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THE BELIZE TIMES
1 NOV
2015
JOB CREATION
It is time for the Belizean people to take a stand. It is time all Belizeans be empowered. Power by one man is dictatorship. Power to the people is true democracy. Francis Fonseca Leader of the PUP
MANIFESTO POWER TO THE PEOPLE (2015 - 2019)
This Manifesto is being presented at a time of great uncertainty. In this our 34th year of independence, our neighbor to the West has become more belligerent in its unfounded claim to our country. The hard work of the previous PUP administrations that consolidated our security and achieved Guatemalan recognition of our sovereignty has been jeopardized by the UDP Government. Their irresponsible actions of appeasement in the face of aggression at the Sarstoon River, has created an unacceptable appearance of land cession in the south of our country. The PUP is mindful of the great challenges we face as a nation, both global and domestic, and sees the need for urgent concerted national effort to safeguard our territorial integrity and to spur real sustainable development that will benefit the Belizean people. For the past eight years one man wields absolute power in Belize. His family, friends, cronies and fellow Ministers have sucked the life blood out of Belize. Nepotism and corruption have become rampant in the higher echelons of government. The resources of the nation have been squandered and generations of Belizeans present and to come have been burdened with the legacy of growing poverty, gaping inequality and massive debt.
All 31 PUP candidates have signed a Contract with the People to implement the following measures:
GOOD GOVERNANCE
taking the profit out of politics CONTRACT WITH THE PEOPLE 1. Reactivate the Integrity Commission and restructure the Public Accounts Committee. 2. Bring into force the appointment of the 13th senator. 3. Repeal the illegal Petro Caribe Loans Act. 4. Repeal the draconian Gun Law which has caused many innocent people to be jailed unjustly. 5. Replace the oppressive Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) with a more effective anti-violence unit. 6. Establish a unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Internationalize the Belize Guatemala controversy. 7. Begin the phasing out towards the total abolition of Income Taxes and replace with a restructured Business Tax. 8. Maintain a moratorium on offshore oil drilling and support the call for a referendum on the issue. 9. Provide a regime for taxpayers to directly identify, manage and undertake community group projects at public expense. 10. Four (4) year fixed term for General elections on a set date. 11. Increase the minimum wage to $4 per hour. Nobody should earn less than $200 per week 12. Reduce GST from 12.5% to 10% 13. Electrification and potable water to all remaining villages. 14. Institute Re-Registration to clean up the voters list. 15. Provide a house lot upon reaching the age of 18. 16. Establish a National Indigenous People’s Commission.
The PUP is committed to a bold Economic Reform Agenda that will attract many new industries, the expansion of economic activity and generate thousands of new JOBS for Belizean Workers. The Next PUP Government Will: 1. Ensure the creation of 25,000 more jobs: 5,000 new jobs in agroindustry; 10,000 new jobs in the tourist industry and the services sector; 5,000 new jobs in knowledge based and I.C.T. industries including Call Centres and 5,000 additional jobs in culture, the arts and sports industries, the entertainment industry and energy related oil and gas industries. 2. Establish an Enterprise Fund that will provide start-up capital for hundreds of school graduates and women with income generating projects. 3 Promote private sector investments in new growth areas: Tropical plants and flowers for export, health-food industries, marine farming, organic fruits and vegetables, I.C.T. industries, food processing and value-added light industries. 4. Revitalize the Commercial Free Zones and establish industrial parks in strategic areas such as in Tower Hill in the Orange Walk District and Benque Viejo Del Carmen near the Western Border. 5. Construct the Manatee/Coastal Highway.
LIVING IN A SAFE COUNTRY
The PUP’s vision has always been for Belizeans to live in a good and safe country where their rights as citizens are respected and the rule of law prevails and democracy thrives. In recent years under the Barrow administration Belizeans have lived under a dark cloud of tyrannical behavior by rulers, violence and criminality on a scale unprecedented in the independent Belize. Belize now has the ignominious distinction of having the fourth highest murder rate (per capita) in the world. The Next PUP Government Will: 1. Strengthen the human and institutional capability of our armed forces, the BDF, the Coast Guard and the Air Wing of the BDF to better patrol our borders. 2. Provide better trained, better equipped and better paid soldiers and police officers. 3. Establish an Independent Citizens Complaints Bureau to investigate and address allegations of abuse and brutality by law enforcement officers. 4. Uphold the Constitution of Belize as the Supreme Law of Belize and strengthen the independence of the Judiciary and boost its budget for modernization.
Education: Creativity + Technology
GIVING EXPRESSION TO THE POWER OF YOUTH REALIZING THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF SPORTS AND CULTURE The Next PUP Government Will: 1. Ensure Free Education from Pre-School to Sixth Form. 2. Invest in new and appropriate technologies that will enhance more effective methods of teaching and learning. Provide digital devices to students beginning at the high school level. 3. BUILD A FAN (Free Access Nationwide, a seamless super high speed internet in all schools and public parks. 4. Feed the children: Target schools that need feeding programs to prevent hunger. 5. Special needs: Promote inclusion and universal access to education for all special needs students. 6. Strengthen the capacity of the Special Education Unit to provide its services nationally for all students with disabilities. 7. Expand access to IT VETs and the APPRENTICESHIP program. 8. Strengthen and enhance teacher training programs. 9. Further develop the University of Belize (UB) and establish a UB campus in Corozal.
Arts and Culture
1. Establish a Culture Fund administered by the artists, the State and NGOs to support artists, and musicians in the cultural and entertainment industries. 2. Establish a Natural History Museum to be used as a hub for physical science learning. 3. Support the formation of studio and art schools focused on training in the creative fields.
Youth and Sports
1. Support our youth to excel in sports upgrade all indoor and outdoor sporting facilities across the country. 2. Develop a tax-break scheme as an incentive for sponsors of sports teams and competition by the Private Sector. 3. We will complete the Marion Jones Stadium and rebuild a Basketball and Volleyball Stadium. 4. Develop a National Sport Strategy in collaboration with the Sports Federations to promote sports for general recreation, training in physical education in schools from the primary level for boys and girls, and a calendar for competition in the main disciplines.