Earlier in the news, we showed you the UDP manifesto launch for their Belize City Council slate. In only 34 days, residents of Belize City and the 8 other municipalities countrywide will vote for their municipal leaders.
That's also how much time the outgoing Belize City Mayor, Darrell Bradley, has left in office. And, in one final act of appreciation to the staff of City Hall, he handed out land titles to 195 council employees.
The effort started in June of 2015 with 57 acres of land that the Natural Resources Minister set aside for the City at mile 14 on the George Price Highway.
After two and a half years of paperwork, this evening, the council was able to put the land title documents into the hands of staffers. The Mayor explained why he wanted to make sure this happens before he leaves office:
Darrell Bradley - Mayor, Belize City Council
"Today, we will be issuing 195 persons a piece of land. The only requirement is that you will have worked for this City Council for over 3 and a half years. The thinking behind that if you make city council your career, we should be able to show in tangible ways that you benefit from your service, that you are improved, not only in physical things, not only with a bonus, or with a ham and turkey at Christmas, or a Christmas card, but that you progressed in a sustainable ways."
"We're not giving this piece of land because we have land to give, or because we are Santa Clause. We're giving it to you because we expect that if you are motivated, if you are encouraged, that will affect your performance. That will encourage you to deliver on the commitments of Government to provide a quality living experience for residents. Very few people meet the Mayor, but most people meet our traffic officers, our special constable officers, our sanitation workers, our tax collectors, our court staff. So, I am encouraging you that when I smile with you, smile with them. Show them that the face of our city is service oriented. The face of our city is developmental and you believe in job that you're doing because I as mayor Believe in you."
Shawn Pitter - Recipient, Land Ownership
"Darrell is a man of his word, and he dedicated himself, and he put in work. He works hard, and he promised us that he would deal with us the right way. He pulled through, and I appreciate that. I am thankful for my piece of land that I got."
But, with just over a month to go before elections, we wondered if the Mayor was blatantly electioneering. Bradley denied that one:
Darrel Bradley - Mayor
"This has taken us 2 years to do. So, that we had a lottery. We had a drawing. We had to approach the lands department, and work through the process of subdivision approval. Persons who've gone through that process can know that it can be very arduous. So that, it is - I would say - no fluke that it fell into this period but the only reason for that is that I really wanted to ensure that we did this before I demitted office."
In order to qualify, the staffers chosen today had to have at least 3 and a half years of service to the City.
Bradley also noted today that in an effort to look after his employees, the Council has set up an life insurance policy for all 437 employees of the council.
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