by Man from Baker Hill
They said, just come! And yet again, another Christmas, Montserratians returning home are held up in Antigua.
And Chee Sus Cris Mus! What about the purpose built ferry? How come we are still struggling to decide on the location for the ferry to berth? After all, the sea has been rough at every bay around Montserrat at Christmastime for a million years.
Cheese Sus! The rough seas are no excuse for our awkwardness. Nineteen years of British assistance and one thousand million dollars of British aid, yet Montserrat cannot show one sustainable revenue earning enterprise that has arisen out all that aid. No wonder returning Montserratians will have to ‘doc up’ in Antigua, every Christmas. We will still say ‘jus come’, anyway.
As far back as 1997 Mr. She Eel laughingly proclaimed that despite the Whiteman’s prodding Montserratians cannot decide or agree on what they want. Now in 2014 we are at it again. We want a brand new Little Bay. None of the new Legislators cares about the 19 years of hard work that went on before they even contemplated running for political office. Oh my! It seems as if every elected politician has a personal vision for Little Bay; and every government wants to design and build their own jetty. But when will it be? Oh my!
It has been said that if you teach a man to fish, he should seek to understand fishing so as to be able to fish for himself.
And if you teach a man to fish and then give him a fishing boat, he ought to be able to make some sort of income out of fishing. So if the British gave One Billion dollars in aid to rebuild volcano ravaged Montserrat economically and socially, how come we are struggling to get back on tract? The British even designed a port and offered to build it for us. Oh my! Why do we struggle so much with ourselves?
We struggle, because our politicians have a ‘just come’ mentality. Cheese Sus, the new Legislators seem not to have any respect for the expectations of the people who elected them. It as if they will not recognize the energy that has gone into the past nineteen years of rebuilding, especially by the British. And worse yet, it is as if over the years the new Legislators never paid attention to the discussions and debates of Legislative Assembly. And Oh My! The rumors’ are abounding.
Yes! Rumors too, just come. But it must not be true that the New Government want an original hospital, or an old ‘Piper’s pond, or a brand new school and a new board of directors to build the jetty at the other port. No, they are just rumors; so I will not believe what I am hearing.
But what I do know is this. Montserrat is facing some very tough times ahead; and this ‘Just Come’ mentality will not work. This island needs some very serious economic leadership. It is time for Montserrat to fish for itself. It is high time for the one hundred million dollars spent at Little Bay to show economic returns.
Cheese Sus, so many projects over the last nineteen years, almost one thousand million dollars worth; and we cannot boast that any one of them can generate half-a- million dollars in sustainable income annually.
Again rumors! But I wonder if Montserrat has not gone beyond talk of shelters. That issue was effectively dealt with in 1995 when the management of the Montserrat Reporter Limited discussed That donation set the stage for the family units which, throughout the years, dotted the landscape from Frith’s to Drummonds. Check the November 1995 issue of the Montserrat Reporter for more details of the Manjack shelters.
Cheese Sus, the campaign is over. Montserrat must desist from talks about shelters. Instead, Montserrat needs an economic action plan befitting a people who have been taught how to fish. Every Government department has at least half-a-dozen university graduates among its staff. We must give them the opportunities to show their metal; set them loose on the economic action plans to turn some of the heavily financed projects into sustainable income generating enterprises.
Let us look at the fishing boat project MV Little Bay. Little Bay’s true economic cost is around $1000 per square foot. This real estate must be used to create economic activity. It is an economic waste to use it as a recreation centre for schools and cricket fields or sports complex; Little Bay is to stop Montserrat from begging for fish. The Monies spent at Little Bay by the British is, putting it mildly, to ‘teach a man to fish and give him a boat’; so that he can fish for himself and stop squandering and begging other people’s tax money.
Similarly, the economic value for Piper’s Pond, as it is now, exceeds $20,000 per square foot.
And any attempt to sell any of these properties by the square feet will be heavily subsidizing the buyer and robbing the people of Montserrat of their means to fish for themselves and to derive sustainable economic returns.
So clearly, the new leadership style for 2015 must be different.
But Cheese Sus Cris Mus! It is Christmas time. We must take time out to frolic.
However, as soon as the New Year starts, Montserrat must begin to examine or to re-examine each project past, present and future to test its ability to contribute towards our economic viability and sustainability.
Therefore we must prioritize so as not to dissipate our energies; and we must seek to enhance our economic journey by learning to generate income from the British and European Union developmental aid.
Again, Montserrat needs a very different type of leadership to take it forward and away from the ‘just come’ change the whole board political approach. Montserrat needs a leadership style that will embrace and use the best that is in all of us and for all of us.
Premier Romeo, Montserrat requires much more than your political team. Pay attention and listen; do not scrap every project that the previous government secured for Montserratians. Do not throw away the bath pan with the dirty water. We are all here to help you grow Montserrat; just come!
