Earlier in the newscast, we brought you some of the highlights from today's Sitting of the House of Representatives. But during the adjournment, the area rep for the Albert Division rose on the matter of, what she deems, the wastage of taxpayers' money - specifically, the $750,000 allocated to the BTB's International Music and Food Fest.
According to her, this $750k is being spent frivolously, considering that there are more socially beneficial ways it could have been used.
But this topic was a touchy one, and it sparked a back and forth between both sides of the House. The UDP has maintained that the PUP have a habit of bullying Tracy Panton, and we'll touch on that more in a while, here's how the exchanged went today:
Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton, UDP, Albert
"I have served as the director of tourism for Belize for over 15 years and I've also served in the capacity of the CEO of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation for 3 years... You want us to go there?
"Madam Speaker, obviously he was out of the room and he didn't hear you or he has no regard for what you have to say."
Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House
"Members, let's allow the member for Albert to stand on standing order 13 and make her...."
Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton, UDP, Albert
"Music festival and food festivals have been used for years particularly in the Caribbean region to attract tourist arrivals to a country at a time that is considered the low tourism season. So it's not a novel idea, but the timing of putting together a tourism concert in less than 2 months under the guise that it will help to improve tourism arrivals to Belize is nothing short of stupid. There is a definition for stupid in the Webster dictionary. Gasoline has almost $16.00 a gallon. Tour operators are falling out of the sector left, right and center. And the BTB seems unable to provide meaningful relief and support, but yet we are to prepared to spend $750,000.00, almost a million dollars on a poorly planned concert."
'Spending $750,000.00 on a hurry up concert and we are not able to provide gasoline for the department of agriculture to do their inspections. We are spending $750,000.00 on a hurry up concert and yet we are cutting on school bus runs for young students. My colleague brought it up at the last house meeting. We are spending $750,000.00 for a San Pedro concert and there are very basic medications that health clinics across this country cannot access."
