Editorial – September 27, 2013
This past week the main events at the Legislative Assembly sitting involved the passage of a Supplementary Appropriation Bill where they move money around from one vote to the next to increase some item, decreasing another in the process.
The Bill this time was for the total sum of $6,822,000 made up of mainly $6,291,500 for Education Infrastructure with some small other sums for Overseas Territories Environment Programme and Darwin Initiative Post Project under the development vote and 530,500 under the Supply Votes in respect of the Office of the Deputy Governor and Office of the Premier.
This usually bears little interest to the few listening or following the proceedings of the house which have become a bit intolerable and uninteresting to many. The debate that is generated from spending bills almost always carry the interest especially that it gives the opposition members a good opportunity to question and comment on anything financial and related.
Opposition leader Hon Donaldson Romeo, speaking after Dr. Lewis who was told that he could not speak from documents he did not share, challenged the Speaker just the same and began speaking about the Hon Premier Meade’s failed Motion of No Confidence against for Chief Minister John A Osborne (d’ced). Premier Meade interrupted to say he never brought any such motion.
That left many persons stunned and disappointed that the Premier could forget such an important action of his from 2005, causing him to bluntly request an apology from Romeo, but later in the face of evidence brought to him on radio via a recording of him presenting the motion, he while not refuting the recording, he ended saying he will have to check the facts for himself. An apology was demanded of him, which he said he would have no problem doing once he checked the matter out himself. That must have been embarrassing for him because, he had been offered irrefutable evidence by Romeo himself immediately after and he refused to take note.
The apology demand took place during a radio program where he was the lone presenter on the People’s program which has been limited to MCAP representatives to report on their four years in office. Elections are due next year and the Premier has announced that these will take place on September 12. That seems premature, but is also unofficial, for all kinds of reasons. He has however said his purpose for the announcement is to give all who wish to join the fray that many now seem to wary of.
The comments about Premier flowing from the www.mnialive.com website, were mostly very uncomplimentary. We believe the Premier, and company should seriously take note. Even the Hon. Speaker came in for mention. One comment questioned her failure to intervene when Meade began to “spew” his venom.
“So although she no doubt remembered Reuben Meade’s motion of no confidence which was seconded by her dear friend and MCAP leader Roselyn Cassell-Sealey, she refused to intervene as Reuben spewed his venom at Mr. Romeo and demanded an apology in his childish desire to try to portray Romeo as incompetent in his research and preparation,” one mnialive.com comment writer said.
However of interest and far more substance in terms away from the politics was the Premier’s pronouncement of the continued ambition to have a “signature hotel” at Little Bay, which he is looking at to come on stream in three to five years. Also his obvious change in rhetoric about previous governments.
As much as we believe Montserrat’s signature hotel future lies in “Rendezvous Bay”, the name Rendezvous is already such a catch, we believe that it is backward thinking (if there is thinking at all) that prevents our leaders and economy planners from reopening Montserrat’s former “signature hotel” in Old Towne. It will begin to grow the population and the economic future will look much brighter. It would take such little time for that to begin to show a change, if a decision could be made NOW that this will happen.
