By: Mike Rudon Jr.
As I sit and write this, our esteemed leader is once again out of the country, in Washington this time I think. He travels quite a lot, doesn't he? Off to New Orleans one week, Miami the next, Los Angeles for a few days with a brief stop in Houston…and the list goes on and on and on. We don't hear much about most of those trips and if it weren't for this little thing called the Internet, we wouldn't even have the benefit of seeing pictures of our wonderful Prime Minister and glorious First Lady Second Wife garbed in the latest designer apparel, sipping champagne and snacking on caviar on toast points. Cocktail circuits and gourmet dining are fine things aren't they? Our much beloved leader and his lady look like a million bucks…they're travelling the globe like celebrities with carte blanche status and we do so love those adoring little tidbits in the society pages of foreign newspapers. But we should be getting more from this, shouldn't we?
I don't personally have a problem with our candidate for saint status leader travelling the globe per se. I tend to think that in the case of a Third World nation like Belize, a responsible and real leader would have to make the rounds, working on partnerships and networking with leaders of other nations. See, this concept of travelling works if the end goal is always to come back with something which benefits the nation and the people. Like going to Mexico and coming back with some scholarships for underprivileged youth who crave further education but can't afford it under this restrictive regime…or maybe a commitment from Mexican authorities to aid in and expedite our forensics and ballistics testing until this crew can get its act together, if that is ever to be. Like spending a week in Los Angeles and coming back with a firm commitment from that city's officials to provide courses to our UDP leaders in Resisting Corruption 101. But you see what I mean, right?
We get the impression that our adored leader and his gorgeous wife have been travelling just for the heck of it…a lot of photo-ops and some shopping on the side, so to speak. We sure as hell haven't seen the benefits of all those frequent flier miles, though I'm sure the office of the Prime Minister has been paying some hefty bills for all that first class travel out of our money.
Four months ago our great leader stood in front of a graduating class of the University of Belize and told them that the worst is over and there are good things ahead. Belize is rebounding from the economic recession he said…there is a great big shining light at the end of the tunnel. A few weeks ago that majestic man stood in front of the nation and said essentially the same thing, just in more flowery language. This time he even provided some stats which he claimed were official to back up his proclamation that the great big shining light is still at the end of the tunnel. Just how long is that damned tunnel, we'd be forgiven for asking.
I swear that our Prime Minister has no concept of reality and no awareness of what is happening all around him. Does he not know about all the big businesses which are closing down, unable to make it in this stifling, stagnant economy? Has he not been told about all the workers who have been laid off because their employers cannot continue to pay their salaries? Can he not see the ranks of the unemployed growing apace with the ranks of failed businesses? I heard that our largest chicken producer has reported a drop in sales of 25% so far this year. A couple months ago one of our largest Belizean businessmen had to throw in the towel and just last week another closed his doors. This week the Belize Diagnostic Center reportedly told employees that they need to find new employment by the end of the month because they are closing down. One of our largest apparel producers has been repeatedly downsizing staff. So has one of our largest wholesalers up the Northern Highway. And this is only the tip of the iceberg which is the story of Belize's economy collapsing because this administration has no clue.
Throughout all this, our very eloquent Prime Minister has said not a word to reveal that he knows what people are going through out here. He has revealed no initiatives to help keep businesses alive, no stimulus package to jumpstart the economy (unless he thought that raising taxes would do so). Nobody, absolutely nobody, with the exception of his family members and other UDP bigwig, has seen any light at the end of any tunnel.
Mr. Prime Minister…if it's not too much of an imposition, do you think that you could spend less time quaffing champagne and posing for glamour shots and more time trying to help the nation out of this mess? We're still waiting!
| | | | | |
Source: The Belize Times
0 comments:
Post a Comment