Some say the PM should have gone to Orange Walk Town to meet with the farmers on Monday. He couldn’t. Some say the farmers should not have blocked the road. They had to. It was an impossible situation on Monday. Tragically, it ended up in a brother losing his life, and serious injuries to others. BSI and the BCFA are naturally antagonistic. The SICB (Sugar Industry Control Board), the organization between BSI and the cane farmers, has to explain to the nation how we arrived at an impossible situation.
There are a lot of innards here that will serve no purpose to go into at this time. We must find a way forward. The needs of 3,000 cane farmers who are being pushed out into the cold must be addressed by the GoB immediately. To the world it might seem that farmers who produce less than a hundred tons of sugar cane won’t be losing much if they lose their share in the industry. But out in the countryside that “little” cash is very important. Out in the countryside everyone has a little milpa, with corn, and plantains, and ground food. Everyone has fruit trees. Everyone has chickens and pigs. Many small farmers sell a little from their milpas, and hire themselves out at certain times of the year to make ends meet. A “little” cash goes a long way for the small farmer.
Maybe the government has jobs for all displaced farmers in this country. For those of us who love the independent spirit of the small farmers in sugar cane, citrus, and rice; and the independent spirit of the fisherman; it will be a great loss for Belize if the GoB doesn’t step up. The GoB must take a special interest in the small farmer. One way is to give loans from the new DFC at 5% interest to small farmers for development of infrastructure – tillage, drainage, and irrigation. Where else in the world do farmers pay 13% interest on loans to develop infrastructure? Only in third-rate countries.
Security forces let down
Why do we put guns in the hands of people who fire without an order from their commander? Why do our security forces keep putting guns in the hands of people who can’t shoot straight? It is sad that our security forces decided to use live rounds against our people. It is incredible that any bullet hit above the knees.
On the television footage I saw tear gas canisters, and I saw the other equipment of a riot squad. I didn’t see bullhorns. If there were bullhorns at Tower Hill, were they used properly?
Belize first
I think I understand you well enough, Brother Clinton. I just don’t understand how we fit a few of your stronger positions into the fabric of a multi-race nation. The glory of the Maya must be told, cherished. The glory of our other ethnic groups must be cherished too. In a multi-race nation we can’t be seeking villains. We can flog wrongdoing, but we have to keep the olive branch at the ready.
As far as distancing yourself from Mr. Shoman’s philosophies, I don’t see where your position differs in respect to the British, the Baymen* (buccaneers/pirates), the Battle, and the slaves and other colored who fought in the Battle. You have not directly put down Hero Philip Goldson, but your two plus two fits right into Mr. Shoman’s unfair arithmetic book, that he was an Anglophile.
*In the strict sense Baymen refers to that ancestor of the Kriol described on page 36 in Readings in Belizean History (Second Edition) as…a rude and drunken Crew…their chief Delight is in drinking, and when they broach a Quarter Cask or a Hogshead of Wine, they seldom stir from it while there is a drop left. For all their follies, and faults, they started the most incredible union of races in the history of the world. We are missing the most interesting story on earth. Yes, we are imperfect. Hero George Price, the Father of the Nation, and his generation, brought imperfect we to an imperfect Independence. Now we have to forward the ball.
The glue of a nation
Hey, there is a reason why I don’t waste too much time cussing the British. It’s because I see where they made of themselves a great nation. We can make ourselves a great nation too. Some nations have ethnicity to bind them. Many nations have religion to bind them. All great nations… “Mother” England….the great USA…and the great Cuba too…use sports as a glue to cement their nation’s fabric.
Sadly, Belize has yet to produce a leader who sees the importance of sports to the nation’s fabric. Our approach to sports development is “harom-skayrom”. Go and ask the Minister of Sports what is his vision for sports in Belize…and he can’t answer you! You know how we get coaches in our schools? No character reference needed…he/she used to play ball. Ridiculous! We allow frivolous, and sometimes dishonest people to head our sports programs. In the middle of this sick “system” we are dependent on politicians to sponsor our games. The very thing that should teach our kids discipline, teaches them to be cheats and mental weaklings.
When will we make of ourselves a great nation? Do we want to?