September 22, 2017
Throughout, The Montserrat Reporter in print but mostly on line through the small opportunities available, we’ve tried to record the passage of three of the most destructive and expensive hurricanes in history, certainly since Hugo in the case of Montserrat and others after it.
Montserrat, since it had lost the most productive part of the island from St. Peters to the extreme tip of the south (east to west) to include the capital, to the erupting volcano which began in July, 1995, has not suffered loss that set it back at any time. So much so that eyebrows raised when emergency helicopters landed at the airport with British soldiers, supposedly brought in to help reconstruction after Maria. At whose request?
Barbuda, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten after Irma and recently Dominica have been ‘flattened’ and destroyed. It will be years to come back to normalcy, but amidst what we deem ‘unreasonable’ claims of not speedy enough aid and support mainly from the UK, the fact is then it is that aid that will matter.
Dominica who was wrecked mostly with water by Erica two years ago had rebounded to a point they were offering immediate aid to the Irma sufferers, just before Maria came to silence that and reverse them to asking for immediate help from the world. Such has been the devastation, decimation of Hurricane Maria, which continued into Puerto Rico. That has been the general cry of these two hurricanes which followed Harvey that water mainly destroyed parts of Florida and Texas.
We remember all the time all the help that came our way in the many if not every area of life and living in Montserrat, and pray that our Caribbean neighbours will learn from any short comings we may have developed or experienced as they move into the future. Montserrat must continue to pray for itself, dearly, and for the rest.
But, Montserrat while it has not as much to complain about, able to aid in whatever small way the island has had some turmoil, administratively, politically and economically that will set it back after three years of waiting, longing, disunity and really corruptible attitudes and behavior.
Things really came to a head with a firing late in July, the announcement of the early departure/removal of Governor Carriere and before that the firing of a most endeared public officer in Carl Gomersall and then during the hurricane disturbances the dismissal of Minister Claude Hogan, heralded by many, it had been late in coming.
Hogan’s firing came shortly after a ‘strange’ trip to the Governor claiming they had lost or no confidence in their PDM leader Donaldson Romeo, after which he sought to explain: “Of course, you have to have these discussions. I don’t want the people to see it like we are trying to overthrow or remove anybody…The Premier can fire each and every one of us, I want to make that very clear…” he said on a show on Radio Montserrat.
Parliamentary Secretary Gregory Willock one of those who had joined him in the trip to the Governor, was also on radio, and he said: “Unless we don’t care about the people and we just gonna continue and ignore their concerns. We have to stop and say look, check, what are we doing wrong? How can we readjust?”
Premier Romeo claimed he had to act after these activities, of which there were more, dismissing Minister Hogan and replacing him with David Osborne, also one of those who had joined in the trip to the Governor. Some of these have reportedly not been attending the Party’s caucus and planning meetings; have not up to now contributed to the party’s debt for their outstanding campaign that beleaguered the island.
Then came the information that the Governor at the beginning of an ENDPRAC meeting co-chaired by Governor and Premier, (so it is supposed to be) informed she was or Period of public emergency by virtue of the powers of “…your own Constitution, she had informed.
Here again and even worse than the Gomersall situation the Premier was taken by surprise as were others when they learnt he was not consulted. However as at the time of writing this, there was no news that the Proclamation had been published.
Gomersall’s firing is disgraceful and the facts surrounding it though still not clear or not being revealed are known enough to know that the firing which is about to end up in Court, is despicable and so corruptible.
Unbiased observers will see this as a serious setback for the beginning of what would have been the first step in a good future. When the facts get known it will be seen as an adulterated corruption. The question that will need to be answered, all who were involved in it and were all the corrupted goals the same?
See related stories in this issue.
