Member of Parliament
Donaldson Romeo, Opposition Leader, Montserrat
leads the opposition side of the Montserrat Legislative Assembly, as one of three (independent) members. He champions the notion that the Government that seats six of the nine elected members of the Legislative Assembly, does not get it right in their approach to the Britain in getting the support Montserrat needs to ride out of the disastrous effects on the island and its people particularly from the volcanic crisis which began in in July 1995.
He believes and expresses that it is imperative that Montserrat examines and understand the past in order to make the best decisions for the development of the island. The MP opposition leader launched his request for support from every Montserratian to obtain what he says could even be repatriation for what he says HMG (Her Majesty’s Government has acknowledged, “the willful neglect the people of Montserrat have been subjected in the past 17 years…”
“I am on the verge of a campaign to get Montserratians worldwide familiar with the willful neglect the people of Montserrat have been subjected in the past 17 years … mobilising our people to insist that the new British government keeps its word to reverse the neglect of its predecessors,” he said in a follow-up interview with The Montserrat Reporter (TMR).
He says getting into the seriousness of his argument: “Through this campaign I hope to encourage HMG to finally fulfill its legal obligations under the UN Charter Article 73 through its settled policies to meet the development needs and promote the self sufficiency of Montserrat.”
Repeating the mistakes of the past
In his most recent program on ZJB Radio “Opposition Time” August 31, when his side is given two hours a month free airtime, he opened up by saying that the time had come for him to share information he had been gathering. “It must be effectively used to put Montserrat on the right track. I am convinced we must acknowledge what happened in our recent past in order to correct or reverse the errors of the past. We must make sure we don’t keep repeating the same mistakes and the only way to do that is be sure of the good and the bad things we’ve done in the past,” he said.
He recalled how DFiD’s Minister Allan Duncan had said publicly in Montserrat, that the new British government wants to reverse the neglect of the past, the neglect towards British Overseas Territories. He said that he was sure when Duncan said that, we realize that Montserrat, “would be top of that list and that in fact it is not just ten years but probably some fifteen years or more that we’ve been going through this struggle and facing the consequences of that neglect…”
The MP said he was thankful the new British government has offered to take a new approach and, “we are bound to take advantage of it.”
At that sitting, Romeo sought to set out in brief terms some of the evidence from a document he called ‘The Naked Truth’, which he thought Montserrat should use in their pursuit to deal with the continued failure of Montserrat to progress. He set out how the options that were given to Montserrat at the early stages of the crisis as it heightened, created many problems referencing several of the International Development Committee hearings led by the present Government, which spoke to “[S]ome judgements will have to be made as to a sustainable population in the north of Montserrat. HMG says that it will pay the fares of any Montserratian who wishes to return. There must, however, be practical constraints which limit the number who can now live there. The [Sustainable Development] Plan should thus be designed for such a sustainable level of population.” (IDC ’97, p. xxix).”
He concluded in his call on Montserratians to join him to persuade the Government of Montserrat that they must convince, “The United Kingdom Government to address this problem by improving opportunities for people who choose to stay on the island. This can only be done by the effective delivery of relevant aid.” [IDC ’97, para. 45.
An MOU is not a binding or legal document
Evolving from calls to the Hon Romeo during the program, it was discovered that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by DFID and Premier Meade on May 1, 2012, was by explanation of HMG, not a binding or legal document on either party.
A document on the HMG website explains: “An MOU records international “commitments”, but in a form and with wording which expresses an intention that it is not to be legally binding.
However, among several other notes and explanations, it also notes, “A linguistic check is necessary for an MOU,” along with an NB that says (as the document compares a TREATY and an MOU): “Confusingly some treaties also have that name.”
In that interview we report on, Romeo had some problems with the MoU between DFID and Montserrat in view of his campaign. “Instead of creating a progressive partnership in development, the MoU imposes demands for cuts and unrealistic deadlines that the government most likely cannot reasonably reach. Thus continuing the colonial over lordship where the DFID holds the handle and the GoM the blade.
