Hon. Tracy Panton, Hon. Lee Mark Chang, Senator Hon Sheena S Pitts, Hon Godwin Haylock, Senator Hon Patrick Faber and Senator Gabriel Zetina
by William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)
BELIZE CITY, Tues. Apr. 29, 2025
The United Democratic Party (UDP) is ready and able and will form the next government in 2030, Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Tracy Panton avowed at a press conference hosted by the UDP at the Best Western Biltmore Plaza Hotel on Tuesday morning, April 29, when she and her fellow UDP parliamentarians cited a litany of the ruling People’s United Party’s (PUP) many failures since the PUP won the March 12 general elections. The party is ready, with competent leadership, and it is a party of inclusion that can unite supporters; her leadership team is moving forward with a fresh mandate to form the next government with respect for justice, she affirmed.
Despite their devastating loss at the polls, the UDP remains determined to defend the country’s democracy, in the spirit of truth, defending all Belizean citizens’ rights, Panton affirmed. “This means holding this administration and ourselves accountable,” she said.
For this reason, she said she found it particularly alarming, that there has been no parliamentary session and no Budget presentation since the PUP returned to office on March 13. Customarily, following the past four general elections, the elected members of the House of Representatives had been sworn in within 14 days of the general election; yet, 7 weeks after the March 12 elections, the representatives have yet to be sworn in. But once the UDP press conference was announced, they had received word that there are plans in the works for the ceremonial opening of Parliament and the annual Budget presentation.
The PUP were arrogantly confident of being re-elected, Panton declared, yet they have not honored their responsibility to have a budget ready for the new fiscal year, starting April 1, 2025, when the previous fiscal year ended on March 31. This was even though the PUP had known for a while the date on which the elections would be called; and, the PUP administration had begun the Budget exercise from last October. Yet, the lack of a new Budget did not stop the government from rushing post haste to increase the salaries for Chief Executive Officers and the Cabinet Secretary by massive amounts the very next day after elections, she noted! She found this unconscionable, when food and fuel prices are rising, and many low-income families are struggling just to survive.
These pay increases were railroaded through, notwithstanding that there was no such rush for teachers’ salary increments, and their allowances are long overdue, Panton pointed out. This, despite the public health professionals who have been clamoring for pension benefits after their many years of service, and the law enforcement officers and other essential and frontline workers who have been clamoring for better working conditions. This was despite the public officers’ concerns about accountability, transparency and that there be consultation in public decision processes.
The reconfiguration of Cabinet does not really excuse the government’s delay in presenting the Budget, Panton declared, when hard times are right around the corner, as the economy is shrinking, and the cost of living is rising. This means that the vast majority of Belizeans will have to tighten their belts to pay for the pay increase for a privileged few, she said.
She also denounced what she claimed was the blatant election fraud that happened during the last elections, which she said included the exploitation of the one-bedroom starter homes to pad the voters’ list, as dozens of voters were registered at one address, even though any change of address needs to be verified by the Elections and Boundaries Commission. She suggested that there was obvious tampering with the voters’ list in Cayo North, but these illegal voters were still allowed on the list, because there has been no public accountability. This resulted in an abuse of the electoral process, and the shameless use of government resources. Panton said that when such corruption stains our electoral process, it strikes at the soul of our democracy.
The country must plan for the imminent rise in the cost of living, she warned, and she vowed that the UDP would fight to protect Belizeans’ rights and their livelihoods for a better future
Mesopotamia representative Hon. Lee Mark Chang questioned the government’s deafening silence about how Belize will cope with the rising cost of doing business, as he warned that a global trade war is looming, and during that war countries will slap on higher taxes on imports. Belize will suffer the effects, as imported products become more expensive, and the higher taxes slow down trade, which will hurt our jobs, future investments and exports, Chang projected.
This trade war will drive up the inflation rate, and the cost of imported goods, he advised. Our dollar, our disposable income won’t buy as much as it used to, he said.
This sort of recklessness is not good leadership, he noted. He called on the Government to act now, before the damage is done. The UDP has solutions to suggest for the way forward, Chang outlined. On behalf of the UDP, he proposed that Belize should diversify its trading partners, to be less dependent on one major trade destination, by expanding trade with the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe.
It would also help if the government offered more support for medium, small and micro enterprises, Chang said, to strengthen local industries which are the backbone of our economy, by offering entrepreneurs easier access to capital. He suggested that government should boost the agriculture, tourism and manufacturing sectors, by simplifying how we do business. This means eliminating unneeded delays in Customs, to lower the cost of moving goods across borders, to create real incentives for export.
Queen’s Square representative Hon. Godwin Haylock lamented that the government and civil aviation authorities have yet to call a press conference to present a plan to improve the security of Belize’s air transportation, to prevent a recurrence of last week’s nightmare hijacking of a domestic airliner, which resulted in three people being injured, and the death of the hijacker. With tourism the nation’s primary earner of foreign exchange, representing 40 percent of the economy, it is vital that Belize and the tourism sector can assure visitors to our shores that it is safe for them to travel to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, and to visit many other local destinations using Belizean airlines, he said. Perhaps in response to this request, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has called a press conference for Wednesday afternoon, at the same venue.
Senator Hon. Sheena S. Pitts called on the government and the Ministry of Education to remove its boot from the teachers’ necks. She cited how many teachers are struggling to make ends meet, juggling their family costs with also providing the teaching materials for their classrooms and transportation costs of getting to work, for those who teach in rural schools. She cited the incongruity of the economic hardships these architects of our children’s future have to undergo, while a select, privileged few enjoy massive pay raises overnight after the March 12 elections. The teachers are already signaling their discontent by the Belize National Teachers Union calling out teachers to attend meetings in each district on Wednesday, with or without the Education Ministry’s permission for time off, to discuss their concerns about these very issues.
Senator Hon. Gabriel Zetina, a realtor by profession, challenged the lack of transparency in the Cayo Rosario development, which proposes to build several over-the-water structures in waters that are a part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. This illogical proposal, he cited, had already sparked fierce and vociferous opposition from the more than 150 licensed fishing tour guides who have traditionally used the “flats”, the shallow waters around the island, for their catch and release fishing tours, and who now see their livelihoods endangered by a development that should not have been given approval. Protected should mean protected, and they see the Cayo Rosario over-the-water development and dredging, as flying in the face of the Briceño administration’s declared goal of “30 by 30”, to have 30 percent of Belizean waters as marine protected areas by 2030.
In view of the upcoming trade war, and the loss of the USD$125 million grant from the MCC for education and climate change projects, when the Trump administration dissolved the Millenium Challenge Corporation, Senator Hon. Patrick Faber called on the Prime Minister to disclose the substance of his telephone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and what tangible benefits he had offered to Belize. Faber said Belizeans wanted to hear more than mere platitudes about maintaining the bonds of friendship and cooperation between our two nations, and that when the USA takes away USD$125 million intended for education, that really hurts our children, and Belizeans would like to know that the Prime Minister told Rubio as much.
As to the matter of “the Pretender”, former Leader of the Opposition Moses “Shyne” Barrow, who persists with his claim to still be the UDP leader until a leadership convention is held, Hon. Tracy Panton said the UDP party council would be meeting in mid-May to decide a date for the party’s national leadership convention, which may take place any time from 35 days to 90 days after that meeting.