Editorial – December 18, 2015 :
This week, hearing someone debating or referencing Montserrat’s disappointing state of existence economically, saying that the people must learn not to dwell in the past, we began seeking an understanding what that statement really meant.
Unfortunately, constraints did not allow finding who made the comment, but a couple of persons were heard discussing that very statement, one of them agreeing that Montserratians are dwelling in the past. They referenced the desire for and building of the market in Little Bay and the request and plans to have an Evergreen round-about like that which existed in the buried capital Plymouth. The other explained that the people who were asking for that were not looking for a replacement of the Evergreen roundabout but rather some place that would be similar where the people might ‘hang out’ like they did on a Friday evening after work as they began the weekend of rest!
The point was made that it is impossible to move ahead if the present is not a reality and understanding how one got there. The belief was that anyone was so stuck in what existed in the past that they cannot see beyond that.
While that may not be the case, hearing a Minister tell the Montserratians living abroad, a forum made of mostly those who had found it necessary to leave Montserrat during the crisis, that several of the required infrastructure needed to be in place for Montserrat to become viable economically, with specific reference to the needs of ports (sea and air), that they must deal with ‘one at a time’.
That tells a story. Especially when there have been complaints that the previous Premier had caused embarrassment to at least one of his Ministers in halls at Westminster, London, who dared to mention during a visit that Montserrat needed to concentrate on getting a proper airport. The immediate question was whose decision or suggestion that was? Did the Premier and his deputy put the case in their new economic development plan the urgent need for an airport and a fully functioning seaport? If they did, is it that Her Majesty’s Government refused or discouraged the proposals?
Whichever the scenario that is not what we hear in the many utterances, promises that have been made within the past four years. That cannot be the position following the utterances of understanding that while establishing the partnership for prosperity etc., especially taking the Montserrat’s case in hand, that it is necessary to put forward the needed priorities.
Is it possible that there is a case of such small thinking, misplaced, misguided or otherwise with a reliance on everything misunderstood that Montserrat finds itself incapable of the strength to do and seek the right things.
There is a very bad need for the kind of seriousness, courage, meaningful and unified leadership of honesty and integrity, necessary to leap Montserrat forward. It is what it needs because without these passions it is the harder, more difficult it will become.
The help is there. Some tools are broken, but can still easily be fixed, although not all of them. The fixing will not come from good sounding words, but saying and doing the right things and in addition, honesty. Certainly, whether there were mistakes or dishonest actions, these must be known, dealt with and put to rest with as much knowledge and understanding of what transpired. If not, they will forever haunt and bite.
