finance this weekend?s events. When Belize City mayor, Zenaida Moya, appeared this morning on the KREM WUB Morning Vibes, she reported that the Council had not yet received its money.
Later, reports also came in that the Dangriga mayor and Orange Walk mayor had not gotten their funds, either. In the case of Orange Walk Town, the reports were that the money had gone to Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Johnny Brice?o, who represents that area in the House of Representatives.
Mayor Moya told us tonight that the $20,000 promise came through this afternoon, when the cheque came to the Council from the Ministry of Finance.
Curiously, Cabinet Secretary Leslie, who is supposed to be the accounting officer for the celebrations money, had told us when we spoke with him late this evening that he had not been given any directive to pay any municipality directly, as monies generally go to the ?groups? and ?committees? that are responsible for executing the celebrations activities in the respective municipalities.
We don?t know who paid the Belize City Council and whether the mayor?s appearance on KREM this morning had anything to do with this afternoon?s delivery of the payment. Moya told us that Benque has also gotten its $20,000.
In general, the monies have been arriving late for those coordinating the events. When we asked the Cab Sec why, he gave us two reasons: (1) tight cash flow; and (2) the bureaucratic red tape, since monies are disbursed following a set procedure that requires a string of paperwork.
So what about accounting for the spending of the $200,000 Jubilee pie? Leslie told us that the parties will be expected to report back to the Finance Officer in the Office of the Prime Minister, and so the monies released should be accounted for.
A Government press release issued today said, ?On the occasion of the 25thanniversary of Belize?s Independence and the 208thanniversary of the Battle of St. George?s Caye, the Government of Belize is committing all available resources to ensuring that the celebrations are a success in Belize City, as well as in all the municipalities.?
It also said that funding for events is channeled through the September Celebrations Committee to the institutions organizing events.
?In the district towns, it is expected that this same model will be applied. There are September Celebrations committees in the district towns and these committees should be working with the town councils and assigning responsibility for particular events. Resources will be channeled for the celebrations to the entities charged with organizing particular events, as has been done in previous years.?
Word is that the bulk of the official celebrations will be held in Belize City, including official Independence Day ceremonies. Will this be a year of austerity celebrations, or a festive party with endless spending? According to Mayor Moya, the former applies.
Moya said that, ?At the end of the day, we want our kids to have a happy time. This is one of the key nationalist moments throughout the year, and we do it for Belizeans on the whole. I think it?s important.?
She said that the Jubilee pie is ?taxpayers? money,? and ?they deserve a little happiness, too??
The extensive calendar produced by the September Celebrations Committee, chaired by Hon. Godfrey Smith, details an array of festivities all over the country, culminating on September 22 with the Primary School Competition Award Ceremony.
According to Mayor Moya, the Council has also been helped by members of the business community, such as Iguanarana and the New Big Apple, which are each sponsoring three artists to perform at the Municipal Fair on Sunday and Monday this weekend. That fundraiser event, she said, should net the Council between $80,000 and $100,000.