As you heard last night, former Belize Rural North area rep Edmund Castro has organized a canned food drive to collect grocery items for residents of the Belize River Valley area whose livelihoods have been undermined by the floods of Tropical Storm Sara. He hopes to not only collect canned food items but also more sustainable groceries that could go a long way in feeding a family in need.
But he's collecting these items as the UDP's shadow minister for Disaster Risk Management and says it's in collaboration with the Women's and the Youth arm of the party. But this refers to those in Tracy Panton's faction, while Shyne Barrow's faction doesn't recognize those persons as part of the party.
Castro was a guest on Sunup on 7 this morning where he spoke about the food drive and about utilizing the UDP banner.
Edmund Castro, UDP Shadow Minister
"We're trying to see how people could assist us and we will follow up hopefully with couple barbecues so that we could raise some funds to help those residents who are less fortunate. And I think although we said it's a can drive, from talking to some of the people in the different areas, they have, some of them have receive cornflakes and that kind of thing. I would like for us to focus on some real food as well, rice, some beans, because if you boil a pack of beans you can eat this morning, this afternoon, this evening, you could eat tomorrow with some beans. Not even beans they're getting, and cornflakes can't really help. The kids they will love it but how could that help a family. So if we could assist them with some real food, some flour, some rice, so any business person out there or any person at all that would donate some sack of rice, we will bag it off, we will bag off the flour, we will bag off the beans and we will take those and deliver to the families who are most in need."
Courtney Menzies:
"Before we end off this, it would be remiss of me not to ask this because I know that flooding and disasters, it's not a political issue but you are collecting on behalf of the United Democratic Party, and we know the situation whereas the Leader of the Opposition doesn't recognize yourself as the shadow minister for Disaster and Climate Risk. Aren't you concerned of maybe future litigation that you're soliciting on behalf of the UDP when he doesn't recognize you and this group as UDP members?"
Edmund Castro, UDP Shadow Minister
"I don't know nobody to recognize me as, one as a Belizean, and two as a member of any political organization. I have been working with the UDP before I could have voted. I can recall from 1981, some 45 years ago, where was he? Never born yet probably. I was here as a UDP, took over from my father, who I used to hate seeing him walk to deliver Goldson Billboard or whatever the paper was and I used to go on my bike and go hand out the paper for him."
"So I have been involved in UDP politics way longer than most people who are claiming to be the head honchos."
