Musa relents; will withdraw U.H.S. loan motion
A few small cracks in the wall began to show Wednesday afternoon and by this morning the phone and data lines between Belmopan and Belize City were buzzing with rumours that the Prime Minister was reconsidering his hard line stance on the U.H.S. loan motion. The talk was confirmed this afternoon when Said Musa, following a parliamentary caucus, went on national radio to announce the withdrawal of the motion. The speech was not what you would call an act of contrition, but after a few digs at the Opposition and plugs for his own good intentions and negotiating skills, the P.M. admitted that the will of the people had finally prevailed and he would pursue a private sector solution for U.H.S. From early morning we had been trying to speak to the Prime Minister and sent Janelle Chanona on a mission to the nation’s capital. Shortly after his recording session he agreed to a one on one.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“What happens is that I will indicate in a statement that I am not moving the motion, that I am not pursuing the motion and that’s the end of it. In other words, the Opposition now will have absolutely no excuse to cause any disorder or violence tomorrow.”
Janelle Chanona
“And that’s indefinitely deferred then until you feel that it can come back?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Exactly, I am not giving myself a definite timetable, it’s one week, two weeks, three weeks or a month. I believe that within a short time we will be able to come back to the House with a new proposal, a workable solution to this issue.”
“And I believe that I owe it to the people to pursue all options and that is the direction we are going, to see if we can get a viable private sector group to take over this institution and at the same time work a public sector/private sector partnership to ensure that the Belizean people have greater access to this very high quality tertiary care facility.”
“But the government can still provide that service and greater accessibility and affordability to those that need it through subsidies as opposed to through ownership. That if you like is the shift in tact that we are now pursuing. We have to find a solution, that has always been my position, a workable solution, a sustainable solution that will provide better healthcare for all our people.”
Janelle Chanona
“Where is the bank in all of this?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Well we have to continue work with the bank. I believe the bank will be reasonable about it, I certainly hope so. But the truth of the matter is in the final analysis I have to think about what’s best for the Belizean people.”
“I find it a bit shocking that the Opposition is so power-hungry. I shouldn’t really be surprised, but I am, I still am. So power-hungry and anxious for power that they seem not willing to wait until the people to decide when they get that chance in the general elections, which are not that far away. I mean we have up until March of next year, that’s a very short time in the life of a country, so why are they behaving like this. I find that very disturbing, so disturbing that obviously it’s one of the factors that meditated in my mind. I cannot preside over a situation that will result in innocent people being hurt simply out of political greed and this need to resort to violence. That is what I find most shocking in all this.
As to whether our people are irrational in this, too emotional, as a politician I understand that, I understand how people can be easily inflamed, I understand how the Opposition has been poisoning the minds of many of our people, because the facts really have not come out, what is the real objective here. And the real objective is really, sincerely to find a solution that will provide better healthcare for all our people. Can anyone really disagree with that, that that is a noble objective that we should all as a people, as a Belizean people strive for? Yes, you can find all kinds of technical reasons to challenge the way we went about it, they have raised questions about the guarantee and all this. Those are all procedural issues and they have an avenue to challenge that, indeed a group has gone to court over that issue. I have not problem with that, that is our system, the rule of law. But why use, as they perceive it, a technical reason because they have never said that a debt should not be honoured. If we go down that road into saying that people can just take on debts and we don’t have to honour it, that to me would spell economic disaster for our country because we are dealing with a government and a government cannot behave like that, a responsible government that is otherwise, it would destroy the investment climate in our country, it will destroy the stability in our country.
