It was our intention to follow-up on the sink of Governance on Montserrat which highlighted itself following, in fact before the advent of three hurricanes, Irma, Jose and Maria, which even now Montserrat can still count its blessings enjoyed perhaps because its people are still yet to overcome the deaths, spiritually, physical and otherwise experienced since 1989, seriously aggravated from mid-1995.
October 20, 2017
We recall, in case those responsible have not comprehended its importance, that heralding in the ‘agreement’ that was supposed to document and cement the partnership in May 2012, that ‘governance’ was an integral and important component.
That was pushed time and time again in just about every document involving aid and assistance for any reason. Look at this from 2015/16 Budget Aid Business Case – the project supports the provision of public services to meet the reasonable assistance needs of the population of Montserrat, including health, education and securing air and sea access. See this: “Improving Montserrat’s governance is also an important part of achieving greater self-sufficiency over time.”
The 2012 White Paper[1] sets out a vision for Territories to be vibrant and flourishing, proudly retaining aspects of their British identity and generating wider opportunities for their people. In It has three main strands: (1) to strengthen the engagement and interaction between the UK and the OTs; (2) to work with OTs to strengthen good governance arrangements, public financial management and economic planning; and (3) to improve the quality and range of support available.
In November last year (two years already late) The Premier reported: A Programme Management Office is being set up under the Ministry of Finance, to host and expedite our priority development projects; on a set timeline. This will improve our value for money business cases, project and programme governance, transparency, and risk management. Such measures will help us improve our ability to effectively implement a sound development programme. This was the culmination of months of planning which began since March 2015.
Why are we at this juncture complaining that our governance which has been the centre of all the discussions and activities for the last six years at least have now hit an all-time low while FCO and DFID particularly basically reneging on their responsibilities at the slightest opportunity. GoM to ensure that its communication efforts continue to focus on the practical impact of MoU reforms.
Good governance has some basic characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. Good governance is responsive to the present and future needs of the organization, exercises prudence in policy-setting and decision-making, and that the best interests of all stakeholders are taken into account. Proper and responsible communication in its various forms is essential.
Government, Governor, Deputy Governor, Ministers, public servants, there is no room for deceit and those other corruptible things such as ignorance, grandstanding, selfishness, and greed. Any takers that many would say, ‘Ignorance is no excuse to the ‘law”.
Good governance means that the processes implemented by the organization to produce favorable results, meet the needs of its stakeholders, while making the best use of resources – human, technological, financial, natural and environmental – at its disposal.
Accountability is a key tenet of good governance. The Constitution takes care of these requirements. What we refer to when we call on the Governor to apologise, will expose her understanding of this. By making the strange appearances on radio to do otherwise doing what we see as being selective and not acknowledging her own responsibility in this regard is sinking governance even lower.
Please get beyond the shallow attempts having spoken to the lessons learned, which ought to have been learnt long before now. A week after arriving in Montserrat in 2015, some observations made which should have been all the lessons needed.
[1] FCO, 2012.The Overseas Territories: Security, Success and Sustainability..
