Do You See Anything to Smile ‘Bout?

Morgan Heritage, one of the more popular reggae bands, produced a hit titled “Nothing to Smile Bout,” and this is one of their most popular songs and a favourite among reggae music lovers in Belize.   The song carries a political message that is very relevant to Belize, particularly in these hard economic times.

Of late there has been much talk around the Barrow circles that the economy is growing – in fact it is even being said that the economy grew by 3 percent in the first quarter of this year.  Whether this is true or not, however, the reality is that in the streets of Belize nothing reflects any real economic growth.  Everyone is bawling under the crippling rise in the cost of living as the effects of the new taxes begin to eat its way into Belizeans pocket books.

With the shopping season for back to school now in full swing, each parent who must purchase a new pair of shoes, a new tennis, buy school uniform, lunch kits, umbrellas, rain coats and the like will feel the full brunt of the rise in GST.  All those new bicycles that will be purchased for students to cycle to school will bear the brunt of an increase in taxes with no concurrent rise in the minimum wage, no relief by way of tax incentives and still no real reduction in the interest rates, which the Prime Minister said would come from his banking bills which were rushed through the House earlier this year.

In the business sector, the news continues to be grim. Two of the larger companies in the Mena Group are now in receivership, and over 100 more Belizean workers might lose their jobs.  They could join those who lost their jobs as a result of the close down of the Belize Glass Shop and the many who lost jobs because of the closure of businesses in the Corozal Free Zone.  And with the passing of the Statutory Instrument to introduce a social fee on Export Processing Zones, more cuts can be expected in places like the Corozal Free Zone.

Yet while Belizeans are buckling under the grind to make ends meet, the UDP put off a spectacle at their convention that had even Jules Vasquez commenting on Channel 7 about the abundance of money that was being spent on this event.  There was no talk of any community project, no clinic to offer some help to the sick, nothing on the program of events to give even a single measure of relief to single mothers, no mention of any charity or even just the promotion of a healthier lifestyle.

Instead the UDP Leader and the Head of the nation stared into the cameras and proclaimed that the magic is still there. He said that after two and a half years of the UDP life was good and the party raved on.

How can the leader of a country in the grips of an economic recession talk about magic?  Where is the magic for the thousands of parents who are struggling to meet the cost of fees for school?  Where is the magic when 30,000 students are out of school? Where is the magic when the residents of Belize City will soon not have a place to bury their dead?  How will this magic help to fix the crime situation in the Belize?  Where is the magic when the country is in the midst of a dengue epidemic?

Perhaps Mr. Barrow and his cronies in the UDP can roll into Orange Walk Town, rent a crowd, throw a party and make everybody feel high.  That, though, will not change the fact that in the streets people are suffering.  It will not change the fact that children continue to die in our hospitals and are being shot down on the streets.  That might not have been talked about from the red podium, but it is no illusion, that is the real feel out here and the reason why Belizeans no si nothing fu smile ‘bout.

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