And while the Sunshine situation dominates the headlines, this morning in Belmopan, the captain of the ship of state gave a reading of the vessel's fitness. The speech was titled "Belize Tested; Belize Rebounds" and the PM laid out that story in the opening paragraph.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
"The strength of Belize as a democratic nation and a people has been tried and tested. There were strikes and demonstrations. Saboteurs shut down telecommunications, cutting off the country from the rest of the world. Electricity infrastructure was deliberately damaged. Nights were made dark and days passed in fear and uncertainty. Many wild and dire predictions about what would happen in Belize were made. But contrary to the negative voices of doom and gloom, the economy did not collapse,; the government will not be forced out of office, and the will of the majority who elected the People's United Party to government has prevailed. Belize is on the rebound. We are putting our national house in order. And the nation we proudly call Belize will endure, will revive, and will prosper."
Stewart Krohn, Channel 5 News
"So you really think your troubles are behind you?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"No I believe we'll always have challenges ahead of us but I do believe we are getting over the worst."
And while politically the worse may be over for the Prime Minister, if you're a taxpayer the worse may still be ahead with new taxes measures slated for the next fiscal year.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"The tax reform committee is completing its work of analyzing the tax system and recommending changes to the tax structure and administration. This committee has found general consensus for introducing an 'ad valorem' mechanism, and we'll go ahead with such a recommendation provided that the mechanism is fair, simple, and predictable. The formal report of this committee is expected shortly and will form the basis of tax reform measures to be implemented in the next fiscal year.
What I see happening in the fiscal year, is that we will rationalize the tax structure by implementing this new measure that they are coming up with, which may not necessarily be an increase in taxes, but it will be more broad based if you like."
Jules Vasquez,
In the draft of the IMF report, it refers to it as a broad based VAT tax…
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Yes."
Jules Vasquez,
But will you implement a VAT?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"We will implement a modified consumption tax that takes into account the ad valorem feature of VAT, yes."
And so while taxpayers have a vat rehash to look forward to - the Prime Minister says, you can make it better.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Our love for Belize, the freedoms we enjoy and our pride in the natural beauty and the values of tolerance and respect inspires us daily by two simple ideas: first that the future can be better than the present; and second that each of us has a personal, moral responsibility to make it so."
And without an Opposition to heckle, or even backbenchers Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde to second guess the Prime Minster - the sentiment of a collective responsibility and collective recovery was warmly received by this mostly official audience - and with months to go before municipal elections, it's left to be seen if the electorate will be as receptive.
The entire address is available at belize.gov.bz
