And from diaspora relations to his Pickstock constituency, we asked the first term representative Mahler about stevedore wages and what will happen to them now after Sugar's big shift south.
We've heard other PUP Southside Reps Cordel Hyde and Gilroy Usher openly criticise this - but their fellow southside area rep says a solution will need to be found and the answer may lie in tourism:
Hon. Anthony Mahler
"It's a difficult situation for all parties, but as a government we have to find the best solution for all parties involved, including the stevedores. I represent a lot of the south side communities, many of the stevedores are my personal friends and we have to ensure that they can continue to make a decent living and to ensure that they are supporting their families. It's about 100 of them, but we also have to have the discussion of the 5,000 cane farmers that have invested blood, sweat and tears in the sugar industry in Belize."
Reporter
"Mr. Mai's comments that they find something else to do, do you find that insensitive, sir?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler
"To be honest I didn't hear it. I was out of the country and I just recently got back. But that's what he said I think he could have chosen some better words. That's my position on that."
Reporter
"The south side is already on the precipice and with these men who are really the wage earners going through this difficult time the question is and it's a hard one for you to answer, but what now for the south side?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler
"That's why I am working so hard to bring back tourism levels to where it was pre-covid and to reach higher heights. So, for me, I've studied briefly in both Japan and Taiwan and the Asian believes that for any great nation or city to grow and develop, you need an efficient port system. I think the Port of Belize has to do a lot better, in terms of modernizing the infrastructure there and so if you continue ti grow tourism then you grow agriculture, you grow everything else, because it trickles into all other sectors of the economy and so my goal is to focus on growing the tourism, so that more people can benefit off it, including stevedores. They'll have more work offloading ships and that type of thing, because there is more demand."
