Two weeks ago, the Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde appeared on Uncut and said that he did not support the Cabinet Decision to allow the ASR/BSI sugar ship to go from the Port of Belize to Big Creek - but, that, basically, he was outvoted. As we have reported, this will represent a major loss in earnings for Belize City's stevedores.
And this morning, his Cabinet colleague and fellow southside representative, Minister of State Gilroy Usher said that he has experienced the same thing as Hyde at the highest levels of his own government.
He called in to KREM WUB's morning show to say that black people of Belize city have to unite - if they want the power to force government policies that favour them.
Host Mose Hyde asked him about the stevedores - many who call his Port Loyola constituency home - and he lamented their fate, and the effect their loss in earning power will have on the community - but says, that, like Deputy Hyde, he was outvoted on that and other matters:
Hon. Gilroy Usher, Minister of State, Public Utilities, Energy and Logistics
"I personally believe every effort should have been made to enable ASR to continue shipping their sugar from the Port of Belize, instead of taking it down to Big Creek. But that's my position, just as that with Mr. Hyde position as I heard him. This brings us right back to what they are saying that because colored people, because Afro people, because they are not organized, then we do not have the influence on power that we need to exert to affect things like this. Like for example, Belize City have 10 constituencies, out of those 10 constituencies, the majority of the voters in those 10 constituencies are Afro Belizeans, so a decision to move the bulk of sugar from Port of Belize to Big Creek, that wouldn't have been taken lightly if we had force, if we had bacaktive with numbers. In government, you have people of different interest, different persuasions. Not everybody sees things alike and then it comes down to persuading people and to persuade people you need backative. So, yes, it's unfortunate that ASR has moved the thing down there from Port of Belize to Big Creek. A lot of people in Port Loyola will be affected by it, but again that just underscore the need for us to support each other as a black community."
Evan "Mose" Hyde, WUB Host
"They have been fighting, but what happens when the powers that they are fighting are extremely organized, very wealthy and then when you have a government say that it can't do anything, its about efficiency. You seem to have a very good understanding of what the implications are going to be that what has happened here is that the value for stevedoring work has been significantly devalued. If this big business plan continues to unfold as we see it unfold, the opportunities, the last little stronghold of blue-collar living wage earners is going to be removed. The implications, I listening to you would seem to be clear that you are only going to have a significant amplification in the levels of violence that we are experiencing right now in these communities."
Hon. Gilroy Usher
"The truth is that in any administration, in any group of people you have people with different interest and again I am saying that you need backative. I believe the people who sat down and decided that guess what we are going to build one bedroom houses for them. Who don't like it, that's their business. You see they don't look at the bigger picture as to how inconvenient and how building a one bedroom house for a family will be denying the mother of her dignity in moving around in her house. But they don't care about that, but here we have people in authority sit down and they decide that guess what I personally would not live on a one bedroom house, I personally would not do that, but in my opinion I thing a one bedroom house is good for them and that is the issue. The only way we are going to get those kinds of policies reverse is through numbers, because I can scream as much as I want, other members can scream as much as they want, but the majority goes and unless there are numbers to back up what we are saying, they will just push over us and say we are building a one bedroom house for them, we don't care how many children they have, we don't care what is the situation, who doesn't want it, take it. On top of that they will have to pay $100 a month for it too. I think those things are unfair, but then I am only one voice. Some people have the view that guess what I will not live in it, none of my people will live in it, but as far as I am concern a one bedroom house is good for you all."
The Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing is Julius Espat from Cayo South. And Usher says that's where he also sees the manual labour jobs for road maintenance going:
Hon. Gilroy Usher
"I notice that they were chopping along the George Price Highway and when I go out to Cayo I see many persons cutting along the highway with machetes and so and I applaud that and I say that's good. Give the people work out there and I know personally I had somebody about that same thing to get people in Belize City to cut along the highway like from 5 miles coming down and they basically say we will think about it. You see that was the attitude 'we will think about it.' In other words, then with some people addressing the issue with colored people, Afro Belizeans in Belize City - for some people that's not a priority. But you have other people doing the same thing and taking home money to the rest of the country."
Again those clips are from this morning's KREM WUB. Usher recently wrote an article for Emancipation Day for the Reporter Newspaper. It says, quote, " Today black people in Belize are also mostly landless,and they are the most victims of gang violence especially murders. Furthermore although black people are the second largest population in the country through no fault of the present government black people only represent 15% in the Cabinet," end quote.
