Government appeals for calm
At the same time that students and Opposition politicians were expressing their dissatisfaction in the streets, government officials were trying hard to put their best face forward. For the P.U.P. that face belonged to Minister of Education Francis Fonseca. This afternoon Fonseca was asked by News 5’s Patrick Jones how he thought the drama would end.
Francis Fonseca, Minster of Education
?We are very hopeful that reason will prevail. I think a lot of Belizeans over the last twenty-four hours or so, in my view, have come to realise that we?re going down a very dangerous road. It?s become very clear to them, I think certainly coming out of the press conference held by the United Democratic Party yesterday that this is a political matter. Yes, our workers have every right to protest and voice their grievances, but this matter has now become a political one and the U.D.P. is intent in using illegal and unconstitutional methods to force the government to resign. And that is not a road Belize wants to travel down, and it is certainly not a road that most right thinking and reasonable and rational Belizeans want to travel. So we are very hopeful that it can come to an end very quickly. We believe that we have a good understanding and a good working relationship with the communication worker?s union, with the technicians and employees of B.T.L. and the management of B.T.L. So we believe that we can deal with the telecom issue. If we can avoid any major acts of sabotage, we believe the telephone system can be fully operational within the next twenty-four hours. But certainly there are clear and public threats that have been made by U.D.P. officials with respect to electricity, with respect to water; we have to take those seriously, and there are obvious acts of provocation taking place even as we speak.?
Patrick Jones
?How can government respond to what you call acts of aggression. Can it deteriorate to a state where you will rule by a state of emergency??
Francis Fonseca
?Well we certainly hope not, that we don?t have to reach that point, but obviously the government has to govern and we have to ensure that our citizens are protected. We cannot allow a few individuals, because of their political agenda, to destabilise the entire country. Our national security is under threat and has been under threat for the last three or four days, our economic security is under threat, the health and safety of our citizens is under threat and under attack. And our democratic institutions, the democracy of our country, under attack. We have to do everything as a responsible govt to ensure that we protect our citizens. G.O.B. is guided by the rule of law, do not want to infringe upon the rights of our citizens regardless of their political belief, but we want people to understand that if they want to protest, if they want to call on the government to resign, there is a lawful process that they can use to achieve those objectives. So we call on them to be reasonable and rational and follow the lawful process.?
In case you were wondering what is happening with the unions, we are informed that a proposed meeting of the B.N.T.U. board of management could not be mustered and that meeting–called to decide the teachers’ next move–will be held as early as tomorrow.
