So, with fuel prices reaching new heights, and the cost of food items such as eggs, flour, and chicken on the rise, how is the average Belizean supposed to survive?
More than half the population is living in poverty and for many families, it's already a struggle to put food on the table. And today, the media asked the PM: what would you say to someone currently living in Belize who was barely making ends meet?
This is how he answered:
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"That we know what they're going through, that we understand, and as a government, we're trying to do everything possible to be able to help them. we're trying to see how we can control the price gouging, we're trying to work on the issue of the duties that are being charged on these products, the government has certain social interventions that we do with the grocery bags and so forth and that we're working on the minimum wage, and we're hoping by the end of this year, we're able raise the minimum wage and that these are the things that can help her and also that we are doing everything possible to be able to get the economy back again, even this last first quarter, we had a growth of over 5%. It says something, that we're moving in the right direction. As I tell everybody, the best social program that we can have going in Belize is putting people back to work and that's what we've been doing and that I want them to understand that we're doing everything possible to make their lives better, that we, everyday, think about them and trying to find ways to improve their lives and to make it easier and that we understand and feel for them. I meet with them many times when I'm walking on the streets or by texts messages or when I go to meetings. It's not that I have back blocked out, unlike other politicians that just stay in their office, I am out on the streets, and that I can feel for them. And whilst just feeling for them is not enough, we are working to make life better for them."
