We don’t do enough polling in Belize to make definitive statements about how we are thinking as a nation, but I believe it is no stretch to say that failure to control crime and violence were at the very top of the list of faults of the PUP going into General Elections 2008. Is there anyone out there who would honestly say that our situation has improved since the 2008 elections? The answer to that is, of course, an emphatic NO!
The arguments why we are failing are well discussed. Some say the problem is poverty. Some say the problem is joblessness. Some say the problem is a corrupt police force. Some say the problem is failure of the courts to render justice. Some say that there are people in our society that promote crime and violence. Some say there are people around who stymie small business persons, for their purpose (they want to destroy/control us). Some say the problem is drug trafficking. Some say we have lost our relationship with our God. Many say the problem is most, or all, of the aforesaid.
The UDP in limbo recognized that the root of the problem includes many of the above, hence the glossy paper presented by the present Minister of Police, Honorable Carlos Perdomo, in the Caracol Room at the Radisson Fort George. Hnn, their answers since they took office have been very feeble.
The UDP has a number of small initiatives. Their loudest initiative to combat crime and violence since they took office has been the recent shakeup of the top brass in the police, notably changing heads of that department. But, since the root of crime and violence is “all” of those things, we cannot expect that changing the commissioner (whose sole turf is the police) will produce a dramatic reduction of crime and violence. To get dramatic positive results we also need to shift the earth in poverty alleviation, employment, our drug policies, and the justice system. We need to find our God. We must also identify and neutralize all those narrow and wicked ones who stifle the honest initiatives of “small” Belizeans.
There’ll be no celebration in this column when the new Commissioner of Police is called a dud when his one-year contract is up. As Mr. Patrick Rogers pointed out on the Kremandala Show on Tuesday night, this nation needs some drastic changes if we are to get our boat off the reef.
Yap, the hull has holes and we are taking in water fast. We need much more “man” than a new head at police. Where will they come from? Even a die-haad Red can see that the UDP’s coffers are absolutely exhausted, that their team is badly shaat a man.
Some think this government betta swallow and reach into the middle for highly respected talents like Patrick Rogers, Paul Morgan, Wil Maheia, Sandra Coye, Greg Ch’oc, Cristina Coc, Clinton Uh Luna, Ya Ya Marin Coleman, Bernard Adolphus, and Hubert Enriquez. Or we’ll soon be beyond reasonable salvage.
Chalillo isn’t all bad news
I see where one of our heroines, Ms. Sharon Matola (Belize has many outstanding women. Hope I spelled her name right), recently took Amandala to task for not fighting Fortis, the Canadian group behind the Chalillo Dam.
Hn, as all balls tossed into the air are public property, AND, as a hog that feel di lick tu (I did not bash the Chalillo in my column), I will take a kick at this one that pitted our GoB against our heroic environmentalists.
Now, as with everything man made under the sun, there be good sides and there be bad sides. Sober people weigh the pros and the cons before casting their votes. If we had to do it over again I would still vote for Chalillo.
The short of the benign side of the story for the GoB is that Chalillo and Mollejon were to secure electricity for our country, make us self reliant, and keep the cost of electricity down. As a bonus they would also reduce flooding. Who could find fault with all that?
There were discussions about other types of electricity generation, better alternatives, and the people seemed interested. But these did not capture sufficient wind in their sails. It was a major concern that the point man for the projects, former government minister, Mr. Ralph Fonseca, had the exceedingly bad habit of doing “our” business in the dark.
There was no discussion of fossil fuel from a native source. The government might have known that we had barrels galore. But the paying public knew nada, so fossil fuel did not figure.
The environmentalists, led by the aforementioned Ms. Matola, and the feisty Gonzalez family, argued that the site chosen for the Chalillo was on a fault line; that the writing was in the ground that it would fail. They argued that not only would it not hold water but that it might break, causing a catastrophe for the people who lived on the riverside, and in San Ignacio/Santa Elena. They argued that irreparable harm would be done to our flora and fauna. They argued that the Chalillo would reduce the quality of the water in the river.
I was one of those who felt that the Scarlet Macaw would survive. Haven’t they? Enough engineers did not come out to convince us that Chalillo would mess up our water quality. The river does flow more slowly in dry season, but our government hasn’t told us that mercury levels in river fish are at dangerous levels, and that we should stop eating them. We are told to boil water taken from the river for drinking, as per routine. Many who live along the Belize River will testify that flooding has decreased considerably.
On the matter of the dam failing to hold water, or breaking, the environmentalists (who must be praised for their excellent, selfless work to lobby, educate us), never got the local engineers to weigh in their expert opinions, and they never got San Ignacio/ Santa Elena, and many other folk immediately in harm’s way, to say that they were worried about the Chalillo monster.
The dams have increased our electricity supply and, they have made our supply of power more secure. The government’s promise that the Chalillo would bring about lower cost of electricity has not materialized. It’s possible that the financiers miscalculated again. It’s possible that the electricity company is cheating us. Mr. John Avery and the PUC will uncook the truth from the fine print in their books.
We all must accede that rates have held stable while others’ rates are rising, however. This could be considered reduced rates…yes, based on what we would have been paying if we had not gone for hydroelectricity.
Hey, at the time of the construction of the Mollejon some people close to the UDP said that their party also had hydroelectricity on the table (1984-89 government), but that they were leaning towards a series of small dams instead of huge structures. It is my belief that more Belizeans would have preferred smaller dams. Ai, why does the dratted progress always bring problems?
Those Belizeans will not stop party
The Reporter noted that the invited guests included Prime Minister Dean Barrow and his wife, Senator Godwin Hulse, Governor General Colville Young and other senior members of the ruling United Democratic Party…Oops! And precisely where were all these big ehm UDPees a-going, Braa? Hmm, to another gala wedding affair, this time the marriage of the beautiful Mayor Zenaida “we noh want ahn naida” and a gentleman named Mr. Troy Flowers.
In the Bible it is told that we ehm sinners will be wining and dining and marrying up to the very end.
No one fears swine flu. No one fears the devastating world recession, HIV/AIDS, and the escalating wars in Asia and Africa. No one cares that the justice system of Belize is batting 0% against accused murderers who can afford a lawyer. No one notices that the ambitious Iranians and North Koreans are a hair’s breath away from the bomb that can wipe out us all. And some even cheer the ehm populist virus called socialism (embraced, then rejected by the PUP) that is spreading like wildfire all across the globe, even in America, yap. Everywhere is war and madness.
The signs of the end times are all around us, for everyone with eyes, or who gives a damn to see. Those dratted Belizeans are partying to the very end. Hn, congratulations to Mayor Zenaida and her husband!