The Honourable Bertrand Osborne and his Government are to be commended for openly involving other members of the community in the process of finding solutions to keeping the 6000 people still in Montserrat as a viable community.
The Government had invited managers and chairmen of the financial institutions last Wednesday morning to discuss a response and action to the insurance calamity. They were to meet that (June 25) afternoon with members of the Chamber and Private Sector Association for the same purpose, but for the volcano which went berserk on the eastern villages.
On Sunday evening a hastily organised meeting was also called to discuss a position to present to the Baroness upon her arrival to Montserrat for a second visit in two weeks.
Both of these meetings called upon the government to take some strong and tough positions with the British Government and in the case of the insurers a similar stance. But the members of these groups have come away wondering whether this government have the ‘savvy’ to be aggressive.
Sources close to the British entourage on island trying to help us in our cause and protect the British interest at the same time have said: “Montserratians are too nice, instead of saying that things are rough but we are making out, they ought to be making a lot noise for better treatment.”
These people, some of them agree that the red tape is unbearable, but they have a job to do and they have guidelines.
So what do we do? What we need is a massive injection of cash and equipment to:
firstly, PROPERLY give people who need replacement housing, and;
secondly, CREATE an environment that could be sustainable to exist.
We are going to need food and basic necessities, because there are those of us who will no longer be able to buy it.
Our people have already been humbled, never mind that we are unable to put up with the shelters and temporary housing; it is humbling to go overseas and beg shelter and food. That is easier, because our next door neighbour doesn’t see, but it is the same thing, never mind how welcome we are at the beginning.
A year ago when Nicholas Bonsor visited, he stated that they were committed to build the north. Since then we have been hearing that it is up to us. Baroness Chaulker said so; Faint came and said so; the Governor says so all the time and now the Baroness Liz Symons has repeated it over and over.
It is clear that we have no more time now left for pussyfooting, by the Montserrat or British Governments, or else we will all have no jobs, including the ministers and the civil servants.
