1. Presentation on Budget for Fiscal Year 2013/2014
By Hon. Francis W. Fonseca
Leader of the Opposition
March 21, 2013
Introduction:
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
I rise to make my contribution to the debate on the General Revenue Appropriation Bill
for fiscal year 2013/2014.
I am honored to do so on behalf of the People’s United Party and in particular the people
of Freetown, who have given me the opportunity to serve in this Honourable house.
Mr. Speaker, each year the budget preparation and presentation provides our Government
with a unique opportunity to engage the Belizean people in a national dialogue on the priorities,
goals and objectives we wish to set for ourselves as a nation for the upcoming fiscal year.
Again this year, Mr. Speaker, it is deeply regrettable that we must record the absolute
failure of the UDP Government to carry out any consultations in respect of this years’ budget.
This shameful failure is, of-course, consistent with the UDP’s total disregard and
disrespect of the Governments social and economic partners in development.
No consultation with the Unions! No consultation with the Council of Churches! No
Consultation with the agro-productive sector! No Consultation with the Chamber of Commerce
or the Belize Business Bureau! No Consultation with Youth and Student Government leaders!
No Consultation with our artists and musicians! No Consultation with the Belizean People! Well,
Mr. Speaker, once again this year I am proud to report that our Party has kept faith with its
commitment to consultation.
We fully recognize and appreciate that in 2013, consultation is no longer optional for the
Government of Belize, it is a requirement for Development. We in the People’s United Party
understand that no Government, present or future, will be able to meaningfully and sustainably
address the very critical, structural social and economic challenges facing Belize, if there is not a
“National buy-in” to the Governments vision and work-plan for national development.
It is for this reason, Mr. Speaker, that our Party appointed a team headed by the Hon. Member
for Orange Walk Central, to consult widely over the past few weeks.
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2. Our contributions to this budget are better informed and more meaningful as a result of
these consultations, and we are grateful to all our social and economic partners who were
gracious enough to participate in these consultations.
Mr. Speaker, it comes as no surprise therefore that the UDP Budget for fiscal year
2013/2014 reflects this absolute lack of consultation.
It is a budget disconnected and divorced from the Belizean reality. This is a budget Mr.
Speaker in which “full belly di tell empty belly – kip haat bredda”. “kip haat sista”!! Again this
year, for the 6 th. budget in a row, the Belizean people are treated to a full menu of chest-
thumping, whining and empty hollow rhetoric.
For the first two years it was all about the $200M stimulus package which never
materialized. Then it was the Russian Millions on their way to Belize or was our PM to travel to
Russia to bring back the sacks of $? And then in 2011/2012 we were told we were free to fly
except the plane neva have no fuel and so we were all grounded. And last year it was back to
excuses, moaning and groaning and talking about the need for discipline.
And this year, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Queens Square, didn’t let us down. His latest
and perhaps greatest illusion is B.I.L. – Belize Infrastructure Co. Ltd. the Special purpose vehicle
that will float all Belizean Boats. What a sick joke Mr. Speaker. But, I will deal with B.I.L. a
little later on.
The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that this budget continues a 5 yr pattern of excuses and
cruel, empty rhetoric. Loud mouth, Dutty mouth and Sharp tongue is all we have gotten from the
UDP for 5 yrs.
After 5 years of UDP administration, Mr. Speaker, all of our major social and economic
indicators are headed in the wrong direction and this budget for fiscal year 2013/2014 does
nothing to change course.
Unemployment and underemployment continue to devastate our Belizean families,
wreaking particular destruction on the hopes and aspirations of our youth and women. Some
30,000 Belizeans actively seeking a job cannot find one. Loud mouth, Dutty mouth, Sharp
tongue mouth don’t create jobs. Mr. PM where is your jobs plan?
Poverty too is on the rise and today in Belize under the UDP some 148,000 Belizeans are
living on less than $5.50 per day for food. Loud mouth, Dutty mouth and Sharp tongue won’t lift
our people out of poverty. Mr. PM where is your plan to reduce poverty?
