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Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Every effort will be made in various ways to strengthen citizen security in Belize City and the District Towns. Here again our nationalized BTL will play a key role as it partners with the Belize Police Department to turn, first, the old Capital into a safe City. We are looking at the purchase, via BTL, of at least 200 new cameras that come with advanced facial and license plate recognition software. But we are also exploring with the Taiwanese their willingness to help based on the model safe cities program they have already pioneered in their own country. One way or another, smart solutions will make for increased monitoring, interactions with not just the police but fire and ambulance services, and lead to better policing and a dramatic increase overall in citizen security. However, the social conditions that breed the sub culture that blights particularly our urban areas will not soon go away. So even as we do all we can robustly to combat crime from the enforcement point of view, we also strive to remake our society in an egalitarian and progressive way. Fighting poverty, it is clear, is the best way to fight crime. In this context I am delighted to trumpet the fact that the Belize City Southside Poverty Alleviation Project Phase 3 is now in full swing. This is a project, to the total value of 12 million dollars, that will see one hundred houses either newly built or improved for needy families in the targeted constituencies."

Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"It is safe to say that government has failed to keep our communities safe. All our efforts to work with the current government have been ignored. I have directed our standard bearers to embark on consultations with their constituents and with stakeholders to present some workable, common sense solutions to arresting crime. We must and my Party will declare an all-out war on crime and violence, and we will win this war and once again make our country safe."

And that "all out war" included a good many shots at the failings of the Barrow Administration that he says has left Belize "weary from worry":

Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"At the moment, the hope that came with independence; the optimism that accompanied the start of the new millennium and the promise of endless possibilities that were to come in this current decade have been shattered by lost opportunities due to incompetence, corruption and now a general sense of malaise. The result of all this is a people weary from worry; worry about their personal safety. Worry about their economic security; about poverty and deprivation. Worry about an uncertain future and more so worried about the kind of nation we are building for our children. How could they not feel this way when our poor instead of being uplifted are being dragged into greater poverty due to an all but stagnant economy? How could they not feel this way when our middle class is shrinking and collapsing under burdensome taxes and the lack of vision by their government? How could they not feel this in the absence of any enthusiasm in the productive sector or when their children are not receiving the quality education needed and when their grandparents cannot receive adequate and affordable health care? To put it all in perspective, at present we are a nation weary from worry. But we are also an optimistic people. We know that the dawn can only come after that darkest hour. And in this dark hour we look to the dawn that is the new decade when together we can construct a fairer and more inclusive society."

Weary from worry maybe, but, apparently, not wary of making election promises. Briceno used his national platform to do some shameless campaigning - promising everything from cheaper gas to a $5.00 minimum wage, to what sounds like Belize's version of CICIG:...

Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"Today we are committing to reducing the cost of diesel to $9.00 a gallon or less. This will allow the productive sector to grow but more important it will put more money in the pockets of Belizeans."

"Today I commit to lead the effort in working towards a gradual increase so that in the near future every Belizean worker can expect no less than a five dollar an hour minimum wage. If there is one issue that Belizean are very angry about it is the issue of corruption. It is clear that we politicians are incapable of policing ourselves. This current culture of corruption is endemic, and it must stop. If we can halt corruption, we can bring an end to poverty. So, we must, and we will finance a fully functional anti-corruption agency."

But while politics was on parade - the Leader of the opposition ended on a rare grace note, giving a nod to his rival and sometimes nemesis, outgoing Prime Minister Dean Barrow:

Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"I wish to take a minute to express my thanks to our Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow. It is no secret that over the years the Prime Minister and I have enjoyed a cordial friendship. This of course did not stop us from disagreeing on policy issues and did not hinder us from vigorously defending our Party's positions in and outside of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister has announced that he will step down as his Party's leader next year and after thirty-five years of service in the National Assembly will retire from active politics. Dean my friend, I can't say I will miss you in the House, but I can say this, you have inflicted an ample dose of your verbal blows but you have also withstood a fair amount of verbal assaults from those of us on the other side. In the end no partisan difference will change what I believe, and that is that we share a deep and abiding love for this nation."

The Prime Minister gave no indication that Saturday's Independence Day address was his last - but it is widely believed to be.