Are Belizeans poor by choice or by force?

Sunday, July 19^th, 2015. By Flora Pereira: “Belize’s water wells are running dry while Guatemala’s water fountains are overflowing! If GOB just build a proper water line then we will not need water wells or to even fetch from the over flowing fountains”.

With the state of our economy here in Belize, it saddens me to see poor people spend their disposable income in another country such as Guatemala. What I witnessed today at our western border blew me into madness.

The monies being spent over in Melchor is definitely theirs to do with as they please, and it is not my place to tell anyone how to spend their money, but I can’t help but think of the effects it has on the Belizean economy.

Yesterday alone there were approximately forty two buses parked at the western border and today thirty six buses. That is a total of 78 passenger buses in less than 48 hours, carrying approximately 5,000 people across the border.

If the average Belizean is spending BZ$200.00 this simply means that our economy just lost one Million Belize Dollars (BZ$1,000,000.00). Imagine, in two days approximately 1 million dollars was pumped into the Guatemalan economy directly out of Belize!

The World Bank’s 2000 World Development Report defines poverty as an unacceptable deprivation in a human’s well-being that can comprise both physiological and social deprivation.

A person can be considered poor if he or she is unable to secure the goods and services to meet these basic material needs

My million dollar question is: Are we poor by choice or by force? Please feel free to comment and shed some light in order to help our Belizeans understand the gravity of the damage on our economy by spending our Belizean dollars in a foreign country.

The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Belize Media Group.