First thing is that I want to take this opportunity to apologize to Zenaida Moya. I felt that she shouldn’t have run for Mayor. Why? It was and still is my opinion that the temptations available to elected officials are attractive enough so that sooner or later, they forget the people that they pledged to serve and start looking out for number one. The confrontation between the Belize City Council and GOB has demonstrated that up to now, January 20th, Ms. Moya is demonstrating the “cojones” and resolve that defines her as a people’s Mayor, so far.
GOB had no intention from Day One to be fair with Opposition city councils and town boards. Of course they promised to do so. Ask them today and they will still insist that they are doing so. Politics is a dirty game. Truth matters not one bit. The PM is paid $131,000 per year plus expenses and allowances. An area representative without a Ministry is paid $60,000; a Minister is paid $90.000 per year. These salaries do not include expenses and allowances.
PUP and UDP representatives unanimously voted for the current salaries for these positions – a pay raise of $300% in some cases. At the same time GOB was telling teachers and public officers that it couldn’t afford to pay them a contractually agreed upon 5% – 8% raise. UDP Mesopotamia area representative, Michael Finnegan, sponsored that particular piece of legislation. This was one of the main reasons for the civil rebellion of 2005. Obviously the politicians expect everyone else to work for free! This is perfectly consistent with their whole philosophy: they and their hangers on are the only people entitled to make a decent living in Belize.
It appears that the same architects of PUP campaign strategy that helped to ensure the March 1, 2006 debacle are still running things. All that they accomplish with their ads is to turn more and more people off! Their strategy shows nothing but utter contempt for the intelligence of the people. It’s as though there is a thought process that has become ingrained: they can’t shake it loose.
Whenever Belizeans stand up and fight for their rights they are accused of “making threats” and “advocating violence.” The Belize City Council has clearly stated that they will use the options that are legally available to them, so what is the excuse for bringing in the riot squad? If the City Council closes certain streets and its actions fall clearly within its legal authority, what gives Belmopan the right to override that authority so that they can instigate a riot? That’s exactly what they will try to do, but if they have any sense at all they had better realize how dangerous a move that is. Tensions are too high in this city and country right now for GOB to try to use fear and intimidation to get their way. They might just unleash a monster that they can’t control.
The Minister of Tourism talked about the “irresponsible behavior” of the Belize City Council. What about the irresponsible behavior of this current administration, behavior that has bankrupted an entire country by diverting huge sums of taxpayer dollars so that their pockets, along with the pockets of their “business associates,” are full? The misery resulting from this massive theft of tax dollars will haunt all of us for a long, long time.
This is how chickens come home to roost. It is more than hypocritical to talk about “irresponsibility” after that same lack of responsibility on GOB’s part has sacrificed an entire country to the god of personal enrichment. This administration has absolutely no moral authority to accuse anyone of anything. It also has no moral authority to talk about the need for “accountability”. Remember that this is the same GOB that has utilized secret contracts to do its dirty work, the same GOB that has sought to derail or to render useless all inquires that would have forced it to be accountable for its actions!
If the cruise tourism industry is so vital to the country’s economic survival, then give up the buck, right? It’s not worth the potential consequences, right? When people are pushed to the wall, they play serious hardball. Poor Belizeans don’t benefit from anything GOB does anyway. Why should they care what happens to cruise tourism? If the Belize City Council can’t clean up the city and fix the streets, no one will want to come here anyway. This council was handed a looted and debt-burdened treasury. That fact has to be taken into account when the council’s performance is analyzed.
The Minister of Tourism praises those who work in the tourist industry. What he doesn’t point out is that 99% of the hundreds of jobs that he is so proud of are all service industry jobs. This is one of the major criticisms of a tourist industry based economy. It turns the people into a nation of bartenders, maids, waiters, waitresses, desk clerks, etc., all low paying jobs, jobs that offer little if any prospects for advancement and jobs in which employees are treated with little respect or courtesy. Tourist-based economies tend to rigidly stratify society. There is a clear demarcation line between management and the other employees, the “haves” and the “have nots.” Rather than encouraging upward mobility, a tourist-based society does the opposite.
Even musicians who have spent years learning and honing their skills, often find themselves lumped together with other “service” employees. Cruise ship companies are among the most notorious offenders, forbidding all employees, musicians included, who are in many cases university educated, sophisticated people, from even talking to passengers, except as is absolutely required by their jobs!
I believe that the top UDP leadership wants to win the next election so badly that instead of playing to win, they are playing not to lose! They know that they have a lead as of now and they are desperately trying not to make “mistakes” that can cause that lead to shrink. It’s called the “prevent defense” in the NFL. A defense that was attacking all game long suddenly becomes passive. It’s, “Don’t give up the big play.” Unfortunately, the “prevent defense” has been known to prevent the teams that use it from winning!
When the UDP leadership becomes too passive, VIP looks better and better. Everybody is tired of “one in, one out” while the country falls apart. Ms. Moya may be a political neophyte, but she may also have her finger on the pulse and the mood of the masses of Belize City residents.
Have I got news for you! A building on Regent Street in Belize City was sold for its approximate market value of $850,000.00. The word on the street is that the person who bought it turned around and sold it to GOB for $4,000,000.00. That’s four million dollars! Now tell me. How can a building that has a market value of $850,000.00 suddenly balloon in value to four million? It’s PUP accounting! Who is involved? When you see what the building is used for down the road, you will be able to figure out who did what! Who pays for inflated value corrupt deals? WE DO! These guys can’t seem to stop hustling regardless of our terrible financial situation.
Last night, Monday, January 22nd, I was idly flipping through channels when I chanced on KREM’s Women At Work. There was Police Commissioner Gerald Westby. He responded to questions from the panel about the police shooting of Egbert Gordon. The first thing he said was that he sympathizes with the family BUT…. First of all, the phony “sympathy” makes me sick. It’s just the obligatory bone thrown to people who are considered to be “nobodies” by the “elite”. Now for the BIG BUT! In the next breath, the Commissioner pointed out that the police officer who shot Mr. Gordon was “young and poorly trained.”
I hope the tape of that show is played for the jury that will hear the family’s lawsuit against the Police Department. If there ever was a clear admission of incompetence, this is it! The Commissioner is the boss. If young, poorly trained police officers are being allowed to carry and use firearms, THE BUCK STOPS AT HIS DESK! It’s his job to run a professional, properly trained police force; that’s why he gets paid his salary. See what happens when political loyalty becomes the most important criteria for promotion?
I advised a certain person a few days ago that I am prepared to take a dispute to court if necessary. The response was, “You’re threatening me,” as though using the legal system to solve disputes is somehow illegal. Oh, I get it. Certain people think that they are above the law. Can’t take them to court. “I’m untouchable; nobody challenges me”. Wake up! The days when you could run this game because of your skin color and your “social standing” have been over for a long time now. They were never there for me anyhow, because I wasn’t born here nor did I grow up here. I will not back down when I am right! It’s the same game that GOB plays. More and more people are learning that they have to stand up; otherwise they will be walked on forever.