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THE BELIZE TIMES
Where is the Love in San Pedro?
By Milo Paz March was the month dedicated to the women in our country and the world, and it saddens me that in our town there was no recognition to our Moms, aunts, sisters and grandmothers. This shows how much our area rep and local government appreciate the women in our beloved Island. This past weekend was one of the most violent in this country where 2 women of Chinese decent were murdered. I personally sympathise with their families. As head of the PUP Executive on the Island, I believe we have to sit down and come up with plans to ensure that our children will not grow up in a country taken over by violence and crime. One of the most disturbing things that concern me is that criminals walk away over and over again with no justice for the victims. We are now in a state of panic and our law abiding citizens are afraid because it appears the justice system is protecting the criminals. Our aim should be to strengthen families because that is where education
commences. Our Government must also ensure that San Pedro has enough classrooms to educate our children, and to provide land to our working families not only to cronies by giving them 25 acres of land, as has been done by the UDP on this Island. Most recently, we had legal representation on the Island to help the working class against this Barrow administration’s QUITAR land policy. The victimized are the poor class, but power to the people because the PUP is now empowering them with a way forward with their land problems. Remember we are one of the largest providers of work and taxes to the Government, so I call on my friend who advocated for the plan to have Government spend 30% back in the island, of what we pay to the Government coffers. We have to remind our area Rep and Town leaders that no community, town or country will ever prosper on heavy taxation, or by allowing cronies a free ride with their property taxes. Let’s find a mechanism to collect the back taxes that I understand is a hefty amount but never disclosed to the public or to our Party. And here I say again, if we want better streets and better local services, let’s make a level-playing field on our tax payers instead of over taxing a section of the population. I recommend that we commence by exposing the ones that owe property taxes in this town and if they don’t want to pay, let’s use all legal means to make them pay, so we do not over burden the patriots that pay and want better for our Island.
A Youth Agenda Part III – How can we get there? By: Daniel Chavez OW District BYM Representative Last week the Vice President of the BYM continued the discussion on the Youth Agenda, focusing on young people becoming stakeholders of Economic Growth and on the very important issue of crime. In addition, the President of the BYM discussed his views of the 2011/2013 Budget and how it can be compared to an empty shell of promises. This week, I have decided to add my contribution and point out other important areas which we in the BYM feel should be pursued to improve the lives of the Belizean youth. As young people we strongly believe that there is an urgent need for an effective Youth Act to be implemented. This act will set the foundation for the work on youth development and give legislative footing for the Youth Policy. In addition this would seek to govern Youth Work and outline the roles and responsibilities of youth workers; and ensure the professionalization of Youth Work. This Act will therefore become the mechanism to facilitate better collaborations among organizations engaged in youth work. Finally this would introduce legislation for Youth for the Future to ensure that the initiative has longevity.
We call on the Government to establish a Youth Fund with a proper management and accountability structure and legislate for the set up of funding sources (e.g. oil revenue, offshore banking, taxes from tobacco-products & liquor) and ensure an increase in funds for the Ministry of Youth and Youth for the Future YFF. We believe and strongly support the practice of good governance. In this light, we believe that there is an important need for young people to become involved in governance. This can only be done if Government establishes a mechanism which will allow young people to participate actively in the learning processes and decision-making structures affecting them and their environment. This mechanism can be achieved with the establishment of the Belize National Youth Council. There should also be wide consultation with all stakeholders to allow for a seat for young people in the Senate and we must ensure youth participation in Government/QuasiGovernment boards e.g. the Petroleum Advisory Board. Government must be serious about involving our young people in these initiatives, since this is the only way our nation’s future is secure.
Sunday, April 10, 2011