By: Mike Rudon Jr.
If old Ebenezer were still around today and living in this UDP-tainted charcoal caricature of the once shining and colorful jewel, he would be hollering Bah Hambug! at the top of his lungs. There is absolutely nothing to smile about today, nothing to celebrate, nothing to jump up and down in the streets and be happy about. Call me what you want and say what you will, but it is damned ridiculous to ignore what is happening in our nation just because Dean Barrow says we should jump up and down to a song which has done absolutely nothing to benefit anybody or alleviate any suffering or put food on anyone's table or save one youth from being gunned down. I listen to those people saying that we should celebrate because that is what we do in September and nothing else matters right about now. Well so sorry, but far too many of us don't even know what we're going to give our children to eat tonight and tomorrow and the day after that. You know what…you go out there and jump up with Dean Barrow and all the other UDP fat cats who are feathering their beds while we starve. Maybe he'll invite you all to his house to eat steak and drink champagne when the parade is over…NOT!
I think that we as a people are being far too stupid for far too long now. I listen to the talk shows every morning and they are chock full of complaints about every single thing under the sun, or I should say every single thing under the UDP. And you know what, nothing ever happens. We go to Dean Barrow's convention and we listen to him say nonsense like – It is clear that the magic is still here – and we wave our flags and jump up and down and shout till we're hoarse. Then we go home to complain because we're broke and things are getting worse and the future just isn't so bright anymore and our children go to bed hungry because there's no food. This morning somebody called about the deplorable bus situation – hell, there's at least one call about the bus situation every single day. It is bad, very bad but you know what? Melvin Hulse doesn't travel by bus so he doesn't care. Every now and then he appears on Love FM and pretends like all is fine and dandy and we buy it for the next little while like grinning idiots, even when we know that things are messed up and commuters are being abused everyday because of the incompetence of the UDP.
Official statistics show that the cost of living is up again. Fuel has gone up, diesel has gone up, butane has gone up, rent, water, fuel and power have gone up, clothing, footwear, medical care and personal care have all gone up. We didn't need the Consumer Price Index to tell us that. We know that everything has gone up even while our salaries remain the same and unemployment is on the increase and businesses all over the country are closing down. But we shrug our shoulders and take it because Dean Barrow says that the magic is still here.
In just the past few days there have been three murders, six robberies, a death threat and six shootings. In one of the shootings a 16 year old minor and a nine year old girl were hit by bullets. Word is that there was a massive shootout near Dean Street and the lives of residents were at serious risk. The Police call a press conference every now and then where they tell us absolutely nothing and give us absolutely no hope. But we sit down and accept the Prime Minister's word that his personal friend Doug Singh is the man for the job even though we know better. But the Prime Minister says the magic is still here, right?
On the 10th of September when he stands behind the podium the Prime Minister will take us for fools with his pretty words which mean nothing, and we will sit there and clap politely. Perhaps Mayor Zenaida Moya will give a speech after which we'll clap politely again, but she won't tell us where we can find the hundreds of thousands of dollars which have been pilfered under her watch. But we'll sit there and be okay with that because the Prime Minister says that the magic is still here.
The median of the Northern Highway is overgrown and filled with rubbish all the way into the city, yet just a stone's throw away the bunting and streamers are gaily flying in front of Atlantic Bank. We are being told that we should celebrate but I believe that we are being taken for fools because there is nothing to celebrate.
You can sit there and say that I'm too angry and this isn't the time for that. I'll turn around and say that maybe we as a people haven't been angry enough and there is no better time to be angry than today when our nation is – Divided, Desperate and Bruk…Moving Backwards…This is Belize Under the UDP!
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Source: The Belize Times
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