‘Jacito Opens an Account at HRCU’ Financial Literacy at Work

The Holy Redeemer Credit Union (HRCU) has delivered a sequel to the children’s book, ‘Jacito Learns to Save’ which was first presented to the public on October 2021.

This new book, ‘Jacito Opens an Account at HRCU’, was launched on Wednesday, May 17 at HRCU’s conference room. The idea of this second publication follows the theme of financial literacy. The author of the book, Dr Carol Babb, who serves as the Educational Officer at the credit union, ex-

Border Security: A Government Priority (Air patrol for the Belize Coast Guard)

The Government of Belize is boosting the resources of the Belize Coast Guard through the approval of the acquisition of unmanned air vehicles. This acquisition is part of the Blue Bond Program that seeks to improve the efficiency in protecting Belize’s water. Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Elton Bennett has welcomed the addition: “air domain has always been a challenge for us … our operations were always limited without the air domain vehicles, but now that gap will be closed with this acquisition.” The BCG is expecting to procure the equipment within a few weeks which will be coupled with training for the staff on manning the new equipment.

Another addition to the Belize Coast Guard fleet will be the acquisition of two patrol boats. The boats will be gotten through an agreement with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). That agreement is scheduled to be sign in July this year along with the Ministry of Economic Development. This along with several other activities were discussed and confirmed on May 13, 2023 at a Senior Officers conference.

The conference included senior members of the Ministry of National Defence and Border Security. At this meeting the proposals and plans for the next ten years ahead was presented along with the more immediate plans for the year ahead. The Senior Officers meeting was preceded by a workshop involving senior members of the Belize Coast Guard where the plans were set out and prepared for presentation to the ministry. The meetings were held in Hopkins Village, Stann Creek District.///// plained that while these books were written for children, the adult population can also learn from these stories as they teach and promote the importance of savings, budgeting and how you can overcome poverty.

Minister of Minister of Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs, Henry Usher, was the keynote speaker at the event. In his address, the minister said, “… the tried and true way for personal growth, financially, is by building your equity; and the only way you can build your equity is by saving money.”

5 FEB 2023

Financial literacy is gradual- ly becoming buzz words in Belize as more and more persons are realizing the importance to save for rainy days.

According to Dr Carol Babb, business- es in the private sector are reaching out to her to deliver talks to their workers. She added that one of the main focus of the HRCU is to encourage and insist on their members being more financially literate.

The books are now available for sale.