Belize City, Thurs. Sept. 4, 2008 - The United Democratic Party has
been roundly accused of engaging in a mass retrenchment and victimization
exercise. That exercise has spanned the country, and has seen poor Belizeans
like school wardens, open vote workers, public officers and teachers arbitrarily
transferred or fired with no justification other than their political
affiliation. This has been occurring for months, but in the past week Belize’s
biggest unions, the Belize National Teachers Union and the Public Service
Union, decided that enough was enough, and stepped in very strongly.
On August
28th, the hibernating Association of Concerned Belizeans, which had been so
silent since general elections as to be considered defunct, erupted with a
short but sweet release under mounting public pressure.
The release
stated – “In light of the recent upheaval within the Belize City Council
regarding the allegations of mishandling of public finances, the Association of
Concerned Belizeans (ACB) calls upon the Belize City Council and all other
municipal bodies to immediately prepare and present to the public the audited
financials for their respective municipalities. The mandate of all municipal
bodies is to promote transparency and accountability, regardless of partisan
orientation. With that said, the Association of Concerned Belizeans (ACB) asks
the public to join us in demanding the immediate disclosure of the audited
financials from all current governing municipal bodies.”
Six months
into office and the UDP Government is already awash in scandals, nepotism and
abuse of office. Many UDPs are disenchanted and expressing disgust at the
behavior of their government.