by Colin Hyde

So, Ms. Sharon Pitts walked out of court last week, “exonerated” for receiving something like $400,000 from our GoB for a parcel of land she bought from the people for around $10,000. The story is that the land she bought from us, from the GoB which handles our business, had already been sold, and I expect it hurt her feelings some, you know, for all the plans she had in mind for the parcel she had bought, which had wrongly been put on sale. I don’t think the people can be blamed if their noses wrinkled when they learned of the level of compensation, $390,000 or so, for this snafu. It’s quite some compensation there. Maybe it was worth it to Sharon. I am certain it wasn’t worth it to us.

Hon. John Briceño, the PM, said we are a country that doesn’t have talent to burn, and that’s no revelation in a country of 400,000 people. Think about it, world champions Argentina drew their first eleven from a population of 46 million people, a pool of 4 million per player. No, we don’t have talent to throw away, and that’s exactly what happened when Ms. Sharon got paid $400,000 by the government for a property she bought from the government and people for a little over $10,000. The law is the law, but to our people, that didn’t seem right.

It was nice to see Hubert E. on the pulpit explaining his victory in the courts for Sharon. I think we all like an entertaining speaker, and while Hubert’s bombast is considerably toned down after long years on the pulpit, he’s still got plenty sauce. Talking sauce, that’s what our Ms. Sharon had, more of it than you can find in the biggest bottle of Marie Sharp or Hot Mama’s. Ai, there was a time when Sharon had the creds to speak on everything, and bully for us, she targeted issues that were very important to our country.

Recently we got a little taste of Ms. Sharon at the Waterloo hearings. Oh, what could have been! Look, it’s better I segweh to the glory days. Sharon is NIP stock. I bet she conferred often with our hero, PSW Goldson. I’m sure she and the wonderful Miss Emma were bosom buddies. Every year in September she made the rounds to explain the importance of the Battle of St. George’s Cay to the national fabric. She da proud Kriol. I think she started a collection of common items in Old Belize, like the coal iron, the Punkah lamp, the cohune fly brush, the kiss-kis, the calabash bowl, and such.

The UDP, which absorbed the core NIP, was pro-ICJ. Sharon was not. It’s a not completely told story, how this ICJ split the NIP, and the PUP too! The vote was a lot closer if you put it under a microscope. Pro-ICJ invested millions to get over. Anti-ICJ could only muster a few eggs to stone in the fight for their cause. The final report was 55% FOR, 45% AGAINST. That’s a 10% gap, but only a 5% swing to change the story.

If I were big in the scheme, I might have been pelted too. Of course, I saw the giant disparity in spending; of course, I felt guilty being on the side that was cheating. But you can pay me to do what I believe is right. Sorry, no, you cannot pay me to do what I believe is wrong. After Sedi signed, there was no turning back. No sweat, this one we got, signed, sealed and delivered like Cowboy Copas sang, it’s ours lock, stock and barrel since 1798.

I thought it was Sedi the ICJ Architect who got bombed with eggs by Sharon, but the 7News archives said it was the ambassadors, Alfredo Martinez and David Gibson. Back in 2008, those two brothers had gone to Krem to discuss the decision to lay it all before the court, and Sharon was waiting for them when they exited the Zinc Fence gate. For a taste of the Sharon we knew, she told 7News: “ … I sent a message…What I was saying to Fred Martinez is that they have betrayed the interest of this country…Gibson came out and I told him, as I had said when Ramphal came, that they are like little boys in short pants diplomats. They’ve forgotten the lessons of Phillip Goldson…We will pray and we will cry out against the injustice, righteous indignation against the wrong that’s being done to this country.”

The Amandala said Ms. Pitts was an affiliate of the Elrington law firm and described her as a “staunch advocate of Belizean patriotism and follower of the revered Belizean stalwart, Philip Goldson.” The Amandala said Ms. Pitts said that Belize has a strong legal case, but told them “the signing of the compromis was an act of blatant betrayal against Belize, and that Belize’s officials should rescind the compromis and apologize to the nation for going further than they are authorized to go.” “Like we have always said, not a drop of water, not a grain of sand, not a blade of grass. Belize border fixed. We will enjoy all our country. There will be no balkanization or cutting up. Belize is a people’s paradise, it’s not a gambler’s paradise…”, Ms. Pitts told Amandala.

That, my colegas, is the Sharon we knew, a people’s champion, a big-time talent with the backative behind her voice. So what if all a we NIP didn’t join her in her stance against the ICJ? Where in the world do you find people who agree on everything? Yaa, Sharon, our hero…and then there’s this bout of what we might call lawyer fever. Yap, Hubert said it’s all legal.

King Charles struck a blow with that MBE

My, there’s a lot of weight on King Charles’s head. Heaven knows that there is enough turmoil there, with a son telling the world what a poor father he was, British purists who say the church will never legitimize his crown, and a daughter-in-law who keeps saying that she is being treated poorly because of the color of her skin. On that last, ouch, did that young lady really think that no one in the royal house would worry about the curls in her babies’ hair and the color of their skin? Girl, you don’t wipe out 500 years of domination because you starred in the movies!

I bet the king didn’t score any points with the Evangelicals with one of his selections on his New Year’s Honors List. Mr. Lightburn was forwarded by our people based on his tremendous contributions to sports, contributions par excellence as a player and coach, not his advocacy for that bush that God infused with medication for the mind. We know it is illegal in the UK, but we need have no fear that Ms. Nicole Davison, our British High Commissioner in Belize, will get the boot for forwarding our recommendation. The British aren’t like the Americans. They aren’t about imposing their values on our culture, not anymore. And Charles being an, ehm, sinner we can expect much tolerance.

Aha, the way things work out, Mr. Lightburn’s plant platform just got stronger legs to stand on. Next time he calls the radio to plug for the full package for the product that Pehreh legitimized on the instigation of Henry Young and CB Hyde, he’ll have the wind of the British behind him. You see how these artificial doctors in the country have changed their letterheads to make it look like they have real pedigree. Well, Pulu won’t have to stoop to that. He’ll call the radio and say, “This is Pulu”, and the radio hosts will say, without him having to pull it from their mouth, “Yes, welcome to the show, we’re honored to hear from you, Member of the Order of the British Empire.”