And while the prime minister won't respond to the cane farmers, they aren't the only ones scolding the government for its management of public affairs. Yesterday at the opening of the Spanish lookout commercial industrial expo, mennonite business leaders criticized the government for the port situation, the crime situation and other matters. Here's the President of the Spanish Lookout Business Chamber.
Norman Dueck, President - Spanish Lookout Business Chamber
"We call on the government to act and resolve our port issues in Belize. For too long the successive governments have failed to deal with our port and the issues with the Stevedores. This week one of the ships was forced to sail back with its Cargo back to Miami. We have small businesses right here right now that have products that should be here but are not here because the boat left. All because we don't have the will to fix the problems with the stevedores and so the business chamber of Spanish lookout calls upon the government to once and for all fix this issue."
"The number 2 issue on our minds of course is crime today. It is certainly on our minds when kids can no longer have the piece of mind to go and eat ice cream with their parents. We know that the issues that lead to crime are multifaceted and not easily tackled. It will not be solved by the government. We are only kidding ourselves if we asked the government to solve crime and solve crime alone we certainly need better effective policing. We need better conviction rates but the issue must also come from us the people right here."
Guest Speaker, community leader Harry Letkemen was even more cutting in his remarks where he lamented excessive regulations.
Harry Letkeman, Community Leader
"It seems to me that the GOB is fighting with their hands tied behind their back. As many of you I am most frustrated with three problems in Belize, crime, corruption and overregulation. And the hon minister will know when I am angry he is usually the first one to know. We always hear about crime and corruption but very few people mention we are overregulated when the business chamber started to prepare for this expo they approached the community leadership like Norman said and requested the funding to expand this venue this was approved and we set about to get the new building erected ASAP. However not long into the project we were served with this stop order right here. You may ask who would want to stop the construction of the building here at the park is Belize not open for business?"
"Let me give you another example of how over regulation can have a detrimental effect on the well being of our citizens. Take the single use of plastic for instance let us consider the goal of regulation and what was actually the effect. We have a garbage problem in Belize no doubt and many of us throw our trash out at will so the goal was noble but the result was not so great. First they engaged in a campaign to sensitive the public then they engaged in a drawn out fight with the chamber of commerce and finally they brought the law into effect and for the next few months we paid much more for shopping bags and disposable utensils. The cost of food obviously had to go up hurting everyone, not just the big producers. This is something I believe regulators often overlook."
"Did you know a few months into the biodegradable cups no longer stink like rotten corn well guess what those who made the single use plastics are happy to print biodegradable on their products so now the DOE discovered that none of the single use plastic in Belize is actually biodegradable. So the whole thing was a huge exercise where tons of money was wasted."
While the speeches are over, the expo continues until March 16th.
