The Independence Day Official ceremonies in Belmopan seemed hotter than usual this year - but it was the heat of the sun, not the political combatants.
As per tradition, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition squared off with a mix of hope and political rope-a-dope.
Here are some of the major initiatives outlined by the PM, starting with a push towards renewable energy:
RT. HON Dean Barrow, PRIME MINISTER
"Our majority owned BEL is now finalizing plans to replace a big portion of CFE energy with 40 MWs of local solar-powered energy. And this is no manana enterprise. The PPA for the first 30 MWs of the new solar source will be signed before the end of October, and the plant ready to start producing energy within a year."
"And most exciting of all, testament to Belizean advances and innovation, our country will soon see the introduction of electric vehicles. Again, BEL will lead the way, embarking shortly on a pilot project to introduce such vehicles to its own Belize City fleet. The company has already secured funds for a study on how best to roll out the charging stations that will be needed to service the electric vehicles. Dramatic news indeed, I think all will agree. Coming back to agriculture, a bright spot is certainly going to be the start of the new hemp industry in our country. Global fascination with hemp, thought by so many to contain almost magical healing properties, means that Belize with ideal growing conditions will be excellently positioned to take advantage of the limitless world market. It is a market for the export of both raw hemp and the hemp-based medicinal products that so many foreign investors are lined up to manufacture in our country. And in furtherance of this Administration's gospel, we have ensured that the little man, the small farmer, is not left behind. Thus, licenses will be given to growers that wish to cultivate as little as one acre."
"DigiLearn will now be rolled out to 43 secondary schools starting this month. And ultimately GOB through BTL will provide a free laptop and digital classroom to every student in every high school in our country. The goal is to complete all this over the next five years, with the laptop computers provided not just to every student but to each teacher and each Administrator. Of course, Government will not stop to count the financial cost of all this because come hell or high water this revolution in Belizean education must get done. We are also going to expand what has become another staple of our educational outreach: the annual subsidies to high school students, currently given for the first two years of the secondary program. Now, every student in every Government high school in every District will actually receive that Government subsidy for the entirety of their high school careers, from First Form straight through to Fourth Form."
We will have more from speeches tomorrow night.
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