The Worst Christmas Ever…Thanks to Mr. Barrow!

In 2009, Belizeans became convinced that Prime Minister Honorable Dean Barrow is not a man of his word and that he simply cannot do right by the people.  In the run up to the 2008 General Elections, the then Leader of the Opposition like a knight in shining armor promised us that he would lower the crippling cost of living “no matter what” if elected.  To date, that has not happened.  But we could have surely used any kind of financial relief this year after the country’s economy contracted on account of the global financial meltdown, causing the majority of us to pinch and to save every cent from paycheck to paycheck just to stay afloat financially.

Almost two years after taking office, PM Barrow, who is also Finance Minister, has done little to mitigate the out of control cost of living that causes the prices of everyday items to rise without warning, eroding our purchasing power.  That comes as no surprise.  Still, it is outrageous that he only finally admitted that the economy is in the throes of a recession in November.  Meanwhile, if his response to our financial dilemma remains inadequate, there will be more people than ever before, including members of the middle class with their fixed incomes, who after paying their bank notes and utility bills monthly have little for anything else, who will end up on skid row.

And we must face the fact that things will not get better and that life will not return to normal in 2010, but that the New Year will be fraught with greater economic hardships.  It is clear that PM Barrow is not being forthright with the facts surrounding the country’s economic troubles.  Just now, the government is operating with a burgeoning fiscal deficit and to make matters worse, its revenue collections are not meeting its budgeted projections.  In other words, the government is flat broke and it has nowhere to turn for a bailout.  For that reason, we should get ready to part with even more of our hard earned money via crippling taxes to replenish the national treasury.

Another sure way for the government to offset its revenue shortfall is to bring its wage bill that it has expanded recklessly with lucrative contracts and perks such as sports utility vehicles and fuel to its political lackeys under control.  While there is evidence of a looming retrenchment as a drastic belt tightening measure, in the meantime, public officers and teachers, who are working for peanuts, will not receive a salary increment anytime soon to help with the out of control cost of living.  But this is unconscionable when the public purse is being used to pay PM Barrow’s ex-wife Lois Young millions of dollars in legal fees to do the work of our crown counsels.

Nonetheless, it is paramount that PM Barrow places the out of control cost of living that has caused our incomes to come under pressure since he took office at the top of the political agenda in the New Year, and that he comes up with viable ways to mitigate its damage that does not include taxing us to death.  But we will not hold our breaths.  It is clear that he has never been about satisfying the people’s needs or helping the downtrodden, but more about the privilege of a select United Democratic Party inner circle and their ability to abuse their positions so that they can rule us like modern day feudal lords, whose power should never be challenged or questioned.

The majority of us will find little enjoyment at all in the holiday season, as we are consumed with worry as we try to figure out where the money for our next meal is going to come from or how we are going to manage to keep the utilities on for another month.  This is stressful because we cannot spend any money on spreading Christmas cheer this year even to our children, without putting ourselves in more of a financial mess.  What is more, there are those of us who are out of work and are struggling to hold on to their homes until we can find one.  Thanks to PM Barrow’s bungling of the economy, this is the worst Christmas that many of us will ever have.

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