And, today, the UDP teed off on the PUP for that drug plane landing, and just about everything under the sun.
You might not call it a one year anniversary gift, but the UDP sure did load up a heaping serving of contempt for the PUP in a two and a half hour press conference.
It was held this morning at the party headquarters - and one of the main areas of attack was what the opposition calls the mismanagement of the COVID crisis.
Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber said that the strategy to contain the spread of COVID has to get back to the basics of public healthcare to brace a third wave that the UDP feels still hasn't crested:
Hon. Patrick Faber - Leader of the Opposition
"We are told, my, friends that this is still not the high point of the third wave of COVID 19. And it is important for us, as we highlighted the last time, that we were here to discuss COVID, that we need to get back to some of the basics and we reiterate again that this needs to be done. We need to be maintaining our social distance. I note that since the last press conference, and we insisted that the government do something about getting back to the basics about these measures, they formed some kind of group that they said would be enforcing in businesses and public spaces across the country. And to date, no action. Nobody ensures that when you go to the grocery store that you are standing six feet apart. Nobody ensures that people are wearing their masks properly. Nobody is ensuring that there is the kind of constant hand-washing that we know to be important. And so, we make the call once again to the government, but also to the wider citizenry, because it is all of our responsibility as well to ensure that we are following these measures. But where it is that citizens refuse to follow them, there must be some enforcement on the part of the authorities given the very dire straits that we are in with COVID right now."
"We also suggested in that press conference that we take on some kind of incentive program to help the vaccination campaign along. While it is that the government is jumping up for joy at the percentage of vaccinations that have happened, We maintain that more needs to be done and we encourage the government once again to hold some kind of incentive to ensure that people who have not yet been vaccinated get their vaccination. We encourage the government as well to seek to actively, aggressively the vaccination for our five to twelve-year-olds, so that they too can become a part of the vaccinated population here in Belize. If I recall correctly, looking at the figures from yesterday, and the deaths and the hospitalizations and those who have been admitted to the ICU over the weekend - up to yesterday - you will see that it is still the very significant portion of those numbers that it's made up of people who are unvaccinated."
And while there are still those concerns for half of the eligible population that is not vaccinated - the UDP Leader said that is only one failure in a cascade of COVID catalysts:
Hon. Patrick Faber - Leader of the Opposition
"Save the lives of our citizens. There is no reason why the number of deaths has to be so very high. Failure on the part of this government to adequately implement a transparent and efficient pharmaceutical and medical supply system has also been the main reason why this third wave of COVID has such a high mortality rate in Belize."
"Therefore, we call again on the government to listen to the healthcare professionals, to listen to our doctors and nurses from the region and from the kitchen, and to allow for the financing and purchasing of pharmaceutical supplies that are needed to avoid the happenings at these various health institutions."
"And so we call on him to declare this a crisis. It is a crisis and to do whatever it takes and stop playing the games that he play and the government plays. We call again for the resignation of "Misho" Chebat."
