Grand Welcome to 2024!

Like most Vincentians, I believe, I welcome the emergence of the New Year 2024. 2023 had been one of our worst years for a long time. The 55 murders recorded for the year, the last just shortly before midnight, tell its own story. We have for two consecutive years broken records for murder rates. In passing I note that Jamaica has had a reduction in murders and rapes.

In fact, the number of murders had dropped from 1511 in 2022 to 1393 in 2023, a drop of 7.8 percent. That country also recorded a reduction in rapes and in wounding. Do we get official records of rape and woundings? I cannot remember seeing any such. Some welcome news was given to us. A few days before the end of the year we were informed that two persons were charged with murder. Of course, we will await further developments. I am not sure how to respond to the other bit of news that 2 persons had surrendered 4 guns and 40 rounds of ammunition. Given the number of illegal guns around I can only assume that this is an effort to try to encourage others to follow suit before the New Gun Amnesty Laws come into effect. One other thing that stood out was the number of young persons who had died during the year. The number of deaths generally stood out. I hope the health authorities had been monitoring this for word on the ground is that it was caused by the COVID vaccines. It is not clear to me how this conclusion was arrived at.

We are yet to get to the bottom of the seemingly mysterious plane that had left Canouan, purportedly on a sight seeing excursion. Initial contact by the Air Traffic Control was six minutes after take-off. Then nothing. There was speculation that the plane had turned off its transponder. Why, is not clear to us. Our Prime Minister told the Press that there was “no evidence of anything illegal boarded that aircraft from Canouan.” The question is- did it bring in anything illegal? The PM did say, however, that “the information that we have through the contact from the external authorities that they have a clear idea as to what happened.” (As reported by I Witness News.) Apparently giving a lesson to Kenton Chance on Communication, the PM said “But a matter of that nature they don’t expect me to be coming out and talking every bit of information that comes to me through the security forces. This is what I mean about communication . . . Sometimes you have to know when you must talk, what you must say and if you must say anything at all (He obviously felt that was the time he needed to at least say something, even though it left all of us confused) And sometimes, you just have to wait until the time is necessary and desirable for you to say certain things.” He was confident that most ‘sensible’ people listening to him understood what he was saying. “You may use a particular visit as a decoy for something what you want to do. Eh?” he said and chuckled. My job now is to find one of the sensible people to get a clearer understanding of what this is all about!

The major issue for us in this new year will be the fate of the economy. As usual there are discrepancies between official statements on the economy and what people on the ground are feeling. Obviously, there is little trickle down! We noted with some concern the bonuses and different packages offered to workers in our neighbouring countries, so we stood in our shoes and wondered! Officialdom is expecting better things this year but of course, it depends on the state of the US and UK economies and what happens with inflation, and how we go about our business. With the war in Ukraine and on the Gaza strip and the fear of it spreading beyond the West Bank, one can never be sure. We are moving well into the ‘Silly Season” where politics will shape the economy and things will be done because of their political rather than economic impact.

What will the Budget bring for us? What opportunities will it provide for us? Or do we continue to go round and round the mulberry tree? Will we continue to sing for our supper during the “Silly Season”, or will we break our silence knowing that “Silence like a Cancer grows”? Will 2024 be a break out year for us when we take control of our lives? There are of course a number of other things that need fixing that this column will bring to the fore. One of these is the state of poverty, but this like the others could not be fixed until we admit that they exist in a state that calls for urgent action!

•  Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian