by Rudolph A. Neal
As 2022 draws to a close, the year will end in sheer un-certainty for many. The festive Christmas season is right around the bend, and many won’t even have enough to put together a decent meal. Combatting the effects of inflation has been an uphill battle for the masses this year, and quite frankly, a battle that we have been losing, steadily. This is to say, that with each new round, we are losing the struggle with inflation that is throwing its blows steadily and unabated; plus, needless to remind you that the cost of fuel remains at an excruciating all-time high! The majority of the workforce, which is comprised of the public sector and teachers, have been fighting this fight without proper gear. This is because their increments are still frozen, from the onset of the pandemic, and they are taking a lick! If it is we are going to give people a fighting chance to combat inflation and survive, I implore the Government of Belize to take immediate action to unfreeze the increments!
It was disheartening, to say the least, when it was announced a few weeks ago through a leaked memo that CEOs will have their allowances reinstated. We are talking about the people who are already being paid the highest in this country. These are the same people who, aside from their exorbitant salary and allowances, receive free vehicles and free petrol, among many other ludicrous allowances. This was an outright slap in the face to the hard-working people of this country, to all the public officers, teachers, BDF soldiers, and police officers, who in essence carry this country on their backs. They try to say that the well-remunerated “Chiefs” deserve their allowances back because they work so hard and labor for this country, but apparently, the hard-working teachers and dedicated public servants cannot get their pittance of an increment restored.
Truthfully, one can hazard a guess to say with all the boards that these CEOs sit on, with the free vehicle and petrol, with the hefty salary and additional perks and bonuses that they receive, it wasn’t a matter of urgency for them to have their allowances restored. Plus, by and large, they are set – buttered on all sides and corners. But imagine, the poor public servants and the struggling teachers who take out of their pockets for their children, they are told that they have to wait a bit longer. And to add insult to injury, the leaders of the country came out in defense of the CEOs, pleading the case as to why it was just to restore their allowances. There is nothing just about a country that looks after the affluent first and neglects its humble servants.
The proletariat of this country are at serious risk! The (once deemed) “middle class” in Belize has shrunken severely and has now been unwittingly dissolved into the poverty pool. This is because salaries have remained stagnant by and large, but the cost of living has skyrocketed. This is because, while their pay has remained the same, they have to spend more on fuel to drive the same distance. This is because they have to spend more on food to cook the same old basic pot. Doing all this on a salary for which increments have been frozen, while the big fishes have had their allowances restored. A classic example of “full belly di tell hungry belly fi kip haat,” sah. Well, I say to the leaders and decision-makers in this country, the masses need their money. Unfreeze the increments and free up the workers’ money, ‘cause just like how the CEOs need their allowances, teachers and public officers need their money too!
Unchained Reflections Of A Liberal Pragmatist!