Barrow’s Government the Most Transparent Ever…

Contributed

When Dean Barrow spoke to the nation in the months leading up to the general elections of February 2008, he promised transparency in government. When Dean Barrow and his government were carried to victory on the shoulders of a majority of Belize’s electorate, he swore that his UDP would govern with transparency. In the months following general elections and as recently as this week, Dean Barrow has still gone on record to trumpet and laud his transparency and the transparency of his government. And you know what the funny thing is – Dean Barrow is absolutely right. He has been completely transparent in his dealings with the people. He has been completely transparent in what he has allowed his ministers to do. He has been completely transparent in his dealings with his family members. Dean Barrow never lied when he said that he would be transparent. We, the Belizean people, just didn’t want to see what was being flaunted right in front of our faces. We weren’t ready to accept what was being paraded in plain view. But now…it’s a whole different ballgame, you can believe that. Now, less than two years into this UDP term, and Belizeans can now see right through this bogus, arrogant, incompetent and yes, completely transparent UDP administration.

Let’s take the last case first. GOB just announced that the newly formed Brads Gaming Company will be getting the contract for Boledo. For almost a year, the Belize Times and Vibes Radio have been announcing that Brads will be getting the contract for Boledo. Week in and week out the Opposition media disseminated that information. So after a couple months, it should have been no news to anybody that Brads would be in charge of Boledo. Now it’s official. Barrow and his government didn’t and don’t care that everybody knows that ‘Brads’ is known as the informal Cabinet Room where UDP ministers congregate on weekends to gamble and drink. Everybody knows that Brads is a financial backer of the UDP. So kudos to Barrow. so to speak! He was completely and brazenly transparent in giving Brads the contract for Boledo.

When Dean Barrow wanted to reward his faithful ex-wife for her services, he was completely transparent. He made her the Chair of the Social Security Board, where she is paid handsomely for attending a meeting a month. He made her the non-resident High Commissioner to the UN, he gave her one of Belize’s highest awards, he made her act as Attorney-General, he paid her millions to represent GOB in Court and he put her on the Board of the new BTL (Barrow Telemedia Limited). Our Prime Minister never once hid anything about his dealings with Lois from the Belizean people – he just did what he had to do.

When the Prime Minister took over BTL he immediately and without a care in the world appointed his son and ex-wife to the Board of Directors of the Company. He went so far as to place his son in a position to direct the day to day activities of the company. The leader of this nation took his 27 year old Moet-guzzling loan shark with a license son and placed him at the helm of a company worth hundreds of millions. He made no apologies for his move.

When the Prime Minister of this nation decided to appoint his brother as a judge on the Court of Appeals, it was no secret. For months before that topic was the hot issue on the streets. Despite cries of nepotism and conflict and the blurring of the lines between the executive and the judiciary, Barrow couldn’t have cared less – he just forged ahead with his plans, to hell with the rest.

And the list of Barrow’s  transparent acts and the transparent acts carried out by his government could fill a five-subject notebook. The reality is that Barrow and his UDP have never bothered to hide the things that they do. What they have done is forget the words that should be attached at the hip to transparency – words like integrity and accountability and honesty and service and humility. Without these, the UDP’s transparency is just a slap in the face.

But Belizeans have started to get the sense. In the months following elections, Barrow and the UDP got a free pass, but it was not stamped ‘in perpetuity.’  The people have now seen right through Barrow’s transparency and the reality of these times of plenty for the UDP ‘special’ and times of famine for the rest of us has bred a sense of desperation, frustration and intolerance which do not bode well for Barrow and the UDP. If Barrow dares to look into the transparent sheet of glass beyond which lies the sure future of the UDP, he is not a contented man tonight.

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