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Back in January, when he was still serving as Lake Independence Area Representative, Mark King rolled out the OPEC Fund's landfill program. That's basically where about a thousand home owners in Lake I got a free load of landfill to try to alleviate the problem of living with swamps and floods which they've endured for years.

Well, today King started sending dump truck drivers to deliver landfill to another 1,000 homeowners in that constituency, as the second portion of the program. But, is it conveniently timed to try to gain favour with the voters of Lake Independence? King told us that it is not.

Welcome back to 7News – we apologize for the break in transmission due to a nationwide blackout caused by a failure of the CFE system in Mexico. We resume now with Lake I Area Representative Mark King talking about the OPEC funded landfill programme he's rolling out – we were asking if it is an election gimmick:…

Mark King - UDP Candidate, Lake I

"Today we'll be launching the second phase of the poverty alleviation project which is the landfill element. As you know, last time you guys came and you saw lined up trucks and we gave out a thousand loads of landfill. I've said that I would have rallied for my people to have the second phase because we had well over 2,000 people applying for landfill. It's called poverty alleviation because it helps people to fill up their land and helps them to increase the value of their property and also helps them from not living in swamp and stuff like that. So the landfill comes in very handy."

"We will start the giving out of these landfill again. We have over a thousand loads to give to the last thousand residence that did not receive from phase one. So if you receive landfill from the first time we gave out, then you are not going to get this one. As an election thing, no it's not. It just falls along this time; even if the election wasn't called it would have been falling along this time because that was when it was scheduled for."

Daniel Ortiz

"While you say it is not a roll out because its election season; some would say the persons who you were dealing with before, they expedited because now the stakes are higher."

Mark King - UDP Candidate, Lake I

"Well I am all happy that it is coming now than later because people don't live on promises anymore. You know Belizeans done wake up. For Lake I to get this thing, as I have promised them; and I had to do my year of waiting too because when I submit my applications for Lake I to the government, I have to wait for that to come. So I'm very glad that it is at this time its coming and not after. I will be delivering to my people what was promised to them by me. So I had that wait time of a year too."

Daniel Ortiz

"But it can't hurt that it came at this time? You will benefit from it with the voters, earning favour with the voters."

Mark King - UDP Candidate, Lake I

"Man it definitely can't hurt. This is the best time for it to come."

This second round of landfill giveaways will cost just over a hundred thousand dollar. King says that there are other programs which will roll out in that constituency in the near future. Again, he insists is not to try to impress the voters.