EDITORIAL

By: Omar Silva

Editor: National Perspective Bz Digital 2024

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Thursday, 14 November 2024

In Belize’s political and administrative labyrinth, the enigma of public spending has reached an almost mystical level. Only the privileged few seem to know where taxpayer dollars go and how they're used; for the rest of us, mere mortals, such knowledge is reduced to rumors. Here, opacity is not just a flaw but the very lifeblood of a system finely tuned to make public resources practically invisible. Even the total number of public employees is a well-guarded mystery, perpetuating a fog over how taxpayer money is spent.

This aura of secrecy extends into every corner of budget management, where low execution rates reveal an artful dodge rather than incompetence. Every fiscal year, ambitious budgets are paraded with promises of transformation. Yet, year after year, these funds are rarely used with any clarity or accountability. Ministries, instead of turning these resources into tangible improvements like hospitals, roads, or schools, hide behind layers of excuses that border on farce.

Behind this charade lies a new flavor of "budgetary innovation." With each passing year, more budget increases, loans, and treasury bonds are announced—each additional dollar approved without rhyme or reason, only to feed the cycle of fiscal dependency. Political allies and financiers are handsomely rewarded, and this has become an unspoken “toll” for those in power. In 2024 alone, an extra $1.6 million supplementary budget was secured to fill gaps left by a ballooned billion-dollar budget. Projects like “electrification” and “port improvements” soak up millions, yet revenue-generating public entities remain silent on how their earnings are actually managed.

A deeper symptom of the system's dysfunction lies in its eternal parade of public appointments. In Belize, meritocracy is a relic, an ancient notion long replaced by the spoils system. Public office is not a career but a prize for campaign loyalty. Each election renews the cycle, awarding "bonesetters" and silencing genuine talent in favor of political convenience.

Opacity has, over time, become Belize’s bureaucratic elixir. A substantial portion of the public budget vanishes each year through corruption and administrative inefficiency, a tradition handed down like an heirloom. Here, corruption isn’t an accident; it’s practically a rite of passage in public office.

Any attempt to propose reform is almost heresy. The mere suggestion of subcontracting or outsourcing public projects under international bids — with independent oversight and political neutrality — invites scorn from unions and the bureaucratic “guardians” of this sacred machinery. But without reform, what are the consequences?

Imagine Belize if its funds were managed transparently, if our four main highways could ease transportation rather than add hours and costs to daily life, if infrastructure met even modest aspirations. Yet, without transformative change, Belize risks remaining trapped in this bleak status quo, where public funds serve private interests, and the people’s future is continually postponed.

Transparency and efficiency should not be distant campaign promises, nor dreams deferred. Belizeans deserve leaders for whom public service is a duty, not a business model. We deserve a system where transparency and integrity guide governance. Without these, Belize's governance will remain, to our detriment, an elaborate, bitter jest.