Both political parties held divisional conventions over the weekend. On Sunday May eighth, supporters of the United Democratic Party returned Arturo Roches as the standard bearer of the Dangriga Constituency by a slim margin. The total voter turnout at the UDP convention was one thousand and thirty. Roches received three hundred and fifty seven votes, Anthony Noralez received two hundred and sixty votes and Kenrick Francisco received sixteen votes. Fifteen ballots were spoilt. In the West, Minister Rene Montero was endorsed as the UDP's representative in Cayo Central. Also in the west, The Opposition Peoples United Party brought out its supporters in Benque Viejo for the Cayo West convention. There were three contenders; Doctor Lesbia Guerra Cocom, Hector 'Tito' Pacheco and Oscar Sabido all aspired to represent the blue party. When the votes were tallied, Pacheco received two hundred and ninety four votes, Guerra Cocom received five hundred and thirty four votes and Sabido topped the polls with five hundred and ninety five votes. Sabido dropped by our studios today and spoke of his plans for Cayo West.

Oscar Sabido, PUP Cayo West Representative

"There's been no structured development and no structured economic planning for the Cayo West Division. The infrastructure is very much like thirty-forty years backwards. The streets and drainage in both Benque which is the largest town and in Succotz which is one of the largest villages after Benque, the streets are in deplorable conditions. We are in the 21st Century and these streets are like thirty to forty streets backwards-very stony and very difficult to maneuver. And there are all kinds of modern vehicles now and the tremendous damage done to these vehicles because of the conditions of the streets. Generally government services are very much neglected in my opinion. For example, medical services is an example. We have a clinic that was recently inaugurated, but it does not have an x-ray machine. If someone gets a broken hand or a risk, you cannot find anyway to determine how that bone is to be replaced back so that there is no reason to break the bone after the hand is casted. Overall there is a tremendous neglect in the division and I think that more attention should be given to the needs of the people there. There’s massive neglect in terms of agriculture. There's a lot of agricultural land in the area and people who have lands don't have access to their lands because the roads are not maintained. They have to do the filling of the roads themselves with soil and a wheelbarrow and those kind of things. So it is really bad and I would really like to bring about more economic development and growth."

Channel 5