Don’t shoot the messenger!
On the Phone: Nikita Usher
That said, is there concern from the business community that the relationship between Government and private sector could be damaged? Chamber President Nikita Usher agreed with us that the tone of the Prime Minister’s letter carried an overarching note of annoyance and a mode of ‘shooting the messenger.’ He said that the Chamber is not warned away and will continue to press this issue as well as plans for reform to prevent a reoccurrence.
On the Phone: Nikita Usher, President, Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry
“I think your observation is what most have said and most are observing. It’s typical – and you notice what I opened up my statement [by saying]; it’s the longest letter written to me as the Chamber President. But I will say this: in my mind, I don’t even want to use the words that I want to; I choose to hold back on those words. It’s somewhat insulting to be sending a message like that to a stakeholder – in my mind, you’re shooting the messenger as opposed to listening to the message. The message is a very simple one. Forget who is the messenger; forget that it’s the Chamber. The message is very simple: let us – we’ve had two errors, forget who did the errors – let us sit down around the table and find ways to make the reforms possible, to make the Constitution a little tighter; to disallow, to discourage any re-occurrence of such a nature. That to our mind is the most compelling reason why we have written what we have written. If the message was meant to shy us away, it has not done that; it has made us stronger instead. I would wish and hope that our Belizean public understands that our social partners join us in trying to make it right. It is not the end of the world; it is not, using the words of the Prime Minister, the sky falling on top of our heads. It is a very simple process, and if he wants to leave a legacy behind, now is the time for us to sit around the table and make the reforms possible, effective, to not have any re-occurrence in the future.”
