Within the last two weeks, information arrived that the UK Government Commons Select Committee announces inquiry on future of UK Overseas Territories.
The announcement was made July 20, 2018, but nothing reached us until a usually very reliable source drew our attention to this.
This came of course around the same time, we had privately though it can be gleaned from our pronouncements time and again being” pretty sick with the ignorance that surrounds us”, One reaction to this statement referred to the difficulties the Premier has in getting his ‘tough’, or more important ideas and decisions implemented.
But here we are, facing what can serve as a stall, brought upon ourselves if we do not know how to keep or step up the special position we had from latest 2008.
When Premier Romeo spoke about reversing the request, suggestion by former Premier Meade re ‘Decolonisation’, it signaled something that should really get those really serious about a Montserrat (present, intermediate or future) and its progress.
We soon had just around the time this announcement was made, former Premier Meade, doing what someone shared with us. Under caption, ‘RTM Confession: We suspected all along that with the rushed 2010 Constitution and the surprise Quito request to the UN Decolonisation Committee; RTM was selling out Montserrat for the promise of increased aid from the UK. Now years later we get a full verbal admission from Mr Meade, that this was indeed his goal; and embarrassingly he is claiming a meagre $10million worth of success.”
After making the statement to the UN Committee on Decolonisation, Meade said that “he is “certain that the UK supports our stance.” But as we pointed out back then, at no time has he consulted with the elected representatives of the Montserrat people, nor has he done so with the Montserrat public!
Then we had a response from the Premier which we find just confusing, considering all the other things that RTM had said in an hour-long discourse of a ‘Rookie Government’.
The UK Select Committee states: “How the Foreign Office manages its responsibility to ensure the security and stability of the UK’s 14 Overseas Territories is to be considered in a new inquiry by the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
“The Overseas Territories have a special place in our constitution. They are self-governing but part of the United Kingdom. As our place in the world changes, we need to think about the effect on them and whether the structure of our relationships still work. The Committee will look at these distant parts of our community and look at how we work to support all our communities.”
As we suggested earlier, the time is upon us again, as it is with several other matters for Government to put in place committees even if the same people serve more than one, because we are few and small, include those in the diaspora who have contributions to make, and they are few also, never mind the utterances many of which really adds nothing most times; then again every little bit counts and ensures nothing gets by.
This is a serious time and comes when history will be important and promises remembered and bad actions recounted. We will have to know ourselves.
No one will have to be left out, because regarding this inquiry coming up, anyone who doesn’t get his thoughts in locally, however he/she sees it, however he thinks it will be perceived will have the means to get them directly to the Committee. There are guideline how to do this.
There are some matters being placed on the table even as we speak that require urgent attention, and although this inquiry is imminent, these are matters that should be dealt with now.
