P.M. delivers first Independence Day address
It was a stifling ninety-six degrees in the shade on Monday, but it wasn’t enough to keep thousands of Belizeans from turning out for the annual Independence Day celebrations. The festivities commemorating the seventeenth anniversary of independence began on Sunday night with the flag raising ceremony behind the Supreme Court. Official ceremonies on the twenty first were held at the Memorial Park and featured addresses by both Prime Minister Said Musa and Leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow. It was his first Independence Day speech as leader of the nation and Musa used the occasion to remind Belizeans that since 1981 the country has grown, and that like every living thing, it too experiences growing pains. There have been hard times, Musa said, but through it all, Belizeans never lost faith in the belief that we are the ones best suited to govern ourselves.
Said Musa, Prime Minister
“As we look back through the pages of our history we need to remember that the road to nationhood was never easy, the work of nation building never done. We need to recall the many efforts and sacrifices of our people through the ages, whose memory of struggle inspires us to fight for better days.
Today there is a new joy in the land and people are now taking to heart the theme of this year’s celebration, that proclaims the glorious future. There is a new joy because there is a new vision and a new hope, which brings on the knowledge that the people will have a greater say in the taking of decisions that affect their lives. They have made it clear, their overwhelming desire to set free the creative and enterprising spirit of our nation so that we can get the economic train moving again.
They have made clear their commitment to the vision of a new Belize where executives, workers, fishermen and farmers, women and young people will have the opportunity to work to make life better, where government is held accountable and the laws and institutions are honored and respected. We must re-educate ourselves in the spirit of self-reliance and independence and remind ourselves that before consumption comes production; before production, investment; before investment, savings and before savings, income – the reward of work.
Our people need work, together we will generate the jobs. Our people need housing. Together we will build mansions of the free Belize, where all her children may dwell. With college of our convictions we are determined to move forward to break the cycle of crushing poverty and the scourge of crime. Some mistakes will be made along the way but as one writer put it, “better the occasional sins of a government acting out of a spirit of charity than the constant omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its indifference”.”
In his first official speech as Leader of the Opposition, Dean Barrow took the opportunity to criticize the new government for what he claimed was its disrespect for the nation’s traditions, laws and constitution. Following the official ceremonies, which also included a fly over by B.D.F. defender aircraft, there was the people’s parade, ending with an all-day jump up on Regent and Albert Streets.
