The Year That Was…A Political Review!

2009 was a most tumultuous year and one that most observers will agree was a far better year for the Peoples United Party than 2008, and far better for them than it was for the UDP. More troubling though, it has proved to be the worst of modern times for the people and nation of Belize.

It would be too much to ask any one person to “review” all the events of 2009, so I will attempt to put it within the broad perspectives of politics and the economy, and try to conclude by saying what it may mean for the outlook going forward.

The year started with the holiday season a mere respite from the political stirrings of a municipal elections campaign even as Said Musa and Ralph Fonseca had been arrested the month before. In retrospect it is now obvious the strategic timing of the arrests.

By mid-year the charges against Fonseca would be dropped and Musa would be exonerated by a ruling by the Chief Justice.

In January the Barrow administration had brought suit against two former ministers in the former PUP government after it had been forced to drop charges and other efforts against Joe Coye. By August the suit would be dismissed almost stillborn by the Chief Justice but the determined persecution of PUP supporters would continue at all levels and to all degrees.

By mid January the PUP had announced its slates and was soon mounting a surprisingly spirited campaign, especially in Belize City and Orange Walk Town, and the results reflected this.

Less than a year after its most devastating defeat and even though its leadership was still very much divided, there was the sense that the PUP was regaining popularity. Or to put it another way, less than a year into its term, and even with the PUP not regarded as much of a threat due to dissension, it was clear that the UDP was rapidly losing the popularity it had ridden to victory in the General Elections.

And while the UDP did go on to sweep all the municipalities in the election early in March, its margins of victory had been narrowed considerably in nearly every polling area.

Perhaps more damaging is that the PUP’s persistent campaign of exposing rampant corruption and mismanagement at the Belize City Council was to reverberate throughout the year, culminating with the unprecedented arrest and charges being laid against a serving mayor.

This in turn resulted in her fighting back, calling the Prime Minister and her Party Leader names publicly and then, so far successfully suing to continue to be counted among the membership ranks.

The PUP campaign had also accurately pointed out that the Belize City Council was broke, and had been bankrupted by mis-management and corruption, again culminating with sanitation workers striking and demonstrating in front of City Hall for the wages they had earned.

The Barrow administration for its part, at the first meeting of the House of Representatives had tabled and passed an amendment to the Belize City Council bylaws with respect the fees for the collection and disposal of garbage accumulated by commercial establishments in an effort to “solve” the city’s garbage problem. They end 2009 by calling for an additional tax on household garbage.

The Barrow administration for its part was also to pass an amendment their media sycophants dubbed the “Zenaida Moya Bill,” giving onto itself the authority to appoint a financial overseer for any municipal government. It is now obvious that rather than being prescient, it was more of a case of trying to close the stable after the horse had bolted.

Quite possibly in any other year this would have been the major political story of the year but no, not by a long shot. This Dean Barrow administration and his UDP were to outdo even themselves.

By February the economy was being rocked by a strike in the sugar industry which culminated with the Barrow administration shooting several cane farmers protesting at Tower Hill, killing one. Dean Barrow has yet to express regret for the loss of life or to offer condolences to the widow and children. In fact in less than a week after the incident he flew to the United States to get married.

Barrow’s “I don’t have a clue” attitude towards Belize’s worsening economy, went beyond his manifest unconcern for the plight of caneros. By this time the continued weakening in our agro exports, sugar, citrus, papaya and banana, had already been eclipsed by concerns about a rapidly worsening international economic climate, decreasing remittances and foreign investment, declining tourism revenue, increasing capital flight and increasing litigation at home and abroad.

The story broke in January that the airport management company Newco had filed a multi-million dollar against the Government of Belize. GOB was soon to lose the suit but that story soon paled in comparison to the year’s biggest story, the forcible takeover of Belize’s largest and most lucrative private company, Belize Telemedia Limited.

All told the Barrow government now has Belize in jeopardy of being liable for almost an astonishing $1 billion in debt and the prospect of nearly limitless litigation because he decided to expropriate BTL to bring an end to multi-million dollar judgments and litigation.

Despite every sign that economically Belize had already taken a decided turn for the worse, and was worsening rapidly, Dean Barrow and his financial experts continued to pooh-pooh the reports of impending economic devastation.

In his budget presentation Barrow instead raised taxes and tried to masquerade his Capital III spending program as a “stimulus package.” Just returned from the Summit of the Americas, he apparently had “borrowed” the term from newly elected US President Barack Obama.

The enormity of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance’s ability to mis-calculate can be neatly summed up in his imposition of what he called a one dollar per gallon gas tax, and his promise made in the House of Representatives on March 6, 2008.

