Peoples National Party (PNP)
Working Platform for 2009-2012
Town Council Elections

The People’s National Party aims to improve the lives of Punta Gorda’s families by focusing on providing jobs, security, and prosperity for our community. We can do this by:

• Promoting green and healthy living – let’s create a clean, safe, and sustainable environmental legacy for our children. PNP will bring Punta Gorda residents together to work in our community gardening project. Together with local NGOs, PNP will ensure that every yard in town can provide healthy food that we can all grow and share together.

• Health and Environment - together we can conserve Punta Gorda’s magnificent environment. Litter and garbage is a health hazard that puts us all at risk. PNP aims to create jobs and address our garbage problem by updating existing waste removal plans within a few months and implement a recycling programme that would be an example for the rest of the country.

• Creating opportunities for local education and training - currently, citizens of Punta Gorda and surrounding areas have to go to Belmopan to study natural resources. The PNP town council will lobby the University of Belize to provide natural resource classes here in Toledo – the home of the most precious natural resources in the country.

• Youth and Sports - our most precious resource is our children. Through sports activities, we can develop healthy relationships with Punta Gorda’s youth and begin to prepare them for the future. Being involved in sports brings discipline and a sense of responsibility – something that today’s youth need. PNP will renovate the degraded sporting facility that both UDP and PUP have neglected for years and make it a place of pride - a place where our families can go to cheer on their loved ones.

• Tourism, Parks and Recreation - our Parks need our help! Together we can improve them and create more green space for recreation. PNP will adopt the “Eco Park” idea to promote sustainable tourism. Punta Gorda is blessed with incredible natural attractions, and PNP will work with the BTIA, BTB and other local organizations to make Punta Gorda the number one green destination in the country. We will help promote the Easter Fest, Fish Fest Cacao Fest, 19th of November Celebrations, 10th and 21st and all other major holidays. With Eco Parks, we can promote Punta Gorda Town as a key destination for small cruise ships. All of these activities will bring more visitors to Punta Gorda – that means more jobs and money earned in arts and crafts, cottage industries, restaurants, and more. PNP will fight to make this happen!

• Supporting Small Business - your PNP Town Council will strengthen our local economy by encouraging new locally-owned small businesses. We will transform the community center into a multi-purpose building that provides a space for small businesses, offices, and community activities. We will create incentives and business-friendly policies to encourage locally- owned and operated business – something that is good for everyone.

• Affordable Housing - millions of dollars from Venezuela came in to help the poor! This money was not specified for the PUP or UDP - it was specified for all Belizeans who need it. PNP will lobby the government to ensure that Punta Gorda Town – and all residents who need it - get their fair share. The distribution of this money should not be politically driven - every citizen has a right to this money if they need it and party politics should play no role in this.

• Facelift for Punta Gorda - over the years our town has been neglected by both the PUP and the UDP. Under their administration and lack of concern, they allowed our historic government buildings to deteriorate and then abandoned them so that they can use our money to rent space from their cronies. The PNP will rehabilitate these beautiful buildings, which will create more jobs, beautify our town, and reinvest the money that is now being paid to the cronies back into the local economy.

• Streets and Drains - every election, we hear promises of better streets and drains - yet there has been zero street improvement. Punta Gorda has grown and now we need our own grader. The government collects revenue from vehicle license and we must ensure that this money returns to Punta Gorda to keep our streets in shape! PNP will use this money to buy a grader and have a trained person operating it (and not by the party cronies).

• Town Meetings and Consultations – the PNP operate with openness and transparency. We will hold regular town meetings and consult with you before we make major decisions. We will keep you informed and let you know how your money is being spent.

• Making Punta Gorda the Safest Town in the Country - crime is everybody’s problem! The PNP will work to ensure that our town is safe and secure. We will partner with neighborhoods groups to cut crime and create crime prevention programs, and we will support organized community watch groups to help fight crime.