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.”

Strong words indeed, especially coming from an association largely considered to be an arm of the United Democratic Party. But it seems to have got some response, and quickly – a release from the Belize Press Office today confirmed that the Office of the Auditor General has completed an audit of the Belize City Council up to 2006-2007.

An audit of the Belize CitCo for the period April 2007-August 2008 is scheduled to commence on September 8th.

The results of that audit have not yet been released to the public, but it should make for interesting reading, especially with the current background of overwhelming allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds being levied at Mayor Zenaida Moya.