The cost-of-living debate is becoming increasingly personal. Union Senator Glenfield Dennison argues that government officials who benefit from fuel allowances cannot fully understand what ordinary Belizeans face as they struggle to stretch their salaries and keep up with everyday expenses. But Prime Minister John Briceño is pushing back hard. He insists that he understands the financial pressure families are under and rejects the suggestion that public officials are disconnected from the affordability crisis. We put Dennison’s criticism directly to the Prime Minister, and here is how that exchange unfolded.
Paul Lopez
“The union senator says you or government officials like yourself are unable to relate to the affordability crisis because a lot of your fuel bill is covered by tax payers fund.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I will be kind to the senator because he should know the answer to that question.”
Paul Lopez
“But can you relate?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“How can I not relate to that? Listen, you guys don’t understand.”
Paul Lopez
“Help us understand.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Stop interrupt, allow me to speak. Can you do that? You respect me and I will respect you. And you do that all the time. Again, I believe that all of us in government, we can relate, because we are in our communities. We walk and meet people. I walk all this country, more than anyone of you here. I go and meet people in their communities. I go and see what their challenges are. I understand what they are going through. You may say “oh yeah but you don’t have to buy fuel”. Well from time. I remember speaking to students in Galen when I was the leader of the opposition and one of them, tongue in cheek, said, well you don’t know what it is to ride the bus. I said, excuse me. I said, when I started this business, I use hitchhike to work to come and buy stuff here. But I worked hard over the years and paid my dues to have my own vehicle. That does not mean you forget or cant relate to people. If you don’t relate to people they vote you out.”
PM Briceño to Senator Dennison: “Visit Struggling Communities”
The Prime Minister says relief from high electricity costs could soon come through the tax system, but his proposed solution is being overshadowed by a sharp political exchange over who truly understands Belize’s affordability crisis. John Briceño revealed that his administration is prepared to reduce taxes on electricity as families struggle to keep up with rising household expenses. At the same time, he fired back at Union Senator Glenfield Dennison, challenging him to walk through struggling communities and speak directly with residents, as politicians routinely do. Until Dennison has those conversations, Briceño argues, he cannot decide who does or does not understand the financial pressures facing ordinary Belizeans.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Today right now we are going to bring to Cabinet a paper where we want to present to remove the GST on electricity for consumers, I think for up to two hundred dollars. That in itself is going to be positively affecting consumers. I think it is about a hundred thousand accounts. We understand and we are doing the best we can, with the little we have. And so don’t you dare, and I challenge the senator, don’t you dare come and tell us we don’t understand. We have a better understanding than him, because he does not walk this country the way we walk and when he can walk on our shoes then he could talk. Right now, he is being elected as Senator and profile. But let him walk the streets. Let him walk in the villages and understand what it is to live in a village where you don’t have electricity, where you don’t have water, where sometimes the road is so bad you have to walk to take your children to school. When he understands that then let’s talk.”
We reached out to Senator Dennison for a response. He told us via text, quote, The Office of Prime Minister comes with the highest level of responsibility and stress in the country and, as such, I understand the very emotional response of the PM. Regrettably, he and I will have to agree to disagree and the Belizean people will decide if he understands, unquote.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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