No date set yet for costly referendum on Guatemala dispute

By BBN Staff: The government of Belize has not yet set a date for the referendum on whether or not to take the Guatemalan territorial claim to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and according to Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, the exercise will cost an estimated $20 million, however, a budget for doing so is being prepared.

According to Elrington: “No date has been set yet for our referendum for the very simple reason that before we can do that, we’ve got to complete the municipal elections and then we have got to do the re-registration and I think simultaneously we will have to do the redistricting.”

He added that it is only after those are completed that GOB will be in a position to fix a date to hold the referendum.  He also noted that the budget for the referendum has not been settled upon yet.