2 January 2010 – (Belizean,com) As we flip another page and dare upon a new leaf in this book of life, the pace at which time is flying is enough to make one downright dizzy. Seems like just yesterday we were preparing for Y2K and now here we are, in the imminence of 2012. 2009 was quite eventful with no paucity of drama and so before we sing auld lang sine, let us take some time to reflect on a few items from the archives.
Apart from usual news, you might say that '09 was a banner year for crime and scandals as everyday seemed to revealed new inappropriateness both in our streets as well as in the offices of government. Whether the art of politics is imitating the life on the streets or vice versa, there seems a definite correlation between the behavior of our parliamentarians and that of the common thugs on the street. With the finger pointing, name calling and seizing of other people's property by force, the behavior of our politicians bear an uncanny resemblance to the ruffian mentality pervading our neighborhoods today.
Many will remember when a high ranking UDP operative threatened to throw a grenade in the House of Representatives during the last administration. Well, since then, the new choice of weapons on the street has become that very same grenade. While no grenades have yet been launched at the political level, Prime Minister Barrow did drop a major bomb in August. Barrow announced that he was strong-arming Michael Ashcroft's shares in BTL and while it made the Zinc Fence ecstatic, it did major damage to investor confidence.
Mr. Barrow's rationale about the halting of litigation also proved self deceptive as the move opened a new floodgate of even more complex and expensive court proceedings. While the real damage to Belize's economy is yet to be realized, it has not been a bad thing for the Barrow clan of legal experts, who are heard laughing all the way to the bank. The move also proved beneficial pr wise, since it basically neutralized the most effective propaganda machine in town. Evan Hyde went public in his support of Barrow and the UDP and the pot was sweetened even further with astronomical advertisement dollars from BTL and the Social Security Board.
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