This morning, the office of the Ombudsman received a new Nissan Frontier pickup. The donation comes as part of the British government's initiative to improve governance. Ombudsman Paul Rodriguez today told us that the vehicle will go a long way towards improving the access people in rural areas will have to his office, it'll be like a traveling complaint caravan.
Alan Jones, Brtish High Commissioner
"If you're going to have economic development in a country like Belize you need good governance and respect for human rights and so we focused on the Ombudsman office as one way of the people of Belize being able to put forward any concerns they may have about mal-administration, or whatever it might be, whether it is at the local level or at central government level. The Ombudsman being in existence for some time and I think one of the problems has been reaching all of Belize. Its very difficult to get around this country at this time so I think the vehicle will be a key for the Ombudsman and his office to move around the country and talk to ordinary people about their concerns."
Paul Rodriquez,
"And it's going to get the Ombudsman to the farthest reaches of Belize, to the unpaved roads. Of course we have contact with the whole country now through the email and the fax but there's nothing like personal contact. I think there's still some few people out there who need to see the Ombudsman and can't because he doesn't appear in their face personally."
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
