NO-BRAINERS

The National Budget Debate was in full swing this week. There are many views on economics, finance, resource allocation for education, health and the social safety nets available for those in our most vulnerable sectors. While it is not rocket science, it might as well have been, for all the Leader of the Opposition understood of the proceedings. Frankly, just about the only thing he has learnt is to be heavily guided by the Honourable Speaker of the House. A lesson which was hard taught but well learned. Deputy Prime Minister Hon Cordel Hyde also abruptly brought back the Leader of the Opposition to reality from whatever delirium he was suffering. His blatant use of alternative facts and fabricated statistics was exposed. After insisting that Belize was better under the United Democratic Party and citing fiction instead of facts, he was taken to task by the Deputy Prime Minister. Hon. Cordel Hyde made quick work of setting the record straight and reminding the Leader of the Opposition of his erroneous statements and deliberate falsehoods. In 2019, Belize was in a full-blown recession and facing almost certain devaluation, this was the reality. It seems then that History and Statistics are two more subjects where the Leader of the Opposition's strengths do not lie. Truth be told his better talents lie in comedy and drama judging from the chuckles and sighs of his colleagues sitting next to him and those coming from the gallery.

The Leader of the Opposition knows next to nothing about logistics, transportation, or connectivity. All he knows about highways and roads is that he cannot eat them. He is clueless about the importance of the connectivity of the road infrastructure that crisscrosses this country. He cannot fathom that these roads and highways are responsible for ensuring that farmers and producers in the agriculture sector are able to take their produce to market. Those same streets and roadways enable our exports of cattle, sugar, corn, citrus and other products to make their way to the ports or across the borders. In terms of the labour market, transportation plays an essential role in ensuring that Belizeans can go about their daily activities as well as remain productive by going to work. Of course, the bloated infrastructure project that is the road to Caracol cannot compare to the vital importance of the Phillip Goldson Highway, the George Price Highway or even the municipal and village roads. These roads serve many more Belizean residents than the few not normal Belizeans that own properties on the road to Caracol. Effective resource allocation is about ensuring that we get value for money and also that the money is efficiently used to serve the many and not the few.

Another lesson in resource allocation came from Hon Cordel Hyde when he reminded Belizeans that the time to invest in young people was now, by investing in Education, Sports and social safety nets. He reminded us that one year of high school on average costs about one thousand dollars, but that every inmate the incarceration system holds costs Belizean taxpayers five thousand dollars. Investing in human capital ensures that the vulnerable population have the safety and services they need to help them when the need arises. However, the objective should always be to ensure that people access services only temporarily. Social safety nets are never designed to be permanent because the goal is to ensure that socioeconomic conditions improve and that they are no longer needed. Only devious minds would keep their people dependent on handouts instead of elevating their living and working conditions. These lessons are basically no-brainers; we were so sure that even Shyne would get it.