“EGG ON YOUR FACE”

Prime Minister John Briceño, “Let me now respond to some of the comments from the past few days.” Shyne had reminded the people of Belize that he was only an entertainer and rapper giving the impression that he did not have the acumen to be a leader in this country. According to the Prime Minister, with Shyne, what the country sees is exactly what they would get---‘nada’. Last week’s headline told so much of what Shyne presented, “A tale of Fiction and Fantasy that could only be woven in the mind of a has-been rapper in search of relevance and credibility.” The latter was voiced by Francis Fonseca as he easily rebutted Shyne’s Leader of the Opposition reply to the Prime Minister’s proposed budget. Shyne has outdone his 2022 unprepared speech with this 2023 two hours of “aimless pointless blabbering.” According to the Prime Minister, Barrow had loads of “errors, flawed data and mistruths, upon misinformation.”

The Prime Minister line itemed LOO Barrow’s follies:

1. GDP Growth: Shyne claimed it was higher under the UDP. The truth is that in 4 of the 13 years there was actually a contraction in the Gross Domestic Product. The tepid growth of the UDP-led economies was between 1.5 and 2 percent over their 13 years of maladministration…this is IMF verified. The PUP average GDP growth in these two years has average 13.8years. “So Mr. Leader of the Opposition there is egg on your face.”

2. Foreign investment flows were 250 million dollars in 2021 and 265 million dollars in 2022(45 percent greater than the UDP’s 2019 input) and we expect to meet or exceed those levels this year. “Again Mr. Leader of the Opposition there is egg on your face”

3. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing has a budget of 194 million dollars. But the LOO took credit for the Coastal, Remate, Caracol and PGIA Projects. The PUP HAD to find the funds for projects that they(UDP) started but did not fully fund nor finish them. The king of incompetence used to call it “capacity constraints.” The UDP was totally lacking in capacity.

4. Cases to build this point: The UDP signed a 60-Million-dollar project in 2015. These funds had an expiration date for five years after. The money used from these funds ONLY went for salaries and not in the implementation of the projects. This was met by the PUP in 2020 upon taking office. So now the PUP has gotten vehicles for the Belize Defence Force and Groundbreaking for Kitchen and Accommodations at Price Barracks. Second, there was a 30 million for Resilient Rural Belize signed of which 22 Million was “free” grant money. The PUP has built infrastructure like the Nagobank Road, Valley of Peace Road, San Carlos Rd. and other procurement underway. More, there was another 60Million signed in 2016 by the incompetent UDP for the rehabilitation of the Philip Goldson Highway between Gardenia and International Airport. On their way to an infamous fall in 2020 the UDP spent 20 Million only for “feasibility studies and zero implementation” To the leader of the Opposition, “you can check with the World Bank if you wish.” The remaining 40 million was used as cash vouchers during the Covid-19 pandemic. They were playing politics. They were trying to win the election as they did in 2015 when they also