Crime and Violence continue to eat away at our social fabric. Law abiding citizens live in
fear. Investment and economic growth are negatively impacted. There is a growing distrust of the
police and our system of justice. Loud mouth, Dutty mouth and Sharp tongue won’t bring down
the cost of living. Mr. PM where is your plan to reduce the cost of living? Fuel costs are at an all
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3. time high. This is putting a hurt on our farmers, on our commuters, on our fishermen, on our taxi
operators, tour operators, on our businesses. Loud mouth, Dutty mouth and Sharp tongue won’t
bring down the cost of fuel. Mr. PM where is your plan to reduce the cost of fuel?
Mr. Speaker, the Belizean people are sick and tired of the excuses and blame-game which
have come to define this UDP administration. Our people need jobs and money in their pockets,
not excuses and lies about the past.
Again in this year’s budget, Mr. Speaker, the PM continues to whine about the
Superbond even as he claims to have tamed it. By taming it of course he means that he has
extended the repayment period for 9 more years from 2029 to 2038.
Mr. Speaker, Public Debt is serious business. We welcome any relief realized to Belize as
a result of the new 2038 Bonds.
The 2029 Bonds represented the PUP administrations recognition in 2006 of the need to
restructure Belize’s commercial debt to allow for significant cash flow benefits to the economy.
The Central Bank of Belize’s Annual Report for 2007 states: “payments during the first 9
years of the 2029 Bonds are projected to fall by an average of US $48 M per year or US $431M
cumulative over that period.”
It further states:”This positive development should improve the Country’s general
economic outlook, investment climate and credit rating. The longer repayment period should also
afford the Country the opportunity to expand its economic base so that higher debt servicing
obligations that fall due in the later years will be less burdensome.”
Mr. Speaker, this was exactly the objective of the debt consolidation exercise carried out
by the last PUP administration. To give the country space and time to breathe and grow. And
what of the composition of the debt. Again here it is politically convenient for the UDP and their
apologists to ignore the facts and continue to perpetuate their false propaganda that we have
nothing to show for the debt.
They conveniently ignore the fact that between 1998 and 2007, Belize was visited by
hurricanes Mitch, Keith, Iris and Tropical storm Chantal which wreaked economic havoc on our
agricultural and tourism sectors at a cost of hundreds of millions invested in education, health,
infrastructure, rural water and electricity and housing.
Travel the country, Mr. PM, and take your ministers with you. The Real people in Real
communities will tell you that for the great majority of them, the last time there was any
investment in their community it was under the PUP. Nothing, Nada, for five years under the
UDP.
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4. You see, Mr. Speaker, the PUP is about job creation, investment and development. The
UDP celebrates poverty and tell the Belizean people to catch the line for the food pantry and
Check Wid Boots Fu Wah Lee Boost!!
Mr. Speaker, if we are to have an honest debate about the Superbond then the UDP can
be critical of the last PUP administration for pursuing an aggressive growth agenda that led to
high levels of public debt, but they must also tell the Belizean people that it was that very same
PUP Administration which recognized its own problem and fixed its own problem in2006, so
much so that in fact the fiscal deficit had been reduced to less than 1% of GDP before the PUP
left office in 2008.
This UDP administration was left with a full meal on the table. Add to this the hundreds
of millions in oil revenues collected over the past 5 years.
It is their incompetence and inability to grow the economy that has forced us into
Superbond 2038.
Belize has stopped working under the UDP and that is why Belize can’t pay its Bills
under the UDP.
That is the truth and the whole truth, Mr. Speaker, not the nonsense and half-truths
offered by those who have nothing better to tell the Belizean people, those who can’t create jobs,
those who can’t attract meaningful investment, those who can’t reduce the cost of living!!
And while on the issue of Public Debt, Mr. Speaker, not a word from the Minister of
Finance in respect of the hundreds of millions of dollars owing for BTL and BEL. This is a real
and existing liability. What is the plan to resolve this matter?
Finally on Superbond 2038, Mr. Speaker. Let’s be very clear. The Bond Restructuring
team led by the Prime Ministers new RED eye boy, His Excellency Amb. Mark Espat was a
disastrous failure. The Team Leaders initial high-risk strategy of low-balling the Bondholders
turned out to be a near-fatal mistake.
The initial options were soundly rejected and what Belize ended up accepting was a far,
far cry from any of the original indicative scenarios.
The truth is that if it were not for the good faith of the Chairman of the Bondholders
Committee, Mr. Mediratta, and his longstanding relationship with Belize developed over many
years under the PUP administration, Superbond 2038 would not have gotten done. So, PM, save
us all the bouquet throwing at your red-eye boy. We know the truth. In any case, he has been
handsomely rewarded for his restructuring of the Albert Division, and I am confident he will be
very grateful and join your Party. After all he no got no way else fu go!!
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5. Mr. Speaker, let’s turn to the economic outlook for 2013. It is regrettably, not
encouraging. According to the Central Bank of Belize, the economy is forecasted to grow by
2.7% in real terms in 2013, but they concede that even this low growth is subject to sizeable
downside risks and is based on a very weak assumption of a gradual upturn in global growth to
3.5%.
Agriculture and Manufacturing which together have accounted for some 17% of all
economic activity since 2000, will decline significantly to low single-digit growth. In fact it is
expected that there will only be 1.8% real GDP growth in Agriculture in 2013 and in
Manufacturing there will be negative growth (-2.4%).
Citrus is facing headwinds from lower international prices and a cyclical crop downturn.
Even tourism, is expected to decline to 4.5% growth in large part due to the weak
economic situation in the US.
Output of oil and electricity will continue to decline as the oil wells dry up and the low
reservoir levels at the hydro dams will create further strains on BEL. The Belizean people have
already been taxed with a 17% increase in electricity rates. We trust that 2013/2014 will not
bring further increases. The people can bear no more.
And more bad news, Mr. Speaker, construction activity, a leading economic indicator, is
expected to decelerate according to the Central Bank. And in 2013/2014 inflation will rear its
ugly head once again eating away at the purchasing power of all Belizeans.
This brings me Mr. Speaker back to BIL. Belize Infrastructure Co. Ltd. which the
member for Queens Square described in his budget presentation as a “newly registered, wholly
GOB owned, private company. The special-purpose vehicle that will create jobs, stimulate
demand, purchase private sector material and supplies and generally raise that tide that will float
all Belizean boats.
Now, as I said earlier it is fairly easy to dismiss this new company as more hot air
consistent with 5 years of empty rhetoric, but to do so would be a mistake. We should all take
note of BIL. I want to sound the alarm bells now. I expect this to be a UDP- hustle vehicle that
will seek to avoid the rules and regulations of Government. Why is this private company
necessary to carry out the work of Government? Will this company be competing with the
private sector? Who will it be purchasing materials and supplies from? Who will manage this
company? Will the contractor general and the auditor general have oversight of this company?
Will it be subject to the Finance and Audit Reform Act?
Mr. Speaker, we must see Belize Infrastructure Co. Ltd. for what it is, the latest in a long
line of UDP political gimmicks.
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6. For the UDP it is always about the show, the cutting of the ribbon, the ground opening,
the big announcement. There is no follow thru, no vision, no plan, no work ethic, no
development agenda. Just take a look at projects under the Capital II and III budgets, many of
which are simply recycled year after year by this inept and incompetent UDP administration.
Mr. Speaker, the Belizean people have had enough of these gimmicks. They want us in
this National Assembly to talk about the future and about specific ways of making their lives
better.
To maximize economic growth, we need to competently and efficiently use the resources
and comparative advantages Belize has available.
Government must focus on its core function, the delivery of reliable, quality, affordable
public services while reducing bureaucratic spending and enhancing its regulatory and
enforcement capacity.
The Private Sector must be viewed as full partners in development and enabled to attract
and undertake investments, grow businesses and create jobs. Mr. Speaker, Investment is market
driven. In this interconnected world, the market for investment is broad and fiercely competitive.
Investment also requires certainty and our Party repeats its call for the enactment of a
Foreign Investment Promotion Act to achieve this objective.
In pursuing investments, Mr. Speaker, it is all about creating good paying jobs for our
people, jobs for our young graduates, jobs for women, jobs for our skilled workers, jobs in
tourism, jobs in the information technology sector, jobs in the financial sector, jobs in agro-
processing and manufacturing.
At the same time, Mr. Speaker, we recognize that our economics must have an ethical
dimension grounded in our belief that economic growth must be accompanied by opportunity
and humane treatment for the poor and disadvantaged, and that growth is not real progress if, in
spite of it, many people, especially children are still going hungry and are unable to attend
school.
And Mr. Speaker, as we seek to grow and reform the economy, so too, must we seek to
reform the way we are governed. Again this year, we call on the UDP Government to support the
proposals for reform our Party has advanced.
Let us together enshrine in the Constitution a requirement for a Referendum on any
proposed amendment which in any way undercuts or degrades the fundamental rights and
freedoms of the Belizean people. (Stop playing games with OCEANA)
Let us work together to set a fixed date for elections and review the term of office for
future governments.
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7. Let us put in place an elected senate. Let us heed the cries of the people and put an end
once and for all to the hustling and cronyism that have completely overtaken the Lands
Department.
Let us review the structure and composition of the Elections and Boundaries
Commission.
Let us review the structure, composition and powers of the Public Accounts Committee.
Let us pass a Freedom of the Press Law to guarantee free speech and protect whistle-
blowers who expose abuse, acts of corruption and waste of resources.
Let us work together to appoint an Independent Commission to review immigration
policy and laws and implement its recommendations.
Mr. Speaker, we need to move away from the politics based approach to governing which
has come to define this UDP Government, and toward a solutions based approach to
development.
And, Mr. Speaker, it is time for Government to deliver the salary increase our teachers,
nurses, doctors, police officers, BDF soldiers, and other public officers have been demanding
and deserve.
The UDP can find millions for election spending, millions for contract officers and
special Advisors, millions for Mark Espat, millions for fuel and allowances, millions for their
foreign travel and friends and family sitting in Diplomatic Missions, and millions for fancy
SUV’s, but they can’t find the money for our teachers and public officers.
Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the house join with our teachers and public officers in
demanding that the Government delivers, at a minimum a 5% salary increase this fiscal year.
They need it. They deserve it. Not next year or two years from now.
Mr. Speaker, the budget for fiscal year 2013/2014 presented by the Member for Queens
Square does nothing to offer our people hope and inspire them to become engaged in the work of
building our Beloved Belize.
The Belizean reality today is thousands of lost jobs, businesses closed, homes auctioned
or re-possessed, loans defaulted on, children out of school, families unable to keep the lights on,
the stove burning and increasingly often unable to put food on the table.
The Belizean economy and people are struggling and no amount of chest thumping, self-
congratulation and trumpeting of pseudo – nationalism will change this harsh, sober reality.
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8. Where are the 5,000 new jobs promised 5 years ago? Where is the reduced GST, Where
are the lower utility rates, lower cost of living, shares in a National Oil Company, 6% annual
growth, lower fuel costs.
5 years of UDP nothing!
5 years of UDP waste!
5 years of UDP corruption!
5 years of growing unemployment!
5 years of increasing crime!
5 years of higher prices!
5 tears of petty, arrogant leadership!
But, Hope is awakening in our people, Mr. Speaker.
The Belizean people know the UDP is the past and the PUP is the future.
There is much to do, Mr. Speaker, but our Party is committed to the hard work that lies
ahead. If Belize is to grow and develop, all of us must be committed to a strong Belizean
economy and society grounded in credible, practical plans and solutions to the social and
economic challenges we face.
We are visiting with our people in every corner of this beautiful country, listening to
them, learning from them how we can better serve them and sharing with them our vision and
message of hope for a better Belize.
Mr. Speaker, I pray God’s blessings on our country and people and humbly ask for his
guidance over us in this honourable house as we do the nations work.
END.
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