P.M., Opposition Leader speak on Independence
On Friday Belize celebrated twenty-six years of Independence with tradition and pride. On twentieth night, Memorial Park was host to official ceremonies which included to the raising of the Belizean flag followed by a display of fireworks. The following morning, Prime Minister Said Musa and a distinguished list of dignitaries gathered at the park again for an inspection of the guard of honor, a parade by members of the Belize Defence Force and to witness the arrival of the Belize flag by air messenger. As is customary, Leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow and Prime Minister Said Musa each addressed the audience.
Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“Everyday we hear of new feats of our people, in culture, in the arts, in education, in technology in enterprise, it is this that makes our pride so radiant, so transcendent, and so wholly justified. There is still of course much to be done. Belize fu all ah wi, not completely, not totally, not as long as there are still huge pockets of unemployed poor, of alienated youth, of marginalized single mothers, not as long as on the southside of Belize City and too many district towns young men continue to drop like flies and murder most foul stalks the land. It is in the context of that threatening free fall that I would last like to place this anniversary. The usual suspects principally responsible for our social rot and urban decay, for the phenomenal rise in crime and violence are too well known not to hold hope high in thinking that we can confront and defeat these scourges.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“In twenty-six years we have proven that as a people we are capable of self-government, capable of making difficult choices and capable of adapting to changing times. Together we can make the years ahead among our nation’s finest if we but only heed George Price’s words uttered as long ago as 1964 that a government cannot solve all of a country’s problems, that we all have a responsibility to be nation builders. We should like true sons and daughters of this good Belizean soil, shoulder this responsibility, do our respective part to stop pointing the finger of blame. May God grant that on September twenty-first in some distant year, on this stage and before such a gathering as this, the Prime Minister may be able to say that ours was generation of believers and builders of Belize, land of the free by the Carib sea. A happy Independence Day to all.”
Following the ceremony, the politicians and their supporters led the Independence Day parade, made up principally by thousands of high schoolers, through the streets of Belize City to the Yabra green.
