In a certain game of cards, there is a saying, “When in doubt, play trump”. I have had the benefit of some experienced advice in the area of on-the-ground management, and one memorable piece of advice said, “When there is a crisis, do something; make your best judgement and do something, anything; just don’t do nothing”.
I guess the Registrar of Credit Unions, who happens to be the Governor of the Central Bank, which is a government appointed post, felt he had to do something. He gave a strong ultimatum to the manager of the St. Francis Xavier Credit Union of Corozal. Apparently, this did not adequately diffuse the crisis. So the government decided IT had to do something, and it did. It went all the way to the House of Representatives last Friday to pass a law specifically to give the Registrar of Credit Unions almost unlimited powers to thus end the crisis.
But it seems, from all that has been happening up North the last few days, that the crisis has not been diffused. It has probably gotten bigger. Reports are that a whole batch of riot squad police have been dispatched up North this morning. What is the problem?
It will take some research and a number of sides to the story, which will no doubt be dealt with by other columnists, for the general public to get a thorough understanding of the problem, and decide who is right and who is wrong, if it can be determined as simply as that. But I will not propose to go that route right now.
Right now it seems awfully clouded. Some intelligent and educated people on the inside have been saying that it is a matter of principle; that, regardless of what the Credit Union members and their manager want, there is the proper way, according to the law, to go about it. On the other hand, some Xavier Credit Union members have called in to the talk shows and said that it is their money, and the overwhelming majority of members at a duly constituted meeting have voiced their opinion, and their will, the people’s will, must be respected.
I am a bit confused, not knowing all the facts, but “when in doubt, play trump”. I will go with the people.
It is very strange that, if the Credit Union members and their manager were doing things the illegal way, why then didn’t the Registrar or the Government take the matter to our courts? Doesn’t the Government trust our courts anymore? Or was it a case that they realized that, indeed, they were on weak legal footing to dictate to the members of the Credit Union. If not so, then why was there the need to use the House to pass new laws? Something smells very fishy here. It is a very familiar smell with this present administration, and some big people are getting themselves all smeared with the fishy smell.
“God and the Belizean people,” will save this country; so said the Honorable Philip Goldson. You cannot go wrong when in doubt, if you go to the people. If the overwhelming majority of the members, who put their own money in the Credit Union, decide that this is what they want, but there appears to be a problem with the principle of the move, then, if the government is indeed of, for and by the people, why didn’t they go to the House to amend the law to make the people’s demand legal? Put the people’s will on a legal footing. But if you pass a law to undermine the people’s will, then that is what constitutes the action of a TRAITOR of the people – plain and simple. If your solution to the legal dilemma is to make the Registrar a dictator over the people whose monies are in the Credit Union, then our national anthem tells us what to do with TYRANTS.
This is not an issue in isolation: it is a clear trend of our present leadership in the House. It is a long list, and this Credit Union matter is just one more. Much as loyal followers have prayed, the leopard has not changed its spots. From BTL, to BEL, to Social Security, to DFC, to the Port, to the Airport, to Print Belize, to UHS, to the DFC Commission Report, to BNE (oil), to Bacalar Chico, to oil contracts galore, to wholesale “give-away” of government lands to cronies, now Xavier Credit Union.
And there a number of other issues that have not been adequately ventilated – the BTL millions on the “parallel market”, the secret contracts, the Northern Cooperative financial crisis, the NEMO relief supplies adventure, the US$1 million cash in Panama, the gross neglect of our borders, and others.
If this present PUP government was a camel, I would say it has an exceptionally strong back, for the last straw should have been put on a long, long time ago. This government has long lost all legitimacy by its scandalous and treacherous behavior towards the Belizean people. The Xavier Credit Union crisis is just the latest straw. And that’s my personal opinion.