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We hired these guys for more “mekdem wait”

FeaturesWe hired these guys for more “mekdem wait”

Ten years ago, in February 2008 to be precise, we hired a new government, a different party from the one that was in power. This government was supposed to clean up a mess. Really, there were a number of issues to repair. But the mess on the table in this piece is the one that involved the hospital named UHS – Universal Health Services.

We had to weather six or so hours of rehashed testimonies on Friday, for the umpteenth time, so we for sure can forego that. We will also choose to forget all that transpired as the new government went about getting the job done. We will only remember the end story on Friday, when this government we hired went to the House and announced that they had absolutely failed.

Now, if you hire a contractor to do a job, and that contractor fails, botches the job, whatever, and then accepts or is forced to accept the failure, that contractor will/should offer to resign. That didn’t happen on Friday. What we got from the contractor (government) was a YES, we accept that the mess is still there (I note that it is compounded), and it is with glee that we pass it (the mess) to the next government (contractor), which just might be, could be the one that created it. Until such time, we remain under contract (for who knows what – maybe to continue talking about the mess), and we intend to milk it to the last drop.

In 1998 a government sporting the same color silks as the present one, RED, said: “Mekdem wait”. It is incredible how these major political parties completely disregard the people of this country who are not permanently aligned with either of them. There’s a harsh truth we have to face here, a truth which people who are nationalists would not take advantage of. We have heard top brass in the Police Department say that the core of the crime problem (violent crime) is very small, that it is but a few individuals who are holding the nation hostage. IT IS THE VERY SAME IN THE POLITICAL ARENA.

The people (we) knew the REDS were talking directly to the BLUE show when they said, “Mekdem wait”, but we couldn’t accept the complete disregard for our prerogative. It is not right to bite the hand that feeds you. We, the people of this country, we give these guys fat jobs, flush with high salaries and perks, and they disrespect, spit on our kindness. That is what happened on Friday, AGAIN. Some things just are not right in this world.

Bah, it’s all red and blue. Please don’t think third parties. They shouldn’t dare make a peep about what happened on Friday in the House. They saw our problem, the vice we were in between the red and the blue, but they wouldn’t give up an ounce of their saintly virtue to help us overcome. They were to be swept into power without ever stepping into hell for our cause. I really shouldn’t be expressing my disappointment with these beautiful people at this time.

It is flat out incredible that twenty years after we told this crowd how we felt about “mekdem wait”, those disrespectful bohgaz go to the House and, like Poitier, Belafonte, and the immensely disgraced Cosby, “do it again”.

This corner has called for the four-year-term, because none of these political parties is equipped to handle five years in government. In a parliamentary democracy there is only one response to a failure of this magnitude. Without the fixed four-year-term, honor dictated that we go to the polls early. Belize, properly, should have gone to the polls in 1997, 2007, and yes, 2018. If THEY cared for country above THEIR SELECT FEW, that’s how it would have been.

What the government might have done

The government acknowledged the ruling of the CCJ that we were on the hook for $95million, and cited the poor state of the nation’s coffers for the reason we couldn’t pay. But their “NO” vote did not record that the reason we weren’t paying is because we couldn’t afford it. To record that acknowledgement of the ruling, they would have had to vote YES. Then, after voting YES, they could have, with the mode of payment, explained the troubles we are having at this time. Shylock couldn’t get a pound of flesh and you can’t get blood out of a stone.

Honorable Tracy Taegar-Panton, the daughter of medical doctors, should have told them that sometimes the doctor takes his/her pay in chickens, and eggs, and fish, and game meat. We, the patients, know we have to pay the Doc. If we don’t have the cash in our pockets, then we know it has to come from kind, or our hand “een side”.

The government might have gone to Bill Lindo and asked him to remind them that a government can make money, and how to do it. This loan we owe couldn’t possibly be in US dollars or UK pounds (Euro). Creating money is a simple process but it has implications, could affect the stability of our dollar. My knowledge of money making and the money system is rudimentary, so I will have to run to firm ground to make my stand.

The government should have voted YES, and then the government should have looked to solutions. It’s all painful but that’s the price of national honor. The government might have voted a thousand dollars cash and 15% shares in BTL. It is a fact that Belize doesn’t feel the way she did about BTL some years ago. Incredibly, the government we hired to get back our assets has made the strongest case for privatization. (Base capitalism shouldn’t shout hurray just yet. It’s just that they, the UDP, weren’t what they said (or we thought, hoped) they were. They spoke so beautifully about honor when they were in Opposition)

BTL lost a lot of luster when the government, without shame, hired the PM’s son to run it. BTL lost a lot of luster when the government, without shame, hired foreigners to run it. It is not impossible that these foreigners have skill complements we don’t have at this time. We are only 375,000 people. But Taiwan and Japan would have willingly sold us these skill complements for the price of a song.

Belize never considered it sacrilege that Ashcroft had minority shares in BTL. Every country on earth, including the USA, welcomes foreigners who have knowledge or wealth to share. They, the sensible ones, just don’t ever give foreigners power over their economies. They say that Ashcroft got his start in the cleaning business, and he learned that business well. Thanks to Belizeans who God-alone-knows-what-they-were-thinking, they allowed him to bring in his vacuum cleaner.

Some people will point out that the UDP is fighting for its face, and it would be some terrible disgrace if they were to divest shares in BTL to pay the bill. But that would be pure world of make believe. The UDP doesn’t have any face to fight for. They lost it the first time they said, “The PUP did it too”.

The first time the UDP said,”The PUP did it too”, they should have resigned. On Friday they should have too. Of course the UDP could get over in the next general election. The fact is that they shouldn’t.

NAVCO needs well safeness team

This story about the child who drowned in a well in Bella Vista, it’s not the first or second time we have heard of a story like this. Water just might be the leading cause of death for children in our country. It mostly happens in rural areas because wells are common in this part of the country. At their next meeting the NAVCO (National Association of Village Councils) could bring it up with local leaders. I suggest that it become mandatory that all wells have a safety net (in the mouth) when they are not in use, and all well owners keep a rope at hand at all times. These items don’t cost an arm and a leg and they could save lives.

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