Enriquez Calls Government Response ‘Disrespectful’

Social activist Jerry Enriquez says the government has failed to provide meaningful transparency on Constituency Development Funds after receiving only a one‑page document in response to his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Enriquez had requested records dating back to 2020, including allocations, the principles guiding distribution, and how funds are accounted for by area representatives. After repeated extensions, the Office of the Prime Minister delivered a single sheet listing monthly allocations per constituency.

“What I received yesterday evening, January 22nd, is just a one‑page document… [it] felt very short, disappointingly short of what we had asked for,” Enriquez said. He added that he found the response ‘condescending and disrespectful’, and called on the Office of the Prime Minister to treat FOIA requests with greater seriousness. “These are public funds… and we need to know how this is spent,” he said.

Using the limited data provided, Enriquez conducted his own analysis and said it revealed significant disparities in how funds appear to be distributed across constituencies.

He pointed to Stann Creek West, the country’s largest constituency with close to 11,000 registered voters, which reportedly receives less than smaller constituencies. By comparison, Orange Walk Central, which is the Prime Minister’s electoral division, was identified as receiving the highest per capita allocations monthly.

He questioned whether constituency funds are being treated as “a personal treasure chest that they spend of their own will without any accounting process.”  Enriquez estimates that more than six million dollars in public funds are distributed annually through the program based on the figures provided.

“Citizens in each electoral division has a right to know what their area representative is doing with that amount of money,” he said.