VOICE OF THE COMMON MAN MCC COMPACT WITH BELIZE

By Hilly Bennett

A CDF signing ceremony between the Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC) and the Government of Belize (GoB) was held at the Best Western Plus Belize Biltmore Plaza, Wednesday 1st March 2023. A second compact development agreement was signed.

In December 2021, MCC's Board of Directors selected Belize as eligible to develop a compact. A delegation from the US government's MCC, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Alice Albright was in country to introduce the agency's development grant program. The MCC of compact.

Albright was accompanied by MCC's Deputy Vice President for Europe, Asia. Pacific, and Latin America, Johnathan Brooks and met with Prime Minister Honorable John Briceño as well as other senior officials from GOB, business leaders, civil society and partners in the donor community. The participants engaged in discussions on MCC's analytical and collaborative approach in fighting poverty through economic growth. Albright had said that "the MCC Board selection of Belize for compact program development recognizes the Belizean government's commitment to democracy, sound economic policies, and investing in people". It was pronounced that the visit was the beginning of a new phase of the partnership between Belize and the United States through the MCC. Albright said that the partnership had the potential to drive growth and prosperity for the Belizean people, while ensuring that poor, women and the historically marginalized groups receive the benefits they truly deserved.

The Millennium Corporation Challenge is an independent US government development agency assigned to poverty reduction through economic growth. The MCC was created in 2004 on a new philosophy toward foreign aid. In 2002, George W. Bush called for a new compact for development with accountability for both rich and poor countries. After turning the country around in 2022, the PUP Government governance performance was assessed by the MCC in three categories; Ruling Justly, Investing in People, and Encouraging Economic Growth. Belize scored favorably allowing them to become one of the two countries to participate in the MCC compact agreement. Prime Minister Honorable John Briceño was elated and said that the score was welcome news for Belize. Interestingly, the UDP Administration in 2013 failed miserably in controlling corruption, adhering to democratic rights and did not perform well in 50 subcategories.

In the initial agreement, a provision was made for up to $750,000 in funding to facilitate GOB's initial administrative expenses. This allowed for the government to have access to the technical expertise needed to conduct a "Constraints to Economic Growth Analysis" which detailed the country's economic situation. The signing of the second compact agreement was for US $10 million dollars with further financial agreements over a five-year period. The US $10 million is earmarked to various areas of education and energy. As proffered by the Charge' d' affaires, Leyla Moses-Ones, a.i. at the US Embassy in Belize that "the United States is committed to working with our partners in the Belizean government to bring greater prosperity and support good governance for the benefit of all the citizens of this great nation, we look forward to getting started on the development process."

During the signing on March 1st 2023 in his remarks PM Briceño said that as we continue with the work ahead, we will continue to develop projects, and design and implement these projects based on economic priorities which are set out in PlanBelize. He continued "in the end, we are doing everything possible to ensure that everyone can contribute and, as such, share in the ownership of our national development." With PlanBelize as the North Star the Government continues to engage in the development of people and country.

BELIZE TAX SERVICE DEPARTMENT’S NOTICE HOW TO REGISTER ON IRIS?

This guide will provide a step-by-step on how to register your account:

Go to the Official Belize Tax Service Online Website Belize Tax Services (bts.gov.bz)

On the home page click the “Register for an account” button.

This link will take you to the online registration form.

Start Filling the Following Details: i. Your first & last name. ii. Your Date of Birth

Enter your Name and Date of Birth as given on your Social Security Card/Birth Certificate iii. Your Mobile Number iv. Your Email Address v. Enter a Password as per the specification given.

This will be used for request verification and important communications from Belize Tax Service.

This email address will be used to login to the portal.

• At least 1 upper case character

• At least 1 lower case character vi. Re-Confirm your Password.

This should be same as the Password field above.

Enter the appropriate Security answers to the three Questions.

• At least 1 digit

• At least 1 special character (! @#$%*)

• Minimum of 8 character

(Note: these questions will be used in the event you need to recover your password and validate your identity)

When finished, check the read and agree box for the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Now, you can click the “Submit my Registration” button.

Your user account registration has been sent.

A confirmation email will be sent to the email address you entered

Open the email and click the CONFIRM EMAIL ADDRESS button, you are now registered!

For the final step, you will need to contact Belize Tax Service to link your tax account to your online profile.

5 FEB 2023

This process will take approximately 24 hours to link.

PUBLIC AUCTION SALE SAN PEDRO, AMBERGRIS CAYE, BELIZE

BY ORDER of the Government of Belize, Licensed Auctioneer Mr. Fitzgerald

A. Joseph will auction the following unserviceable vehicles, cycles, heavy equipment on site at the San Pedro Town Council Compound, San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize District, Belize on Friday the 17th day of March, 2023, commencing at 9:00 a.m. No duties payable.