And in other tourism-related news, the Belize Tourism Board has paid the bill of $31,600 out of a 46,000 dollar clean up campaign in the Pickstock division - which is Minister Anthony Mahler's constituency. We asked Mahler if this was a conflict of interest since he is also the Minister of Tourism, but he explained that it's not just Pickstock, but other areas in the city as well.
Reporter:
"We don't know that any such clean up campaigns have been funded by the BTB in any other divisions."
Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"No they have, this has been going on through all across Belize City for months and so it's just a part of the sustainability. You can't have a filthy city when you have guests coming in. it's just a part of the process in terms of cleaning up the city. We have done more and will continue to do more, we clean the highways, we clean other communities, we're planning to do one in Seine Bight coming up. A person from down there has reached out to us so it is just an ongoing part of our work."
Reporter:
"The figure… what all does it go into?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"Most of it is labor. Getting people off the streets to work in this desperate time. I don't apologize for that. You have almost I think 100 plus people working, you pay them $175, $200 a week, then you could do the math. It's simple right?"
