He's the acting Prime Minister and the Senior Minister on the Southside of Belize City and Cordel Hyde says he doesn't agree with the Cabinet decision to send 65% of sugar shipment south to the Big Creek Port.
Last night on Uncut the five-term area representative for the Lake Independence constituency, said he is acutely aware of the importance of the stevedores who come from the poorest communities in Belize City.
He told Jules that he tried his best - without success - to convince his fellow Cabinet colleagues to reconsider supporting this decision:
Hon. Cordel Hyde - Deputy Prime Minister/Acting PM
"Cabinet is a - a big challenge is how you maintain your individuality in a sea of collective responsibility. How do you - Cabinet is about ideas, opinions, values, and beliefs, and those collide, oftentimes. The Cabinet is diverse. It's not a monolith, by necessity, because the country is diverse, and we don't always believe in the same things. We don't always agree on things, and in that kind of instance is really forcefully try to present the position to my colleagues as best as I can. There are times when I am successful, and there are times when I am not."
Jules Vasquez
"Is this something you opposed?"
Hon. Cordel Hyde
"Of course, because I understand the effect it will have. We're dealing with a Southside that's battered. People don't really want to deal with that, but I've reached the point where I think that across the lines, across the political divide, we representatives in Belize City have to have a conversation about this city, where we are, and where we're going because we are worse off after 13 years than we've ever been. People can't find work. People are dropping out of school like crazy. People are living in terrible conditions. The housing situation is - you well know. People are hopeless, and then, you take away 2 million dollars out of a community that absolutely needs it. And the thing about it is that stevedores are - they have a legacy. It's a badge of pride for us, black people on the Southside of Belize City, that independence. That resiliency, that swagger, we respect that. We rate that. They are the salt of the earth. And then, I tried to convey that to my colleagues to say, listen, this is going to hurt us. And the implications of this is -can't imagine."
