EXPORT MARKET ORGANIZING IN OUR GOVERNMENT IS LIKE PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS

There is a black hole in Belmopan apparently?


BELIZE EXPORT TRADE INFORMATION GOVERNMENT DYSFUNCTIONALITY

The subject of trade information supplied from the Government of Belize is a touchy one, both for Cabinet politicians and ministerial senior bureaucrats.

There is a long story and a short story. The SHORT story is that whatever money the government is spending, if they are actually spending anything, it is not working.

The long story: For about a decade and a half, we have been told that different departments will investigate and supply export marketing information. It used to be in the beginning, BELTRAIDE was announced as responsible. It NEVER happened, but maybe that is beside the point. Since then there has been a relative plethora of new BUREAUCRATIC names and ACRONYMS of who is responsible to do this task. We have had a Foreign Ministry ( try to find a foreign ministry in Belmopan – I challenge you? ). Ministry of Economic Development, Either a Ministry of Rural Development, or a department – I don’t know which? The latest attempt at all this political propaganda, dis-information, rhetoric and bombast, is an article this week in the GUARDIAN newspaper, which is the political party running the government this past year.

It says that Ambassador Bert Tucker ( Ambassador of what? ) on behalf of the Foreign Ministry ( what Foreign Affairs Ministry? – How many staff do they have? ) received some computers from the OAS in a vital move to improve the development of Belize’s Trade Initiative. What trade initiative? I hear about it and read about it, but cannot find it? I haven’t seen a darned thing happening, but TALK and more TALK and more TALK. Now when I ask about such things in Belmopan, I get the runaround. Misdirected to other people, who in turn put me in a circle of traveling all around Belmopan, ( walking, about thee miles, this is very tiring on an old man ) trying to find somebody responsible for export market information gathering. Eventually after two or three miles and numerous offices, you end up full circle back at the first person you enquired from. None the wiser I might add.

Now this rhetoric and propaganda sounds very good. I should know, I’ve been listening to it and reading it in the newspapers for a DOZEN years. I’ve NEVER actually found a person, a real person, with a desk, that actually did the job that was announced in the various party media organs, as credit for their tax paid salaries and the monies that they spend.

Mid week, a farmer came to my house and said he had made the rounds and talked to civil servants in Belmopan about export markets for some agricultural goods. He said, he couldn’t find a single soul that would accept responsibility for the job of supplying such market information. The closest thing we have for trade information in the private sector is the STATISTICAL IMPORT/EXPORT figures, created by ex-Prime Minister Musa in a separate desk, in his Prime Minister’s office. It’s better than nothing I suppose? Anyway this farmer said the closest he came to honesty and transparency in government was a refreshing bureaucrat that said ‘WE DON’T DO THAT. The private sector has to find their own markets.” That is not what the politicians publicly say though!

I think there is a phoney industry BEEG TIME in our capital Belmopan, that soaks the overseas donors for equipment and things, that disappear in the maw of the politicians and bureaucracy, like gravity and light get sucked into the BLACK HOLE at the center of our galaxy. Be nice though if the con game was actually true? The only thing you can find though, is a bunch of excuses in Belmopan for FAILURE! These people couldn’t work for me, they would get fired within a week. You are performance based in the private sector.

The thing is; the foreigners abroad actually believe this baloney put out by our government. If they only knew? I think most administrative bureaucrats in Belmopan have multiple hats and titles to confuse people? They have so many, they can’t even remember them sometimes when you ask? They look lost and mystified. There should be a training program, or seminar for duplicity for bureaucrats. For politicians, they get that from their mother’s milk.