Esteemed readers, to say that the times that we are currently living in are critical, would be a gross understatement. To candidly speak of the troubles we face and the trials that plague us would be trite. To not remind you of the daunting times that we currently find ourselves in would be remiss of me. But let’s examine how we got here, really. Well, truth be told, this deadly pandemic was just the wave that unmasked and revealed the top of the iceberg.

Truth be told, this rather frigid iceberg that we struck has been silently moving totally unnoticed for a while. A great part of why we are in this current dire financial position is a result of sheer mismanagement of resources in the past and basically the reckless wastage of our pristine resources. This is coupled with the fact that as a country, we did the very same thing that we learnt from an early age not to do. And what is that that I make reference to? Well, it’s rather simple you see: wi put all ah wi egg ina wan baskit!

As a country, we placed all our bets on tourism. We invested everything we had, and we put it in tourism. We geared our resources and our best efforts at tourism, and we banked on it as our number one source of revenue. While we banked on tourism and put our all in it, we danced in the light of its glory and lived lavishly on its rewards while further enjoying whatever else came from other sectors. While we did this, very little was put aside or saved up in that golden coffer for days such as these.

Then came along COVID-19, which ravaged us (much like the rest of the world) and rattled us to our core, essentially bringing the country’s economy to a standstill — bringing us to our knees. Now, as a country, wi bawl foul — we scream murder! And one could only understand why: things rough, rough, I tell yuh! But as a country, we have some degree of culpability. I mean, after all, we consciously put all our eggs in one basket; we saved very little, if anything at all for times like these, and of course, we can’t forget the sheer amount of wastage and squandering of resources that took place in the past.

Then, that aside, to further compound the already grim situation, a dagger was recently nailed right through the coffin! And what is this proverbial dagger that I make mention of here in this piece? Well, we all watched in jubilation as a new day dawned in the United States of America and the tide was shifted with the inauguration of a new president and vice president. I mean, to some degree, it was good to watch, and we all were happy about it. Hurrah — Hurrah!

For our country, such hurrahs would be short-lived, as just mere days into office, the new administration dropped a bombshell. An executive order was signed, mandating that all visitors entering the US must produce a negative COVID test and must undergo a mandatory quarantine upon re-entry to the US. You’re probably wondering how that is significant to us and how does it affect our already dire situation? Well, you see, it goes something like this.

If it is that we are going to dawn a new day in this country and if things are going to look up once more, we need back tourism— like desperately too! And tourists have been starting to come back to the jewel, trickling in little by little, starting to add chips back into the basket. You follow? However, with the imposition of the new mandate in the US, tourists will be deterred from visiting because, when they depart, they will need to procure a COVID-19 test and upon re-entry to their country, they will have to undergo a quarantine.

To put it simply, for the tourists and travelers, it’s simply too much hassle. It’s too much for them. The imposition of these regulations will be seen by many as overbearing. Now, naturally, this sent seismic shock waves through the tourism industry. It’s like a sort of an unmitigated disaster. Many of our hotels and resorts are opened, gold-star certified, and are offering rock bottom prices and deals of a lifetime; and still, it’s not looking up quite the way we’d hoped.

Now this new travel protocol is a dagger right through the coffin. It’s a very precarious time we are in, and day by day it only seems to be getting worse. We can only hope and pray that very soon the tides will shift and things will turn around and a bright and brand new day will dawn for us here in this jewel. I mean, the country is in a terrible winter and it is facing the brutal front while merely wearing a “strong man shirt”. The gear that we are equipped with are no match for the callous weather we are up against. I can only hope that very soon things will turn around, or else, may God have mercy upon us before we succumb to the impending “frostbite and hypothermia” that await.

Unchained Reflections Of a Liberal Pragmatist.

God Bless Belize!