But yes, I understand fully, I believe, the disappointment if you like, even the anger of some of our people out there, because I do believe this matter has been distorted beyond recognition now as if though there is some hidden agenda here for us to try and benefit, myself or people in my party, or indeed the original principals of U.H.S. when that absolutely is not the case. It’s a case where I acted in 2004 because I really believed it was not correct that we should preside over the dismantling, the collapse of a high quality institution, a hospital, a healthcare facility that was rendering service to people that with government’s support in helping, in subsidising if you like, the poor, indigent people, and indeed other Belizeans who need help. We must find a solution to this problem. I don’t think that it can be challenged that this facility is one of the best in our country, that we have some of the best doctors and specialists. And should we lose these people, should they go a look for jobs abroad? Why tear down, why not let us find a way to continue to build? There is no doubt, as the argument has been made; that the public sector health system continues to need further upgrading, continues to need more reform. The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, and we have done a lot in that area, but we must do more. We are building more facilities all over this country, we are building a community hospital in San Ignacio; we are building a new polyclinic in San Antonio, Toledo; we are building a mental health facility right here in the nation’s capital Belmopan and we have upgraded all the facilities in our country. Yes, there is need for us to continue to do more, yes there is need for us to continue to emphasise primary healthcare, preventative care, because that will avoid a lot of the diseases that come about later in life. But it’s a fact of life that people do need, at some stage in their life, whether from accidents or whether from injuries on the road, or indeed from lifestyle disease, the time comes when the need help, at the curative, critical level which can wipe out a middle class person’s budget for instance. A family that has worked all their lives to save, to invest, and to take care of their families and yet they can be wiped out overnight simply because of health costs. And this is not unique to Belize; it’s a problem all over the world in escalating health costs. We have to find a way to address this. Ours is a small nation, three hundred thousand people, I do believe we can address it. But I take fully onboard the real concern of our people, and that is that the tax payers should not be carrying the burden for this tertiary care facility and that is the area now that we are addressing by pursuing a private sector solution to the problem.”
Janelle Chanona
“P.M. that said, and I’ve asked you this before, do you regret not coming forward earlier and telling the people just that?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I do, yes. I have to tell you today that I do, yes.”
Janelle Chanona
“Would you like to say anything P.M., I know a couple thousand people are planning to come to Belmopan tomorrow. This changes things, but what would be your message to them before tomorrow now that you’ve changed your tact?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“My message to our people is, I am not a monster. I am not trying to do something to destroy their lives, to hurt anyone. The government is here to try and serve the people. Serve the people: that has been our motto. And I would ask our people to give us a chance to work this thing through, let’s not resort to extreme measures, there is no need for this. There is no need for violence; there is no need for disorder. Yes, we have an Opposition that seems bent on pursing this line, let us not fall prey to that. Indeed, the Council of Churches were very strong about that yesterday. This has been a peaceful country, we’ve always pursued a positive, constructive line as a people, we cannot allow that to go by the way over one issue. Let us look at the big picture, let us look at all that this government has done since 1998, in health, in education, in providing better housing for our people.”
Janelle Chanona
“People inside and outside your party have laid this squarely at your doorstep. What do you say to your critics that this is a sincere attempt by your government, by your administration for equal healthcare?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I have to accept responsibility obviously for everything that goes on in my government, and I would never stop saying that because I really believe that. What I would say is this, that I believe I have been a responsible person, I certainly know I am not driven by any personal ambition here or any personal agenda here. Said Musa has nothing to benefit from all this. You may not agree with what I’ve done, you may not agree with decisions from time to time that I make, but every time I make a decision it’s because I believe it’s the right one to do and I would say to the people, look at the whole picture, but in the end you have the final say, you the people. You will judge me and judge my party come election day and I fully understand and will respect that. And I do believe that once they have the whole picture, once they have all the facts before them, this People’s United Party, which has a proud history, will continue to be strong and I believe will continue to have the support of the majority of our people.”
Janelle Chanona
“Would you then tell your people, the Belizean people, that you are presiding over a united house once again? Is all well there? I know there is still the issue of what happens now with Mr. Espat and Mr. Hyde.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Our party needs to strive for unity. In unity there is strength, when we are divided that is how things fall apart. It is very obvious that there is need for us to be very clear about the direction we need to go. I have tried to set out the vision of our party since 1998 when I became the Prime Minister. My vision is by and large unanimously accepted in the Party and the direction we are going, but we are human beings and as human beings there have frailties, failings on all our sides, none of us is perfect. But we do have to strive for the best interest of our people to find common ground and to work in unity and that will continue to be my position.”
“It has been a trying time for our party and for me in particular as leader of the Party. I think it has been a difficult, very difficult time for all of us in the People’s United Party and in our government. I know for our supporters it has been a very trying time as well and as I indicated in the statement, we have consulted with our constituents in our various divisions, yesterday we met with the Council of Churches, we had a meeting of the National Economic Council that includes the business community, the unions, the productive sector and others, and as I have said, coming out of all this, with all these consultations, ongoing consultations and indeed the need for us to listen, listen to the people, that’s how I made my decision.”
According to a release from the People’s United Party, they have taken a decision against demonstrating on Friday and have asked their supporters not to come to Belmopan.
