Dear Editor,

I usually like to slip on a little music while I’m cooking dinner, and the other day and in a certain mood while stirring the pot, I was moving to the sounds of Marvin Gaye’s timeless masterpiece of a secular church service from 1971,”What’s Going On.”

I call it a “secular church service” because Marvin Gaye—an African American roots brother—through his own talent and generosity of spirit, knew how to invoke high spirituality and soul, and he knew we would all be better off if all the religious orders, with their beliefs in unknowable absolutes were to disappear— along with their superstitions and divisive doctrines, their pious platitudes and hypocrisies.

I imagine the good people of Belize must daily ask, What’s Going On? It’s a secret to no one that the political parties in Belize are riddled with corruption—along with corrupt bureaucrats, corrupt police, attorneys and the judiciary—everyone with their kick-back schemes, their bribes, busily enriching themselves while fleecing the country: WHAT’S GOING ON?

The IRONY of the current government—corrupt and incompetent as it is—having been elected on an anti-corruption platform: WHAT’S GOING ON?

The lack of transparency—the Belize way of governance—is an example of the betrayal of trust and the absence of any moral responsibility for the people they supposedly were elected to govern. I’m still waiting for that promised new era of transparency… WHAT’S GOING ON?

With its political palavering shot through with misinformation and outright deceit, it’s becoming ever more difficult to make the distinction between lies and truth: WHAT’S GOING ON?

I know I’m perhaps commenting on the obvious here, but have people forgotten how the PUP—when the handwriting was on the wall and they were about to be swept from office—sold off everything that wasn’t nailed down, the rightful owners of which were the citizens of Belize ? No one went to prison over any of this, here in a country where everything is for sale—Government by Greed: WHAT’S GOING ON?

Imagine if every gang-banger in Belize suddenly vanished, you could expect that your quality of life might be better but your “standard of living” would remain the same because the real thieves are not on the bottom, they are on the top. Yes, the country is poor, so poor that it can’t even properly pay for garbage collection in Belize City! WHAT’S GOING ON?

Oil money—where did it go? Should we ask the Finance Minister the big question: WHAT’S GOING ON?

Penner, Miguel Segura, immunity from prosecution; is there a natural resources manager? What are his duties and how has he performed? For all the good he does you may as well completely get rid of the Attorney General’s Office; where’s the commitment to honesty and patriotism? WHAT’S GOING ON?

Because of misconduct so blatant and greed so pervasive by GOB, Belize has one of the bleakest futures of any country in the world. Eventually, people will tire—one would hope—of blaming the U.S. and Great Britain for all their woes and properly identify those who are responsible for the generalized poverty of the country. Some serious paradigm shifts are going to be necessary for Belizeans to have the country they deserve; the country their children deserve. PEOPLE make a country—not palm trees and beaches. DEMAND change….
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “There is no God higher than truth!’ Yeah….WHAT’S GOING ON ?

Russell Czarnecki