Editorial – August 15, 2014 :
We may never have the opportunity to question the Premier about his real and honest reason for turning down the invitation to attend the eighth UK-Caribbean Ministerial Forum where there were high-level talks with the Foreign Secretary, FCO Minister for the Caribbean, Mark Simmonds, and other UK Government Ministers.
(See Governor in bed with Premier in this issue) The meetings focused on education, energy security, economic growth and development, and except that the Premier is completely disinterested the island’s future, it is difficult to imagine that he failed Montserrat’s presence, which could have been provided by another Minister.
When the Governor agreed with the Premier like he has on every opportunity he is presented, when we questioned how could Montserrat benefit from being absent at this time? The Premier was in the UK and Europe around the same time. He had told the press earlier that he would meet with Minister Duncan for a one on one discussion on the port and supposedly other “economic developmental” matters.
His utterances about not having the obligation to hold discussions or provide information with not even his ministers before he goes to negotiate on Montserrat’s behalf may well haunt him. Of course our own statements may well be wasted as they have in the past, because we perceive that the Premier cares little about the welfare or progress of Montserrat.
There is much that happen in Montserrat that do not require the leadership that some people claim to be so good. It is sad to listen to what is now being considered as progress when there are today so many people asking, where is it. “These people must be blind,” say members of the governing politicians (to include one member of the other side,). But, if more than one person in the less than 5,000 persons of Montserrat should have any negative word to say, it is worthy of note. Especially if these persons can testify to the woes that continue to befall them because of the hardship they suffer, when their only sin would be either to disagree or complain, or suffer in silence. That they do not benefit from even the sympathy of the small few who can splurge bank accounts (not in Montserrat), that they may well use up for themselves and their families in medical bills, from overindulgence, be it in alcohol and other ungodly activities; greed and corruption.
Will 100% of the people say that no one has benefited? Of course not! When the Minister of Finance boasts that they received from DFID over 420 million dollars over the past five years, he should go on to explain how it ended up that people of Montserrat do wonder how, “things are so hard.” “Can you imagine that in this election year things are so hard?” they ask.
The DFID Aide Memoires with respect to Montserrat’s budget affairs are the reports and records of DFID’s staff who check on the moneys they are entrusted to provide for the upkeep of Montserrat. These reports for the past three years have been damning of the way government has conducted the affairs of the economy and development of the island. The first thing they complain: “It continues to be challenging for GoM to provide all the information required by the DFID review team to fully assess budget performance in 2013/14 and GoM’s forecasts for 2014/15 and beyond[1].“
Then this government boasts they have brought Montserrat from ‘nothing to something,’ and how the economy has grown. Contrary to that dishonest representation, there was growth of 3.8% in 2008, to be compared with the DFID’s statement today, “Economic growth has continued to be modest, estimated at 0.9% in 2013/14, compared to 1.6% the previous year.”
Certainly, the ones who are blind are not the ones who are claiming the badness of the economy! There are all kinds of claims being made and so much of it is dishonest and hypocritical. A scared public service will get the chance to say enough is enough and seek to regain the control that good leaders would cherish and flourish. How a Governor who promised much but delivered so little helped to cramp their development, responsibility and accountability, may then be a next source for attention.