Barrow told the nation: ““The increase we are proposing is only $1.00 per gallon on gasolines and diesel. This amounts to less than one half of the taxes that were removed over the last year alone. It will still keep diesel at below the $6.00 per gallon mark, and gasoline at below $7.00 per gallon mark. Butane, on which there is no tax, will not be affected. In doing our calculation we were guided by best estimates of where the acquisition costs for the refined products will be over the next year. If for any reason these turn out to be significantly higher than the experts predict, it is my promise that we would then come back and take off as much of this dollar increase as would put things back in alignment for the Belizean people.”

At the time Barrow had formulated his plan, a gallon of regular gas was retailing for $5.22 and just two days before that House meeting on March 20, it had spiked to $5.73. By April 1 it had shot up to $6.99 and Barrow was already backtracking on a clearly spelled out promise. Today the price of regular gas per gallon is just about $9.00 per but the tax remains.

The year is replete with stories of the Barrow administration’s miscalculations, incompetence and corruption.

In March Barrow sacked a Cabinet minister, Marcel Cardona, for daring to speak out against a secret contract, a sweetheart insider deal signed by Cardona’s CEO, one of Barrow’s personal favourites.

Again in any other year this would’ve been one of the biggest stories of scandal and corruption but it was soon eclipsed by the goings-on at the Belize City Council and then the Ministry of Health and the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital.

A revolt by the doctors and other staff at the institution forced the prime minister to appoint a tribunal commission of inquiry into the allegations of mismanagement and corruption. We end the year awaiting the commission’s report, but the drama has been playing out since May when at a press conference Leader of the Opposition and PUP Party Leader John Briceno gave voice to the allegations.

The goings-on at the Ministry of Health/KHMH have over-shadowed a failing public health system and the deaths of seven children therein amidst allegations and charges of incompetence and negligence. Certainly the decision by the Barrow administration to approve the purchase of a $160,000 SUV for the Minister of Health, complete with heated seats nonetheless, seems grotesque, an incomprehensible reward for monumental incompetence?

The story that highlights and exemplifies nearly all the political goings-on is perhaps the story of Charles and Hirian Good. Almost every week since the 2008 General Elections there have been reports of the victimization of acknowledged and suspected PUP supporters either through the cancelling of their leases or the taking away of their jobs and other economic opportunities.

The so-called independent media has turned a blind eye to these allegations and protestations no matter how obvious the cries and lamentations. In August of 2009, however, a story appeared that they could not, no matter studiously they tried, they could not ignore.

On August 3^rd, Hirian Good, 38, was dismissed from her job as a school warden at Trinity Methodist Primary School, a job at which she had toiled with distinction since September 2006.

Two weeks later in interviews with the media Mrs. Good was able to produce several certificates of appreciation and merit that were testament to her excellence.

Her tale was simple and straightforward. She had received her letter from her immediate supervisor, and she had climbed the rungs of the ladder of authority and responsibility seeking the reason for this callous and unwarranted act. Ultimately she had been told by the Minister of Education himself that he had decided to dismiss her so he could give her job to one of his supporters.

An incredulous media then interviewed the Minister who unabashedly confirmed her story. It should have died there but Hirian is married to Charles Good, a man of formidable presence and lifelong experience as a military leader.

Together the Goods began to protest the injustice with a determination and courage long unseen in social or political intercourse in this country. Through inclement weather, hostile taunts and threats, police intimidation, lies, blandishments and imprecations they stood their ground publicly in front of no less an august institution than the Supreme Court of Belize day after day, week after week.

On Tuesday, November 3, Captain Charles “Charlie” Good, Ret. died at the KHMH, his family believes from the injuries he received after being rough up by the police the month before. He had undergone two major operations in the previous two years and had never fully recovered. In his death Charlie Good has inspired a spirit of resistance among the Belizean people that is becoming more and more apparent with each passing day.

Hirian Good’s suit against the Government of Belize has been accepted by the Supreme Court and a full hearing is scheduled for early next year. No amount of money, though, will soothe the grieving widow and her four school age children. Her plight and Charlie Good death are now a lightening rod and rallying point.

We began 2009 with the PUP seemingly on the ropes and the UDP the triumphant victors, their star seemingly inexorably ascending. We end 2009 with the many headlines of the issues arisen throughout the year still reverberating through the national psyche along with the names of 93 murder victims as well as several notables who have passed away – Oscar Ayuso, Dwayne Davis and Ricardo Magana, among others.

Along with the controversies such as the land grabs and quitars, import licenses, Boledo giveaway, etc, the scandals of missing money at Treasury, Border Management, Beltraide, and National Security, and the declining economy, we end the year feeling even less secure with the rampant and growing incidences of armed robberies, kidnappings, murders, and home invasions. We end the year knowing we are worse off than when we started.

What will 2010 bring? What else can 2010 bring? To paraphrase Betty Gable’s famous movie line: Re-tighten your seat belts, it seems we’re in for an even bumpier ride.