And while the Ministry of Works has two men with the common touch running the operation, the Ministry of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development has a giant slayer as its Minister of State. For felling the behemoth political figure Ralph Fonseca, Michael Hutchinson made it as a Minister of State. Today the politician who’s a carpenter by trade told us how he’s keeping it real while adjusting to his new status as a man holding public office.
Jules Vasquez,
Mr. Hutchinson you made it.
Hon. Michael Hutchinson,
“Yes I did.”
Jules Vasquez,
How does it feel?
Hon. Michael Hutchinson,
“I guess it is kicking in now, all the applause and the praises. It is a good feeling.”
Jules Vasquez,
The feeling I get is that you have become a kind of folk hero.
Hon. Michael Hutchinson,
“Yes and that is the part I haven’t really come to grip with. I thought that that was there to be done and we did it.”
Jules Vasquez,
You quit your job at BATSUB?
Hon. Michael Hutchinson,
“Right. I quit my job, I handed in my letter of resignation. Very soon they will be throwing a party for me at BATSUB and I will be off.”
Jules Vasquez,
Explain how does one adjust to being in public life, people will come to you now who know that the former area representative there, while he was not the most attentive to the people’s needs, he used to break them off a lot of money, and so a lot of your constituents are used to a regular turn-on and that’s not your kind of politics.
Hon. Michael Hutchinson,
“That is true. I believe the tide will change when people see the progress that will start happening within the villages in Belize Rural Central.”
Jules Vasquez,
I know you are a regular man living in the community, are you afraid that having the power, having a vehicle, having have to go to Belmopan will distract you from who you are and people will start to look at you and say, ‘Hutchie get rich and switch?’
Hon. Michael Hutchinson,
“No I don’t think that will never happen Jules. I have a mother and she has always taught me to be humble and to always esteem each other higher than myself. I won’t see myself becoming like that. I’ve always been a regular guy and that is what I am going to be. In fact I was out riding my bicycle in short pants and people were like, ‘you shouldn’t be doing that,’ but I just want to be like the normal man. I meet them and listen to them just like I did before. A few things might change but the Hutchie will still be the same.”
