The southside development project is a $47 million proposed project for the communities of Lake Independence, Collet and Port Loyola. The project proposes to deal with infrastructure, streets, drains, housing, streetlights, employment, and a host of other poverty alleviation measures. Today the House approved the first $12 million in the form of a concessionary loan from the OPEC nations. The Prime Minister disclosed the terms.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"The lender is the OPEC fund for international development. The loan principal amount is US$6 million. Disbursement schedule: withdrawals shall be made from time to time up to September 30th 2009. The loan term is for 20 years. The grace period is for five years. The repayment period, it will be repaid in thirty equal semi-annual installments, commencing March 15th, 2011. The purpose is to partially finance the Belize City southside poverty alleviation project. The rate of interest, the rate is 3.5% per annum, payable semi-annually on March 15th and September 15th each year."
Hon. Patrick Faber, UDP Collet Rep.
"We see that it is only funding a portion of the amount of monies that the project will cost. We understand it will cost $47 million and this seeks to only address $12 million. Madam Speaker we see that there is a grace period of five years. We see that the rate of interest is at a concessionary rate, which I believe this government should have started to practice a long time ago. So as far as the terms of the loan are concerned we can't have any argument but what we can caution the government is the way it uses poverty to get monies all the time. We have heard before in this honorary House, we have heard the government from time to time, things that they claim that they do Madam Speaker in order to alleviate poverty and in order to help the poor people of this country. Madam Speaker the point that readily comes to mind is our now former Mayor who claimed that he managed all this money that he can't account for, some $400,000 in the name of poverty alleviation and in the name of poor residents of Belize City again.
So when we come hear and we ask this House to approve sums of money to help the poor of this country, to alleviate poverty Madam Speaker, all I am asking as the representative of my people in Collet, is that we do so justly; we make sure that every single cent of that money that is going to be borrowed Madam Speaker is used wisely and is used to alleviate poverty."
Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez, UDP Port Loyola Rep.
"I think the bottom line is that too many times politicians use poor people as a scapegoat and the bottom line is that they barely get anything and Port Loyola people, we always look for our fair share because we participate and we participate in a sensible way."
