The good old political manifesto - it used to be the cornerstone of every political campaign - and you wouldn't dare hitting the campaign trail without one.
But, in this municipal election - we've seen that in the era of information overload - manifestos have become the exception rather than the rule.
Today in downtown Belize City - theUDP slate said they are happy to be that exception - as they launched an electronic manifesto:
Nelma Mortis, UDP Mayoral Candidate
"This is an unusual way of launching a manifesto. But like I said, my team represent one that is innovative. We think about digitization. We think about technology. We think about sustainability. And therefore, our manifesto takes a different route."
"It is built on three pillars, which is unusual. And some people are still struggling to internalize what it is saying, because it's not totally aligned with the traditional manifesto and the act of the Belize City Council."
"However, urban planning requires us to reflect on this triangle, which looks at economic development or economic growth environment, which looks at the maintenance and the upkeep of the environment, including the green space and climate change."
"And lastly, equity, which looks at social access and services and opportunities for people who are within the urban space."
Alicia Craig, UDP City Council Candidate
"So here at the back of our manifesto, we have a QR code. So you take your cell phone, you take your camera out, you scan the QR code, and it will take you to the link, which will expand and explain more about our plans for the next three years that we have to improve the city."
UDP City Council Candidate
"The first one we want to talk about, that people have been clamoring while we're on the ground, is some form of financial relief. And we plan to achieve this through our tax reform and our tax relief program."
UDP City Council Candidate
"And when it comes to the draining, we also know that there's always a problem with flooding. Whenever the rainy season comes, we have a storm, we have these inundations, and they do a lot of damage. Past councils and past ministers have invested in infrastructure to deal with the drainage before, but all of these seem to have failed us."
"So we're bringing to the table some innovative, simple, innovative way to handle the drainage problem, you know, plaguing the city."
Sampson Jacobs, UDP City Council Candidate
"A council that shows equity, it shows the buy in of everybody, all stakeholders, and whatever resources we have, it will be able to be shared amongst everybody equally, regardless of their race, culture, sex, religion, whatever."
"So the first one we want to look at is fostering partnership, and again, we will work with government and non-governmental agencies to help us to administer their programs and resources to meet the needs of the city."
"The second one will be promoting awareness and education. As an educator myself, I believe that there are a lot more we can do for those at-risk students or at-risk youth in our city so that they can be able to benefit from us."
"I believe that one of the things that we need to do is to see how we can best address the youth of our city, specifically on Southside Belize City."
