At the top of the news, we brought you the latest from the UDP. But the press conference also tackled national issues. One such issue is what came out of the CARICOM heads of government meeting.
As Patrick Faber pointed out, while the leaders of the other Caribbean countries went home and briefed the public, our Prime Minister - as is the norm - just didn't. And when we asked him about Belize's commitment to free movement of CARICOM persons, he said that the country does need more skilled laborers.
And while Faber emphasized that the UDP is not against regional integration, he demanded that the government present its plan to safeguard Belizean workers. Here's what he said today.
Patrick Faber, UDP Senator
"Well, Briceno and his government committed to Belize being one of the four countries to implement as of October 1st of this year, not next year, not the year after, this year. Where are we? Halfway through July, August, September, we have two and a half months before this bombshell lands on Belize."
"It means, my friends, that CARICOM Nationals, who qualify as skilled workers, as artisans, as professionals, or as entrepreneurs, will be able to enter Belize without a visa and without a work permit, artisans with what they call CVQs."
"Let me tell you what is CVQs because CVQs is actually what our ITVET should be turning out when they train a electrician, or train a welder, or train a carpenter, or train a mechanic. But you all know that our ITVETs have not worked the way they ought to work, so that puts us at a disadvantage."
"Trust me, the ITVETs in the Caribbean are working in the other parts of the Caribbean they work well, and they have well-qualified welders. They have well-qualified electricians. They have well-qualified carpenters. They have well-qualified plumbers. And they are now able to just hop on a boat, hop on a train, hop on a plane, whatever it is, and come to Belize without a visa, without a work permit, and get the jobs that Belizeans themselves are struggling to get."
"The only statement the prime minister made was when he was asked. So what you think about this, because the Jamaicans have come and they've disappeared from Belizean borders. You can't find them when they enter. And you find out that it is because they are making their trek through Mexico and into the United States. The U.S. raised concerns about that, and Belize... got into trouble because they stopped accepting Jamaica's."
"I think they turned back some money. And that got us into problems with our regional partners. Now, there's no easy fix for this, but you have to have a plan. We are calling on the Briceno administration to hold a press briefing to begin with, to explain to this nation the full gamut, the full extent that this particular measure, the free movement of people, will bring to this country."
"We are calling on him to take a comprehensive, or table a comprehensive white paper to cabinet and to the rest of this nation, send it to the House of Representatives, send it to the Senate, a complete comprehensive plan as to how we are going to handle this issue."
