The Destabilization of Belize

When the UDP won the elections in March 2008, the Prime Minister told the nation that his Party’s victory was more than just a UDP victory; he said it was “the people’s victory.”  In the days following the elections a lot was said and many promises were made, none more bold than the promise of bringing down the cost of living for Belizeans “no matter what.” It was also in those early days of this UDP Administration that Barrow declared that the “long nightmare was over.”

Well today Belizeans are fast waking up to what has become more than a nightmare, for judging by the current mood of the people, the present situation in Belize has become more of a horrific story.  The commonly used street expression is that things “dread”.

In the streets the level of violence has reached to a stage where people are not only afraid to go out into the streets, but even afraid in their homes.   In the classrooms, teachers are uncertain about the future of Belizean education, many wondering if there is a vision for education in Belize.   In hospitals across the country babies are dying and no one is made to give account of how or why these most innocent Belizean are losing their lives.  The nation’s transportation system is in a state of chaos and in the business community, the recession, toppled with an administration clearly ill-equipped to handle the situation has virtually stopped economic growth in its tracks.  Once again a UDP administration has managed to halt the economic train.  Already businesses are closing down and projections for next year are for more pain and sorrow.

It is a known fact that in economic hard times it is the poor who are most affected and most at risk.  No more obvious is this than in the case of the sanitation workers, who once again had to be sent home because of a reckless UDP City Council, who only two weeks after signing an agreement, once again broke its promise after the BML workers honoured their part of the deal.   While the Mayor and her counsellors continue to collect their salaries, travel to faraway places, and pose for pictures, those who work the hardest cannot receive the salaries they justly earned.  And while all this is playing out, the Prime Minster announces on radio that he has no intention of stepping in and assisting his City Council, in effect leaving more than 100 Belizeans with nothing to smile about.

What is it with this Barrow administration and poor Belizeans?   First they fire school wardens, people who were earning less than $200 weekly, then they went after the people who operate the ferries in some of our rural communities, they have gotten rid of clerks, office assistants, drivers and many of those Belizeans who earn minimum wage.

As if all this was not causing enough instability in the nation, the latest fight is now with the telephone companies, a battle that the Prime Minster continues to fight in a manner that is most certainly destabilizing the Belizean economy and ruining the nation’s international reputation.

Any company that provides service to 90,000 Belizeans must be seen as essential part of the economy.  At close to a third of the nation’s population, Smart customers have to be outraged by the actions of BTL to cut their access to international services. Imagine a small business person who relies on cell phones to communicate with suppliers abroad and how this must currently be affecting their business. The actions taken by BTL, whatever the motivation, can in no way be in the best interest of Belize.

Complicating the issue even further is the reaction from the Prime Minster, who publicly condoned the actions of BTL, actions that are obviously inconveniencing Belizeans who should always have a right to choose which telephone company they will purchase service from.  Indeed no caring government would support any actions which could cause suffering or unnecessary inconvenience to large numbers of its citizens.

When the UDP were elected to office, Belizeans expected a UDP administration that would do all possible to encourage competition rather than attempt to kill it.  They were promised a government that would look after the needs of the people, respect the rule of law and reform for the good of the nation.  Instead the Belizean people are now feeling the brunt of what has become not so much a nightmare as a road to perdition.  It is now time for Barrow and the UDP to bring an end to this madness and start to govern this nation before we end up in the ranks of a failed state.

| | | | | |