7 News Belize

Mother's day is always big for politicians, since mothers make up the very fabric of the community and are always prominent in politician's campaigns. And, so, the Barrow Administration has created a kind of Mother Day Gift Giving programme to match its controversial Christmas Cheer programme. All 17 UDP Representatives were earmarked fifty thousand dollars each to share with his constituents on mother's day. Lists like these ten sheets for Corozal Bay in which we count counted 398 names, show that each mother who was selected received one hundred dollars. In Corozal North, Representative Hugo Pott gave fifty dollars each to one thousand mothers. In both cases, cash is not handled directly by politicians, but the recipients get vouchers which they cash at the government treasury. Not all divisions gave cash vouchers: In Belize Rural North Edmund Castro says he gave away 1,500 gifts. The Opposition has called it state sponsored party political patronage, but the UDP - which has been doing the Christmas Cheer programme since late 2011 says that it is simply a way of sharing with the most needy.