Will the government be opening the books to publicly account for what the community development fund in each constituency is being used for?
That's what Jerry Enriquez asked for in his freedom of information request two months ago - but all he got in response was a single sheet of paper.
But the PM said that it's actually a ton of receipts. However, he opened the invitation for Enriquez to come in and view them.
He also explained the reason why his constituency gets the most funding above all other constituencies.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"What has happened is that what we have done and we did not hide it, we said it government, the constituencies, what we did, we put them in 3 different categories depending on the number of votes that you have. That is one. And then we cited the different ways that you can spend that money. Thirdly, we were very strict that if you do not give your receipts and you do not report how you spend that money, you do not get that money until that has happened. A number of area representatives were upset because we were not giving them the money and I've said it in Cabinet, I said it in caucuses, everybody including myself, we have to report every dollar that we get, first it was to Mrs Garcia and now it's to the Cabinet Secretary. Now as to the receipts we have to make sure that the receipts are properly documented. And I know that some of you will say well, the prime minister, did you get extra money? Of late I was getting extra money simply because everybody in the country asks me for help, not only Orange Walk Central and so I use that money to help people in Toledo, Belize City, all over for sports, education, you name it, and that is the only reason, but this is done proportioned based on the amount of votes you have, registered votes, I said three categories and even the opposition gets that money. I need to add when we were in opposition, we got zero, we got nothing from the government. Not once I got a grocery bag or boost or monies for the constituency. We believe that we need to do differently and we need to respect the will of the Belizean people."
Reporter:
"So then why haven't those receipts been provided to Enriquez who requested them?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"You know how much receipts we're talking about? We're talking about thousands, tens of thousands of receipts and obviously we are going to be spending all day providing receipts, I think what is important is to provide them with the monies that have been provided by, which is also, once it's not been detailed in the budget, we give them in detail by constituency what they get."
Reporter:
"Invite him to go and look them over?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"That is something, of course, if he wants to look them over we're happy for him to go. It's several filing cabinets that you have to look at, it's a lot."
