Editorial
Twenty two years ago to the day The Montserrat Reporter (TMR) published an editorial captioned, “Dealing with our fears in Disasters“. It was July 21, 1995 and it was the first news, sounds and evidence of the beginning of a new eruption of Soufriere Hills volcano.
Every year since then we have not ceased to remember and remind residents and Montserratians of the events at the start and following. And. If one were to listen to the Chief Minister of the time, the fear exhumed from the belief that the eruption is not yet done its phase. Unlike some others he offers solutions which still come out of the ‘fear’.
In that editorial we quoted from a previous editorial seven weeks before: “When one is disturbed by fear, then the heart is not in its right place. When one is involved in worries and anxieties, then the heart is not in its right place (and the mind has lost its balance). When the mind isn’t there, we look but do not see, listen but do not hear and eat but do not know the flavor of the food. In these situations, how can our lives be right?”
We now run some excerpted paragraphs: Perhaps this fear and panic that we sometimes experience have become more habitual since the visit of ‘Mr. Hugo’. Now we add, “since the volcanic crisis, still so alive!
“We should not have to rely on His Excellency and the Chief Minister, who for the most part can only pass on information given to them. There are trained people who should know how to gather and disseminate relative information to achieve a desired effect in times of disasters or threatening disasters. The obvious impasse during a news conference last night is totally uncalled for, unprofessional and even foolish.”
“We have developed serious problems in instilling and dealing with the fears of our people. It could be that these fears are not recognized. Not only should we discern and deal with them but we must know that there all types of fears.”
Anyone seriously interested in the affairs and state of Montserrat as it relates to moving forward ‘eventually’ towards real development, should understand the significance of the repetition of those but only few of the paragraphs from that editorial and many others since.
The biggest fear we hear expressed by Montserrat and seemingly the rest of the BOTs, we are really only concerned about Montserrat, is the UK’s eventual departure from being an active member in the European Union.
From the first day of the ‘Brexit’ announcement even before Cameron departed, he put the BOTs and other minds at ease by promising that their interest would be taken ‘on board’. What we need to realise that the UK parliament keeps its promise, but yes, it is up to those concerned to remind from time to time.
Montserrat in particular has had its future committed through the UK parliament over and over, but clearly none of those responsible to recognise and follow through seem to know what this is all about.
WE will provide the facts, but ask now that there be a straightening up and jump out of the fears that beseech us and put the right structures in place to allay the fears of all.
There are numerous UK government reports and especially DFID available for study. There alone Montserrat will see how mistakenly we have been for years now about where we should have been and where we are going. Fears can disappear and that culture dissipated.
Check: House of Commons International Development Committee – UK aid: allocation of resources – Seventh Report of Session 2016–17
