Yesterday we told you that the Statistical Institute of Belize had embarked on a new method of analyzing poverty that focuses on more than just money in the bank. The Multidimensional Poverty Index also takes into consideration other factors such as the quality of drinking water the family has and whether the children are in school.
So while, for example, those in the Toledo district may be monetarily poor, they are not necessarily multidimensionally poor. Still, those in the south - particularly the Mayas - have a greater intensity of poverty due to checking the boxes on multiple factors. Many don't have access to the internet, or roads to get out of their villages.
Yesterday, the media asked the PM how that can be changed.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"One of the issues, and I hope I don't get into trouble by saying that, is that there is a lot of migration in the Toledo District, a lot of indigenous people are constantly are coming into Belize in the south and then their children, many of them, when they get an education they leave the Toledo District and they go to work in shrimp farm, they go to work in education, they work in construction and then more people come in. It's almost like a revolving door, but we have to do more in the Toledo District and we have been doing a lot. We have to have to have more streets, mor roads, more access to farm lands, more access to health clinics and schools. These are the things that will improve the lives of our citizens, so the challenges are big, the other challenge is because of culture. The indigenous people, they tend to have a lot of small villages. For instance, in Orange Walk we have a little over 20 villages. In the Toledo District we have about 55-56 villages. And in our villages are way more bigger. So it's easier for government to provide the services as opposed to provide it to 56 villages. These are some of the challenges, but we recognize the challenges and have to do our best to address them."
