Independence or election goodies!

As we reflect on this day, our 45th Year of Independence, there is no better place to start than with Vibrating Scakes 1979 Classic Song. “Independence is a milestone/ In our march to prosperity . . . We have a nation to build . . . Let us avoid being election tools!” I start here for I have difficulty deciding whether the goodies handed out in our PM’s Independence Anniversary Address are Independence gifts or a rallying call for the next General Election. I am of the view that elections will be held before Independence next year for I have difficulty thinking of what else will be left to hand out. Is this a case of “Champagne tastes on a Mauby Economy?” It will really be good to find out the financial cost of the “Package” to be delivered.

One would have expected that with still a lot left to be done with post Beryl and Volcanic eruption reconstruction, this would have been given top priority. And it was addressed. Income support will continue for unemployed heads of households, owners of micro enterprises, farmers, farm workers, fishers and their crew and workers laid off in the Tourism sector as a result of Hurricane Beryl will continue for a period into 2025. Repair programmes for houses damaged by the eruption of the Soufriere and hurricane Beryl will continue until houses are repaired. Then our PM stated, “I don’t have all the money as yet. It’s a huge task, but we are getting there. I am gathering it bit by bit, day by day, Sweet Jesus and together we will solve this housing programme that Beryl has created for us.” It will be good to have some accountability for donations, gifts and loans occurred so far and how much of it was spent.

That was largely for hurricane and eruption reconstruction. But there is much more in the Independence package. Among many others, there is the special cost of living allowance (COLA); EC$ 175 monthly to be ‘rolled out” to 3,000 means -tested for three months at a total cost of EC$1.575 million. And, of course, much more. From where does government get its funds? Taxes, borrowing, begging, grants/donations! The last set of figures I see for our Public debt for 2023 is US$ 2.284 billion, or 87.1 % of our GDP which was US$ 1.07 billion in 2023. As a point of reference Dominica’s Public Debt is US$ 655 million (2023), which incidentally is 96.49 of its GDP; Saint Lucia’s debt is US $ 1.836 million (2022), 74.49 of its GDP; Grenada US $ 773 million, 63.57 % of its GDP (2022 figures).

I have seen nothing recently to suggest that we have begun to reduce our high poverty figures. UNICEF 2021 figures show that 38 % of our children between 0-17 are living in poverty, alongside 37% of adolescents between 10-19 years of age. Very little is being said about our productivity. We have been making advances in Tourism, although as late starters we have a lot of catching up to do. Agriculture is somewhat still in limbo. Manufacturing is of no major economic importance with a concentration on the milling of rice and flour, the production of beer, distilling of rum and manufacturing boxes for local produce.

When we celebrate our Independence we talk of the beauty of our land, ‘St. Vincent land so Beautiful!’ We say little about the people in a country that is politically divided and with a high crime rate, and a lot of begging on the streets. The International airport is of major importance in our connection with our Diaspora and in hopefully bringing more people here as overnight visitors. The maintenance of our airport will continue to be a major challenge. Our Port which hopefully will be completed in another year is a major infrastructure project. The question is, will this stimulate an increase in imports for our import bill is already astronomical?

When we recognise what happened in 1979 as a milestone, and we assess how far we have reached on the march to prosperity as Scakes sees it, we have to think of the people, not of material things- how many vehicles we have in the country, the number of phones etc., we are barking down the wrong tree. We just have to realise that, to use an example, British Overseas territories like Bermuda are even better equipped in terms of material development. We sing lustily Our National Anthem “Saint Vincent Land So Beautiful” but as I indicated in my column of August 16, “There is no sense of heritage, of history. Our people fought for centuries to keep out the colonisers and you are telling us today that ‘Whate’er the future brings our faith will see us through!”

Our land cannot develop independent of our people. One of the drawbacks of our Education system is that the issue of critical thinking seems to have been forgotten. The list of scholarships given, and their field of studies seem not to reflect the development needs of our country. As we reflect on 45 years of what has been Flag Independence, we have to focus on the development of our people. This is critical. We have to converse more once we agree to disagree at times. We have to remove the begging bowl and where we have to borrow, it must be in a way that helps us to develop our country. Our people certainly cannot take more taxes. Our economic thrust must be developmentally driven, not politically focused! 45 years is a critical period in the recovery of our Independence! Do we see it so?

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian