1 day ago
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Minister Francis Fonseca says supporting constituents takes money, a reality he raised today when asked whether Cabinet ministers should have their allowances cut. The issue has prompted differing views within Government, with Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde calling for ministers to make sacrifices as families struggle with the cost of living.
Fonseca spoke about the financial demands that come with helping voters and other constituents.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs: “Every representative, I think we exhaust all of the resources that are available to us in support of our constituencies. It’s never enough. Every day that you get up, there are dozens of requests for support in many different ways. And we know that these are genuine needs from people who are going through challenging times. So, the reality is that yes, we do use these funds to support our constituencies. But yes, we will have, I think as the Prime Minister has indicated, we will have a discussion at the next Cabinet meeting on Tuesday about the overall cost of living. We do it every meeting, but this meeting we’ve decided that we will table a paper, we will have a comprehensive discussion and we will look at all of those issues including the allowances so that will be a topic for discussion at this upcoming meeting.”
Deputy PM Hyde publicly raised the proposal in September, arguing that Government leaders needed to tighten their own belts and show that they understood the pressures facing Belizeans. He warned that failing to act could reinforce the perception that ministers were disconnected from the people they serve. Prime Minister John Briceño initially indicated that he was open to discussing reductions. Earlier this week, however, he expressed reservations, saying ministers use their allowances, and additional money, to help constituents with education, medical expenses and deaths in their families. Briceño argued that cutting the allowances could leave representatives with less money to provide that assistance. Hyde remains firm that the allowances should be reduced. Asked about the proposal again today, the Deputy Prime Minister maintained his position.
Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister: “Pretty much every dollar, every resource that area representatives and ministers get they really have to plough into their constituency. They really have to plough into the work and the people in their constituency. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If you do your job and you take care of your people then you will be returned to office. And if you don’t do your job and you don’t take care of your people, then you won’t be returned to office. And so pretty much all our resources go there. But I stand by my original proposal but I don’t wanna publicly deliberate and debate it. We will have a cabinet meeting pretty soon. And next week, I believe, and we will get to discuss it there. And I think it’s absolutely important, and hopefully I’m able to convince as many of my colleagues as possible for us to make that move, for us to send that signal to our constituents that we stand with them, that they are suffering and we are going to stand with them because as I said in my speech earlier, all over the world people are struggling, all over the world people are having the hardest time because of the effects of the war in Iran. None of our small countries started that war, but all of our people have to grapple with the consequences of that war. And one of the senior consequences of that war is the unbelievably, incredibly high cost of living. And people all over the world here and abroad have to struggle with that, have to grapple with that, have to struggle to make ends meet. And we have to show our people that we are prepared to make the sacrifice too. But as I said, I don’t want to debate that publicly. We’ll do that internally next week.”
Cabinet is expected to meet next week./
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