Prime Minister: State of the Nation is upbeat
Prime Minister Said Musa presented his annual State of the Nation address this morning to a special sitting of the House of Representatives held on the steps of the new administration building in Belmopan. As expected, the presentation was upbeat and in many ways mirrored the more detailed budget presentation delivered in March. Much of the speech dealt with the economy, which grew by over ten percent in the year 2000.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“With all these new activities, new investments, new industries, thousands of new jobs have been generated. The per capita income of Belize is now over six thousand dollars, up from five thousand, two hundred dollars in 1998 and the unemployment rate has been reduced.
And there are other major investments soon to come on stream including the construction of a two hundred and forty-two-room hotel resort at San Pedro, Ambergris by the internationally renowned Avalon Resort Group. Negotiations are well advanced with Lufthansa for a management contract of the airport with expansion of the runway and upgrading of the terminal facilities. The Galeria Maya Resort Project at the Corozal Free Zone will transform the area for international visitors with increased economic activities in the north.”
But even with all that good economic news, the Prime Minister acknowledged that government was only one part of the equation.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“If we are to be brutally honest with ourselves, we will find that so many of society’s problems today can be traced back to a lack of personal responsibility. Responsibility is also the key to solving our crime problem. Our Government has invested considerably more resources in expanding the Police Department, providing better equipment and raising the morale. We are also spending additional resources to strengthen the criminal justice system and the prison system.
Two new Judges were appointed to the Supreme Court – not on contract, but with constitutional security of tenure. We recognise that along with these resources must come a greater commitment to re-double crime fighting efforts, deepen community policing programmes, sharpen intelligence gathering capacity and strengthen investigations and prosecution of cases. But if we are to succeed in holding down crime to a minimum, every Belizean in every community must take responsibility for winning back our streets and our children’s future.”
And in ending his address, the Prime Minister could not ignore recent events in the United States.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Our thoughts and prayers today go out to the families of the innocent civilians and brave rescue workers killed in the September eleventh terrorist attacks on the United States of America. We pray for all victims of terror and senseless violence.
In the oft quoted words of the poet William Butler Yates “mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.”
Prime Minister Musa concluded by quoting Jesus and exhorted Belizeans: “Be not afraid.”
