by Rudolph A. Neal

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Apr. 23, 2025

The news dropped like a bombshell and sent shockwaves echoing through the length and breadth of this country, as it was announced that the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the various ministries would receive a sizable salary increase. According to the notice that was (presumably) leaked, effective March 13, 2025, the salaries of the Cab Sec and the CEOs of this country are to be increased. The notice was dated just one day after the conclusion of the general elections, even before new and returning posts were announced, not to mention before the new financial appropriation bill was presented. This bloated increase in salaries for the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Executive Officers is not only preposterous but is a wanton disgrace!

You know, the thing about power is that men get comfortable. And when men get comfortable, they get proud. And proud, comfortable men tend to lose their bearings—oftentimes, it’s when power sets in and becomes concentrated that moral compasses lose their rudder and men tend to go “off track”. I watched the recent elections and followed closely the presentations made, and one of the most salient that stuck with me was the assertion that this government would seek to remain humble and grounded in this inevitable second term. We have seen and borne firsthand witness to what happened to the previous administration when power was allowed to permeate men and pride consumed them. Early in the second term of this new government, major provisions and allocations that not only raise eyebrows, but provoke ire, are being made.

And yes! The people are upset! Particularly those hard-working lower-middle-income earners, who in the face of the rampant proliferation of inflation, are struggling to make ends meet. Yes, we are upset, because consider the heart and soul of this country: the working-class proletariats and the public servants, teachers and uniformed officers—the pillars which keep the country running and the economy oiled—once again, they have been disenfranchised and cast to the side. Have we, so hung up on power and pride, in such short order forgotten the Covid-19 pandemic? Have we forgotten the financial and economic crisis that it caused and who was called upon (without their permission) to bail out this new government at the time? It was the teachers and public servants whose salaries were cut and increments frozen cold as ice, to help buffer and augment the then-ailing economy.

Now, at a time when the economy has begun to show improvement, the first to be rewarded are the (already) highest-paid officials who already receive the fattest perks and benefits. What happened to the hard-working public servants, teachers, and law enforcement officials who do the work and take home the meagre crumbs which are barely sufficient to scatter around? It’s a wanton disgrace to think that those who already make way too much are being rewarded so heftily—and for what? For doing what exactly? What happened to all the years when teachers’ and public servants’ salaries were cut and their increments and allowances were frozen? Do they not deserve some of their own money back for a sacrifice that they had to make without their consent?

The suggestion that these (already highly paid) appointed officers deserve an increase in the face of all the allowances and benefits they receive, in addition to bloated salaries, is a wanton disgrace. It’s preposterous to think that just one day after the election, that such an atrocity would take place. All this happens while the future for pensions of teachers and public servants remains uncertain, and teachers and public servants have to fight for their increments, (their own monies that they worked laboriously for) which they are rightfully due.

While major focus has been placed on the salary increases themselves, which are viewed as atrocious and disgraceful, what few are talking about is the budget that has not been read as yet, despite May being just around the corner. If they were so comfortable and confident that they would form the next government, why wasn’t a budget prepared for the likelihood of such? And inquiring minds would like to know, how is it that such major provisions can be made for salary adjustments in the absence of a new financial appropriation bill? It’s all mind-boggling, to say the least, and it’s an outright shame and disgrace!

Today, I was honoured and privileged to attend the book launch for Kenny Morgan’s If unu tink da lai, and having voraciously devoured the contents of this provocative book of poems by this literary genius and artistic lyricist, I must close with an excerpt from a poem in his book entitled: ‘DIS DA R*SS”:

“… Bot weh Ah taak pipl seh Ai volga ahn krass

Ah seh tel dat tu di teecha weh werk eena di klass

Evri day dehn schrogl fi kantinyu chrai paas

Aan sohn nalij tu fu wee fyoocha baas

Bot wen dehn get dehn paycheck, ih jos melt weh soh fass

Soh yu ku goh chek it eena yu lukin glaas

Ahn tel mi if Ah di taak laik wahn aas

Er, if laik weh Ah seh, DIS DA R*SS!!”

   Excerpt from:  If unu tink da lai by Kenny Morgan.

Unchained Reflections Of A Liberal Pragmatist.